why don't christians build their brethren up?

[OneLight]

8 hours ago, JoshuasonFlower said:

Evil flourishes where it is permitted to find purchase. I take my comfort and my strength always from God's word. The Christian sealed with God's Holy Spirit is equipped in this world. His word tells me in Ephesians 6:11 to put on the whole armor of God, that I may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. And I believe that instruction is there to refer to all who dwell in him.

Evil does not take hold in that one indwelt with the Holy Spirit. How can the Devil and God occupy the same space? The darkness and the light. Were it not for the darkness we would have no awareness of light. Once we are aware of the light, the shadow becomes easier to discern.

We walk in flesh and bone. But we are empowered and protected by the Spirit of Holy God. Missionaries of The Way visit places where evil has taken hold and they seek to lead people willing to find the light out of that darkness.  When the mission field belongs to God how does God's armored warriors of the faith permit evil to enter in? The number of the righteous outnumber the number of the enemy do they not?

Having a foothold of oppression is not the same as possession, which is what I think you are referring to in the second paragraph.  Even those who have His Holy Spirit, when not careful, can be oppressed and when weak, be led by deceit and lies, and even give place to the flesh.  Nobody should ever think they cannot take a wrong turn in their decision making because they have the Holy Spirit.  We all need to take heed to His leading in our lives or we will find ourselves in the wrong place doing the wrong thing.

Take these boards as an example.  Look at the words of those who are His.  Not all replies are from Christ, but of the flesh.  They are easy to recognize if you look at their fruit.  One hateful statement seeds another hateful reply. 

[JoshuasonFlower]

I've seen such trespasses on these boards. And yet brother, do not the tares and thorns grow hungrily among the wheat when the tiller is lax to raise his hand and clear them away?

The missionary field corrupted by the thorns that focus on one area of field and germinate a creeping thorn bush intent on repeatedly sprouting buds intent on obliterating that fields bounty. Implying by its presence that that particular ancient strain of wheat is not worthy of being called wheat. Even when it precedes all hybrids that are born from it.

What then does the flesh that maintains the field as Holy Spirit sealed tiller responsible for the health of the crop caring for a field within which is represented many many genus of wheat example if the seeders of the tares and thorns gain access and flourish in planting corrupt seed? Keeper of the whole of the crop that is planted for the health and nourishment of the harvest come. That responsibility assumed as volunteer to oversee and take action for the sake of the entire bountiful land of wheat. That which is just germinating, that which is fully bloomed and that which is first seed and ancient in its rooting in soil trod by our Lord and Master Immanuel.

What then of that one that enters in the dark of night and seeks to set the tares beside the crop of the ancients. Cultivate hungry thorn bushes that creep and consume the health of the stalks of grasses fed by the eastern Son. And when enough has been planted and spread and germinated to overcome that parcel of land, that dark flesh that entered in the night to begin the seeding returns in hopes of what? Gathering the bushels of unhealthy plantings? Or rather escalating to setting fire to the crop of wheat, tares, and thorns, so as to burn down the entirety of the missionary land? That grows fallow for the wheat that is carried away on the winds of change. Perhaps that was the purpose of the trespasser in the darkness who planted seed intending to bring thorns in to overcome the first crop of the east.

What then is a missionary field when its soil lay fallow? And burnt.

John 15:1

 

[OneLight]

43 minutes ago, JoshuasonFlower said:

I've seen such trespasses on these boards. And yet brother, do not the tares and thorns grow hungrily among the wheat when the tiller is lax to raise his hand and clear them away?

The missionary field corrupted by the thorns that focus on one area of field and germinate a creeping thorn bush intent on repeatedly sprouting buds intent on obliterating that fields bounty. Implying by its presence that that particular ancient strain of wheat is not worthy of being called wheat. Even when it precedes all hybrids that are born from it.

What then does the flesh that maintains the field as Holy Spirit sealed tiller responsible for the health of the crop caring for a field within which is represented many many genus of wheat example if the seeders of the tares and thorns gain access and flourish in planting corrupt seed? Keeper of the whole of the crop that is planted for the health and nourishment of the harvest come. That responsibility assumed as volunteer to oversee and take action for the sake of the entire bountiful land of wheat. That which is just germinating, that which is fully bloomed and that which is first seed and ancient in its rooting in soil trod by our Lord and Master Immanuel.

What then of that one that enters in the dark of night and seeks to set the tares beside the crop of the ancients. Cultivate hungry thorn bushes that creep and consume the health of the stalks of grasses fed by the eastern Son. And when enough has been planted and spread and germinated to overcome that parcel of land, that dark flesh that entered in the night to begin the seeding returns in hopes of what? Gathering the bushels of unhealthy plantings? Or rather escalating to setting fire to the crop of wheat, tares, and thorns, so as to burn down the entirety of the missionary land? That grows fallow for the wheat that is carried away on the winds of change. Perhaps that was the purpose of the trespasser in the darkness who planted seed intending to bring thorns in to overcome the first crop of the east.

What then is a missionary field when its soil lay fallow? And burnt.

John 15:1

As for you response above, in all honesty, I really have a hard time following what you are saying.  Can you tone it down a bit and put this in plain English?  I don't see how what you say refers to how people post here, but I will answer why the tares are not yet pulled up from among the wheat, if I am reading your response correctly.

Matthew 13:24-30

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

The harvest has not come yet.  Man thinks it is his responsibility to do the best he can to make things perfect, or as close to perfect as he can.  In this case, we are instructed to not tear up the tares as it is not our job.  We are to preach the word to every creature, making disciples and baptizing, when we look at Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:14-18.

 

 

[bryan]

2 hours ago, OneLight said:

Having a foothold of oppression is not the same as possession, which is what I think you are referring to in the second paragraph.  Even those who have His Holy Spirit, when not careful, can be oppressed and when weak, be led by deceit and lies, and even give place to the flesh.  Nobody should ever think they cannot take a wrong turn in their decision making because they have the Holy Spirit.  We all need to take heed to His leading in our lives or we will find ourselves in the wrong place doing the wrong thing.

Take these boards as an example.  Look at the words of those who are His.  Not all replies are from Christ, but of the flesh.  They are easy to recognize if you look at their fruit.  One hateful statement seeds another hateful reply. 

OneLight states this well and I believe it needs emphasis.  In the past few months, I've seen one church dissolve, another split, community events organized by local pastors collapse due to in-fighting among the churches, and young families driven from churches by stances and interpretations of scripture that were both hypocritical and selective.  One of the best ways for Satan to gain what he wants is to influence pastors and elders in churches, or key stakeholders in Christian communities online.

[Neighbor]

13 hours ago, LadyKay said:

It is always my intention to build and or help others on this forum.  I don't ever log in here with the attitude of lets see who I can tear apart today. But I seem to get misunderstood a lot. Then I get caught up in the whole thing and lose myself altogether. I am an imperfect being. 

Hi, Iron sharpens iron.

 It is good to be able to share of a strong opinion.

It is better to be able to present that opinon with  Biblical reference and application.

 It is best when  conflicting opinions held by participants meld into a fresh  discernment, underpinned with even more underpinning than ever would have been  if there were not the process of sharpening occurring in discussions, prayers, and reading of scripture.

 

 If two or three always hold the same conclusions then  there will be no growth, no stretching of the mind, and little or no growth in the spirit.

 Our error occurs when we fall into the trap of being dissonant; of only accepting as valid new information that  rewards our already  closely held convictions, while rejecting all that disagrees with what we already have  as our mindset. 

Ol' "Festinger's Theory of Cognitive Dissonance" is the basis for most every  business sales model  today. There is the pre sell, the sell, and the post sell, all sending the same  information that concurs and serves to verify what is already  decided and agreed upon. It is planned out so that there is never regret, and there is always support for what is already decided. hat is already agreed is reinforced and any new conflicting information is rejected.

 It helps sell Fords, but it makes  a bad model for growth in the Lord.

So, bang away when convicted to  help share or even rebuke, just be kind to your  presumably weaker brother (and sister); and as Paul taught Timothy - be very kind in manner of correction to the older men of the congregations. 

Edited April 22, 2017 by Neighbor

[Wayne222]

15 hours ago, OneLight said:

Keep in mind that a spirit becomes what the spirit is fed.  If a person hangs in places where the spirit is evil, they are feeding their spirit evilness.  Our amour becomes heavy and weak if we do not replenish our spirit with His Spirit.  When that happens, and we do not find rest in Him in order to continue His purpose for us, we become what we feed ourselves, just like our enemy.

 

Wise words.

[JoshuasonFlower]

On 4/22/2017 at 8:21 AM, OneLight said:

Having a foothold of oppression is not the same as possession, which is what I think you are referring to in the second paragraph.

I am aware of the difference.

Quote

 

  Even those who have His Holy Spirit, when not careful, can be oppressed and when weak, be led by deceit and lies, and even give place to the flesh.  Nobody should ever think they cannot take a wrong turn in their decision making because they have the Holy Spirit.  We all need to take heed to His leading in our lives or we will find ourselves in the wrong place doing the wrong thing.

Take these boards as an example.  Look at the words of those who are His.  Not all replies are from Christ, but of the flesh.  They are easy to recognize if you look at their fruit.  One hateful statement seeds another hateful reply.

 

Yes, the Christian is to always keep attuned to the leading of the helper within. When we stumble we have the light available to return our steps to the righteous path. And certainly the fruits do speak for themselves, and that makes it easier for those in Christ to identify the tongue behind the tare. For weeds germinate faster than healthy seed and thus they multiply like among like so that the discerning sower can recognize the unfruitful grass from the nourishing sprout.

As a metaphor for community forums the parable of the wheat and the tares doth fail in my view. Because the crop on earth will be harvested by the Lord God when it comes time at the end of our life. Those that are the wheat. And those that were disguised as the grass weed shall be plucked up having always been known by the great power that seeds life, and bound and cast to the fires. Its foolishness no longer able to flourish amid healthy righteous soil.   And this because all flesh dies.

In actual farming, and this relative to a commentary concerning liberalism on forums, a wise farmer knows that no matter how long the tare, the grasses, are allowed to germinate and spread among a field of wheat, no manner of time allotted it shall ever transform a weed into a stalk of healthy wheat. In fact, allowing the weeds to flourish without raising a hand insures the weeds will obscure the wheat .

And in some crops, actually strangle the healthy food crop and make the investment in the seed worthless for the return that is lost at market because the harvest reaps nothing of value but weeds left unchecked.

This is not something that is in practice by vigilant farmers who hold respect for the tradition of crop farming.

Edited April 23, 2017 by JoshuasonFlower