TZUTC: -0500   
   MSGID: 336.fidonet-bible@1:19/33 2527078d   
   REPLY: 297.fido-bible@1:153/757.2 25267ebe   
   PID: Synchronet 3.19a-Win32 master/a2110bfca Jun  9 2021 MSC 1928   
   TID: SBBSecho 3.14-Win32 master/a2110bfca Jun  9 2021 MSC 1928   
   BBSID: TBOLT   
   CHRS: ASCII 1   
   George,   
      
    GP> Seems like you own this echo, too! :D   
      
     Well, where I can auto post, I do it. There are puns in another echo;   
   I guess I need to direct them to the FIDONet FUNNY echo. Those were done   
   originally by former South Florida TV meteorologist Bob Weaver, in a book   
   called "Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down".   
      
    GP> I never worried about the literal number, because the real concern is   
    GP> ACCEPTING it as your mark of allegiance tot he Beast.   
      
     I don't think we'll be able to identify who the Antichrist is before   
   The Rapture Of The Church. Yet, scores of folks have said that certain   
   people (i.e. Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Bill Gates, The Pope, etc.)   
   are the Antichrist. Yet, this deal with the COVID-19 shots (if you don't   
   have it, you can't buy or sell or enter this business) is setting it up   
   for "The Mark"...where without it, one won't be able to buy, sell, hold   
   a job, or receive benefits...basically being cut off from economic survival.   
   But, taking it damns you forever.   
      
    GP> In Hebrew, 666 is also a word: Har Megido ("Armageddon", the mountain   
    GP> of Megido)   
      
     And, you only see that once in the Bible...Revelation 16:16.   
      
    GP> So 666 emphathises that the Beast falls as far short of God as is   
    GP> possible.   
      
     Hal Lindsey, said that "6 is number of man in Scripture" (he was created   
   on the sixth day), "and 3 is the symbol for God" (the Holy Trinity). "So,    
   when you triple 6, it's man making himself God". He added "The cleverness of    
   this economic guise is ghastly to contemplate. But, no one could ever accuse   
   Satan of not being clever".   
      
    GP> Man is not completed, that's why God did not look, after that creation   
    GP> & declare it "good" as every other day of creation.   
      
     You're right...there was "one day" where He didn't declare it "good". Yet,   
   He gave man "free will", as He didn't want robots. In the case of kids, if   
   we love our parents, we'll gladly obey them. Now, Eve was deceived, so I   
   can "cut her some slack"...but "Adam gave in without a fight".   
      
    GP> I'm sorry, but I don't ascribe to the Roman teaching that we are born   
    GP> evil. God don't create junk -- we are born with our souls in balance &   
    GP> our choices either elevate them or dirty them. . .   
      
     We have a sin nature...we sin because we're sinners...not sinners because   
   we sin. Ever notice that a baby crying like something is wrong, but when the   
   parents show up, he's happy. It's basically the same as your dog or cat   
   having "separation anxiety"...but some would say "the kid is lying about   
   something being wrong".   
      
    GP> Okay, sorry, just waxing poetic today. .   
      
     One of the poems The Good Lord gave me was "My prayers are only to The   
   Lord". The Catholics venerate Mary, saying she was perfect. The thing is,   
   if she was sinless, WHY did she say in the Magnificat that "My soul does   
   magnify The Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God, My Saviour". If she   
   was sinless, WHY did she need a Saviour??   
      
     The concept of Salvation is so simple, yet so many reject it because of   
   its simplicity. The Philippian Jailer asked Paul and Silas "What must I   
   do to be saved??". In Acts 16:31, Paul said "Believe on The Lord Jesus   
   Christ, and you shall be saved, and your house". The Gospel is so simple   
   that a child can understand it.    
      
     As a side note, I love the deals with the children, especially the    
   "children's sermon bloopers"...where the kids, in their innocence, say the    
   darndest things (like the old show that was hosted by the late Art   
   Linkletter). You know The Lord had to be smiling on these. The one I   
   remember is where this young girl tells him that "when I grow up, I want   
   to have a lot of kids". When he asks her what she wants to be, she replied   
   "A nun"...it brought the house down...the look on Art's face was just   
   priceless!!    
      
     The 2 most hated verses are:   
      
   1) John 14:6, where Jesus says "I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life.   
   No one comes to The Father, but through Me".   
      
   2) Acts 4:12, where Peter says "Neither is there salvation in any other.   
   For there is no other name under Heaven, given among men, whereby we   
   must be saved".   
      
     Hal Lindsey also noted "If the believers ON Jesus, and not just IN   
   Him, are wrong...the most we'll lose are a few petty sins...which   
   don't make anyone happy anyway".   
      
     I add to that "And, one day, we'll know who's right".   
      
     Christian Comedian Mark Lowery, wrote the song "Mary, Did You Know?",   
   said "I still have a lot of questions for her when I get to Heaven"...   
   such as if Jesus had a hero or a girlfriend...and if she ever walked   
   into His Room, and said to Him "Clean up this mess!! Were you born in    
   a barn??" .   
      
     Mark was telling about his motorcycle wreck, and noted as they   
   put him in the ambulance, "they cut my britches off!!"...adding   
   "Your Momma Was Right!!". He paused for all the laughter, as the   
   audience knew what was coming next -- "Clean Underwear!! Always!!"    
      
   Daryl   
      
   ... Life is fragile...handle with prayer.   
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