Keith Lovelady's Photography's photostream  

As of May 2011, I'll have been married for 32 years to a very beautiful and godly woman.

I believe if one is faithful to God first and foremost, you will then be faithful to your spouse and then that faithfulness will carry-over to family, friends and into your work.

I have three daughters and nine grandchildren. One more grandchild on the way, how cool is that? I have three wonderful son-in-laws, too.

All my families are born again Christians, and are living witnesses for Jesus Christ. All my children are very active within the Church ministering, and their husbands too.

I'm very blessed by God Almighty, and I give Him praise and thankfulness each day. His loving kindness He shows to me and my family is overwhelming. Praise Him!

_________________________________

I'd like to take this time to share with you all about my passion for photography and the arts.

My father-in-law got me in to photography about 36 years ago and I have loved taking photographs ever since.

My first film camera was a SLR Pentax Camera, I'm sorry I don't remember the model, but I sure did like it.

A Quick Note:

My house had been burglarized many years ago and they took all of my photography equipment, and anything else of value they could find.

I didn't have renters insurance at the time of this burglary, so I was out of luck in being able to replace everything at once. I had to slowly work my way back in purchasing things that had been stolen.

What the Lord has given, He can also take away. I thanked God that day, for the time I was able to enjoy what He had given to me and to my family.

Having your home broken into, really left my family feeling vulnerable, we all really felt violated.

The following day I had a burglar alarm installed in my house, and oh yeah, I went and got renters insurance, too.

I highly recommend that all people renting an apartment or home that you immediately go and by renters insurance. It will save you a lot of heart ache in the end.

__________END OF QUICK NOTE.

My love of photography runs deep in my soul, I guess it's how God wired me. I love art and I love to see the artistic abilities of others too.

I acknowledge God in everything I do and in how He has created me to be. God has gifted me in certain areas, and I hope that I'm pleasing Him in all that I do.

I don't worship nature as some are more inclined to do; I set my heart on worshipping the Creator - that created the nature in the first place. I love and enjoy nature through the worship of God in how He has created things so wondrously.

I love taking photographs of nature, landscape, people, still life, animals, rivers, creeks, steam trains and just about everything else you can think of, I love it.

Photography is a passion of mine, in that, it allows me to express myself. It allows me to show others the beauty in what I'm seeing. It also, shows others what they may have never seen before and never will, unless I've taken these photographs for all to see.

I love getting constructive advice from others in how to take better photographs, so please feel free to be supportive in your constructive critism of my personal images, whether the images are good or bad, please shoot straight talk when giving me advice. But, please refrain yourself from just attacking or knocking down the photographer and my images, but rather, cretic them in a way that is considerate of me and my artistic abilities. Please be informative, in how I could have made the image or images even better.

What I'm trying to say is this, I believe that there's a polite and respectful way of creticing someone else's photography and artistic abilities without being rude and inconsiderate of others feelings.

________________________

The cameras I use:

Minolta Maxxum 8000i film camera.
Konica Minolta A2 digital camera.
Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D.
DSLR Sony a700H.


My Lenses:

Sigma AF Zoom 18-125mm 1: 3.5 - 5.6 DC.
Minolta Maxxum AF Zoom 28-85mm 1: 3.5 - (22) - 4.5.
Konica Minolta AF Zoom 17-35mm 1: 2.8 (22) - 4 D.
Konica Minolta AF Zoom 28-75mm 1: 2.8 (32) D.
Tokina AT-X AF 80-200mm 2.8 Lens.
Kenko- Tokina Mx-AF 2X TELEPLUS MC7.
Sony 3.5-6.3/18mm - 200mm


Digital Darkroom programs I use:

I Just recently purchased an IMAC Computer. January 2011

Adobe Photoshop CS2,3,5, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1,2,3, Rawshooter, Print Shop Pro Publisher Deluxe 21, Photomatix HDR Program 1,2,3,4, Corel Painter Essentials 4, Corel Paint shop Pro 10, Corel Album 6, Digital DiMage, Roxio Easy Media Creator 2009 - PhotoSuite, PhotoShow 5.


Plugins:

Neat Image, Alien Skin - Exposure 1, 3, Alien Skin - Snap Art 2, 3, Alien Skin - Eye Candy 3, Flaming Pear - India Ink, Flaming Pear - Flood, Virtual Painter 5, All Topaz Plug-ins. Tiffen Dfx 1. OnOnesoftware.com - Perfect Suite 6 bundled Plug-ins.


Actions: These Actions work with Adobe Photoshop CS2,3,4 and 5.

Gavin Phillips - I own about 5 separate sets of his Actions. Each set of Actions come with multiple options in fixing or just giving your images a new look. I highly recommend all of his Actions, and each action comes with a tutorial video that give you instructions on how to work each one. I now have his painting - Actions, too.

I personally think Gavin's Photoshop - Actions are pretty expensive, but well worth it for the hurried photographer. These Actions really cut a lot of time off your schedule and will really make your photographs come alive.
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Gavin Philips web page is shown below:

www.photoeffects.biz/

Lightroom 2 and 3 Presets: Sean's Graduated filters.

Most of my photo stream has very little that was done to fix them. I try to take the best photograph I can and then do minor touchup with each photographs because I only shoot RAW Photographs.

You will know when I've done some serious changes to my photographs, or when I have experiment with them in the digital darkroom because I will tell you.

Almost all my photos have minor adjustments - saturation or vibrancy and some tone changes.

Whatever you do with your photos...remember never to forget to have fun.


ENJOY, MY FRIENDS.

NOTICE: Please don't use my photos in any way unless it's with my expressed direct consent.




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Verse:

John 3:16; Jn 3:16; John 3
Keyword:
Salvation, Jesus, Gospel
With Operators:
AND, OR, NOT, “ ”


Online Bible by Logos


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______________________________________________


I'm retired.

I live in the United States.


WARNING...WARNING...WARNING...WARNING...WARNING

If you're one of those persons who get offended by people talking about God...then please don't read below these next two lines shown below.


This is a profile page. So, I'm going to talk about who I really am below this line.

Don't read any further than this line, if you're satisfied on what I have already said about myself. Especially if you're one who leans toward liberalism of the Far-Left.

Unlike many liberals, at least I believe in your rights, to believe the way you want.

I believe in the classic liberalism of the United States founding fathers and of those earlier Christian men and women.

liberals have been fighting to silence Christianity throughout the world for ages, especially right here in America.

Many liberals seem to be more intolerant of us Christian's than they believe that we are of them, which is not the case at all, for true believers.

I'm sure, if the liberals had their chance to have written the United States Constitution the way they wanted to, then this country would have ceased to exist long ago,

And these same liberals have been taking the United States down the road toward liberalism, Socialism, Marxism, Humanism, Anarchism, and Atheism now for many years, and we're seeing the destructive powers of it today around the whole world, including right here within the United States.

The United States has lost her way spiritually, she's about there, in completely falling out of the graces of God.

We all need to humble ourselves before God Almighty and repent and turn from our evil wicked sins, so that, we can be set apart and made in right standing with God, and changed into a new creation, a new creation of righteousness, holiness, purity, in by and through the power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit of God - Regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit that lives in all true believers, those who have been chosen by God from the beginning. Amen

It's not an issue of intolerants with us Christians, as far as liberalism goes, for the most part, that is. It is really, more about being able to speak out freely in what we believe in, as Christians, without being told that we can't do that, just as the liberals speak out and teach what they believe in, all done within our public school system, and without being kept from doing so, I might add. Why is it considered fair, for you liberals to control what Christians can do and can’t do in society, and on government properties, or in places that are supported by U.S. tax dollars, and yet, the so called non-religious, liberals, God haters, humanists, atheists, Marxists, Socialists, Communists, evolutionists and the like can get away with doing and saying anything they want, without being stopped.

Every one of these groups that I’ve mentioned in the above paragraphs, are a belief system, they’re all religious in nature, they just lean toward the worship of mankind, rather than God Almighty.

Evolution is thought of as science, according to humanism, but the reality is, that it’s a theory, it’s a belief system, you can’t prove any of it, and you have to take it on faith alone. The rest of these groups, that I had mentioned above, in the previous paragraphs, are just ways of believing, and ultimately putting your faith in them as well.

Right now, it's really about having our Christian freedoms and rights, given back to us, which our founding fathers had recognized that we should have, in the conception and in the birth of America.

The founding fathers of America, knew, that God had already given these rights and freedoms to His children, so, they made laws protecting the rights, of religion, and, that the government was not to make any laws governing religion, nor was government allowed to force anyone to believe a certain way, either. Back then Christians could go anywhere and teach, preach, whether on private property or on public domains, and yes, on government property, too.

This country was established by godly men (Christians) for the most part, and they wrote the U.S. Constitution based on the Holy Bible. These God fearing men wanted God to always play a part in the leadership rolls of all authority in this country, the (United States of America).

The founding Fathers of America, recognized that the God of Abraham, Isaac and of Jacob, is the One true and living God. They recognized that God created all things, and that He also created governments and all authority (Romans 13). Found in many other places in the Bible, too, OT and NT.

Our founding fathers recognized that God was the one who established all authority in the heavens and on this earth. How could God not play a huge roll in the spiritual health of this country? The fact is, God must play the main roll in all areas of this country, or it will surely die.

God is to be in government, since He is the Creator, and He is the Creator of all things, including government/s. God, is to be in our system of government, just as our founding fathers designed it to be, they just didn't want the control of religion or religiousity, giving orders or commands to the U.S. Government or to it's citizenry, but yet, still having a godliness about all of the leaders. Therefore, still having God, in all of the workings of government, just not having the Church as the Ruler over the government and the people, but Christianty and its teachings, yes, the founders did want the Gospel to be taught all through the new Americas.

The founders even established Christian Colleges so that they could teach more young men to become Pastors in the new world Americas, and ultimately spread the Gosple of Jesus Christ in America and around the world by Missionaries.

Congress even purchased 30,000 dollars worth of Bibles from England so that, their citizens can learn about God and all of His teachings.

The founding fathers of America, wanted a separation of these two powerful entities (Church and State/Government), although, this is not in the Constitution, either. Nor was this meant to silence God, in government places, but only to keep them both honest, so that, it wouldn't be like another Great Britain, all over again. For reasons of religious corruptions, and because of forcing the people to believe a certain way, and if they didn't believe the way that the Catholic Church was commanding them to believe, then in many cases, these persons who believed differently, were then put to death. This was the main concern of most every earlier founders

I have not been talking about religious dominance or a religious rule over the people. Nor did our founding fathers want religion/Christian rule over the United States of America, either. What they did want was a strong Christian spiritual influence within the government and throughout the new Americas.

First of all, the founding fathers knew that they needed to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so, they started many Christian Colleges of higher learning, here in America. This way, they could get more pastors to preach the Word of God, and then this would intern, meet the demands of bringing about salvation to many of the people groups that were coming over to the new America's. Also, that it would allow for America, to be able to compete economically in the world if their citizens were all well educated. Plus, it would allow for a more civil society to thrive, if a majority of the American citizens were Christians. This way, anyone wishing to serve as a politician, would be a much better choice, and hopefully, he/she would be a man/woman of honor, and of nobility, pure, honest, righteous, loyal, and would be more apt to be loyal, not only to God, but to his country as well.

What do I mean by strong Christian spiritual influence? It means that we would only want to have men and woman of good and noble character, in positions of authority. I am talking about holding positions of authority within our countries governmental departments and that they would uphold the U.S. Constitution with their own lives. And that they would be in keeping true to the people of this country, and to following all the laws of this land completely without hypocrisy.

These political leaders would be a people of the people and for the people, and they would be a people of prayer and, that they understood that God was ultimately in control of all things. They would be men/woman who believed in God, and that righteousness and purity of character would be the litmus test of a true Statesman. Then they would come highly recommended by other well respected citizens in that same district or communities to run for U.S Governmental offices.

Our founding fathers wanted spiritual influence throughout all the governmental departments and of our country to make her stronger. And there was somewhat of an urgency to educate the citizens of the new Americas, and to the teaching of its citizens to read the Bible, and this would help in creating a new and better world for all peoples, and if they became Christians, then all the better then.

The founders wanted to build a great new world filled with freedom, liberty and the freedom of religion to believe in God or not to believe in God, that was your own personal choice, but this doesn't mean that they didn't love God.

The founders most definitely wanted Christianity to be the main religion of choice running through the veins (so to speak), of the new Americas, and hopefully and prayerfully, this would keep her healthy and strong.

These kinds of men, godly men, would be the best in keeping the security of America strong and safe from harm. And in doing so, will protect the American citizens with honor and great integrity. Basically, that was their sole duty in serving their country (government) - it was to protect America and her citizens within and without and no more.

This would hopefully keep a newly founded country on the right course. It would also hopefully keep our politicians more trustworthy. They would be more alert to the dangers that face our country. Hopefully they would be more honest in all their activities of fulfilling all of their duties as a Representative to the United States of America and to their constituents.

Early on in the establishments of the Union, especially the thirteen Colonies, one had to be a born again Christian to run for political office. Every U.S. State at that time, adopted within there State Constitution that, anybody running for political office had to be a born again Christian. This of course has since been taken out of these State Constitutions.

When all the founding fathers came together to write the U.S Constitution, they new they had to be careful about its creation.

The founding fathers wanted to make sure that religion would not rule along side government because both of them together, there would be much corruptions of powers.

This is not to say, that the founding fathers didn't want a strong spiritual influence with our government either because they truly did.

It has been the communist/socialistic party that has eaten away at our freedoms over the years in the United States. It is the Progressive ideologies that have taken us down that road of Socialism, Marxism, Atheism and Anarchism.

The communist/Socialist party has converted over to running most of their people through the Democrat Party, and are also working on taking over the Republican Party, too, if that has not been completed, already.

Communism has always said that we can't defeat the United States from without, but they can be defeated from within. Just read their communist manifesto.

Communism - firstly, they speak of breaking down our educational system, then our legal system/mores, and then by attacking our religion/Christianity.

Communism will also attack the validity of our great country. They do this by rewriting the history of the United States, and by tarrying down all historical characters involved in the establishment of this great country. They have liberal revisionists come in and write books about how bad these historical characters were. And how terrible the United States was and in their view, still is.

What communism does is infiltrate the country of choice and upset the balance of the society at large. They go to where they can cause the greatest damage the fastest way possible. To accomplish this goal quickly, they would seek out our school systems, especially in our College Universities. Then they would setout by brainwashing the youth of this country (USA).

All that Socialism/Communism needs to do is capture the minds and hearts of our children. We're just one generation away from Socialism/Communism in taking over America.

If you liberals/socialists/communists belive Christianity is the intolerant group of people, wait until you see and feel what liberalism/socialism/communism will do to America and ultimately, to you after they take control, nobody will be safe.

If you think I'm joking about what I've already said about socialism/communism, then ask somebody from a former communistic country, who's at least 95 years of age or older.

You can get this information by reading the communist manifesto, or any book written about communism, for it and against it.

We Christians have always protected the rights of the people in this great country, notably by the construction of the U.S. Constitution. If it would've been left up to some liberals, us Christians would most likely either be put to death, or made to leave the United States altogether.

The United States Constitutions will not work, unless we follow the righteousness of the laws written within it. Our U.S. Constitution was written with the Holy Bible in one had and a pen in the other.

The U.S Constitution can only be followed if the people are educated, and that they know the laws of the land, and that they stay learned on what our Congress and Senators are voting on. Plus, there needs to be a righteousness in the land for our Constitution to work smoothly, it can't work if our citizens are living in sinful debauchery, only thinking of self, power and wealth, it just won't work right, people.

The U.S. Constitution is not a living document as some would have us all believe, like, (Al Gore) for instance, but rather it's a document that is clearly meant to be black and white. We can't have this great document simply changed with every wind of thought that comes along. Clearly it's a document that was written for all ages and not to be tampered with in any way. If this document was meant to change with every wind of thought, then this country is in BIG TROUBLE.

The only time that our U.S Constitution actually comes alive is when there's a Constitutional Convention with all of the States within the Union, so as to introduce a new Amendmend. I believe they would need at a minimum 37 States to pass a new Constitutional Amendment.

Tell me, why have a CONSTITUTION if it can mean whatever you want it to mean at any given time. It stops being a Constitiution in this case, if one can derive whatever meaning that they want from this great document, doesn't it ceases then in being a Constitution?

If this is the case, that you can make the U.S. Constitution mean or say whatever we want it to say, at any given time, then we are indeed a very ignorant people.

Please God, have mercy on us stupid ignorant people for allowing this travesty to continue. It seems to me, that we could possibly be living under a whole new Constitution tomorrow, by this (continual living document theory) of thinking.

Where's the stability of the U.S Constitution if you can get whatever meaning you want to take from it?

Where's the security of the U.S Constitution if you can easily change the meaning of what our founding fathers intended it to mean without due representation from all of the States in the Union?

Our whole U.S. Constitution is based from the Holy Bible, and we must follow the righteous commands of God, and if not, our Nation will surely die, just as many of the great nations have fallen and are no more. All of these great countries fell because of the many sins of the people, and their governments leading the way of sinfulness.

The U.S. Constitution cannot operate or function with its intended purpose unless the people are righteous and they obey the laws of the land. Otherwise, you'll just have chaos in an unruly land.

Rome succumbed to this same kind of unruly thinking, and they lost their way and came to ruin. Rome caved in to all of the liberalism of it's day, and it too, tried to meet the needs and the wants of every people group in their nation, and it destroyed them in all, in their deluded corrupted and sinful ways.

Please don’t misunderstand me, I know the United States had her many problems starting out, but so does a woman giving birth to her newborn child. There is a lot of pain when giving birth to a newborn baby. And there is also, a lot of pain when a new country is born. But after the baby is born, there's much rejoicing.

I realize that there are many evils done in the name of good, but that’s not God, that comes from the hearts of sinful mankind. Please don’t blame God, for all the evils of mankind. Nor should you blame so called Christians for any evils that may have been committed early on, in the founding of our country.

You must understand that there were hundreds of thousands of people here in the United States while she was giving birth, and the leaders at that time felt it was more important to fight one battle at a time, rather than tackling them all at the same time. Especially since they had been dealing with many people and many different personalities to boot.

Creating a Union of States, was our founding fathers first priority, sorry to say, slavery was not one of their priorities.

The founding fathers were trying to unite us all under one flag and then to establish a U.S. Constitution that would last forever. This was their number one priority of establishing a United States of America, first, and then they would slowly tackle the other issues of concern that went against God's commands, and of our U.S. Constitution. Slavery being just one issue that was against the newly written U.S. Constitution.



God Bless The United States of America.
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My sole purpose in life is to Glorify God Almighty, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.

I'm a born again Christian and I love the Lord with all my heart, mind, soul and strength.

My purpose in life is to give glory to God and to praise His name continually. I’m called to reach out to others, and to establish godly friendships...to build up one another in Christ.

My desire is to be a strong witness in this fallen world, which needs Jesus Christ desperately. I'm called to be like Jesus, and I want to be like Jesus Christ to all I meet.

I'm here to plant the seeds and even water them and God will ultimately cause the growth. It's God's light and spirit that shines down on mankind, and opens their hearts and eyes to the truth of whom God is and who Jesus Christ is...GOD. Most people will choose not to adhere to God's calling and to follow Jesus in obedience.

No person seeks God, but God seeks you out first:

When I or somebody else talks to you about God - Jesus Christ, it's at that time; God is reaching out to you, and He's talking to your soul, for it's not the one that is necessarily doing the preaching that is doing the seeking, he/she is only the mouth piece, by which, God does use as a human vessel to speak, to love, to touch, to hug, to show and give forgiveness to their fellow men/women, to show God's grace to others by and through the power of Jesus Christ, here on earth, all for the glory of God, but it's God who truly is seeking you out and speaking to your soul, to draw you unto Himself through His Holy Spirit.

If you're reading this, God is reaching out to you now, so that, you might be saved through Jesus Christ.

I follow the commands of Christ, to work in planting the seeds of God's holy word, and I also am privilege to do the watering, and it's a great honor to see the growth by which only God brings that about. Amen

Today is the day for salvation. Repent - confess your sins to the Lord Jesus Christ. Speak to God as you and I speak to others, it's that simple.

Tell God that you agree with Him, and that you're a sinner, and in need of a savior. Ask Him to forgive you of all your sins and Jesus Christ will forgive you.

Let God know how you feel, all your hurts, all your troubles, and all your sins and give them over to Jesus Christ.

Give praise to Jesus Christ for being obedient to the Father, all the way to the cross, and ultimately died for all who will believe on Him.

Jesus Chirst was sacrificed in our place because we are Constituted Sinners and we needed someone Holy to intervene on our behalf. God was the only person who could do that, through the person Jesus Christ, who is God.

The Law of God demanded our deaths because of our fallen nature and sin that entered into the world, due to Adams sin, the first man.

Give praise to Jesus Christ and His resurrection from the dead in physical bodily form, so that, you and I might have life, and life everlasting. Praise His Holy name.

Ask Jesus to come into your heart and life, and make you a new creation through and by Jesus Christ only. There's no other way in which, man can be saved except through Jesus Christ alone. Amen.

ACTS 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995

If you've said this prayer, then now take up your cross and be ready to endure what life throws at you. It will come in many forms, such as, persecutions, beatings, scorning, hatred toward Jesus Christ, and you too, will experience this same kind of hatred toward you because Jesus Christ was hated, you too, then will be hated - by the world and even death may come to you because of your true confession of Jesus Chirst as your Lord, Master, Friend, Savior and King, all because they hated Jesus first.

Now that you're a Christian, you're commanded by God to be baptized by Immersion. This is the sacrament of Baptism.

Baptism: ordinance immediately instituted by Christ (Matt. 28:19, 20),

Matt 3:5–12 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Keep the faith, and never give up, hold true to your confession of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ because one day He will return for us, to be with Him for all eternity. Praise His Holy name.

The Church is being judged now, so remain faithful to the end and you will receive eternal life.

If you love me, you will obey me. This is a command right from Jesus Christ.

I don't want to argue, or belabor why a Christian must be baptized by Immersion vs. sprinkling, it is clear in God's Word that the Christian must be completely immersed under the water.

I also realize that there are at least two Denominations that believe in the baptism of regeneration, which I do not believe in, nor do I believe that the Bible teaches it.

The baptism of regeneration, it simply means, that after becoming a Christian by faith, you're still not saved until you become baptized. It's further understood that this interpretation means that you still don't have the Holy Spirit in you until you have gotten baptized. I do not believe that the scriptures teach this kind of interpretation on baptism.

I do believe that the Christian is commanded to be baptized after giving their true confession unto Jesus Christ.

_________

The Christians Confession:

He/She must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, believing that Jesus was sent by God, and was born of a virgin woman (Mary).

He/She are to understand that we're sinners in need of forgiveness, and that we need a savior, and Jesus Christ is the only one person who can forgive us of our sins and save us from hell fire.

He/she must understand and believe that Jesus Christ being God in the flesh, died in our place, so that we might be saved from our sins.

He/she must believe and proclaim Jesus' death, burial and of His physical bodily resurrection from the dead. In this sacrifice of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, we have received the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus has given us a new birth, we are a new creation, and we've been made alive through Jesus Christ's, death, burial and resurrection.

My understanding of the Word of God, says that we receive the Holy Spirt upon believing in Jesus Christ (the Son of God), and that He is, God. Then we make known of our true confession to the Saints of God, and then to the world.

The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles

44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
Then Peter answered, 47 “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

Sons and Heirs

26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

We've been chosen, predestined by God to be sons and heirs of the Kingdom.

The Word of God says He chose me, not the other way around. How wonderful the grace of God is, that He chose me, out of the many.
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I don't judge anybody, I accept all for who they are. I only pass on what God has given to me through Jesus Christ and His Word. If anybody judges, it is God alone. And His word rings loud and clear to all mankind throughout time.

God tells us to be wise and to listen to the Holy Spirit. We are called to live by the spirit. God says that bad company corrupts good morals. 1 Cor. 15:33.

Heb 5:14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

As Christians, we must be discerning about people’s behavior whether or not we should be in their company. Not that we are better than them, or that you can't be a witness to them. But that we shouldn't be a buddy or friend in the sense of hanging out with them on a regular basis.

Maybe a better word to use rather than Judgment in this case is to be discerning in who you choose to hang around. This way it will be less likely that you will stumble.

Hos 14:9 Whoever is wise, • let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, • let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

1 Kings 3:9 Give • your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern • your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern • • this your • great people?”

Prov 14:8 The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving.

Prov 17:24 The discerning sets • his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

1 Cor 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Rom 12:2 • Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Eph 5:10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

1 Thess 5:21–22 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.

Rev 2:2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;

We are not to judge in a condemning way, but the truth is, we all must make discerning choices about life and others conduct in whether you're going to be a friend or not.

I don't judge you in the sense of condemning you in who you are, or in how you want to live your life, that's completely up to you. Nor do I think you should be able to judge me because of my faith and the way I choose to live my life.

Aren’t there people you don't like to hang around with? Ask yourself why? And you will find that you have made a decision or dicernments about this person/persons.

The Christian is not judging you, but rather he/she is to discern what kind of man or woman you are, and then make the right choices if they should be around you or not. Not because they don't like you, but so that, they won't stumble and lose their way or faith.

Christians are to be discerning about what is right and wrong - what is good and what's evil.

Christians are called to encourage one another in the Lord. If a Christian strays away from the Lord Jesus Christ, the saints of God are called to come to the individual who has sinned, so that they might be restored.

Matthew 18 gives a clear presentation of how Christians are to come to one another when there is a fault or sin in the family of God. All corrections are to be done in love, and first you must examine your own life to see if there is any sin in you.

God has given the responsibility of Christians to reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. There are times when you have to come down hard on those Christians who persist to live in open sin.

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995

Notice that I'm talking about Christians and not to those who don't believe. Sinners are going to act the way they want, like sinners. How else do you expect a sinner to act, they can’t act any differently than who they are, they are outside of Jesus Christ and separated from God.

When Christians sin -

1 John 2:1-7

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:
6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.
New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995

Christians need to help and encourage one another, to love one another, and we must preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

God is love, and He loves you, and so do I.

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995

Notice verse 18 for those who don't believe, you have been judged already because you do not believe. So Christians are not to judge in a condemning way, God has already taken care of that.

Remember that the word of God says... demons believe and they tremble.

James 2:19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe— and shudder!

That word BELIEVE, comes with a whole lot of meanings when it comes to believing in God. Such as: Faithfulness, strength of will, Immovableness, unshakable, committed, trust, obey, confidence, assurance and fidelity unto God.

Of course this doesn't mean we won't sin any more, nor does it mean we won't have down days. There'll be those days you're unhappy, sad, hurt and darn right in the dumps of despair, but you keep on believing. You'll also keep on striving by living in the spirit and not by the flesh.

The thing is, we shouldn't want to sin any more, if you're a true child of God. We should be sinning less and less and less as time goes by on our Christian journey.

God's right there with you, anything this old world can throw at you, God's right there with you. Keep your faith, and don't allow the down times to steal your joy of the Lord.

1 Cor. 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I believe in absolute truth of God's holy word, and in absolute rights and wrongs according to God's holy word. I call what is good - GOOD, and what is evil - EVIL.

Remember, God has already judged us all, for the law of God has condemned us all to death. Without Jesus in our lives, we are all going to hell.

To have eternal life, we must receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives. We must ask Him into our hearts to rule over us, and we must follow Him even unto death. Our hope is in Jesus Christ, and we await His return to take us up to be with Him for all eternity.

Those saints who have died will be resurrected from the dead first, and will be caught up into the air to be with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Then those saints that are still alive will be raptured or caught up to meet Him in the air shortly after. All this will happen in a blink of an eye.

I have written this hopefully not to offend anybody, but actually just the opposite. I have written this, to let you all know how much I love you, no matter what your current life style may be.

I wrote this to give you all hope and our hope is Jesus Christ, and of His return to take us up to be with Him for all eternity.

1 Cor. 13: 1-13

The Excellence of Love

1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part;
10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.
13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update.

Love continually, never give up because God doesn't...He's always faithful.

God is good, all the time.


God's grace to you all,

Keith