May I Express Myself Please?

[Rollo Tamasi]

Rollo! Be nice!
Now get back in the basement before your mom finds out you're out.

Watch out Buster!
Don't let that cute little boy in my avatar deceive you.
There's a monster behind him.

 

[Tony Hyman]

Which books explain YOU Tony Hyman?
People are not books.
They're individuals and should be treated as such.
Maybe I shouldn't even be writing here since I'm supposed to be computer illiterate?
Stop reading and start experiencing real life.

The Bible explains me, especially 1 Pet 3:15 N.I.V. "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have.But do this with gentleness and respect 16. keeping a clear conscience , so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.".Now I find that I must read and understand what I am reading in the Bible in order to understand God's will in my life,which in this point in time is to teach children music.Each lesson commences with a Bible reading relevant to a particular musical study.Hopefully this will grow into a little Bible Study come music group.That then is my "real life" at this moment as God sees fit.
As far as Biblical commentaries go one has the option with agreeing or not.The Spirit guides one "in all truth" as Christ promised Jn 16:13
Fortunately God has blessed me with a passion for reading in order to "give the reason for the hope" I have to the best of my ability.Anything short of that would be not doing what God expects of me "falling short" ,which would be a sin in my case.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

That being said, I regard the Age of Technology as the most dehumanizing, and quite likely Satanic, development in the history of mankind.

Wow, I've come to the same conclusion. I remind people that the beast out of the earth (the false prophet) causes people to worship the image of the beast out of the sea (the anti-christ).

While folks like you are under the illusion you've entered some new Age of Enlightenment, you've actually lost your souls.

I have four kids, first one born in 1984, and I've lost them all to the evils of the internet.
If you're not imprisoned by the filth so easily accessible on the internet you're probably imprisoned by the stresses of our electronic society. It has NOT made things easier. It has heaped an unbearable weight of information, and it's upkeep, in all areas of life on us.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Fortunately God has blessed me with a passion for reading in order to "give the reason for the hope" I have to the best of my ability.Anything short of that would be not doing what God expects of me "falling short" ,which would be a sin in my case.

In all honesty, unless you have a Pauline kind of calling, I think you are putting an undo burden on yourself that God is not.
Operating in you gift, generally speaking, is your sacrifice, not your obedience. Sacrifices, unless you have a calling like Paul's, are generally dispensed at your discretion, while your obedience is not. And if you are like many in the church you are having a hard time seeing how the work you do according to your gift is not the exact equivalence of your obedience.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Don't let that cute little boy in my avatar deceive you.
There's a monster behind him.

Which is exactly why your mom keeps you in the basement.

 

[Tony Hyman]

In all honesty, unless you have a Pauline kind of calling, I think you are putting an undo burden on yourself that God is not.
Operating in you gift, generally speaking, is your sacrifice, not your obedience. Sacrifices, unless you have a calling like Paul's, are generally dispensed at your discretion, while your obedience is not. And if you are like many in the church you are having a hard time seeing how the work you do according to your gift is not the exact equivalence of your obedience.

Then I find that this "living sacrifice" Rom.12:1 , to be pure joy, one of the perks of following Christ.God will be the judge as to whether or not it is "pleasing" to Him within the context of this verse.I can only walk with the faith of Abram Gen 12:1 in the faith that it is "pleasing to God".And that I through the blood of Christ and the grace of God are being obedient according to God's view .Once again the" conscience" that Peter speaks of guides me in this respect.I believe the Holy Spirit and the "clear-conscience" I Peter 3:16 to be analogous spiritual entities.If its a Pauline type calling then so be it.As Paul writes we can only "plant the seeds" , but "only God who makes things grow."I Cor 3:7.

 

[dianegcook]

Just talking.
There is so much to say.
Like Baptism.
Do you realize I could list at least 20 topics to discuss about Baptism?
And who would understand and agree on what?
I was a Baptist.
Don't ask me what kind or what I believed about it.
I don't think I ever knew or gave it much thought.
But people sure do like to fight about it.

Then there's the Lord's Supper.
People have all kinds of ideas about that too.
Communion.
There's about ten different communions and they all tie into the Lord's Supper.
I'm telling you, wars that start over this one.
I'll just stay away from it.

And prayer, boy, people can sure get confused about prayer.
So many ways to pray and reasons to prayers and purposes of prayer and it goes on and on and people find themselves praying for prayer because they don't know how to pray.
Whew!
You can get into a tizzy with prayer.

Then you got Holy Days.
You know, every religion has plenty of Holy Days.
People celebrate everything under the sun and call it a Holy Day.
Holy Days, Holy Wars, etc., all in the name of God.
Shall we discuss this peacefully?
Yeah, right!

How about tongues?
Do you speak in tongues?
Why not?
This is one for me.
My next thread should be a tongues thread from my point of view.
I wonder what will happen?

Hey, guess what?
I just looked outside and it's foggy out there.
It's 7:54 AM and it's foggy outside.

Okay, back to my list.

How about this one?
Compromising God's doctrine.
We face so much of that right here on the forum.
But what about out there?
People hear it in their church, and then go live their lives with this compromise.
What kinds of compromise?
What can we do about it?
Yes, a lot to talk about here.

Here's a biggie, The Great Commission.
No one does this, do they?
What are the five accounts of Christ's final words to the Apostles and why will they fail you?
Something to think about, isn't it?

Here's one we always fight about one way or another.
Faith and works.
It would be nice to get a list on this topic that all could read and agree with.
I think the answers are in Scripture.
Are we all that dumb or do I really stand alone on this?
Oh oh, there's goes the first argument.

I think I'll break here.
When I come back, I'll start a new list of stuff with a new thread.

Oh, and don't forget, I'm just talking, trying to express myself.

Yes, I feel your pain....

It makes me wonder, if Christ was here on earth today, preaching, would the religious folks have Him crucified today...

Some folks just stay with what they have been taught through their pastor, parents, whatever...
They have closed minds.
Try to listen to all, and if something clicks, it clicks...
As the saying goes, His sheep knows His voice...

 

[Runner]

Wow, I've come to the same conclusion. I remind people that the beast out of the earth (the false prophet) causes people to worship the image of the beast out of the sea (the anti-christ).

I have four kids, first one born in 1984, and I've lost them all to the evils of the internet.
If you're not imprisoned by the filth so easily accessible on the internet you're probably imprisoned by the stresses of our electronic society. It has NOT made things easier. It has heaped an unbearable weight of information, and it's upkeep, in all areas of life on us.

I recall one of the pioneers of the Internet saying that there seemed to be a "spirit" influencing the development. He wasn't speaking in religious terms, merely saying that it almost seemed like something outside themselves was guiding the process. But it does make you wonder.

Even though I am pretty much chained to my PC since I work 200 miles from the office where all the client files are located, I have consciously chosen to have zero involvement with TV, cell phones or social media. (Disclaimer: I do have a Jitterbug in the glove compartment of my car in case I break down in the middle of nowhere, which is pretty much where I live.) The day that I can toss my PC and laptop in the dumpster, hopefully in the very near future, will be one of unbridled celebration. I will no longer have my little Internet ministry of agitating folks like Rollo, but I'll find some local substitute.

Virtually everyone I know can see that people are literally being reprogrammed by the obsession with technology. As you note, all of the supposed "convenience" has in fact produced a level of constant stress that I would find intolerable but that the victims seemingly don't even recognize. Ditto for the addictive nature of the technology; I have seen formerly sane lawyers my own age literally become like crack addicts. Ditto for the collapse of flesh-and-blood relationships; those who live in a universe of anonymous electronic "relationships" seem oblivious to what is happening to them. Ditto for the obsession with electronic games. Ditto for the oceans of incorrect and/or useless information with which people can and do flood their brains thanks to the Internet. Ditto for the fact that people can now surround themselves with electronic "friends" and sources of "information" who do nothing more than confirm their own prejudices; no need to think anymore, just find yourself sites, forums and anonymous "friends" who all agree Jesus never existed, was an alien or whatever. Ditto for the ubiquitous pornography that is virtually unavoidable and eventually sucks in a gigantic percentage of Internet users. And we haven't even got to the potential health risks, which are clearly not fully understood.

I once asked myself, if I were Satan, what sort of religion I'd create to lead people astray. It wouldn't be atheism or a cartoon like Satanism; it would be a close counterfeit of Christianity that was attractive and appealing in many respects but wrong in the essentials. I'll leave it to you to guess which religions(s) were my candidates. Ditto for the Age of Technology: When I ask myself what I might do to send mankind speeding down the path to Hell at 200 mph if I were Satan, I look around me and say, "Yeah, that's what I'd do."

In deference to Rollo (who I'm sure is a fine and devout Christian), and because I truly don't want to become one of those people with 100,000 posts for all the reasons set forth above, I am now moving on. Hold your applause, as the saying goes.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

I will no longer have my little Internet ministry of agitating folks like Rollo, but I'll find some local substitute.

I guess all you have to do is go down to the clubhouse after you retire to find another Danny DeVito to keep you entertained.

Virtually everyone I know can see that people are literally being reprogrammed by the obsession with technology. As you note, all of the supposed "convenience" has in fact produced a level of constant stress that I would find intolerable but that the victims seemingly don't even recognize.

They don't recognize it because they are not old enough to know what it's like without that burden.

Ditto for the collapse of flesh-and-blood relationships; those who live in a universe of anonymous electronic "relationships" seem oblivious to what is happening to them.

It sucked my wife in.
Somehow meeting secretly with someone of the opposite sex is okay just because it's all done on the internet?

Ditto for the oceans of incorrect and/or useless information with which people can and do flood their brains thanks to the Internet.

Which is why I'm so passionate about defending truth in forums like this. Lot's of false teachers now have free use of far reaching electronic media to spread their teachings for which previous generations offered no easy opportunity to share. That is the one thing I do not like about forums. It seems the misfits who aren't tolerated in the mainstream are able to find food and lodging among those they so desperately want to indoctrinate. True believers have a responsibility to not let Tobiah take up residence in the temple of God:

"7and I came to Jerusalem and learned about the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, by preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God. 8It was very displeasing to me, so I threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. 9Then I gave an order and they cleansed the rooms; and I returned there the utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense." (Nehemiah 12: NASB)

In keeping with our previous conversation, you certainly won't find me gushing with 'love' for these wolves. God is not commanding me to do that. I will be polite, but firm, and I will not seek to harm them, but I will certainly not go PC for them in the name of a misguided understanding of love.

In deference to Rollo (who I'm sure is a fine and devout Christian), and because I truly don't want to become one of those people with 100,000 posts for all the reasons set forth above, I am now moving on. Hold your applause, as the saying goes.

You better come back here long enough to read this post, lol!

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

I guess all you have to do is go down to the clubhouse after you retire to find another Danny DeVito to keep you entertained.


They don't recognize it because they are not old enough to know what it's like without that burden.


It sucked my wife in.
Somehow meeting secretly with someone of the opposite sex is okay just because it's all done on the internet?


Which is why I'm so passionate about defending truth in forums like this. Lot's of false teachers now have free use of far reaching electronic media to spread their teachings for which previous generations offered no easy opportunity to share. That is the one thing I do not like about forums. It seems the misfits who aren't tolerated in the mainstream are able to find food and lodging among those they so desperately want to indoctrinate. True believers have a responsibility to not let Tobiah take up residence in the temple of God:

"7and I came to Jerusalem and learned about the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, by preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God. 8It was very displeasing to me, so I threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. 9Then I gave an order and they cleansed the rooms; and I returned there the utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense." (Nehemiah 12: NASB)

In keeping with our previous conversation, you certainly won't find me gushing with 'love' for these wolves. God is not commanding me to do that. I will be polite, but firm, and I will not seek to harm them, but I will certainly not go PC for them in the name of a misguided understanding of love.


You better come back here long enough to read this post, lol!

And how many posts do you have, Mr. Talkative?

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

I recall one of the pioneers of the Internet saying that there seemed to be a "spirit" influencing the development. He wasn't speaking in religious terms, merely saying that it almost seemed like something outside themselves was guiding the process. But it does make you wonder.

Even though I am pretty much chained to my PC since I work 200 miles from the office where all the client files are located, I have consciously chosen to have zero involvement with TV, cell phones or social media. (Disclaimer: I do have a Jitterbug in the glove compartment of my car in case I break down in the middle of nowhere, which is pretty much where I live.) The day that I can toss my PC and laptop in the dumpster, hopefully in the very near future, will be one of unbridled celebration. I will no longer have my little Internet ministry of agitating folks like Rollo, but I'll find some local substitute.

Virtually everyone I know can see that people are literally being reprogrammed by the obsession with technology. As you note, all of the supposed "convenience" has in fact produced a level of constant stress that I would find intolerable but that the victims seemingly don't even recognize. Ditto for the addictive nature of the technology; I have seen formerly sane lawyers my own age literally become like crack addicts. Ditto for the collapse of flesh-and-blood relationships; those who live in a universe of anonymous electronic "relationships" seem oblivious to what is happening to them. Ditto for the obsession with electronic games. Ditto for the oceans of incorrect and/or useless information with which people can and do flood their brains thanks to the Internet. Ditto for the fact that people can now surround themselves with electronic "friends" and sources of "information" who do nothing more than confirm their own prejudices; no need to think anymore, just find yourself sites, forums and anonymous "friends" who all agree Jesus never existed, was an alien or whatever. Ditto for the ubiquitous pornography that is virtually unavoidable and eventually sucks in a gigantic percentage of Internet users. And we haven't even got to the potential health risks, which are clearly not fully understood.

I once asked myself, if I were Satan, what sort of religion I'd create to lead people astray. It wouldn't be atheism or a cartoon like Satanism; it would be a close counterfeit of Christianity that was attractive and appealing in many respects but wrong in the essentials. I'll leave it to you to guess which religions(s) were my candidates. Ditto for the Age of Technology: When I ask myself what I might do to send mankind speeding down the path to Hell at 200 mph if I were Satan, I look around me and say, "Yeah, that's what I'd do."

In deference to Rollo (who I'm sure is a fine and devout Christian), and because I truly don't want to become one of those people with 100,000 posts for all the reasons set forth above, I am now moving on. Hold your applause, as the saying goes.

What's this?
Your leaving!
Help me somebody, hold back the tears...

 

[Wrg1405]

I don't necessarily think the Internet is the issue. The issue is how it's used and why it's used.

I personally think it has made things easier particularly in business. As a result my business has grown, therefore more people are employed. I'm the only Christian, that being the case I have the opportunity to witness in the way I lead, direct and treat people. I'm one of 3 directors and the only one to considered fair, honest and treat everyone the same. I am not a person who takes every opportunity to talk about Jesus (and to be honest as an employer if one my employees constantly talked about Jesus with detriment to their work I would have to say something)

I am a person who takes every opportunity to try and be like Jesus, work like Jesus would do. People see that and as a result I then have the opportunity to talk over a cup of coffee at lunch time.

I also think in terms of people's lives it has made things easier and a lot harder. But as I said above that comes down to how and why a person uses it. I also beleive God can use it personally outside of the norm.

I stopped going to church 10 years before my wife went away with the females in the family for a weekend.

Here is one example for me. I love to play scrabble. My wife went away 5 years ago for a weekend break with the females in the family. She came back and said that one of her aunties was playing word with friends, WWF (scrabble alternative), so I downloaded it and started to play her auntie.

I would do anything that would help me escape the guilt I felt about not going to church, I even did the ironing.
One day I started a random game and the game sends a request to someone to say I challenged them. There were millions playing this game. They accepted. So we played, sending the odd message to each other in the game. I so much wanted to get back into church but did not know how to. (I still went on the odd occasion, I never lost my faith as such in Jesus but I sure had a twisted view of God). Side note please do not ever ever do what I experienced on the odd time I did turn up, people who knew me would come up and shake me by the hand and say "hello sir is this your first time here" amongst other things that they thought funny. Beleive me it's not, when some who hasn't been for a while drags their sorry as out of bed to go to church, who wants to meet with God but is so full of fear and rejection making funny quotes is in fact not funny and hurtful.

One day my random friend said "Bill I'm a Christian, there is something in my spirit that is stirring me to pray for you, for some reason God is laying you on my heart" So I opened up and explained my situation (Us Christians are meant to help the wounded in battle but alas we shoot them) she calls me her son and I call her my mama. She is a widow and I have the privilege to help her as instructed in the bible.

So back to my point. As a result of our conversations I woke up one morning and said to my wife I'm going to church today. She was gobsmakced because normally when when I thought about going to church I would have nightmares that she had to wake me up from. So I went to church and the sermon was on entering Gods rest, having peace with God. I plucked up my courage and spoke to the pastor who preached.

He took me under his wing and now I'm typing this to you all.

As a result of this game I have had the privilege of playing someone who was a staunch atheist who now allows me and asks me to pray for him and his family, via phone and FaceTime. I lead a midweek group and he asks for me to send the e-mails I sent looking at the commands of Christ. In fact this is true and if you want me to prove it I can post of copy of a message he sent to me praying to God for me. I've got problems with my eyes. I never told him but he picked up that something was wrong as I wasn't playing as much with him as I did. So I told him what was going on. Still got the issues and I would ask you to pray if you remember. Waiting to hear from eye doctor for complete analysis, but how amazing is it that God has used this game over the Internet to get a once athiest praying for a Christian and have that athiest saying because of you I might become a Christian.

So the World Wide Web can in fact be used by God, let's not limit him in the way he works. I'm typing now on this forum and have got to know you lovely people. I love spending time with you all, some of us may seem weird, some of spill our guts out to you, become vulnerable. Looking for help and looking to help. The church is not a building its people

The Internet is not inherently evil, maybe the inherent evil in people causes them to abuse the Internet.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Not_Now.Soon]

Well, we love Rollo and need his answers.
So pick one!

W

Pick one? Only one?

Just talking.
There is so much to say.
Like Baptism.
Do you realize I could list at least 20 topics to discuss about Baptism?
And who would understand and agree on what?
I was a Baptist.
Don't ask me what kind or what I believed about it.
I don't think I ever knew or gave it much thought.
But people sure do like to fight about it.

Then there's the Lord's Supper.
People have all kinds of ideas about that too.
Communion.
There's about ten different communions and they all tie into the Lord's Supper.
I'm telling you, wars that start over this one.
I'll just stay away from it.

And prayer, boy, people can sure get confused about prayer.
So many ways to pray and reasons to prayers and purposes of prayer and it goes on and on and people find themselves praying for prayer because they don't know how to pray.
Whew!
You can get into a tizzy with prayer.

Then you got Holy Days.
You know, every religion has plenty of Holy Days.
People celebrate everything under the sun and call it a Holy Day.
Holy Days, Holy Wars, etc., all in the name of God.
Shall we discuss this peacefully?
Yeah, right!

How about tongues?
Do you speak in tongues?
Why not?
This is one for me.
My next thread should be a tongues thread from my point of view.
I wonder what will happen?

Hey, guess what?
I just looked outside and it's foggy out there.
It's 7:54 AM and it's foggy outside.

Okay, back to my list.

How about this one?
Compromising God's doctrine.
We face so much of that right here on the forum.
But what about out there?
People hear it in their church, and then go live their lives with this compromise.
What kinds of compromise?
What can we do about it?
Yes, a lot to talk about here.

Here's a biggie, The Great Commission.
No one does this, do they?
What are the five accounts of Christ's final words to the Apostles and why will they fail you?
Something to think about, isn't it?

Here's one we always fight about one way or another.
Faith and works.
It would be nice to get a list on this topic that all could read and agree with.
I think the answers are in Scripture.
Are we all that dumb or do I really stand alone on this?
Oh oh, there's goes the first argument.

I think I'll break here.
When I come back, I'll start a new list of stuff with a new thread.

Oh, and don't forget, I'm just talking, trying to express myself.

Ok let's start with the Great Commission our calling as Christians and what we do in the world around us. On the other hand that's a little foggy. Is it still foggy? Fog is water can you be babitized in fog? It's past 7:45 AM here but if it is foggy lets just stay in and maybe study. That'll help when we do go out.

In or out what do we do? Faith or works? Well faith works doesn't it. So no mater what we have faith and trust in God. Trust in God's wisdom more then man's wisdom. More then we trust our own wisdom. Doctrine and study and knowing what's right and what's not sounds like a lot of work. Almost more then just following the parts we already understand and walking out in the foggy morning and spreading our great commission to the world from what we already know in God's word.

Talk and pray. Tongues, unless you know sign language, and pray any way you know how, silently or out loud. But expecially pray the LORD's prayer. Pray always, but pray more in the holy holidays. The days we celibate our faith.

Hmmm a lot to think on. Do I go out? In the mist of the world with my own inner fog and act in the way I already know God called us to be? Or stay home and study, to know better how God wants us to believe, and how God wants us to represent Him in our Great commission when we go out. I think both, study and act on what I already know. That's what we need to do.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

And how many posts do you have, Mr. Talkative?

I'm pretty sure I'm coming up on a couple hundred by now.

 

[GodsGrace]

Rollo! Be nice!
Now get back in the basement before your mom finds out you're out.

Sometimes it's good to get out of the basement.
Life situations call for it.

 

[GodsGrace]

Yes, that was a paragraph specifically about me. Call me eccentric, but I tend to use "I" when referring to myself. I find referring to myself in the third person tends to put people off. "Sweetie, Mr. Runner was working at the Palo Alto Research Center (ever hear of them?) when you were probably in diapers or a gleam in your father's eye. Mr. Runner has been living with computers since 1982." Nah, I just don't think that quite works.

Golly, you are descending into absolute silliness, eh? The smile, joy and love seem to have evaporated, or am I mistaken? Frankly, I would just put Mr. Runner on ignore status and allow the joy to return to your life.

Mr. Runner doesn't have to be put on "ignore" for joy to return to anyone's life. How much power do you think you have anyway? Self-confidence is a good thing. But I do hear that everything should be in moderation.
I like Mathew 5:1-16
It's what Jesus would want of us.
It's a lofty goal. Not easy to achieve. But we could sure try.
It seems to me to be the opposite of everything the world would want us to be.

W

 

[GodsGrace]

I'm pretty sure I'm coming up on a couple hundred by now.

Good. That means you have a life.
Keep the number low, or your life disappears...

W

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

Good. That means you have a life.
Keep the number low, or your life disappears...

W

Please elucidate.
That's my new word now.

 

[GodsGrace]

Please elucidate.
That's my new word now.

I hear that if one posts too much it means he doesn't have a life.
Jethro says he only has a couple of hundred threads.
This is good. It means he has a life.
If he really did have 15, 795 threads it would mean he spends too much time on the forum and does not have a life.
Did I elucidate sufficiently?
Apparently, the less you post, the better your life. I say we all stop posting all together!

Wondering

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

I hear that if one posts too much it means he doesn't have a life.
Jethro says he only has a couple of hundred threads.
This is good. It means he has a life.
If he really did have 15, 795 threads it would mean he spends too much time on the forum and does not have a life.
Did I elucidate sufficiently?
Apparently, the less you post, the better your life. I say we all stop posting all together!

Wondering

You are giving creedence to what runner says.
You're fired!