The Dark Side of Christianity

[existential mabel]

15 hours ago, Sam Smith said:

the cage was for his own good.a wise canary stays in its cage....wisdom shows he was better- off

i agree with most of what you say but i have difficulty here as for me if i was to stay  in my cage i would be stunted spirtiually is my thougts

11 hours ago, Sojourner414 said:

So let me ask you then, DesertSW: other believers have let you down, but have you let other believers down? Have you always walked 100 percent according to the Lord's path? Have you never thought ill of someone, even for a second? or like all of us, have you been less than the Biblical standard and disappointed fellow believers? I

yes and this is the realisation that i have and also the resolution of this year funnily enough today was the day one of starting to do it different cos like you say i most likely let folk down. i say most likely as i always do something if i say i am going to do something...but you never know people can take the hump at things i am not even aware of!

 

4 hours ago, TheMatrixHasU71 said:

It would take quite a bit of typing to go into deep detail on these betrayals but all of them involved true Believers who ended up betraying and hurting me in such ways that left deep scars that will never go away

ah but we MUST forgive folk and that is something that i am having to embark on day one in fact as like you ...and we are the ones that suffer more as peeps move on or even pretend like it didnt happen amazing not sure quite how to deal with that scenario however the pretending it didnt happen

[TickledPinkinChristWoot!]

15 hours ago, Sam Smith said:

 

Any faith I possess was a gift from God. How could I lose it?  Bad behavior? The Believer in Paul’s Church

At Corinth was having sex with his own mother ,yet after being chastised he was welcomed back into fellowship with the others. If I find a way to outdo that guy —- if he kept his faith and did not lose his salvation ,I’m not gonna worry about me.There was a good reason for God  to include this sordid tale in His Word. It gives hope to sinners like me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am I free man in Christ,free to do what I want ,funny thing is ,the very second I discovered my freedom in Christ was also the very second I found that my “wants “ had been changed.The old lifestyle I lived has no appeal to me anymore.The only thing I “want” to do these days is be kind to everybody I meet. ( motivation is love.....not some fear of the jaws of hell opening up if I am not 50% perfect ,75% perfect or whatever the legalists Believe is the standard to be saved,seeing how nobody can be 100%. Right? If I violate the freedom Jesus gave me ,trust me— He knows how to get me back in line with His chastisement.I understand what Paul meant when he said “ all things are lawful to me”. Unless Paul is a liar,I should be able to go out and rape,ravage and plunder.So why don’t I ? I don’t want to.Thats the secret of Christianity....God will change the inside of the cup. It’s kind of like a caged canary.one can open the cage door and the canary can go out and be free.freedom also includes cats,storms,hunger ,cold,heat,etc.....the cage was for his own good.a wise canary stays in its cage....wisdom shows he was better- off there all along.OSAS adherents have lived this—- you have to live it to understand it.Free is free....what do you think Jesus meant when He said....” you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.free to obey out of love and an indwelt Spirit.Not fear or trying to be “ good enough” to help the Jesus who can finish what He started.Relax  a little,let Him do it.

perfect

The parable of the prodigal son is a great analogy of eternal salvation in Christ.  While the naysayers that we will undoubtedly encounter in the world, those who say we're not eternally saved, we have to work to keep ourselves in God's good grace, and I have met these type people, will never be content with believing they in their arrogance, pride, and ego, are incapable of overcoming God's plan. In their view as twisted as it is and not Biblical in the least, God needs a little help. 

Those persons are a reflection of the older brother of the prodigal son. That one that when learning his departed brother had returned after squandering the inheritance he demanded early, was not only welcomed and hugged and kissed by his father. But his father was also throwing a celebration event to welcome his son back to the fold. 

God's word is amazing in so many ways. Especially as it pertains in parable teachings to what was then and what is relevant among us now. It never stops teaching us how to deal with life. It is never outdated, or an old culture no longer relevant. It is on time all the time. Because that's God. Eternally sovereign, eternally knowledgeable, eternally powerful, eternally present within all creation.  

He's a best friend that lasts beyond a lifetime. I love it! I think that is why naysayers don't. They don't love themselves enough to realize God loved them before they were born. And so much so as to give Himself on the cross to redeem them of every sin they would ever commit once they were alive on His earth by His will. Anyone can enjoy the free gift of eternal salvation through God's benevolent grace. Many are called, few are chosen. God knows his own. 

 

[DesertSW]

2 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

I saw the point of this thread as an honest warning against unrealistic expectations.   Some new Christians have an idealistic viewpoint that they will rarely if ever be mistreated or hurt by other Christians if they join the right church.  I think a reality check is reasonable.....

 

Your post was very well stated and is exactly what I was trying to state with my thread. Thank you for your post. It was well articulated and mirrored my point.

[DesertSW]

10 hours ago, Butero said:

That is false doctrine.  This is not somebody else's mail. 

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."  2 Timothy 3:16,17

 

Don't forget 2 Timothy 2:15 - Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

No false doctrines here. By the way, don't forget to bring your sacrifices, God commanded it in the Bible and you claim you follow all of God's Word. Mary & Joseph did it, as did the 12 apostles and all the Bible patriarchs.

Luke 2:22-24

 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons."

[BeyondET]

16 minutes ago, Butero said:

Joseph and Mary did that before Jesus died on the cross.  They were still under the Old Covenant.  James was written after we were under the New Covenant.  What you are saying is not true.  You are denying New Covenant teachings.  I am amazed at how many people don't know that certain Bible teachings are in the New Covenant, like the passage about men having short hair and women having long hair.  That is in Corinthians, yet people call it being under the law.  I have studied to show myself approved, having read the Bible at least 15 times cover to cover.  I feel it is important to get it right.  

 

 

Luke 2:22-24

 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons."

 

The  verses above was done after Mary had to go through the purication period after having a child that was the law in the OT, different length of days depending on if the child was a female or male.

First though after eight days Joseph and Mary circumised the child, then Mary could not inter into the temple until she forfilled the purification rites as required and written in the OT.

so it was about a month and half before they took Jesus to the temple for the two dove sacrifice, and by them using that we can know that Joseph and Mary didn't have a lot of money.

the Magi came months and months after the birth of Jesus.

[existential mabel]

52 minutes ago, Davida said:

Why not stay at the evangelical church and learn? Discipleship takes time. Some churches have Bible study groups to join. Did you get baptised after accepting Jesus? 

i left in 2014 in a very low and agitated state.  yes i have been baptised. bible study groups its either feel good gospels or dull and tedious c of eek bookletts. i would much prefer if there was a bible study where folk chose what to study. a kinda application for life approach.

[TheMatrixHasU71]

4 hours ago, existential mabel said:

ah but we MUST forgive folk and that is something that i am having to embark on day one in fact as like you ...and we are the ones that suffer more as peeps move on or even pretend like it didnt happen amazing not sure quite how to deal with that scenario however the pretending it didnt happen

Your response to me here was actually not my post but something I was responding to. 

[Blood Bought 1953]

 

i agree with most of what you say but i have difficulty here as for me if i was to stay  in my cage i would be stunted spirtiually is my thougts

 

I was just trying to make the point that God’s laws are for our own good and our own protection,they should not be “burdensome”. I hope this canary knows that keeping these laws will save him or keep him saved....I have been a freeman in Christ for many years. I know the Truth.....and the Truth has “set me free”..... as promised by Jesus. This is what young Believers need to understand—right up front—Christianity is not a religion  , “Islam with a cross on it” some wise soul said.Jesus did not come to preach some new religion of “do do this and don’t do that”.He preached Himself.Jesus saves.Period.

Edited January 4, 2018 by Sam Smith

[DesertSW]

5 hours ago, Butero said:

I am amazed at how many people don't know that certain Bible teachings are in the New Covenant, like the passage about men having short hair and women having long hair.  That is in Corinthians, yet people call it being under the law. 

 

I see. So women having short hair is a sin and men having long hair is a sin?

So you take everything after the cross as applicable to the Church today?

[BeyondET]

14 minutes ago, Butero said:

What a lot of people don't consider is that when they read most of the gospels, they are witnessing life under the law of Moses.  Those books are in the New Testament, but they are relating events that took place before Jesus went to the cross.  When you read the epistles, you are reading New Testament instructions to the Christian Church.  

Agreed, as you mentioned that was life under the law, even when Jesus was preaching throughout the land.