One wonders considering the number of acclaimed men of God in our society today when yet we still experience diverse crime committed in every nooks and crannies of our communities. The situation calls to question the fact that most of these acclaimed men of God in our society are not following Scriptural doctrine but those introduced for the fulfillment of their diverse selfish interests.

God who in time past spoke to our ancestors in diverse manners through the family heads and the prophets has in these latter day spoken to us through his son. He send his only beggotton son that whosoever believeth in him may have everlasting life, Jesus said those who leave according to my words shall be called my disciples and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.

(to be continued ...)

Mr ultimate, yes! you're right. Have you forgotten the problems was there when Jesus was here for His earthly Ministry.
They were buying and selling even in the house of God and He flogged the out.
Ananias ans saphiras lied and they died after Christ's departure.
Jesus already knew and He said not all that call me will inherit the kingdom of God.
Jesus was there when Judas was stealing the Church money. Jesus knew him outside out and was the more reason He made him treasurer............................................................................................

Study your bible and pray that God would help you become a practical christian to affect lives wherever you find yourself each time.
Jesus is our perfect example, so let's follow his footsteps.

Na wa 4 u sef,u sabi waka oooooo i hear say u & Grace comot and U came back with Joy, u Slept with Peace and woke with Blessing, meanwhile Favour is waiting 4 u at the office, while Happiness and Prosperity are waiting for you in the car, make u carry go becos na so dem go follow u through out this year. God has blessed you and it cannot be reversed,have a lovely day!!!! this is d word of d lord

: Standing for what you believe in,
Regardless of the odds against you,
and the pressure that tears at your resistance,
... means courage.

Keeping a smile on your face,
When inside you feel like dying,
For the sake of supporting others,
... means strength.

Stopping at nothing,
And doing what's in your heart,
You know is right,
... means determination.

Doing more than is expected,
To make another's life a little more bearable,
Without uttering a single complaint,
... means compassion.

Helping a friend in need,
No matter the time or effort,
To the best of your ability,
... means loyalty.

Giving more than you have,
And expecting nothing,
But nothing in return,
... means selflessness.

Holding your head high,
And being the best you know you can be,
When life seems to fall apart at your feet,
Facing each difficulty with the confidence,
That time will bring you better tomorrows,
And never giving up,
... means confidence

It's not easy to follow God the scriptural way, it's by his grace that we are what we are today. I really do hope and pray that i can get to serve him in spirit and in truth before it's to late.

Say amen, Amen!

Amen to that ANgel. I also wanna be closer to him. God help us all. Amen!

befor i say amen sister.. you know what u should do.. do it. u dont know how long u have.. after all when is too late u wont know then...since u say b4 it is too late, i think u know it is now!!

THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY INTO HEAVEN
By
   Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba
                                                             Email: acydfsecretariat@yahoo.com

Preamble:
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the second Person of the Holy Trinity into heaven, has been described by many as among the greatest events, in the order of significance in world history, coming behind the Incarnation when God became "Immanu-el", taking human flesh and likeness, and the Resurrection, when our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ rose from the dead and returned in bodily form into his heavenly father and was seen by many, after having completed his work of redemption on the earth. Nowhere in the world has God so honoured humanity as he did in Mary of Nazareth, in her life and in her death.

Though Jesus Christ came, sent by God the Father at the appointed time, as Saviour to all human beings, many of the world's populations have continued to reject him simply because his coming is tied to a woman and to history. He was "born of the Virgin Mary and suffered excruciating pains under Pontius Pilate", as expressed in one of the lines of the Profession of Christian Faith, the "Apostles Creed". We memorized a lot of that in our younger days, especially as "Altar Boys". But just as the authority of God in Christ is being denied and rejected because of his association with Mary, so too is Mary being castigated and sometimes, "insulted" by many, and called "envelope", "bucket", "container", because she is tied to God, the Mother of God that she is. There are some people still, who though they regard themselves as Christians, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, they do not believe that Jesus was born and nurtured by this Woman called Mary of Nazareth. It is therefore not surprising to note that many of the dogmas concerning the place of Mary in God's economy of human salvation, including the Mystery of the Assumption, have continued to generate as many controversies as there are many people around the world.

Today's presentation seeks to address a number of these controversies, at least in passing, with focus on the Mystery of Mary's Assumption into heaven, as defined by the Church. May I state from the onset that the Assumption, just in the same manner as the Immaculate Conception, is a fact that is authentically proven and undeniably true as the existence of God. Is this too strong a statement to make. I do not think or believe so. The Assumption is another demonstration of the power of God who lies beyond this visible cosmos and transcends it.

Who is Mary of Nazareth?
From the Book of Galatians 4:4-6, Mary is presented as the Mother of the Son of God, who in the beginning existed with God and was truly God. (John 1:1). The Christian Religion teaches two fundamental truths: that there is a God for whom man has a capacity. This Christian God is described in Platonic phrases as being at once "the Source of being to all things that are, and of knowing to all things that know". He is called the "Unmoved Mover" by Aristotle, the "Uncaused Cause" by Thomas Aquinas, the Originating Principle and terminus that galvanize all human desires. The second christian truth is that in the course of time, man was rendered unworthy and incapable of union with God due to sin. But God in his infinite mercy and boundless love sent his only begotten Son, to heal and redeem man back to God. That Son of God came to the earth, not from the woods, he did not drop from the sky, but he was born like any man, through a woman, though by the "Power of the Holy Spirit". As the Mother of God, Mary has a precise and significant place in the plan of God and in the mystery of her Son. Her place in this mystery dates back to the proto-evangelium (Genesis 3:15), where man's ultimate victory and the first glimmer of hope and salvation was pronounced. At the Annunciation, Mary became the "Place" where the Son of God would make a dramatic entry onto the scene of human history (Luke 1:26-38), as a fulfillment of what God's prophets had foretold in ancient days. (Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2-5,etc). In the Gospel of Matthew 1: 18-21, it is recorded that the Infinite Son of God took human nature from Mary, so that he might in the mysteries of his flesh free man from sin. According to the late Pope John Paul 11, "The mystery of the Incarnation was accomplished when Mary uttered her fiat which made it possible, as far as it depended on her in the divine plan, the granting of her Son's desire, to be born of her".  From that Annunciation when she entered God's mystery to the Nativity when she gave birth to Christ, even in conditions of extreme poverty, she is always seen with the Lord, in his work of redemption. She not only gave life to the historical bringer of salvation but also followed his work of faith and love to the death of the Cross. She was right there at the foot of the Cross-with the "Disciple whom Jesus loved", when Jesus gained victory over death and secured redemption for us.

Where is the Assumption in the Bible?
The Oxford's Advanced Learners' Dictionary of Current English as "A belief or feeling that something is true or that soemthing will happen, although there is no proof", defines the word "Assumption". The above definition, though a scientific one, is very important and brings out certain issues to mind. Firstly, it talks about a belief in a certain truth, though there is no proof, but the definition did not say that such truth cannot be proven at all. It talks about the proof in the present tense. Secondly, what is true cannot not be true. Truth will always be truth irrespective of whether it is accepted or not., for after all not all truths are provable or acceptable. I think this is why people say that the truth is bitter. I say that the definition is scientific, in terms of what can be seen, touch and experienced with the senses. God's existence for instance is the first and greatest truth, but no one can "prove" that God exists in the sense in which I have just mentioned. The proof of God's existence is found in his work and dealings with men and the world, which he has created.

It is important to remind all of us at this point that what we are talking about Mary is part of what God himself has done. As God, he has the power to do all things. The teaching of the Assumption is that God himself took the Mother of his only Son, body and soul into heaven, after her earthly sojourn. This is not too much a thing for God to do. We are talking about the God who created the whole world in a majestic display of power and purpose, culminating in the creation of man and woman in his image and likeness. We are referring to the God who holds and sustains the great heavens by his mighty hand, the God whom the Prophet Amos says, "touches the earth and it melts". Iam taLking about the God who provides all the Oxygen in the world for our survival. Scientists have said that despite our consumption, the total supply of Oxygen in the atmosphere remains constant.  The God we are referring to is the one who holds and sustains all the celestial bodies in their rightful places. He does anything he wishes and no man can stop or question him.

The Bible is the Word of God. But it is true that the Bible does not contain everything God has said and is still saying. God is too big to be reduced into a book. God inspired his people in times past and such inspiration was inscripturated, yet the Bible is not all that God has to say or do. Just because the term "Assumption" is not written in the Bible does not invalidate it, just in the same manner the term "Incarnation" is not written, but we all know through faith, that God truly became man in Jesus. If God is believed to have become man through Mary, and there is sufficient evidence to believe this, cannot the same God be believed to have performed a lesser job as the assumption of his creature?

The argument on the place of the Assumption in the Bible is derived from the warnings in Rev. 22:18-19, where believers are warned against any addition to or subtraction from what is contained in the Bible. Those who reason this way believe that since the Assumption and other related issues do not have any specific mentions in the Bible, it is unchristian to recognize them as divine truths. For such people, what is not written in the Bible cannot be an acceptable truth from God. Such people must be reminded that though the Bible is the Inspired Word of God, not every line or sentence in the Bible is inspired. After all, many statements in the Bible do not mean exactly what they say. What God says today is still God's Word, even if it is not written down in a book. God prefers that his words be written down in the hearts and on the lips of his people as a testimony to the world, of his greatness. I shall also apply the words of the Johanine Gospel that "if all the other things Jesus did were written down, the whole world could not contain the books" (John 21:25).

A second reason for opposing the "Bible only" view is the evidence and authenticity of Sacred Tradition. Most of what Christ said and did among the Apostles was never written in a book, since many of them never went to school to be able to write.  The only time the Bible records that Jesus himself wrote was on the ground, when the Pharisees brought to him the woman who was caught in the act of adultery. But we are not told what Jesus wrote on the ground and who it was that ever read it. I imagine that Jesus made some inscriptions on the ground to get their attention. During the early stage of the Church's history and development, the Gospel was transmitted by means of "gossiping". Iam beginning to wonder why so many Christians eat rice for instance, or do certain things when those things are not mentioned in specific terms in the Bible.


The Evidence of Logic:
Here we shall be considering two important events recorded in the Bible, the Incarnation and the taking of the Prophet Elijah into heaven.

a.  The Incarnation: At the Incarnation, regarded as the greatest drama ever staged in human history, Mary's flesh became the flesh of the Son of God.  She gave Jesus the healing hands, the tireless legs with which he walked the Palestinian regions, the compassionate eyes and a loving heart full of mercy. Mary provided the human elements with which our Blessed Lord performed the wonders of human history. He healed the sick, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, made the lame and crippled walk and announced salvation and freedom to the captives. In the mystery of the eternal Father, the Son and the Mother are one and inseparable.  If Christ died but resurrected and ascended into the glory of his Father, in bodily form, it is logical to say that Mary too ascended because Jesus ascended. How could Mary experience decay when her Son is God and Lord over all?

b. The taking of the Prophet Elijah into heaven: The Bible records in 2Kings 2:1-8 that the great Prophet of God was taken into heaven. Elisha and a group of prophets, we are told, witnessed this event, from Jericho. The Bible also records that at the consummation of the ages, the Lord Jesus will come again in glory, to raise the dead, and together with the living, take them to heaven by his power. The only reason, for which Prophet Elijah was so taken, in bodily form, and for which more people will be taken at the end of time, is faith in God and active good works.  If faith in God is the major criterion or standard, if faith is the condition for being in God's presence in heaven and on earth, if faith is the requirement for obtaining God's favour or approval, then Mary stands above all creatures. Her faith alone surpasses that of all angels and all men, including that of all other created beings together (that is if other creatures have faith).

The Assumption is a Mystery:
A mystery is an occurrence or an event to which man has no full explanation, because it is an act of the Almighty, far beyond the realm of the natural. The existence of God is itself a mystery most of what God does is mysterious and beyond human comprehension. God reveals himself on daily basis to those he wishes and in ways best known to him alone. The understanding of mysteries comes from divine revelation and through faith in Christ. Faith is defined as the reception or acceptance of the gift of God for what it truly is.

At the Annunciation, God through his angel identified as Gabriel, declared Mary "Full of grace" (Luke 1:28), because it is in her that the hypostatic union of the Son of God with human nature is accomplished. God choose her, so that through her his people would be liberated.  For just as Abraham's faith constitutes the commencement of the Old Covenant, Mary's faith inaugurates the New Dispensation. Pope Pius IX describes Mary as the "Most ineffable miracle of the most high God". 



Summary and Conclusion:
The foregoing has been an attempt to present the true position of Mary of Nazareth, "The Handmaid of the Lord" in God's economy of salvation. God, in His infinite mercy and providence, has so honoured humanity by taking flesh in Mary and through her, brought salvation to the human family. Through her the new covenant was inaugurated. She is the trumpet through which humanity hears the sound of hope. As the Mother of our Saviour, she is the channel through which humanity experiences freshness, liberty and joy that is endless and salvation that is unchangeable. It is a teaching of the Catholic Church that, at the end her earthly existence, God honoured Mary in the same way her honoured her while on earth. This is the whole essence of the Dogma of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven.



Engr. Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba holds a Masters Degree in Information Technology and is presently Secretary General of the African Christian Youths Development Forum based in Jos-Nigeria. He is also the Plateau State Coordinator for Teachers Without Borders-Nigeria as well as the International Study Circle Coordinator for The Dalai Lama Foundation, USA. He is married to Mrs., Hope Emmanuel Ande and blessed with a son named Samuel Ande.

PREAMBLE:
At the beginning of the Reformation there was some hesitation especially on the part of Luther as to whether the doctrine of Purgatory should be retained, but as the breach widened, the denial by the reformers became universal. Modern Protestants, though avoiding the name ‘Purgatory’, frequently teach the doctrine of the intermediate state or what is described as the realm of progressive development in which souls are prepared for the final judgment.

Though the catholic Church, in ancient and modern times, has insisted on the reality and reliability of purgatory, many a Christian have argued that the teaching is unbiblical and therefore, unacceptable. The doctrine is seen by many a man as not only controversial but as well difficult to comprehend.

This presentation shall therefore attempt nothing new. It is intended to be a reminder to what has already being laid down by the Church, especially under the following major heads:

*The Catholic Church and the teaching on purgatory
* Scriptural evidence in favour of purgatory
* The evidence of Sacred Tradition
* The nature and duration of purgatory
* The joys of purgatory
* Summary and conclusion


THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE TEACHING ON PURGATORY

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Purgatory, derived from the Latin “Purgatore”, is defined as the “final purification of the elect, which is different from the punishment of the damned”. This was formulated at the Councils of Florence (1439) and Trent (1563), with reference to certain scriptural texts, speaking of a cleansing fire (1Cor. 3:15; 1Pt.1: 7). It is the purification, which occurs at the end of life. Because we still sin in this life, but will not be sinning when we are in glory, between death and glorification must come purification. Purgatory is therefore, the final rush of our sanctification. It is our transition into glory.

That temporal punishment is due to sin, even after God has pardoned the sin itself, is a clear teaching of Scripture. For instance, God indeed brought man out of his first disobedience and gave him power over all things, but still condemned him “to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow, until he returned to dust”. God forgave the incredulity of Moses and Aaron, but in punishment kept them from the “Land of promise” (Num.20: 12). The Lord took away the sin of David, but the life of the child was forfeited because David made the enemies blaspheme God’s holy name. God requires satisfaction, and will punish sin, and this doctrine involves as its necessary consequence a belief that the sinner failing to do penance in this life may be punished in another world, and so not be cast off from God.

The Church also teaches that all sins are not equal before God, and that whosoever comes into God’s presence must be perfectly pure, for in the strictest sense, God’s “eyes are too pure, to behold evil” (Hab. 1:13). So deep is this belief that right from the early times, the Jews and even the pagans, long before the advent of Christianity, accepted it. In the middle ages, it was however rejected by the Albigenses, Waldenses and the Hussites. Many great theologians of the time, including St. Bernard and of course, St. Thomas, in his dissertation, provided sufficient proves, especially against the errors of the Greeks about Purgatory. 

The doctrine of purgatory supposes that some die with smaller faults for which there was no true repentance and that temporal penalty due to sin is at times not wholly paid in this life. This teaching is also bound up with the practice of praying for the dead. Here, it should be noted that the Church places a sharp distinction between purgatory and hell.

SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE IN FAVOUR OF PURGATORY:

Here, it is important to note that purgatory is completely biblical on both implicit and explicit grounds. Implicitly, it is derived from the biblical principles that we still sin till death, but that there will be no sin in glory. Thus between death and eventual glorification must come purification. Explicitly, we have the witness of passages such as 11Macc.12, as well as the witness of passages describing our accounting before Christ in the particular judgment, including the especially vivid depiction of one escaping through flames in 1Cor.3: 11-15.

Jesus himself speaks in Matt.12: 32 of a sin which will neither be forgiven in this age nor the age to come, implying that some sins (venial sins of which we have not repented before death) will be forgiven when we repent the first moment of our afterlife. Notice also that in the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, Jesus pictures the dead soul as being carried by angels to his place of rest (Lk. 16:22). Here, some transport time is pictured. Furthermore, in Matt. 5:25-26, we see God as the Judge and will hold us responsible or accountable for the wrong done to our neighbors if we have not reconciled with them before we see Christ. The above Scriptures all point to a process of purification after death in which, according to St. Isidore, “some sins will be forgiven and purged away by a certain purifying fire”. Jesus is known to have said, from the Scripture already cited above, that “--- you will not get out until you have paid the last penny”. This means that there is a time when our finite punishment due to the finite, human dimension of our sins will be over.

THE EVIDENCE OF SACRED TRADITION:

The doctrine of purgatory is part of the very earliest Christian tradition. Tertullian in “De Corona militis” mentions prayers for the dead as an apostolic ordinance, and in “De Monogamis”, he advises a widow “to pray for the soul of her husband, begging repose for him and participation in the first resurrection”. Origen states that if a man depart this life with lighter faults, he is condemned to fire which burns away the lighter materials and prepares the soul for the kingdom of God where nothing defiled may enter”. St. Gregory of Nyssa also states that man’s weaknesses are purged in this life by prayer and wisdom, or are expiated in the next by a cleansing fire. That same fire in others will cancel the corruption and the propensity to evil.

The teaching of the Fathers and the formularies used in Church liturgy found expression in the early Christian monuments, especially those contained in the catacombs. On the tombs of the faithful were inscribed words of hope, petition for peace and rest, and as the anniversaries came around, the faithful gathered at the graves of the departed to make intercession for those who have gone before.


In the fourth century in the West, St. Ambrose in his commentary on the existence of purgatory and at the funeral of Theodosius, prayed for the soul of the departed emperor: “Give, O Lord, rest to Thy servant Theodosius, that rest Thou hast prepared for Thy saints---”. St. Augustine describes two conditions of men as “those who have departed this life, not so bad as to be deemed unworthy of mercy, nor so good as to be entitled to immediate happiness”.

The idea of purgatory is not a new one but has been part of the true religion since before the time of Christ. We have great witness, not only from Scriptures, but also in the pre-Christian Jewish books, such as “The Life of Adam and Eve”, which speaks of Adam being freed from purgatory on the Last Day. It has also being part of the true religion ever since Christ’s day. Not only Catholics believe in this final purification, but the Eastern Orthodox as well as do Orthodox Jews. Infact, when a Jewish person’s loved one dies today, he prays a prayer called the “Mourner’s Qaddish” for eleven months after the death for the loved one’s purification. Until the reformation, nobody thought of denying this doctrine and thus only Protestants deny it today.   

THE NATURE AND DURATION OF PURGATORY:

The nature of purgatory is undoubtedly a passing character. We pray and offer sacrifice for souls therein detained “God in mercy may forgive every fault and receive then into the bosom of Abraham” The punishment of purgatory is temporary and will lease, at least with the Last Judgment.

Let it be noted that time does not work in the same way in the afterlife as it does here. Infact, great theologians including St. Thomas Aquinas, had special term for it, and would contrast three different temporal modalities. The ordinary flow of events we experience here on earth, called “time”, the perpetual present God experiences, called “eternity” and the middle state experienced by those in the afterlife, known as “aeviternity”. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger writes that purgatory may involve “existential rather than “temporal duration”. It is an experience in a moment, rather than something one endures over time.

The Church teaches that purgatory is the final purification, but not that it occurs in any special region in the afterlife. It means that purgatory may not take place in any special location. The final purification may take place in the immediate presence of God (to the extent that God’s presence may be described in spatial terms). In his book on eschatology, Cardinal Ratzinger describes purgatory as a fiery, transforming encounter with Christ and his love. According to him, purgatory is not some kind of supra-worldly concentration camp where one is forced to undergo punishments in a more or less arbitrary fashion. Rather it is the inwardly necessary process of transformation in which a person becomes capable of Christ, capable of God and thus capable of unity with the whole communion of saints. Encounter with the Lord is this transformation. As we are drawn out of this life and into direct union with Christ, his fiery love and holiness burns away all the dross and iniquities in our souls and makes us fit for life in the glorious, overwhelming light of God’s presence and holiness.

The idea of purgatory, even as reflected in Church liturgies, is that the souls for whose peace sacrifice was offered are shut out for the time being, from the sight of God, because they are not so good as to be entitled to eternal happiness.

But for them, death is the termination not of nature but of sin. It is this inability to sin that makes them secure of final happiness. This is the Catholic position proclaimed by Leo X in the Bull “Exurge Domine” which condemned the errors of Martin Luther.

THE JOYS OF PURGATORY:

In the same Bull “Exurge Domine”, Leo X condemns the proposition that there is no proof from reason or scripture that souls in purgatory cannot merit or increase in charity. Because for them, “The night has come in which no man can labour”. That those on earth are still in communion with the souls in purgatory is the earliest Christian teaching and that the living aid the dead by their prayers and works of satisfaction is clear. That souls detained therein are aided by suffrages of the faithful and principally by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar. Whether our works of satisfaction performed on behalf of the dead avail purely out of God’s benevolence and mercy, or whether God obliges himself in justice to accept our vicarious atonement, is not a settled question. However, it is a common practice of the Church, which joins together the living and the dead without any discrimination.

It is important to point out that the Church in no way teaches that purgatory is all pain. Infact, some of the greatest saints and theologians have stressed that since the soul is in closer union with God than it is here on earth, one experiences correspondingly greater joys. St. Catherine of Genoa wrote “God inspires the soul in purgatory with so ardent a movement of devoted love that it would be sufficient to annihilate her were she not immortal. Illumined and inflamed by this pure charity, the more she loves God, the more she detests the least stain that displeases him, the least hindrance that prevents her union with him”. Apart from the happiness of the saints in heaven, there is no joy comparable to that of the souls in purgatory. An incessant communication with God grows more and more intimate, according as the impediments to that union, which exist in the soul, are consumed.

Infact, the souls in purgatory have a large number of reasons for joy. These include freedom from the committing of sin, freedom from the desire to sin, closer unity with God and Christ, certainty of one’s final salvation in a way not possible in this life, a final and full appreciation of just how gracious God has been to one, a final and full appreciation of just how much God loves one, partial rewards which may be given in anticipation of one’s entrance into the full glory of heaven at the end of purgatory, etc.

It is quite likely that the pain of seeing some of one’s works go up in smoke is more than overbalanced by the joy of seeing some of them remain and inwardly hearing “ well done, thou good and faithful servant” from the ever-loving and infinitely good source of our redemption, our life, and very existence.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:

The position of the Catholic Church on purgatory can be summarized in three points: that there is a purification after death, that this purification involves some kind of pain or discomfort and that God assists those in this purification in response to the actions of the living.

Among those things the Church does not insist on are the ideas that purgatory is a place or that it takes time.

Purgatory is not a middle destiny or middle state between heaven and hell. It must be emphasized that everyone who goes to purgatory goes to heaven. The reason one goes to purgatory is so that one can be fitted for life in heaven, Purgatory constitutes the cloakroom of heaven, and the place you go to get spiffed up before being ushered into the “Throne Room”. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “all who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation, but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven” (CCC 1030).

Purgatory is the final stage of sanctification, which can be painful or non-painful. The purpose is to bring you up the level of spiritual excellence to experience the full-force presence of God. It does not matter where you start from, there will be no sinning in heaven, and you have to be brought up to that level during final sanctification, before you are glorified with God in heaven.

Let us conclude by explaining the fact that purgatory does not infringe on the sufficiency of Christ’s work. The Protestants have insisted that since purgatory involves suffering, it must some how infringe on the sufferings of Christ and imply they were not sufficient.

Quite on the contrary. Even Scripture states that  “The Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives... and for the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant (Heb. 12:6; 11). The fact is that the suffering we experience in sanctification in this life is something we receive because of Christ’s sacrifice for us. His suffering paid the price for us to be sanctified, and His sufferings paid the price for the whole of our sanctification-both the initial and final parts. It is because of Christ’s sacrifice that we receive the final sanctification in the first place. If He had not suffered, we would not be given the final sanctification (or the glorification to which it leads), but would go straight to hell.

Thus purgatory does not imply Christ’s sufferings were insufficient rather it is because of Christ’s suffering that we are given the final sanctification of purgatory in the first lace.

Despite the denials, there are Protestants who believe in purgatory, they just don’t call it that. For every historic protestant will admit that our sinning in this life does not continue into heaven. Infact, they will be quite insistent that although our sanctification is not complete in this life, it will be complete (instantaneously, they say) as soon as this life is over. But that is what purgatory is...the final sanctification, the purification. Thus it is permissible to say that many people believe in purgatory without even realizing it.

© Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba 2005

Well guys to be closer to him or be spritual to him, you just need to tell God to show you the purpose of your life, why you are created, you know what we are created to recreat our self just talk to God to show you the purpose of your life, why you are created, your gift. i just learnt that whatever you do for God in his vineyard, that is what God will look at and bless thee.

I urge you to read PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE BE WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO BE belive me after reading BE WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO BE, i could remember then it was after 12am in the morning and i pray before i slept God show me the purpose of my life,my gift, infact i couldn't belive what i dreamt exactly what i prayed and i discoverd why i was created.

Belive why can't you try it sleep and set your Phone Alarm to wake you up around 12-1am in the morning and pray to God for 20mins to show you the purpose of your life,your gift, be serious and really mean what you praying, you will see what God will do, Expect God is not there on the throne and get back to me and tell me i'm a liar,
send me mail uc_smartsoft@yahoo.com if confirmed,

Now as i'm typing i know why i'm been created, and what i'm here to do on earth.