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I suppose God COULD change, although, since he's not prone to human whims of changing his mind, he probably wont.
This is a great example of what people "proclaim"- God never changes.- Does he? He can turn his face to or away, make his countenance to shine, his wrath can be kindled and again subside. However, when we say things like that, we as mature Christians can have understanding, but what of children, foreigners, or non-believers that may hear? Do they know how we define our words? I was raised in a very much Christ-free, churchless (completely), environment. So as a teen and more a heathen than most, I remember being so frustrated with the way Christians had there own definitions of terms that were drastically different from mine. Early on in learning about Christ, came also with learning the way the group, that was teaching me about Christ, used common English words that were used differently elsewhere.
I got more into the thing with words when my dying Catholic family members encouraged me to look into initiation into the RCC. I did the looking into part for years, without joining with them, but I was interested because they used the same terms to mean totally different things. I then went on a campaign of apologetics. Protestants have so much pain handed down from generation to generation regarding the way the Papacy scarred Europe, but what of their brothers and sisters here and now, who had been pledged to this member of the body (the RCC) and found Christ there? It happens, it really does. Only about %15 of the time or something like that (only 25% of RCC members are considered "observant") and then there are more that get out and find Christ somewhere else and join in the church bashing. (Really though, in that culture you make a vow before God to obey the Pope at age 13, and in the eyes of some, it's binding like a marriage. It doesn't matter if the Pope is evil because they aren't worshiping him they are obeying him and we are told slaves obey your masters, this run-on sentence is just a bit of salve for people to give Catholics some mercy on the individual level, but I digress).
So here are some other words that get caught up in disagreement. Causing schism, division, and denominationalism.
Saved, salvation; to some means you're in like flint and can do nothing to change that, to others means you are married to Christ and shouldn't choose to change it but if you decide to go your own way that's fine like getting a divorce, to still others you can't choose to go your own way and if you do you were not really saved to begin with. Then we all start arguing and the lost and weary get tired of listening to us disagree.
Heaven: Paradise for Christians only forever and ever. Some say paradise temporarily until the resurrection and then eventually there will be a new one made for everyone left at the end. Some say that it's only a state of pleasant dreaming for the dead in Christ. Alternatively, "home" for all saved to be with Jesus and other saved people. Or just home for "good" people.
There are many branches of people from different cultures and have different things come to mind when they read scripture in their own language or paradigm.
Here's another good one. Hell. To some it's a misrepresentation of the place of the dead and an inference that you will be upset when you're there if you didn't accept Christ while alive. To others, a place where you burn with brimstone for eternity for not believing on the name of Jesus. Others still would say it's a place of purification which is what brimstone is for and that at the final judgement you are released from hell to come find out if you get turned into a dog or just blotted out of existence as if you never were. Some say that hell is a spirit that rode in with death and is here right now.
Rapture. Whether pre-trib or not, a time of being taken up to be with God, for however long. There have been many that were "translated" into the kingdom, some say Christians are already translated and we're good. From my reading it seems we are caught up to Christ to come with him at his coming. People argue over the amount of time that elapses between the catching up and the coming back, and what happens on Earth in the mean time.
So we need to have some grace for one another. We are supposed to judge justly the fruit of a believers life and counsel them to attain to perfection, and if they wont, we put them out of fellowship. No where in the bible does it ever say it's ok to tell someone they should be ashamed of themselves. When you judge like that with pointed finger, you need to be really careful, and the people better be committing the worst kind of sin intentionally. We judge fruit, only God knows the reins and hearts. There will of course be disagreement on this topic as well.
So can we get on the same page here or at least discuss the issues with civility? I mean isn't that the point of this website? I'm new so feel free, please, to correct me, but I see some people on here tearing each other to pieces. And I hate to sound like one of those people who thinks that we need to put on a good image for the world, because I don't agree with that, but we do need to keep in mind the audience. There are children that use this site. Even if you put a box to check with your age, kids lie. Also, anyone can see and hear the lounge chat room, without registering, or being noticed, and this seems to be an automatic default when you get your password wrong or try to join the room without registering or whatever. Can we have more love for each other? Always. We can always be improving our treatment or regard for others, and being conformed to the likeness of Christ, growing in mercy. When I hear someone pour out their heart, and I hear my brethren dissect the issues instead of ministering to that person, I don't know who to feel worse for.
This is a great example of what people "proclaim"- God never changes.- Does he? He can turn his face to or away, make his countenance to shine, his wrath can be kindled and again subside. However, when we say things like that, we as mature Christians can have understanding, but what of children, foreigners, or non-believers that may hear? Do they know how we define our words? I was raised in a very much Christ-free, churchless (completely), environment. So as a teen and more a heathen than most, I remember being so frustrated with the way Christians had there own definitions of terms that were drastically different from mine. Early on in learning about Christ, came also with learning the way the group, that was teaching me about Christ, used common English words that were used differently elsewhere.
I got more into the thing with words when my dying Catholic family members encouraged me to look into initiation into the RCC. I did the looking into part for years, without joining with them, but I was interested because they used the same terms to mean totally different things. I then went on a campaign of apologetics. Protestants have so much pain handed down from generation to generation regarding the way the Papacy scarred Europe, but what of their brothers and sisters here and now, who had been pledged to this member of the body (the RCC) and found Christ there? It happens, it really does. Only about %15 of the time or something like that (only 25% of RCC members are considered "observant") and then there are more that get out and find Christ somewhere else and join in the church bashing. (Really though, in that culture you make a vow before God to obey the Pope at age 13, and in the eyes of some, it's binding like a marriage. It doesn't matter if the Pope is evil because they aren't worshiping him they are obeying him and we are told slaves obey your masters, this run-on sentence is just a bit of salve for people to give Catholics some mercy on the individual level, but I digress).
So here are some other words that get caught up in disagreement. Causing schism, division, and denominationalism.
Saved, salvation; to some means you're in like flint and can do nothing to change that, to others means you are married to Christ and shouldn't choose to change it but if you decide to go your own way that's fine like getting a divorce, to still others you can't choose to go your own way and if you do you were not really saved to begin with. Then we all start arguing and the lost and weary get tired of listening to us disagree.
Heaven: Paradise for Christians only forever and ever. Some say paradise temporarily until the resurrection and then eventually there will be a new one made for everyone left at the end. Some say that it's only a state of pleasant dreaming for the dead in Christ. Alternatively, "home" for all saved to be with Jesus and other saved people. Or just home for "good" people.
There are many branches of people from different cultures and have different things come to mind when they read scripture in their own language or paradigm.
Here's another good one. Hell. To some it's a misrepresentation of the place of the dead and an inference that you will be upset when you're there if you didn't accept Christ while alive. To others, a place where you burn with brimstone for eternity for not believing on the name of Jesus. Others still would say it's a place of purification which is what brimstone is for and that at the final judgement you are released from hell to come find out if you get turned into a dog or just blotted out of existence as if you never were. Some say that hell is a spirit that rode in with death and is here right now.
Rapture. Whether pre-trib or not, a time of being taken up to be with God, for however long. There have been many that were "translated" into the kingdom, some say Christians are already translated and we're good. From my reading it seems we are caught up to Christ to come with him at his coming. People argue over the amount of time that elapses between the catching up and the coming back, and what happens on Earth in the mean time.
So we need to have some grace for one another. We are supposed to judge justly the fruit of a believers life and counsel them to attain to perfection, and if they wont, we put them out of fellowship. No where in the bible does it ever say it's ok to tell someone they should be ashamed of themselves. When you judge like that with pointed finger, you need to be really careful, and the people better be committing the worst kind of sin intentionally. We judge fruit, only God knows the reins and hearts. There will of course be disagreement on this topic as well.
So can we get on the same page here or at least discuss the issues with civility? I mean isn't that the point of this website? I'm new so feel free, please, to correct me, but I see some people on here tearing each other to pieces. And I hate to sound like one of those people who thinks that we need to put on a good image for the world, because I don't agree with that, but we do need to keep in mind the audience. There are children that use this site. Even if you put a box to check with your age, kids lie. Also, anyone can see and hear the lounge chat room, without registering, or being noticed, and this seems to be an automatic default when you get your password wrong or try to join the room without registering or whatever. Can we have more love for each other? Always. We can always be improving our treatment or regard for others, and being conformed to the likeness of Christ, growing in mercy. When I hear someone pour out their heart, and I hear my brethren dissect the issues instead of ministering to that person, I don't know who to feel worse for.