Economic crisis provides us with multiple opportunities to SERVE, to HELP others. We do not know how long and how deep this crisis will be, but we know that there will be people in necessities around us ..., and we have the opportunity to ASSIST them.

Maybe there are worried people beside us ... It is good to urge them to choose God as Father, Who takes care of His own. Maybe people around us are disappointed, confused and shaken... We have the opportunity to approach them and talk to them about Jesus Christ, the One that does not disappoint on any man, the One who enriches the lives of all those who trust in Him.

Many need assistance..., and they are more open to the Gospel when need help!
A large-scale crisis of the society, offers unexpected opportunities for MINISTRY. Are we ready?!

Atheists, do not be hypocrites! When we deal with acute crisis, famine, pestilences, disasters, wars, and so on, all of you believe in God, don’t you?!

@pbacot said:

Stick with "Who knows the mind of God?" Perhaps.

Basically, God shows us how He works / acts, and, If we look closely to the facts of the Bible, before making a decision, He warns people at least twice about it ...!

@ Mike Lucey (re. Bible vs. H.S.),
I do not waste my time with Homer Simpson 's quotes. Some are interesting enunciated, but do not contain practical teaching.

...But, for those who study seriously, “all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16)

@unknownuser said:

Are you a native english speaker? Much of your sentence structure is difficult for me to decipher.

Sorry, 'Brodie' for my poor english grammar...! English is my 3rd language!

Another eloquent example is that of the Romanian dictators Ceausescu [Nicolae + Elena (his wife)], who asked to be praised by all, to be cheered on all levels ...

They ended up being shot like animals, on Christmas Day, 1989.
(‘Marian’ can expose what happened to them...)

In Psalm 10 is written:
"The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor;
Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire;
He blesses the greedy and renounces the LORD.
The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God;
God is in none of his thoughts"...

@solo said:

Are you sure he (Herod) was eaten by worms then died...

Yes, 'Solo'.
Such situations have happened nowadays ...

Normal people do not want crisis...! Crises bring with them A LOT OF PROBLEMS, including those mentioned by Mike Lucey,
like increasing depression and suicide rate...

I want to just laid down some POSITIVE ASPECTS of the crisis, if they're...

Sometimes God reacts immediately, especially when He is mocked in public...!
'Solo', I remind you an eloquent fact that I'm sure you know about (see Acts 12:21-23):

“[On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.]”

True values...!
We hear some people expressing themselves like this: "We lost money, property ..., but thank God that we did not lose anyone in the family!"
Money sometimes have no value, become an almost nothing ... They do not represent a true value when we have them in abundance, but when we are very limited.
In times of crisis, people are closer to God, and strong family relationships are cemented. Divorce rate always decreases in economic crisis and increases where prosperity grows.
Also in times of crisis, churches are attended by a much larger number of people ...!
We need to get to appreciate things that are valuable in God's eyes! If there aren’t any crisis, most believers will be preoccupied in the pursuit of many things without value.
Crisis brings us closer to God, to other family members, to the saints of the church (shared fellowship), etc.

Crisis SIMPLIFIES our existing!
When all are going well and we are in a material prosperity, we collect all sorts of things, we agglomerate space and existence with many items that have no real need. Consumer society has come to realize efficient, with very affordable prices, useful goods..., but so many are apparently useful...
We are tempted to think that we need a particular thing, and other, and another..., and we end up suffocated by what we acquired, without realizing that many of the things we have, possess us and waste our life.

If you have more cars, you have to maintain them, with money and time. If you have water/snow/all-terrain skooters..., and other things that requested you, majority of them occupies your precious time that you could use it with family members, with close true friends, etc. A boat or a scooter, hardly can embellish /ennobles your real life!
We rarely find time for what's really valuable, for relationships with fellows, because we have choked our life with a lot of material things. Then a very crowded house/ property can not be easy kept in order and in cleaning...!

During economic crisis, people are forced to cease to buy unnecessary things, simplifying their existing. This becomes a real blessing. Incomes are reduced, expenses are reduced..., so we will buy, with discernment, only things we have clearly needed ...

Longer or shorter, more superficial or deeper, more 'natural' or forced (artificial), Economic Crises appear and apparently disappear ...!
While many people see the crisis as some unfortunate regressions, there are people who perceive things otherwise... Most people suffer in these periods, but there are some who benefit from them and 'use' to prosper. People who have resources can achieve, in a short time, things that they can not do on a long period, in a thriving economy.
Those who have resources, ingenuity, creativity ..., use the 'benefits' of economic crisis and may have higher achievement...
Usually, people with resources are savers, going against the current practice ...,
while others are spending.

There is, for example, a wise expression: "When all buy, you sell..., and when all sell, you buy!"

Who had a form of faith, but fell, and never returned, fits into these two possibilities:

1. He just had the impression of being ‘born again’ and had no from where to fall, because he actually trusted in himself, in his merits. He knew something ABOUT God, but did not KNOW HIM, closely, intimate…, even if he attended any church for decades.

2. He sinned again, in any way, and believes that there is no more salvation for him, because he does not know how God resolve it:
   “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2)
   Sin can not abduct to me the salvation and eternal life (Jesus Christ paid for all my sins - past, present and future one…), but may diminish my joy to be in intimacy with the Lord, my Redeemer.
   Therefore, as a child of God, I should ensure my way of living, I have to confess sins that have ever appeared in my life, so that, through His forgiveness, to enjoy the restored fellowship.
   At Ephesians 4:30, it says so:
   “ Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

@ ‘Solo’.
You were a seasonal believer in the “Church of Christ”, because in that church, there are two wrong “steps” in the “Plan of Salvation”: Step 5 and Step 6…

Step 5 says: “Be Baptized for the Remission of Your Sins”, but Baptism does not forgive sins, does not save… It has another role!

Step 6 says: “Be Faithful Unto Death! To continue in God’s grace, you must continue to serve God faithfully until death...”
But nobody can be so through his efforts and merits…!
You have learned that: “Unless they remain faithful, those who are in God’s grace will fall from grace, and those whose names are in the Book of Life will have their names blotted out of that book”, but God does not make rectification. God does not erase what He wrote in the Book of Life !

@dropout said:

Define repent.

Little about repentance...
All people have sinned before God, but too few recognize this and regret for their past life. However, the wages of sin is death...! For Man to be saved, Jesus Christ took upon Himself all the sins of mankind, and was punished in the place of sinners. Those who repents, confess their sins, thank to the Redeemer/Savior for His sacrifice, recognize Him as their Lord, renounce to their sinful way, and trust from now in God.

At 1 John 1:9 is written:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Sins must be identified, named and confessed! When we recognize sins, God forgives us!
God does not forgive excuses - many seek only to apologize, to justify them ... But God forgives sins confessed with contrition, that caused grief to us...

There is a ‘palpable’ condition, that God puts to all that they want forgiveness, condition that showed us by Jesus in the prayer "Our Father in heaven”:
“forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (see Mattew 6:12)
We are aware of this stringent act, just in the next verses:
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Mattew 6:14-15)

@solo said:

@Cornel

Regurgitate your versus somewhere else, the adults are talking now.

Hello, adults!
To be “born again” is not enough tu believe in God, but you have tu REPENT, with sincere sorrow for past, and with grateful devotion for the future...!

@ 'Marian'.
God is One Entity, that manifests, for your easy understanding, in 3 ‘Persons’: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. All of Them have the same ‘attributes’, which are highlighted in a different way, from One to Other. Otherwise, you will not understand why God is, for example, love and justice…

Those who are saved (“born again”), are given by the Father in the care of His Son, the Lord, and He said:
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.” (John 6:37-39)

The Lord Jesus Christ does not lose any, because He DOES the will of the Father!

‘Solo’, it means that you actually have no a clear definition of expresion “BORN AGAIN”..., in a biblical way!

@solo said:

In my defense I can also say that I was once a born again Christian openly 'making fishers of men' for many years with a very radical non-denominational bunch called the 'Church of Christ', I also studied the bible for seven years while with them, so I honestly can say I came to my own conclusions and do not make my stances on ignorance.

‘Solo’, something is wrong!
Who was TRULY “born again”, that person can not lose the faith/trust in God, can not lose salvation of God...! It is impossible something like that...!

@ 'Alan F.'
The Bible is not a sophisticated book (as mistakenly believe those who wrote that article)..., but a popular one..., and those who go on the “way of holiness”, no matter how simple they are, they will not astray! See, for example the words from Isaiah 35:8:
“Whoever walks the road (re. the Highway of Holiness), although a fool, shall not go astray.” (NKJV version), or
“Whoso is going in the way (the `way of holiness') - even fools err not.” (YLT version)

In that article are forced some explanation, which, if we take them as good, they come in conflict with other issues. And then, do not mix the data refers only to the “church”, with data refers only to Jew people or to Gentiles ...!

Who is conscious,
chooses the true God,
because only He gives us assurance of salvation,
eternal life,
and changes in our present lives.