Pastor: 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe

[nebula]

Pastor: 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe

By Lillian Kwon

Christian Post Reporter

Thu, May. 14 2009 08:53 AM EDT

Many Christians, new and seasoned alike, tend to bank on promises that God never made, says one pastor.

So when God doesn't come through on those "promises," some are likely to become angry at God.

. . .

One of the partial truths many Christians fall victim to is the belief that living God's way will bring good fortune.

"The Bible makes no such promise," Osborne writes in 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe.

. . .

Osborne also warns that those who introduce Christ to others and testify of only the "abundant Christian life" while downplaying the "harder teachings of Jesus" set the stage for disillusionment when things go awry.

Following Christ can be tough and having faith isn't always going to fix everything.

It's another spiritual urban legend

[tah]

I read through your post and almost said a hearty amen when something caught my eye..

wait a minute..

can you expand on this one for me because I agree with the other ones..

and dead people go to a better place.

What am I missing here???

and one more I may find issue with but not clearly ...

God has a blueprint for my life,

comments?

All the other ones I find quite untrue ...

One of my favorite Scriptures is when Jesus tells the disciples to get in a boat and go to the other side and a storm came up and scared them silly..

They were obedient to the Lord and ended up in the middle of trouble...Matt. 14

obedience does not always mean smooth sailing...

[pokemaughan]

God has a blueprint for my life,

Christians shouldn't judge,

everything happens for a reason,

These three threw me off. Anyone have an explanation?

[Fez]

Tah, I think "dead people go to a better place", is probably right and wrong, depending on how you view the statement.

What I think the good pastor meant was that saved people go to heaven, and dead people who are not saved are just... well dead? How often have you heard people at an unsaved persons funeral say well he/she is in a better place? i think that is a cop out and is said to placate the grieving family or friends?

I'm shooting in the dark here, given that the statement is a bit cryptic.

[Guest yod]

and dead people go to a better place.

Only those who have trusted in the Lord go to a better place.

God has a blueprint for my life,

I think he's saying that a lot of people spend too much time wanting God to make a specific life-plan for them to follow as if we have no responsibility to decide for ourselves.

Christians shouldn't judge,

yeah, that's just baloney. Of all people on the Earth, we should be able to judge. The Word only says that we will be judged by the same judgement we've employed for others.

For example: If we aren't able to forgive, then we aren't forgiven. That should cause us some fear for the holiness of God

Instead the lukewarm seem to think we should just let things happen as they happen and not saying anything which could be interpreted as confrontational or critical

everything happens for a reason,

There are lots of inconsequential decisions we make every day. Does it matter to God if we have eggs for breakfast? Or should we pray about the cereal?

They all lived by faith "yet their faith didn't fix anything," Osborne points out.

He might have used a different wording but I understand exactly what he's talking about. This one is prevalent in American christianity.

We think that good times is a sign of God's favor and also the reverse is a sign of God's displeasure. We seem to think that a large wealthy church is doing something right while the small church with few people is not really being favored with blessing. I can't tell you how many times I've heard christians give the devil credit for a time of testing that the Lord is putting them through. As if anything uncomfortable or challenging is the enemy coming against you?

Nothing could be further from the truth than that lie.

The most amazing churches I've seen were all under 300 people. Some of the worst were huge....

[tah]

Tah, I think "dead people go to a better place", is probably right and wrong, depending on how you view the statement.

QUOTE

and dead people go to a better place.

Only those who have trusted in the Lord go to a better place.

QUOTE

God has a blueprint for my life,

I think he's saying that a lot of people spend too much time wanting God to make a specific life-plan for them to follow as if we have no responsibility to decide for ourselves.

K... that spains it for me... somewhat..

you mean that some folks so obsess on figuring out Gods right or wrong plan they never get to walking any plan ... ?

Ummm... I understand...

[Guest yod]

.

you mean that some folks so obsess on figuring out Gods right or wrong plan they never get to walking any plan ... ?

Ummm... I understand...

I once had a neighbor who thought she had to hear from God over what color clothes to wear every day. That was typical of her indecision being blamed on God.

I find that quite often the Lord is silent even on major things in my life in order to test me so I've adopted a new strategy for life.

Proverbs 16:9

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

And then there is the ever-popular "Man makes His plans and God laughs"

[nebula]

Yes, there were a couple I would have liked to have seen his explanation for as well.

Yod did a good cover, though!

[irishcowboy]

for the most part, preachers are not preaching as Christ preached....

the message of God is a very hard message, and is bound to step on some ones toes. the Word of God is very very very offensive to mankind....

such as sexual immorality, most people associate that with homosexuality and it is much more then that, it is even lust in the heart, adultery, porn, and other things, and any that practice it WILL NOT SHARE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD. just like those that LIE, STEAL, and many other things...... including one of my pet peeves.....GOSSIP

Man kind has become soft and does not want to hear the hard word, we want to hear the things that tickle our ears.....

I have seen preachers run off because they actually read and quoted and preached from the True, Unwatered down Word Of GOD!!!

a lot of church fellowships (congregations) have become nothing more then glorified country clubs... people come on Sunday Morning and put on their religious masks for a couple hours, and then when they walk out the door, the mask comes back off.

if you see them on the street, they will ignore you, they will talk about you behind your back.... They will even do this in church disguised as a prayer request......

WE DO NOT HAVE TIME TO BE PLAYING GAMES.... we do not have time to play church.... we may not have time to even get the church goers to turn back towards the Lord and repent of their ways.....

many people do not want to go to church because all they see is holier then thou people going in a building and coming out and acting worse then the "worldly" people...... treating people that are not in their congregation different then they do with the ones that go.....

example..... while I was plumbing, the majority of my customers were 60 years and older...... on lady i went to do a job, on a fixed income, not hurting, but fixed.... when I wrote out the statement, she got a bit of a discount, and she asked why I gave her a discount, cause I didn't go to the same church she went to.....

I could not answer that, cause I had no idea how to answer that, the Lord ran the business and some things I had no idea as to why.....

later, I found out she had been dropping my name all over town.... she would even call me to go and change her light bulbs and do other things besides plumbing.....

God knew what He was doing, and I am glad that I obeyed....

but why should we treat some one from a different fellowship any different? for that matter, why should we treat some one that is not a "Christian" any different then those that are?????

if we do treat them diff, then they will stay clear of us.... who wants to hang around some one they can not trust? and Christians are some of the most untrustworthy people......

as a member of THE CHURCH..... we all need to re-evaluate our own actions and idea's and dealings with others...... WE NEED TO JUDGE OURSELVES and then judge the church and then we can start working with others......

it is time to get the HARD MESSAGES OUT..... look around, there is so much going on, we do not need to be misleading anyone, whether in or out of the church......

that message, the 10 dumb things, well, think about it, that is what most "Christians" and preachers are teaching.....

not a good thing

[glorywatch]

God has a blueprint for my life,

If you read Jeremiah 29:11 it says, " I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." God does have a plan for us, we just don't always follow it. We think we know better.

Christians shouldn't judge,

I Corinthians 6:1-4 disputes that. Verse 3 says, "know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain in this life? We are to judge actions, but only God can judge the heart.

everything happens for a reason All of Scripture tells us God has a plan. In God's kingdom there is no such thing as luck or chance so in that context yes everything happens for a reason. We live in a fallen world and bad things happen to good people every day and it makes no sense. Is there a reason for it? Only in the sense that there is evil in this world and people choose to do evil. That is not what God would have us do, but there's the rub...we have a choice. We want to place blame either on God or Satan for everything that happens accepting no responsibility for ourselves.

It reminds me of Genesis 50:20 when Joseph confronts his brothers who sold him into slavery. "...Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good....."