Cog

It was implied that Mormons aren't Christians because they don't believe that Jesus is God. To that, I said: "hence no one is a Christian if their faith is tried and they fail?". And the comment directly following that was a continuation, an extension, of that thought. Everything else was how I define Christianity based on what Jesus said. John 14:6 Now what do you think Jesus is saying when he said he is the way? What is he the way to?

...I seek the one who Jesus calls God.

Try to figure out why you and your Aunt desire you to dress a certain way - analyze those desires - get to the very root of them (your desires and her desires) so that you can understand what they are (the desires) and why you have them. Then, think about what God would want you to do with those desires. If what God would want you to do is different than what your Aunt wants you to do, then explain everything to your Aunt and see what she says. Do that with all desires (seek out why you have those desires and what God would have you do with them.) Checklist for you: What is the desire? Why do I have the desire? What would God want me to do with the desire? If you can do that well, your Aunt will probably relax a bit (be less controlling of you); and she may even start to ask you for advice. If you cannot figure out why you have a certain desire, seek others' advice, preferably a woman with wisdom [in such instances as this one]. In this case, however, I'm pretty sure you know why you want to dress your own way, and you only need to be mindful of that. (You want control of yourself because your ideas of what positive attention is, and how to draw [only] such positive attention, differs from your Aunt's ideas. Where those desires come from I won't say here, but I'm sure you can figure it out.) So my advice is for you to be mindful and do what God would have you do. Good luck.

hence no one is a Christian if their faith is tried and they fail? If you demand that, in order to be a Christian, a person cannot believe any lies, or that they cannot falter, or outright fail in any of their trials, whatsoever, then I think that probably excludes everyone. In my opinion, being a Christian is not based on what you believe, but rather, who you follow after [while seeking God.] And so Christianity is not about trying to live a perfectly righteous life - that is not the ends of Christianity (being righteous) - that is only part of what it means. Instead, the whole of being a Christian is trying to follow Jesus in your search to find God. And that's it.

Trust in God which you gained by hearing the Word It should not be confused with any such thing as "blind faith" or trust without due cause. And as Willa was saying, it comes with the connotation that if you have said faith, you are to plant the seed you heard / gained so you can produce good works / fruits / will of God. i.e. "Faith without works is dead." Hearing is likened unto gaining a seed. Luke 8:11 Or maybe a seed is liken unto hearing the Word (It's probably better said that way.) Oh and as expressed in Hebrews 11, you will almost certainly be tried / baptised by fire (which is what your topic is about) - that by being tried, you gain endurance / strength. (I edit posts a lot, sorry. As I see the words more thoughts come to mind that seem relevant.)

Thanks, Joe. Isaiah 55:11 was a good starting point to meditate from. What I'm thinking now is that what's sacred [on Earth] is what is modeled after in Heaven. And so the name of the Lord who is from/in Heaven, which was made known by the Spirit, must be sacred. So, just as the ten commandments, the ark of the covenant, and the Holy of Holies, etc. was made known by God and modeled after what is in Heaven, and so is sacred, so too is scripture, and the names of God; thus, they should be revered as things precious to us, but they should not idolized. So the law of no graven images applies to: Things in Heaven that God has not granted us to model. Things that should not be idolized/worshipped (which is basically everything but God himself). And if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me.

When does it go from being a peice of paper and ink to being sacred? Is there any Bible scripture that can help me better understand where the line is drawn? (no pun intended) For the record, I wouldn't have stepped on the paper, but I can't give any sound argument for why I wouldn't; and without anything sound, I fear it may be idolizing - and I don't want to idolize. And for anyone who doesn't know: Stomp On Jesus was an actual exercise. When I first heard about it, I was kind of appalled by it, but now as I think back to it, I cannot reasonably say it is not idolatry to feel anything for the peice of paper.

This is just speculation, but if you check back over Genesis, it seems like God did his work between morning and evening (so about 6 hours) and then he called it good... and he was done for the day? It seems like that's what it's saying, I don't know.

Yeah, even God rests/rested. On Saturdays, I try to basically do nothing, especially meditation -- I don't even like using the microwave or coffee pot - it makes me feel dirty, lol.

If someone asked you to write Jesus on a piece of paper and then throw it on the ground and step on it, how would you feel? Or what if they asked you to spit in the piece of paper? If you even think twice about it, is it a graven image? What difference is there in say, a hieroglyphic, an etching, a statue, and that piece of paper with Jesus written on it? Is there any real difference in the modern day alphabet or graven images, if we think of these things as being sacred symbols? What about the very word God; is it wrong to put more into it than it being just a word? Or what about crosses? Or statues of saints, etc? So, I've asked a lot of questions, but ultimately what I'm asking is this: Is there a difference in the use of graven images and the way people think of words, symbols (crosses for example), or any other iconography, if those things are thought to be sacred? Wikipedia Source If this thread is better suited in another forum, feel free to move it.

I think the centurion was a jew (at heart) and the woman a gentile (who likely prayed to and followed after strange gods / spirits over elements / fallen angels). And when Jesus tested her, her witty remark and understanding of the bread (Jesus) and dog (her and her kind) analogy proved her worthy -- she uderstood who Jesus was probably better than the disciples - she understood him spiritually, which is probably why she was so unrelenting - she knew he could help her - that it was practically Father's will for Jesus to help her.

LadyC, If it helps, think of Jesus and the Bride/Church relationship. The bride is the house/temple made from the body/sacrifice of the bridegroom, and maintained/micromanaged by the bride herself. We the Bride/Church are to look after the house and each other within it byway of fellowship. If the house becomes corrupted, the groom remakes a house from the finest material of the old house, which is, basically, a new spiritual outlook -- a new spiritual body, but he doesn't mess around in being the comforter - that is the role of the Spirit, which should be equated as the spiritual advice from the husband. Men definitely should lend spiritual support, and personally, I think that should be enough, like Jesus to the Church/Bride, but emotinal, as in the way we're actually talking about it -- she feels like she is not getting enough attention -- I think falls on the bride's/fellowships role/nurtures role. Look at how Job's friend's consoled him -- they sat in silence with him. Anyways... maybe I am wrong, but that is my point of view.

It sounds like you have everything you need financially. Are you on government support? Also, I don't know where you're from, or how you were raised, but nobody, absolutely no one (that I know of) had the kind of dad that was a nurturer or housekeeper. When dads get off work they go to the den/living room and watch tv or read (or I guess in this day and age they sink into their computer/phone), or they go to their shop/garage/driveway/basement and tinker or make something that's needed. Further, and as a child, if you needed your dad's advice, you'd ask him, and then promptly get out of his hair - that is what a dad was to everyone I know. Dad: the person who has the last word on a family/spiritual matter and the person you ask advice of or bother for physical/spiritual/analytical needs only [and maybe, if you're lucky, you get to build something together or play catch once or twice in your life, or maybe he is a tradesman and he teaches you his trade], and that's all you get... you do not get a nurturer or housekeeper out of dad. Mom: the person who nurtures and nurses the family and its' house/nest. And I don't know why no one has defended your husband, yet, but if he has a job which houses, feeds, and clothes you all, AND he actually listens to anything other than physical/spiritual/analytical matters, at any time, then he wins the dad/husband of the year award. As for advice, I think maybe you should ease off of dad and let him be "lazy" - he is not made to be a nest keeper, that is what women do. You shouldn't be a nag. If you are unhappy with the way your home is, you need to maintain it yourself, and have the man supply what is needed for you to do that. If you need a twig, tell him, he will go get it, bring it back, and you put the twig where it needs to be, and keep the twig clean - dont expect, or get hurt feelings, when he doesn't care about that sort of thing - no man does - we are pigs and we will wallow in a mess if a woman doesn't care for the house/nest - we do not care what it looks like. If you are on government aide then maybe you all could grow a garden and have the whole family work together at learning self-sustainable practices, which will probably be direly needed in times to come and one in which the hubby will enjoy partaking in with the kids.

Peaceful resolve is righteous fruit in the eyes of God. Think: rock, paper, scissors. The verse does not reference the righteousness of the peacekeeper. Who benefits from the peaceful resolution is whomever the resolution affects.

What helps me is to think of them like bad food that I have ingested. When I have "consumed" one I am filled with its spiritual substance which my body's awareness (my soul) then transforms/translates into some other chemical component of my body(translates into the form/light/physicality of my body). However, with the mind, we have the oppertunity to control whether or not we transform, or translate, bad spirits into thoughts, mental images, emotions, etc. or to embellish them with other desires. So, the solution would then be to not translate their spirit/desires into the thoughts, mental images, or emotions that bother us. To put it simply, when we feel negativity spirits arising, when we recognize that is what is happening, we can make ourselves think of something good, instead, and overcome the bad desires with our good desires. Basically, I am suggesting that you inundate yourself with good spirits, so as not to translate anything bad. Also, do not fear them, fear makes it harder to overcome. And, of course, keep praying. Hope that helps you. It works well for me, regardless of where they're coming from (from myself or another).

You have to have a basic understanding of God and eternity to see that there is no determinism or predestiny in the way you are thinking. I can try to explain it to you, if you like, but it would take me awhile to write it out, and I do not want to go to the trouble if you are not interested. The short answer, though, I have already posted above.

There is only free will, nothing else really exists as a function or ability - no cause and effect, no determinism, no laws of nature, and nothing set in stone that God could not undo. Prophesies are visions of will, they are not things that have already happened. How prophecies are able to be true is because God knows his will, but that is not to say God couldn't change his will, and that he is bound to it -- if that were the case then covenants, faith, and promises would be pointless, in regards to what will become.

I can't get much from the site search function either so I just use google. Maybe try typing "banking site:http://www.worthychristianforums.com" (without quotes) into google search, and see if that helps you.

Love helps combat lust, so growing your love for Jesus should help you. Maybe Malachi 2:15 can help you understand a little more about sex, too, in that we are joined together, man and woman, to produce godly offspring. The importance of this cannot be stressed enough; and it is really our reason for being: to reproduce God's awareness. As for demons and/or ill spirits, they're pretty much everywhere in today's world. Once you have the spirit of discernment you will start to see people and thoughts based upon spirits, and you will notice a lot of weird things, like the ones you have listed. Now, I do not know what the best advice is for dealing with ill spirits, but what I do is just ignore them, and if a bad thought should come to mind, that I think is not my own, I just say, "no", [in my mind], and keep moving, so to speak. I do know, however, that dwelling on bad thoughts and fearing evil will really cause a lot of problems, so whatever you do, don't fear them. So yeah, my advice is to continue seeking God and his understanding and grace... it should help you a lot since that is what he wants from you anyways.

but he didn't do it to save her so I don't think we can call him a messiah archetype to her. Where Jesus took on the sin to save the flesh, Adam did not. Adam just did it because he loved the flesh - he wasn't trying to save her.

Okay john14:6. Just know, I am not mad at you, and if you ever want, you are always welcome to speak to me.

Faith and doubt work almost the same. It is what I came to this site to figure out. Here is how I now understand them: Faith is when your soul / awareness translates something potentially true into your spirit and body*. If your spirit desires it to be true it will be held in hope. When God sends you faith it will be something that confirms the things your spirit had put hope and trust into, thereby becoming the substance of things hoped for. So, faith from God is whatever he has given you that cements the trust in things hoped for - at that time it will become apart of your soul because you will become aware of its truth. Opposite for doubt. I guess a good lesson to take away from this is to learn to recognize when you are translating doubt / when you are seeing doubt. *body / brain stores the awareness as images that are potentially true until it becomes confirmed, at which point it becomes apart of your soul / awareness. Without thinking true or false, you will then see the things you have recieved faith in. (Just like you began to read these words without wondering if they were english or not.)

john14:6 The "math" comment was not actually about math at all - it was a continuation of the previous sentences' expression. As for your final thought: to say my intentions are just contentions and strivings because you cannot understand what I've said only shows your malice for understanding. This whole time I have tried to get you to understand the answers you have already been given. Where Jesus is the answer manifest by the Spirit, Father is the understanding of the answer. And this is the same thing I was expressing with the "math" analogy. Does your mind not will its understanding into your body to manifest its understanding - is that not its will and its fruit? And does your body not will its images into your mind to give you understanding - so you can see? As I said in another post, the truth is all around us, yes - but then we need to understand the truth to "get it" - and this is the whole point - Father has sent us the Son so that we may know him (Father). I can say it a thousands ways, and as simply as I can, but if you do not wish to understand then you will never see. And no I am not being contentious nor striving to know foolish laws - I am trying to help you understand. Bye.

Maybe the connection is that Eve was made from Adam and Adam from Jesus. Body > Body > Body And Jesus is the head of Adam and Adam the head of Eve Head > Head > Head? The head took on the sin of the body. But Jesus doing so was a gift and not a transgression. (Which is what the topics passage is about.) You guys are looking to Eve as if she was innocent but she had heard from her head not to eat and so like everyone, her body suffered. Just another thought: The punishment is fitting the crime. They ate an imperfect fruit after not listening to their heads and then had to bear imperfect fruits with their body -- but again, Jesus doing so was a gift not a transgression.

Keep in mind who is head of who.