Confession Thread.

[Liamson]

Feel free to post whatever you want to get off your chest.




I. I am somewhere beyond frustrated by the 3 Charismatic Christians in my Western Religions Class....
1. When asked what the purpose of the Holy Spirit is in the Trinity, talk about Speaking in tongues.
2. When asked what intergenerational traditions are in Christianity, talk about speaking in tongues.
3. When asked about Unifying Hallmarks of Christianity, talk about speaking in tongues.
4. When asked about the Moral Imperatives are for Christians, talked about Worship Experience and Speaking in Tongues and 2 week missions trips to Mexico.


II. And then I watched the Ken Ham & Bill Nye "Debate"
1. It was like one guy giving an okay Sermon, with Lots Post-Hoc Rationalization and Metaphors.
2. And the other guy, talking emotionally and enthusiastically about the wonders of Science.
3. Worst Debate format ever.
4. Whoever came in with whatever view, simply had their view validated.
5. Each person simply was addressing their own audience.


III. Perhaps I have been in my own circles for so long, or I have been deliberately ignorant of a trend occurring but, there is a creeping superstition that is infiltrating Christianity. At first I had just attributed it to Facebook like & share stuff that old women post and repost for the emotions and feelings that it conjures. It is assumed that these feel good stories get passed around, and go unchecked through thousands and thousands of people's pages.

It makes me feel like Thunderf00t.

Because, you see, I've encountered this sort of Emotionalism. That is, Christians, who use their Emotions as verification of whether or not something is true or false. "I know this is true, because I can feeeeeeeeeeel it."

Now I've heard this line of Reasoning before, from Mormon Missionaries, who claim that when you read the book of Mormon, you should feel a "Burning in the Bosom" which is verification of the book's truth.






Then I did some research, and I discovered that there is like 20 kids recently who have "Gone to Heaven" and come back, with all kinds of conflicting and inconsistent tales. Some get book deals, others get TV and Radio time. And then churches and authorities are simply silent about it, meanwhile people are believe it because it sounds good or it feels right.




With all of these things, I am left wondering if what I believe even makes me a Christian. When I read stuff from Irenaeus, Origen, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, and Tertullian, I see that the struggles our faith is facing is not new. The debates we are having, the appeals to reason over emotions, the perversions of the society we live in, ALL OF IT, is not new.

However with Snowballing popularity, and a complete lack of checks in place to "curb the enthusiasm" I see this superstitious parasite riding Christianity into the ground.


TL;DR : I feel like my faith is being hijacked.

 

[ProphetExcalibur]

....and then there is Speaking in tongues.....!

Feel free to post whatever you want to get off your chest.




I. I am somewhere beyond frustrated by the 3 Charismatic Christians in my Western Religions Class....
1. When asked what the purpose of the Holy Spirit is in the Trinity, talk about Speaking in tongues.
2. When asked what intergenerational traditions are in Christianity, talk about speaking in tongues.
3. When asked about Unifying Hallmarks of Christianity, talk about speaking in tongues.
4. When asked about the Moral Imperatives are for Christians, talked about Worship Experience and Speaking in Tongues and 2 week missions trips to Mexico.


II. And then I watched the Ken Ham & Bill Nye "Debate"
1. It was like one guy giving an okay Sermon, with Lots Post-Hoc Rationalization and Metaphors.
2. And the other guy, talking emotionally and enthusiastically about the wonders of Science.
3. Worst Debate format ever.
4. Whoever came in with whatever view, simply had their view validated.
5. Each person simply was addressing their own audience.


III. Perhaps I have been in my own circles for so long, or I have been deliberately ignorant of a trend occurring but, there is a creeping superstition that is infiltrating Christianity. At first I had just attributed it to Facebook like & share stuff that old women post and repost for the emotions and feelings that it conjures. It is assumed that these feel good stories get passed around, and go unchecked through thousands and thousands of people's pages.

It makes me feel like Thunderf00t.

Because, you see, I've encountered this sort of Emotionalism. That is, Christians, who use their Emotions as verification of whether or not something is true or false. "I know this is true, because I can feeeeeeeeeeel it."

Now I've heard this line of Reasoning before, from Mormon Missionaries, who claim that when you read the book of Mormon, you should feel a "Burning in the Bosom" which is verification of the book's truth.






Then I did some research, and I discovered that there is like 20 kids recently who have "Gone to Heaven" and come back, with all kinds of conflicting and inconsistent tales. Some get book deals, others get TV and Radio time. And then churches and authorities are simply silent about it, meanwhile people are believe it because it sounds good or it feels right.




With all of these things, I am left wondering if what I believe even makes me a Christian. When I read stuff from Irenaeus, Origen, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, and Tertullian, I see that the struggles our faith is facing is not new. The debates we are having, the appeals to reason over emotions, the perversions of the society we live in, ALL OF IT, is not new.

However with Snowballing popularity, and a complete lack of checks in place to "curb the enthusiasm" I see this superstitious parasite riding Christianity into the ground.


TL;DR : I feel like my faith is being hijacked.

 

[Fenner]

Confession number 1: I'm tired of being sick. I want to feel better today.

2: There is an over dramatic person in my family who need to stop making a big deal out of everything.

3: If my Sister begins to try to tell me what she would and wouldn't do with kids again, I might have to bring some stuff up, it's very annoying.

That is all.

 

[1still_waters]

However with Snowballing popularity, and a complete lack of checks in place to "curb the enthusiasm" I see this superstitious parasite riding Christianity into the ground.


TL;DR : I feel like my faith is being hijacked.

I think we can blame the over emphasis on inward feelings/emotions on pietism.
Our faith rests on what Jesus achieved outside of us.

Not that he isn't working in us. He certainly is. But when trying to base what we rest our faith in 100%, it rests 100% on what he did outside of us. What he's doing inside of us is still mixed with the remaining sinful nature. Certainly that isn't something stable to rest faith upon 100%.

So we need to rest all faith on that, and not on what we may be , or not be feeling.



That's how I've reconciled it so far.

Although I may have completely misinterpreted what you had to say.

 

[Donkeyfish07]

With all of these things, I am left wondering if what I believe even makes me a Christian. When I read stuff from Irenaeus, Origen, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, and Tertullian, I see that the struggles our faith is facing is not new. The debates we are having, the appeals to reason over emotions, the perversions of the society we live in, ALL OF IT, is not new.

However with Snowballing popularity, and a complete lack of checks in place to "curb the enthusiasm" I see this superstitious parasite riding Christianity into the ground.

TL;DR : I feel like my faith is being hijacked.

+1 to the underlined. It's so bad at this point, I wouldn't even recommend an unbeliever go to Church to learn. That may sound pretty radical but I do believe it's that bad. I would suggest unbelievers actually read the bible for themselves and ask God for understanding.

Some may scoff at that idea but hey, we all know the Church is rampant with false teachings across all denominations.....even if we don't agree on what these "false teachings" are.

 

[jkalyna]

It isn't right to post things like suicide is acceptable.
Suicide bombers are not acceptable
they are murders, and kill others and themselves
So I report posts of those who promote it here.
Unscriptural.
don't play around with the thought, it's an open invitation to
death, of self, and others. Mass murders have been committed by suicidal people.
We have hope, and are not hopeless, for we have a Great God, and Savior
Yeshua



​

 

[Praus]

Because, you see, I've encountered this sort of Emotionalism. That is, Christians, who use their Emotions as verification of whether or not something is true or false. "I know this is true, because I can feeeeeeeeeeel it."

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Liamson again.

 

[Donkeyfish07]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Liamson again.

I know, I got the same message

 

[Liamson]

I think we can blame the over emphasis on inward feelings/emotions on pietism.
Our faith rests on what Jesus achieved outside of us.

Not that he isn't working in us. He certainly is. But when trying to base what we rest our faith in 100%, it rests 100% on what he did outside of us. What he's doing inside of us is still mixed with the remaining sinful nature. Certainly that isn't something stable to rest faith upon 100%.

So we need to rest all faith on that, and not on what we may be , or not be feeling.



That's how I've reconciled it so far.

Although I may have completely misinterpreted what you had to say.

I don't even know. I'm not terribly familiar with Pietism.


However, From a Teleological perspective, a good doctrine should bring Christians to believe, repent, follow and make disciples.

That is the ends which justify the means.

Deontologically speaking, it is our Duty as Christians to Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Each of us, being Christians, is commanded to "Go and do likewise"


Instead what I see happening, is the "Bring a friend to church, so someone else can tell them about Jesus. There will be mood enhancing music and a feel good message." Maybe eventually, the cultural conviction of the people who go to church will convince you to reform yourself, at least on the outside.

 

[AAAPlus]

Feel free to post whatever you want to get off your chest.




I. I am somewhere beyond frustrated by the 3 Charismatic Christians in my Western Religions Class....
1. When asked what the purpose of the Holy Spirit is in the Trinity, talk about Speaking in tongues.
2. When asked what intergenerational traditions are in Christianity, talk about speaking in tongues.
3. When asked about Unifying Hallmarks of Christianity, talk about speaking in tongues.
4. When asked about the Moral Imperatives are for Christians, talked about Worship Experience and Speaking in Tongues and 2 week missions trips to Mexico.


II. And then I watched the Ken Ham & Bill Nye "Debate"
1. It was like one guy giving an okay Sermon, with Lots Post-Hoc Rationalization and Metaphors.
2. And the other guy, talking emotionally and enthusiastically about the wonders of Science.
3. Worst Debate format ever.
4. Whoever came in with whatever view, simply had their view validated.
5. Each person simply was addressing their own audience.


III. Perhaps I have been in my own circles for so long, or I have been deliberately ignorant of a trend occurring but, there is a creeping superstition that is infiltrating Christianity. At first I had just attributed it to Facebook like & share stuff that old women post and repost for the emotions and feelings that it conjures. It is assumed that these feel good stories get passed around, and go unchecked through thousands and thousands of people's pages.

I. Well, there is a reason people those people go to churches full of people who pretend to speak in tongues. And yes, they are pretending. When the Bible talks about speaking in tongues, it is talking about actual foreign languages, where there is someone who can translate. It's the kind of thing where you could record what they are saying, bring it to three different people who speak that language, and they would all give you the same translation. It's not talking about incomprehensible babel. The former is used to convict outsiders, who don't speak your language, of God's power. The latter is mostly a bunch of rubbish. The fact that they bring up their "tongues" in such an insistent way seems to imply a great deal of cognitive dissonance on their part, to the end that they pretend to do something spiritual and then insist that it must be incredibly significant.

On top of that, if they wanted to prove their "heaven babel" they should record someone and see if three different people provide the same translation for what they are saying.

II. I've been meaning to listen to that debate (anyone else hear about it on the Wally show?). Any media source regarding it seems to be really biased, and when I listen to it I fully expect to hear exactly what you've just described. But the way I see it is, in the end, it's a victory for Ken Ham. Because he got Bill Nye to come out and debate with him. Even as a Christian, I had never heard of the creation museum, but every 80's and 90's kid knows who Bill Nye is! What I got out of it is "Oh hey, the creation museum is a thing!" They say that any publicity is good publicity, and this was essentially a celebrity endorsement.

III. There's nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes. We shouldn't be surprised at the overwhelming, frustratingly illogical opposition to the Christian faith, because Jesus said it would happen.

 

[1still_waters]

I don't even know. I'm not terribly familiar with Pietism.


However, From a Teleological perspective, a good doctrine should bring Christians to believe, repent, follow and make disciples.

That is the ends which justify the means.

Deontologically speaking, it is our Duty as Christians to Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Each of us, being Christians, is commanded to "Go and do likewise"


Instead what I see happening, is the "Bring a friend to church, so someone else can tell them about Jesus. There will be mood enhancing music and a feel good message." Maybe eventually, the cultural conviction of the people who go to church will convince you to reform yourself, at least on the outside.

Yeah in the olden days they called the mood enhancing emotionalism/hysteria. Because at the end of the day all you had was a release of emotions. That's why it's dangerous to preach so much on having "passion". It's just an emotion. Of course the other extreme to avoid is stoicism.

The part about reforming yourself is mostly the byproduct of seeker-sensitive type churches that strip mine the Bible in search of "practical" maxims to live life by. Some would call it a form of godliness minus the power. You see this when a church preaches on things like seven easy steps to "fill in the blank".

It's sort of a way of teaching law (aka do this do that), without preaching gospel, which is the thing that empowers us to do this and do that.

Life principles are terrible when they're stripped from the power of the gospel. Unfortunately the cross/gospel isn't seeker-sensitive.

 

[seoulsearch]

After reading Liamson's first post, I kind of forgot what it was I wanted to vent/confess.

Now I just want to hear more about Pietism/Emotionalism and how's it's dispelled...

 

[Jullianna]

1. Spewing scripture without an ounce of godly compassion. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

[video=youtube;K4phDxYMYB0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4phDxYMYB0[/video]

2. "That's what I've been TOLD the Bible says". Anyone capable of typing that sentence is capable of reading scripture for themselves.

3. Christianese books. Building entirely new religions based upon them. Even dating religions. Fads fade. The Word of God stands forever.

4. We may not understand someone. We may not agree with them. That doesn't give us the right to bully them.

5. Comparing apples and oranges. I'd better leave it at that before I become mean spirited myself.

6. The hands and feet of Christ are supposed to be doing something. Lots of somethings. Those things do not include clawing at/stomping siblings in Christ.

7. Isn't self-control a fruit of the Spirit? Why be so easily offended? Why give someone else that sort of control over you?

8. Christian youtube hero worship. Ack....



Liamson: Couldn't agree more about the feelings thing. God is God. He is righteous, faithful, true and ACTIVE, no matter how we "feel". Anyone following Him by their feelings is going to be tossed about at every bump in the road. It takes more than feelings to finish the race.

 

[Liamson]

Yeah in the olden days they called the mood enhancing emotionalism/hysteria. Because at the end of the day all you had was a release of emotions. That's why it's dangerous to preach so much on having "passion". It's just an emotion. Of course the other extreme to avoid is stoicism.

The part about reforming yourself is mostly the byproduct of seeker-sensitive type churches that strip mine the Bible in search of "practical" maxims to live life by. Some would call it a form of godliness minus the power. You see this when a church preaches on things like seven easy steps to "fill in the blank".

It's sort of a way of teaching law (aka do this do that), without preaching gospel, which is the thing that empowers us to do this and do that.

Life principles are terrible when they're stripped from the power of the gospel. Unfortunately the cross/gospel isn't seeker-sensitive.

I had no idea what seeker-sensitive meant, so I googled it...

Fascinating.

 

[Liamson]

I also must confess that I don't go to the same church every Sunday. Sometimes I go to two or 3 different churches and sometimes I don't go at all.


I think its important to maintain community with all of Christian friends.



Also, I wish I tithed more consistently and deliberately. Having it automatically come out of my income, like amazon prime and Netflix seems wrong to me, but I think I need to do something like that.

 

[Grace-Like-Rain]

I also must confess that I don't go to the same church every Sunday. Sometimes I go to two or 3 different churches and sometimes I don't go at all.


I think its important to maintain community with all of Christian friends.



Also, I wish I tithed more consistently and deliberately. Having it automatically come out of my income, like amazon prime and Netflix seems wrong to me, but I think I need to do something like that.

The only problem with not committing yourself to a specific church body is that it's harder to develop deeper relationships for the purpose of discipleship and accountability. (Or submission to church leadership.) I sometimes wish I could sit in on other church services to get a different style of preaching than mine offers, but church is about so much more than the preaching.

I'm the same way about tithing. It's sad... I want to actually make it an act of worship, but that very process trips me up because checkbooks are a thing of the past, and actual cash is even more so for me. I pay tithes via my on-line billpay (not auto), but I try to send it off prayerfully and make it as much an "offering" as I can.

 

[NightRevan]

Well creationism/evolution debates are something that has particularly resonances in the US I think, outside the US the young earth creation interpretation isn't tied into a series of other cultural/political issues the way they often seem to work (at least from my outsider's perspective) the way the do in the States. So in Britain and Europe it doesn't have the central importance that the debate plays in America, that certainly doesn't mean it's any better here, just that we have different issues and the cultural conflicts work out differently. So it can be strange looking across the pond sometimes at these debates, and the insistence on a young Earth interpretation of Genesis, but I'm pretty sure a number of our issues appear equally odd to you guys in the US to , despite sharing a language, some of culture is very different in places, but God loves diversity (though ultimately under the Lordship of Jesus, as He hates the destruction of disunity through sin), and that includes the beautiful diversity of cultures .

So anyway, I leave the effects, good and bad of such debates to those it concerns the most, as for my confession, um yeah, they can be quite embarrassing, so I'll keep those between God and me for now .

 

[DuchessAimee]

1) I greatly struggle with the Body of Christ. Are we not reading the same bible? And I'm not talking about versions. Sometimes I'll overhear a conversation (or read a thread on CC) and I want to ask the people involved, "Where did you get that? That's not proper Christian doctrine. Are we not reading the same bible?" It really, REALLY gets to me. The bible isn't difficult to understand. There are mysteries, sure. But it's not hard to contemplate, hide in our hearts, and live out. It's really not. Living it out requires work and hardship and pain, but you end up with joy, knowledge, and a communing with God. I think it's pretty stellar.


2) I understand why we have a tax system and all that nonsense... but I'm angry about not getting a refund. I'm actually kinda pouty about it. First world problems, eh?


3) I'm hungry. I think I'll go forage for food.

 

[ww_21]

My confession: A week ago, I decided to stop praying for myself because I end up getting hurt anyways and bad stuff still happens so I just stopped praying for myself or anything that I may want. I pray for others though. I don't think I can ever bring myself to ask for anything from God again. I feel silly even admitting it but it's something I've been holding in and since this is a confession thread- here it is.

 

[iTOREtheSKY]

My confession: A week ago, I decided to stop praying for myself because I end up getting hurt anyways and bad stuff still happens so I just stopped praying for myself or anything that I may want. I pray for others though. I don't think I can ever bring myself to ask for anything from God again. I feel silly even admitting it but it's something I've been holding in and since this is a confession thread- here it is.

I just want to say,that's pretty brave of you to share this. Not that it will make you "feel" any better,but I felt very much like you do now at one point,well various points in my walk with God. I can understand where yer' coming from.

The only thing's I find myself praying for myself these days is that I'll learn how to love unconditionally,that I will grow in patience,and that I will put other's before myself. Other than that,I really never know how to or what to pray for concerning me.

I don't even ask God for many thing's anymore. It's more about just thanking Him,that He's got it covered.

I used to think,sometime's even as a believer that I was somehow cursed,or that the truths in the Bible were for "better" Chrisitans or just for those people in the Bible.

I think as you continue to pray for other's,you will feel less sad. And...you have people praying for you,just so you know.
I pray that you continue to share your heart with us here..and with God. Prayer isn't always just getting on yer' knees...it's simply talking to God at times...no matter what. Don't stop talking to Him. I've made that stoooopid choice at times before. Talk about feeling sad.

Praying for you little sister. For whatever it's worth.