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Compromising with the World

jasonc said:
burying it doesn't solve nor change it. i understand not wanting to post it in the open forum. however, it needs to be dealt with. normal is a relative term. sometimes when he loose that im poor ole me and nobody suffered as bad as me and see by helping others we then become grateful and say i had it bad but man they need prayer. and are thankful for what we did have.

my life and my sad story of what i think was bad for me is paled in comparision to what you posted.
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There are people who have had it worse than myself, I just saw a war movie that was probably very close to reality of war, I wouldn't want to go there, mine experience is easier than some of those what I saw in that movie.
It is easier to stuff it than to deal with it I think.
 
Jesse said:
There are people who have had it worse than myself, I just saw a war movie that was probably very close to reality of war, I wouldn't want to go there, mine experience is easier than some of those what I saw in that movie.
It is easier to stuff it than to deal with it I think.
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what messes with my head most is that its easy to get used to the suffering and horror of war. much, much harder to return to the normal dysfunction of civilian life.
 
jasonc said:
what messes with my head most is that its easy to get used to the suffering and horror of war. much, much harder to return to the normal dysfunction of civilian life.
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They pointed that out in the movie, he's over there, protecting his own, constant fighting, having to be on constant alert, living it day and night, and then you come home and nobody's even talking about what you just lived, the issues over here really are 1st world issues, it just seemed like he came back and life stopped.
 
why am i thinking about Nathan and the junkyard after talking to monica bout her old car and my anger fit with it? sometimes i guess the small things make the difference. that last mlk day is a day i think neither Nathan nor i shall forget. he hasn't been to a junkyard in a while. last time was with his biological dad. i took him with me after teaching him to drive, i was looking for an intake tube from the maf to the throttle plate.
 
Jesse said:
They pointed that out in the movie, he's over there, protecting his own, constant fighting, having to be on constant alert, living it day and night, and then you come home and nobody's even talking about what you just lived, the issues over here really are 1st world issues, it just seemed like he came back and life stopped.
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back to being a peon. yes i have still struggled with that. its not that alone just how whiny we americans can be. i include myself. the shallowness of us when we cry about money and how bad we have it and how oppressive our government is. we haven't yet seen what a tyrannical government is like and how bad a society is that is under one. but that is another topic.
 
jasonc said:
back to being a peon. yes i have still struggled with that. its not that alone just how whiny we americans can be. i include myself. the shallowness of us when we cry about money and how bad we have it and how oppressive our government is. we haven't yet seen what a tyrannical government is like and how bad a society is that is under one. but that is another topic.
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Exactly and include me also in that. We just don't know any better I think because if we did, we would be more grateful.

We're almost seeing what a tyrannical gov't is like. lol
 
Jesse said:
Exactly and include me also in that. We just don't know any better I think because if we did, we would be more grateful.

We're almost seeing what a tyrannical gov't is like. lol
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not yet. trust me its not there yet. when we have no rights to vote or any way of protesting and also corruption real bad and men with guns on the side of the road to be paid for passage as they did in the Balkan states and Afghanistan then we will know.
 
Jesse said:
One of the most difficult things to do as a Christian (at least for me) is figuring out what it means to avoid compromising with the world (yes, there are the most obvious compromises). There are believers here who would say I am compromising, others who probably have compromised, others who are compromising and others who do not compromise – this is the category I want to be in because it’s the category I see that God told us to be in. He wasn’t kidding when he said don’t compromise with the world.

James 4:4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.

I think this issue has no boundaries; it crosses generational lines and is a worldwide universal problem inside the Church. It was already a problem at the start of the Church, which explains all the exhortations and warnings found in the Bible.

I believe the Church is widely affected by society (which you could say is allowing the world in), however the era a person grew up in will influence them and their view on what compromising looks like. Some people might be highly offended by tattoos for instance and make the claim a person doing so has loved the world, while another person would embrace the idea of tattoos, especially if it’s done in an expression of outwardly showing their love for the Lord (no I do not have any tattoos – lol), it’s an example. Others might embrace a secular sport, while others will say this is all secular and we shouldn’t follow any sport, musical group, watch certain movies, etc.

There are so many denominations and differing beliefs out there, I was wondering if you all could help pin down what it means to compromise with the world. I believe the Bible, especially the OT, has some great examples for this, but I wanted to see what you all had to say about it as well.

What is compromising with the world? How do we evangelize but not get entangled with it?

Thanks for your help.
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Back to the OP, there's no need to make it more complicated than it is. What does God's Word say about a certain behavior or action? What does it say we should/should not be doing? What does God's Word say about how we conduct our lives, and our purpose? I find it answers all of that in one form or another, i.e. learn God's Law and also the spirit behind it, such as what it foreshadows. The Spirit is merely God's way to place that on our hearts. That is the real meaning behind flesh vs Spirit, but by themselves is only a vacuum. You still need standards (Law) to go by then you choose whether you are exerting self-effort (flesh) to obey, or if it's God's Works by his Spirit and we are his instruments to carry it out. However, even with God's Spirit, we are still in the flesh, and the flesh can be deceived by the world. This is why you need to know God's standards to keep yourself in check, and then allow the Spirit to do what is right.
 
tim-from-pa said:
Back to the OP, there's no need to make it more complicated than it is. What does God's Word say about a certain behavior or action? What does it say we should/should not be doing? What does God's Word say about how we conduct our lives, and our purpose? I find it answers all of that in one form or another, i.e. learn God's Law and also the spirit behind it, such as what it foreshadows. The Spirit is merely God's way to place that on our hearts. That is the real meaning behind flesh vs Spirit, but by themselves is only a vacuum. You still need standards (Law) to go by then you choose whether you are exerting self-effort (flesh) to obey, or if it's God's Works by his Spirit and we are his instruments to carry it out. However, even with God's Spirit, we are still in the flesh, and the flesh can be deceived by the world. This is why you need to know God's standards to keep yourself in check, and then allow the Spirit to do what is right.
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Thank you, Tim, I appreciate it.

There are the obvious answers, but then everything we encounter has the potential of being evil, so to what extent do we go. I'm in college and it's difficult to escape it all sometimes I guess. It seems I have to avoid a lot that other students don't think too much about, and does a person avoid ALL of it, or do they go and avoid most of what's going on there. Idk, it seems a person misses out on much because it seems like the world and not something believers should be doing. Then you find yourself very isolated and is that good....if you know what I mean.
 
Jesse said:
Thank you, Tim, I appreciate it.

There are the obvious answers, but then everything we encounter has the potential of being evil, so to what extent do we go. I'm in college and it's difficult to escape it all sometimes I guess. It seems I have to avoid a lot that other students don't think too much about, and does a person avoid ALL of it, or do they go and avoid most of what's going on there. Idk, it seems a person misses out on much because it seems like the world and not something believers should be doing. Then you find yourself very isolated and is that good....if you know what I mean.
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Does your school have a Campus Crusades for Christ? Just curious.
 
Jesse said:
Thank you, Tim, I appreciate it.

There are the obvious answers, but then everything we encounter has the potential of being evil, so to what extent do we go. I'm in college and it's difficult to escape it all sometimes I guess. It seems I have to avoid a lot that other students don't think too much about, and does a person avoid ALL of it, or do they go and avoid most of what's going on there. Idk, it seems a person misses out on much because it seems like the world and not something believers should be doing. Then you find yourself very isolated and is that good....if you know what I mean.
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I know exactly what you mean, and we sin sometimes because of weakness, sometimes due to ignorance, and sometimes we're just plain ol' rebellious. To know what sin is, we have to know God's Word, so reading it cover-to-cover is a must (and nowadays there's a app for the bible :lol so cover-to-cover is now just an expression). But I figure this much, friend. Jesus would not tell his disciples to do something he would not practice himself? Do I mean Law? Not only that, but forgiveness. How many times were they told to forgive someone? Seventy times seven, and not literal, but in other words forever if after each time one sins, they repent again.

So, if you fall, stand up, brush yourself off, ask forgiveness and try again even if you do so "490" times daily! God's not keeping track, but rather if we follow in faith. So for anyone who thinks God ever gave up on them, He did not. Why? Because if he failed to forgive, then He is in effect endorsing you to sin and in effect telling you to NOT obey His commands. But what does he want? To obey His commands. Now someone who deliberately and finally refuses to do so and who refuses to place their faith in Him is another case, and they fail to get God's forgiveness because they refused it, not because He did not give it. But as long as the spirit is there in you, you will do just fine.
 
tim-from-pa said:
I know exactly what you mean, and we sin sometimes because of weakness, sometimes due to ignorance, and sometimes we're just plain ol' rebellious. To know what sin is, we have to know God's Word, so reading it cover-to-cover is a must (and nowadays there's a app for the bible :lol so cover-to-cover is now just an expression). But I figure this much, friend. Jesus would not tell his disciples to do something he would not practice himself? Do I mean Law? Not only that, but forgiveness. How many times were they told to forgive someone? Seventy times seven, and not literal, but in other words forever if after each time one sins, they repent again.

So, if you fall, stand up, brush yourself off, ask forgiveness and try again even if you do so "490" times daily! God's not keeping track, but rather if we follow in faith. So for anyone who thinks God ever gave up on them, He did not. Why? Because if he failed to forgive, then He is in effect endorsing you to sin and in effect telling you to NOT obey His commands. But what does he want? To obey His commands. Now someone who deliberately and finally refuses to do so and who refuses to place their faith in Him is another case, and they fail to get God's forgiveness because they refused it, not because He did not give it. But as long as the spirit is there in you, you will do just fine.
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Thanks, Tim, that all does make sense. No, I still read the Bible cover-to-cover - LOL - I have an app, too, but I like the tangible, book in hand, highlighter and pen nearby.

You're right, Jesus wouldn't ask us to do something He wouldn't do himself, and obedience would be right up there with faith. Maybe I'm too paranoid about letting the world in when I need to trust God that He will give me discernment enough to follow Him and not the world. I believe He has done it a great deal in the past, so why doubt now?

Thanks again for sharing your wisdom Tim!
 
Gosh, I thought everyone had heard of Campus Crusade for Christ. Guess I'm a lot older than I tell myself I am.
 
Willie T said:
Gosh, I thought everyone had heard of Campus Crusade for Christ. Guess I'm a lot older than I tell myself I am.
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How old do you tell yourself you are? lol

......never heard of Campus Crusade for Christ...and I went to a big church. Now I don't go to a church at all and I hear about it. Go figure. :shrug
 
Jesse said:
How old do you tell yourself you are? lol

......never heard of Campus Crusade for Christ...and I went to a big church. Now I don't go to a church at all and I hear about it. Go figure. :shrug
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old enough to be my dad.lol
 
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