1441	Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Gods Love	on: April 03, 2012, 09:55:19 AM
Unless we see the enormity of Gods love we will never exalt God. Sin is not just a violation of Gods character but its described in the bible as a capital crime against God. I think this is why we are given the story of David and psalm 51. I mean there are distinguishing factors about different sins on this earth. But before God every sin is done to silence God forever. What we must see is that God examines men with a different view of the injury done by sin than we can understand. In Gods examination every sin is like trying to extinguish a mans neighbor. There is no answer for the results of the violation from one man to another. There is no remedy for the amount of injury that is brought about by living with sinners. Every sin is done with forethought and pleasure. I know we like to think of sin as just something that we cannot explain and it was not intended to injure someone but God has a different standard. This is why God cannot allow a man to atone for his sin. Because the violation that causes the injury is defined by God as God looks on the heart. Let me talk about Gods sovereignty as it relates to the cesspool of murder by sin. Its a very unwise view to see these things that happen in this world in a reality as they transpire and make judgements upon how they effect society without seeing the enormity of the evil of the smallest sin. Because its so easy for man to create hypocrisy as an art form. We must understand that God holds the handle on the amount of injury that transpires in this world and He allows these things to pass from one person to another. The reality is that a violation of the law is much worse than the demand of the payment can release the persons involved from the destruction that that violation has caused. We must understand that the violation of the law in Gods view demands a curse upon that person. Or we will not understand the nature of a blessing. This is why God must come to man. God must give man all that he needs in order to be really blessed. Because there is a multitude of foresight in actions that transpire between men that only God sees. And i think this is what the apostle was saying about the spirit of this when he brings all men before God and they are silenced. In other words there is nothing that man can do about the evils and destructing that they have caused by their own hands. And in a sense the apostle is saying that all men are nigh unto cursing but for the grace of God. We must understand that it is very important for us in finding that sense of innocence and rest that we look at the seriousness of a violation of the law so that we will more and more find true value in the grace that God has extended through His love. Because we are not just talking about grace to establish our way but grace as the only protection we have against the awful effects of how destructive sin is in society. God must love us enough to desire to subdue men in our need of protection.
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1442  Forums / Main Forum / Re: $500 Million lottery winnings given to church? on: April 03, 2012, 12:00:46 AM Quote from: Gouda on April 02, 2012, 11:57:59 PM What work did Solomon do besides judging peasants and building things on the backs of slaves? He was the richest man in the world (maybe ever), but by all accounts he horded that wealth in his palace and his storerooms. I don't think my $1 lottery ticket investment looks so bad up against that. I do not think playing the lottery is morally wrong. Especially if you like paying voluntary taxes. lol Reply Quote Notify

1443  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Multiple wives? on: April 02, 2012, 11:42:36 PM Quote from: Gouda on April 02, 2012, 11:32:03 PM MBG, your last post made me chuckle.  Those pesky rich people get all the girls... Quote from: MBG 84% of women have sex to get their guy to do more around the house. I call BS. Do a lot of you guys honestly think women get no pleasure for themselves via sex? It's just a means to ease their workload or get a child?  What a low opinion you have of half the world's population. Have you ever seen a group of women living in one house together and NOT wanting to smother each other?  You think that's an easy or desirable living arrangement for any woman? I don't know any man who would want to deal with that in-fighting day in and day out. Of course, you could always beat 'em into submission... (Thank you, God, that I live in the 21st century.) These are not my opinionS ... these are from surveys... they actually ask the women themselves.. lol but you do your own study.. it will surprise you. Type in porn stats and marriage and sex stats. And i think people lie about how many times a week.     Reply Quote Notify

1444  Forums / Break Room / Re: Qs about sex on: April 02, 2012, 11:28:54 PM Gouda is all you need to do is to do a fact check and you will see that it supports Willis and 1sinner. I know this is an emotional subject but just look at the stats on pornography. The facts speak for themselves.. we make to much hay about sex in my opinion. Ive met a lot of people who are very loving toward one another that do not have a stellar sex life.    Reply Quote Notify

1445  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Multiple wives? on: April 02, 2012, 11:19:01 PM I dont think poor people had multiple wives. So the labor cost meant nothing. Reply Quote Notify

1446  Forums / Main Forum / Re: $500 Million lottery winnings given to church? on: April 02, 2012, 11:09:30 PM The bible promise rewards for real work not really "investments." lol I mean its nice to talk about how wise Solomon was because he had so many horses... but God was watching how he got those horses. lol Immorality is rewarding investment over work because it becomes bribery. Just because a stock option is driving labor cost does not mean it makes you less personally responsible. Reply Quote Notify

1447  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Multiple wives? on: April 02, 2012, 10:36:40 PM This is getting way to serious for me .. especially since im just offering an argument. Heres some stats... the average couple has sex 127 days a yr. Thats minus 364 .. which is 237 days ..  i dont see your argument being supported by the statistics. Theres some other activity going on in my opinion.  Thats about 2 times a week. uh ... lots of questions here. 84% of women have sex to get their guy to do more around the house. That sounds like a lot of dumb guys .. lol Reply Quote Notify

1448  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Gods Love on: April 02, 2012, 03:59:39 PM The love of God is only given to sinners. Its not for those who are confident because they have avoided some sins. The love of God is for those who accept His love as He says that it takes care of every sin. Its the only way that we can be accepted when we sin over and over again. There is no other place to go. There is no other hope in this world for us to find acceptance and completeness except finding it in God. God loves those who have a deep knowledge of sin. He offers one way to come to Him. He says that only those who come empty handed with nothing to ask for but offering Him their sin is when we find that He is there waiting for us with open arms. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He sees us as we really are. He sees all the dirt and the fighting we have to want to change ourselves. He understands how hard it is for us to be reduced to the simplicity of His love. He understands when we try to do the good thing... or we hand over a new leaf. He knows how terrible that struggle is. But His love is only experienced when we lay down our want to get better. When we give up the fight to overcome our sin and addictions. He knows that we will never come if we must fight to overcome sin. He knows that we will never come if there is something we must do in order to be loved. But He loves us so that when we sin we do not need to think that the sin is greater than His love. We live before Him in our sin as accepted not because we do something about our sin but because He only loves real sinners.   Remove Reply Quote Notify

1449  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: My sheep hear My voice on: April 01, 2012, 02:39:41 PM Let me talk about this bravery in the mists of sorrow and wanting to give up. Jesus in the garden faced the most aversive circumstance in the entire world. He face the devil in a personal way and He faced the traitor Judas who was coming to Him. But Jesus did not waver in unbelief. He did not draw back from His mission. Rather in His prayer He resisted to blood. Now this is confusing because we are commanded not to draw back. In another scripture we are taught persevere under trials. So what we are expressing in our weakness is an acknowledgment of our lacking the strength. Its not that we are standing in our humanness with a vision of being able to overcome all opposition but we in a sense want to identify with Christ in His death. We are acknowledging the powers that are too strong for us so that we might experience the power of Christ. This is having a sense of being stouthearted.. or being strengthened by the Spirit to be brave. You see this when Jesus confronted the traitors and His enemies and after His resistance to blood.. He said " I am".. and they all were on their backs. And the comparison was Peter in his own strength who like us waver and cry for strength goes out and takes his own vengeance with his sword. Yes the disciples had been sleeping not realizing the enormity of what was about to transpire. This great trial that came upon them. But when we see how God protects us and we unburden ourselves about not being able to stand against those who have set a trap for us or those who are too powerful for us who want to do us wrong then we find strength to cry for more strength and more confidence in Him. And this is finding refuge in our great God who can destroy a whole army with one word. So then we must confess that we will never be shaken. But its not that we are strong but we are only like a broken reed because of the adversity of the world and the self righteous. We find a sense that we are nothing and in need of being loved beyond what we experienced in or prior resistance. Gods elect have been given a spirit of perseverance in prayer so that we begin to experience supernatural strength. Its not in our horses, not in our arm of strength but its His rite arm. He is the Most High who saves us on the day of battle.   Reply Quote Notify

1450  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: My sheep hear My voice on: April 01, 2012, 01:33:31 PM Today the shepherds voice is universal love for all sorrow and sin. I think we ve drowned the particularism in emotionalism. When we lose the clear message that Gods love is contained in His will then there are other options that we have to walk in another way. And this is what people do not understand. They think loosely about love and limit themselves of the special family relation that we have in coming to God our Father. If we really forced ourselves to question when other people talk about love or when we begin to struggle with whether we are loved then we would only have one way to find relief. Its to know the love of God. So i am saying that if love is not in God alone then we will grow faint in our faith that we can access Gods love for us under any circumstance. What we need to understand is the relationship between sorrow, weakness and hope. Because these three attributes help us to access Gods love when we are being protected from knowing the sorrow in life as God knows them and in going outside of His protection to earn His love. A lot of people are sorrowful that they do not know Gods love but they are reckless about moving faster than God is going with them. The way we learn that God loves us is not by exposure of ourselves but its through this process of finding God in resting in Him and then learning how to find greater rest from this world through being brave. When love is not particular then we live with a divided life. We live as if the world was created by chance. When we do this we learn through dividing our day that each aspect of our day is not related to the other things we do. So in a sense we are what our job says we are, we are what our spouse says we are etc. This is the cause of all fights and all anxiety in this world. To not find that Gods love is to us personally in all of life. Its to wish to find His voice when we get into another part of our day. In a sense we are lowering God and thinking that He is not a present help. We must put boundaries on who God love in particular.Gods love never fails because it is in God alone so that its determined by His will and desire alone. Here is what we think in terms of blocking out all the other voices that want to be like God. We must see that in Gods refuge it is perfectly safe. God describes His refuge as Him surrounding us on all sides. He describes His refuge as Him hiding us in Himself from our enemies. This description is not necessarily a place but its what language that we listen to as the real love. So we are not advancing so that we are broken and we are finding all of these wonderful attributes of God strengthening us a little and then a little more. Now listen to me. Most people go head long into situations where they do not understand the nature of the hatred and anger that can bring them much sorrow. Because they have not learned to strengthen their feeble knees in understanding that grace is advance little by little by the transference of new life. They have never considered how the love of God alone can make all things different over time.   Reply Quote Notify

1451  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Multiple wives? on: April 01, 2012, 09:32:35 AM Im gonna be impersonal here and play the devils advocate. I dont think the multiple wives affected them spiritually as much as how they ruled. Because i like to ask a lot of questions and bring out things from different angles i will address this level of frustration and the hypocrisy that comes of in public as spirituality. I do not want to be graphic but every man must have an outlet. Now that statement is defensive to a woman because it comes across as men wanting to use the woman. But no matter if there is the act a man will have that outlet. And God has made sex to be clean and fun but just like any thing in this life what is simple is very complex when we are talking about two sinners living together. The man was made to be visual while the woman is not so visual but more in need of an emotional contact. So a woman could possibly be perfectly happy in a world where she felt accepted minus the sex. And it may be no fault of hers.. she may be physically handicap. Or it could be from emotional abuse. Would you risk destroying her or him...(outside of Gods sovereign teaching) in order to make the marriage better. lol thats a joke. Where as a man is always subject to that time table so to speak. I mean if your looking at a guy and hes talking about all the newest techniques hes learned but hes really lacking in understanding who God is then someone in the marriage is either playing along or just plain deceived. But over a period of time he will ware on her. lol Ive heard all kinds of things about how people deal with this but my question is with all of this attention to acting a certain way by the rules why is it that our divorce rate is so high? Why if we have more counsel flooding the market and you cant avoid some kind of advice whenever you are exposed to the media .. why is it that men and women are worse of getting along and now the young generation is only 13 percent marriage rate? People amaze me when i point out the success rate in this area and they are willing to ignore it and just keep doing what they are told. lol When ever you look at an organization ask you question is there spiritual success...people really giving attention to their personal disciplines and understanding the doctrines or is it just cleaning the outside of the cup so to speak? I  believe that the doctrinal issue defines how we love other things so its a kind of propagation of adultery.  Where as in the ot these men who penned the scriptures where very orthodox. And through forgiveness they enjoyed a better relationship with God than most American legalistic people who are behaviorally compliant. lol thats a laugh. Most of these legalist will probably get you on meds because of their pace demanded for change ...kind of like tormenting someone. I think you can cause harm going to either extreme. You can make the standard with so much rules that its not worth the time or the effort. You can make someone focus so much on social contact in an effort to try to change behavior that a person can lose his own purpose in this life. I believe that in talking about these two extremes there really is a choice and its radical. The bible offers us one thing. It forces us to go in one direction. Where as the system of man offers multiple directions. The system of man divides and separates through the wisdom of man but the bible is a way of obsession. I say obsession because of all of the attention to how we approach the bible instead of what the bible does. God has made man visual so that he will not be forced to live alone. Because that attraction is natural and it brings about a single direction in life that protects him from many dangers. Because there is so much focus on what transpires in communication between two people we never teach about the dangers of going outside of the natural way that God has made us. We never think that being separated from our homes is like a bird straying from his nest. We are not just talking about the potential of adultery but we are talking about evil in a spiritual sense. Here is what we must understand. That the marriage relationship is not really an offshoot of a study of monkeys or other species. lol But its the dwelling together of a king and a queen in the eyes of God. Its not a doing contract but its a speaking contract. Because we are not talking about trying to eliminate a bad sexual experience in private but we are talking about how we speak of marriage in public and how we speak to one another in the whole of marriage. Leaders do not throw darts at a weak husband and cause disrespect to him. This is a mans prerogative to curse those who speak evil of him. The bible does not give us authority to have three people in a marriage. The husband the wife and the counselor. But it provides the basis of a peaceful life as we lift God up to His rightful place. When we lift God up then there will automatically be mutual respect no matter how our sex lives are going at the time. I love being the other side . lol       Reply Quote Notify

1452  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: difference between affliction and punishment? on: March 31, 2012, 06:46:23 PM I think we are mistaken when we use this as a rule . Kind of like here are the requirements posted on the wall. lol I understand the story of Ananais but i believe that was a leadership issue more than a member of a church. Kind of like the ot strange sacrifice. But i believe that it should be stress as a confessional issue so its like talking about the whole issue rather than presenting it as if you come to our church you may be struck dead. lol I will further get into this but there are instances where someone who is struggling and falling into a certain sin is not in this category. got to go Reply Quote Notify

1453  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: difference between affliction and punishment? on: March 31, 2012, 07:59:52 AM These doctrines we hold to have built into them a direction of keeping our minds from cursed frames. Ive never been a superstitious person. I was raised as every one here in the greek mindset. Knowledge equals power. So i read scripture and see the same things that i am told by my particular dogma of reformed theology. But one thing that i have practice over many years is consistent meditation in different areas of scripture. Ive suffered from depression before so it also been an experience of superstition. Because there has never been a direct correlation drawn between depression and how we thrive in our enjoying Christ. But because of this part of me that is superstitious i have been drawn to the Psalms to better understand this connection. And over the years in my meditations sometimes chanting them for hours and days i have experienced some things that have given me a mood change in the experience. This has brought me to look closer at the other areas of the scripture and interpret them in a new way but not outside of the old doctrines. I often wonder why an orthodox jew has this kind of superstition. And it think it is terribly frustrating for a Jew to see some of the new testament parallels drawn to the old testament by the church. Even some of the reformers who did a great exegetical interpretation of these text are not drawing parallels to this superstitious side of the ot. One of the reasons i am writing this is because ive had so many problems with people who read things into what i am saying because they have never had these times where there has been some strange communications from using the Psalms. And there is so much mystery that we have not plumb the depths of. I dont mean the mystery that has not been addressed in scripture but the mystery of the usage of the scripture in meditation. Ive had times where i experienced so much freedom that ive addressed this in my writings as being transported to the other side and calling people to join me. Ive got to tell you that i understand why the Jews are puzzled at some of the interpretations that come out of the historical nt church. This is why i have written extensively in the past years about the curses. Because ive been taught so much from the exegetical angle of the scriptures that frankly is very immature. Because there are all these pastoral applications of scripture not drawn from how we view the scripture through two line but in understanding the application of wisdom we actually apply it where it goes to the heart of the person in a mystical way. Our writing and speaking is the effect of change. Ive been struggling lately with hyper tension and head aches because of the weight loss. This comes on me at nite so i am going through some suffering. One of the reasons that i had to look at my physical shape was because i was more and more experiencing a lack of desire and sleeping a lot. Ive had a very high standard of experience. So i know when it is not normal for me. There is a lot of superstition in the christian experience. I think you see this with Job his concern for these curses. Some of this is ignored by nt theologians because they really do not have experience in Psalm chanting. But the fact that Job was concerned that his children did not curse God is significant in this account. Because we have this conflict in Job with his faith and how these curses applied both as a matter of the dangers of being reprobate but also in a superstitious way. And we see this brought to a clearer light by how his friends approached the application of his experiencing these dreadful pains. This is why there is more poetry in this book that i believe has not been brought out in the past. The very fact that his wife through her faithlessness appealed to Job to curse God is evident that she was accusing Job of these trials as evidence that God was cursing Job. Ive had this experience because of how different i have been in a religious context in community. People have told me if you use the word like that God will curse you. First of all.. i did not write these Psalms. I am not responsible for all the inconsistent views of how these things are drawn about me by other people as to what i think of them. I simply believe that some of the depression and these things we do not understand about life have a kind of superstitious nature about them. And i believe that most of this is how we imagine these mysterious experiences by how we think of them. I am perfectly willing to allow for things i do not understand.. whether negative or positive.. cursing or blessing that affect me to do it as the most personal experience as feeling that mystery. And i think this is exactly how Job approached these trials. Because any time we use the scriptures we are not just going to go through the natural motions of the heart as if there was a process involved. But we are talking about being separated from our old self and experiencing our new self. And this involves having a sense that we are not connected to ourselves as finding this superstitious  mystery ...having seen God and being enraptured in His glorious infusions. And this is that superstitious part of the story of Job in which Job was speaking in a poetic way in order to free himself from himself.     Reply Quote Notify

1454	Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Covenant Theology and Addiction	on: March 30, 2012, 03:45:17 PM
Covenant theology is the most personal theology. The grace covenant gives a man a private life and a public life. Covenant theology is a theology of living according to the language of God. So the most personal relationship is never spread into the streets. This is why the covenants are compared to marriage. Because breaking any covenant is like adultery. Because it represents Gods faithful word in society and in the heart of man. What happens when we do not hold to the covenant of grace is that society becomes focused on social behaviors rather than making clear distinctions between the private and the public. This is what the proverbs was talking about when it says that a man who commits adultery takes the most cherished private things of his life and he sort of spills them in the streets... on public display. Almost like being stripped and put in the middle of the city. So there is a coloration between covenants... self respect and this kind of private refuge that is formed that the world does not see. This all is generated by a clear language of grace. We understand the security of a refuge in Gods promise to uphold His name in our lives. We must understand that evil really is an attack on Gods word rather than something wrong that we struggle with in this refuge understanding.So we begin to create this private refuge as we understand that God gifts us with grace so that sin cannot overcome in our struggle. Although we give into sin yet grace covers our sins so that we never lose our identity in Christ. When God gives us the grace promise we no longer think outside of the redemptive purposes of our lives. Every thing in our lives ends in redemption ... even our sin. Because God promises to act on our behalf before we act. This is the confidence we stand in that creates this distinction between our private lives and our public lives. But when we mix law and grace then we are in essence going after other lovers. We are losing our real image in Christ and finding our confidence in a universal acceptance that is in society. We must always stand on the clear words of scripture because these words give us the clear way to find rest and build this private sanctuary.  As the world becomes more and more focused on how we are by what we are in society or finding our identity in the public vote so to speak then we begin to search after other lovers.
1456  Forums / Main Forum / Re: $500 Million lottery winnings given to church? on: March 29, 2012, 04:20:25 PM There is this one Psalm that connects the rich with those who trust in themselves. And since i am going back and forth with some people i guess i will take the time here to talk about this passion of Gods elect. Because this psalm does distinguish between an eternal view of things with the present day society in which deceivers surround Gods people.  What is so deceptive that rich men are called deceivers in Gods kingdom? The deception is that redemption can be paid for. In other words God distinguishes between being rich in this life in comparing it to His wealth and our heavenly inheritance. And God covenants with His people through real redemption not that which is provided through this world and its riches. And it really does come down to what we trust in. What we long for. And we see that all of redemption is an eternal perspective as opposed to what a man accomplishes on this earth and what he leaves behind. Why does the bible say that not many rich men will see the kingdom of heaven? Because they treat the redemption of God as of little value compared to their portfolio. They actually store up their own wealth but it is left behind. The question is what does a man long for? What does a man trust in? So the Psalmist does not offer a comparison by describing the riches of heaven with those of the earth but rather he shows the two cultures of those who have big houses with Gods poor. Those who store up wealth as compared to those who receive real riches after this life. So what the psalmist is comparing here is an earthly culture where men are deceived ...store up wealth... only to leave it for eternity as compared to those who are poor and have very little in this world but have everything in the next world. So one builds wealth while the other builds Gods kingdom. Thats the comparison.     Reply Quote Notify 1457  Forums / Break Room / Re: pain relief suggestions, plz on: March 29, 2012, 03:19:39 PM glucosamine condroitin but youve got to combine it with flaxseed oil- for inflammation  ...for joint pain... and if your taking Prilosec or any of those acid reducers ,you need to purchase Eco Green multi vitamin ...a NOW product. You got to cut that freekin acid pump off ..its like spreading battery acid all over the place...then put some natural vitamins and minerals in the digestive system (eco green) ... like keeping a garden...lol then you got to get some vit b liquid by mouth cause the acid reducers dont allow you to absorb the b vits.  The results take time.. like 3 weeks ... Reply Quote Notify 1458  Forums / Politics Forum / Re: A Poll: Who should be president? on: March 29, 2012, 01:05:26 PM A good guy would take away all the perks and pensions they have first. Then we might see some real repentance. Of course this is not going to happen so the job is attractive enough for them to become life time imperialist. ... lol  a little jab there Reply Quote Notify 1459  Forums / Break Room / Re: Dramatic departures on: March 29, 2012, 01:00:29 PM Quote from: linda marie on March 28, 2012, 11:45:38 AM drama??? lol..classic LM... now that was funny Reply Quote Notify 1460  Forums / Main Forum / Re: $500 Million lottery winnings given to church? on: March 29, 2012, 12:43:43 PM Quote from: LuvChess on March 29, 2012, 11:51:14 AM Do you think your church would accept money from a winning lottery ticket? I was imagining how I could help promote the gospel with that kind of money by supporting missionaries and churches around the country. I wonder what my small local church would do if I put a check for $50 million in the offering plate   If you look at the results of this of which i can proudly say ive never played... lol... its brought destruction to its recipients...i could just imagine what it would do to the unity of the body- you really must work that hard to get it?...God blesses those who rest in Him so that trials actually keep the healthy from destroying those who really need help .. lol Reply Quote Notify 1461  Forums / Prayer Requests / Re: For Our Mbg on: March 29, 2012, 11:46:15 AM Im a big weightlifter. But as i get older i do not realize that its easier to gain weight as well. Its the first time ive been confronted with being cripple because of being over weight. I got on the scale and was completely surprised. I am suffering from a bit of hyper tension but am loosing the weight. It woke me up seeing how the weight affects me at my age.  Reply Quote Notify 1462  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Covenant Theology and Addiction on: March 29, 2012, 11:28:57 AM Let me say this about the constitution and covenant theology. The constitution was not just written to provide the foundation of personal rites but it was written to keep a man from experiencing unlawful and daily communication of threats. Its in the eight amendment. People do not see that law itself is the threat against peace. The constitution was spirited toward a peaceful cohabitation to enjoy looking to the real word of salvation. Which is absolutely essential as a focus for living in a secure society.  The only other option in protection is the curses. The blessing and curses are like real powers that hold a man in that focus because we are talking about assault on a families well being. The constitution provided men a positive view of the world without the need of the curses. lol This is sort of free expression ...standing up for the rites in a constitutional sense and enjoying the curses in private on whoever goes out to destroy their neighbor by his scheme. In other words God provides Himself in the ten laws that proves to man his need of dependence on God but men go astray by making laws that bring their neighbor down. The law of God is the only way to provide man with a security to not use his bias to create laws that are schemes against God. The constitution was a covenant document that brought man before God in a personal sense so that he would not be given powers to thwart God and thus to cause ill to his neighbor. Now we see there are threats on every side. This has every thing to do with addiction since we are talking about the arm of free grace. Remove Reply Quote Notify 1463  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Covenant Theology and Addiction on: March 29, 2012, 11:13:44 AM Let me talk about the evils of mystical things. Things in themselves are dead things. Even a reprobate who is a god to himself is considered a dead thing like an idol made with hands. I only say this as an analogy to exalt grace. When we put confidence or in the saving sense deceived to trust in a physical thing to be the communication of salvation to us it creates declension from the focus on the word of deliverance. It also provides us with a false image of salvation. There is only one free exercise of powers in this universe. This is why we experience freedom in worshiping Christ and actively take part in the means of grace. All other exercises outside of trusting in Christ are done through checks and balances of threats and rewards. A man can be a law unto himself. And this is exactly what trusting in mystical powers brings a man in spiraling down into double mindedness. Its also enforced by the level of evil in a society. Because all the people who are trusting in mystical powers enforce their methods through threats. We see that Christ came to make us lambs who let Him take vengeance on those who oppose God.   Remove Reply Quote Notify 1464  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Covenant Theology and Addiction on: March 29, 2012, 10:50:35 AM When Adam sinned he departed from Gods presence. Now this is interesting because no man can depart from Gods presence and live. But we are talking about a state of sin that he fell into in which he was not thinking correctly. It was not a physical relationship necessarily but it was always a word or communication of departure first. In other words Adam attributed to God the opposite of what he had enjoyed before the fall. He actually accused God of not being faithful and good. This was displayed in Adam taking his own methods to appease God. It was only in Adams mind that God was something other than who God really was. Adam was reacting to his own guilt. This still did not change who God was nor the word that God was always faithful, always loving. So Adam broke the covenant by departing from the presence of God. But we see that God was not reacting to Adams sin but rather God came to Adam as a covenant keeping God. What did God say to Adam? "Where are you?" In other words God was very aware of this break in the relationship. Adam was not in need of a word of consolation but he was in need of the word of salvation. God came to Adam by providing all that Adam needed to be renewed back to his original relationship. It was not in Adams response to God that provided the basis of Adams renewed fellowship but it was in God promise to provide Adam with all that Adam needed. God promise to do the work by providing a living Word that Adam was to look to in order to be delivered. You see this whole picture repeated throughout the ot until Christ came. All the physical elements of the ot were fulfilled in Christ because it was only through the word covenant that God would show Himself faithful!Christ fulfilled the requirements of the ot covenant by being that Word of Salvation incarnate. This is how insignificant the physical elements were in providing the only basis for man to be confident that he had a new image. It was the only message that resonated in which God comes to man opposing the other word that is not to be trusted in ... schemes of man. That ot promise was guaranteed to succeed not by Israels obedience or use of the physical sacrifices but only as they look forward to the word of deliverance they were reminded of a God who came to them. And in fact Jesus over and over again... even through the apostle said.. "all day long i held out my faithful word to you but you would not." This was pointed out to show that Israel trusted in the physical things.   Beloved dont let men destroy the foundation of all that you trust in.  Put your only hope in the Word delivered to you that can save you.     Remove Reply Quote Notify 1465  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Covenant Theology and Addiction on: March 29, 2012, 09:55:36 AM Thinking about how highs and lows of life are interrelated to the work of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit can be grieved in many ways. But i do not want to focus on how we are affected but rather our remedy. A lot of people teach a doctrine where God is easily offended. They say that our sin separates us from God and that sin keeps us from fellowship with God. I do not see this as the main focus in how He counsels us and how we respond. I think a lot of people cause more problems that hinders the work of God by this. What we need to keep a focus on is Gods condescension in Christ to us. Because we are not coming to a Father who holds us by threats and promises. There are many ways we can offer something and then take it back. But living in this mind set is of our own doing. Its more of a mystery to me but I do not believe the physical elements of the covenant are the means by which we receive the grace. But maybe in a sense we could all drink water and eat a cracker it would not change the transference of grace.  My point here is not trying to point out the obvious but in talking about this side of the issue i am distinguishing between the physical elements and how God condescends to us in a spiritual way. So our understanding of what is trusted in is how we understand Gods acts toward us both out ward and inward in all of life. This is why we must focus on the nature of God rather than the means by which we receive grace. This is what happens when we try to look at the Revelation and we get all caught up in these physical images. But we are looking at the nature of God in the communication to us of who He is. This is the holistic understanding of this universal spirit of glorifying God by enjoying Him forever. What is the main means by which God condescends to us? Its through Christ but its the application of His word to our hearts. This is why the counsel from God is not to trust in any thing physical as a true representation of what God is doing.Its seen in the adverse language about the sacrifices. I hear a lot of people say in this kind of religious environment that we are to offer God something but to understand that it does not make us more righteous. But we see in the counsel of God that the offering itself was detestable to God because it was offered without a holistic understanding of glorifying God. In other words there was no equal goodness in the thing itself along with the where the heart was but one was condemned to see God in His nature as being separated from the activity of faith whether human or divine. We need to learn how to approach God as if our experiencing Gods distance in how we use His word and not the trust in these physical elements. So the application of the teaching is that God is seen by His Spirit as not just dwelling and coming and going but rather as a God who goes out before us and prepares the way of righteousness. There is more of a focus on communication of God in asking Him in this preparation rather than a static trust with a 50 -50 chance that He has reacted in some ways in trusting in the means themselves.   Remove Reply Quote Notify 1466  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Reformed Doctrine on: March 27, 2012, 08:37:06 PM http://www.sermonaudio.com/playpopup.asp?SID=3221213212 this one is exceptional Remove Reply Quote Notify 1467  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Commentary on Genesis - Volume 1 J. Calvin on: March 27, 2012, 07:41:00 PM 15. Let them be for lights It is well again to repeat what I have said before, that it is not here philosophically discussed, how great the sun is in the heaven, and how great, or how little, is the moon; but how much light comes to us from them.71 For Moses here addresses himself to our senses, that the knowledge of the gifts of God which we enjoy may not glide away. Therefore, in order to apprehend the meaning of Moses, it is to no purpose to soar above the heavens; let us only open our eyes to behold this light which God enkindles for us in the earth. By this method (as I have before observed) the dishonesty of those men is sufficiently rebuked, who censure Moses for not speaking with greater exactness. For as it became a theologian, he had respect to us rather than to the stars. Nor, in truth, was he ignorant of the fact, that the moon had not sufficient brightness to enlighten the earth, unless it borrowed from the sun; but he deemed it enough to declare what we all may plainly perceive, that the moon is a dispenser of light to us. That it is, as the astronomers assert, an opaque body, I allow to be true, while I deny it to be a dark body. For, first, since it is placed above the element of fire, it must of necessity be a fiery body. Hence it follows, that it is also luminous; but seeing that it has not light sufficient to penetrate to us, it borrows what is wanting from the sun. He calls it a lesser light by comparison; because the portion of light which it emits to us is small compared with the infinite splendor of the sun.72 Remove Reply Quote Notify 1468  Forums / Main Forum / Re: Exposed: Inside the NSA’s Largest and Most Expansive Secret Domestic Spy Center on: March 27, 2012, 12:23:57 PM Quote from: THOR on March 27, 2012, 12:08:11 PM Quote from: The G Man on March 27, 2012, 09:59:12 AM So if you aren't doing anything illegal you don't have to worry about anything! When the Bolsheviks took over in Russia they began to eliminate the top 10% of scientists and intellectuals. In St Petersburg a special black van would drive around at night (2am was the best time) and make random arrests. Each person thought it was some bureaucratic mistake, which could be cleared up once they arrived at the station. It was not.  Their innocence or guilt was not the reason for the arrest. There were quotas to fill and everyone was given 15 to 20 years in prison. When the Constitution is disregarded, no one has any rights or legal recourse and mercy is not a factor. It happened there and can happen here. Thor   “Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence. Any man who has once proclaimed violence as his method is inevitably forced to take the lie as his principle.”  Alexander Solzhenitsyn Thor i am on your side in a sense. Although i dont attack anyone who is in that position personally. But actually i am more destructive toward the personality of evil than most people. I try to live close to the cuff so to speak. Most of the trying we do is a waste of time. People actually think they can manage these things in the world but they do not understand the heart of man and how evil a man can get. Nor do they acknowledge the depth of evil in one sin. But every sin is like murder... not in the literal sense because there are different experiences with sins that affect other people more than those that are hidden in the private struggles of people. But the actual reality is no one will change unless God acts in a way ...i mean on a large scale to destroy the works of evil men. We see in the Revelation that the wicked will not repent of the works of their hands. Now this phrase is interesting. Work was ordained by God for man.But we see that the worship of demons, the idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood is life style rather than just a religious desire. Because Idols do not speak, or walk. So they can spread death by not repenting. As the ot says if God is not sovereign over all things there is no presence of love because God gives actual life to the souls of men. lol Or all that man has is only good because it comes from the hand of God. So in a sense spreading death is thinking that this gold was earned by me and its all mine. In the end you will leave it behind and all you will have is your soul to account for. This is why there are disasters in this world. Actually men eat other men without it being acknowledged. Just because the relationship is impersonal or from a 4th party does not mean that the leader is not responsible. But we see that where the heart is is what leads men to be in a position where they do not even understand the level of destruction they are leaving in this world being it does not affect them personally. So its more like the whole world without God in Christ is in a big dream state while God is watching every little thing that goes on. God will avenge His people. Reply Quote Notify 1469  Forums / Main Forum / Re: Christians are discriminated against on: March 27, 2012, 11:39:42 AM I believe that the appearance of things is not always what we think should be done to change our culture. So i believe that we must stay close to the scriptures and not label someone that the scriptures have not pointed out. Because our understanding of the way the world moves is going through a broken vessel. So we could say something about someone who is essential in our being protected. Someone who may have a terrible bed manner but who is our best defender. This is why the news is so deceptive. Or people who have opinions based upon some worldly advice or label. We must let God define the way the world is going because there are too many details in how He is providing for us and how He is working to bring us out of trouble. Because His redemption is not just to help us endure but to prevent attacks against us and bring us out of trouble. We fail at the point of losing our focus on the saving word. I know how difficult it is when the circumstances go from out there to attacking us inwardly. Job was not as troubled until it involved his flesh. Then he became a person who was really breathing in the questions and breathing out the mourning. And so everything at that time seemed to be the cause of his problems as he viewed them. He could have blamed his wife, his fickle friends , the lack of help. He was in pain and they just wanted to pile on. But it was really God and Satan having a wager. lol. He had no one to come along side and give him some relief. As Jesus said, bind the wounds and His if you see your brother in need and shut up your help then how dwells the love of God in you? So we must always be aware that some times we are only human and we need the help. But God does things through people that we do not understand. Job did not try to tell people that he was righteous but he was focused on his God and not on the people. They were trying to get him to go inward but he was expressing himself in biblical language of the heart. So we need to find God and all the other outward things will fall in line. Reply Quote Notify 1470  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Covenant Theology and Addiction on: March 27, 2012, 10:17:18 AM We overcome sin through being loved. Anger never brings about the righteous life that God desires. A man who practices being angry in a dispute will destroy himself. A lot of people miss understand how the positive and negative work to create a stable foundation for us to stand on. Most people who are given to anger and threats in a situation only feel important enough to stand as a god who provides both warnings and gifts. The anger of man is not righteous indignation. Now listen to me.. the only way a man can stand as being accused of having cursing and blessing on his lips is how he stands in relation to Gods law! But righteous indignation is meekness to provide healing in a defensive posture. When we do not understand Gods covenant love then we are given to think in the flesh. Where do wars and envy start from? They are present where there is all kinds of selfish ambition. For a wicked man curses the poor and then blesses those who provides him success. Do not try to use religious language to bring God down! There is only one remedy for being cursed. It is to be protected from the curses of the law by Christ who became a curse for us. A christian curses in agreeing with the law about violators. The wicked curse to destroy the righteous. The wicked have cursing and blessing on their lips. But they do it because they seek to rule through threats and language that is not thinking thoughts after God. They do it to rule men through oppression. But the righteous place all their confidence in God and seek to protect the righteous by agreeing with God about the curses of the law. Stay away from an angry man who uses threats to get his way. And stand firm against these threats by the curses of the law. lol This is why our country is being judged. Gods standard of law keeping is backwards. He measure morals by how men treat the poor and oppressed. God values the soul more than the dollar. God will save a life of the poor and oppressed even if it cost the lives of the wicked. There is no amount of money that can compare with saving a life for even one more hour. Listen to me... the curse of man is seen in trying to destroy his neighbor. The curses of the law carried out protects the righteous. I am teaching historical Calvinism not the American stuff. lol And i am not pointing fingers at anyone but speaking in a general sense.