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The Problem of Judgmentalism And The Solution To Freedom


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Because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. – James 2:13

We all have been shown great mercy in our lives. God has shown great compassion and forgiveness towards us in not counting our sins against us. We were in a place were God was ready to punish us and cause us great harm in sending us to hell for eternity for our great sins. Yet he showed great mercy and love towards us, forgiving our sins in his Son. When we therefore show no mercy to others, especially believers, we sin greatly. Warren Weirsbe says, “The most miserable prison in the world is the prison we make for ourselves when we refuse to show mercy.” Such a prison many believers are in not being able to show mercy to others but being a great benefiter of mercy from God. God came down from above as the compassionate one to forgive your sins, yet we cannot show compassion to the sins of another believer. Judgmentalism is one of the great sins in the Church, as we are always faulty in the way we see others, never knowing someones motives and heart (Jeremiah 17:9). When we learn to be full of mercy for others, we start to share the heart of Jesus Christ who did not judge but showed compassion to failing humanity. Look into the eyes of Jesus Christ now and see his wounds where he was pierced for you, can you say to him that you cannot forgive another? Have mercy to another?

The Testimony Of The Desert Fathers

The Desert Fathers were those who sought the Lord in a life of prayer in solitude, they sought God for God Himself. These were some of the godliest followers of the Lord in that era of Church history. A story of a Desert Father on not judging says, “A brother in Scetis committed a fault. A council was called to which abba Moses was invited, but he refused to go to it. Then the priest sent someone to him, saying, ‘Come, for everyone is waiting for you’. So he got up and went. He took a leaking jug and filled it with water and carried it with him. The others came out to meet him and said, ‘what is this, father?’ The old man said to them, ‘My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I am coming to judge the errors of another.’ When they heard that, they said no more to the brother but forgave him.” If we see our sins as this old godly brother did, we will not judge but show mercy to a fellow believer on this journey with the Lord. If we judged our own selves we would see our failings as great and have great mercy to others. We should find ourselves as the publican calling out to God for mercy constantly (Luke 18:13). Just like the pharisee in the temple praying we can judge our fellow brothers, looking down on the errors of others, but not seeing our own. Lord have mercy on me and help me to be merciful to others. 

The Example of Jonah, A Prophet Without Mercy

We all know the story of the prophet who was swallowed by the fish. Children are amused and enough the thought of it! Yet as adults when we take time to read through the details we realize a much more serious and importance message is being given to us. Jonah was a holy prophet and admired by the people of Israel. He heard the voice of God many times and obeyed in sharing the truth with the people of God. But when the voice of the Lord told him to go to a very wicked people who worshipped the fish god, Jonah said no. He went the opposite direction in a boat but the Lord had a way of getting his attention and encouraging him to obey and speak repentance to those people. Jonah had seen time and time again God show mercy to Israel when they did not deserve it and it turned his stomach to think he would show mercy to the very wicked people of Nineveh. Even after preaching and seeing the peoples repentance Jonah still felt that God should judge them in some way (Jonah 4:1).

We Can All Be Like Jonah

We all can be like Jonah at times, especially if we are the people who have been hurt by others. The people of Nineveh enslaved and caused great harm to Israel before so the thought of forgiving them and even God showing mercy to have them become believers was too much for Israel or their prophet Jonah to accept. Have we been hurt by others in the world who we have not forgiven? Maybe we have forgiven them but do we want them to be saved? St. Benedict of Nursia says, “To hate no one. Not to be jealous or envious. To hate strife. To evidence no arrogance. Never despair of God’s mercy.” God’s heart is full of grace, meaning he wants to extend his love and mercy to those who do not deserve it especially. God is compassionate and very slow to anger against those that we feel deserve it. We are never called to hate anyone, desire evil for anyone, if we shared the true Spirit of Christ we will seek the mercy of the love for all of humanity. This also extends to the body of Christ that we would seek the good of all those who call upon the Name of the Lord.

Steps To Be Free Of Judgementalism

The journey to freedom is one footstep after another. To get out of a pit one has to start the climb out. After years of habitual judging of others we can find ourselves in a deep chasm of rooted sinful behaviour. Here are some small steps you can take daily to help:

1). Meditate on the Passion of Jesus Christ – Spend time in silence thinking upon the wounds of Christ. Think of the Crown of Thorns, the Pierced Side, the wounds afflicted to Christ when the soldiers were mocking Him. See your sins there causing such hurt to the Saviour. See your judgemental words heaped on Him. Also see the hope that Christ died to free us all from our passions and sins.

2). Show Acts of Mercy – No matter if you think a person deserves it or not, show mercy and kindness. Make deliberate acts to see the good in others and applaud them for these God given gifts. See where people do things better than yourself. Glory in God for anyway people serve God in a way you are not doing. Show deeds of mercy to others in gifts and kindness. Let no thought of judging to come into your mind.

3). Remind Yourself of Your Faults – When you are tempted to judge someone, consider your own faults and sins. When did you fail greatly in the same area or similar area. Look to yourself, consider how much mercy God gave you and then show that mercy to others.

4). Learn to Hate Judging – Learn to not hate others as St. Benedict counsels us but rather to hate the sins of jealousy, envying, strife, arrogance. Hate the sin of habitat judging as it’s a cancer of the soul. Put your focus on God, in worship and adoration, do not spend your time considering the faults of others even obvious false teachers or those departing from the faith. Look to your own soul find your lacks and where you are departing and pray for God’s mercy to finish well.

May God give you complete victory as you daily put this sin under the blood of Christ and the victory of His holy Cross. The God who knows all thoughts of our mind and heart will cleanse and give you victory in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

 

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Christian folks should completely pass up on these Roman Catholic like "Desert Fathers," with it's short example from "saint Moses the Ethiopian" that was given. Along with the pope's "cannonized" Roman Catholic "saint Benedict" that was mentioned mixed in there with Jonah.
Some real "Evangelicals and Catholics Together" thinking for this "Learn to Hate Judging" teaching.

The "Desert Father" thinking is much akin to it's Eastern meditation cousin, something I left back in my past many years back. For a short time, there were "two" gods I was (unknowingly) serving as a babe in Christ.

One, my newfound Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, (Glory Hallelujah!) and the other, the false god of eastern mysticism. Upon coming to this realization through God and His Word, I repented of it and left it far behind.
When I initially saw these same worldly ways coming into the church some 20ish years ago, albeit, now under the "guise" of Christ, I was shocked. The same thing we are seeing here in this "teaching."
The VERY THING God had me repent of, was now entering the church under many fashionable "christian" sounding names, while attempting to "mix in" God.

There are "two" kinds of meditation.
1. With the "CLEARING" of your mind, one will find a false and temporal peace. This is the false peace of the Desert Fathers, which is akin to, and found in various Eastern meditations as well. Same things, different labels.
Along with repetitive prayers and/or silence along with breathing techniques, one boarders into self hypnosis, something that God forbids. The "christ" that you meet there is a false "angel of light." (2Co 11:14)

2. God's way of meditating is by way of "USING" your mind, to think and ponder upon God and His Word He has left for us.
    Man's Roman Catholic liturgy with it's false christ excluded...

A portion from a Brother in the Lord on "The Desert Fathers." Please consider:

The Desert Fathers and the Methods They Used

"Catholic priest William Shannon in his book, Seeds of Peace, explained the human dilemma as being the following:

"This forgetfulness, of our oneness with God, is not just a personal experience, it is the corporate experience of humanity. Indeed, this is one way to understanding original sin. We are in God, but we don’t seem to know it. We are in paradise, but we don’t realize it."

Shannon’s viewpoint defines the basic underlying worldview of the contemplative prayer movement as a whole. One can find similar quotations in practically every book written by contemplative authors. A Hindu guru or a Zen Buddhist master would offer the same explanation. This conclusion becomes completely logical when tracing the roots of contemplative prayer. Let us look at the beginnings of this practice.

In the early Middle Ages, there lived a group of hermits in the wilderness areas of the Middle East. They are known to history as the Desert Fathers. They dwelt in small isolated communities for the purpose of devoting their lives completely to God without distraction. The contemplative movement traces its roots back to these monks who promoted the mantra as a prayer tool. One meditation scholar made this connection when he said:

"The meditation practices and rules for living of these earliest Christian monks bear strong similarity to those of their Hindu and Buddhist renunciate brethren several kingdoms to the East the meditative techniques they adopted for finding their God suggest either a borrowing from the East or a spontaneous rediscovery."

Many of the Desert Fathers, in their zeal, were simply seeking God through trial and error. A leading contemplative prayer teacher candidly acknowledged the haphazard way the Desert Fathers acquired their practices:

"It was a time of great experimentation with spiritual methods. Many different kinds of disciplines were tried, some of which are too harsh or extreme for people today. Many different methods of prayer were created and explored by them."

Attempting to reach God through occult mystical practices will guarantee disaster. The Desert Fathers of Egypt were located in a particularly dangerous locale at that time to be groping around for innovative approaches to God...

"...the Desert Fathers believed as long as the desire for God was sincere–anything could be utilized to reach God.
If a method worked for the Hindus to reach their gods, then Christian mantras could be used to reach Jesus.

-Ray Yungen       More here...


  In conclusion, when the Lord see's the heart of "saint" Benedict and these "Desert Fathers," He sees lost men, bent on liturgical and fallacious religious works as a means to finding God.

Symbolically, they're building up yet another "Tower of Babel," as the One World Religion continues to come together during these end times. They'll never find Him through these mystical Babylonian bricks coming from the religious works of man's mindset.

Jeremiah 17:5-6  Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.  (6)  For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

James 3:11-12  Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?  (12)  Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

Their only hope, as with anyone who is steeped in false religion, would be to repent, and believe on the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as clearly defined in His Word!

Jeremiah 17:7-8  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.  (8)  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

Those who promote them would do well to repent also:
Revelation 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

On considering the cults, and false teachers who have departed from the faith in our day, let us warn others about them so that other "seekers" and "young Christians" may not follow their pernicious ways. (2 Peter: 2:2)

 

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8 minutes ago, maryjayne said:

why are you starting new threads, yet too busy to answer pertinent questions on your other threads?

Sis , when a man with an agenda , get spotted ,  they will back off and try another approach .     His love is this inclusive unity move .  Cobalt got him .   catholic website .

Another tried to defend him  ,   but we got eyes .   

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2 minutes ago, frienduff thaylorde said:

Sis , when a man with an agenda , get spotted ,  they will back off and try another approach .     His love is this inclusive unity move .  Cobalt got him .   catholic website .

Another tried to defend him  ,   but we got eyes .   

brother and sister, I have no agenda, I am simply sharing thoughts and burdens the Lord has given me.
 

I am not Roman Catholic or trying to bring catholicism to this forum or any other place.  I will try my best to answer any questions but most what I write is based on the scriptures so to look there first is best.

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Towards the desert fathers and the critique posted in this thread. I would say that I do not promote nor feel I have to endorse all their "techniques" of prayer to quote or mention them.  There was a great amount of believers who went out during the dark ages to find reality in God alone and as the Churches lost some of the meaning beyond the symbols, their movement was authentic in seeking reality of God Himself for Himself.

Were they perfect? by no means.   Are they all like hindu's that is a crazy thought and personally does not even really warrant a response.  We live in a day of anti-mysticism. Which essentially says we cannot "experience" God and it has to be only quoting bible verses without any experience.  Jesus Himself said the Scriptures speak and lead to Him, but those in that day (pharisees) refused to have life.  

Evangelicalism is in need of those who seek God in silence and on their faces, waiting till they know and experience Him. Give me 100 people like this and they will leaven and share the reality of knowing Christ to this generation.  It is proven that most christian leaders in the West pray less then 10 minutes per day.  This is not a generation of leaders that will lead people into "knowing:" and experiencing God that will change their entire lives.

I wrote an article on some large Christian news sites speaking on the fact we are living in a new Dark Ages in Evangelicalism. 

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5 hours ago, sermonindex said:

...I have no agenda, I am simply sharing thoughts and burdens the Lord has given me.
I am not Roman Catholic or trying to bring catholicism to this forum or any other place.  I will try my best to answer any questions but most what I write is based on the scriptures so to look there first is best.

And yet you continue to bring Roman Catholics as "examples" of Christianity with some regularity.

So by not so deep proxy, why would you point others to that false religion of Roman Catholicism full of man's waysWhy would the Lord burden you to give such cultic mystical Desert Fathers examples here?

Why would you refer us to a pro RCC website that clearly has said they are not for Protestants as you did in another post, that clearly promoted Roman Catholicism with necromancy prayers to dead Mary to save souls?
Is it not Jesus ALONE that one prays to, and saves souls?

Why is it that Roman Catholics get a pass on their false christ throughout much of Christendom? Who, through Transubstantiation, believe he is sacrificed and killed at least weekly! How is that NOT a false christ as they feel they cannibalistically eat his real body after this man made ritual is done?


Could one quote the false christ of the Jehovah's Witnesses that believe the arch angel Michael was christ prior to birth as well, without bringing Jehovah's Witnesses cultic thoughts this forum? They've got some great experiences!


Could one quote us Mormon's with their false christ, who they believe to be the brother of Lucifer, without bringing Mormonism to this forum? A lot of mysticism there, I assure you!

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4 minutes ago, B3L13v3R said:

And yet you continue to bring Roman Catholics as "examples" of Christianity with some regularity.

So by not so deep proxy, why would you point others to that false religion of Roman Catholicism full of man's waysWhy would the Lord burden you to give such cultic mystical Desert Fathers examples here?

Why would you refer us to a pro RCC website that clearly has said they are not for Protestants as you did in another post, that clearly promoted Roman Catholicism with necromancy prayers to dead Mary to save souls?
Is it not Jesus ALONE that one prays to, and saves souls?

Why is it that Roman Catholics get a pass on their false christ throughout much of Christendom? Who, through Transubstantiation, believe he is sacrificed and killed at least weekly! How is that NOT a false christ as they feel they cannibalistically eat his real body after this man made ritual is done?


Could one quote the false christ of the Jehovah's Witnesses that believe the arch angel Michael was christ prior to birth as well, without bringing Jehovah's Witnesses cultic thoughts this forum? They've got some great experiences!


Could one quote us Mormon's with their false christ, who they believe to be the brother of Lucifer, without bringing Mormonism to this forum? A lot of mysticism there, I assure you!

We whiff it my friend .   we whiff it .     What some folks still don't realize is that now even more and more protestants are under this rome connection , for many leaders

who met in rome , do its bidding and have spread its tentancles into many churches .    But we whiff it , my friend.   and its taste is not for us .  WE FOLLOW ONLY THE LAMB.

And I assure and remind us all,  JESUS aint leading us back to ROME or any affliation with those who support her ways either .

OUR LOVE IS CHRIST , not inclusvism tactics .  Our worship and prayers are As he instructed , not romes ways .  

We got a major battle brewing and that will only get worse .   You just wait , give it just a bit more time and we will watch not only the faiths uniting with her

but the other religons too .    ONE nasty lie is getting sold .  to the secular its sold under the pc move , to the religious its sold under the inclusive move ,  BUTS ITS ROOT

is from satan , He is its father , Rome its mother .     And folks aint seeing this .  they falling for a false love that honors NOT GOD , a false unity , its bad my friend .

ITS REAL bad and it has many under its sway and worse it will get .    BUT THE LAMBS OF JESUS wont feed from its grass,  ONLY FROM THE PASTURES OF JESUS DO WE FEED . 

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dear brothers and sisters,

I find it nothing wrong to bring out some truth and good believers from the period of history from 100-1500 AD. Christianity did not begin with Martin Luther and most would disagree with most of Luthers practice, clergy look, sacraments etc. 

I personally believe there were born again believers throughout the entire history of the Church and these are examples we can share to encourage a life of godliness and following the Lord today.

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Luther got a lot of stuff wrong, but his commentaries on Romans and Galations  are masterpieces.

I think throughout history God has had a remnant of true Born Again  Believers That did not pervert Paul’s Gospel given to him by Jesus....nobody that believed Catholic Doctrine was ever in this group

 

 

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15 hours ago, B3L13v3R said:

Christian folks should completely pass up on these Roman Catholic like "Desert Fathers," with it's short example from "saint Moses the Ethiopian" that was given.

I actually thought there was some excellent teaching in the OP, with the exception of the Desert Fathers paragraph. It doesn't quote any scripture, but it is quite scriptural regarding judging and forgiving. 

But the desert fathers part was goofy.

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