pamjane

praise God!!! thanks, Ericka!

thanks for this message. super challenging. it's so easy to buy into the world's lie that keeping silent about my faith is "respectful" to others. boo! just tonight, as i was working in the ceramics studio at school, i started feeling kind of embarrassed because i was listening to some of my cd's, and a blatantly "yeah, Jesus!" song came on. immediately i was convicted. who cares if my music "offends" one of my classmates? i listen to and see their beliefs everyday on billboards, in magazines, in movies, in popular songs, in the classroom. why not be proud, at ALL times, and in front of ALL people, of who i am in Christ? God, give us the courage to live and speak boldly for you!

praying for you through the night, beth. i love you!

i don't know much about world leaders, but the first person that popped into my head when i thought of "charismatic world leader" was Prince William. i don't know that he's charismatic, but he sure is hot.

woo hoo! a party for me!! i rock!!!! oh... wait... well, THAT pam rocks too!!!!!!! :oww: :t: :il:

this is how it's been with me. or sometimes i'll hear the actual words in my head, but it's never been audible. i have felt his arms physically around me once before. :il: our Daddy is so intimate.

yeah, that's true. i guess that i'm just more afraid of the congregation following his lead, and non-order insuing, or the congregation thinking they need to speak in tongues a lot during the service to look "spiritual"? now i'm just doubting the spiritual maturity of the people at my church. that sure is false piety. blech. i guess that i do think i'm over-reacting. :glasses:

i may be wrong, but this is what i've heard, and it makes sense and seems biblical. what's at stake are our "riches" in heaven, our crowns (a few verses below, you may want to look them up to check out the context). we receive crowns for different things on earth, like for making disciples, and for being persecuted. i never understood the point of having riches in heaven, because i knew that just being directly in God's presence would be enough. then, i read: Revelation 4 9Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 11"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." when we get to heaven, we will be able to present our crowns and riches at Jesus's feet as an offering! 1 Thessalonians 2:19 For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? 1 Corinthians 9:25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 2 Timothy 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day

And again on page 5; The last 2 or 3 pages of this prior to this one were just flat out not abiding in this type of turn the other cheek. Peace, Dave amen. as much fun as it's been reading this, i think that this thread needs to cool off a bit. :tongue: :t:

But a pastor, I think, is supposed to know better. 1 Corinthians 14:32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. If this is a genuine manifestation of the Spirit, it is within his control. that's what i was thinking to, steve. 1 corinthians 14:13 For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says. 14For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 15So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. 16If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? 17You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified. 18I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. Jedi4Yahweh, i also pray in tongues. but if i'm in church and i pray in tongues, i pray under my breath, "to [my]self and God" (1 cor 14:28). most of me thinks that my worries are founded, but there's a tiny part that thinks i'm just being over-sensitive because of my bad experience before.

thanks very much for your input, guys. i think i may wait it out for another week or so. i'd be really nervous about approaching him, simply because i'm a college kid and i never went to church back home (so i've not had much interaction with pastors before). i know pastors shouldn't intimidate me, but they do. sometimes it's hard to remember that they're just regular people. please pray that God will give me the courage to approach him if i do need to.

i have a question, and i'd like some advice. i'm troubled by something that's happened at my church the past couple of sundays (2/3 sundays that i've been to this church since may). my pastor has spoken in tongues up on stage, in front of the whole congregation. i thought that possibly last week he interpreted the tongues afterwards (although he had never operated in the gifts of tongues or interpretation before), so i didn't let it bother me that much. it happened again this week, though. this week there was definitely not an interpretation; he was praying and praising in tongues (not for an extended period, but for just a couple of seconds). it didn't seem like an accident, like he just forgot to turn his mic off or something. he was praying out loud towards the congregation at the time. it seemed deliberate. based on a reading of 1 corinthians 14, this worries me. i've had a bad experience before with a church who abused the gift of tongues, and the experience really freaked me out and actually turned me off from the gifts of the Spirit. i wouldn't want this to happen to any nonbeliever or new believer who visited our church. what do you guys think? do you think my worries are founded? do you have any scripture that can help me out? what do you think i should do about it? thanks so much. love in Christ, pam

**official change of view** thanks to those who posted about Jewish customs (regarding turning the other cheek), and to everyone else who made intelligent posts. i think that i would now have a peace about forcefully protecting my loved ones, if it came to that. however, i think that if it came down to my dying or my attacker dying (if i were by myself), i hope that i would choose to die. maybe then my attacker would still have a chance to know God.

yeah, that kind of doesn't seem right to me either, but i don't know. i look forward to seeing other people's input. but tonight, i need sleep. :sleep:

i agree with this definitely. but, i think that this would be where self-sacrifice would come in. there's a difference between putting yourself in harm's way to save another and hurting someone to save another. and to trinity: that makes perfect sense by man's views, but it doesn't go along with what God asks of us.

nice input called, alecia, and larryt. :bg:

i'm guessing that you get this from Romans 13:1? it states: "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." so, we SHOULD obey the law of the land, as long as it does not go against following God's law: Acts 5:27-29. "Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. 'We gave you strict orders not to teach in this Name,' he said. 'Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood.' Peter and the other apostles replied: 'WE must obey God rather than men'!" so, as americans we have the "right" to protect ourselves and our belongings, but in matthew 5, Jesus told us to not return evil for evil, to turn the other cheek. God's law overrides government's.

great list, heavenbound.

matthew 5:38 personally, i see this as pretty straight-forward in saying that we should not bring harm to those who seek to bring harm to us. i think that if we trust God in harmful situations, He will bring us protection. this isn't to say that i would be able to respond to an evil person as Jesus told us to, but i think about this a lot, and i hope that i'd have enough courage and faith to let God handle it.

adam, i have struggled with the same thing in my walk with Christ. you have done one of the hardest things by admitting this sin to yourself, God, and to us on this board. if you've never heard of it, try going to XXXchurch: "XXXchurch exists to bring awareness, openness, accountability and recovery to the church, society and individuals in the issues of pornography and to begin to provide solutions through non-judgmental and creative means. " they have a lot of resources like books and articles that deal with the issue of pornography addiction (plus they're cool, funny, and relevant). they also have a program called "integrity online", which is a free downloadable program that helps deter you from viewing porn on your pc. with the program, you choose a person (friend, pastor, your brother, someone on worthy...), and at the end of each month, this person will get an email that lists any shady sites that you've been to. it's not a blocker, but it will help you stay accountable to someone, and keep a dialogue going about your struggles. also, do you live with your parents or a roommate? if so, maybe you can move your computer to a common area, like the game room or living room, somewhere that gets a lot of traffic. that's what i did this year. even though i've abstained for the past few months, i knew that having my computer behind a lockable door would provide too easy an opportunity if i have a weak moment. above all, continue to be honest with God, and to cry out to Him. He is patient, and His mercies are new every morning! He knows your every thought before you think it; it will never surprise Him or disappoint Him when you confess your struggles. He already knows and understands! when you're struggling, remember Hebrews 4:14-16: Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. i'll be praying that God gives you wisdom in finding a solution to this problem, and that He gives you strength to live a life of integrity for His name. love in Christ, pam

that's exciting . is that one going to be starting this season? we used to go watch survivor after our campus fellowship meetings, so maybe we'll have to do that again.

mmmm! i love the little homemade pita-bread pizzas. and sometimes the grocery store has super good sales on pita bread (like a package of 6 for $1.20), so i stock up and freeze them until i use them. homemade pizzas are a great idea!

mmm... one of my favorite, cheap meals is quesadillas. all you need is a huge pack of tortillas (you can freeze excess), butter, cheese, any fillers you want (onions--always cheap, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, meat if you're feeling rather rich that day), and whatever toppings you want (sour cream, salsa). butter one tortilla and put it on the skillet butter-side down. load on the cheese and fillers (diced and sauteed) then put another buttered tortilla (butter side up) on top. when the cheese looks a bit melted (after about 2-3 minutes), flip the quesadilla over and cook the other side for about 2-3 minutes. cut the quesadillas into squares, and serve with sour cream and salsa (black beans and rice would be a cheap way to round out the meal). SUPER tasty, and very filling. another tip... it might be good for you to invest in a Sam's card. especially if you have room for super packs of paper products, it could save you a good bit of money in the long run. it's NO fun living off of ramen (i've been there!!!)... BUT if that's your only option for a few weeks in a row, try some variety. ramen with veggies is pretty good (think broccoli). also, you may wanna try a different consistency than you usually eat... like, add less water so that the noodles are covered in the sauce, instead of it being soupy.

beautiful, beth. :il: