1231	Forums / Main Forum / Re: Dual Personality Disorder	on: May 21, 2012, 08:10:29 AM
Ive been dealing with something new. Although in identifying the personality it has taken me years to understand. Because i believe in these evil days that we can be forced into a false view of grace from both ends of the religious practice. We can be driven by fear and shame in going to both extremes. On the one hand it can be from a works gospel. On the other hand it can be from mysticism. But one thing that is clear about the gospel is that it really starts with real causes and not and image of our initial sanctification. This is why there is a distinction between an identity that originates from grace and an identity that originates from that good work itself. Because one promotes healing while the other promotes a forced compliance. Any time we talk about identity we really are only giving it room to flourish because of the real causes of it being made healthy. And so if a person upon his original sanctification is made completely new that definition of his new identity is not the basis of his confidence in his own health. But rather he must go back to grace. And this is what distinguish between a free gospel and worm theology.Because the answer to the free exercise of the Spirits work is not the reminder of that sanctification but rather finds its free exercise of the Spirit in the grace that gives that identity its holy desires. I I will discuss why this false view of sanctification is a dual personality. A lot of people think that our original position of self denial is what they define as coming to the end of ourselves. And ive been saying that this can be a form of worm theology because coming to the end of ourselves really is a total destruction of all of our desires. And if it was in our ability to come to this position we would cease to exist. But we see that there is never a time when our facilities are destroyed.Rather coming to the understanding of ourselves is having new senses added to our self desires. And if there is any destruction it is something that we cannot do as our own experience because we cannot act in a way both emotionally or intellectually to please God enough to receive sanctification. let me go and come back.
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1232  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: I don't know, therefore aliens. on: May 20, 2012, 03:02:20 PM I do not think you can argue from silence that something exist. I know that some denominations get dangerously close to this false hermeneutic of interpretation. When i argue i always expose the logical differences in the thinking ...comparing them to how we think logically about practical things. And i try to expose them for reasoning from nothing to something. Especially since that something already exist and shows the mind behind the cause of how it is made.  Reply Quote Notify

1233  Forums / Main Forum / Re: Evolution vs Intelligent Design - In Search of the Black Cat on: May 20, 2012, 02:51:44 PM Bill is it possible for us in developing a more powerful microscope to discover more of the reasons of what we observe now ...discovering other bolts in the mechanics of the dna to give us more wisdom in understanding human development? I see wisdom as something we search for but never discover the depths of the knowledge we need to know the full application in healing. And ive always thought that mediation is kind of like starting to scratch the surface of truth... a rough microscopic view and then through gifts and the Spirit we become more acquainted with the relationship to the living cause rather than a rough image of the Person. And I think God has made us from the knowledge He has of Himself. And this is why i do not think we can comprehend the full wonder of how we are created and how the interaction on a very minute scale of Gods hand so to speak with our physical cells has this ongoing creative action. But i believe that if we know the truth of grace then that one truth gives us a living image of the spiritual insight to understand Christ as a person. Reply Quote Notify

1234  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: The pragmatic counsel...the heresy of this age on: May 20, 2012, 11:31:57 AM Thanks Bill, I believe we live in a pragmatic age.  People who are pragmatist take different parts of scripture and use them for their own purposes. I believe that the gospel is not a message that gives us the ability to put someone on the judgment stand and continuously entertain accusations against them. This is why i have sought to focus on cleaning the inside of the cup because it goes deeper than thinking we are able to compare ourselves with each other. This is why i do not believe that all of these reformed doctrines are pragmatic but rather they create a society of two different groups. I know that democracy allows us more freedoms in society than any other form of government. But i think it is wrong to make our experience pragmatic because we can vote on the direction the society is going to take. Rather in Gods kingdom there is no vote. And if you belong to His kingdom then your obligated to work as one person by what you believe. I do not believe that the bible teaches that the church is run like a corporation. You know you get into the corporation by your work history and your reputation. Because the church is not an institution that is concerned with profits but I compare it to the reign of David. Here David is surrounded by all the outcast of society. Those people who could not get along in that society. And these people were chosen by God to be in the Lords army were deeply engrained with a sense of rejection which gave them one purpose. I do not think God provided David with a group of men who had a good resume.lol I do not believe that you can claim that your not a pragmatist and yet work to institutionalize religion. Using the same pragmatic methods as the world and then think your going to get loyalty and love out of that process. And so we see David who had one thing that drove him throughout his life. And this one thing was as close to his love and loyalty for Israel in which he created through dealing with people in light of distinguishing between who was on his side and who was not. So it wasnt focused on David but on Christ. And pragmatist always complain about the very thing they teach by how they have developed this institutional structure. They complain about what they see in others that they practice themselves. I believe its just because we do not practice focusing on the gospel of grace and so we just assume because someone is a CEO of religion that he is correct in his application. We have been taught to think like pragmatist as opposed to having our minds scripturized. my word. I was on a web site the other day . A very well respected web site. The group of professionals were complaining about all the bloggers who were not called in the orthodox way. They were complaining about how they presented themselves. Writing books and writing their own forwards to their books. But ive been listening to their streams for about 2 yrs and consistently heard them promote their books and pat each other on the back. It really doesnt bother me that they promote their books. But it bothers me that we think we have the rite to speak for other people who we do not know and accuse them of being insincere because they practice the same things we do but they are not professionals therefore they should allow themselves the same freedom we do. You know my rule about web activity ... i can distinguish between reality and fantasy. If you think about it Bill all of us practice sin. I can look at someones life no matter how long they have been a professional theologian and point to things that are egregious to the standard of conduct that is required to be respected. But i think in a pragmatist society its really not about the sin but its giving ourselves a rite to use the scriptures to create an image of a sinner that is injurious and suspecting. And thats what pragmatist do. They say i dont do what he is doing therefore i have a rite to judge my brother. Bill i believe this is a never ending fight. It does not lead to a person getting better but it just gives them more of a rite to fall into a pattern of hypocrisy. This is why ive written so much about the purpose of the law in cursing sinners because i believe we really do not see the real purpose of the law. I hope to apply this wisdom motif in this thread. I am not against the church being a member for all my adult life. I would never go on my own. I only care about the direction not individual squabbles.       Remove Reply Quote Notify

1235  Members Only / Purgatory / Re: the way we treat each other on: May 19, 2012, 01:42:26 PM Pride is what caused our first parents to sin. I do not think that it brought about the same before and after as our first parents. But those born after Adam were born in sin. So instead of enjoying being created in fellowship with God the offspring being born in sin are enemies of God. So pride is not just a miss application of our worth but its rebellion against God. Pride is that disposition that is perpetuated by the Devil himself. In other words the devil has a family of the arrogant ones. Its a family (father -king) of delegated authority in which they seek to overthrow God by covering over his word or denying the power of it. And in the ot this was a people that were outside of the covenant relationship. When we see Christ distinguish between pride and blessing we see the representatives of pride as those religious leaders of His day. And in fact in the word study of pride it is any kind of denial that Gods word is as God says it is.(Outside of the covenant relationship.) So pride is avoiding Gods word and denying that it has absolute authority. And so Jesus cursed the Pharisees and  called them snakes, blind guides, hypocrites, white washed tombs, brood of vipers, full of greed and self indulgence etc. So what Jesus is saying is that when men ascend up to being leaders in this world the way they use their authority shows the motive that distinguish them from humility or pride. What these Pharisees were doing was using their authority to cause other men to stumble by burdening them with rules and were not lifting a finger to take the load off their backs. And this is how men get swelled up with pride. What we have here is a clear separation of Gods authority with mans authority. Because any other comparison is to use pragmatism to define authority that is acceptable without a clear definition of what is biblical authority. Its to cover over the real cause of the problems that the poor and helpless are confronted with. And this is why God says that the humble are those who suffer at the hands of evil authority. Not only did Jesus curse the Pharisees but He made their system of authority of no effect. Jesus not only came to define the terms but He separated the sheep from the goats in defense of those who were abused.   Reply Quote Notify

1236  Forums / Theology Forum / The pragmatic counsel...the heresy of this age on: May 19, 2012, 12:26:14 PM We see in Psalms 1 that the promises of success are found in the word of God alone.  But we are always at odds with counsel that is based in pragmatic causes. Anytime counsel comes from a source that seeks to divide life into many different activities we are led astray from the simple trust in the gospel. Any time we make our words equal with the scripture we nullify the scripture as the authority. A lot of people miss represent my position of focusing on the word as the creation of future reality. They say that it negates the real historical significance of the work of Christ. But if Christ is only a human being and not God then He has come as a pragmatic figure who is subject to the powers of this world. He in essence cannot fix a problem without the help of man. Christ is no longer the eternal Word made flesh but He is many things to all people. His work as a pragmatic person is defined by man in terms that man can lower the standard so that man can follow this Christ. But we see that Christ not only came as a man to proclaim His word but by His word He established the will of His Father as the reality that played out in His incarnation. If in fact Christ authority only went as far as an offer to man then He has no power to accomplish His purpose in keeping us in salvation. If in fact His word was subject to our interpretation as how we are successful then His word cannot save to the end. Im going to discuss this word of salvation as the only counsel that the bible teaches. Reply Quote Notify

1237  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Grafted into His wounds on: May 19, 2012, 11:49:27 AM God brought Israel out of Egypt to be the display of His glory. The Lord of glory who shines out into all the earth chose this people as His display of beauty and health. The beauty of Christ was established as a display among the surrounding nations as a Shepherd takes care of His flock. And this relationship was established because God would provide this success in His eternal covenant with His people. And the picture of this success was like a vine that grew and covered the hills and valleys of Israel. The way that God would establish this beauty was by protecting Israel with His rite hand. So that God from the beginning to the end would have for Himself His own people who have been displayed through out the history of the world as connected like a beautiful vine that was visible to the whole earth. As the people enjoyed this covenant that God made with His elect they would not only experience being connected as a beautiful vine but they would be revived to call upon His name. This relationship is not just an individual experience of revival but it is a unified protection from the rite hand of God. And this vine that flourished as it grew over the hills of Israel was the picture of the beauty of the one who sits on the throne of God as the glory of all the earth. This Shepherd of His people who is lifted up and shines out to all the earth through all ages in which all things have been placed under His feet. So He not only established a relationship in time with His sheep but this is an eternal relationship outside of time in which this Shepherd would provide life for His people and protection by His rite hand. And He has allowed His people to experience the sorrows of going into exile so that the nations could ascend over the walls of Israel and as it were cut the vine down and pick its grapes. What did this experience in His covenant people look like? They were given the oracles of God that brought them a success in living together as a people without any threat in their cities. In other words God gave them His law and established His covenant with them. But there has always been vines that did not produce fruit. And so God would allow the nations to come and ravage and burn the vine to the ground. But in remembrance of those days when the vine was flourishing and Israel was the glory of the earth the covenant people who were never separated from the vine were revived by Christ to call upon the name of the Lord to reestablish this vine throughout all the earth. And so we see the success of the life of the vine is in the One at rite hand of God of whom the Father looks on as to how that life is to flourish until the end of all things. This eternal covenant with Gods elect cannot fail. Because Christ rules as from heaven having all things put under His feet. We look upon the favor of God and we are revived to call upon the name of the Lord. When we are revived by this focus in looking on the glory of God who shines between the cherubim then we have His authority as our protection ...that rite hand that delivers us from all trouble. When we talk about the vine it is a growth from the beginning of time to the end in which it spreads over the whole earth and produces fruit as evidence that Christ rules by His glory over all the earth. We come to the throne of grace and receive grace in our time of need. We look upon that glorious One and we are revived to call upon His name to know the word of deliverance that keeps us until the end.   Reply Quote Notify

1238  Forums / Break Room / Re: hurting those you love on: May 18, 2012, 08:49:32 PM I think that we need to keep the object of the goal always in focus. And the other things are a side issue. Not that we should not address being hurt but as far as taking up an offense and trying to resolve it as a final issue is like setting the relationship up for being the ultimate determiner of our happiness. When we allow someone else to determine how we are gonna feel then we will eventually get lost in our own misery because no one on earth can fufill us enough to bring us happiness. Not even mother Teresa .lol And this is why so many relationships go into a downward spiral because the people are focusing on the wrong things to bring them happiness and they eventually say ive got to accept the things i cannot change. lol Its the good- bad philosophy. I remember as a child having fun without any worry. And all the other kids i had fun with was like forgetting time for awhile and we just fed off each other back and forth laughing and carrying on. One of the reasons why we did not have a worry in the world was because we had parents who were taking care of us. And so we felt safe and we enjoyed being dependent and free. Now a lot of people will give us a kind of process view of life. It goes like this... pain is necessary for us to grow....it will only last a short time and in that pain we learn to grow and submit. I think that is a very bad view of life. If there was something hateful i could say to a person it would be telling them that their pain was part of their growing. Especially if i had the ability to alleviate whatever they were distress by. But we see that Christ said do not worry about your life what you will eat etc. And then He says seek first His kingdom and these other things will be added. But i think people who practice telling themselves that pain is necessary always are telling themselves that pain is necessary. In other words these self talkers are miserable companions. lol But we are promised by Christ that we can have faith like a child. Now i do not believe that Christ is talking about a faith that is immature there. I think He is talking about working through what is important to us and dealing with what makes us feel secure. Now then we can become a little child again if we talk the gospel to ourselves and think Gods thoughts after Him. How do we do this. By a two fold attack on unbelief. We must gain wisdom as to our physical make up. Each one of us are given a disposition in a physical sense that distinguishes us in strengths and weaknesses from other people. And this is the reasoning. Our sin and weakness are part of this struggle to gain a positive view of the future. So we must acknowledge that our lives have a beginning time and an ending time. And only God knows when we are gonna breath our last breath. But we must look at our physical well being as a quality of spiritual well being. In other words these two different dispositions about us create us as to who we are. Ive been taught in the Psalms to argue with God about giving me more high praises so that i will do this more if He will give me healing and health. And how can He hear my praise if i am sick or not able to praise Him? Ive found that Gods heart is for us to praise Him with all of our might.  And so the well spring of life is not only to enjoy the positive effects of our spiritual well being in being filled with the Spirit .. but also enjoying an ongoing physical healing that increases our days. The christian life is a life of correct thinking and then we are self talkers. When we are physically weak our desire is in worshiping God with all of our hearts is to feel good physically. And as we grow in this single focus our hearts are enlarged and our convictions are developed as to the well being of worshiping God. Both spiritual and physical. I had this experience in the Godspell play. I was like a little kid in a candy store. I was filled with so much animated reality that i could not wait for the next week to come back again. And this is simply believing that in this experience of joy and laughter ...through simple faith allowing that love to sort of fill up the tank and bask in the sunshine of His presence. I shall never forget that experience.   Reply Quote Notify

1239  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Kindness and Confrontation on: May 18, 2012, 07:39:12 PM Yes Bill i always start as Steve does. A believer does not need to know he is a sinner but how he can know he is forgiven and loved in-spite of his sin. I do not think we can use the scriptures to try to get someone to change. But the scriptures themselves through illumination and conviction create the disposition for positive change. What do i mean by conviction? I dont mean repenting like an unbeliever. But conviction comes through our being transformed by the word of God. And anytime we have a conviction about something it actually is taught to us through conversion and divine wisdom. Now a person who is saved is described as being converted. The initial salvation is being converted from a life of self fulfillment , having a mind that is always suspicious of God and not being convinced that God loves us no matter what. But then after that initial conversion experience. As the apostle says You began with the Spirit , why are you trying to be perfected in the flesh? What did this salvation by the Spirit look like? Well they experienced the reality that sin was blinding them to God in being driven to sorrow and distress ... they were cut to the heart...and then upon receiving the Spirit they were filled with joy and praise. And it was said that the Spirit came upon them and they spoke the word boldly. In another place we see that Philip was filled with the Spirit and his persuasion was too powerful to be overcome by those who opposed him. And so Paul was telling these Galatians that they saw the miracles and experienced the work of the Spirit but now they were in danger of turning back to trying to be good by the law. They actually thought that they could be accepted by keeping the law. They were going back to that old relationship to the law. So the apostle reminded them that the gospel is by grace alone. And we see the apostles defending grace . What does he say to these people who were advising these Galatians to look to the law and find acceptance through their old repentance? He defended these people by saying let anyone who preachs another gospel other than grace be accursed. In other words the apostle was like a shepherd keeping the wolves from devouring the flock.        Reply Quote Notify

1240  Forums / Break Room / Re: hurting those you love on: May 17, 2012, 02:21:59 PM I also think communication in a practical sense is like unlocking the reasons and practices that are hurting you. And its having a sense that you have control over yourself that will not attract his way of getting even. Like in acting if you ask the question how should i play this part then your probably going to get the answer ... the way you think it should be played. We call this the artistic talent coming out in the part. And we are like this .. we are not robots who follow a script and force someone to get in line. Usually we may get compliance but we will never get loyalty or heart felt love. And so there are different  faculties that we have been given for our benefit in enjoying connection through growing in these different areas. What our goal is not to control someone but create our own alignment of our souls so that we are in control of our own feelings and imaginations. And this is why we are complicated creatures. Because we sort of begin on a certain level and we grow to another level so to speak. And this is the art of becoming influential as the most natural expression of who we are. We imagine that people are attracted to other people who have all their eggs in order but this is not true. People are attracted to genuine concern.. to a sense of care drawn out of being able to put yourself in someone elses shoes. So in a sense there are a number of healthy dispositions that God has gifted us with that makes us whole. This is how we come to know ourselves. And the bible is like a mirror that creates in us more clarity of these dispositions. And really at the end of this experience is to feel loved by God out of a sense of freedom and imagination. We can be transparent in the worse times of our lives when we are struggling the most with weakness and sin. And we try to measure ourselves by how well we are performing but the art of being genuine is finding a sense of acceptance in any situation. I believe this is mixed with a sense of that we are lost about ourselves and have a sense of the bigness and glory of God.       Reply Quote Notify

1241  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Kindness and Confrontation on: May 17, 2012, 01:59:52 PM The bible gives practical instruction . It talks about unity that can only be established by being of one mind. Being of one mind is agreeing on doctrinal issues. Then it talks about how to act according to this one mind. Forgiving one another in that society of believers...carrying each other burdens....talking in a way in which the Spirit indwells a believer. Showing the fruit of the spirit in our talking. But in a sense abuse is practiced with we do not love God with all of our hearts .. minds and souls.. and having the by product of loving our neighbors. God demands total allegiance. Any time we act or speak in a way that is not biblical we become our own gods. When we become our own gods then we practice hating our neighbors. And this could be a system where we seem to be loving as the bible says. But its mans rules not Gods.    Reply Quote Notify

1242  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Kindness and Confrontation on: May 17, 2012, 01:06:40 PM If you look at Jesus relationship with Judas you will find that Judas probably did most of his evil while Jesus was praying those nightly prayers. And this was a guy who spend most of the day and nite in the group of followers... having fellowship with all those who surrounded Jesus. And yet i believe that Jesus really showed love to Judas. And yet i believe there was times when He gave Judas that look also. And Judas was part of the close knit group. He could not even be identified by the group when they were told that one of them would be the betrayer. So they practiced loving one another to the point where it was not obvious that Judas was taking the funds and using them for himself. Now that is interesting because at the same time Judas was storing up wrath for the day of judgement when he would hang himself and be eaten by the dogs. And all of this was part of the ot prayer book that led up to the actual act of betrayal.  And so you have this practical part of prayer in the christians life that is essential in dealing with the abusers. If Christ used Judas as an example of a fool and He prayed in the most practical sense then what should we be doing?  Reply Quote Notify

1243  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Kindness and Confrontation on: May 17, 2012, 12:48:00 PM If youve read any of my cursing threads you will know that i take abuse as spiritual life or death. I dont mean in my own hands but as a description of a spiritual battle rather than against flesh and blood. And i believe that struggling with a person who is abusive must be avoided. But obviously we cannot avoid all evil men who have been taught by a fool. And so there is some desperation here. And most people do not understand how abuse affects them so they are like the frog in the pan. And a lot of people go through life never really tapping into a love that is beyond what this world experiences so they just assume that being taught by other men what love is .. is the standard of how they are to focus on needs and love of others.  A lot of people think the christian religion is anti self love. They believe that God is speaking to them through the abuse of others. And this really is prominent in todays world. The rich can protect themselves by being shielded from the rest of the world in many ways. And they do not need to be personally responsible to others in a potentially drastic dependence. So they enjoy living in their own moral shell and having other people follow them.  But man in his nature is potentially an animal. I do not care what kind of relationship your describing. If Jesus closest friends who stood with Him and saw all the supernatural happenings.. who were lifted up above the crowds in being identified with Christ .. if they could fall asleep and turn their backs on Him when He needed friends to encourage Him... then all men no matter how close could be ruthless Judases. I mean here is Jesus ready to be stripped of his robe and beaten beyond recognition... more than a normal man...who was spit upon... and placed on a tree for capital offenses and His closest friends were not even aware that God who is all glorious who as Father was making these things fall out into time was as close to loving these... Jesus friends in this most trying hour by them identifying with Jesus in His way to death. In other words they were dull and asleep in the biggest event in the history of the world and did not even know that the Father was bringing the final nail in the coffin of death and sin. The friends didnt need to suffer. They could have increased in faith. But they acted against the purposes of God as if they were faithless. If these people could do this to the most beloved person who took care of the needs of the poor .. healed the sick... stood between them and the abuse of the religious leaders then men by nature are easily led to be stupid idiots.   Reply Quote Notify

1244  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Kindness and Confrontation on: May 17, 2012, 10:54:27 AM Quote from: poppy on May 17, 2012, 10:38:08 AM I had lots to say here till you showed up mbG, but now I have to reflect upon  your words. Great post. I was gonna talk about whispering in a brother's ear and not casting our pearls before swine, but now I've been forced to see from a different perspective and I have not the words to continue to elaborate on my thoughts but only wish to meditate on the sovernty of God and His love for us ALL. Both the saved and the unsaved. Its paradoxial for man, but for God, simple. Perhaps we should look how Christ merged the two. We are called to be angry yet sin not. We are not to leave the proverbial ox waiting in the ditch on the saboth, and Christ had no quams showing his anger at the money changers in the temple. I think there is a clear message here if I can get the mud out of my eyes so I can see again. If you look Jesus made social judgements. And if you study the ot worship books the ceremonial laws were written different according to social status. And any one who is given to interpretation of the nt words must find the epistemology of those words in the context of the ot distinction between law and gospel. Because there are many people who are destroyed and made to feel insignificant by miss applying these words to the wrong groups. lol Why do not we have more people writing pastorally with passion? Why have we reduced all of christian arguing to intellectual questions and moral philosophies? I laugh at this focus on how the law is meant to show man the checks and balances of his life rather than to make the society holistically available for the widows and orphans...the needy etc. Its the greek mindset. Because we have a religious environment that is always declining into a form of religion. Why is this? Because the leaders are more concerned for a system of checks and balances than a focus on the souls of men. And this is what Christ was attacking. And you see how He approached that society in His day by going against the very thing that God has made to be the foundation of society. Christ set Himself apart not only from the leaders but from the culture of law keeping in that day. He actually increased His own persecution by attaching the miss application of the law and cursing those who developed that destructive system. Im sorry Poppy...i had to rush out and do some volunteer work. But i did not mean that you were answering wrong. Just speaking in a general way. But i appreciate your writing whatever you want.   Reply Quote Notify

1245	Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Kindness and Confrontation	on: May 17, 2012, 10:41:53 AM
Heres how i deal with my son. I know that the law does not give me the authority to be condemning because the law curses the wicked. I understand how little i am. So i really believe that i am a worse sinner than he is. This is why in developing a relationship with him over the years i have taken care of his needs both internal and external. I have no fear that he will turn out lazy or not able to do something because i bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him. I understand that i am not the Holy Spirit. But God is quite capable of creating success in his life. Why would i kick against the goads? Why would i wish for him to be shamed or made to be helpless. Ive read how the apostle ravage the families of the church by his works gospel. So much so that he practiced his new grace belief by providing for the poor...that is what he said to the Ephesian elders... and he always sought to lessen the blow that would come against the church. How by encouraging people to carry each others burdens and forgive debts . The apostle acted as a shepherd because he really believed that he was the worse sinner. And we see this same spirit in David. The standard of covering over sin is that a saint curses those who do not rejoice in that saints success. I am going to show how important it is to practice charity over "modern responsibility"  when i discuss the section of scripture on Ba-lam... cursing -the death angel -blessing- thinking Gods thoughts after Him- and Gods children. God provides everything that we have. Nothing we have really belongs to us. Its all a provision to help others.      1246  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Kindness and Confrontation on: May 17, 2012, 10:16:14 AM Our confession states that we are to uphold those who go astray. The purpose of this is so that they will not become disheartened. And this is why it is important to distinguish how the gospel is practiced by what the persons doctrinal stance is.  There are only two sides to the teaching of perseverance. There is the Calvinistic side and the Arminius side. Arminins believe that Christ died for all men and has given us the message to offer all men. So they believe that God does the work universally and the only thing that is preventing man from being saved is that man must exercise his faith. So if their definition of responsibility is man centered then it is absolutely essential that God prove the importance of the gospel by forcing man to give up mans will by holding each sin against that man. Now liberal reform theologians do not quite accept that God is absolutely sovereign. And they will not define the difference between these two positions of Calvinism as opposed to armininism. But rather they over focus on repentance because they do not want to create a conflict that forces them to be dogmatic about Gods sovereignty. In other words they will use words to make it seem like the gospel is a universal love of God. So they have their feet in both positions. lol But we know that if God was just all men would be condemned. Adam and Eve would not have lived one second after their sin. But since God is patient He has determined to allow men time to repent. But man is so evil that man is hopeless because from mans birth he goes astray. Man is like a still born child. The only hope is for God to resuscitate the child by breathing new life in him. Man does not need moral change but man needs a whole new disposition. Now this has everything to do with asking the question who is God an who are we? Because if God has left it up to man to repent then the bible has a doctrinal system in which every doctrine is confrontation in the sense that God must force man to repentance. But we see that this is not the case. Rather God condescends to man as a loving and patient God. And its not Gods fault that man is not made to be saved but rather God is always successful in saving a man because God not only provides the message but God also provides the ability. lol. And so we see that the gospel is not an option but rather it is the medicine itself. It needs no help from man. It is successful because every person that responds to it is given the ability by God. Thus God is not a powerless dictator in heaven but rather in control of the earth and there is nothing that happens that God has not ordered. So we see very little confrontation doctrine in scripture. The weight of success is always on how the fruit of the Spirit is described.       Reply Quote Notify 1247  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Praying scripture on: May 15, 2012, 02:49:37 PM Prayer is our opportunity to be a king before we go to heaven. Because praising God with all of our hearts means that in His rewarding us for our persistence and perseverance that He promises to take up our cause. And prayer is our means of advancing in this world. And we can pray for years and years about things that God has made in our way. These answers come sudden and we look at the wonders of God. In prayer we overcome. In prayer our longings are created to work out in our causes. Without prayer there is no answer for us in how God is creating us a new with how our gifts are going to be used. But when we pray God develops in us desires that translate into causes. Because this relationship of being an over-comer is that we come face to face with the Most High over all the universe. There is nothing that is too great for Him or to far of travel for Him to address. lol Pray is God giving us causes and then molding in us desires to see these causes flourish. But prayer is also responding to those who oppose us. Because God says vengeance is mine i will repay. So in overcoming we are asking God to put us in a position to rejoice in His response. And this position is a more innocent and dependent frame of spirit. Because in pray the power to overcome is in God alone. And yet we long and look to our loving Father as He protects us in being safe in His arms. Pray is experiencing a love from being proud of His work on our behalf. So when we pray we learn that it is the mark of dependence. And as we are more and more experiencing this love that cannot be measured we find that prayer is our only hope of survival. Because we come sometimes in the spirit of anger and frustration... fear and worry... and we find that God takes our human struggles and transforms them to be the confidence we have that we will overcome. Pray is appreciating our weakness so that we might experience His power. In this we find our most cherished praise.   Reply Quote Notify 1248  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: My sheep hear My voice on: May 15, 2012, 02:11:51 PM I will just say that there are some things taking place in this world that i am amazed at God. I got to praise Him with all my might. Reply Quote Notify 1249  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: The coming of the great Apocalypse on: May 15, 2012, 02:07:19 PM Im parked rite now to drive it into my long term memory. Remove Reply Quote Notify 1250  Forums / Break Room / Re: hurting those you love on: May 15, 2012, 01:21:15 PM In relationships the hardest thing to learn is that most of the time what we seek in them is just jello in our hands. I marvel at how a person will go miles and miles to find love...a love that is fickle and human ... dependent on a self image that cannot measure real love ..and will accept something lesser by concluding that we got to take the good with the bad ... or accept those things we cannot change. lol But very few people find love that caused all the beauty that exist. Because this kind of love is successful by itself and it flows one way. And i guess maybe its too simple to believe but at the same time we must be difficult in explaining it so that we know what a counterfeit is. You see God is love. Because God chooses to love us as we are. And there are so many reasons to present ourselves as loveable. You can be good looking and present yourself as attractive. Or you can work as hard as you can to have a lot of friends . But no matter how you live in this world the truth is that you cant get out of the way you think as it represents the most personal relationships you have as you experience real love. And this is only accessed by Someone who can love us inside out. And God does this by showing Himself and how He is concerned for all the relationships we have and how we view beauty by creating that so that we can enjoy it. In other words God has made physical things so that we experience inanimate love. We can be all alone and be in the middle of a beautiful scene and be filled with love from the inside out. Because we are seeking God for what He did by His word and with His hands. If in fact Gods beauty is seen in the intricate detail of nature dont you think He made it so when we look at it we can be in awe of who He is? So the very fact that He made you as the only you that will ever exist doesnt that give you a sense of Gods love for you? And so love is the cause of everything that God wills in our lives.   Reply Quote Notify 1251  Forums / Break Room / Re: hurting those you love on: May 15, 2012, 01:00:21 PM The bible is not necessarily a defender of those who have everything in order. Jesus told the Pharisees that the tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter heaven before them.lol Now this is interesting. The Pharisees were condemned because they sought the be righteous in themselves but the prostitutes were accepted because they came with nothing but their prostitution lives. Now its interesting that Jesus did not say the Prostitutes who have become upright women. Jesus was presenting a direct contrast. And i believe that salvation is not a process but its like getting the whole package up front. So Jesus was talking about a spiritual transformation. And this is why there is this direct contrast because its more than a change of life but its a new attitude of the heart. Now we have this distinction set out through out scripture. And we have a transformed mind that is bent on hate and hurt to grace and love. Its not that the mind has a new desire to be holy but its made new so that is wholly new. Now thats the difference between the kind of counsel the christian is attracted to. No longer do we have an attitude that we can force someone to love us but we have been give the real attractive qualities that can only be activated by supernaturalism. In other words we go from being a hateful and alienated person from God to being loved by God and thus it spills over in our relationships. We do not experience unity by a transaction but by one Person.    Reply Quote Notify 1252  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Hate for Christians on: May 15, 2012, 12:32:14 PM Let me talk a little about christian liberalism inside the church. Its a general view of what i have observed in the American sense. I stop at "those who swear by Gods name will praise Him." And so this is our conviction. We believe that all of life is glorifying God by enjoying Him forever. And in our understanding of how big God is by our definition of sovereignty then we see that swearing is actually how we view the entire epistemology of salvation. This is why we do not fudge on the five points at least. What liberals try to do is focus on the vehicle of the gospel instead of the gospel itself. And in a sense we all unite as those who are united swearers. lol So we cannot go back on our conviction or we will not only be a traitor to ourselves but we will not uphold that unity. And so this is why the religious counsel has no life to it. Because we change the glory of the real Person for the things themselves.  And so in swearing to the praise of God we only seek to persuade men of that which we have sworn to. Because any thing other than seeking this one thing is a form of idol worship. So we dwell with people who are misinformed about what they swear to. Because in order for us to be united we must apply ourselves to the doctrines of grace. This unity is absolutely essential to the kind of counsel that we entertain. But if we are more concerned for how the gospel is presented then we actually will be tossed to and fro. And as reformers we are always trying to reform back to the original understanding of Gods sovereignty as we have sworn too. And this is why we are able to judge the vision that we have of what is unity. Because we measure everything that we tell others by our allegiance to our first principles of doctrine. In our attitude of accepting the weaker brother or those who are not convinced we seek to warn them about the direction they are taking. Not because they are necessarily evil in the disagreement but because they have a different view of direction.  Now we are getting into the struggle of making the gospel of no effect.     Reply Quote Notify 1253  Forums / Break Room / Re: hurting those you love on: May 15, 2012, 11:24:15 AM Let me explain a little bit more here. I believe the world has gone mad. Because people are not motivated by love but rather force. And this is why i am so attached to my doctrinal stance. Because i believe that real Calvinism is the most free a sinner can experience on this earth. So i always approach counsel as to what do they believe about God? Because any thing outside of free forgiveness and grace is only one other option. Its you cant have what is in my rite hand until you do what is necessary to get this exchange. And i compare this to Russian roulette. Its a deal we are offered. And anytime a person offers you a deal that is not the gospel. Because the gospel is that God loves sinners because He has done all the work and it is given freely. We just come to Him as we are. But when we make deals with God then we are in essence cursing ourselves and asking Him to treat us bad enough so that we will not think we are gods. lol And so i believe that we can be emotionally kicked in the belly through religious zeal. And any man will swear his allegiance to what he does is rite even tho he has no conviction about what he believes as the directing factor in what he thinks is rite. Every man swears he is rite by his learning. And so we need to listen to what they believe because they are kind of like prophets . Some believe in deals and they will lead us to curse ourselves. Its just the way God has designed how things are gonna work out. He does not allow a third way.    Reply Quote Notify 1254  Forums / Break Room / Re: hurting those you love on: May 15, 2012, 10:47:17 AM Early on in my marriage i discussed the most personal fears and limitations i had about myself with my wife. Everyone has limitations. And if they dont know about their own personal limitations i wonder how much reality their are living in. The reason i think this is important is because there are very destructive ways of dealing with things when your living together. And so there needs to be some boundaries in the marriage that cannot be crossed but the only way the other partner will know this is if you explain it. Because growth is not something that happens when your in a reactive environment. Rather it happens when we show respect and love to one another. And one of those areas of love is to not try to make the other person feel helpless or alone. And this goes back to the boundaries of these areas that only your partner knows. Because i believe..well at least i could probably figure out what that other persons weaknesses are and attack them if i was mean. This is why you got to be very careful of what counsel you listen to because marriage is two people who are not like any other couple connected together in a kind of single psyche that is fragile. In other words the more we destroy the person the more they are gonna feel alone and the more they are gonna want to find a refuge outside of what is healthy. Now i know there probably are people who have no understanding of hurt. I know there are probably people who love to meet the challenges of life and any show of weakness is looked down upon. But i believe these people are the most vulnerable of looking good at first but they end up destroying a lot of people and having to look back with a grieving spirit. So just express how much it hurts when they do or say this particular thing. But there is no good in overreacting. Thats why we must find all of our confidence and love in God. Because in a sense everyone is living in their own minds. They cant see what we are thinking or what will damage us. But God sees everything and He creates connection by healing broken people in giving ability and putting hedges around them so they wont destroy people. And this involves bringing all of our hate to God and asking for wisdom.     Reply Quote Notify 1255  Forums / Current Events / Re: Breast Feeding on: May 15, 2012, 10:03:41 AM The fact that we no longer want God in the public view or speech has a lot to do with children and family exposure. Because we do not respect the need to protect the innocent. And i think this is a general attitude akin in order for children to grow up we need to expose them to the present day environment or the troubles they experience are a necessary part of life and even it its abusive they need to man up. lol I think its natural for adults to not respect the separate space in public that children and their parents need in order to protect the family. And so people look at the seeming overbearing eye of the parent as being paranoid and they have an attitude that the parent is over protecting their children. And then the parents are in a culture of the professional opinion of child rearing. And the argument is there are many ways to raise a child. And so people have lost respect for the proper culture of raising kids. They can sort of argue because the parent is not doing this rite or that rite then its ok to show disrespect. We see the problem really is that the innocence of society is made to feel unaccepted and the new way is to respect the aggressive and goal oriented person. Like the type A personality. This is what sin does to the natural man. It turns society upside down. God has designed man as a social being and there is no connection unless society protects the helpless and innocent. This is what sin does it begins to reject Gods design for building respect as the culture of a flourishing connected society. And we put in its place the survival of the fittest. People do not want to see women breastfeeding their children in public because they do not want to allow a space to show the need to protect and nurture the helpless.      Reply Quote Notify 1256  Forums / Break Room / Re: Godspell“As long as we live there is never enough singing.” ― Martin Luther on: May 14, 2012, 08:12:03 AM This is sort of an epiphany for me. Its an event that ive longed for ...for quite a while. And i am not down playing all the talent and hard work that went into this. Because i dont think that any thing about this was unprofessional. Rather this play is a replay of what i experience in my personal life of praying the Psalms. And i know that all of us were rewarded more than just the enjoyment of doing our part. But between the mixture of the artistic abilities and the personalities along with the kind of play it was we experienced a unity that was incredible. We were all emotionally upset about having to end this play. The kids were hugging and crying. I was so moved . I experienced something that i shall always remember. And i appreciate the kids for giving it all they had to produce the uplifting of all the people that were fortunate to be a part as spectators in watching these talented artist. I am still feeling uplifted in remembering different songs and parts of the play. It truly was a spiritually reviving time. Remove Reply Quote Notify 1257  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: difference between affliction and punishment? on: May 13, 2012, 12:24:40 PM Gods grace covenant with man is irrevocable. In it is promised to gift man with all that man has. Gods covenant is foreseen as already completed in His elect. Gods purposes in His covenant people are not to harm them but to bless them. Not because of anything we do but because we live in grace. But God also warns us that we cannot understand His ways. He says "my ways are not your ways neither are my thoughts your thoughts." In other words the only reality of thinking that we enjoy is that which He has plainly revealed. This is why God has not defined the quality of our lives in an individual sense but as He rules from the heavens. This distinguish us from being gods. So we are the sum total of what goes on around us  .. those decisions that impact or lives that we have no control over and Gods promise to act in this world to vindicate His people. So we are caught in a world that actively hates God and because of this they hate His people. Liberals on the other hand say that God is in the heavens and He has already taken the spoils so the world is getting better. They say that God is sovereign so they are unconcerned for the problems in our lives. But if salvation is the only good in this world and the reality of evil as opposed to the good is evident then it is necessary for the good of His elect that God also defends them. If God has already won then dont you think that sorrow would also be eliminated? After all if God was unconcerned for our sorrows and griefs for the sake of what His promises that may or may not be applied in daily wisdom then God really is not God but another man who will fail us in the end. And so this fundamental belief that our perseverance has a perspective in which God is actively opposed to the evil in this world is the basis of our understanding of real grace. And this is why understanding the gospel and speaking it to ourselves exposes the evils of liberalism. Because grace alone by faith alone produces assurance while painting a picture of a God who is unconcerned for the daily needs of His people destroys faith. Isnt it they who imagine that God has given them extra revelation and they are better than everyone else?    Reply Quote Notify 1258  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Hate for Christians on: May 12, 2012, 12:31:45 PM Let me give you hope. There are two words that are like medicine to the soul. In the Psalms these words actually are like an army that stands around us and prevents us from the fatal blow. One is never and the other is always. And any one who understands praying only will persevere in this life by these two words. There are always two ideas that God uses to sort of enact events for us. And these are examples of the two witnesses that are necessary to lead us to the just recompense when we will judge nations. lol Because God uses faithfulness and love as one of the two witnesses who stand beside us as our ability to judge nations and always and never as one of the other two witnesses. But we always desire to find our only hope in God. And just like in the cross righteousness and justice met together so always and never meet together. We always have an advocate and He never will turn or reject our petition. What God does is recreate our troubled heart to pray in a way that is in His will. So we are always enjoying victory because He doesnt reject our wants but makes them more personal to us. So that in approaching our Father we are learning to use our gifts in a way that brings the most glory to God. We are most happy when we have found God because we are most loved as who we are in being recreated. Reply Quote Notify 1259  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Hate for Christians on: May 12, 2012, 12:00:44 PM Quote from: Lone Arranger on May 12, 2012, 11:33:15 AM My letter made the paper this morning.  Though they have the right to edit anything you submit they published it word for word, only leaving off the YouTube link.  It's important that when we, Christians, are publically attacked, we respond clearly and unwaveringly for what we believe; but also as loving as we possibly can.  I hope it does some good.  If thats what you are best at doing then we need more people to do the Lords work in this way. But at the same time a lot of people may feel helpless because their lives are turned upside down. And i know that ive been accused of not doing things to better myself. But i ask.. how much better is society in the end with everyone focused on making themselves better? How happy are they? There is more mind altering drugs being taken.. more divorce.. more suicide...more discord . Why is this ? Because people still feel like they can take the good with the bad and that is enough. Theve been taught that the heavens are powerless to respond. I ask you this as Jesus did. Which of you by worrying can add a single day to your life? And so we focus on one beatitude while we trade our lives for another one. lol But this really is the answer to freedom. Forget your life for Christ and other people. lol Do not let the events of your life determine how you feel love, how you express love and how sup-possibly have much less access to God. God is not angry and wants to lead you to green pastures by all the promises and decrees that He will not fail you. You are free and you can connect with people not because they know something you need or whatever but because God has made you and He loves you no matter what. And so He will repay all the evils in this world. Reply Quote Notify 1260  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Hate for Christians on: May 12, 2012, 11:28:13 AM We are always gonna be questioned and talked about. Its engaging ourselves in the arena of life. Sometimes the heat gets really intense. But we cannot separate our beliefs falling out into how society treats each other. Because once we reject God we turn our backs on loving each other. And we put ourselves up as the ultimate judge of another man. This is why Christ says that we should be as wise as serpents as as harmless as doves. A lot of people miss represent this as being passive aggressive. lol But heres the thing...If you really believed that you were a child of the Father who ruled the earth then why would you feel that you were really important in how these events in life turn? And this is why serpents are deadly. Because they can exert their power when they need to eat. lol In other words they do not just strike at all times but they wait until their prey is in their sights. Did you know that evil rulers were compared to serpents that could not even be charmed? So this is kind of..in my opinion ...mocking godless powers. In other words they may practice their dominance on this earth and think no one is watching but God is watching and He already has said Kiss the Son lest He be angry because His wrath can flair up in a moment. Did you know we have direct access to this fearful God? This is why He says "Vengeance is mine I will repay." There is sweet juice in the fruit of righteous indignation if you can be taught from God how to squeeze that fruit. Not at others but a deep conviction that God will not fail. Jesus tells a story of this widow who had debts and they were continuously pestering her. But every day she would go to the door of the judge and knock. And eventually the judge got warn out from her knocking and said .." if you leave me alone i will give you what you want." lol Now i believe this is a very crude way of showing that God our Father is always listening to our prayers. And this is our encouragement to engage God in our troubles. lol Now i see this all the time when i am reading about events. People begin to have trouble and they get to the point where they feel isolated from society. And so the answer is always that they tell someone their troubles. In other words we sort of have made society a kind of focus group and everyone takes their private issues and gets healing by making them public. But in this verse God actually is the only one that can really do something about it. Oh there is relief in having friends but they usually fail us in the end .. but God will never fail us. He hears the cries of His people and He will never turn from those who ask.