God, Spirituality, and Religion

Faith is the belief in that which is unseen; the belief in a God, invisible spirits, or events to come that cannot be proven yet. See faith. It is not something that is scientifically proven but never-the-less very real to that person experiencing the relationship with God.
Faith is an important concept. Jesus mentions at least twice in the book of Matthew that if His disciple had faith the size of a mustard seed they can command a mountain to move. First He talks about moving it from here to there. The second time He talks of having it not just moved but pitched into the sea. Why is this important? Certainly He didn't expect His disciple to gain in faith so they could just test this theory on moving mountains around. (Although, if you take a drive around down South, you know there have been entire mountains cut away by man to make way for the highway, but at great, phenomenal labor and expense, with machinery, big trucks and earth-moving equipment). But just think of a practical example you could be experiencing today. We could very well have a mountain of debt on our shoulders. And to have such a burden lifted off would be a tremendous relief to us right now. He also said in the first missing verse we come across (Matt. 17:21) in some Bibles, "but things such as these come through prayer and fasting." We must always do our part first and make the first move. Then, and only then, God reciprocates and does His part. This is why God seems to help those who help themselves. Instead of just "Let go and Let God" we need to do everything we can think of that God would require of us to try first, as long as we are following His laws and commandments. For example, we have to draw close to God and He will in turn draw closer to us. (Actually, God has already done his part in making the first move; he has opened up our heart to be able to receive His message). So this is where faith comes in, we have to believe and trust that God is real, He does not tell a lie. It is impossible for God to tell a lie. The Bible cannot tell a lie because it is His word. We should then always be thinking positively, knowing God does not want us to be losers. He wants us to be winners. He does not want us to fail. He wants us to succeed. Make baby steps to your success. These are small achievable goals leading up to your large main goal. Make sure your main goal is aligned with God's will and you cannot fail. In the meantime you will need faith to get started. Sometimes when it seems you are on a losing streak it is because you don't have faith, whether you know it or not. If you are on a winning streak it is because each time you experience a small miracle it reinforces your faith for the next one. It is no longer hard to believe you might experience the same great results again as a result of your next attempt!
Hope: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope
Love: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love
As the song says: I remember this from when I was young; Faith Hope and Love are some good things He gave us. And the Greatest is Love.
1 Cor. 13:13 http://bible.cc/1_corinthians/13-13.htm
You sometimes have to learn to be quiet and listen very hard. "Be still and know that He is God." It is likened to listening to your intuition, letting your conscience be your guide. The Jehovah's Witnesses think it is bad to completely clear your mind to meditate. They think the devil will creep in and take advantage of an empty mind. They believe only in keeping your mind filled with positive Godly thoughts. Sometimes you may not be feeling like going to church but you may do it anyway. I believe God appreciates this all the more. However, I used to be under the impression that you had to torture yourself for God by coming into boring place and sitting in a hard chair listen to horrible, sad piano death-knell dirges and listening to terribly boring speeches followed by even more boring magazine study for 2 big hours until you have a migraine if you didn't already from the florescent lighting. Not anymore. I believe God wants you to go gleefully and joyously praise and celebrate Him with moving songs that actually sound good and bring glory to Him.
We are going to talk about doctrine. It is basically a concept of which there is two-sided heated debate. Remember, Jehovah's Witnesses are just regular Christians who do believe in Christ, but do not believe in the doctrines of the Trinity, the Cross, or Christmas (because it is Christ's holiday pasted over pagan roots) and several other things.
There are two ways to think about everything. This is a duality. There are two ways to look at everything. Like positive and negative. For every answer there is an equal and opposite response. You say yes, I say no. In the study of the Bible, there are two possible interpretations; literal and figurative. Some have said on Christian radio they only believe in taking the Bible as a whole in a literal sense. This would mean the Beast and the Harlot, the number 666, as well as the horsemen of the Apocalypse as being just as described. However I take them figuratively as standing for something else, as is done in poetry. Some conservative Christians do not. They take it literal. For example, they are waiting for these real horsemen to appear as a sign of the End Times. They are waiting for an actual city "New Jerusalem" to come down and come to rest on a highest mountain.
For various Bible Translation reading, you can go to http://www.christianity.com There are a range from more literal translations, WORD-FOR-WORD (like the Interlinear Bible) to the more meaning-based translation, THOUGHT-FOR-THOUGHT (like the Message Bible). I am going to refer to the Crossroads Church "Guide To Bible Translations." They say it is better to have a Bible with 50 or more translators if it is your only Bible. Go to http://www.zondervan.com or http://www.ibs.org for more information.

I have in-depth knowledge of Catholic and Jehovah's Witnesses and have studied many other religions such as the Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and the Muslims (Islam) and the Jews (Judaism), and have been researching Scientology. Currently I attend a mainline protestant church or evangelical pentecostal, (First Assembly of God) and listen to K-Love, or southern gospel radio channels, many stations allow you to listen online through their website in streaming audio even if you are out of the listening area, so feel free to check them out. I found that these things have helped me to grow spiritually. For example, I now read the Bible first thing in the morning (known as the "morning watch") and am finished reading it once. I have prayer and meditation most of the day long, and have discovered new Christian music.
This post was left on www.answerbag.com by inthetruth; "in the copy of my bible the name Jehovah appears over 7,000 times. this is how many times his personal name appears in the earliest manuscripts of the bible and thus the new world translation has restored that name to its rightful place. as to how many times "hallelujah" which means "praise jah" is found i am not sure, this phrase can be found mostly in the book of psalms. for more information go to www.watchtower.org and hi there to tabitha, i realy enjoy your answers! agape greetings"

A few of the more important scriptures to memorize include: Acts 17:11 from NWT: Now the latter were more noble-minded than those in Thes·sa·lo·ni´ca, for they received the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so.

Now read Carl Sagan's Bologna detection article: http://www.xenu.net/archive/baloney_detection.html which will tell you the kind of discerning mindset to have as described above.

I remember going to the play "Sand Mountain" after my divorce. There is a line where a girl is impressed by the preacher's son & exclaims "Oh my! You really know your Bible, don't you?"

If you do not have any scriptures memorized right now, I encourage you to start off with one you might have heard quoted like John 3:16, and continue to memorize another one each week... Go to http://www.jrsbible.info/bible.htm and it will give you links to Bible verses from the NIV from here http://www.biblegateway.com/

Here I am going to bring up some verses you might already be familiar with and encourage you to memorize them.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 is the basis for the Byrds song "Turn, Turn, Turn." One of the most poetic in the Bible. From the most poetic seeming translations King James Version. Compare it with other versions by logging on to Christianity.com and go to BST (Bible Study Tools) Enjoy;

1.To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2.A time to be born , and a time to die ; a time to plant , and a time to pluck up that which is planted ;
3.A time to kill , and a time to heal ; a time to break down , and a time to build up ;
4.A time to weep , and a time to laugh ; a time to mourn , and a time to dance ;
5.A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together ; a time to embrace , and a time to refrain from embracing ;
6.A time to get , and a time to lose ; a time to keep , and a time to cast away ;
7.A time to rend , and a time to sew ; a time to keep silence , and a time to speak ;
8.A time to love , and a time to hate ; a time of war, and a time of peace

Now lets check out another popular poetic verse, most eloquently rendered in the King James Version; Psalm 23

1.The LORD is my shepherd ; I shall not want .
2.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3.He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4.Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5.Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies : thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6.Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever .

Now here is one you can do some comparing. Psalm 83:18 says this in King James version;

18.That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.

Now compare with the New King James version;

18.That they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord, Are the Most High over all the earth.

A name is like Jehovah or Jesus. A title is like God. So whenever you are saying G-d*mn it. You are not really taking the Lord's name in vain. But it still would become a better practice to change the habit to God Bless it, as I have heard a former co-worker do.

One more interesting version I have found still uses the name Jehovah as in Hosea 3:5. See the American Standard Version from 1901, compared to the King James Version from 1611.
ASV; 5 afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king, and shall come with fear unto Jehovah and to his goodness in the latter days.
KJV; 5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.
These are simply copied and pasted courtesy of the Bible Pro program. For a small fee you can add versions to the free software by going to http://bibleocean.com/ Or check out this web version at; http://biblepro.bibleocean.com/dox/default.aspx

Other ones that use Jehovah according to this are YLT and Darby. Other ones that use the Lord are Basic, MKJV and Catholic Bibles.
It had seemed the name Jehovah up until recently was regarded a dirty word, in churches and in the media. Probably because of Witnesses. They use Hosanna (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosanna) meaning Save we pray, "please save or save now," The Great I AM (see discussion below) Immanuel, meaning God [is] with us, and Jesus, but that was it. Now some christian songs are singing the name Jehovah. But as Ron Rhodes points out they believe "Jesus is Jehovah of the Old Testament."

Now the only one I do not see in any other widespread compendiums of Bibles that I would use is the New World Translation, which I will probably refer to as NWT. This is because it is a Jehovah's Witness published Bible and I found it to sometimes be very expressive in wording I have not found elsewhere. I have it available on my computer from a CD-Rom available from the Witnesses or at the Kingdom Hall.

Once when conversing with a girl who said she was a Seventh Day Adventist, online, we got into the discussion about the Bible I was using. She said to look up these verses, and tell me what was there. (She knew the verses are missing in certain Bibles, because it is missing in some manuscripts.) Now, one of my now-ex-fiancee's Bibles has them as a footnote. This is the Tyndale (www.tyndale.com) Jesus Bible, so it is not particular to my NWT as she suggested. The first one I listed in the above paragraphs, so I will go through them all here to closely examine them. Remember to go back into your own Bible to take them into the proper context and get the right meaning.

1.) King James Version (1611):
Matt. 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
ASV: American Standard Version (1901):
Matt. 17:21 [But this kind goeth not out save by prayer and fasting.]

2.) KJV:
Matt. 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
ASV:
Matt. 18:11 [For the Son of man came to save that which was lost.]

3) KJV:
Matt 23:14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
ASV:
Matt. 23:14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows` houses, even while for a pretence ye make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive greater condemnation.
(footnote in the Tyndale Jesus Bible says: "Some manuscripts add verse 14, How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You shamelessly cheat widows.out of their property, and then, to cover up the kind of people you really are, you make long prayers in public. Because of this, your punishment will be greater.")
Mark 7:16 ASV [If any man hath ears to hear, let him hear.] KJV 16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
Mark 9:44 and 46. ASV: 44 [where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.] 46 [where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.] KJV: 44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Mark 15:28 ASV [And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was reckoned with transgressors.] KJV 28 And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.
Luke 23:17ASV: 17 [Now he must needs release unto them at the feast one prisoner.] KJV: 17 (For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.)
Acts 8:37 ASV: 37 [And Philip said, If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.] KJV: 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
ASV:
Acts 15:34 [But it seemed good unto Silas to abide there.]
KJV:
Acts 15:34 Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still.
ASV:
Acts 24:7
6...[and we would have judged him according to our law.]
7 [But the chief captain Lysias came, and with great violence took him away out of our hands,]
8 [commanding his accusers to come before thee.]...
KJV:
Acts 24:7 But the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands,

There is a song "At Your Name" by either Tim Hughes, http://www.jango.com/music/Tim+Hughes?l=0 or Phil Wickham http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il-bJjeiOhY on K-Love radio. However, he gets on the commercial interlude and claims "Jesus has many names.." including Yaweh in the Old Testament. Apparently he has a dislike for using the alternative English version; Jehovah. Also Yeshua http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeshua_%28name%29 is akin to the old spelling for Jesus, and has been changed to English. Compare what the different versions say at Exodus 3:14:

14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. (ASV)
15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
Most churches have a disdain for using the name Jehovah, and only use v. 14.

However, the KJV (1611) says:

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

But the NWT, (Jehovah's Witness Bible) says this:

14 At this God said to Moses: "I SHALL PROVE TO BE WHAT I SHALL PROVE TO BE." And he added: "This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, 'I SHALL PROVE TO BE has sent me to *YOU.'" 15 Then God said once more to Moses:

"This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, 'Jehovah the God of YOUR forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to YOU.' This is my name to time indefinite, and this is the memorial of me to generation after generation.
*YOU capitalized meaning the plural form of you, as in you-all, or y'all.

The Jehovah's Witnesses say Jehovah's name means "causes to become."

Easton's Bible Dictionary says this under the heading Jehovah:

Jehovah the special and significant name (not merely an appellative title such as Lord [adonai]) by which God revealed himself to the ancient Hebrews (Exodus 6:2,3). This name, the Tetragrammaton of the Greeks, was held by the later Jews to be so sacred that it was never pronounced except by the high priest on the great Day of Atonement, when he entered into the most holy place. Whenever this name occurred in the sacred books they pronounced it, as they still do, "Adonai" (i.e., Lord), thus using another word in its stead. The Massorets gave to it the vowel-points appropriate to this word. This Jewish practice was founded on a false interpretation of Leviticus 24:16. The meaning of the word appears from Exodus 3:14 to be "the unchanging, eternal, self-existent God," the "I am that I am," a convenant-keeping God. (Compare Malachi 3:6; Hosea 12:5; Revelation 1:4,8.)

This is the scripture most Christian religions use to describe the Great "I AM" as does the book: The Secret of Success, by R. C. Allen.
He takes it out of context: "God said unto Moses, "I AM THAT I AM...this is my name forever."

The above-mentioned Leviticus 24:16 (ASV) says: And he that blasphemeth the name of Jehovah, he shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the sojourner, as the home-born, when he blasphemeth the name [of Jehovah], shall be put to death.

So you can see why they were afraid to say it.

Jesus is always described as the Son, never the Father God, yet some people like Ron Rhodes try to explain "Jesus is Jehovah of the Old Testament." Likewise, Jehovah is always the name for the Father and never the Son. Yet people like Joe Kovacs in Shocked by the Bible, try to use John 1:1 to explain why Jesus is the same as the God in Genesis 1:1. However, God did not feel it necessary to mention his only begotten Son Jesus in the Old Testament in the description of creation, and is only necessary to reveal Him in the New Testament with the Gospels account of His coming. So...
ASV and KJV say: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Then in ASV: 3 All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made.
In KJV: All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Notice the difference by, and through...
New World Translation says it like this: 1 In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. 2 This one was in [the] beginning with God. 3 All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence.
So that's who God was talking to in Genesis 1, and not just talking to Himself.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (KJV & ASV)

Ronald Weinland in 2008: God's Final Witness does not believe in the Trinity either. He explains on page 216: In Greek the "Word" is Logos and means "the revelatory thought." It is the essence that identifies one's very thoughts, thinking and identity. However, the Church of God-pkg. (preparing for the kingdom of God) does not feel it is necessary to say Jehovah very much, as he feels it is a word for God, much like the Arab's word Allah.

Yet Joe Kovacs obviously argues for the trinity doctrine. In SHOCKED BY THE BIBLE, he stated how "God the Father" is not a phrase mentioned in the Old Testament. Of course it isn't, it was written that way because there was no need to make the distinction. Later in the New Testament it was then revealed. There would be no need to make the distinction between the Father and the Son if we are not meant to understand it. He stated no one has seen God at any time (citing John 1:18 NLT). Note that he uses a specific translation in an attempt to prove his point; this should set up a red flag for you to investigate it on your own anytime anybody does this.
"No one has ever seen God. But his only Son, who is himself God, is near to the Father's heart; he has told us about him."
We know that the book of John has some unique wording found nowhere else.
NWT (Jehovah's Witness Bible): 18 No man has seen God at any time; the only-begotten god who is in the bosom [position] with the Father is the one that has explained him.
See here that they decided to spell god with a small g. Now what is interesting is Joe brings up another scripture which could disprove Jehovah's Witness' theory against the trinity doctrine...because it uses a small g: Hosea 13:4 states according to his book "Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no other god but me: for there is no savior beside me." AH-HAH!
Let's look this up in the Jehovah's Witness Bible:
4 "But I am Jehovah your God from the land of Egypt, and there was no God except me that you used to know; and there was no savior but I. 5 I myself knew you in the wilderness, in the land of fevers.
Oh. Very tricky, huh? Looks like they have all their bases covered.
Incidentally, Joe argues that although the Bible says that no one has seen God at anytime (see also John 5:37, and 1 John 4:12), explaining that through the miracle of the trinity, yet they have! He claims God (apparently that section of the triune-God head?) appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and talked to Moses "face-to-face."
Let's see if that is true. Remember, He appeared disguised in flame in the "burning bush" and inside of a cloud.
Jehovah "appeared" to Isaac in Gen 26:2.
I know I remember reading where a man was allowed to view him from his back.
Exodus 33:17-23; 17 And Jehovah went on to say to Moses: "This thing, too, of which you have spoken, I shall do, because you have found favor in my eyes and I know you by name." [they are on a first name basis] 18 At this he said: "Cause me to see, please, your glory." 19 But he said: "I myself shall cause all my goodness to pass before your face, and I will declare the name of Jehovah before you; and I will favor the one whom I may favor, and I will show mercy to the one to whom I may show mercy." 20 And he added: "You are not able to see my face, because no man may see me and yet live." [this is such a dramatic explanation from God]

21 And Jehovah said further: "Here is a place with me, and you must station yourself upon the rock. 22 And it has to occur that while my glory is passing by I must place you in a hole in the rock, and I must put my palm over you as a screen until I have passed by. 23 After that I must take my palm away, and you will indeed see my back. But my face may not be seen."
To me this is just the epitome of the awesomeness and glory of God the Father, known as Jehovah or Yahweh. Jesus was seen by man, and is obviously not the "Jehovah of the Old Testament" but then as they say in those commercials: these are the passages in the Bible "they don't want you to know" about, because it would hurt the sales of their book. Actually, it would prove them to be rubbish!
A lot of the scriptures were actually God's angel(s) appearing.
http://bible.cc/exodus/6-3.htm
In Kovaks' book, pages 36-39 he examines the Bible account of "The Lord" God "appearing" to Abraham. In this way he apparently shows that although no man has seen God, he has seen Jesus, and that Jesus is the God of the Old Testament. Citing a version that says the LORD in the beginning of Gen. 18, and then also in the previous ch. 17, and previously in verse 12:7, which says in ASV: And Jehovah appeared unto Abram,
Jehovah is used also in DBY, YLT, and NWT, Jehova in RVR

Considering what we talked about above...
Everyone from our perspective reads the above-mentioned scripture in Genesis 1:26 where Jehovah God is talking to Jesus saying;
"Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness..."
They try to explain it (Jehovah's Witnesses, and other Christian denominations alike) by saying something like "oh He means that we have a higher reasoning, like qualities, and so forth, because everyone knows we cannot see God, being He's invisible."
Did it every occur to anybody, though, that just because we cannot see Him does not mean Jesus cannot, or the other angels including the fallen angels such as Satan, in the spirit realm cannot? It is almost as if they live in another dimension.
My sister and her husband said something that confirmed that level of energy down here can determine where Heaven begins and Earth's atmosphere is ending, because Satan and the demons can no longer get back up to Heaven, ever since they've been kicked out.
This sounds consistent so far to imagine it as another dimension, too, because if we say God is with us, right now. We still cannot see Him, but Jesus and anyone in the spirit realm still can.

http://www.acomplaintfreeworld.org/ In the book A Complaint Free World by Will Bowen, it is elaborated how we should not complain because everything works for good for those who know God. http://bible.cc/romans/8-28.htm (Romans 8:28). However we can also see that we need to be sighing and groaning over the horrible conditions that exist today. Read the terrifying warning of this in Ezekiel 9:1-11:
4 And Jehovah went on to say to him: "Pass through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and you must put a mark on the foreheads of the men that are sighing and groaning over all the detestable things that are being done in the midst of it."

5 And to these [others] he said in my ears: "Pass through the city after him and strike. Let not your eye feel sorry, and do not feel any compassion. 6 Old man, young man and virgin and little child and women YOU should kill off-to a ruination. But to any man upon whom there is the mark do not go near, and from my sanctuary YOU should start." So they started with the old men that were before the house. 7 And he said further to them: "Defile the house and fill the courtyards with the slain ones. Go forth!" And they went forth and struck in the city.

8 And it came about that, while they were striking and I was left remaining, I proceeded to fall upon my face and cry out and say: "Alas, O Sovereign Lord Jehovah! Are you bringing to ruin all the remaining ones of Israel while you are pouring out your rage upon Jerusalem?"

9 So he said to me: "The error of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with bloodshed and the city is full of crookedness; for they have said, 'Jehovah has left the land, and Jehovah is not seeing.' 10 And as for me also, my eye will not feel sorry, neither shall I show compassion. Their way I shall certainly bring upon their own head."

11 And, look! the man clothed with the linen, at whose hips there was the inkhorn, was bringing back word, saying: "I have done just as you have commanded me."

So it seems that Will Bowen is just another person trying to sell a book.
Some other sites I have visited in researching this subject:

http://carm.org/bible-difficulties/genesis-deuteronomy/why-would-god-order-destruction-women-and-children

http://www.nobeliefs.com/DarkBible/darkbible3.htm

http://www.blueletterbible.org/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhfqB0Qwovs

http://www.ultimatebiblereferencelibrary.com/

Some of the things that have been a stumbling block for me includes that Jesus did not advocate washing your hands before a meal.
http://bible.cc/luke/11-38.htm

Here are some of the most awe-inspiring examples straight from the Bible itself. Do you know that God can manipulate time? Bring people to life before our eyes from dust and bones? Shield us from intense heat or protect from all type of harm?

Read Joshua 10:13,
Read Isaiah 38:8,
Ezekiel 37:1-10...

I have finished reading the Bible by 10/7/2010, and there will be more to come here, so please stay tuned.
I appreciate all you folks out there being patient with me. If I had learned about God any other way, I know it would not make sense to me and I wouldn't be a believer. I have also finished reading: 90 minutes in Heaven, 23 minutes in Hell, and currently reading a God who Hates, and finished reading Blown for Good: behind the iron curtain of Scientology. I recently found this site too, in addition to the group Anonymous that is helping to rid the world of Scientology, and help ex-members...http://www.escapeint.org/index.html Get in touch with me to discuss.

Time is actually a measure of action of creatures and movement of celestial bodies. As such, it should be thought of as a verb, rather than a noun for our purposes here. Words, (like time) are used to manipulate and sway our mind's thought process, and may not reflect actuality. As someone once said, "if there's no clock in space, you make one!"
The Bible gives reference to time travel.
First read this article: http://www.nobeliefs.com/death%26timetravel.htm
I know it's boring, but it is helpful for us to be on the same wavelength.
You'll notice he has the scientific perspective, but the same type of proposal as I would say about dying and being resurrected at some date in the future. Also it is not God's will to go backward in time the way we see in science fiction movies, because the thing has already been done. If we go back and do it again, it has still been done before, so you might get a sense of deja-vu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9j%C3%A0_vu. Satan along with Adam and Eve had already raised question about God's authority to rule. If he had erased this occurrence, it could resurface at a later time, anyway.
Now go to the above-mentioned verses.
In Joshua 10:12-14, God shows He can make time stand still.
12 It was then that Joshua proceeded to speak to Jehovah on the day of Jehovah's abandoning the Am´or·ites to the sons of Israel, and he went on to say before the eyes of Israel:

"Sun, be motionless over Gib´e·on,
And, moon, over the low plain of Ai´ja·lon."

13 Accordingly the sun kept motionless, and the moon did stand still, until the nation could take vengeance on its enemies. Is it not written in the book of Ja´shar? And the sun kept standing still in the middle of the heavens and did not hasten to set for about a whole day.

And in Isaiah 38:4-8, how God can make time go backward. 4 And the word of Jehovah now occurred to Isaiah, saying: 5 "Go, and you must say to Hez·e·ki´ah, 'This is what Jehovah the God of David your forefather has said: "I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Here I am adding onto your days fifteen years; 6 and out of the palm of the king of As·syr´i·a I shall deliver you and this city, and I will defend this city. 7 And this is the sign for you from Jehovah that Jehovah will perform this word that he has spoken: 8 Here I am making the shadow of the steps that had gone down on the steps [of the stairs] of A´haz by the sun retrace backward ten steps."'" And the sun gradually went back ten steps on the steps [of the stairs] that it had gone down.
Notice the effects while this is happening. The people around observing this miracle have not started walking backward, undoing everything, like you would rewind a videotape on play mode. They continued to make progress, while time determined by the sun, or sundial, etc. was altered. Chances are, if you wanted to go back in time to a certain part of your life that was good, or someone else was still alive, you would have to undo all your progress too, at least according to science fiction type movies. For instance, you may not have a college degree anymore, as you didn't back then.