The Rock Almighty: Do People Die and go to Heaven? And No! We Are Not Participating In Your Riot!

By Garfield Gregoire

Belief in Going to Heaven

Millions of professing Christians around the world believe in going to heaven, and perhaps, you have been led to believe or assume this to be true. Even people who may not profess to be Christian seem to believe that a deceased loved one has gone to be with God in heaven – for they will often say that the loved one is in a better place now; we have heard that over and over again from people who have lost a loved one.

A famous preacher said, “… I am looking forward to that glorious day of going to heaven.” But does the Bible really teach that people die and go to heaven? Have you ever looked into whether or not this is really true?

People have a tendency to assume things without proving if these things are true. The Bible says we must “PROVE ALL THINGS” (1Thess, 5:21). God says we must use his word to prove if a thing is true; and so, let us use God’s word to prove this matter of whether or not people die and go to heaven.

The Belief in the Immortality of the Soul

Man has long held the belief that man has an immortal soul that lives on after death; the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Greeks and Romans all held to the belief that something lives on after death; that there is consciousness somewhere. The Greek Philosopher Plato taught that body and soul separated at death, and the professing Christian world has adopted this similar belief in the immortality of the soul. However, the Bible does not teach that man has an immortal soul; it teaches the very opposite – for the Bible says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die …” (Ezekiel 18:20).

Genesis 2:7 states, “… God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” This word soul comes from the Hebrew word Nephesh, and it simply refer to a living breathing creature; it means that the man himself or his physical body is a living breathing soul or living human being and not about an indestructible and eternally existing consciousness that separates from the body at death. Man is wholly composed of matter; he is made physical and not an immortal being, therefore, man gets life by breathing air that goes in and out of his lungs; this breath of life means we have been given only a temporary or chemical existence; God did not create man with eternal life; all we have is the moment of breath when we breathe in and out, and in our final breath we die and our consciousness ceases. The life we have is only temporary; real life or immortal life is in God and it only through the atoning sacrifice of Christ that man will eventually be made immortal – having eternal life; and that is going to happen at the second coming of Christ -when the true Christians are resurrected to immortality.

I ask you to consider this: If man had an eternal soul that lives on after death, then it means that man would have been given some form of immortal life or consciousness, but nowhere in the Bible does it teaches that man was given eternal consciousness – by way of an immortal soul; on the contrary, God created man a physical Being subject to decay and death; and it is for this reason the Bible states that “… the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ …” (Roman 6:23). In other words, the payment or wage a person receive for sinning result in death; death means the end of life or consciousness; the Bible says, “For the living know that they shall die but the dead knows not anything …” (Ecclesiastes 9:5). It would surely be a contradiction of the Scripture if death means life in heaven or hell. Notice the Bible also says that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. If man had an immortal soul, then why would God need to give you eternal life as a gift? Why would God give you something that you already have? Furthermore, the Bible teaches that those who died in the faith, are to be resurrected from the dead at the second coming of Christ (2nd Thess. 4:16). But if the dead saints are already alive up in heaven – supposedly enjoying a time of bliss and happiness in the presence of Christ, then why does God have to then go back and resurrect – from the dead, a saint that is already alive and well in heaven? Why does God have to resurrect that dead saint from the grave at the second coming of Christ? This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. A famous judge said, “If something does not make sense it is usually not true.”

This belief in the immortal soul is simply not true; it is a lie that Satan has used to deceive humanity; he used this lie of the immortality of the soul to Mother Eve – when he said, “Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). Satan, by way of the serpent, led Eve to believe she would continue to live on and on; the serpent had her believing in the immortality of the soul and that there was to be no consequence for disobeying God; this is where this great LIE started and it has been passed on down to an unsuspecting world – who just like Eve, does not believe what God says; she believed Satan’s lie over God’s truth and millions of professing Christians continue to believe this LIE.

If man had an immortal soul that lives on in heaven, then just try to imagine if heaven would be a happy place as people think; just try to imagine that you or I died and went to heaven, and in heaven we would look down and see our family – maybe a mother, father, daughter, or son mourning in heart breaking grief or sorrow, and there you are in heaven looking down and seeing all this but is not able to communicate with your loved ones to tell them you are in heaven and that you can see them; you are simply in a position where you constantly see their grief from heaven but God will not allow you to talk to them and console them in anyway at all; all you can do in heaven is to just watch your loved ones suffer in grief and sadness. Do you think that in a situation like this, that you would be happy – having joy and peace of mind in heaven – while you know your loving child, mother, Father, son or daughter is continually suffering the sorrows of this life and you are there helplessly looking on? I tell you a heaven of this kind would be a living nightmare – where God would be some kind of a sadistic jailer or prison warden that deprives you of the opportunity to help your loved ones. Surely, this kind of heaven would not be a better place for a deceased loved one. Thankfully God is of holy and righteous character who would not cause people to suffer in such manner. Lamentation 3:33 state that God does “not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.”

What The Bible say About Going to Heaven

Now we come to see the true answer about going to heaven; we now come to see the actual truth of what God says about heaven.

Notice what Jesus said - as recorded in John 3:13: “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” Please notice that Jesus made it clear that no human being – except himself has ever gone up to heaven; this means that from the time of man’s creation to the time of Jesus Christ not one flesh born human has ever gone up to heaven; and yet, people do not believe what Christ said because millions of professing Christians believe men like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David have died and gone to heaven.

I want you to notice what the Bible says about David: notice Acts 2:29: “Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher (his grave) is with us unto this day.” So, here the Bible tell us in simple words that David died and was buried; just as all humans die and goes to the grave so did king David.

But did David have an immortal soul that left his physical body at death and ascended up to heaven? Remember, millions of professing Christians believe that David is alive in heaven. Contrary to what Jesus said about no man ever ascending up to heaven, the professing Christian world rejects what Christ said and believe that David and the rest of the patriarchs are all in heaven. But notice what the Bible says: “For David is not ascended into the heavens …” (acts 2: 34).

Did you see what your Bible says? It says David died but he did NOT ascend up to heaven. This Scripture alone SHATTERS and DESTROY this LIE or this MTYH about going to heaven. Here in plain truth, God words tells you that no one dies and go to heaven. Ask yourself just how is it possible that millions of professing Christians who claim to believe the Bible is the inspired WORD of GOD, can be so blind to this plain teaching of the Bible that clearly shows that people do not die and go to heaven and how can they ignore God’s word that says the soul is mortal and does die (Ezekiel 18:20)?

In John 14:17 Jesus declared that God’s Spirit is the Spirit of truth. In other words, truth emanate from God – because HE is the very embodiment of truth. For men to believe this LIE about the immortality of soul must mean there must be another spirit within the minds of these people to believe the opposite of what God says, it means that there is an opposing spirit influencing the minds of the millions to reject God’s truth or the truth that comes from the Spirit of God.

Revelation 12:9 reveals that Satan has deceived all the people on the face of the earth, and I know that people would take great offense at me saying that the millions of professing Christians have been deceived by Satan, but this happens to be true; the professing Christian world has been deceived on many vital and important truths in the Bible and this belief in the immortality of the soul is one of them. Jesus taught that many would come in his name declaring and professing that Jesus was the Christ, but at the same time they would deceive many others (Matthew 24:5). Think on it: Jesus said these people would come as his representatives professing his name – preaching and telling people that they are his ministers or servants of Christ; these so-called representatives of Christ would hold soul saving crusades; they will seek to convert people; they will form Churches – some Mega Churches; they would call themselves Evangelicals, Catholics, Protestants, Baptist, Pentecostal, Calvinist, Lutherans

and all kind of different sounding names – along with their differing practices and beliefs, and yet they would deceive many because they would not be proclaiming the truth; they would believe and adhere to teachings, practices and customs that are contrary to what the Bible says, but Jesus said his true servants would be sanctified or set apart from the false religious practices of this world – as they would know God’s truth (John 17:17).

People are often impressed by church leaders; by their personalities and charisma – which has been used to deceive the masses of people, but God is not impressed by personalities or how influential and powerful a church leader or a Mega Church maybe. There is one particular leader of a Mega church, that some call the smiling preacher; of this man, they say his church is built on his charisma, and that he has “magical magnetism.” But do you think God is impressed by human magnetism or magical personality or that a man has thousands of followers? I tell you NO! God is not impressed by human personality; what God looks for in a man is the willingness of that man to believe what God says in his words and to strive to live by those truth. In Isaiah 66:2 God says, “… but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word.” The word trembleth means to have a reverential fear for what God says in his word; this is not the kind of fear that God is going strike you down with a lightning bolt but is about you having respect for what God says. And while I am not here to condemn anyone, those who chose to believe the opposite of what God says are not being respectful to God’s truth; they do not tremble at his word, but, instead, disagree with God the Father and Jesus Christ. If you look closely at these Mega Churches, you will find that they teach and preaches doctrines that are contrary to the Bible, but the unsuspecting masses do not realize it and blindly go on assuming that these men are the true representatives of God.

Little does the world know that God’s truth has never been a popular thing in this word; the truth of God has not been widely believed or accepted by the masses, instead, people tend to go along with their popular religious traditions and practices that are contrary to God’s truth; and it is for this reason, Jesus prophesied that this world would love its own, but his true servants would, instead, be hated by this world – because God’s true servants would not adhere to the popular and false religious doctrines and teachings of this world; they would not be like sheep blindly following or going along with the popular or widely religious beliefs and customs of this world (John 15:18,19). The Churches of this world has been so loved by this world that some of their religious leaders have had streets and places named after them or named in their honor; they are so honored because they are pleasing to this world and not to God.

People do not seem to realize this is Satan’s world and not God’s world; Satan is the master and boss of this world – deceiving humanity on God’s truth at every turn. 2 Corinthians 4:4 makes it very plain when it calls Satan the “god of this world” who blinds the minds of people to God’s truth, and in Satan’s world, God’s truth is not going to be very popular thing to say; Satan will do all in his power to ensure God’s truth remains unpopular. But thankfully, Jesus Christ will soon return to unseat Satan from the rulership or control of this world.

The truth of the matter is that people do NOT die and go to heaven; this is a lie that Satan has deceived people into believing. Satan’s is a great counterfeiter who counterfeit God’s truth with lies – which is the very opposite of God’s ways. Through this belief in the immortality of the soul, Satan has deceived the world into believing that man has within himself self-existing life that requires no dependency on God; it seeks to mar or blur the fact that eternal life comes through Jesus Christ who said, “… because I live, ye shall live also” (John 14:19). Immortal life comes not through man having an immortal soul, but it comes through the very fact that Jesus lives. The blood of Jesus Christ forgives our sins, but we have eternal life only because Christ is alive; we have eternal life through his life; Sometimes, I think people do not fully grasp this.

Please be sure to go here http://www.americainprophecy.net/.

I am an old man who has long realized that professing Christianity - with all it Mega-Churches and various denominations do not at all proclaim the true teachings of the Bible; and so, I write these articles for those with an open mind, who, may possibly, be willing to see the truth.

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The Rock Almighty Adultery: A Dangerous Sin And Another Pastor Falls, and The "Obamanation" Of The USA?

Mike is a loving man – fully devoted to his loving wife named Amie; they had been married for over 15 years – with three beautiful children to show for it. But as of recent times, Mike noticed that his wife was not being as affectionate and loving as she used to be; it seemed something was bothering her, and so Mike asked her if anything was wrong, but as the many a times, Mike would try to ask Amie if everything was ok, she would just shrug her shoulder – insisting that it was just the stress of managing the home – along with the problems she had to deal with at her job as a night nurse, and that she needed a little time to figure things out. Considering what his wife told him, Mike told himself that his wife was going through some harmless phase of some kind, and it would be best to just give her a little time to work this out. However, one day, Mike decided he would leave work extra early on a particular day – pick up some flowers and go home to his wife to surprise and cheer her up. Upon reaching his home and entering the house, Mike smilingly held up the beautiful bouquet of flowers in his hands, and as he quietly walked up the stairs and headed in the direction of the master bedroom, to his dismay, he heard sounds like voices coming from the bedroom; considering that his three children were not at home during this time of the day, and that one of the voices coming from the bedroom was a male voice, Mike found himself thinking the UNTHINKABLE. It seemed that in that moment, his though was plagued with a sense of deep foreboding – that something could be dreadfully wrong; with heart pounding and feeling as if his stomach was in knots, Mike, in that split second of time, tried to reverse his thought by trying to convince himself that he could be wrong on what his mind and body was telling him, but as he quickened his step to the bedroom door and nervously turned the knob, his fear had been realized – as he looked ahead into the room he was greeted by the tragic and painful scene of his beloved wife Amie in the act of adultery with another man.

In one moment, this adulterous act had totally shattered a marriage – including the dreams and hope of a lifetime. The life that Mike and his wife had built no longer was - as the mother of his children, the woman of his dreams, his lifetime partner now lay spoiled, damaged before his very eyes; something had happened that could not be erased; that could never be forgotten or taken back.

The above is an illustration of what adultery can do to a marriage and is indicative of what goes on in this world.

Why Adultery is Wrong

The sin of adultery is a widespread problem – especially here in the United States. In this day and age, it would seem that people are unaware of the seriousness of this sin, and people often brag about having affairs with another man’s wife or vice versa. It seems that people have no regard to what God says about the sin of adultery and the damaging impact it can have upon not only those who commit the act but also upon the children of the parents who does such thing.

Some foolishly believe that God forbids fornication and adultery because he wants to withhold pleasure or enjoyment and be cruel to us. On the contrary, God knows the inevitably painful result such act would bring, and he wants us to be protected from it.

I want you to notice what the ancient Job said about adultery: “If mine heart have been deceived by another woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door; Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her. For this is a heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished … For it is fire that consumeth to destruction …” (Job 31: 9-12). Job sees adultery as that like a fire that burns and brings a person or even your family life to destruction. The wisest man Solomon wrote: “Can a man take fire into his bosom and not be burned? … So, he that goeth in to his neighbor’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent” (Proverbs 6: 27,28). In verse 32 Solomon further states: “But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.”

The sad thing is that Solomon who spoke out against adultery did not live up to what he himself taught, because he had set his hand to experience all kinds of pleasure – including the wrong things. Against all of God’s warnings, Solomon finally accumulated seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines - ONE THOUSAND women. He had the best-looking, the best-built, the most intelligent, the smoothest skinned, the most voluptuous women in the land. He no doubt also had women of just about every race. He tried everything he could think of. But what happened? “… and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father” (1 Kings 11: 3,4). Solomon too was preoccupied with too many women, and this may result in his forfeiture of eternal life in the kingdom of God – because he knew better; he knew that his lifestyle was wrong, but it is God who will ultimately judge Solomon.

Consider This

Once a woman is robbed of her virtue; once the offense has been made, it can never be taken back! How can you pay a man for ruining his life and future? How can you placate a man whose dreams have been shattered? How can you restore to a man his spoiled and besmirched wife? You can’t. The adulterer always stands the risk of having his life taken through the unrequited vengeance of a hurt and wronged husband; Any man who can’t see and understand lacks understanding! Notice how Job describes the adulterer: “The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying No eye shall see me; and disguises his face” (Job 24:15). The thing is people think that God does not see the intent of the heart and understand that God watches and weighs the action of men; the Bible says, “For the ways of man is before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings” (Proverbs 5:21).

Lusting after another man’s wife is breaking of the seventh commandment which forbid adultery and also the commandment to not covet or have desire for your neighbor’s wife. Engaging in adultery means a person desires to have that which is not theirs to take. In Matthew 5:28, Jesus warned, that “… whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” In the Old Testament, a man had to commit or carry out the physical act of adultery to be guilty of this sin, but now Christ, who came to magnify the law, now declared it to be wrong and sinful to lust after a woman in the mind; Christ saw this as a sin - because lusting after a woman means that you desire the woman – wanting to enter into a sexual relationship with her; it means that if the opportunity presented itself, you would jump headlong to fulfill your lust with the woman; you would not refuse your lust; to God this is committing a sin. James 1:14,15 reveals the danger of lusting when it says, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust is conceived (in the mind), it bringeth forth sin.”

I know that it is not a popular thing to talk about lust and sin in this way, because it seems that many in this days and age tend to see the teaching of the Bible on these subjects as some antiquated or old - fashioned law – having no relevance to our society today, but you would be wrong in thinking this way, because the resulting harm adultery brings has never changed and neither has the truth of God. Many famous personalities – such as movie stars and basketball players have a tendency to brag about their many sexual conquests - which involved sex outside of marriage and dating married women and things of that sort, but in admitting to these things, they do not seem to realize they are ignorantly glorifying a very dangerous wrongdoing or sinful act; the Bible says, “… be sure your sins will find you out” (Numbers 32:23).

Those who rush headlong into adultery do not often think of the consequences of their action or how truly dangerous this sin really is; the thoughts of the immediate pleasure that comes through adultery seem to blind the perpetrators of the consequences. In an adulterous relationship, people mostly have to hide and share their adulterous pleasure in secret. A singer, by the name of Billy Paul came out in 1971, with what the world viewed as popular song – called or titled, Me and Mrs. Jones; this song spoke of an adulterous affair between a married woman and a man who desired her; in that song, Mr. Billy Paul spoke of how they would meet at a certain café in secret and how they had to be extra careful so as to avoid being found out; they had to hide because they knew what they were doing was wrong and that there would likely be severe consequences if they were found out.

To commit adultery is to give in to lust and wrongful desire. The Bible says, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls” (Proverbs 25: 27). God created man to exert self-control over our life; he gave us a mind that can reason and think and to weigh the consequences of our action. We must realize and be conscious of the great harm; the great and devastating damage adultery can bring to our life; we need to stop and ask ourselves if a moment of pleasure is really worth destroying your family and the family of others – just because you have a desire to fulfill your lust by seeking to take what is not yours to take in the first place. Think of the many homes and families that has been damaged because of an adulterous affair.

Hopefully, this article may help someone to avoid falling into this trap of adultery or to cease the act of adultery – because it is simply not worth destroying your family over; adultery will only result in pain, sorrow; either way, man is going to have to answer to God for the wrong we have done in this life.

I am an old man who has long realized that professing Christianity - with all it Mega-Churches and various denominations do not at all proclaim the true teachings of the Bible; and so, I write these articles for those with an open mind, who, may possibly, be willing to see the truth.

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The Rock Almighty. Becoming a Person of Integrity and 2026 Is Going To Epic!

Integrity is a value, like persistence, courage, and industriousness. Even more than that, it is the value that guarantees all the other values. You are a good person to the degree to which you live your life consistently with the highest values that you espouse. Integrity is the quality that locks in your values and causes you to live consistently with them.

Integrity is the foundation of character, and character development is one of the most important activities you can engage in. Working on your character means disciplining yourself to do more and more of those things that a thoroughly honest person would do, under all circumstances.

To be impeccably honest with others, you must first be impeccably honest with yourself. You must be true to yourself. You must be true to the very best that is in you, to the very best that you know. Only a person who is living consistently with his highest values and virtues is really living a life of integrity, and when you commit to living this kind of life, you will find yourself continually raising your own standards, continually refining your definition of integrity and honesty.

You can tell how high your level of integrity is by simply looking at the things you do in your day-to-day life. You can look at your reactions and responses to the inevitable ups and downs of life. You can observe the behaviors you typically engage in, and you will then know the person you are.

The external manifestation of high integrity is high-quality work. A person who is totally honest with himself will be someone who does, or strives to do, excellent work on every occasion. The totally honest person recognizes, sometimes unconsciously, that everything he does is a statement about who he really is as a person.

When you start a little earlier, work a little harder, stay a little later, and concentrate on every detail, you are practicing integrity in your work. And whether you know it or not, your true level of integrity is apparent and obvious to everyone around you.

Perhaps the most important rule you will ever learn is that your life only becomes better when you become better.

All of life is lived from the inside out. At the very core of your personality lie your values about yourself and life in general. Your values determine the kind of person you really are, what you believe has defined your character and your personality. It is what you stand for, and what you won’t stand for, that tells you and the world the kind of person you have become.

Ask yourself this question: what are your five most important values in life? Your answer will reveal an enormous amount about you. What would you pay for, sacrifice for, suffer for, and even die for? What would you stand up for or refuse to lie down for? What are the values that you hold most dear? Think these questions through carefully and, when you get a chance, write down your answers. Here’s another way of asking that question: what men and women, living or dead, do you most admire? Once you pick three or four men or women, the next question is, why do you admire them? What values, qualities, or virtues do they have that you respect and look up to? Can you articulate those qualities? What is a quality possessed by human beings in general that you most respect? This is the starting point for determining your values. The answers to these questions form the foundation of your character and your personality.

Once you have determined your five major values, you should now organize them in order of importance. What is your first, most important value? What is your second value? What is your third value? And so on. Ranking your values is one of the very best and fastest ways to define your character.

Remember, a higher-order value will always take precedence over a lower-order value. Whenever you are forced to choose between acting on one value or another, you always choose the value that is the highest on your own personal hierarchy.

Who you are, in your heart, is evidenced by what you do on a day-to-day basis, especially when you are pushed into a position where you have to make a choice between two values or alternatives. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Guard your integrity as a sacred thing.” In study after study the quality of integrity, or a person’s adherence to values, ranks as the number one quality sought in every field. When it comes to determining with whom they will do business, customers rank the honesty of a salesperson as the most important single quality. Even if they feel that a salesperson’s product, quality, and price is superior, customers will not buy from that salesperson if they feel that he or she is lacking in honesty and character.

Likewise, integrity is the number one quality of leadership. Integrity in leadership is expressed in terms of constancy and consistency. It is manifested in an absolute devotion to keeping one’s word. The glue that holds all relationships together—including the relationship between the leader and the led—is trust, and trust is based on integrity.

Integrity is so important that functioning in our society would be impossible without it. We could not make even a simple purchase without a high level of confidence that the price was honest and that the change was correct. The most successful individuals and companies in America are those with reputations of high integrity among everyone they deal with. This level of integrity builds the confidence that others have in them and enables them to do more business than their competitors, whose ethics may be a little shaky. Earl Nightingale once wrote, “If honesty did not exist, it would have to be invented, as it is the surest way of getting rich.” A study at Harvard University concluded that the most valuable asset that a company has is how it is known to its customers: its reputation.

By the same token, your greatest personal asset is the way that you are known to your customers. It is your personal reputation for keeping your word and fulfilling your commitments. Your integrity precedes you and affects all of your interactions with other people. There are several things you can do to move you more rapidly toward becoming the kind of person that you know you are capable of becoming. The first, as I mentioned, is to decide upon your five most important values in life. Organize them in order of priority. Then, write a brief paragraph defining what each of those values means to you. A value combined with a definition becomes an organizing principle, a statement that you can use to help you make better decisions. It is a measure and standard which enables you to know how closely you are adhering to your innermost beliefs and convictions.

The second step to developing integrity and character in yourself is to study men and women of great character. Study the lives and stories of people like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Florence Nightingale, Susan B. Anthony, and Margaret Thatcher. Study the people whose strength of character enabled them to change their world. As you read, think about how they would behave if they were facing the difficulties that you face.

Napoleon Hill, in his book The Master Key to Riches, tells about how he created an imaginary board of personal advisors made up of great figures of history. He chose people like Napoleon, Lincoln, Jesus, and Alexander the Great. Whenever he had to make a decision, he would relax deeply and then imagine that the members of his advisory council were sitting at a large table in front of him. He would then ask them what he should do to deal effectively with a particular situation. In time, they would begin to give him answers, observations, and insights that helped him to see more clearly and act more effectively.

You can do the same thing. Select someone that you very much admire for his qualities of courage, tenacity, honesty, or wisdom. Ask yourself “What would Jesus do in my situation?” or “What would Lincoln do if he were here at this time?” You will find yourself with guidance that enables you to be the very best person that you can possibly be.

The third and most important step in building your integrity has to do with formulating your approach based on the psychology of human behavior. We know that if you feel a particular way, you will act in a manner consistent with that feeling. For example, if you feel happy, you will act happily. If you feel angry, you will act angrily. If you feel courageous, you will act courageously.

But we also know that you don’t always start off feeling the way you want to. However, because of the Law of Reversibility, if you act as if you had a particular feeling, the action will generate the feeling consistent with it. You can, in effect, act your way into feeling. You can “fake it until you make it.”

You can become a superior human being by consciously acting exactly as the kind of person that you would most like to become. If you behave like an individual of integrity, courage, resolution, persistence, and character, you will soon create within yourself the mental structure and habits of such a person. Your actions will become your reality. You will create a personality that is consistent with your highest aspirations.

The more you walk, talk, and behave consistently with your highest values, the more you will like yourself and the better you will feel about yourself. Your self-image will improve, and your level of self-acceptance will go up. You will feel stronger, bolder, and more capable of facing any challenge.

There are three primary areas of your life where acting with integrity is crucial. These are the three areas of greatest temptation for forsaking your integrity as well as the areas of greatest opportunity for building your integrity. When you listen to your inner voice and do what you know to be the right thing in each of these areas, you will have a sense of peace and satisfaction that will lead you on to success and high achievement.

The first area of integrity has to do with your relationships with your family and your friends, the people close to you. Being true to yourself means living in truth with each person in your life. It means refusing to say or do something that you don’t believe is right. Living in truth with other people means that you refuse to stay in any situation where you are unhappy with the behavior of another person. You refuse to tolerate it. You refuse to compromise. Psychologists have determined that most stress and negativity come from attempting to live in a way that is not congruent with your highest values. It is when your life is out of alignment, when you are doing and saying one thing on the outside but really feeling and believing something different on the inside, that you feel most unhappy. When you decide to become an individual of character and integrity, your first action will be to neutralize or remove all difficult relationships from your life.

This doesn’t mean that you have to go and hit somebody over the head with a stick. It simply means that you honestly confront another person and tell him that you are not happy. Tell him that you would like to reorganize this relationship so that you feel more content and satisfied. If the other person is not willing to make adjustments so that you can be happy, it should be clear to you that you don’t want to be in this relationship much longer anyway. The second area of integrity has to do with your attitude and behavior toward money. Casualness toward money brings casualties in your financial life. You must be fastidious about your treatment of money, especially other people’s money. You must guard your credit rating the same way you would guard your honor. You must pay your bills punctually, or even early. You must keep your promises with regard to your financial commitments.

The third area of integrity has to do with your commitments to others, especially in your business, your work, and your sales activities. Always keep your word. Be a man or a woman of honor. If you say that you will do something, do it. If you make a promise, keep it. If you make a commitment, fulfill it. Be known as the kind of person that can be trusted absolutely, no matter what the circumstances.

Your integrity is manifested in your willingness to adhere to the values you hold most dear. It’s easy to make promises and hard to keep them, but if you do, every single act of integrity will make your character a little stronger. And as you improve the quality and strength of your character, every other part of your life will improve as well.

Brian Tracy is Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a human resources company specializing in the training and development of individuals and organizations. Brian is the best-selling author of more than 40 books and has written and produced more than 300 audio and video learning programs. Brian addresses more than 250,000 people each year and has spoken in more than 40 countries worldwide.

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The Rock Almighty: Achieving Peace Through War and Monday. Jesus' Big Moves In 2026

-David Nelmes

Peace is the result of a total embrace of love. Peace is being open to truth and seeing all things new. Peace results in healing, joy, love, and total bliss. Peace is natural and only appears to leave when we purposely turn our eyes away from it, but it's always still there.

War is all that peace is not. War is an attempt to force a condition. War is an attempt to make something exist which is not natural and will not last. War is pursued only through fear and a total misunderstanding of how we are connected to those we choose to war against.

History appears to have provided many examples of where war has eventually resulted in peace, but this is an error of perception. The end of war does not bring peace, it just brings about the end of war. This confusion of defining the result of winning a war as an indication we have achieved peace, can be corrected by being willing to see things differently and more clearly.

Webster's definition of an 'oxymoron' states it as being a situation where opposite or contradictory ideas are combined. The title of this article is an oxymoron...'achieving peace through war'. Peace will never result from war because war is a total contradiction of peace and peace is a total contradiction of war. One cannot exist with the other, nor could one ever lead to the result of the other. They are opposites that can never interact.

Being at peace is not just a ceasing of hostilities, but is a characteristic of how you live and how you treat others within the world. Being at peace is not about not waging war, but is about embracing and extending peace by being peaceful and pursuing peaceful methods of existence. When we are not doing so, we are not at peace, whether there is an active war underway or not.

There are almost endless examples of where we think war was necessary in our past to bring about peace and it's hard to fathom how we could have survived without engaging in war to either protect ourselves or gain something we valued or believed we needed. This method of thinking only exists because we go far, far out of our way to not see that there is always a peaceful solution. The peaceful solution is often not politically correct and may not bring immediate results, however, the pursuit of peace will always result in peace. Quite the contrary, the pursuit of war will never result in peace and will usually only result in additional war, pain and suffering.

Peace is not the act of not fighting or not demanding vengeance. Peace is the result of having removed the anger and fear that brought about what we feel is the need for war or vengeance in the first place. War does not stop this anger or fear, it just results in the anger or fear of the stronger army, overpowering the anger or fear of the lesser army. There is no winning, there is simply the error in thinking that somehow we have gained control, but control is not victory. Control is bondage through fear, and peace will never exist where bondage and fear reign.

Recent history has given us a blatant example of how war does not bring about peace. Our nation experienced a major terrorist attack several years ago and our response was to seek vengeance and wage war. Is the world a better place today because of the war we waged? It is not. From an objective view, not only is the world today not a better place, but it is now more volatile than before the attacks occurred. War engenders more fear and more war. The only way to 'Win' through war is to totally obliterate your enemy, but that does not bring peace, just the end of war. When your goal becomes one of 'winning a war' as compared to 'bringing about peace', peace will never occur because it is not part of the goal and can never be the result of war.

So, what were our other options when the terrorists made their play? What else could we have done to bring about peace....just fold up and ignore what happened? Where we supposed to just turn the other cheek and say 'please, hit me again'?

Peace is not about inaction, but about peaceful thinking with resulting peaceful actions and effects. Peace is not about giving up but about becoming open to allow healing to occur in any situation and within any event. Peace neither looks to find blame nor does it care to determine who started a problem. Peace looks past all judgement and simply chooses to apply healing to all sides of the perceived problem so that the issue can be seen truthfully and fully resolved to where everyone wins.

When any form of attack appears to occur, we can choose to accept the attack and then attack back, or we can choose to see the attempt of attack as a cry for help that indicates a healing is necessary for the situation. When the terrorists attacked, instead of embracing thoughts of vengeance and war, our thoughts could have been focused on providing healing to the situation that allowed the attack to happen in the first place. Then our minds and hearts would be open to say things in the spirit of truth and peace, such as:

• "Our actions in the past have provoked you to fear us so greatly that you eventually felt you had no choice other than to attack us so that we might stop affecting you in the future. Neither of us has done the better thing and we are both responsible for a world situation where great healing is necessary so that peace can return."

• "As a first step towards healing and peace, we are going to immediately change our motivations for how we interact within this world. We have no right in playing the worlds police and meddling in the relationships between other nations and we will stop doing so immediately. With the exceptions of countries currently under attack that need military defensive aid, all our troops are coming home. We will only use our military defensively from this time forward."

• "Our actions in the past have included deliberate ignorance of areas of the world that are truly in need, but had no natural resources we desired. Our goal from this point forward is to provide financial, technical and educational support to the starving nations and struggling people throughout the world and help stimulate new growth and true hope."

• "We will also work with all nations to help best distribute the resources of the world as equally as possible amongst all nations so that the seeds of war are not watered in the first place. Feeding, housing and educating our brothers and sisters of the world is all that matters now."

• "The terrorist attack upon our country has awoken a sleeping giant who was dreaming of war, but inherently knows only of peace. We are awake once again and will not behave foolishly and warlike again. We are not at war, so please stop any future attacks and let's sit down and truly heal the rift that has allowed this situation to fail so poorly. All is forgiven because we have all contributed to this state of the world, so there is no blame to cast and no guilty party to destroy. We extend our peace to you, and whether you believe it or not or initially accept it or not, you will see it within us as we so dramatically change how we treat all nations and people of the world."

Granted, some of those statements might be a little 'utopian', but I was just looking to make a clear point that the idea of pursuing peace instead of war is always an option and is possible. We can be a nation of peace. We can be a nation that uses our resources to extend blessings instead of a nation that uses our might to inflict a misguided concept of world order.

We are mighty spiritual beings that have a powerful capacity to bring about that which is our greatest thought. If the greatest thought within you is of an inevitable world war, catastrophes, economic collapse, poverty, starvation, disease and a government controlled by a war-like leader... then that is what you will help bring about, and are already supporting. Likewise, if the greatest thought within you is a love and desire that all people and nations pursue peace, along with a sincere desire to work fairly with all nations of the world... then that is what you will help bring about...and are already supporting.

Perfect love casts out fear. Perfect peace casts out war. Concluding a war does not bring about peace, but by pursuing peace, you remove the need for war and it simply vanishes. The result of peace is the total rejection of the concept of war. The result of peace is the absolute dismissal that war is even a slightest part of the answer because war and peace cannot exist at the same time and will only ever annihilate each other.

This world has always had two choices...war or peace. You can side with war or you can side with peace. Which side are you on? There is nothing in between because you can embrace only darkness or light, but never both. Do you welcome peace or do you welcome war? Which do you believe will provide answers in the world? Which do you believe a truly loving God would embrace as an answer? Which do you believe a truly loving God would reject as an answer? Which cannot exist where there is a God of perfect love?

You can be a part of ridding this world of war. Instead of seeing war as inevitable, prophesied or even divinely necessary, choose instead to see peace as the only solution and be open only for what it will bring. Look away from all other ideas and options and choose peace. Be open for answers. Be open for peace. By being willing to see the future of this world as more peaceful, you will be part of the reason that peace spreads more quickly around the world. Be peaceful...and support the concept of Achieving Peace Through Peace.

(You can find this publication online at http://www.beingwilling.com/articles/achieving-peace-through-war.html )

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You can visit David's website at: http://www.BeingWilling.com

This article Copyright ©2007 - David Nelmes. - Reproduced with Permission.

David considers it a wonderful blessing that his insight and writings can provide opportunities for those around him to see things from perspectives they had not considered before. He pursues Gods truths and invites you to join him.

His influences consist of truly being open to seeing and applying the truths he has discovered through life and through both the Bible and A Course in Miracles.

You can visit his website at: http://www.BeingWilling.com

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The Rock Almighty Sunday - GOSPEL MESSAGE #4 – Is there such a thing as HOUSEHOLD SALVATION? And Bishop T.D. Jakes & Tyrese Dodge the Truth

 

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SALVATION BY WATER BAPTISM: IS THERE SUCH A THING AS HOUSEHOLD SALVATION?

What we’re going to investigate here is whether a baby’s parent’s faith would provide repentance for their sins and belief in Christ. We could extend this by asking whether the head of a household could repent and believe for their family, friends, or relatives. Are you ready to begin?

Let’s start by going to the book of Acts, chapter 11.

Suggested Reading: Acts 11:1-18

The Apostle Peter has left the house of a Gentile named Cornelius and was on his way back to Jerusalem. When he returned to the Jerusalem church, he was met by Jewish Christians who were upset with him because he went into the house of a Gentile and ate food, which was forbidden for any Jew under the tenets of the Mosaic Law. Peter answered them by explaining the unusual circumstances that took place before he arrived at his house.

He said that he saw a vision, and immediately after it ended, three men from Caesarea arrived where he was residing who conveyed to him to come to the house of Cornelius, the confirmation of such being given to Peter by the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, he recounted that when he entered Cornelius’ house, he was told by him that an angel had appeared to him and said to send men to Joppa for a man called Simon (analogous to Peter), which he proceeded to do.

14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.

And then the angel made this astounding statement to him. This man Peter, when he comes to your house, will announce to you these words (all the doctrine of salvation143) whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. One might conclude from this rendering, and many churches have, that when Cornelius got saved, he repented and believed not only for himself but also for his kinsmen (relatives) and close friends. Is this supported by Scripture?

Let’s find out and go back to the original story of this incident from the book of Acts chapter 10.

Suggested Reading: Acts 10:1-48

43-44 To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.

Peter told everyone clearly what they needed to do to be saved and that was to believe in Jesus. As he was speaking, the Holy Spirit fell (indwelt) on all those who heard the word (the gospel; the salvation message). What I wanted you to notice was that for anyone in the house to receive the indwelling Spirit, they had to personally believe in Christ. And if there were young children present, they had to be able to comprehend (some would call this having reached the age of accountability) what was said, and likewise repent and believe for themselves.

Let’s take a look at another section of Scriptures that are used to support the idea by some churches that if the father of a household gets saved, his whole house (family) will be saved. Stay in the book of Acts and proceed ahead to chapter 16.

Suggested Reading Acts 16:16-34

16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:

This story begins right after a woman named Lydia received the Word (the gospel) spoken to her by the Apostle Paul and was baptized in water. Apparently, Paul and Silas decided that they needed to go to prayer. They knew of a place which they had gone to earlier, which was by a river. While they were on their way, a damsel (a slave girl) possessed with a spirit (an evil spirit) of divination (who told people what would happen in the future144) followed them around for many days.

Paul, sensing that she was demon-possessed, commanded the demon, who was residing in her, to come out, which he did. Her masters, who made a profit off of the spirit’s soothsaying, saw that their money-making scheme was now over. So, they proceeded to stir up the city, making accusations against Paul and Silas, who were apprehended and cast into prison.

While in the jail, they decided to sing psalms as prayers to God, when all of a sudden, an earthquake happened, causing the prison doors to open. The keeper of the prison, who was awoken from sleep, saw the open doors and thought that everyone had escaped. Realizing that if this was the case, the penalty that would be inflicted upon him was death, he took out his sword to kill himself. But Paul, aware of what was taking place, cried out to him and said, Do yourself no harm: for we are all still here.

Acts 16:30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

It’s interesting what happened next. The keeper went to their cell and asked them what he must do to be saved. This tells me that he must have received some knowledge beforehand about Paul and Silas in that they were Christians.

31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

It appears that both of them, at the same time, said, believe in Jesus, and you shall be saved, and your house (your family). Here we go again. Some churches would teach that what this was saying is that if the father or head of the household gets saved, they can repent and believe for their entire family. This interpretation sounds correct, doesn’t it? Well, let’s dig further.

The phrase and thy house in Greek means that [your] household will be saved if [they’ll] also believe.145 There it is! The idea expressed is that each person in the house must hear the gospel and decide for themselves.

32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.

And not only did both of them speak to the jailor, but afterward to all that were in his house, which could have included slaves and children. Again, as we’ve said earlier, if there were children involved, then they would have to be able to hear the message and understand it in order to respond to it. What we’ve learned is that so-called "household salvation" has no basis in the Word of God - that is, that the decision of the head of the household brings salvation to the members of the household.146 This perspective also believes that when a child reaches the age of reason, if their family has already repented for them beforehand, then they don’t have to respond to the salvation message at this time because they’re already saved. The conclusion of which has no basis in the Word of God. This leaves us with an intriguing question.

What would happen to a child in terms of their eternal destiny if they died before reaching an age where they could understand and respond to the salvation message?

I think the answer to this is found in the book of 2 Samuel. If you have your Bible handy, please turn there.

Suggested Reading: 2 Samuel 12:1-23

King David had just committed two egregious sins, each of which constituted a sentence of death under the Mosaic Law. He had an affair with another man’s wife and subsequently had her husband killed so he could have her all to himself. After he took her to be his wife, she subsequently bore him a son. However, this was not the end of it all as far as God was concerned.

God sent the prophet Nathan to talk to him about what he’d done. He began by presenting a story to him about a rich ruler and a poor man. Evidently, the rich man had many flocks and herds while the poor man had only one little ewe lamb, which he brought up, nourished, and treated as one of his children. We’re told that when a traveler came to the rich man, instead of killing one of his own animals to provide physical nourishment, he took what was most precious from the poor man, his one and only lamb.

When King David heard this, he was incensed as if to question how the rich man could have committed this act of selfishness. Then, the prophet Nathan said to him, Thou art the man. He proceeded to tell him that God would impose judgments upon him; however, his life would be spared. One of the judgments would be that his newly born son with his new wife, Bathsheba, would die.

It appears that as soon as David’s son was born, he became sick. David proceeded to fast and intercede to the Lord for him so that He might revert this sickness. Sadly, this wasn’t to be so. On the seventh day, his son died. After which, David stopped fasting, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the house of the Lord and worshipped.

When his servants saw that he stopped fasting, they replied to him in a scolding manner, thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. Apparently, fasting after the death of a loved one was considered a cultural practice. Then, the king responded to them with a remarkable statement concerning the status of his son’s eternal state.

23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

Basically, he said, there’s nothing else I can do. My son is dead, and I can’t bring him back. However, I shall go to him. There we have it. David was saying that when he dies, he’ll be with his son, wherever he’s residing. And where will both of them reside at physical death? Remember, we looked at this earlier in this study.

Scripture tells us that the Old Testament saints who believed in Jehovah (Yahweh) at physical death (their spirits) would go to a compartment of hell called Abraham’s bosom. Luke 16:22And likewise, his son, who was too young to personally believe in Jehovah, would go there also. I hope this clears this up.

Based on the research that confirms what constitutes salvation is the gospel of Christ and the Holy Spirit, along with the conclusion that salvation is a personal decision that no one can make for someone else, we can surmise that the gospel of water baptism isn’t scriptural.

Believe it not, we’re not done. There’s another gospel message that’s a lot more prevalent than one might be aware. This I’ll call the salvation of repentance, belief, and good works. What I’d like us to do before turning to the next chapter is read an interesting article on water baptism regeneration.

CAN YOU GO TO HEAVEN IF YOU’RE NOT BAPTIZED?

I saw your comments regarding [baptism,] and you said baptism [isn’t] necessary to get to heaven…but its Jesus’ commandment for us to be [baptized]. If we don’t, aren’t we disobeying? Isn’t disobedience a sin? How can we get to heaven without baptism?

Aaron

You ask an interesting question, and it’s one that puzzles a lot of people. Your question isn’t really about [baptism] but about salvation. How, you ask, can a disobedient person go to [heaven]? You may be surprised at the answer:

Sin isn’t what sends people to Hell, so it’s not the disobedient who go there. I know: that’s not what you’ve heard before. Let’s walk through it together…

●The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). The Bible is very clear on this. There’s a penalty for sin.

●Jesus paid the penalty for all sin, for all people, for all time. 2 Corinthians 5:14 tells us this very clearly: ‘one died for all, therefore all [died.’] Jesus died to take our place…He paid the penalty for ALL of our sin. There’s no sin that His death [didn’t] cover.

●Because #1 is true, and because #2 is true, then #3 is equally true: were you to sin by never being baptized, that would not send you to Hell. God would not make you pay the penalty that Jesus paid for you!

Now, that leads us to another question: why does anyone end up in Hell? The Bible is abundantly clear that some people will be there, but it’s not because of their sin. Read more in 2 Corinthians 5: “[We’re] therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” Those who are reconciled to God go to Heaven. Those who [aren’t] reconciled to God go to Hell.

Sin is no longer the issue because, as that passage tells us, “all died” when Jesus died for us. There’s no penalty left to pay. So: because all sins for all time were covered by Jesus’ death, nobody would go to Hell for not being baptized. They’d only go there for not being reconciled to God.

Let me ask you: are YOU reconciled to God? We’re not perfect, but God’s children will naturally mature and look for ways to please Him. If you’re a Christian, you should be baptized…not so you can go to Heaven, but because you want all that God has for you. If God thinks baptism [is] important enough to command it, then we should do it.147

Endnotes

143Adam Clarke.

144UBS New Testament.

145The Bible Exposition Commentary/New Testament.

146The Bible Exposition Commentary/New Testament.

147Tony Scialdone. “CAN YOU GO TO HEAVEN IF YOU’RE NOT BAPTIZED?” GODWORDS 24 March 2022

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New Covenant Ministries - Ministerios NuevoPacto - Harbor Church, Block Island

Sunday & Thursday Worship

My name is James Rondinone. I am a husband, father, and spiritual leader.

I grew up in Massachusetts and began my own spiritual journey early on in life.

I attended Bible college, having completed a two-year Christian Leadership Course of Study and graduated as valedictorian (Summa Cum Laude).

Studying and teaching the Word of God has been a passion of mine for over 20 years.

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