The bible admonishes us to be sincere, literally "without wax."
"Without
wax" stems from the Latin words “sin” (without) and “ceras” (wax) and
is often said to be the origin of the English word “sincerity.” The
story goes that the phrase “without wax” first became widespread during
the height of Roman and Greek artistry, when sculptures first became a
popular artistic medium. When a sculpture had a flaw, artists would fill
in the chip or crack with colored wax to match the marble. Wax was said
to serve as cover-up, masking imperfections on what was most likely
cheap pottery. An arguably perfect or quality piece of work was
therefore “without wax.” Pottery pieces were even said to be stamped
with the phrase “without wax” as proof of authenticity."
So what
does that mean to us, to be sincere? Surely it doesn't mean perfect.
Like that would ever happen! Well, we can be said to be perfect in
Christ - hallelujah! So it must mean to let our flaws and imperfections
show. I wish there were more of this in churches. "I'm cracked, how
about you?" Well, of course we are all cracked or we wouldn't need the
Divine Savior. To me you can't get "renewed" without being transparent -
first with yourself, then God, then a select trusted few, then (as you
feel brave, or it no longer matters) to an expanding circle. One thing
for sure, there will be no secrets in God's pad; but then we won't care
enough about all this old stuff to dwell on it. As AA puts it, "It's
our secrets that make us sick." They almost have it right. It's our
sins that make us sick, and we usually try to keep them secret.
Forgive
me sw but this is just very one sided. Its based upon the presumption
that sharing a secret will bring in the kingdom of Christ. I mean that
is the only success that is worth boasting about. Now the bible is very
specific about who we are and it provides the only basis as the
authority of our behavior. We must distinguish between mans counsel and
the bibles authoritative promises and proclamations. When i write a
doctrine i write in in blood. But when i apply it to a persons life its
just one application among many. So in a sense not only is the bible the
rule of life and conduct but we must have the basis for knowing how to
apply it in this personal way. So without the saving knowledge of the
Spirit its just a process of miss application in the counsel. This
is why the bible seems to contradict itself in applying a principle...
ie proverbs or psalms to the same looking situation in an opposite way.
So we are required not only to know all the commands, promises, and
statutes and decrees but the quality of our lives are determined by how
we interpret these words. I mean to simply conclude that the bible gives
authority for someone to use their system of checks and balances
without the epistemological concern for accuracy is to make the teaching
of man equal with the bible. And this is why these individual teachings
are taken out of context. Secrets only have power in that we have
not completely identified with Christ who has broken the power of sin
and sorrows. A lot of people look at things they struggle with and try
to work them out as if they were not an individual but only valuable as
they identify with a certain group of people. This is why God does not
focus on the human agency to gain redemption. God distinguish gospel
success in comparing it to being political. In a political organization
people exclude those other people who do not support their particular
view of politics. They do this by agreeing together that they will not
speak bad about their candidate and they will keep on the message. When
they advance their own cause they do it through excluding other parties.
But God is not a political God. God looks on the heart. God does
not have allegiances based upon human conduct..upon the success or
failure of human agencies. God on the other hand stands apart from mans
system and men excluding other men through a form of socialistic order.
But God demands that He alone be worshiped and out of that we live to
glorify God by enjoying Him forever. Instead of seeking some kind of god
like counsel from men, on the basis of being accepted in the group ,
God orders our future that cannot fail even when we do not apply these
doctrines correctly. God performs reality and in a sense we hide from
Him... stray from Him and do not come through in His standards as a
group. Now listen to me....there is only one way of success in this
life. There are not human ways to do something in order to be proud
enough to arrive on another level. lol There is no redemption through
other men. All of the forgiveness was earned at the cross for Gods
elect. There is really no need to obtain forgiveness through confession.
There is no steps in the christian faith. Its all mixed with the flavor
of grace. Its all a life of repentance. Every act we do is an act of
worship. Every time we wake up we do it under the authority of God as we
live a life of prayer to Him. Listen to me... you cant get any better
than when He saved you and sanctified you completely. The whole process
we go through is by grace alone. You are free of all addictions...
condemnation...and the slavery of men. You do not even have a great need
for mens approval. I hope that you continue to read more of what i
will say.. i do not write outside of the doctrines of grace. I have
never supported wrong authority after i became a Calvinist. Let me
say this.. early in my christian life i had a time where i moved along
quite rapidly. I had an understanding beyond my age so to speak. So most
men did not impress me. Ive been in the organizations of the other
side. Ive been a mover and shaker so to speak. When i write i not only
write from many different epistemological parts of the scripture ..let
me explain... i have so much back log of mediation that i just highlight
from one scripture to another. So you can use the scripture like Kk ..
out of context ...lol.. or you can have a healthy view of scripture in
light of the words in context with the near and far context. But
sovereign grace is always applied to the understanding that we have of
God and ourselves. This kind of writing is not mystical or imaginary but
is grace writing.
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1926
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Evil Prayers
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on: December 03, 2011, 11:45:50 AM
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Somehow the title of the thread, "Evil prayers" doesn't seem quite right. Should be more like "Prayers of cursing".
And
i can't help but remember that Jesus said to love our enemies, bless
those who curse us, do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who
spitefully use us and persecute us. Doesn't sound like He recommends
prayers of cursing, does it.
Kk takes one verse and puts
boundaries on God as to how God must respond. I may be wrong but i think
Kk believes that Gods punishment of His Son is not really biblical and
its boarders on abuse. Let me say this that we have slowly been
inoculated in this religious culture from all of the pain in the
punishment that has been inflicted in Gods ordering His work in the
salvation of the elect. We not only accuse God of not giving us enough
in His revelation to heal us but we make God the ultimate abuser in
showing His hate for sin that His Son had to endure for us. Let me
say that if we identify with Christ in His death then it is very much
related in its effects as to how we judge that world and view sin in
general. We in todays marketing environment use the gospel in a positive
loving way to advance our own products. If I developed a message
that was somewhat redemptive and made me look as if i was fully engaged
in the culture of my day then it really is that i am in some ways trying
to advance my own agenda as if i was a child playing house and trying
to get acceptance for my own importance. But if I really identified with
someone who endured the ultimate punishment for doing something wrong
and feeling the anger and pain that He endured as the basis for my own
happiness then i would need to grow up in being freed from the
constraints of what is normally acceptable. This is exactly what we
avoid at all cost. We want a Christ who gives us success without
experiencing the pain and anger that He had to go through in order to
show us who we really are. Let me say that if you are not being
illuminated with this experience that there is something wrong with your
process of thinking.In some ways you have bought into the sales pitch
of anger management. In my meditations over 20 yrs i have been
brought to experience the most extreme hate as if i could not take it
for one more minute. I have seen the terrible state of a corrupted world
in my experience through the art of mediation. I am not trying to say
that i know better than other men who have walked this path but whatever
the revealing is that is my impersonal responsibility to pass on. If
you want to critique me then you memorize the whole book of Psalms and
ill respect your insight. If you let the sun go down on your wrath will
do two things. For the reprobate it will grow up like a root and destroy
you. For the christian it will make you mourn. Get out of that mourning
... go onto maturity. But there is another way. Its to seek through
the word your real identity in Christ. This is why in this experience
of illumination i have been driven to the most hateful experience. But
there is an after effect. Most often.. unless God is hiding Himself for a
reason to encourage more seeking... the after effects are just beyond
my understanding. I am overcome by a love that i cannot put into words.
Now this is something that comes from another source outside of myself
and not in this semi pelagian way of a partial self atonement. But its
rolling my sorrow and anger over to God through identifying with Christ.
We must actively seek to take our thoughts captive to the obedience of
Christ and allow this message to determine the holistic healing of our
most deepest experiences.
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1928
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Evil Prayers
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on: December 02, 2011, 06:43:44 PM
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Deuteronomy 27:15
“Cursed is anyone who
makes an idol—a thing detestable to the LORD, the work of skilled
hands—and sets it up in secret.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
Deuteronomy 27:14-16 (in Context) Deuteronomy 27 (Whole Chapter)
Deuteronomy 27:16
“Cursed is anyone who dishonors their father or mother.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
Deuteronomy 27:15-17 (in Context) Deuteronomy 27 (Whole Chapter)
Deuteronomy 27:17
“Cursed is anyone who moves their neighbor’s boundary stone.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
Deuteronomy 27:16-18 (in Context) Deuteronomy 27 (Whole Chapter)
Deuteronomy 27:18
“Cursed is anyone who leads the blind astray on the road.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
Deuteronomy 27:17-19 (in Context) Deuteronomy 27 (Whole Chapter)
Deuteronomy 27:19
“Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
Deuteronomy 27:18-20 (in Context) Deuteronomy 27 (Whole Chapter)
Deuteronomy 27:20
“Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his father’s wife, for he dishonors his father’s bed.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
Deuteronomy 27:19-21 (in Context) Deuteronomy 27 (Whole Chapter)
This
is a normal response from God to law breakers. Just like you have the
list of the ten commandments you have a promise that God will curse law
breakers. What was the remedy for the curses? If God cursed all law
breakers there would be no hope for any man. Because not only do men
break the law but they do it with impunity. What was promised to
Abraham? It was that through the covenant God would remove the curse and
replace the curse with blessings. Because the covenant was a promise of
blessing. The covenant was a blessing pronounced on Gods elect. Look at
the words used in circumcising an infant. They were pronounced with a
blessing. But the blessing pronouncement did not save that person. The
child was still required to accept the promise himself. This is why
there is no way to get the blessing through human works. It was given in
the covenant and it was a secret work of God on real Israel. Gods
covenant people through heart circumcision.
This is the thing... if i
tell a person what faith is like if they have no saving knowledge of
that faith then its like telling someone a tale in a novel and there is
no way to prove that salvation exist. Because God must first open the
mind and heart of that person and give them a nature so that they can
see what we are saying.
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1930
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Freedom For The Addicted
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on: November 29, 2011, 05:40:44 PM
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Heres the twelve steps to a new identity with
the understanding that His work has freed us from the chains of sin. And
it also does not violate the rights of privacy and freedom of speech
and a right to defend oneself. A Definition of Legalism 1. Using the Mosaic covenant as though it is the covenant between you and God. 2. Attempting to be justified by one's own works. 3. Attempting to be sanctified by one's own works 4. Suggesting that our worth or worthlessness, our self-esteem and self-satisfaction or lack thereof, rest on our own works. 5.
Any attempt to please God judicially, or any supposition that our sin
as believers has resulted in his judicial displeasure. [Any
post-salvation attempt to maintain our judicial standing before God
through good works, covenant faithfulness, merit etc..] 6. Teaching that we conform ourselves to our judicial standing in Christ (righteous and perfect) by our own works. 7. Attempting to attain godliness by a systematic change of behavior 8. Obedience that does not spring from a renewed heart a. As of an unbeliever who has no renewed heart b. As of a believer who has a renewed heart but whose righteous behavior does not spring therefrom. 9. Any supposition that externally righteous acts have any value on their own, even as conduct that prepares the way for either a. A renewed heart (preparationism as regards justification), b.
The softening or further renewing of an already renewed heart
(preparationism as regards sanctification. Note Romans
12:2-Transformation occurs through the renewing of the mind), or c. Any other work of the Spirit. 10. Suggesting that faith is irrelevant in the accomplishment of some (or all) good works. 11. Trying to be justified by works that are created and inspired by the Holy Spirit. 12. Attempting to gain assurance of salvation solely or primarily on the basis of the sign of outward works. Bill Baldwin http://www.monergism.com/ |
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1931
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Evil Prayers
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on: November 29, 2011, 04:34:19 PM
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I
always thought loving your enemy was one of the hardest things about
the Christian walk. I have failed many times in this area. It is
something Jesus told us to do. It's what's different about us on the
narrow path and those on the broad path. When your nice to someone who
is horrible to you it makes you stand out and other people scratch thier
heads and say "huh". That's the effect Christians are suppose to have
on the world. No this is not out of context nor is it self righteous
pride.
Love really is not a determined emotion in us. We
are not onslaught with the great temptation to hate. And then we
struggle sooooo hard to love the other person. Thats a lot of emotional
misunderstanding. But love is never really love in genuineness between
two people. The only real love is expressed to us by God. So love and
the struggle is not about whether we love the guy who is hard to love...
but its a struggle to understand the height .. depth and length of Gods
love for us. lol If there was real love in this world there would be no
cries in the streets, no breaching of the walls by the socialist... no
going into captivity of the state. There would be people giving of their
time and gifts to the less fortunate. There would be the sharing of all
good things with our church family. There would be a major focus on
taking care of the widows and orphans.. of watching over the mentally
and physically handicap. Businesses would focus on the worker and the
holistic health and the families to better that quality of life. In
other words we would place love over demands.. care over returns...etc. Why
because we really believe that God will destroy the ones who seek to do
harm to their neighbor. We really would believe that God does things
according to HIs ways which are anti intuitive. There would be a society
where the powerful served the weak not look at them as profit margins
and business machinery.. .lol lol Now you want to love? show it by who
you seek to protect and who you know will destroy.You cant do this by
shear will power or determining to love but only by knowing God. Write
it ... love it... and live it. Psalm 49 For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. 1 Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world, 2 both low and high, rich and poor alike: 3 My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding. 4 I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the harp I will expound my riddle: 5 Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me— 6 those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches? 7 No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them— 8 the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough— 9 so that they should live on forever and not see decay. 10 For all can see that the wise die, that the foolish and the senseless also perish, leaving their wealth to others. 11 Their tombs will remain their houses forever,
their dwellings for endless generations,
though they had[c] named lands after themselves.
12 People, despite their wealth, do not endure;
they are like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,
and of their followers, who approve their sayings.[d]
14 They are like sheep and are destined to die;
death will be their shepherd
(but the upright will prevail over them in the morning).
Their forms will decay in the grave,
far from their princely mansions.
15 But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;
he will surely take me to himself.
16 Do not be overawed when others grow rich,
when the splendor of their houses increases;
17 for they will take nothing with them when they die,
their splendor will not descend with them.
18 Though while they live they count themselves blessed—
and people praise you when you prosper—
19 they will join those who have gone before them,
who will never again see the light of life.
20 People who have wealth but lack understanding
are like the beasts that perish.
This is love bro... Gods order...
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1932
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Evil Prayers
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on: November 29, 2011, 03:48:32 PM
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Do you have specific Bible story/s in mind?
Note I didn't say "verses".
Verses
can have a totally different meaning when torn out of context and that
is a terribly invalid way to understand God's Word.
What was the big picture...war, persecution, the welfare and safety of all the people or individual?
What was going on that such prayers were offered to G-d?
There's
tons of them in the OT. Psalm 109 comes to mind. "But I give myself
to prayer...Set a wicked man over him, and let an accuser stand at his
right hand. Let his days be few... Let his children continually be
vagabonds, and beg;...Let there be none to extend mercy to him," etc.
Psalm 109: 4b, 6, 10a, 12, etc. Psalm 35 another. "Plead my
cause, O Lord, with those who strive against me; fight against those who
fight against me...Let them be like chaff before the wind and let the
angel of the Lord chase them." Psalm 35: 1 & 5.
Basically you can't Biblically pray for someone’s harm and get it from G-d.
They did in the OT.
I
hesitate to talk about this because in this day and age any kind of
anger that a person expresses is in the category of uncontrollable.
It doesn't always have to be anger, or even usually. It can be fear,
or hurt, or just feeling trapped in an uncontrollable (you think)
situation.
But we are distinguishing these prayers
from personally putting someones name there. That in my opinion is
different from threatening a person with violence and warning them what
God says about their control... Ive memorized all of these
prayers and meditated on them for so long that its natural to visit
extreme biblical hate and experience being real about the world and
myself. So i believe there is a direct consequence of using these
prayers that bring healing and a sense of humility about the extent of
Gods anger and the awful consequences that it brings. So in
distinguishing between other mens anger and Gods anger we get less
threaten by those who are violent in their control. It does not make us
hateful but a better defender.
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1933
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Evil Prayers
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on: November 29, 2011, 03:31:14 PM
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This
is just a guess but mabey this is be careful what you wish for you
might just get it. Did you pity them when the bad things happened? Did
you feel like wait I didn't mean that? Mabey God was trying to get you
to feel these emotions for your enemies cause that's how your suppose to
feel for them. The wicked should be pitied not hated.
I
understand what you are saying. I do not want to brag. But at the same
time if i was wishing out of a since of pity it is really nothing. Its
just an emotional good feeling human experience. But if i was to
conclude that God will order not only the judgement of the wicked and my
own kindness to the poor and oppressed then i would not take pride in
my pitying others. But i would boast in God actually working through me
on behalf of the poor and oppressed to evidence my pity. Pity is
mean if its not cultured by an attitude of defending. The problem with a
lot of religious wants is that we think just because we feel a certain
way that we are better than our brother who is struggling with
depression or other maladies.( the private things as opposed to the
public display) In other words our pity is usually out of our own sense
of justice. The feeling of pity does not graduate us to having no
respecter of persons. We are not that good. I often laugh at those who
are so dogmatic about being free to choose with the hallmark that they
love everyone. Then i start talking about something and i get the most
ferocious responses...lol
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1935
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Evil Prayers
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on: November 29, 2011, 02:38:02 PM
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Have
you ever prayed something awful would happen to someone, and then it
happened? I can think of two examples in my life. I've repented over
them. But as I think of it I can think of several examples in the OT
where they prayed such things, and worse. In the NT issues seem to be
confinded to something like, "While I love you even if you are my enemy,
if you don't change God's going to get you!"
Thoughts?
I
hesitate to talk about this because in this day and age any kind of
anger that a person expresses is in the category of uncontrollable.
There used to be a day in which man to man confrontation was part of the
culture. But i do not think we can change Gods mind about individual
people. Remember that to take vengeance into our own hands is a terrible
thing. But some people stop at this and they will not admit that God
promises to avenge the righteous. God says... Vengeance is mine ..I will
repay. Now this becomes the mystery. If God is the only one who can
bring evil to a man or produce disaster for someone what is our
responsibility? We do not consider that God does not love everyone into
the kingdom through us. He never promised to make everyone without the
potential for being judged. Some vessels He has chosen to bring mercy to
and some to judgement. Let me say this that if you ask the
average person who believes in prayer that if they asked God for
something does God change His mind in giving it to them? And they will
say that God does for us according to His will even tho we ask. But when
we talk about judgement we always feel responsible. But this is not the
case. The world is not our to tame. You remember the old saying
about the young guy who was arrogant and pompous that he has the world
by the tail. This is just a dream. God does whatever pleases Him. He
controls the direction of the world.. .the people in the world and the
circumstances in a persons life so that we experience reality being
caught in between the forces on this earth and the activity from heaven
to thwart those forces .That is what the bible describes as forces that
are beyond the atomic bomb. So we are really helpless and subject to
being attacked on every side and in need of constant protection by a
power that is more powerful than a whole army. One of the
problems we have is the big "I". The big "I" if not tamed by God digs
his own grave.. lol.So we see that God is much bigger than we could ever
rap our brains around. This is why in reducing God we actually reduce
the reality of our own potential for trouble and our real need for
defense. In other words if we sort of become Gods cheerleader then we do
not potentially take our own vengeance. Now this is part of our own
pride that we say this person or that person is what God is describing
as who God will judge. The bible does not have a list of people
throughout the history of the earth that we can look up and determine
who He will bring to judgement. But we know that God describes the world
and the people in the world who are worthy of judgement. So if God has
not left it up to us to take our own vengeance then how can God express
His protective love for us if it is not seen in our world? Now
we get into personal vendettas and the fighting among the Mccoys...if
your were raised in the 70s families would talk about the other kids in
the neighborhood in a negative way so the children in the family were
warned about a certain kid who was a bad boy. This would go on and the
stories would get more and more detailed about the kids problems. I mean
that was a day when every kid had his own novel. lol. And sometimes
this would translate into two families fighting about which kid was more
of a bad influence. lol. We do this today but its more ingrained in the
public communication. This is the thing. If a person believes that God
really does take the responsibility for vengeance then that person will
not engage in this kind of world view. Because the person trust that God
is watching over him and he does not need to worry about the other guy.
But at the same time God does things like he did to Ananias and
Sapphira where he strikes them dead and everyone cant help but react to
that judgement. Look what God did to Herod in acts as he was making a
speech? He struck him down and he was eaten by worms as died. The
peoples response was not "oh that is awful" but they gave glory to God. The
bible is a holistic book. It not only describes what these judgements
and the blessing of God are . But it describes a pathway to success. The
sticking point is not how we get along so to speak but its whether we
try to control our own lives. The evil is in our wanting to be god not
really in our discord. Because its not that God will love enough for the
whole world to fall in line and get along. God has not chosen to pour
out 30pounds of love for 29 pounds of hate. lol. Rather God wants to be
seen as God by men so that men will act a certain way that is consistent
with God being God. Its not that they are going to do and react
perfectly but its that they will not think certain things and they will
think other things. This is why we believe that the gospel is anti
intuitive because we cannot explain why God judges some people and loves
others. But we just allow God to determine that . So the first
principle about God is that we fear Him and then we will allow Him to
define what is disaster and what is His goodness. This is why we
are to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Because we are in
danger of what is in the world that can harm us and also not believing
there is a God in heaven who is watching. We take vengeance because we
do not really believe that God is watching. Men do all kinds of evil to
other men because they really do not believe that God is watching. The
world system eats the poor up because the powerful do not really believe
that God is watching and He will judge. As i have said that Gods
vengeance and our enjoyment of it is like playing the lotto. The chances
of God doing something to harm someone who is using tactics to control
us is very small. lol.But if we are cheer leaders for the victims then
we will enjoy the fact that God is watching and He will respond at some
point. This is just one aspect of this but this is not an easy subject
and there are a lot more to this that needs to be talked about in a
holistic way.
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