this is my wall of honor. be the first to name these 15 people who have in some way either influenced me or earned my ultimate respect and receive 2500 oh-so-valuable tbucks! theres really only a few that should give anyone any trouble.

please comment here on the slideshows titled 'a little bit about who i am...' and 'migration'.

these four latest entries on the religion page? very nice. i guess pornography is some peoples religion?

 on the hill

he knew his goal

the prize before him set

across the quickened killing field

his enemy would be met

on his mount

he knew his strength

the horse beneath him stout

and with a rub of heel and spur

the warrior then set out

on his way

he knew his time

a calculated speed

he came into the battle fray

and galloped the faithful steed

on the ground

he saw their blood

spilled here for freedom sought

and as they fell with grim visage

a champions fame was bought

on the charge

he bared his teeth

a taut unripened fear

and as he lowered head and sword

every dying breath drew near

on the hill

he met his foe

a man of peace unarmed

who took the death blow in his side

and left the combat unharmed

on the hill

a champion

victorious with scars

defeated sin and death that day

and ended all future wars

the essence of the spiritual debate on predestination and freewill is almost always summarized in the vast majority of people believing they have a free will. this is a real problem for two reasons.

[b]a)[/b] scripture does not bear this out. in fact it tells us quite the opposite. paul makes it clear in romans 6 that humans are slaves to sin and therefore children of wrath. slaves dont have freewill and children of wrath cant in any way be pleasing to God. i think the freewill argument is easily capstoned by the following quote from a freewill advocate:

“People make good choices in life and say no to sin without Gods Holy Spirit all the time.”

nothing could be further from what scripture tells us. if such were in fact the case - that we can say no to sin outside of Christ - then there is absolutely no need for him to have died on the cross bc essentially everyone has the ability to either follow or not follow Gods law on their own merit. this is not xian teaching - it is an early heresy known as pelagianism.

[b]b)[/b] logic does not bear this out. logically speaking - if in fact we knew that heaven existed and the only way to go there and avoid hell was to follow Gods law to the letter - no one would do otherwise. it is completely illogical to conceieve of someone understanding heaven and hell and choosing hell by neglecting to follow these commands in the [i][b]freedom[/b][/i] of their own will.

so ultimately freewill is a misnomer. it doesnt belong in any spiritual discussion of man outside of Christ. the only freedom is as a child of God [i][b]in[/b][/i] Christ. scripture bears this out repeatedly.

[u]romans 8:21[/u]
that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

[u]2 peter 2:19[/u]
promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.

[u]galatians 5:1[/u]
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

scripture tells us we have a will and that our will is enslaved to sin. only thru Christ is our will freed and at that point it becomes a slave to him and his righteousness.

[u]romans 6:18[/u]
and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

now for the non-spiritual aspect. to believe one is free is nonsense for the simple reason that no one chooses their own dna. anyone who knows beans about dna knows that the overwhleming majority of who a person is from tastes to appearance and beyond is dictated by dna and genetics. claiming freedom in light of these facts is basically claiming to be something other than human.