Calvanism makes a mockery of the love of God and the sacrifice of Christ. Christ died for all (Isaiah 53:6, John 3:16, 1 John 2;2). Is God willing that some should perish? No (2nd Peter 3:9, Ezek 33:11). Will all be saved? No (Luke 13:24). Is God's will thwarted by man's will? In relation to salvation, often it is (Luke 13:34). Does that mean God is completely powerless? No. It just means that He is not a monster.

Jeremiah 25:27-29
Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink. For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.

I think we do need to understand that it is the Gospels which provide the interpretation as Christ being the passover lamb. John said "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world". And Christ was crucified on passover. He was the fulfilment of the feast. Paul even says in 1st Cor 5:7, "Christ our passover, sacrificed for us". To suggest that Christians are ripping off what is essentially a Jewish celebration is to ignore the fact that the roots of the Christian faith are found in Biblical Judaism.

Let us get away from following men.

Someone explained it to me like this. Feathers grow out of a ducks back. The duck doesn't grow out of the feathers. We are chosen "in Christ". It is Christ who was chosen, and we are in Him. Without Christ we are nothing.

I don't know exactly why there is a difference, but as far as I know, the name comes from the Hebrew root "to be", and probably means something like "I AM" in English.

As for the inspired Word of God, I don't believe translations of the Word of God are necessarily "inspired". God inspired the original writers of the Scriptures. But God is able to use His Word in whatever language it is translated into to save souls.

Not everyone is accustomed to the English, true, and I wouldn't object to people reading the NIV or any other Bible. But Jim, I would be very careful about calling for a Bible to be destroyed that many people paid with their lives to produce.

That's why these "improved" versions rarely are more accurate than their original versions. The word changes are made so that a company can republish the work and retain its copyright. Why would they be retracting the old NIV if this was not the case?

But I think we do have a prime minister who is prepared to sit on the fence and let honest, law-abiding Christians hang just for standing up for their beliefs.

Let's face it, this is not about teaching Arabic culture, of which there are many. This is about teaching one specific culture, i.e., Islam. They just don't have the courage to admit it.

We should not lower our standards for the world's sake, whether it is against the law or not.