Dragoon Posted August 25, 2011 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 4 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 378 Content Per Day: 0.06 Reputation: 10 Days Won: 1 Joined: 12/21/2007 Status: Offline Birthday: 10/18/1965 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Dragoon- since I am a new Christian, I simply don't understand some things. Would you mind to help me understand your statement about following a man and idolatry? I'm not being a smart-aleck, I honestly just don't understand, and I wish to do so. Welcome to the Body of Christ my Brother Please do not take anything I say as gospel, but test everything against the word of scripture. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have one head and one Lord; Jesus Christ. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Eph 4:4-6) We are not followers of our pastors, priests, reverends or even apostles, but if we follow Jesus we are all followers of Him; Jesus Christ. One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? (1 Cor 1:12-13) We are not like the world, which follows men. We follow One Lord, and His word to us is found in scripture. This scripture requires the guidance of the Holy Spirit to understand, but as followers of Christ we are all sealed with this Holy Spirit which guides us in understanding. We are all priests of God, able to speak with Him, petition Him, and offer spiritual sacrifices to Him. As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4-5) When our leaders speak God's word to us, we are to pray for them, respect their authority, and to love them. We are also to hold them (and each other) accountable to God's word though. Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other... Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. (1 Thes 5:12-13, 21-22) Our leaders are not God. They are not perfect. Only God is. We are all priests of the New Testament, under our Great High Priest; Jesus Christ. If we honoured our leaders by holding them to the Word, then we would have fewer false teachings today... because the truth is not in men, but in God alone, and He has revealed it to us through His Word. We should test each other by that Word. We follow God. Not any man, because we know that men are not worth following. If we follow any man (other than Christ Jesus, who IS God), then we are worshipping and following another 'god'... which is idolatry. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:14-17) Please ask questions of anything I've been unclear on Brother, and please also call me to account if anything I've written is not in accordance with God's Word. That's love Brother... to call me to be true to Christ This was very helpful. Now I understand! Thank you very much for taking time from your day to answer my question. I've noticed that people call one another "brother" or "sister" accordingly. Since we are brothers and sisters, that makes God our father. (I'm going out on a limb here.) This family is WONDERFUL!!! Amen. Great limb to be on! May we treat each other with a brotherly love that honours God Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noobie Posted August 26, 2011 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 18 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 177 Content Per Day: 0.02 Reputation: 23 Days Won: 0 Joined: 12/29/2004 Status: Offline Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 Awesome reply Dragoon BRAVO! Very inspiring message. Reminded me that we as men are more than followers but also serve a purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appy Posted August 26, 2011 Group: Royal Member Followers: 23 Topic Count: 133 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 2,864 Content Per Day: 0.61 Reputation: 2,596 Days Won: 2 Joined: 08/07/2011 Status: Offline Share Posted August 26, 2011 -------------------------------- well right now I go to 2 churches and have the best of both worlds, but my pick would be the "holier than thou attitude" cause my aunts church is the apostolic christian church of america ---------- it's fun to e-mail their pastors stuffs uhhhhhhhh out of the box. (yank their chains around I do basically) Sucks to be the pastors of the apostolic christian church of america hahahahahahahahahah Yank yank hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha I don't get it. Why harass the pastor ? I don't know who the apostolic church is or what their beliefs are. But. . .uh. . .even if they have a false doctrine, that's NOT nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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