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CHRISTIAN CONCERNS page 2
religion
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| CHRISTIAN CONCERNS page 2 |
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| Searching Beyond Tradition |
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| It should be pointed out that I do not claim to be a better or worse Christian than anyone else, I am simply a Christian that feels that there is always room for improvement and room for us to grow closer to God, this is what has motivated me to search beyond tradition and write the sometimes unsettling things that I have written below. LYING ON GOD'S BEHALF If we want to win people over to becoming believer's in God, is it right for us to lie on God's behalf? My guess is that it is not. My guess is that though our intentions are good, God does not need or want our lies. Regarding our Christian beliefs, it is my opinion that we hinder God's influence on this planet when we lie on His behalf and that if we strive to practice absolute truth ( the only truth that can pass a polygraph test) that Christianity would thrive to a higher degree than it ever has. NOT NECESSARY TO KNOW IN ORDER TO BELIEVE. John 20:29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." *I don't care whether or not the shroud of Turin is real or fake. *I don't care if anyone ever finds evidence of Noah's Ark. *I choose to believe in God, I need no proof. ________________________ GOD ALWAYS ANSWERS PRAYERS If a person is in need of something, and they pray for help but God does not give them what they ask for, how should this be interpreted? I believe that whether or not God gives us what we ask for, He still loves and values us, our job as Christians is to remain faithful until the end. *Sometimes God does not give us what we want. That is His will, we must accept it. He still loves us. *Sometimes God gives us what we ask for but not when we ask for it. We may have to wait. That is His will, we must accept it. He still loves us. *Sometimes God gives us what we ask for promptly and without delay. That is His will. _________________________ A GRAY AREA It seems to be widely believed that there are times when our free will is neither influenced by God or Satan. I am wondering if it is possible that this one seemingly small issue has been a big factor in allowing us to stray spiritually. This one gray area where we feel we are not being influenced by Satan or God allows us freedom to stray from God without concern of being held accountable. And from there we can stray further and further. I choose to believe that there are only two sources that influence us in every thing that we do, say, or think, these two sources are Satan or God. I choose to believe that there is nothing that I can do that will go unnoticed by God, I will be held accountable for anything and everything. _____________________________ YESTERDAYS HONOR Most of us will do at least some honorable things during our lives. Often these honorable things are mentioned at appropriate times. In a way, we use them as badges to prove our honorable character. It is a mistake for us to believe that yesterdays nobility is proof that we are still that same person. Honor and integrity are things we need to continually work on for the rest of our lives. They can, and often do, slip away unnoticed, and we deceive ourselves by holding up a badge of yesterdays honor, a badge that represents something that may no longer exists. ______________________________ FAVORITISM James 2:1 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? _______________________________ PREPARING THE SOIL Regarding wanting to be as receptive to God's will as much as humanly possible, I feel that the best thing that any of us can do to achieve this is to strive to have the highest possible degree of humility, integrity, and responsibility. I think that in doing so, we will have prepared the soil for the seeds that God can then plant in our hearts. I think that a persons ability to be in touch with the Lord largely depends on what degree of humility, integrity, and responsibility they have. It should be pointed out here that just about everyone would claim that they have a high degree of all three characteristics, as the verse says "every man's way is right in his own eyes" It is the human way to be able to concoct a idea and then convince oneself that this is God's will, this being the case, we must be careful. In order for us to have a high degree of these characteristics we must first learn to be honest with ourselves, a concept that few people are even aware of. If we can learn to do this, I believe that we will be able to live out our full potential for God, ourselves, and the world and that we will learn and experience happiness and peace beyond what we have today. In all of this, I believe that God gives us a free will to decide what He wants us to do and that the best thing we can do is prepare the soil and try to keep it as fertile as possible. It's a very big responsibility. _____________________________________ THERE IS BACKSLIDING THAT WE ARE AWARE OF AND THERE IS BACKSLIDING THAT WE ARE UNAWARE OF. The verses below are some examples of how we can know God and then turn away. Sometimes we are not aware of this happening. Galatians 4:9 But now that you know God--or rather are known by God--how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? Matthew 12:43 "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, `I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation." _________________________________________________ EASY ANSWERS The new age belief system has a abundance of easy, pleasant sounding answers to many questions. Those answers are not always responsible or honest. Conclusions are often the result of us thinking about a topic until we find a answer that sounds good to us. As Christians, let us be responsible and honest when seeking our answers, let us not be influenced by what is easiest to believe. TO LOOK WITHIN ONESELF Proverbs 21:2 All a man's ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart I LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING VERSES AS WARNINGS OF WHAT CAN HAPPEN TO US WITHOUT US BEING AWARE OF IT. Matthew 13:14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "`You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' 2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. ________________________________________ CHANTING TO ESCAPE I once witnessed a young man who was being lectured because he had been living in a vacant house without the permission of the owner. The owner found out that he was there and proceeded to tell him that he could no longer live on the premises and that he should get a job and become more responsible. Upon hearing this, the young man immediately began to audibly chant words and a melody that were unfamiliar to me. He obviously was attempting to make enough noise so as to block out this information that he did not want to hear. He likely believed that he was serving his god and showing faith in his god in doing this. Do each of us tend to do the same thing when we hear a idea that we do not like? We may not audibly start to chant, but do we, in our own way, mistakenly believe that we are serving our God when we block out what we do not want to hear? ____________________________ If anyone shares my concerns or feels my concerns are unwarranted, please write and share your thoughts with me. Thank-you, jim martin -- harpj@wcn.net |
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