Toni V. Lee

 Let's talk about them... 👩🏾‍🏫 Somebody cited the Pledge as proof America was founded as a Christian Nation.  👉🏾 Don't do that, okay?  * The Pledge was written by Francis Bellamy in 1892, over a half century after the last Founding Father died.  * Congress added the words "under God" to the Pledge in 1954.  👩🏾‍🏫 Some also say the Founding Fathers were Christians and created this Nation based upon Christian principles.  👉🏾 Depends on what you mean by Christian...Let's take a brief look at some of them. * Patrick Henry, John Jay, Samuel Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and John Witherspoon could be considered to have had "traditional" Christian beliefs. Witherspoon was a Presbyterian minister.  * Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine didn't believe in traditional miracles, the divinity of Jesus, or divine revelation.  Jefferson created his own Bible, editing anything supernatural out of it.  These men were deists and theisti...

Let's talk about it... When people pass away, have you noticed that folk tend to slap halos 😇 and wings on 'em?  Their life can be one of dirt, hurting, harming, and nasty. But when they die, they'll be portrayed as the holiest saint to ever walk this earth. 😁  They can leave behind many walking and bleeding wounded in their wake and yet, they'll be eulogized as the most caring and loving person ever.  My religious upbringing taught me that we should live this life, preparing for the next/eternity. The state you die in, determines how you will spend eternity for death is followed by accountability/judgement.  Hebrews 9:27 KJV  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:  This is now ingrained into my belief system, so I strive to live my life so that when it ends and I face accountability for how I've lived my life, my final destination will be Heaven--in His presence, where there's no more pain or sorrow and there's profound...

“Compel them to come” in Luke 14:23, let's talk about it... 👉🏾 Here compel means to persuade or urge. It does not mean to force as some are trying to do.  How they got there is baffling 🤯 when salvation comes not by force but by a personal choice of acceptance.  👉🏾 We persuade and urge using our voices--sharing His Word--and by demonstration--demonstrating the power of His Word in daily living.  Example: Love and compassion are powerful demonstrations of His Word that effectively compel folk to come to Him.  👉🏾 Making religious beliefs into laws and rules does not compel folk to accept Christ's salvation--His work on the cross, it REPELS them and seeds resentment, anger, and hatred.  🗣 You may forcibly and legally gain compliance to your religious beliefs and rules, while that compliance gives YOU personal satisfaction, it does NOT save souls.  When my grandson watches a show with me, he asks, "Nani, what's the goal?" Is the goal of the Church compl...