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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2016 20:48:34 GMT -5
Okay then no, they don't have souls. I'm still not sure where I stand on them going to Heaven however. I'd really like to believe they do because I love them so much and I'm dedicating my life to them basically, but I see a lot of mixed views on the topic and I haven't really been able to determine what I think about it.
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Post by Saint Ambrosef on Sept 10, 2016 21:07:12 GMT -5
I was told once my a Catholic teacher than animals have mortal souls. That is, they have souls similarly to us while they are alive, but they are not on the same level and their souls die with their bodies.
idk if that's official teaching though.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2016 21:18:50 GMT -5
Idk I'd be really sad if they don't go to Heaven but idk
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Post by Splintercat on Sept 10, 2016 22:26:46 GMT -5
Sorry I haven't been on, but ooh we're talking about animals having souls I feel like it's very possible that animals from Earth will be in heaven, but that's really just speculation. Plus, how far do you go? If you say that animals have souls, well, what about plants? How about fungi? Insects? What about the trillions upon trillions of bacteria that have lived throughout history? Do viruses have souls- in fact, are they even alive? And so on. I really don't see how they could all coexist on the new Earth with humanity- God would need to make a whole other planet just for the bacteria, I'd think. Edit: Also, Saint Ambrosef, I'm actually inclined to think the opposite of that teaching. I don't think animals have souls, but if they're present on the new Earth, I'd argue that God simply resurrected them, without any souls involved. Again, though, this is all pure speculation, since Scripture says nothing on the matter.
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Post by Sour Candy on Sept 10, 2016 22:36:38 GMT -5
Hey, not sure if you're already doing this/if someone has already asked this, but I'd like to request a prayer.
I may not be religious myself, but I would appreciate a prayer for all the families and friends that will be grieving on September 11th. No doubt many of them will be going through a rough time.
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Post by Splintercat on Sept 10, 2016 22:43:33 GMT -5
Hey, not sure if you're already doing this/if someone has already asked this, but I'd like to request a prayer. I may not be religious myself, but I would appreciate a prayer for all the families and friends that will be grieving on September 11th. No doubt many of them will be going through a rough time. Will do. It must be awful to have to be reminded of that every year.
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Post by Dreamers Delight on Sept 10, 2016 22:54:16 GMT -5
Hey guys, a few hours ago my friends turtle, Lieutenant Pickles died. She held him when he was at his last moments.
For a while she had thought he was dead, though he had one eye open. He had started moving again, but she knew he was in a lot of pain so she just said "Let go." And he closed his eyes and died then. I feel really bad for her, so please keep her in your prayers as she had loved this turtle very much.
And on the topic of animals having souls. I like to think so, or at least, I hope they go to Heaven. If they do, I think it would be much different than ours. 5 years ago I had a puppy named Shaggy. He was my first pet and I became very close to him, being only 11 at the time as I had gotten him for my birthday. He was my best friend and you wouldn't see me without him. That is until he was accidently ran over.
I had gone on a Girl Scout camping trip and on the day we were to return, I woke up feeling terrible and I had no idea why. I just knew something was wrong. And to come home to find out he was gone.. It was heartbreaking and even 5 years later I still cry, but to think that he is somewhere safe where he cant be hurt helps me. It was also good to know he didn't suffer as he had died immediately. I just wish I was there in his final moments like my friend was for her turtle.
Ah.. Im crying now... I personally believe I had a true connection with him, nothing like I've felt with another being on this Earth so far. It's strange I know but maybe someone understands.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2016 22:57:50 GMT -5
Thanks for reminding me, Sour Candy. I'll say a prayer tonight. Also, the animals-having-souls debate... it's so funny, my friend and I were just talking about this last night. I don't believe animals have souls or that they go to Heaven when they die (though, as Tree said, the Bible doesn't say either way, so I could be wrong); but I do believe that there will be animals in Heaven/on the new Earth.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2016 23:11:21 GMT -5
It's just kinda sad to think that all of the animals we know in life just won't be in Heaven. But I guess we really don't know. Not enough information to come to a decent conclusion.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2016 23:12:08 GMT -5
Oh my gosh you're right, Sour. It's the 11th. I haven't even been paying attention to the dates!
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Post by Sour Candy on Sept 10, 2016 23:25:35 GMT -5
Oh my gosh you're right, Sour. It's the 11th. I haven't even been paying attention to the dates! Well for me it's only the 10th still, I got three more hours until the day. I just thought that just because I don't believe in anything specific, doesn't mean I shouldn't ask others to pray for those who will be grieving.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2016 23:29:57 GMT -5
Oh my gosh you're right, Sour. It's the 11th. I haven't even been paying attention to the dates! Well for me it's only the 10th still, I got three more hours until the day. I just thought that just because I don't believe in anything specific, doesn't mean I shouldn't ask others to pray for those who will be grieving. You're a cool dude.
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Post by Sour Candy on Sept 10, 2016 23:30:55 GMT -5
Well for me it's only the 10th still, I got three more hours until the day. I just thought that just because I don't believe in anything specific, doesn't mean I shouldn't ask others to pray for those who will be grieving. You're a cool dude. I try to be
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Post by Splintercat on Sept 11, 2016 0:31:26 GMT -5
Hey guys, a few hours ago my friends turtle, Lieutenant Pickles died. She held him when he was at his last moments. For a while she had thought he was dead, though he had one eye open. He had started moving again, but she knew he was in a lot of pain so she just said "Let go." And he closed his eyes and died then. I feel really bad for her, so please keep her in your prayers as she had loved this turtle very much. And on the topic of animals having souls. I like to think so, or at least, I hope they go to Heaven. If they do, I think it would be much different than ours. 5 years ago I had a puppy named Shaggy. He was my first pet and I became very close to him, being only 11 at the time as I had gotten him for my birthday. He was my best friend and you wouldn't see me without him. That is until he was accidently ran over. I had gone on a Girl Scout camping trip and on the day we were to return, I woke up feeling terrible and I had no idea why. I just knew something was wrong. And to come home to find out he was gone.. It was heartbreaking and even 5 years later I still cry, but to think that he is somewhere safe where he cant be hurt helps me. It was also good to know he didn't suffer as he had died immediately. I just wish I was there in his final moments like my friend was for her turtle. Ah.. Im crying now... I personally believe I had a true connection with him, nothing like I've felt with another being on this Earth so far. It's strange I know but maybe someone understands. Aww, poor turtle. I'll pray for your friend. I'm so sorry to hear about Shaggy- I'm tearing up just imagining that. I pray that you come to peace with his passing, and that you are, in fact, reunited with him in the next life.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2016 2:40:25 GMT -5
Rest easy, @batman... lol.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2016 6:15:02 GMT -5
Thanks hearts.
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Post by Saint Ambrosef on Sept 11, 2016 8:15:45 GMT -5
Two prayer requests:
One for me, because today is the middle school youth group kick-off and this year I am volunteering as an adult, rather than a teen, so there's more responsibility. I'm naturally very shy and get nervous about these things, so please pray it all goes smoothly.
I also ask y'all to pray for my friend Emerald. She just miscarried this morning (her and her husband have one son rn, but have miscarried earlier this year as well). I can't imagine what she's going through.
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Post by Dreamers Delight on Sept 11, 2016 11:03:04 GMT -5
I'll be praying Shadow.
And thank you Tree, that means a lot. I hadn't even had him for a year yet. He was little over a year old.
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Post by Splintercat on Sept 11, 2016 13:47:55 GMT -5
Saint Ambrosef: Will do. Well, everyone, it's 9/11. I'd just ask that we all take a moment of silence today to remember the victims of this attack and the heroes who dealt with the aftermath, many of whom died in the process, and to pray for the relatives of the deceased, etc.
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Post by Lightningdawn on Sept 11, 2016 14:02:50 GMT -5
Amen, Treestar. Never forget those heroes.
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Post by Splintercat on Sept 11, 2016 14:29:23 GMT -5
What do you guys think of aliens and UFOs?
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Post by Splintercat on Sept 11, 2016 14:50:09 GMT -5
I suppose I should give my opinion too. I don't believe that intelligent life exists in the universe outside of Earth; if it did, it would make me rethink quite a few things. However, I see no reason why there couldn't be life out there; it's a very big universe, and I'd kind of be surprised if God didn't fill some of it up with stuff. Bacteria or even plant and animal-like life sounds very plausible to me.
As for UFO sightings, most of them probably have boring, naturalistic explanations. Y'know, misidentified planes and satellites and such. Plus, the military definitely has a lot of technology that we don't know about, so it wouldn't surprise me in the least if a good number of UFOs were just top-secret projects being tested.
Now, this is where I might start sounding crazy, but bear with me. I strongly believe that most "alien abductions" and encounters, and probably even certain UFO sightings, are caused by demons masquerading as extraterrestrials. This makes a lot of sense, considering that many alien abduction accounts describe the aliens espousing New-Agey "become one with the universe and ascend to a higher spirituality" type stuff. In ancient times, they masqueraded as gods or spirits. Now they're "getting with the times" and pretending to be aliens. But wait, it gets weirder: I seriously think this could be a powerful tool of the enemy's in the end times. If "aliens" show up and endorse a new, "higher" system of spirituality, it'll be very, very convincing, possibly deceiving or almost deceiving even the elect as described in Matthew 24:24. And, I mean, if the Rapture happens, aliens could provide a great explanation too: something along the lines of them showing up and saying, "We want you to ascend into a higher plane of existence, but the Christians were weaklings and were holding you back, so we vaporized 'em."
And now, the cherry on top of my apparent insanity. Keep in mind that this is all pure speculation, based on clues in the Bible and things that are happening in our world today. Many alien abduction accounts involve a woman being abducted, impregnated by an "alien", and returned to Earth, only to have the baby mysteriously vanish from her womb months later. This is terrifyingly similar to the Bible's description of demons impregnating human women to create Nephilim. This isn't a complete theory at all- like, if demons really are trying to create a new race of Nephilim through this, why are they abducting the little guys before they're even born, and where the heck are they putting them? More importantly, why would they try to recreate the Nephilim in the first place? But I think it all fits horrifically well together. Plus, the Bible says that the end times will be "like the days of Noah". Nephilim existed in the days of Noah, just before being wiped out by a massive flood.
Thoughts? I know this sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory, and I'm not saying that it's definitely what's happening, but it seems to line up.
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Post by Dreamers Delight on Sept 11, 2016 15:21:44 GMT -5
Wow you think big Tree! I quite like the theory. It could be very possible. I've read part of a book called Angels: God's Secret Angels by Billy Graham. I haven't read all of it but he mentions that UFO sightings could very well be Angels! He gives an example of fighter jets chasing a light in the sky above the White House. (Im not sure if this is true but it was cool to read about nonetheless) And he referred how the lights were in 3 spots. He mentioned it as a specific angel, Cherub keep coming to mind but I don't think it was that.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2016 15:45:46 GMT -5
What do you guys think of aliens and UFOs? I think all of the claimed sightings and reports of big circle things floating in the sky are hoaxes. If there is intelligent life other than us in the universe, there's no possible way to predict how they act, what their technology is, etc. But if you read and learn about the size of the universe and try to put it into perspective as well as any human possibly could, it's hard to say it isn't a possibility that something else exists. This is my screensaver. This was a zoomed-in picture from the Hubble telescope. And that was just a tiny, tiny portion of the sky. And that's just the observable universe. Back to the topic, yea, I think it's likely something else exists, simply because of how huge everything is.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2016 15:59:53 GMT -5
I don't have a strong stance on aliens. I've seen a UFO myself, but the thought of aliens behind it never crossed my mind. My dad and I just figured it was a drone or satellite of some sort. The Bible doesn't give any indication as to whether or not there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, but if there is, God having a redemptive story for humankind doesn't necessarily preclude God having another kind of story for another one of His creations. The answer I give is usually something to the degree of "I don't believe in aliens, but it wouldn't affect my faith if they turned out to exist." Splintercat... Never even considered demons acting as ETs. That's terrifying (and ET scared me to death as a kid, so maybe you're onto something).
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Post by Splintercat on Sept 11, 2016 16:22:39 GMT -5
Wow you think big Tree! I quite like the theory. It could be very possible. I've read part of a book called Angels: God's Secret Angels by Billy Graham. I haven't read all of it but he mentions that UFO sightings could very well be Angels! He gives an example of fighter jets chasing a light in the sky above the White House. (Im not sure if this is true but it was cool to read about nonetheless) And he referred how the lights were in 3 spots. He mentioned it as a specific angel, Cherub keep coming to mind but I don't think it was that. That sounds interesting! I hadn't even considered that UFOs might be angels rather than demons, but it's plausible.
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Post by Splintercat on Sept 11, 2016 16:23:33 GMT -5
What do you guys think of aliens and UFOs? I think all of the claimed sightings and reports of big circle things floating in the sky are hoaxes. If there is intelligent life other than us in the universe, there's no possible way to predict how they act, what their technology is, etc. But if you read and learn about the size of the universe and try to put it into perspective as well as any human possibly could, it's hard to say it isn't a possibility that something else exists. This is my screensaver. This was a zoomed-in picture from the Hubble telescope. And that was just a tiny, tiny portion of the sky. And that's just the observable universe. Back to the topic, yea, I think it's likely something else exists, simply because of how huge everything is. Love that picture. Space is so cool, and I agree that it's very likely something else exists.
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Post by Splintercat on Sept 11, 2016 16:27:26 GMT -5
I don't have a strong stance on aliens. I've seen a UFO myself, but the thought of aliens behind it never crossed my mind. My dad and I just figured it was a drone or satellite of some sort. The Bible doesn't give any indication as to whether or not there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, but if there is, God having a redemptive story for humankind doesn't necessarily preclude God having another kind of story for another one of His creations. The answer I give is usually something to the degree of "I don't believe in aliens, but it wouldn't affect my faith if they turned out to exist." Splintercat... Never even considered demons acting as ETs. That's terrifying (and ET scared me to death as a kid, so maybe you're onto something). I really think it's just the best explanation for all the alien abduction stories which talk about aliens telling people that they need to "ascend to a higher spirituality" or some similar New-Age-ish stuff. (Interesting side note: I recently read a story about a guy who saw a UFO and was "telepathically contacted" by its inhabitants, who told him lots of evil things, like that they were going to torture him and kill his family. He shouted the Lord's Prayer at them and they flew away. My brain went "DEMON ALERT DEMON ALERT" when I read that.) Plus, as I said, an end-times deception could very easily be carried out by demons appearing publicly as aliens and telling the world to convert to their particular brand of spirituality. It would be incredibly convincing, and the Bible does speak extensively of a very strong delusion occuring at the end of the age. I do think it's possible that God created intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, but I highly doubt that it will ever contact us if it does exist. I agree with you: If they're out there, God probably has an entirely separate plan for them.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2016 19:53:24 GMT -5
all a UFO is is an unidentified flying object. So yeah I'm sure thousands of people have seen UFOs before. Just because you can't identify it, doesn't mean it's an alien. I love alien stuff for like sci fi and stuff but personally don't know if it exists.
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Post by Saint Ambrosef on Sept 11, 2016 20:13:14 GMT -5
yo checking in to let you know that this morning went well! the adult im working with in my small group is sorta annoying, one of those middle-aged moms whom asks you re-explain a simple game 3 times to the kids. but otherwise everything went fairly smoothly.
my opinion on aliens: idk and idc, tbh. I find the existence of intelligent alien life to be more than dubious, but even if there are, whatever. not much I can do about it one way or another im gonna find ya, im gonna getcha gethca getcha...
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