Instead Of Whining About Your Rights

[R. Hartono]

3 minutes ago, The_Patriot2020 said:

willingly put themselves in harms way when it furthered Gods kingdom.

Its your rights if u think u can sleep in a crocodiles cage because u die alone, but with this corona situation ur refusal to lockdown endanger society n ur family, what goodnes you give to christianity as you cannot heal people like Peter.

[The_Patriot21]

1 hour ago, R. Hartono said:

Its your rights if u think u can sleep in a crocodiles cage because u die alone, but with this corona situation ur refusal to lockdown endanger society n ur family, what goodnes you give to christianity as you cannot heal people like Peter.

So what your saying, is that you would rather follow the will of man then the Bible?

Now, I normally wouldn't respond that way, is it's inflammatory, and is based upon assumptions, and draws the debate into the personal realm. But, seeing as it's exactly what your doing to me, I thought maybe it was appropriate to return the favor?

Except it's really not, I'm just trying to drive home a point. See your not actually discussing anymore. Your first post brought forth a intelligent-albeit off base, Biblical argument. But, once I pointed out you were misusing said argument, now your becoming combative, instead of bringing forth another intelligent argument.

Why is that? Why do you feel the need to be combative? I have not been, at least to my knowledge, that way with you. Is your conscience eating at you? Are you angry that you can't come up with more intelligent arguments? Or did you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed? All 3 of those scenarios have certainly happened to all of us at some point, myself included.

Now with that said, I see no further point in continuing this discussion with you, if you won't actually bring something to the table. If your willing to put your attitude to the side, and discuss with grace using scripture and evidence I would very much like to continue our discussion. But if you would rather continue with your combative attitude, then please do not be offended when I do not respond, because I will ignore any further comments of that nature.

May the Lord bless you in your time of struggle.

[kwikphilly]

14 hours ago, LadyKay said:

. Instead of whining on the internet about our rights and how unfair everything is to us.  That is just what I think of that.

Blessings LadyK

   I agree 100%,this is highly likely to be a very small window of opportunity for us to shine our Light so we had better take advantage of it..,I heard a Pastor in NY yesterday(on TV) that said this,he said right after 9/11 thousands came to church,many many accepted Christ and then maybe but 2 or 3 months later they dropped away......He went on to say how the usual service for Easter Sunday brings in around 35,000 people & everyone is whining & complaining that the churches were closed but guess what happened? They had 250,000 viewers online Easter Sunday Service with 1000's accepting Jesus!!! Glory to God!

 

Quote

But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Genesis 50:20

                                                                                          With love-in Christ,Kwik

[kwikphilly]

6 hours ago, Cornelius10 said:

I have real Stories. Of people Literally saying Deny your god upon Threat of Death.

They Literally told me they were going to Kill me unless I rejected Jesus.

I have more then one story about this.

 

How many do you have?

Is it a competition?You win-yippee   

 

[Henry_iain]

15 hours ago, LadyKay said:

Today I got a card in the mail from a lady from my church family. Just a simple card letting me know that she is thinking about me and asking me how I am doing. It lifted my spirits. This brings to my mind that as Christians in such a time as now. Instead of kicking and screaming and whining about our rights.  We as Christians should be looking at how we can help our fellow man/women.  Seeing how we can help in all of this.  An elderly neighbor who should not get out, might need someone to bring then groceries or pick up medication for them. A fellow church member whose work has shut down may need some financial help paying a bill. If you can sew maybe you can make mask. Or just a simple card or phone call to a grandmother who can not be with her family or see her grandchild at this time. Anything that we can do to show the love of Christ that is in our hearts to a scared and hurting world at this time. That is what we should be doing as Christians. Instead of whining on the internet about our rights and how unfair everything is to us.  That is just what I think of that. 

This is not the kind of thread I often get involved in. But I feel I need to share what my take on these things. Although the world is in a dark place right now (which it was in before all of this anyway), in many ways, this is an ideal opportunity for the church. There are quite a few things that has been going through my mind as I was praying over this.

Firstly, I think we are learning that we are not in control and that we are far less influential than we think we are. The fact that in many places the environment is being strengthened, and that within less than 6 months, just proves that our impact is far smaller than some people claim. It is good for us too realise our own vulnerability. And we can learn just how dependent we are on God, rather than our bank accounts or all the things we we use to create security for ourselves.  

 It also forces many to become still and reflect. To really come to a place of rest. I know I needed it. This is an ideal opportunity to spend a lot of time in prayer and in reading of Scripture.  To seek God for ourselves. It is also a chance to repair broken relationships and work on long forgotten tasks. 

At my church I think we have a great attitude towards this. It is interesting that, long before any lockdown or Corona scares, we have been talking a lot about being the church rather than going to church. We talked a lot about surrendering our lives and living for God in our daily lives. Not going from event to event for the sake of making ourselves feel better but to actually being obedient disciples rooted in Christ. In the past I think  we became so used to church as an event or a building or an experience rather than seeing ourselves as the church no matter where we are. And so when these things started to unfold, it was clear that God had been preparing us for this time. When the crisis hit South Africa, my pastor told us we needed to be practical, responsible and spiritual.

We were told not to respond in fear, to respect the rules and be responsible for the health of others, and to use the opportunity to practically serve our local community in small, practical ways. We started prayer groups and my pastors sends us daily words of encouragement where he also challenges us not to become too isolated, not to go into depression or anxiety, not to fall back to worldly things ,and to keep seeking God. We still have small groups meeting on Zoom and these have been very good.  Many people donated food and other basic items and handed them out to people in very difficult cicumstances. We have been forced to practice what we preach. To put our faith to the test and to trust God in ways we never thought we would have to, I think this is a very good thing. We have to find ways of sharing the gospel in ways we might never have thought about before. And we have to trust and be obedient to God 

And finally, I have been challenged not to become negative about some of the rules I might not like or agree with (and there are some). It is a good time to learn to be thankful for what I have. For example, I am so glad to have a great president at this time. His response to the crisis has been calm and collected and very effective. His great response is one of the reason why South Africa have, up till now, not been hit as hard as we feared at first. Certainly not as hard as many other countries have. Time and again I have been so thankful that I am in a safe neighbourhood, where I have plenty to do, have access to internet, have all my needs met and can still contact friends and family. I know large families who live in small shacks with very poor living condition.  I know elderly people in old age homes who sit alone with no one to talk to.   I live with my parents (both older than 65) and both of them are healthy and have jobs. I am also healthy. I am not dying or suffering any permanent harm and it is likely that I will be healthy still when all this is over. Tomorrow my country's lockdown relaxes slightly and I will have the opportunity to take short walks on my own for short periods every day (I am really looking forward to that).

I know it isn't easy, and I know many people are struggling with this. We might have legitimate concerns and objections and I think it is necessarily for us to express that and try to understand each other. But God is good. Let us trust Him and do what He expects of us as best we can. 

 

(Note that these are just my thoughts and neither complete nor perfect.)