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721	Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Mental Illness or Demonic possession?	on: March 02, 2013, 05:19:23 AM
I agree parenting is so important. I've seen the physical effects of a brain injury in my son. But at the same time you've got to take into consideration a persons disposition, the circumstances in ones life as well as the different levels of brain injury. This is how God views us.Part ofour experiencing salvation is knowing the dangers off the potential for us to be damaged. I don't think salvation is simply described as self denial. If God is in the saving business then why would He destroy something that He is building in us? We are always encouraged to apply for a remedy and not dwell on the warnings in scripture and the potential dangerswe may face in the future. God encourages us as part of spiritual growth to learn how in approaching Him to argue for our own welfare. The pleading part is experiencing salvation drawing near. The spiritual component is part of the healing process of the body. The psalmist approached God not only from the spirituals need but also the physical as well. The healing begins when we acknowledge it would be impossible for us to gain an assurances of our salvation as the as our main goal in having God give us relief in all the other details that He addresses in meeting our need of healing. So there is this this active waiting to hear the voice of God speak salvation to us as all of these other details are worked out as we experience the physical and emotional healing. This is how the Psalmist experienced a heart of praise in finding relief after a time of endurance. I believe in a personal Devil. been on my  back a number of times.
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722  Forums / Main Forum / Re: Idolatry on: February 24, 2013, 06:21:51 PM We are supposed to be dependent in this life. But it primarily does not pass through the will of a believer. God is much more complicated than forcing someone to change. I think ive stated this before that God saves us by replacing our old will with a new will. So in looking back at our old loves God considers this a weakness and not an aggressive choice to dethrone Him. Who would want to approach someone who in showing His love would provide force through a threat? This is a big miss representation of Gods approach in changing us. Rather God looks at His children like a Doctor. If God ask us to come boldly before Him with the intention of tempering our boldness then He in some way is being disingenuous. But God not only provides the promise that He will listen to our cries but He gives us the enablement of being bold. God does not deal with us according to our individual sin. This is why we can present our plea for deliverance arguing that our intention of being delivered is not from our obedience. Rather we come as being in the same helpless state as the whole human race. God is not measuring our sin but He is concerned for the level of hurt and the emotion expressed as a result. This is why it says that Jesus sweat drops of blood. Jesus being sinless had no value in that approach. Jesus who was perfect was heard because of His groaning with strong cries and tears. What we think is acceptable to God comes from our own miss understanding. God is looking at the destructive force exerted against our dependent desire. This is why we address God as our Faithful High Priest prayed. Christ shows us the pattern of the prayer of dependence by expressing His desires to our Father perfectly. Our problem is not depending upon one another. Our problem is our frustration of not being heard.Christ enjoyed the assurance that He was heard (It was reciprocally one) and was saved from destructive condemnation of the accusations of His accusers. This is why He was not shaken. The ot focus on the harm one experiences like a crisis of faith.  The more we approach God as one of growing in expressing our desire from the inward to the outward the more dependent we are gonna be on the desire level. Reply Quote Notify

723  Forums / Main Forum / Re: Idolatry on: February 24, 2013, 05:33:00 PM oops this pad is hard to write with Reply Quote Notify

724  Forums / Break Room / Re: Light of the world on: February 23, 2013, 11:51:18 AM Christ is the light because He is exalted over all the earth. His glory shines over the whole earth. In this sense the light in relation to us is above us. Which is the best way to observe us. We desire to be with Him overlooking the world. This is why we ascend to the hill of the Lord. But it could be that our being prevented in some ways of ascending is how we look to Christ with a greater longing to be on that hill. Its not always the proper circumstances on this earth since we face adversity and destruction. The circumstances Of being on the battle field give the psalmist a single  perspective. Our daily petition to the Lord should be that we are enabled to freely look upon the light of His glory all the days of our lives. But sometimes we are cast into the darkness of exile. Why does God increase our faith through feeling alone in this world? Because He has a fail safe way to endure the awful attacks of the enemy. When we are rejected God promises to be the only one who accepts us. This is an ongoing theme in the psalms. A person who wants to develope a single desire to seek God eventually comes to the place as the apostle did. He acknowledged that there was only one faithful servant in Timothy. The apostle aways came to the terrible struggle of desire conflicting desires. This is why in the face of terrible circumstances He chides HImself that God is always avalible in proving Himself strong when God orders our ways to experience being rejected. In avoiding the destructiveness of hoplessness the Psalmist confesses that God always is most concerned for us when we are most rejected. Rejection in the bible is not necessarily being opposed. It is being in a trial without protection. The point of Christ being our light is to always be our last avalible protection. Its in the face of opposition in which we feel abandon that we are most desiring to find all of our acceptance in Gods covenant presence. God grows us by bringing us to a cross roads to move us on. We have not other place to go always finding our safety in our desire to seek Him drives us to move on. We feel the destructive desire of our foes but Christ who is our light is valiant to defend us. In this great struggle we are most drawn to get wisdom when our path is the most dangerous. We actually gain more spiritual ground when we face the fire of this world. Reply Quote Notify

725  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Mind Renewal Through Transparency : The Psychology of Life on: February 21, 2013, 08:54:42 PM The Psalms are a reflection back to the malady of the soul. I do not think any circumstance in this life determines the disposition of a person. But the circumstance is what we think it is. God determines the way we walk according to how much we can carry. This is why our image is always changing slower than we think it is. Our temptation is to advance faster than Gods protection of us according to His design to surround us and to guard our way. God moves us along our road by reminding us who He is so that we focus on Him more and more. The mistake is for us to view this relationship as we have with other people. God determines our steps through recreation. The path we walk on is always established before we can advance. The Psalms are a perfect reflection of how the soul functions. The Psalms produce the application to the soul in a holistic search of the faculty that is out of order. Its more than an accumulation of knowledge that sheds light on the problem. The Psalms are all the personalities that we experience in our lives. They are the Spirits application of a rite and proper personality in which the soul functions in symmetry. The influences and creation of a different personality is applied to counter act the deficiency that we experience in anxiety , fear, and sorrow. God responds to our concern for the outward circumstance by speaking through us in emanations of Himself through the perfect cries that flowed out of Christ. We receive spiritual communication to the injury through that renewed desire that is something far greater than we could devise with our own words. The Psalms are petitions that align the created order. The words are communicated to us in wisdom through the Holy Spirit. We do not have the foresight to respond to all of the troubles in this world. So we never respond to the true circumstances in a transparent way. The Psalms create that realistic response. God sees all the circumstances in this world with a completely different view. So God is willing to listen to us babble. The Psalms transcend our ability to respond according to our knowledge so that we sense , expereince, and understand how God is ordering the events as we are caught up in a kind of emmunated reaction as He views us and the event. This is the way God speaks to us His wisdom. Remove Reply Quote Notify

726  Forums / Main Forum / Re: scapegoat on: February 21, 2013, 12:07:52 PM Its very clear in the covenant promise. The covenant that God made with David. It is Gods oversight through His counsel from all eternity that He would rule over Davids house and subdue all of His enemies. The enemies that are within and without. This covenant is an extension of the covenant God made with Abraham. David who was the King over Israel acted as a faithful servant over Gods house. But this extended beyond the time of David in the foresight of God to bring the Kingdom of God upon the earth through the line of David. Christ came as ruler over the house of Israel. All of Davids victories was foreseen in the covenant language that was spoken by David for the purpose of pronouncing blessing and cursing in Christ sojourn on this earth. Through progressive revelation the language of the covenant in the ot was not clearly seen in its fuller glory. It was given in the context of a focus on God so that all of the expression of Davids conflict was funneled into the paradigm of redemption. There were glimpse of that glory in the covenant language that the ot worship extended beyond the walls of the temple that it would shine over the whole earth .Christ entered into time as the glory of God ,the glory that was veiled. But through His obedience He had absolute authority to pronounce blessing and cursing over the house of Israel. God who sits on high does not rule with a pragmatic justice. But He communicates through His covenant condescension.  His language is Fatherly. Christ who is the glory of God established His oneness in the Trinity in His roll as the eternal Son. In this sense our reality in this world is our oneness with the Father through Christ. Christ says that if youve seen Him youve seen the Father. In other words as Christ was involved in this world as a man our Father is present with us in the smallest things. Christ came as the second David as the glory of God who had all things placed under His feet. But from all eternity as the eternal Son , all of time worked through , for Him and to Him. Reply Quote Notify

727  Forums / Main Forum / Re: scapegoat on: February 20, 2013, 10:39:47 PM The miss representation of the gospel is that Christ just came to offer repentance. But He offered HImself as the Savior. Hebrews says that we need to go on from repentance from dead works. This scapegoat presents Christ as the complete substitute. He not only forgives our sin but He acts as our representative through His name. He speaks on our behalf. The sin was placed on the scapegoat and he was sent away. The people recieved full pardon while the blame fell on the scapegoat. Christ actually takes the focus off of us and recieves the blame. We could never be free enough to argue for our cause without standing in real acceptance. The teaching of the scapegoat is the essence of salvation. Someone had to be the bad guy. Someone had to stand up to the bully. Christ not only came to deliever His people from sin but from oppression and captivity. Salvation is escaping from the clutches of this world. We approach Christ and meet Him face to face. He offers Himself to us in promising to meet all of our needs. Because He obtained salvation by going before us and doing all the work necessary to keep us safe and to deliever us in our trials ,He is pleased to hear our cries and petitions. He actually seperates us from our sins as He carried them outside the gate. In order for us to stand in complete acceptance it is more than a transferance of these qualities of eternal life, but he actually argues on our behalf. In the paradigm of His desire for us to experience the perfect way of His success we have a super abundance of His desire to stand in His success. In this way He draws us in our petitions to cry out of a desire that we cannot describe. We enjoy that free spirit out of His banishing evil and destruction. Reply Quote Notify

728  Forums / Main Forum / Re: scapegoat on: February 20, 2013, 10:08:43 AM The scape goat is a representation or a type of Christ work on behalf of the poor and afflicted. We identify the Church...the true Church as what the ot says about them. You have Christ coming to earth to save His people. His work is not limited in the language that He speaks to just those in Israel . That old system of the tabernacle was dead by the time Christ came in the flesh. So Christ was coming not just as the Savior of Israel but He was coming to put an end to the old system. Christ had to undue the structure of worship and the run away of its ot leaders. He came to banish them from His kingdom. I guess you could say that Christ left His home and entered into a world of sin and trouble. He had to carry the full weight of the lowly and afflicted. We see how He approached His ministry with a positive effect upon His church. He came first to heal the sick, encourage the downtrodden, bring and end to the suffering that was a result of the ot structure. This is why He became a curse for us. You see the curses are personal. The Devil curses God but God who created the Devil sends Him into eternal torment. What did Christ call those leaders of Israel? He called them children of the Devil. Christ came to preach peace to His sheep but when He turned to the hour of suffering He banished the old system. He healed the sick but He banished the proud. In a sense Christ became the receiver of the national rejection. He carried the abuse upon Himself. He was not self afflicted as if He felt powerless when He wept over Jerusalem. He was in visioning the judgment that He would bring upon the wayward nation. Christ was not just a Lamb to take away the sin on the cross. But He extends HIs work to include taking captivity captive. He came to take the host of Martyrs with Him to His eternal home . Christ was more than a sacrifice that was killed for atonement but He actually in His resurrection pronounced eternal safety and blessing as a representative of those Martyrs. Christ banished the curse and fulfilled His purpose to carry the weight of the cursed world upon Himself so that He might represent His sheep as the Lord Most High for all eternity. The promises to us are yea and amen! Do you plead these promises? Dont let the world curse you.  Back to work. Reply Quote Notify

729  Forums / Main Forum / Re: Idolatry on: February 18, 2013, 02:15:17 PM In the wisdom book God actually is the one who directs us in a personal way. The Psalmist  decries the counsel of man. Why does this seem to disagree with other areas of scripture in our relationships to men? The reason is that our natural desire is to look to other methods first. The whole point of learning about salvation is to have an ongoing relationship with God as He explains how He has gifted us and provides us with the ability to proceed on the road of wisdom.  Wise counsel always narrows it down to a very simple vision. The path of wisdom is trusting in God alone. We confess that we will never be shaken. Wise counsel is knowing the end of our path has absolutes that we confess. We are in Christ who was fully able to have the spoils of war as our vision of hope. Why does God demand all the praise and glory? Because His counsel is done with precision. God knows us so much that He designs our safety by surrounding us with His presence. God searches our hearts but He takes practical steps to heal us. He gives us daily wisdom. We hear Him counsel us in the night, daytime, etc. God is not silent to our need. He never sleeps or slumbers. He causes us to look up. By His divine providence He provides us with every relationship to meet our needs. The purpose of God showing us how to heal is His first priority. The reason is that if He waited for us to stop being evil He would never be able to carry on a relationship with us. God always provides the culture of security and safety before He enables us to use our gifts. Reply Quote Notify

730  Forums / Main Forum / Re: Idolatry on: February 18, 2013, 01:14:03 PM Jeff this reasoning ive heard a lot. I do not believe it is entirely correct. I do not think we can conclude from viewing a relationship that the dependence is necessarily idol worship. The bible does not counsel everyone the same way. People have different needs and God has promised to meet them through relationships. I do not believe that God withholds His care to keep us from the potential to depend on someone if we are in pain. We will not fully understand the teaching of idol worship until we study the wisdom books. Idol worship is actually tied to the words we trust in as the direction we go in life. The bible distinguishes between the counsel of the wicked and the counsel of God. So we really are not trying to figure out why a person reacts in relationships in a negative way by looking at the relationship. The Psalmist opens the counsel book by drawing a line in the sand. On the one side is the counsel of the righteous who draw their insights through meditation on Gods word. The other false counsel comes from men who do not desire to think about God. Counsel in the ot is not really in a neutral position. We really are not taught to listen to all kinds of counsel and make up our own minds. That is a Greek idea. Rather counsel is tied to our war with the evil in this world. So counsel is more than the words that are used but its the spirit in which the words are used. This is why the ot talks about the two kinds of counsel leading to two different paths. People get focused on the evil but the wisdom of counsel is actually to protect a person from harm and destruction. Reply Quote Notify

731  Forums / Main Forum / Re: Idolatry on: February 17, 2013, 04:07:32 PM Its wrong for us to think that God is not concerned for our safety and well being. The goal of our salvation is to be protected from harm. I do not think we can rest until we are assure that we feel safe. This is why God invites us to pour out our hearts to Him. Because we might think that God does not have our best interest. Our struggle with issues that give us a sense of distance from God must be talked about to Him. We must learn how to make our plea for our safety the same way that we trust God is a God of salvation. In any relationship there is frustration out of a miss understanding. Life always seems to be chasing us with the things that need to get done. Our focus may not be healthy. We may think that God has given us trouble because we feel burdened. But God wants to teach us that calling upon Him out of a sincere heart is the only healthy way. We need to develop a relationship with Him so that when we face something that harms us or is threatening us we are able to appeal to Him knowing how to cry to Him. We should be able to speak to Him so that we feel unburdened by the inward struggle. God has made us to find all that we need in His arms. God is not threatening or distant. We feel distant because we miss understand what is going on in a situation. We should have confidence that God has placed desires in our hearts that He will answer if we cry to Him sincerely. Not only wanting that desire but giving Him the chance to be in an exalted position in describing our hurt feelings so that we feel like we can move Him to our position out of His pity. Our struggle with pain and miseryy is not acceptable to God. We are like children who unless they know their Father is watching over them they get fearful. Christ says if you offend one of these little ones it is better to have a mill stone tied around your neck. The plea of the Psalmist is to be delivered from harm so that he knows that our Father has his best interest. God is not silent it we just do not have a good understanding how to describe our struggles both inward and outward and we never identify the harm. It may seem slow but God will give you wisdom along the way. You just keep going to Him. Reply Quote Notify

732  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Christ in us Scriptures on: February 17, 2013, 12:21:19 PM The ot worship book defines how the narrative is written. The wisdom book is a rule book as Gods authoritative inspiration as He is sitting on His heavenly stool telling the story of redemption through the Prophets pen. All the words of the ot are placed in order by God. Because God creates the order of time and our lives are in His hands as we are in Christ who prayed into your hands Father I commit my spirit, then through His life as the perfect law keeper speaks on our behalf as we are raised with Him to eternal life. He has given us a testament of that satisfaction for us in protecting us by His law. It is the ot. God who sits enthroned on high has provided us with a love letter of the history of protection of His covenant people in the midst of a nation that has gone astray. The prophets were  the ministers of Gods covenant. Through the Abrahamic covenant God promised to bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. God did not promise this to all of Israel. It was in this worship book that the prophets approached God. The worship book was given to them to raise them up to see the glory of God. God dwelt on the mountain were the temple was built but He gave them a revelation that was beyond the earthly temple. This revelation was in word form in which God created the enjoyment as the people were enlightened to gaze on the glory of God. The ceremonial law had the place of being a burden not as we look back to them but as they enjoyed salvation by faith. That burden created a longing in their hearts for the coming of the Redeemer who would save them out of all of their troubles. They looked away from the law and to the grace of God in a more realistic way. No matter what system a person is under the love hate relationship in the things of God never changes because the salvation of God transcends all other ways to seek God. It transcends time and space . It is a kingdom that dwells in us. Reply Quote Notify

733  Forums / Main Forum / Re: Idolatry on: February 17, 2013, 12:16:20 PM Guys I am not evading the continuation of this conversation. I am simply not going to take these things into my hands. I am always trying to unburden my soul of these struggles. But God cannot be put in our box. God has spoken and He is fully able to carry out His plan. God has chosen His people who are the visible church. But God has also chosen the people who for some reason do not participate. God defines us not just according to our church affiliation but according to our national identity. The world defines the state of the church through the power of curses. Salvation is not just God saving us to live a moral life but He saves us in the midst the troubles that we face in this world. God defines the terms of His salvation that seem to be extreme to us. We belong to all the people in the world who belong to God. If salvation is by grace then God does not need a vehicle to save them. In this way our confession of our personal salvation is blessing those who bless us. We confess not how we feel about what we see the present condition of religion in this world is but God speaks and we reply amen. The saints are the glorious ones in whom is all our delight. Our renewed desire is to seek to enjoy God. There is no other thing that we seek. If by chance we should prosper then all glory goes to God. We do not deserve anything and our safety in the community of saints is that our hearts are one from gratitude that God has gifted us in this life with all things. We rejoice because we are under watchful eye of God who pours the blessing of eternal life into our chalice that we partake in. God Himself through redemption has caused us to prosper. Our desire is like a deep ocean. No matter what position in this world we find ourselves we belong to everyone who belongs to God through our spiritual union with Christ. It doesnt matter what place we are in. Our desire that has been given to us by God is the gift of confidence that we belong to a family that we cannot see. We do not lose hope but we envision by Gods grace that our loved ones will be with us in eternity. It is our confidence that God alone is able to keep us that gives us hope that not one loved one will fail to be with us in our eternal home. In a sense we see things through the eyes of faith that we all will belong to God through Gods care of us as the basis of being together in the final judgement that gives us connection with one another in this life. Because God has promised to redeem a people for Himself we are united in hope of His care as He is our Shepherd. We seek a life of rest and peace in the increase of this one desire. Reply Quote Notify

734  Forums / Main Forum / Re: Idolatry on: February 16, 2013, 08:41:57 PM RR I am pro church... been a pastors friend in every church ive attended in my life. I was just putting forth an idea. Reply Quote Notify

735	Members Only / Purgatory / The Saints in Exile	on: February 16, 2013, 01:43:54 PM
My purpose in starting this post is not to bash the local church.I love the saints and they are my delight all day long. I have good relationships with Christians. And we discuss freely the things of God. These relationships should be a normal part of our lives. Unfortunately this is not the case. Too often we get into relationships where one person is the so called guru the other person is being discipled. No where do i read in scripture where a man has that kind of authority over another man. In fact the apostle Peter told Cornelius after he had bowed down to in an act of submission to stand up on equal terms. Peter said that he put his pants on the same way that Cornelius did. lol But discipling is simply sharing our gifts with others that we have recieved for free. We are not dependent upon any man but we recieve our message straight from God. What is dangerous in explaining how unity is developed is how we view grace that is described by doctrine. Our community of saints is Gods supernatural protection so that we distinugish between the voices of grace and the unhealthy voices. As we seek to take refuge in God we more and more understand the purpose of the saints in our lives.Lets discuss the terrible situation of being in exile from true religion. Im writing these concepts from various scriptures. 736  Forums / Main Forum / Re: Idolatry on: February 16, 2013, 11:12:53 AM RR I met a guy not to long ago that had an interesting insight into the condition of the religious experience as we move more toward a pagan culture. I do not exactly agree with him but i like to be challenged with insights that are outside the box. Ive never turned down a new idea. lol But he said that he had quit church in his area and started going to the local theater. He told me that he felt there was a lot more acting going on in church than in the theater. But the difference was the people were trying not to appear like they were acting. And I guess after thinking about this for awhile and drawing parallels to the art of application of life to the human soul that we are all beings who share gifts that are not physical. We survive on being moved in ourselves to share our gifts as receiving pleasure in this life. I think we draw a false comparison when we focus on the human soul and compare it to unburdening a deep problem as the cure for self righeousness. But the christian experience is about God helping us explore our spiritual need to expose ourselves in these gifts coming out of us and meeting our meta physical needs. We were never made to get plugged into a vision that is someone else's vision and finding the motive to be moved by pain. God is not really a spirit of pain. lol I guess the theater is a place where that artistic structure in us is explored. I do not know were we got off the tracks on the purpose of what it means to be a loved one in the community of the saints, but we have lost the experience of being moved by these different spiritual gifts in other people. And i was thinking that in theater that is what we find being shared from one person to another. Its something to think about. I need to write more about this. Reply Quote Notify 737  Forums / Main Forum / Re: Idolatry on: February 15, 2013, 09:23:17 PM You know Ive probably seen a hundred live plays in my life. I ve enjoyed all of them. Acting is an art form in which the person produces an image in his mind about the character he is playing. So I guess the aim is to feel, think, and believe that you are that character. The really good actors can transform themselves into something they are not naturally like in real life. You got to appreciate their ability to create and image that seems to be magical. So acting is creating an image which is a God given ability. God has a perfect image of Himself. Which for us humans is impossible. Edwards says if you could have a perfect image of yourself you could duplicate yourself. The Son being the perfect image of the Father. But if you can duplicate yourself then you would be the same person twice. But the Trinity is three separate Persons and of one substance. So the Father can look outside Himself to the Son. But I believe we look at the Son from our own view in our minds. We are looking at the perfect image of God from our imperfect understanding. Anytime we create an imperfect image of Christ it is reducing Him. This is why Calvin says that we are little god makers. Christ really is the only genuine God Man. So anytime we imagine Him something that He is not that is an idol in our minds. Its an image that is not true. So I understand it like this. God has revealed Himself through word and Spirit. And I guess you could say that all of Gods words are contained in the Bible and anything outside of those words are how idols are formed. So we could say that an Idea of God is the same thing as trusting in God Himself. This is why the Psalmist says that in trusting in God ...he trust in His word alone. The word is an analogy of God Himself.  I do not think we need to entirely understand the idea of God in His word to know God. Because we could never have all His words on our minds in a mechanical way.We understand that its more than the ink but the words are Spirit. A person can know God without having a comprehensive knowledge of God .Because without the indwelling Spirit of God no one would understand the Idea of God from the print. I do not think we ever have in our minds the perfect Image of God in an idea. This is why we trust in Someone who has promised to reveal Himself to us. His word is not an arguement for His existence. But its self attesting. We trust in His word not with our own understanding but because He as proved it to be true in Christ coming to earth. Christ fufilled all of His word. Its possible for us to struggle in believing His word. But Christ in displaying Himself as the authentic word from Heaven will not fail in His relationship with us because the word is for us. Its like baby talk backed up with everything that He does for us in autheniticating Himself to us that is too great for us to imagine. Not only has He revealed His word but He enlivens us in a spirtual sense according to His knowledge of us and His plans for us.  I do not believe that we can be named as an idol worshiper because we are the temple of God in which the Spirit dwells. But we still struggle with false images. Reply Quote Notify 738  Forums / Main Forum / Re: The Scandal of the Evangelical Heart on: February 13, 2013, 10:32:40 AM We cannot be free from ourselves under a meta physical weight. The christian experience is to advance with rejoicing. Its not a disembodied experience. But its not an experience where we think something we are not. At the same time it is dwelling on things are weighty and to wonderful for us to imagine. This salvation that was planned from before the foundation of the world is too detailed and mysterious for us to copy. How do you become an identity that you are not naturally given to understand? The natural order of this wisdom that is revealed by God is total rejection by men. So we enter a world that is opposed to all that God does. We face something that is very dangerous and destructive. The more we grow in wisdom the more we expose the evil of the culture. The more we are resisted. We stand as loved children by God in the sea of scorn. People miss represent confidence from pride. We advance in a kind of stouthearted way. We see that the pain only last for a second but the goodness last for a life time. So its really standing on the neck of the enemy and rejoicing in the victory. That is seeing the glory!! But the world is too powerful for us. There are forces in this world and persons who can destroy us. God is not... i repeat...God is not against us to destroy us. That is why the gospel does not flourish. We shoot ourselves and Gods elect. We advance in honor and servanthood but with a desire for eternal life. Our confidence is our experience in the battle of life. This is being outside of ourselves. Its enjoying the kingdom of God within us. But sometimes we face the Devil. And our marching orders must be cherished and on our lips. Like Moses holding up his hands. When they went down the enemy began to advance. But when he raised them the enemy retreated. Some times prayer is like coming up to breath. We go beyond our evil day to advance to the good day in prayer. Reply Quote Notify 739  Forums / Main Forum / Re: The Scandal of the Evangelical Heart on: February 13, 2013, 10:04:22 AM I would be careful of believing that love comes out of being emptied. Agape love is not an interior problem for a believer. This is why the apostle does not present a war with ourselves. But our fight is with the course of the world. So we have general reactions to the exterior problems that are natural ,concern, empathy, suffering in silence... all of these meta physical reactions in our minds are kind of like spirits ...a destructive voice or threat. The words of the wicked are like sharp arrows. Arrows that peirce like a physical injury. We have the spirit of our minds. But our natural misunderstanding is to attach these destructive attacks to something that is interior. The christian experience is a society created to voice the gospel as a new culture. It is not a method to study the belly button. The Psalmist was the most angry when he speaks about Gods arrows piercing his heart. This shows there is a natural longing to survive that God responds to in acknowledging that the arrows flew from the outside world. But the Psalmist poured out his pain to God in describing it like an arrow so that he divided the reasons of evil and the purpose of God. The pain and destructive purpose was cursed and the cry to God was reminding God of doing him good. Its like showing the deep pain by the sackcloth and ashes put upon the head. It really is a protest. Why does the Psalmist recoil because of the abuse? Because a christian should be able to distinguish between what is destructive. Satan uses the voice of guilt to destroy a person. God uses sin to advance His working in us to recreate a kingdom in us and to move us to desire the future new heavens and earth. If the experience of loss is worse than our hope then there is something in us given by nature that wants to survive. You know religion does not necessarily prevent us from being sound in our minds. You can use religion as the second arrow. You will destroy yourself and those around you. This is why the Lord has given us marching orders. We face the arrows as life threatening wounds. God did not shoot the physical arrow at the Psalmist. No where does it say that Gods words are sharp arrows that neutralize His children. No this picture in the ot is that arrows are only abusive as we enter act with the world. The arrows are schemes of the devil. Words that he puts in the mouths of wicked men to destroy Gods purposes. They shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. The Psalmist is physically injured from a real encounter on the battle field. His purpose in coming to God is not so that he will exercise his sin as a self atonement. But its a man who has been stunned and is looking for a clear mind. He doesnt want to retreat. This man has experienced God as a residence of a kingdom in himself. His experience is that God has been good to him so that whatever he desired was created by God. But God was not creating disaster for the purpose of destroying the kingdom. God was proving through the Psalmist passion in the wound to curse the disaster that is experienced by all men to enter the Palmist heart for identification of its pain. The Psalmist was a man fighting against that destructive prosperity so that the culture would experience Gods kingdom. Reply Quote Notify 740  Forums / Main Forum / Re: The Scandal of the Evangelical Heart on: February 12, 2013, 07:01:44 PM Love is something we all strive for in each other. But its two sinners with their own paths. Love is really not love until we have been loved. Obviously if we thought that another person could love us like we always are the apple of their eye i would reason there would be very little experience of love.  Love is not just giving something but its sharing in one desire. You can share in one desire and yet express hurt and disappointment. The one desire is under girding the general displeasure in a relationship. If love flourished it would be a mutual feeling of receiving love. But in a sense these times flash before our eyes at different parts of the relationship and then they fade. Only to search again for a greater unity. Love is experiencing freedom so the other person is comfortable. Im not sure that its from predominately reading a relationship. But its creating a culture that is firmly aware of the potential of a threat in some way. So love watches for the destructive potential so that its not love drawn from a positive experience from an abusive environment. When a person is loved they know it. Each of us has an ability to pause muse ...in a kind of meditative reflection from feeling loved as etched in our memory. So everyone is seeking an image of love. This image of love could be fleeting. It could be destructive. This is why love is a distinct communication of the words of God. Love is a reflection of the image of Christ that we must fight for. That form of true meta physical love must be molded and formed into a true image of love. Everyone has their view of love that is not a true reflection of love. We are trying to mold love into a passionate defense of a person for the purpose of keeping them from the destructive spirit that hurts them. Love knows these meta physical cursed dispositions. Love seeks to mold the image of love to produce a relationship that is most free. In some sense a miss representation of love is like threatening a person with kindness. We have a image of that stalker in the paths of our minds that we curse. True love is in the refuge of God. Reply Quote Notify 741  Forums / Main Forum / Re: Hello all on: February 12, 2013, 06:18:24 PM hey Poppy good to see you posting again. Reply Quote Notify 742  Forums / Prayer Requests / Re: For Our Mbg on: February 11, 2013, 01:57:46 PM Im in a fiery trial... Reply Quote Notify 743  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Mind Renewal Through Transparency : The Psychology of Life on: February 11, 2013, 01:48:19 PM cont There is humanity as they view the event in some form of pleasure drawn from it. I do not believe that God acts in events just for the purpose of being set apart. But it so that there is goodness on the earth. For whatever reason we do not receive pleasure from our memory is destructive to us. God identifies with man in saving man through all events. In some sort of say in preventing and allowing one man is brought down so that Gods purposes might be shown to be good. I believe there should always be a positive outlook on history. So we are dealing with miss representations and evil motives in the communication of Gods purposes. All the world should receive pleasure in God delivering His .. then it was said among the nations the Lord has done great things for them" I guess its a matter of the created communication of God to actually provide the confidence that He alone is good. So we have the curse. The curse curses the destructive force in the misunderstanding. The blessing -cursing motif is a final word of all of history. We have confidence that God does not make mistakes in avoiding the power of the curse and learning Gods covenant blessings in freedom. The curse acts as a restrainer of the view of man in how he receivers Gods goodness in the event. This is what the prophets spoke in order to prophecy with power. The prophets moved events in the wisdom books so that there was a proficient message that God is always good in the history of redemption. Remove Reply Quote Notify 744  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Mind Renewal Through Transparency : The Psychology of Life on: February 11, 2013, 12:53:05 PM Im not really talking about a political campaign.  Its funny because we all have a calling in this life but because God orchestrates all of these battles on national and world level doesnt mean that its His purpose to end all suffering short term. We in this culture look at all the avenues that are available to us to work change. But the gospel is radical. Im not sure it is exactly peace through strength but the gospel is Gods work to deliever His people. So its not a passive message. We are called to fight the good fight. But the question is what weapons do we use and do we understand Gods ways or purpose in our work? The gospel is not about how society can acheive peace through acting according to what God demands. This is teaching is not really biblical. It is a gospel of God. The gospel centers on what God has done and what He is doing.So God enters time not in need of people who will join His spiritual army but to display His glory through His work alone. God does not allow man to share in His glory. He goes out and works righteousness. The history of the world is only real because it is in the context of redemption. Whatever conclusions we draw from history and whoever we place our confidence in is our view of the world through our own context. But we need to see that the gospel provides us not only with a record of God saving His people but it shows how God has entered time in all conflicts. In some sense all the communication of history and what has transpired is through  our own understanding. So the past is what we trust in that gives us judgement on the present. The gospel is the confidence that God has narrowed the events in time down to one purpose. This way of looking at the world is what the bible describes as a saving trust in a sovereign God. Our fight in not with mans weapons. Our spiritual fathers encouraged us to trust in God alone. It was not by their sword that they won the battle. It was your rite hand, and the light from your eyes. The gospel turns the course that the world is going in... it turns it upside down. God will not share His work with man on any scale. So in this sense the way to peace is to seek Gods glory alone in fighting with spiritual weapons. Call upon Me in the day of trouble and I will answer you, and you will honor Me. Wow, this is kind of in the context of Johns gospel I in you and you in Me. Not only does God do the work but He produces the union. Its kind of distancing man from taking the glory. We actually advance through our own weakness. God works the works of righteousness because it is the way that He proves Himself to be a good God. We are not on display for God but the history of the nations is God displaying His work. lol Its really hard for us to understand but when we acknowledge our smallness in moving events we actually expand our ability through His hand. So we see the work beyond our own borders. This vision is a battle between heaven and earth. We are involved with forces in the heaven-lies. You know I don't deny all the cultural forces and the need to protect yourself. It just doesnt impress me enough to think that it is what will bring real salvation. The point is that our communcation is different from the worlds. We order our words in prayer by holding firmly to the doctrines. This is how events are moved through our history. We are gonna be suprised when we get to heaven and see what God considered important in His purposes. Its gonna seem upside down. Remove Reply Quote Notify 745  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Mind Renewal Through Transparency : The Psychology of Life on: February 10, 2013, 12:56:33 PM The bible views the health of a nation as a reflection of the individual soul. As darkness invades the nation so it floods the minds of each person. In some sense we live in a communication of redemption according to how strong the principles of scripture flourish. So we do not really have confidence one person depending upon another. But we must understand that as a nation goes into trusting in their own view of life ...being more and more confident in their own understanding ..so goes the focus on the general welfare which is supposed to be the highway to seeing the salvation of our God. Instead in a nation and city it more and more becomes our experience as if we are cut off from His sight. The order of the earth is for men to seek the Lord alone as the basis of finding salvation. Because there is not difference between national freedom and freedom from salvation. The more we go away from the ways of God expressed through His law the more we lose our personal potential to be free. Because the gospel is the only communication that brings men the most personal experience of freedom. Its the only source of lasting hope going down below the worse pain and suffering. It is what controls the dial that enables and withholds. The gospel brings men to a Personal God. It prescribes for all of life only one answer to the personal needs of men. All other means are impersonal and lead to man designing a world in his own image. The gospel is the real message that gets to the heart of need. It is the most personal cry of the hopeless. God has made it so that unless we find all of our confidence in His ability to save the most hopeless in the time of need there is no real hope since man cannot get to the real causes by offering something good. God is the only one who can meet that need in order to experience true freedom. Remove Reply Quote Notify 746  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Mind Renewal Through Transparency : The Psychology of Life on: February 09, 2013, 02:12:31 PM Every thing we do in this life is from the perspective of our doctrine. Because it is how we define the power of law ...its our view of our circumstances within the powers to withhold or enable. And this power expressed is the laws curse. Obedience to God demands us to see the law as He as made it to function. The power of the law which is a weight of destruction is a curse. I can see where this not only is a paradigm in a spiritual weight but it goes over into our faculties and physical organs. We are a spiritual form of ourselves in our own minds. How do we go beyond knowing the power of the law in an intellectual sense to using it for our own benefit. We must see that the world is what we see as Gods present working. Its Gods spoken word of ongoing creation. God is who He is by His presenting and describing the law. God makes no inconsistent choices. He has no boundaries placed upon Him by man. Gods working in preventing and enabling is absolute. This is defined as Gods working in blessings and cursing.There is hope in the absolute voice of the law in cursing and Gods ultimate concern for us through grace to silence the destructive voice of the law. This is why we must not waver from our dogmatic doctrinal position. Our problem is that we all have defective abilites to always have a consitent hope. We are subject to our defective view of the world. We make judgements based upon how we live in grace.This is why the bible says to always be watching for the Devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. When we become cold in our disposition it is because we add something of weight from the curses of the law. We begin to scheme in some ways to do things our own way. The danger of this is that we become destructive, not being ready to bless and carry burdens. The power of destruction is in our equalibrium free will. Trusting our choices is like shaking a fist in Gods provisions by His grace. God is more concerned to teach us a grace that will begin to work to silence the destruction of the law. But our first impulse is to be a better moral person. I think in my experience of speaking the curses that we go outside our pragmatic wish which is what keeps us from focusing on God ...failing to throw off the weight of the law and we do not see as God sees. If there we do not expereince the absolute wish of God then we draw back in some ways. We begin to do things as a god. But God proves Himself in our focus on Him as lifted up and we trust less in our own power and place our only hope in word and Spirit. Our dogmatice approach is what over comes the pain. We look to word and Spirit as our foundation of confidence.In these curses we find God to be the source of comfort from the destructive working of the law. We rejoice in God creating our future success. Remove Reply Quote Notify 747  Forums / Prayer Requests / Re: For Our Mbg on: February 08, 2013, 05:23:40 PM The writing is on the wall ..just got to go through a few hurdles...     when He turns my heart the process in between is painful. Reply Quote Notify 748  Forums / Main Forum / Re: Yeah, Illuminati Symbols. Whatever. on: February 07, 2013, 01:58:17 PM God must be in complete control because there is no one man that can turn society around.  Lets think of the odds of what it would take to bring things back under the order of Gods law. Lets say there are 10 men who have absolute control over every thing. Could these ten men change America? If they were to try to reverse the negative behavior of Americans they would up end some good things for people in need in the process. And in a sense the society is run by laws that place all of these relationships in order. There is no man that is powerful enough to reorder the society by doing the rite thing. This is what we absolutely depend upon to live in security. It is an order that creates respect. But we see that God declares that nations go their own way. In the comparison here about what God says is order and what He declares about the ultimate end of what mans law has created we see that God is working on a level of power that is beyond our understanding. And in this sense man is looking for an individual security that comes from an order of society in which that man can depend. This is why everyone is looking for security in a proper order of nature  but cannot find it. So we see that God has declared that He Himself is the only one able to change the direction of a nation. It is a desire of man that goes unfulfilled if that desire is not contained in a respect for Gods power to bring things into order. And this is why the bible says that God gives whole generations wine that makes them stumble. We must only trust in what is real. We are looking from a desire to find order only to be fulfilled in the next world. So that justice passes beyond this world into the next world. If God is eternal then His justice , equity and order goes beyond time. This is why the bible says to set your heart on things above not on the things of this world. Set your mind on heavenly things. You find order by your life that is hidden in Christ. We stand on the rock of absolute order that is coming. On this we can be secure. Reply Quote Notify 749  Forums / Prayer Requests / Re: For Our Mbg on: February 06, 2013, 09:55:21 PM Reply Quote Notify 750  Forums / Main Forum / Re: The Scandal of the Evangelical Heart on: February 06, 2013, 06:56:57 PM