Ask Me Anything About Christianity

[Starise]

10 hours ago, Space_Karen said:

Question

After Jesus is crucified. His followers draw lots to see who will inherit his clothing.

This scene is not portrayed in The Passion of Christ, King of Kings or any Christ motion picture that I know of.

Should the scene be included in future films depicting Christ's journey?

I think it has a place that makes it worth showing.

I see those who crucified Him casting lots. In what text do you see His followers doing this?

[NCAP]

4 minutes ago, Starise said:

I see those who crucified Him casting lots. In what text do you see His followers doing this?

Acts 1:26

[Space_Karen]

7 minutes ago, Starise said:

I see those who crucified Him casting lots. In what text do you see His followers doing this?

 

I remembered incorrectly.

It has been a long time since I've looked at those verses.

In the back of my mind I have a list of ideas of how Christ's portrayal might be improved upon which has been collecting dust there for many years.

[Starise]

20 minutes ago, NCAP said:

Acts 1:26

This is in reference to replacing Judas and not casting lots for clothing. I was responding to Karen's remarks on followers casting lots for clothing.

@NCAP, the text you bring up is another interesting read and they ARE casting lots, pulling staws or whatever they did to determine something.

8 minutes ago, Space_Karen said:

I remembered incorrectly.

It has been a long time since I've looked at those verses.

In the back of my mind I have a list of ideas of how Christ's portrayal might be improved upon which has been collecting dust there for many years.

No worries. I remember watching the Passion Of Christ and what a lasting impact that film made on me. I haven't seen them all, but I'm guessing that was one of the better ones. Probably my biggest hangup with some of those films was having a white English actor with a thick English accent, maybe leading a few to think He was a white God who died for white men. I am white and I wanted a real Jew in the film lol.

Edited October 10, 2022 by Starise

[NCAP]

11 minutes ago, Starise said:

This is in reference to replacing Judas and not casting lots for clothing. I was responding to Karen's remarks on followers casting lots for clothing.

@NCAP, the text you bring up is another interesting read and they ARE casting lots, pulling staws or whatever they did to determine something.

Right! Flip a coin or roll the dice. It is totally and completely impartial. They had to decide which one out of two (Joseph and Matthias) was going to replace Judas.

"Casting the lot ends quarrels and separates strong opponents." (Proverbs 18:18 BSB)

[Starise]

4 minutes ago, NCAP said:

Right! Flip a coin or roll the dice. It is totally and completely impartial. They had to decide which one out of two (Joseph and Matthias) was going to replace Judas.

"Casting the lot ends quarrels and separates strong opponents." (Proverbs 18:18 BSB)

I have seen bids on projects among maybe 15 bidders and the two lowest bids were identical, so they ended up doing some kind of online roll the dice to decide. 

I was skeptical there though because how does one get the exact same number on a bid worth 1.3 million? Nuff said there. I will probably always wonder about that one.

How do you see the story of Gideon's fleece in Judges? That was sort of like pulling straws with God....or was it?

 

[NCAP]

19 minutes ago, Starise said:

I have seen bids on projects among maybe 15 bidders and the two lowest bids were identical, so they ended up doing some kind of online roll the dice to decide. 

I was skeptical there though because how does one get the exact same number on a bid worth 1.3 million? Nuff said there. I will probably always wonder about that one.

How do you see the story of Gideon's fleece in Judges? That was sort of like pulling straws with God....or was it?

 

I read the story. It sounds like Gideon was trying to make sure that this is what God really wanted him to do, and that he was not being deceived by a fallen spirit.

[Starise]

50 minutes ago, NCAP said:

I read the story. It sounds like Gideon was trying to make sure that this is what God really wanted him to do, and that he was not being deceived by a fallen spirit.

Yes I got that Gideon was unsure, maybe similar to the way Moses was unsure. God remains faithful even when we have a lack of faith. 

Sometimes people use Gideon to justify doing something they want to do. IOW, "Lord if you don't want me to do this ( whatever it is) please send something to stop me. Otherwise I'm going to do it."

This thinking is reverse the Gideon story because it really had nothing to do with Gideon's desires. He was one of the lowest in one of the least tribes of Israel, yet the Lord had chosen him for the work He wanted to be done.

It seems to me that when God chooses a lowly man, that man often questions it and rightly so if they view themselves as the least, yet it is probably this very quality that made him useful in the work.

A good violinist can pick up any old bow and still play well. This is how I see the Lord. He is the violinist and we are the bows.

[Dan Knight]

2 hours ago, Starise said:

I think he might be getting this from this text-

2 Thessalonians 2: 6-7

6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the [a]mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.

Some Pre trib logic on this says that since we are filled with the Holy Ghost WE are the ones holding the mystery of lawlessness back. This is often used to explain a pre tribulation rapture, even when the wording is more about an individual and it makes a broad assumption that the text is talking about believers. If this were the case, why doesn't the writers say "us" or "we" since he was talking to believers?

I personally don't think we restrain anything. The armor of God relies 100% on faith in what God is doing and will do. Not in us.

Since we are supposed to be light and salt in the earth, we probably have a very positive effect on society, so I'm not saying our presence has zero effect. We probably are helping to add a salve to this horrible place. The ideas placed on this text are however, not relevant to the actual text. GOD is the one who restrains. To restrain something denotes having control or power over it, so God is either allowing another restrainer to restrain or He Himself is restraining. 

Several commentaries explain that they think it is the Roman government, since those being addressed were already familiar with the ideas expressed. The statements could still be relevant to us because the great apostasy is birthed from Rome and the religion coming from it continues to destroy ideas of true Christianity to this very day.

 

 

 

I don't believe in the rapture theory.  

Rev 7 does speak about a restraining.  Also of a specific # of God's people who will be preserved from harm.  144,000, 12,000 from each tribe. But we believe that they will be taken go a place of safety here on earth.

Rev 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 

2

Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:

3 (the restraining)

"Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."

4

Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

[Starise]

I believe in a taking up as stated in the bible. The restraining in 2 Thess. is , I believe, the force behind the man of sin presently restrained which could be referring to Rome and the apostasy to come from it. Whatever it is, it's the power behind the man of sin, an evil. It's a NEGATIVE EVIL force just waiting to be let go.

In the Rev 7 passage four angels are involved. These angels are doing God's work, so they are not evil or negative in that sense. These would be angels dispensing judgement. The same angel who has the authority to stay the four angels ready to dispense judgement also has the authority from God to stay them until the 144,000 are protected.

So yes, I see this as also a restraint but a DIFFERENT situation and a temporary different restraint.

One restraint is staying the power behind the man of sin

The other restraint is staying the wrath or judgement on the world until the 144,000 are sealed. The 144,000 is specific to the tribes of Israel.

Edited October 10, 2022 by Starise