Jump to content

jmax

Members
  • Posts

    33
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by jmax

  1. Not that I have been here for very long, but that is why that I am going to leave the forums, people just seem to what to fight and argue. So many of the postings turn into arguments and it seems like some people only want to say things that are contrary to what has been said by the other posters. I thought that these forums would be uplifting (and some posts are), but more times than not, I come away from this site discouraged and not uplifted at all.
  2. Another thing to take comfort in when you are in distress and do not know what to pray is from Romans 8:26-27 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. I have thought about this when I was in or had a situation that I just didn't have the words to pray. I hope this helps.
  3. I have not heard that before, but that definitely hits the nail on the head. Kudos to you @Justin Adams!
  4. I have not read as much Spurgeon as I would like - going to remedy that over the holidays. I joined a Spurgeon quotes group on Facebook and that made me dig deeper. I found that he had several discourses on depression and found those very helpful. When I read his biography (all 4 volumes!), I knew that I really needed to start reading more. I have heard good things about his "Lectures to My Students" and I just checked and it is $0.00 on Kindle, so I think that I have a winner! By the way, thank you for the welcome!
  5. @Neighbor - Reading your post, I can't but help thinking of Charles Spurgeon. He had the same attitudes about present suffering and setbacks. I just finished reading his autobiography and I was amazed at his focus on the future glory that he was to receive. Awesome post by the way!
  6. My mother instilled the "tithing mentality" into myself and my brother for as long as I can remember. No matter what our financial circumstances, she always tithed (10% I believe). She never talked about doing it for some kind of reward, but when I questioned her later in life about my tithing if I did not necessarily have the money to tithe, her answer was always "God doesn't keep his checkbook like we keep our checkbook". Has stuck with me for more than 40 years. Ahh . . . the wisdom we can glean from our parents.
  7. I guess that I should have checked the archives before posting about the prosperity guys What you said about the preacher you saw and got you to say aloud about Jesus being Lord and Savior and "If it is true I want it" really got me to thinking. If one finds Jesus and accepts Him in to their lives, what would be the follow-up if they only watched that preacher or went to that church? They would only be taught prosperity - I wonder what would happen when things got tough? Would they turn to God or back to their own ways since if something bad happened to them, they must be doing something wrong and they might have "fallen out of favor of God". When I posted initially, I wasn't really thinking about going this "deep" into the subject of prosperity gospel, but your post really got me thinking how dangerous it could be to a young believer. Thank you for your thought provoking response!
  8. I am with you Mr. Jangles. I used to think that Joel Osteen wasn't totally a prosperity gospel guy because he did not preach all of the time about monetary prosperity. But he talks about good things always happening. I read in one of his first books a long time ago about the time that he prayed for a parking space and got one up front in a packed parking lot. Sounds like prosperity to me.
  9. Brothers and Sisters, Heard this in a sermon yesterday and wanted to see what everyone else thought. The title of the sermon was "What Happens When Things Get Real" and was basically where do you run to when life's issues come about - toward God or toward old habits and sin. The first line from the pastor was something like this: "When we as Christians believe that because we are Christians, our life will be smooth sailing without troubles, we are moving very close to the Gospel of Prosperity". Think Joel Osteen and Crefalo Dollar. Just throwing this out on a Monday morning to see what others think.
  10. I have always been comforted by the 91st Psalm. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+91&version=NIV Here are just a few verses that I have read many times when times were rough. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
  11. I work with a group of guys who are very analytical and don't really have room for for faith in their lives. I have tried gently over the last 10 years to inject Christ in conversations and interactions with no success. So, I just decided to show them what Christianity is. I try to do my best to be deliberate about being humble and as giving as possible so they will know there is something different about how I conduct my life and maybe that will lead to some talks. I have heard the term "lifestyle evangelism" and thought that it was kind of a cop-out for not talking about your faith. But being at my job for 10 years, I believe that is the best way that I can witness as to what a Christian is. I have also heard the expression "the only Bible that some people will be you and your actions". As always, just my 2 cents.
  12. Now that is a way to kick off my Friday! Something I knew in my heart, but affirmed in scripture posted by my brothers and sisters! I have not been on here very long, but I know that I am going to love it!
  13. I have been reading through a book titled "The Valley of Vision" which is a collection of Puritan prayers and devotionals. I found one titled Morning Dedication and it ends with: May I speak each word as if my last word, and walk each step as my final one. If my life should end today, let this be my best day. I try and read it every morning just to keep me living more deliberately because it could be my last day.
  14. Just going to put this out there . . . As I was reading through the replies, I kept thinking of Romans 14:13 and the rest of chapter 14: 13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. I keep coming back to the fact that we should not become a stumbling block to others - does the way that someone dresses to go to church distract some from the message because they are staring at you? In public, could you be putting a stumbling block in the way of someone who has issues with lust or the like? I know that we will never be able to anticipate how our outward appearance will effect someone, but maybe be more thoughtful and deliberate on how we present ourselves?
  15. The truly sad part of your post is that he felt that he had to do this via his Twitter account. Showing my age here, but social media (Facebook and Twitter specifically) is a huge part of the problem that you are describing. I would be willing to bet that the people that are saying the awful things on social media would never have the nerve to say those things to a person's face. There are no real consequences to being a hateful and rude person. It used to be that if you did say something like that to someone, they would punch you! Now other than maybe getting an account deactivated, there are no consequences. Again in my opinion, this has caused the divisiveness and downright hate. To the point that we can't "agree to disagree" any more. It is very, very sad . . .
  16. I would tend to answer this "yes AND no". There are many out there who would see something (Jesus in a tree or toast) and try to profit somehow from it. However, I don't see any reason that God/Jesus would not send a sign to a believer for comfort/assurance. Our God is a mighty God and I believe that He can and will do all kinds of things to comfort and assure those who are His.
×
×
  • Create New...