followerofjesus Posted September 29, 2004 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 31 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 1,013 Content Per Day: 0.14 Reputation: 5 Days Won: 0 Joined: 03/08/2004 Status: Offline Share Posted September 29, 2004 I don't watch much of TBN but i only see good when i watch it, Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn, keneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis to name a few. God bless yeah that Benny Hinn ,how does he make those people pass out? I read somewhere that he was bragging about taking peoples money. Is that true or should we just forget about all that stuff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherTraveler Posted September 29, 2004 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 80 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 1,595 Content Per Day: 0.22 Reputation: 10 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/12/2004 Status: Offline Share Posted September 29, 2004 (edited) When someone speaks so strongly and adamately and sounding so condemning of something it can be offputting for the recipient. At one point I was deep into the occult and when a Christian would come up to me and speak forcefully of their religion and condemn my ways, all it did was to close my ears to what they were saying. It did not help me to come to Christ. Whereas, my current pastor, spent time with me listening, and yes he did contradict me, and show me in the Bible the errors of my thinking and beliefs, but it was done in such a loving manner and so gently that it got through my defenses. My reply here might sound kind of strange, so please hear me out. When someone is caught in the snares of sin, God often sends WAVES of witnesses to help set them free, and some of these witnesses are reprovers, that thunder loudly against the sin, and in doing so break some of the bondage off, and get the attention of the captive, but the captive often has no appreciation of their efforts, nor ever sees that they have been helped them. The ministry of the prophets is so often like that, no one wanted to hear them in the old testament, and none really wants to hear them now. They themselves would get tired of speaking words that they knew whould be rejected, but that did not make their ministry useless. God so graciously sends to each of us eventually that witness that we can appreciate, a nurturing, patient, listening, loving soul that we just can't help but love, but we might have never heard the voice of love without the thundering that first woke us up, irritating as it was. When I drive down the road, I hate potholes, but I really appreciate the smooth road. Yet the guy that is running the jackhammer right outside my window, preparing the roadbed so that there can eventually be a smooth surface, well, him I don't really appreciate at all. I have seen over the years as God has used flawed humans with emotional issues and strange doctrines to do one kind of work, and the day might come when we will stand before the Lord and thank some of these that we really could not appreciate at all when we knew them in the natural world. WHAT I AM NOT SAYING is that the false prophets that claim that gain is godliness are useful, I think they are some of Satan's most effective weapons against the church. They sow to the flesh, and of the flesh they reap corruption, and they can't avoid the end result of violating spiritual law, sooner or later they are exposed for who they really are. Edited September 29, 2004 by AnotherTraveler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wondering04 Posted September 29, 2004 Group: Junior Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 5 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 88 Content Per Day: 0.01 Reputation: 2 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/09/2004 Status: Offline Share Posted September 29, 2004 Good point!!! I guess I am just so scared of confrontation that I could not do that, but you are right, there may be some need for confrontation if it is a last resort. I just worry about the impression newcomers might get if people sound too forcefull and opinionated. As I said, there is always more that meets the eye behind any situation. And yes, it is black and white regarding sin, but we as humans have a mixture of gray in us. Heather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi4Yahweh Posted September 29, 2004 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 75 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 1,955 Content Per Day: 0.26 Reputation: 636 Days Won: 1 Joined: 11/12/2003 Status: Offline Share Posted September 29, 2004 When someone speaks so strongly and adamately and sounding so condemning of something it can be offputting for the recipient. At one point I was deep into the occult and when a Christian would come up to me and speak forcefully of their religion and condemn my ways, all it did was to close my ears to what they were saying. It did not help me to come to Christ. Whereas, my current pastor, spent time with me listening, and yes he did contradict me, and show me in the Bible the errors of my thinking and beliefs, but it was done in such a loving manner and so gently that it got through my defenses. My reply here might sound kind of strange, so please hear me out. When someone is caught in the snares of sin, God often sends WAVES of witnesses to help set them free, and some of these witnesses are reprovers, that thunder loudly against the sin, and in doing so break some of the bondage off, and get the attention of the captive, but the captive often has no appreciation of their efforts, nor ever sees that they have been helped them. The ministry of the prophets is so often like that, no one wanted to hear them in the old testament, and none really wants to hear them now. They themselves would get tired of speaking words that they knew whould be rejected, but that did not make their ministry useless. God so graciously sends to each of us eventually that witness that we can appreciate, a nurturing, patient, listening, loving soul that we just can't help but love, but we might have never heard the voice of love without the thundering that first woke us up, irritating as it was. When I drive down the road, I hate potholes, but I really appreciate the smooth road. Yet the guy that is running the jackhammer right outside my window, preparing the roadbed so that there can eventually be a smooth surface, well, him I don't really appreciate at all. I have seen over the years as God has used flawed humans with emotional issues and strange doctrines to do one kind of work, and the day might come when we will stand before the Lord and thank some of these that we really could not appreciate at all when we knew them in the natural world. WHAT I AM NOT SAYING is that the false prophets that claim that gain is godliness are useful, I think they are some of Satan's most effective weapons against the church. They sow to the flesh, and of the flesh they reap corruption, and they can't avoid the end result of violating spiritual law, sooner or later they are exposed for who they really are. Now thats wisdom God bless you..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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