Flsnookman

"Downloading" one's thoughts into a computer does not make one immortal. The essence of who we truly are is not our thoughts but rather it is our spirit. 

I was forced to vote for Trump because he has said he will nominate conservative supreme court judges. He is a terrible choice but sadly he was imho the lesser of 2 evils. Since the entire system is rigged I do not believe voting is a sure fire way to judge anyone's walk with God. I do think that here in these forums and on others we spend far too much time focusing on other's salvation and far too little time focusing on our own, The Word says work out YOUR salvation with fear and trembling. Not pointing at anyone else as I too fall into that trap.

What verse was it that said hate your enemies, call them names and make them feel unwelcome so they never seek Jesus??........oh, wait a minute....smh

20 hours ago, ayin jade said:

Dear George, we need a safe zone for our members, so they can have a stress non offensive free zone. With ice cream and puppies.

There's ice cream??

Being disrespectful to others does not show a flaw in their character but rather it shows a flaw in the character of the one being disrespectful.

Respect is what we owe; love, what we give. Philip James Bailey
 

Rarely do missmuffett and I agree but we do here. I think it's a personal choice. God gave doctors the skill to heal so going to one should never be considered a lack of faith. That said I have had all the tests I plan to have. Again, personal choice. 

Best topic ever!

Love is Not a Feeling

That was in bible.org...I think we err when we forget that there are 3 types of love, agape,phileo and the eros. The 3rd one I think is a feeling but not the other 2. 

The band Disturbed has a very haunting remake of this song. It is not what you would expect from a metal band at all. 

Uh oh, I referenced heavy metal, haunting and disturbed in one post, I better watch out might be possessed.....oh wait a moment...the Living God and Lord of all there is resides inside me so I am free to listen to what I choose!

OK the 2nd part was a joke, I really do not want to put a stumbling block in front of anyone. If metal music somehow adversely affects your walk with Jesus than by all means do not listen to it.

Wow, after going to the site for this "pathtotruth" I must say they seem right up there with the westboro baptists in that they have a lot of hate.

21 hours ago, Jayne said:

Simon, I do NOT appreciate you hijacking my thread with all of this ridiculousness that I never intended.  I worked very, very hard on this original post because of a burden about our Catholic friends here who believe their religious traditions are apostolic.

This thread is not about holidays.  It's about distinguishing the apostolic from the man-made.  NO ONE believes that holiday traditions are apostolic. Most of them are secular, fun, and benign.  You've entered a topic that is not what this thread is about.

I spend at least two hours searching the scriptures on this and now it's turned into the Simon Hall show and your anti-holiday theme.

I've wiped out my original post and would appreciate it if you would go to your first post where you quoted me and erase my post.

You should have started your OWN thread.

 

I for one would be very interested in your original post, could you maybe repost it on a new thread?

Well, I usually use blueletterbible.org as an online concordance then google the online kjv of the scripture I want to copy and post.  I tend to be very....skeptical about any online resource that wants to "explain" what the bible is trying to tell me. I am not saying they are wrong but I think people can take someone's interpretation of what they think the Word says as the Word itself and that I believe is a bad thing to do. To be honest I don't really even like study bibles.  I think that for me at least a huge part of my relationship with God is allowing the Holy Spirit to show me things in the Word. I wanted to add that this does not mean I do not have great teachers. I have been overly blessed by the teachers and pastors God has put in my path and I have learned much from them. 

On 10/12/2016 at 5:47 PM, Out of the Shadows said:

Your feelings are a part of everything you do.  You cannot separate them from your decisions anymore than you can separate breathing from being alive.

Well, in the desert with Moses they'd probably do the same thing the adults did....complain. LOL "we're thirsty, we're hungry, we're sick of manna and want meat, ARE WE THERE YET, wow those people look to fierce". The more things change.....

4 hours ago, Louvain said:

Thank you everyone for the very informative discussion. I have decided i want to go ahead and be baptized again.

Good for you!!

2 hours ago, believeUme said:

I'll repeat

I'm not an alcoholic.

Celebrate recovery is about much more than alcohol. They have small groups covering a range of issues. I will continue to pray that you find a safe space. If you happen to be in South Florida google FaithFarm.

I like to  go a whole day and try and pray about every decision...what socks to wear, what to eat, take a left or a right, lol Im sure that sounds odd but try it sometime ya might be surprised.

Where I live in Florida there are many Christian sober houses where sober people share a house, attend church, attend meetings and help each other stay sober and grow in Christ. Maybe attend a Jesus based meeting like celebrate recovery, many great people there. In my recovery I had to leave the people I knew but mine was a rather extreme case. Stay in Christ, pray and don't give up! Praying for you.

I may have a slightly different thought on feelings. As a recovering alcoholic/addict bad things happen when I rely on feelings. Much better things happen when I rely on God to direct my will. Even better things happen when I let myself rely on Him. Some might recognize that as steps 1,2 and 3 and you would be correct. This is only applicable to me as it relates to my walk with God. I find when I turn my will over to God (this takes a conscious effort) I am able to see past my feelings and better know His will for me. We are all unique and I believe God desires a 1 on 1 relationship with each of us. 

26 minutes ago, Out of the Shadows said:

For the record this is a spin-off of the changing churches thread.

To be honest I never knew attending multiple churches was an issue. 

59 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

that is ok, do what you want

I absolutely did not mean that and if it came across that way than please let me be clear, IT IS NOT OK TO DO BAD THINGS. The point I apparently failed to make is that try as I might I can not, in and of myself, stop doing bad things. It is, at least for me, only when I rely on Jesus and His strength and have faith in who He is and who and what He says I am that I am able to overcome. 

7 minutes ago, AndyMan said:

Your right I am a bit focused on sin and thats because I have and do sin but I want to be a good christian. Im by no means terrible and in general Im a good person. I guess Im just a bit concerned thats all. But please dont read into this to deaply Im a new member and Im finding my feet and am asking a few questions with regards to sin. I do have other questions in mind. Take babtisum for example ive not been babtised and would like to be. 

AndyMan

If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that He is God and that He died on the cross for your sins, then you are as "good" a Christian as your pastor, or a person in jail who was just saved a second ago. Christians are a part of God's family and He loves us all . If you feel you want to be baptised then I think you should do so, it is a wonderful show of faith.  Oh and welcome to the site.

20 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

 

Remember Jesus is right by your side at all times. What do you want Jesus observing you doing?

He is much more than observing me, but He isn't there waiting for me to mess up. He already knows I will mess up and He loves me anyway! It is the struggle itself to "do the right thing" that is evidence of who I really am. It a gajillion (lots) more reasons also but that is I believe Jesus told paul especially Rom 7 and 8. Instead of trying to be good and failing if I am able to rejoice in the fact that God is always with me then the being good will follow. In other words when I drive the bus it goes in the ditch but when I let Jesus drive and trust Him we tend to go amazing places.

You seem quite focused on avoiding "sinning" may I ask why?  You can never be good enough to gain your own salvation. Trust in Jesus, He has already done the difficult part. If you focus constantly on sin then sin is what you will get but if you can trust Jesus and focus on Him you gain everything. Praying for you.

18 minutes ago, AndyMan said:

For me its the prinsible, the fact that a young family could be living in the flat. But I'm not free from sin so I would feel hypercritical although i havent done the same as he.  

 

I have often found myself thinking "well at least I don't do that". It is an easy trap to fall into. Instead of focusing on the "wrongs" others do I find I am better served when I am able to focus on my own walk with God. I am not always successful but when I am I seem to gain and learn more than when I am not. Just a thought.

First I would say DO NOT make life decisions based on what anonymous people in a chat room say...that said maybe you could attend one church Sunday and the other Wednesday? Maybe get together and start a teen outreach or a young adult prayer meeting or something that includes members of both churches. I believe Jesus said "those who are not against us are for us" why choose? Maybe two churches are better than one in your case. Just a thought.

Mark 9:39-41  39But Jesus replied, “Do not stop him. No one who performs a miracle in My name can turn around and speak evil of Me. 40For whoever is not against us is forus. 41Indeed, if anyone gives you even a cup of water because you bear the name of Christ, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.…