ByTheSpirit

It's not just scriptures I have trouble reading. I can barely get on the forums and read an entire post anymore.

Good idea

Anyone here ever have times where you do not feel like reading? Not necessarily scriptures, although that would impact such, but just books in general? i am having the hardest time picking up any book right now. How do you work through such times? Is it by reading less? Or by just gutting it out and grinding through?

Good responses thus far. Something that has always intrigued me is the next verse in the passage, v16 in which Jesus seems to indicate if we love him and keep his commands in v15, then he will give the Holy Spirit. The giving of the Spirit seems to be dependent upon our keeping these "commands". So that begs the question again, what commands can we keep apart from the Holy Spirit being given? I have always been taught we need the Holy Spirit to keep Gods commands, yet Jesus says you have to keep commands to get the Holy Spirit, as Peter does too in Acts 5:32. My view is this: the commands Jesus speaks of are to 1) Believe & 2) Love. Even heathens are capable of "love" so that is not dependent upon the Holy Spirit and believing is necessary to receive new life. These are the two main teachings of John's gospel, believing and loving. So in essence Jesus was saying to me: if you love me, believe in me and love one another then I will give you the Holy Spirit, again and again.

Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commands." What are these commands he speaks of? Jesus seems to indicate in this passage our receiving the Holy Spirit is dependent upon our keeping his commands (v16). I have always been taught we need the Holy Spirit to keep Gods commands, yet Jesus says you have to keep commands to get the Holy Spirit, as does Peter in Acts 5:32. So what commands can we keep apart from having the Holy Spirit?

Ah but we should expect his return as eagerly as people expect this eclipse.

well we have a wonderful place to meet here

I only said NW to SE in reference to the path the eclipse will take. It enters the US in the NW and exits in the SE. I didn't mean the country would be split along such lines. Just that the eclipse splits the country right through the middle

I like it

I actually feel as though God has told me the eclipse is a sign of trouble in america. That the country is divided and will be progressively so (as the eclipse will cut the country in half from NW to SE). Civil War perhaps?

So in essence fulfill the ministry God has given you?

How do we reconcile ideas in Christianity that are seemingly opposed and yet necessary for each other? A big one I hear all the time is resting in Jesus while simultaneously working for Jesus. How does one rest and work at the same time?

What do the scriptures mean by saying to train ourselves in godliness and how do we as believers train ourselves to be godly? 1 Timothy 4:7

We will be condemned openly in the name of social progress. Forced by law to conform to modernism or face fines or jail. It will become acceptable to openly oppose and be violent against us as it currently is to be so against more acceptable hate groups like Neo-Nazis and such

There is only one way the current political/social atmosphere ends in American society. The open persecution of Christians. We already see it in the dark recesses of society. People suing Christians for not catering to their sinful lifestyles. Groups condemning christians as "hate groups" for their stance on moral issues. The current movement to denounce and expunge American historical figures and anti-conservatism will only end one way: The open persecution of Christians. Eventually these people will run out of American patriarchs to topple, or the shift will become one of "White Christian men" were the cause for slavery and injustice, or both. But mark my words, society will come for blood in america, sooner or later. Watch & Pray.

I think what gets lost in "translation" is the gospel has the lifestyle aspect as well. “For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know of our concern for you from the way we lived when we were with you.” ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭1:5‬ ‭NLT‬‬ 1 Peter 1:15-16 is the gospel, be he Holy for I am holy! The way to holiness is through Jesus Christ. His blood paid for that. When we walk in Him we have fellowship with Him and his blood cleanses us. 1 John 1:7

Is it only a message though? If not what else is the gospel?

My view of "THE GOSPEL" is this:It is a message:God came down as a man, in Jesus. He suffered and died for our sins. He was buried and raised to life on the third day, bringing reality to the future resurrection. Those who have faith in Him will live forever with him in God's Kingdom.It is a lifestyle:God created man for fellowship. As already hinted at, we were made to know God, obey God, and love God. Adam's sin brought an impasse to this relationship. Man had become an enemy to God. But those who have faith in Christ are restored to that original state of being and are made able to know God, obey God and love God. It is for this reconciliation that Jesus came. So that we, God's most prized possession and creation, could once again enjoy his presence and fellowship. Only those who continue to believe in Jesus have the reality though.

So how do we speak "gospelese" to a lost person? Paul says in Romans that he is not ashamed of the GOSPEL which is the power of God for salvation, but what is "the gospel"? I have an idea but I want to hear some other responses first.

I'm not asking about getting drunk, but rather you go out with a friend(s) and want to have a drink to unwind or whatever. Is having a drink the same as us sinning?

It is very cool I agree

Yeah, there is a big craze about it

So I hear this quite a bit as proof of a pretribulation rapture, and that is Noah's Ark is proof of a pretrib rapture, because God saved Noah from the flood in the Ark.Does this hold up logical or even biblically though?“because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely throughwater.”‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭3:20‬ ‭ESV‬‬Through the water...In this verse Peter is using Noah's experience to highlight the importance of water baptism, but what he says about Noah is key.The pretribulation rapture states that Jesus will snatch his church away from the earth just before God brings his wrath upon it.Now I will not even go into all the other scriptural proofs against the pretrib rapture, only want to bring out this point.God did not remove Noah from the earth to save him and his family. He carried them safely through the waters of judgement in the Ark. Our ark of safety in the Tribulation period will be our faith in Jesus, and God will mark all who belong to him before this period begins so that they will be safe. Rev 7:1-8

My wife and I attended one where the Pastor preached and asked who wanted prayer. That is all he asked, nothing about salvation, so we went forward as we had some issues we needed prayer for. After he prayed he said "Congratulations, you are now children of God." I was like HUH? I was already a child of God and still didn't get the prayer I sought. MegaChurches in my view have deviated the most from biblical truth. IMHO

Ok what do you see scripture state about baptism?