News you won't see in controlled mainstream media.

--Is it Possible to Lose (ie 'give back') Salvation?

--Some believe that a person cannot lose his or her salvation but can "give back" salvation or reject Christ's salvation and turn away from the Lord. In other words, those who hold this view believe Christ will never leave a Christian but that a Christian can leave Him. Is this true?

The Bible provides ample evidence that a genuine believer will never "give back" salvation. First, it is clear that a person would never seek to believe in Christ without God calling the person to Him. Romans 3:10-11 teaches, "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God." It is only by God's grace a person comes to faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9).

-Second, a person who truly has God's Spirit living within them will not turn against Christ. While every Christian continues to struggle with sin (Roman 7:24-25), those who have been changed by God's grace cannot be separated from His love. Romans 8:38-39 uses strong terms to reflect this truth: "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

-Third, a person's salvation does not depend on his or her works, but on the finished work of Jesus Christ. Therefore, salvation cannot be earned by good works or lost by sinful actions. Instead, believers can rest in what Christ has done on the Cross and live in service to Him as an act of worship.

But what about those who claim to follow God and then later leave the faith? While only God truly knows the heart of a person, based on the biblical information, only two options are possible. First, it is possible the person is a believer who is living in sin and struggling with doubts about salvation. Second, it is possible that the person who claims to "leave the faith" never had genuine faith at all.

-In fact, Jesus predicted this when He taught, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'
And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness'" (Matthew 7:21-23). Despite calling Jesus "Lord," being known for prophecy, exorcisms, and miracles, some people who claim to know Jesus are truly unbelievers. It should not surprise us, then, when some today who claim to be Christians and later leave the faith were never truly Christians at all.

-A Christian cannot "give back" salvation because this gift rests upon God's power, not our own. Instead, those who leave the faith are either those struggling who need our help or are those in need of genuine faith and the true gospel of Christ. ~~
-For more information regarding questions about the Bible/Faith go to this website:
<http://www.compellingtruth.org/give-back-salvation.html>

--DEFEAT OR VICTORY?

--"Everyone born of
God overcomes the world.
This is the victory that
has overcome the world,
even our faith." (1 JN. 5:4)
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-EACH year on June 18 the great Battle of Waterloo is recalled in what is now Belgium. On that day in 1815, Napoleon's French army was defeated by a multinational force commanded by the Duke of Wellington. Since then, the phrase "to meet your Waterloo" has come to mean "to be defeated by someone who is too strong for you or by a problem that is too difficult for you."

When it comes to our spiritual lives, some people feel that ultimate failure is inevitable and it's only a matter of time until each of us will "meet our Waterloo."
But John refuted that pessimistic view when he wrote to followers of Jesus: "Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith" (1 JOHN 5:4).

John weaves this theme of spiritual victory throughout his first letter as he urges us not to love the things this world offers, which will soon fade away (2:15-17). Instead, we are to love and please God, "And this is what he promised us--eternal life" (2:25).

While we may have ups and downs in life, even some battles that feel like defeats, the ultimate victory is ours in Christ as we trust in His power. ~~

'Lord Jesus, Your ultimate victory in this fallen world is assured, and You ask us to share in it each day of our lives.
By Your grace, enable us to overcome the world through faith and obedience to You.' amen~

--When it comes to problems, the way out is to trust God on the way through. Jesus said, "In this world you will have troubles, but cheer up, I have overcome the world."
--(JOHN 16:33)- VICTOR'S CROWN / Darlene Zschech~
--ODB/DM ~~
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVedoioaZno>
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--Can A Person Lose Their Salvation?

-Far too many people 'think' or 'assume' they are saved. Some believe since they lived with Christian parents they will be saved. Wrong! When in fact, they never truly repented of their sins and came to the Lord with a 'broken spirit and a contrite heart.' Conversion to Christ requires a surrendered life and true broken spirit, individually (personally). Sadly there are people going to church today and are not saved. God knows their hearts. They continue living in the sinful life and no longer are concerned about the Christian Way, the Jesus Way. Yes, people get convicted, but not necessarily converted. If you are saved, your life will change. You no longer desire the things of the world. You desire more of Jesus.

-----"The righteous cry, and the LORD hears
And delivers them out of all their troubles.

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in Spirit."

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
--(PSALM 34:17-19A)

-They do not personally know the Lord and so they are not truly 'saved'. Therefore they continue living in sin and are deceived. Only the Lord knows a person's heart. So please do not misunderstand me. The Bible is clear that a true believer is known by his 'fruit'. That means the 'spiritual fruit' he lives out (bears), and shares with others.
~~~~~~~~~~~
-"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite hear, O God,
You will not despise." ~ (Psalm 51:34)

--These two verses are speaking to a person who already knows the Lord and is saved, but has stepped out of the way.
We see that these verses are speaking of King David, after he had gone in to Bathsheba, and sinned. He should have known better. As we are told, 'David was a man after God's own heart.' But the temptation was too great for him, and he did not ask the Lord to help him.

He tried to hide this sin for over a year. Then The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to confront and convict David. Which it did, and he was terribly broken, he knew of his great sin.
But the Lord heard his heart's cry and forgave him. Yet, he had to bear the consequences of that sin, by the baby dying and other sins were committed to try to hide this sin. We can never hide from God. David was already a true follower of the LORD.

** We must be careful that some churches or Pastors do not deceive us by telling people to run to the front of the church, saying a little prayer, and then they are forgiven.
If it is not a contrite prayer, it is not true. They are not forgiven because they never truly repented in the first place, from their heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
---Never Too Late- / Or Forever Too Late?
“And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43)

One of the two thieves on the Cross continued in unbelief right up until the time he died (Luke 23:39), but the second repented and believed unto salvation. The one assures us that no one need despair, since it is always possible to accept Christ at any time before death. The other warns us, on the other hand, that no one should presume. Long-continued rebellion against God is likely to become so fixed in one’s character that sincere repentance may become impossible.

The repentant thief, beholding Christ and hearing the first of the seven so-called “words from the cross” (Luke 23:34), came to believe that Jesus truly was Lord and that He could, indeed, grant forgiveness and salvation.

The penitent thief had no opportunity to be baptized, to change his lifestyle, or to do anything whatever except repent, believe on Christ, and confess his faith (Romans 10:9-10). And that was sufficient!

Both thieves would die that day, and the soul of the unrepentant thief would soon descend into Hades, there to await condemnation at the future Judgment Day. The other, because of his trust in Christ, would go with Him to paradise.

The tragedy is that far too many people, assuring themselves that it is never too late, keep waiting until it becomes forever too late! “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1). The overwhelming majority of people who come to trust in Christ for salvation do so when they are young. Very few come to the Lord when they are old or about to die. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). It's true, All I Need Is You, Lord.
--ICR/HMM

-[Please do not assume you can keep postponing your day to repent and be converted. Tomorrow may be too late. We see this often and know of those who have died while living in sin. Come to Jesus today! I plead with you. We are never promised tomorrow. He leaves that choice up to you. ]/ All I Need Is You / Hillsong~
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iTInN6FH9I

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--THE ARCHAEOLOGIST'S SPADE AIDS THE CHURCH
--By: Steven Ortiz--/ [Unearthing Truth]
--DECISION/ (April 2017)

--[The above mentioned article is in this month's DECISION magazine, by BGEA.]

Steven Ortiz explains 'Unearthing Truth'. The interview by Jerry Pierce, Managing Editor of Decision magazine asks Steven several questions regarding discoveries found in archaeology of the church and if this effects Bible believers/ Christians. We are addressing the last question, as it pertains to this topic, 'saving faith'.

**--Question: What is the relationship that you see between your work in Biblical archaeology and the work of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Do you know of people whose exposure to archaeological evidence led them to saving faith?

**--Answer: Saving faith only comes with an encounter with the risen Lord. I rarely reference my work in archaeology when I am sharing my faith. I believe people come to faith only when they realize their need for a Savior because of their sins. It is usually a distorted view of themselves ('I'm a good person') that is the problem. If this were not true, then evangelistic crusades would be focused on showing slides of archaeological discoveries rather than a call to repentance.

I don't know of anyone who has come to saving faith because of archaeological evidence, but I have known several who have lost their faith because of "so-called" archaeological evidence. This is why we need evangelical scholars who are able to articulate and handle the archaeological record. We have been excellent at training students to handle the Biblical text. We need to train a new generation to handle the archaeological text. -(Decision)~~

["The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart--These, O God, You will not despise." -(PSALM 51:17)~~
[There are way too many people being fed a watered down gospel and are called to the front of the church to be saved. So they go only to make sure 'their ticket is punched', to make it into Heaven. That will not work. God knows each man's heart. "The LORD knows the thoughts of man, That they are futile. (Psalm 94:11))~~
Please do not be deceived in believing many of the television Pastors/Teachers, and (some) well-known pastors and teachers in the world today. Beware of the LDS (Mormon Church), the Jehovah Witness Church, and Universalist Church. Does their teaching line up with all of the Bible? From what I have read, they do not.
Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord', will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he does the will of My Father in heaven...and I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!(deceived people)" (Please see Matthew 7:21-23)
I know of many that claim to be 'saved' and do not bear fruit for the kingdom of God. (see Matthew 12:33-37) The truly 'saved' person will never be ashamed of Jesus Christ.
--/'GREAT ARE YOU LORD'/ By: Casting Crowns~~
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZqV6i98SkA>
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