Buckle

Firstly this is not a paradox, these verses are not disagreeing with each other. You are not including the context of the passage in Luke. The passage is about a shrewd manager who when he was caught wasting his master's possessions lowered the debts of some of the people that owed his master money so that he would have a place to go when he was fired. The verse before, " The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light," tells us not to be shrewd like this guy. Then it follows with verse 9 which adds the idea of us not holding onto our wealth but spending it on people not shrewdly but generously. The love of money means you keep it for yourself, you pursue it above all else, you use it shrewdly, and if you give it away it is only in your best interest (usually as a tax break).

As one wise man once said, "I am not ok, but that's ok." This is true because we are all broken, if we weren't we wouldn't need saving. We have to remember that without Christ's work and the Holy Spirit working in us we can do nothing right. You will mess up, God knows you are going to mess up, you know you are going to mess up but fortunately it is God's work that saves you not your own. All you can do is the best you can and cling to you faith.

The real core issue with the Catholic church is that they do not believe in the finished work of Christ. When Jesus died on the cross he stated "It is finished." That all the judgment for all sin had been poured out to completion, having completed this work Jesus "gave up His spirit." We cannot complete that which is already finished. This means works, confession or anything else they have instituted flies in the face of what the Bible itself teaches. This is a sad reality that I hope one day will be remedied so that those blinded by this might see the light of truth and surrender their salvation to the only one who can save.

I completely understand where you are. At the age of 30 all I had to show for myself was a failed marriage, a miscarriage, bankruptcy and I was unemployed. I didn't even have a strong Christian walk to fall back on as for most of my 20s I had stopped going to church, praying and reading my bible. But I had recently started all three and that is what I held on to. That I believe is all we can do during those times of deep painful depression. Pray, cry out to the Lord, and immerse yourself in the Word. Get involved in your church, it doesn't matter what, don't overwhelm yourself but find something, no matter how small, to get involved in. If you feel comfortable with your pastor talk to them, they should always have time for those in need and will know if there is someone they can connect you with that has been through the specific discouragement you are going through. If you feel comfortable I would love to know your name and any details you are willing to share so that I can bring you before our Father who loves you. If not I will still keep you in my prayers.

I guess. The current state of radical Islam definitely reminds me of the "Covert or Die" mentality of "Christianity" of Charlemagne and others in history.

The bible can be used to suggest either if you use it that way. I don't think in context that the Bible is clear enough either way.

The thing about the Quran is that it is a bit bi-polar. Tons of peace early on and then gets more and more violent as it moves on. Sound exactly as I would expect from a power hungry human. Starts of soft and inclusive and then gets more and more aggressive as their power increases...sounds familiar....

I agree. Though I find that piece "Where 2 or 3 are gathered...." is used out of context most of the time. I also find it funny...I mean can 1 person gather? I mean technically the Holy Spirit lives in the midst of me so it kind of works even for one person.

How old the universe doesn't really matter. Did God create the world in 6 literal days, 6 chunks of time, how long were Adam and Eve in the Garden before time mattered, is the age of Adam including all the time in the garden or just the time when his life was no longer permanent, etc. So many questions we don't have the answer to and yet people pretend to know...I mean we have what we call the known universe, as in all that we can see so far, and we assume everything fits into the formulas we have come up with, but the reality is science is always learning and changing what is fact in many ways. As we learn more we realize we don't know everything, but pretend that we did all along and it drives me crazy.

I generally agree with you, but at the same time you have to think how does a church become a faithful church? It is not going to happen over night it starts with the faithful in a church stepping up and leading by example. Don't run around trying to find that perfect church, because you likely won't find it, be the difference in your church so that others will see and grow in faith and maturity. Look at the Corinthian church, there were so many problems but Paul didn't write them and say, "those of you who are faithful find a better church or start a new church." He send them correction, instruction and wisdom and Titus so that they might be the change and we see in 2 Corinthians that they changed, so much so that Paul was proud of them and how far they had come. And regards to church discipline this will only come with maturity and growth. Trying to force it will only lead to pain and heartache. We are the come alongside people and gently correct them, not beat them every time they slip up.