May I Express Myself Please?

[WIP]

I just figure if everyone would just agree with Rollo, since this thread was his idea, everything would be fine.

 

[WIP]

How about we just go fishing?!

 

[JohnDB]

How about we just go fishing?!

I'm with you on this one.
So who is going to be the angler and who is going to be the schmuck that just goes with....so that way someone catches all the fish and the other one gets disappointed.

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

INTERMISSION

Okay, back to the drawing board.

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

I was just thinking about the Sabbath.
It's like mention the Sabbath and Jewish Christians come out of the woodwork.
I don't know how that works.
Usually Jethro Bodine has answers for stuff like that.

And then there's God's will.
The all-elusive God's Will.
It's like nobody knows God's Will.
And nobody wants to talk about it.
I wonder what God's Will is for that?

Then there's Dispensationalism.
Now everyone has an opinion on this one.
And they have to spell it out because they are so proud of themselves for getting it straight.
Well guess what?
You're wrong!
That's the way those debates usually get started before they hire mercenaries to kill each other.

Now this one has become a hot topic as of late and I don't think it's going to end any time soon.
Bible Versions.
Yes, hot off the presses are the latest Bible Versions.
There seems to be a Bible that majors in every topic in the Bible.
The Contradiction Bible
The Earth Day Bible
Now we have the Facebook Bible
And yes, we will argue over our interpretations, won't we?

How about Family Roles?
Society has changed, hasn't it?
The role of a woman, please put a hat on, thank you.
How about the question, "What is a youth, anyway"?
Things are changing, aren't they?

And we mustn't forget Paul's Apostleship.
Paul can be argued until the bells wear out.
It seems like everyday we get someone new on the forum telling us about another "Paul doctrine" that we never heard before.
Maybe it's good or maybe it's bad, but it's new and we're suppose to receive it with open arms.

Where are we going with all these things?
And yes, there are more but I don't want to stress anyone so we will stop here for now.
I think we have something to talk about.

So where shall we start?

 

[Kidron]

INTERMISSION

Okay, back to the drawing board.

-

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[for_his_glory]

Duplicate

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

Duplicate

Oh, you mean Reba and her staff?

 

[for_his_glory]

Oh, you mean Reba and her staff?

this staff................must be careful for she knows how to use it 2

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

this staff................must be careful for she knows how to use it 2

Lol, yes, your post is already deleted.
You bad!

 

[for_his_glory]

Lol, yes, your post is already deleted.
You bad!

Ya, I know me bad ...............but ya got to love me because God said so:biggrin

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

Ya, I know me bad ...............but ya got to love me because God said so:biggrin

Yes, you are very sweet and pretty.
I see your reflection in your avatar.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Rollo Tamasi , when I was about 3 years old in the Lord I had similar questions to yours in the OP. What ended the '?' of it all for me was this:

"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." (Galatians 5:6 NIV)

This proved to be the anchor by which I could not be swayed by the shifting winds of doctrines, of which there are plenty in the Protestant Church. God planted this single truth in my mind and Spirit, and my understanding about all the other things exploded. I found the "righteousness, peace, and joy" that God had ordained for his people. This is the one thing that makes Christianity a relationship with God, not a cold dead ritual for a far-away, elusive God.

 

[Runner]

So where shall we start?

It seems to me the place to start would be to ask why, if Christianity is uniquely infused with the Holy Spirit, there is so little evidence of this - in the religion's relationships with non-believers, within the religion itself, within the various denominations, within individual churches, on forums such as this, in the relationships between believers, in the lives of individual believers?

This is the single biggest puzzle to me as a Christian and would be the core question I would be posing to Christians if I were an atheist or a follower of some other religion: What distinguishes the Christian community from any other secular or religious community, apart from the fact that you go around claiming to be unique while showing so little evidence of it?

One easy answer is: Human nature. But the problem is, Christians alone claim to have human natures that are being transformed by the Holy Spirit. Where's the beef?

One reason I limit my participation on forums such as this is that they are ultimately depressing. I see no more evidence of the Holy Spirit than I see on, say, a golf forum or a JFK assassination forum. Something, it seems to me, is radically wrong with what we are calling Christianity - and wrestling with what that might be, it seems to me, would be "the place to start."

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Yes, you are very sweet and pretty.
I see your reflection in your avatar.

Me too?

 

[Jethro Bodine]

It seems to me the place to start would be to ask why, if Christianity is uniquely infused with the Holy Spirit, there is so little evidence of this - in the religion's relationships with non-believers, within the religion itself, within the various denominations, within individual churches, on forums such as this, in the relationships between believers, in the lives of individual believers?

Christianity is not infused with the Holy Spirit. That's the problem!
The truths of the Holy Spirit have been suppressed by the leadership.

This is the single biggest puzzle to me as a Christian and would be the core question I would be posing to Christians if I were an atheist or a follower of some other religion: What distinguishes the Christian community from any other secular or religious community, apart from the fact that you go around claiming to be unique while showing so little evidence of it?

There is this problem I call the 'church of the world'. It does not represent the actual Spirit-led people within the true family of God. They attend the church of the world, probably because there are no organized meetings of the true Spirit-led people of God for them to attend. Instead our blessed fellowship is relegated to non, and extra, curricular meetings where we can experience the true fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

As far as evidence, it is there. I would be a liar to say I've never had and experienced the genuine spiritual evidence of the fellowship and unity of the true believers of God. When you see the true body of Christ constantly being afflicted by the jealous people of no or little faith I can see how it suggests the evidence of the joy and unity of the body does not exist.

One easy answer is: Human nature. But the problem is, Christians alone claim to have human natures that are being transformed by the Holy Spirit. Where's the beef?

Get around true believers in genuine fellowship and communion with one another by the Holy Spirit. You'll see the beef. Don't look for it in your local 'First Church of the XYZ'. You prolly ain't gonna see it there. You'll find it in out of the way places like, believe it or not, the occasional thread in cf.net. But even the true lovers of God and the church have to made to shown to realize it's been happening here.

See, actually, what Rollo shared in the OP would be the foundation of an excellent meeting of about twenty Christians. Not the subjects themselves, necessarily, but the subject of what we are and what really matters. Honest polite discussion, grounded in the Bible, with prayer and praise and worship following is the stuff you think does not exist in any measurable amount in the Church of Jesus Christ. It does exist. It does happen. But it certainly is not on evident display among the ferocious wolves of the world. It was never intended to be.

One reason I limit my participation on forums such as this is that they are ultimately depressing. I see no more evidence of the Holy Spirit than I see on, say, a golf forum or a JFK assassination forum.

Although there are certainly those threads that are like that, I have to disagree with you. I can name several people who participate in this forum who I consider close, Spirit-sealed brothers and sisters. I know that because we've made a spiritual connection that only those who have the Holy Spirit can recognize and understand (I am NOT suggesting you do not have the Holy Spirit!). Even in our tiffs I can still sense they are a part of the genuine body of Christ. But that is not true for the several false teachers who post here in this forum. Christians are NOT to regard them as believers and that is probably what you see happen here in this forum and which causes you to broad stroke the whole forum.

 

[for_his_glory]

Me too?

:blush ................I chose this avatar as it reminds me of the light of Christ that floods my soul and it's in the quiet times I hear His small still voice speak to my heart. Psalms 46:10

 

[Jethro Bodine]

:blush ................I chose this avatar as it reminds me of the light of Christ that floods my soul and it's in the quiet times I hear His small still voice speak to my heart. Psalms 46:10

I chose my avatar to be a smart alec.
But also because when it comes to false teachers and believers in the church I want to be as shrewd and cunning and focused as Anton was in regard to his evil agenda, but only in my case for good and the demolishing of demonic strongholds. But then to be as naive and innocent (but strong) as Jethro Bodine when it comes to my precious brothers and sisters and the humble seeker of God.

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

Me too?

Well, maybe, a little bit, I don't know...
Okay, but only if Reba agrees.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Church, remember this when someone is obviously denying the truth and causing division and stumbling in the body of Christ:

19These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit." (Jude 1:19 NIV)

Even though we can not share outwardly in the forum our God given right to discern who may be a brother/sister and who is not, we most certainly do that, nonetheless, in the privacy of our own hearts and minds. I in no way apologize for doing that. God wants me to do that. That doesn't mean I hate their guts, nor hurt them. It means I do not extend the hand of acceptance and fellowship to them.