Truth really can be stranger than fiction.
First Page - Now launched! All the stories are true, or based on real events. Unlimited reading for $4.99 / month. No downloads. Read on your phone, tablet or computer.
La verdad puede ser más extraña que la ficción.
First Page - ¡Ya está en marcha! Todas las historias son verídicas, o están basadas en hechos reales. Lectura ilimitada por $4.99 / mes. No hay que descargar nada. Lea en su teléfono, tableta u ordenador.
Manna Minutes Podcast: Eye-opening Bible study in less than five minutes! Access all episodes here.
Manna Minutes en español:
Estudio bíblico que nos hace abrir los ojos en menos de cinco minutos! Acceda a todos los episodios aquí.
Manna Minutes Podcast auf Deutsch:
Augenöffnendes Bibelstudium in weniger als fünf Minuten! Alle Episoden finden Sie hier.
Was There A Curse On Helen's Romantic Life?
The Third Man by Angela Sheffield is based on a true story. Read chapter one now!
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¿Qué tiene que ver conmigo? por Teófila Gottfried
Lo que leemos en la Biblia tiene que ver con todos los seres humanos, sean cristianos o judíos, ateos o agnósticos, budistas, musulmanes o adherentes a alguna de las filosofías o nuevas religiones que surgen en el mundo. ¿Por qué? Ver mayor información sobre este interesante libro.
Scripture of The Day - St. John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Escritura del día - San Juan 14,6
Jesús le dijo: Yo soy el camino, y la verdad, y la vida; nadie viene al Padre, sino por mí.
Bibelstelle des Tages - Johannes 14,6
Jesus spricht zu ihm: Ich bin der Weg und die Wahrheit und das Leben; niemand kommt zum Vater, denn durch mich!
Does God Really Want Everyone to Be Saved?
We read, "The Lord is...long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). This is one of many Scriptures revealing that God wants everyone to be saved. However, the Bible lets us know that not everyone is going to be saved. We read, "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment..." (Matthew 25:46).
The Matthew 25:46 Scripture is one of many that let us know there will be people who will go to eternal punishment. They will not be saved, though God's will is that they would be saved.
But, Doesn't God Do Whatever He Wants?
Now then, Psalm 135:6 tells us, "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places." We also read, "God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man, that he should repent. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19).
So, if God does whatever He wants, and if He wants everyone to be saved, why doesn't He simply save everyone? Why doesn't He just speak the Word to cause everyone to come to repentance...if that is really His will?
The Revealed Will of God Concerning Salvation
Even in the very beginning we see that God's will toward mankind does NOT involve turning men and women into robots who serve and have communion with Him by force. He has always given people free will to chose. So, just because indeed His will is that everyone be saved, it is not, and NEVER has been His will to save anyone against his or her free will. In the first few chapters of the book of Genesis, we see God giving Adam a CHOICE. He can eat from the forbidden tree, and die as a consequence, or he can choose to obey the command to not eat of the forbidden fruit, and continue to live, and to commune with the Lord.
Throughout Scripture we see this truth. For example, we read that the children of Israel contributed to the Lord's tabernacle of their own free will. We read, "And they came, both men and women, as many as were WILLING-HEARTED, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold..." (Exodus 35:22).
In 2 Corinthians 8:4-5, we learn that believers "gave their own selves to the Lord." And what is the first and greatest commandment? "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment" (Matthew 22:37-38).
Now obviously we can break God's commandments. We can choose not to keep them. Nevertheless, focus on what the greatest command tells us to do: To love God with everything in us. We know the St. John 3:16 passage, which tells us, "For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son..." Now then, God chose to prove His love by sending Christ to die on the cross for us. When we choose to love God back, a two-sided relationship is formed. Robots and androids don't love. They can't even have a "relationship" based on hate. They're empty. Man has made robots, but God never made robots or androids. He made a creature with whom He wants a loving relationship...and not a one-sided one. So, yes it's God's will that everyone come to repentance and be saved. But it is NOT His will to force salvation on anyone. So, when we read that it's His will that everyone be saved, that is true. But not everyone will be saved, because it is NOT His will to force people to accept Jesus against their will.
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Based on true events, The Third Man by Angela Sheffield, brings the Bible up close and personal as the characters face real issues of life: Betrayal, deceit, romance, bitterness, anger against God, hopelessness, will power, perplexity, triumph, unforgiveness, mental illness, and the "Alcohol made me do it" excuse. Read chapter one FREE now.
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