Guest lovinghim4ever Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 One of the main issues with todays church is that it has allowed New Age thinking and terminology to seep in and become normal to some. I am not afraid of any term, but I do not want to combine the two. I'm probably going to catch it for this, but I believe God understands exactly what everyone means. He knows our hearts better than we do. It is absolutely wonderful to study and research, but as a Christian whole I believe God wants us to get back to the basics of His Word. I don't believe He ever intended for us to get so deep with our study and research that we drown ourselves. That's why I too am not afraid of any term, because God knows my heart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shiloh357 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Well as we all know Karma in a nutshell is "What goes around comes around" and what we also know is most Christians disagree with this theory (Im NOT one). I personally believe Christians believe in it too, just they don't call it Karma. I may be reading it wrong or such, if I am.. tell me. Heres one; Luke 6:378, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged : Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. Sounds alot like what goes around comes around, or what you do to others will be done to you. P.S. I am a Christian im just saying... Alex Karma bears no resemblance to anything borne out in the Bible. Karma is an impersonal "law" that punishes people in this life for wrongs committed a previous life and rewards people in this life for good deeds done in a previous life. The "law" of karma cannot be separated from the pagan belief in reincarnation. The problem is that karma is impersonal and as such offers no standard of what constitutes right and wrong. Allegedly punishes people wrong deeds but does not offer them any means of knowing what is right and wrong, thus no means of avoiding what is known as "karmic debt" or what is known as the buildup of bad karma. The Bible teaches that sin has built in consequences, and we don't have to wait for another life to experience those consequences, the difference is that God is a personal, and moral lawgiver and instructs us in the right way to live. We are not left to grope in the dark and guess at what might be right or wrong. I think karma equals the symmetry of God, in that He wired the universe to react in goodly ways to good input and in evil ways to evil input..... Karma/God's symmetry can be noticed by anyone, including false religions that created that name for it. It's just that although they see God's work, they still end up crediting it to their false gods/beliefs. So for the time being, they end up seeing God more "through the glass darkly" than we do. This is not true for the reasons I have given above. Karma is impersonal and offers no standard of right and wrong. Where as God sits as judge of the universe and all mankind. QUOTE Luke 6:378, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged : Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. Sounds alot like what goes around comes around, or what you do to others will be done to you. What this is referring to is that the way we judge others will be the way they judge us. When we are harsh, unforgiving and tyrranical in our judgment of others, we can expect that others will apply the same the standard to us. This has nothing to do with karma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shiloh357 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 One of the main issues with todays church is that it has allowed New Age thinking and terminology to seep in and become normal to some. I am not afraid of any term, but I do not want to combine the two. I'm probably going to catch it for this, but I believe God understands exactly what everyone means. He knows our hearts better than we do. It is absolutely wonderful to study and research, but as a Christian whole I believe God wants us to get back to the basics of His Word. I don't believe He ever intended for us to get so deep with our study and research that we drown ourselves. That's why I too am not afraid of any term, because God knows my heart. You need to learn the terminiology. You simply cannot approach issues like karma on your own terms. Frankly, if we to approach all of our other relationships within the same framework you are suggesting, the result would be disastrous. There is no reason why we should approach our relationship with God with same kind of apathy and indifference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetycakes Posted July 13, 2008 Group: Royal Member Followers: 8 Topic Count: 162 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 7,832 Content Per Day: 1.13 Reputation: 2,099 Days Won: 0 Joined: 04/21/2005 Status: Offline Birthday: 03/23/1964 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Korma? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lovinghim4ever Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 You need to learn the terminiology. You simply cannot approach issues like karma on your own terms. Frankly, if we to approach all of our other relationships within the same framework you are suggesting, the result would be disastrous. There is no reason why we should approach our relationship with God with same kind of apathy and indifference. I didn't say apathy and indifference. I said God knows my heart, and that's really all that matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yesult Posted July 14, 2008 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 3 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 326 Content Per Day: 0.06 Reputation: 1 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/12/2008 Status: Offline Share Posted July 14, 2008 I haven't read this entire thread so apologies if this has already been said. But I recently bought a book on Buddism written by a former thai buddist/ now christian pastor who breaks down what the realities of buddist karma actually is to a practicing buddhist (not necessarily a 'western' buddhist who apparently can tend to twist traditional buddhism to make it more 'user friendly' to what a westerner is seeking out it.) According to him, karma essentially means - that we get what we deserve in life because of good or bad acts in our past life/lives. So if you do 'good deeds' (like temple worship/offerings, whatever) or become a monk for a while (it isn't necessarily a long term thing and can last as little as a month or two) you can cancel your 'bad deeds' from this life and past to whatever degree. So say you get raped. That means by the law of karma, that you actually deserved it because of something you did in a past life or this one. If you die of some awful disease - same deal. So people actually deserve (apparently) - any bad thing that happens to them. That's the law of karma. It's simply a universal law of 'justice' that makes sure everybody gets what they deserve until they eventually pass into nivana (which is not paradise, it's simply ceasing to exist.) Pretty sick. And no, that's not biblical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shiloh357 Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 I saw recently where Sharon Stone claimed that the recent earthquakes in China were bad "karma" for how the Chinese treat the Tibetans. Same with some other celebrities and famous karma apologists as well. So I guess my question to them would be, what kind of bad karma did the Tibetans incur to deserve being oppressed by the Chinese? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebula Posted July 20, 2008 Group: Royal Member Followers: 10 Topic Count: 5,823 Topics Per Day: 0.76 Content Count: 45,870 Content Per Day: 5.95 Reputation: 1,897 Days Won: 83 Joined: 03/22/2003 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/19/1970 Share Posted July 20, 2008 Why is it "taking of them and applying it to God words" instead of "putting all things including the notions of karma beneath Gods word where it belongs" After all, anything like that that is controlled by God in the first place, false religions just see the same things we do and give credit where it doesn't belong. Whether they say "karma" "what goes around comes around" or some other phrase or word in a foreign language or in English, it's the same principle or notion........all of which come under Gods authority. Because of association. Who or what is "karma" associated with? Grab the average person on the street, and ask them. How many will say, "God"? How many will refer to the verse, "You reap what you sow"? Also note that there is no grace nor mercy in karma. Karma leaves no room for repentance and forgiveness. Likewise, karma is its own force. Although it may mimic a Biblical principle of reaping and sowing, it operates under a false pretext. And that is what makes it dangerous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneLight Posted July 20, 2008 Group: Royal Member Followers: 22 Topic Count: 1,294 Topics Per Day: 0.21 Content Count: 31,762 Content Per Day: 5.23 Reputation: 9,762 Days Won: 115 Joined: 09/14/2007 Status: Offline Share Posted July 20, 2008 Here are some more New Age terminology and concepts that has already slipped, not only into the church, but the Bible. Satan will do everything he can to twist the truth and cause one to be deceived. The more satan can water down the truth and add differeint meanings to Gods word, the more he can cause misunderstanding and rifts. Here is a link that you should read. It explains where New Age mind set can be found in The Message. The Message Doctrine & Gnostic or New Age Terms and Concepts God of green hope light-bearers the God-colors light seeds the golden seven-lights' circle removing your light from the golden circle bright with Eden's dawn light What also needs to be remembered is that the world has changed the meaning of many words to fit their rebellion. Should we also include these words into our vocabulary? This is an old and weak example, but I can remember when "bad" meant something wrong. It would be wise for anyone that is seeking the truth to see things for what they truly are. If anyone looks at an issue and refuses to accept the truth of it, they stop seeking and start trying to justify what their beliefs are. OneLight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehut Posted July 20, 2008 Group: Royal Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 26 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 3,216 Content Per Day: 0.44 Reputation: 43 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/24/2004 Status: Offline Birthday: 05/16/1962 Share Posted July 20, 2008 Karma bears no resemblance to anything borne out in the Bible. Karma is an impersonal "law" that punishes people in this life for wrongs committed a previous life and rewards people in this life for good deeds done in a previous life. The "law" of karma cannot be separated from the pagan belief in reincarnation. The problem is that karma is impersonal and as such offers no standard of what constitutes right and wrong. Allegedly punishes people wrong deeds but does not offer them any means of knowing what is right and wrong, thus no means of avoiding what is known as "karmic debt" or what is known as the buildup of bad karma. Wow, someone actually gave a real definition here! Now, wasn't that easy? Thank you, Shiloh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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