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In John 3:16-17, God, The Heavenly Father shares in a nutshell His "Gospel". Gospel is the English translation of the Greek meaning "Good News". The Good News is that about Jesus' gift to every person on earth and His coming to live in His Followers in the person of God the Holy Spirit! Jesus is the English translation used for God the Son's original Hebrew name, Yeshua. GaryFPatton (gfp '42™ 2011-09-08)

The King James Version (KJV), the New American Standard Bible (NASB) and other modern translations of the Christian Bible use the older English word "begotten" in this verse. Begotten, the progressive tense of the verb "begat" would be better translated in all Bible versions as "one and only". Begotten in the context of this verse does NOT mean procreation by sexual intercourse as it does when referring to humans and animals. The latter is what the Islamic Qur'an argues in Surah 23:89-91. Because of the Islamic teaching about the meaning of begat, I like "The Message (MSG)" paraphrase of the Greek for "one and only" at http://diigo.com/0n225 . There the writer uses "one of a kind". I feel that "one of a kind" in lieu of "one and only" is a more modern and still accurate expression. It also is clearer in confirming the "oneness of Father, Son and Holy Spirit", the plurality within the Oneness of God. This is what Christians call "The Trinity of God" although that expression is not used in the Bible. God, obviously, does not have sex with humans. And no Christian believes that He does. A so-called, Christian contemporary of the Muslim Prophet, Muhammad, may have improperly explained the Gospel ("Good News") of Yeshua /Jesus to him. History documents that some of those calling themselves Christians in Arabia in the 7th Century were NOT truly Followers of Jesus. They had a poor understanding of the Christian Scriptures as nominal believers ...like some so-called Muslims, then and now. The cult to which some of these belonged and with whom Muhammad may have had contact or received reports about also believed that Jesus had sex with Mary, a Follower of His. These nominal Christians were really pagans with an incomplete understanding of what followership of Jesus entailed. If Muhammad had not received this misinformation about what Christians believed, He would not have recorded Qur'an 5:116, 6:101, 19:35, 19:88-91, 23:88-89 nor similar passages that deny Jesus

An interesting article on male/female relationship issues. 2011-06-28

Yeshua (Jesus) Followers work hard for God! But, they do so moment to moment only after Holy Spirit draws them into relationship with Jesus and they choose to follow Him. They do their "good works" to glorify God out of thankful love for the salvation that He already has given them because of His loving grace and mercy (unmerited favour). And they do this only as he lives his life out through them as Jesus said in John 15:5 at http://diigo.com/0jvfh . Good works done otherwise i.e., in "the flesh" (pre-salvation habitual leanings), have NO value.

When we believe this, 1 John 5: 11-13 at ? says we are guaranteed to spend eternity with God because of what Yeshua/Jesus did (past tense) for us. He paid the full penalty for our sin nature and sins when He by His choice and willingly gave up His life on a cross (torture instrument) for those who believe in His gift and "Good news" of salvation through Him with His and our heavenly Father.

The Bible in more than one place makes clear that human beings live only one life. It says there is no reincarnation during whicch we can strive and work to be better to earn reconciliation with God. At the end of our one life on earth, we each will be held accountable for everything we've done here during it. And God will not measure our relative goodness for we "...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". (Romans 6:3) In deciding whether we can and will spend eternity with Him in heaven, or heavenly Father only will check on our relationship with and followership of Yeshua/Jesus of Nazareth, God Incarnate (God with us) ...His eternal Son. Our eternal fate will depend solely on whether or not trusted in Yeshua/Jesus to have paid the full penalty for our sinful nature and sins on His cross when he died for the degradating behaviour of every human being who ever did, is or will live!

The King James translation of the Christian Bible was the one my Mom used most of her life. This passage was read at her funeral by my Friend, Adele van Caulart. It was one of Ina Donelda Patton's favoutites. My Mom also was called Donnie by my Dad and members of our extended family, as she had been as a child by her 8 siblings. Mom's Friends and catering business colleagues usually called her Donna.

This is God's eternal promise to those who trust in Him and His plan by following Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus). He died a sacrificial death as God Immanuel (God with us) to pay the full penalty for the sinful nature and sins of everyone who believes that Jesus' death on the cross, not our "good works", gives us the salvation we all need. Our sin and sins separates us from a relationship with God (Romans 3:23 & 6:23). Only Jesus' death can reconcile us with our heavenly Father for eternity the Bibles says clearly in John 14:1-6 & 22-27 at http://diigo.com/0pfky .

I'd argue effective questioning is everyone's job and a major life ...not just business... skill! It "blows my mind" that theis powerful relationship communication skill is not taught at school. But then, some argue, that John Dewey, one of the Founders of the Humanist Society and principal author of the "Humanist Manifesto"

Both getting and giving good feedback is another major life-skill challenge for many of us. Ask me for my S-M-A-R-TBriefing™ on each of these life-skills because ... "All feedback you get or, better, can encourage, is helpful and able to assist you irrespective of it being complimentary, contrarian or contentious!"~ gfp '42™