Thank you for your response. I am still trying to figure out, though, how people developing relationships that are close with certain people and naturally exclude others can be seen as something that is not Christian, even here in cyberspace. It comes to me that Jesus had His inner circle among the greater number of twelve, and always there were others following along, more on the periphery. I wonder how often they felt left out. Even among the twelve, they jostled for position with Him. Jesus must have seen it as somewhat petty at times but on the other hand He completely understood each of them individually and comprehended with precision and perfection each of their individual needs, which is not something we are naturally capable of with ease as humans. I say with ease because hammering out the understanding between people can often be painful, as we see here with our attempts to come to a better perhaps more nuanced and more detailed understanding of Scripture and each other in the process. But even setting better understanding of Scripture aside for the moment... I grew up in a large family and so learned at a young age to simply retreat from confrontation, because it was too uncomfortable, and too stressful, and it was constant, just as we find in life, and so seek some sort of refuge in our friends who understand or get us or don't have expectations of us that cause us greater stress or discomfort, with whom we can experience peace and joy. Obviously that is not going to be everyone because people's personalities and perceptions clash. Life is truly complicated and simplicity sometimes is a welcome respite. I may be rambling a bit. I just woke up a while ago, have not eaten yet, and have a terrible headacheHello magenta...
I was not referring to ppl having close friends that they physically see and invite to their house or go bowling with.
I was referring to 'christians' in a public forum cyberspace and how they often exclusivise and ostracize others in a form of treating others as if they're not good-enough or welcome in their private club.
I see a big difference between physical contact/fellowship, and on-line public communication amongst ppl who claim to be one in Christ...
But that is not the point of my previous post,
(if ppl ... 'christians' ... want to treat others like that, that's their business, and it's probly not the kind of folks we'd want as friends, anyway, right?),
but my 'dilemma' point was what constitutes walk...
I was only laying out examples,
not calling anyone into a specific thing...
just laying out examples of how ppl interact or treat each other,
and the things we do on a daily basis,
eating sleeping bathroom,
and what, of those kinds of examples of things,
would constitute walking in the spirit or the flesh
and should we have a fear of being left out
if we're not 'walking' the right way at any given moment.
Also, well, I'll leave my next question for another time, but for now, does my explanation of my 'dilemma' question make sense? I hope?
The idea of ppl having friends sounds like a great thing, I would encourage it, and wish it was more of a reality in my own life, moreso than just some aquaintances, but that wasn't what I was referring to at all.
It was just a secondary example with regards to cyber-socializing amongst brothers/sisters in Christ, and how does this modern-day phenomenon fit in with the biblical idea of 'walking in the flesh/spirit.
My apologies if I have wandered off point.
Thank you for your response. I am still trying to figure out, though, how people developing relationships that are close with certain people and naturally exclude others can be seen as something that is not Christian, even here in cyberspace. It comes to me that Jesus had His inner circle among the greater number of twelve, and always there were others following along, more on the periphery. I wonder how often they felt left out. Even among the twelve, they jostled for position with Him. Jesus must have seen it as somewhat petty at times but on the other hand He completely understood each of them individually, and comprehended with precision and perfection each of their individual needs, which is not something we are naturally capable of with ease as humans. I say with ease because hammering out the understanding between people can often be painful, as we see here with our attempts to come to a better perhaps more nuanced and more detailed understanding of Scripture and each other in the process. But even setting better understanding of Scripture aside for the moment... I grew up in a large family and so learned at a young age to simply retreat from confrontation, because it was too uncomfortable, and too stressful, and it was constant, just as we find in life, and so seek some sort of refuge in our friends who understand or get us or don't have expectations of us that cause us greater stress or discomfort, with whom we can experience peace and joy. Obviously that is not going to be everyone because people's personalities and perceptions clash. Life is truly complicated and simplicity sometimes is a welcome respite. I may be rambling a bit. I just woke up a while ago, have not eaten yet, and have a terrible headacheHello magenta...
I was not referring to ppl having close friends that they physically see and invite to their house or go bowling with.
I was referring to 'christians' in a public forum cyberspace and how they often exclusivise and ostracize others in a form of treating others as if they're not good-enough or welcome in their private club.
I see a big difference between physical contact/fellowship, and on-line public communication amongst ppl who claim to be one in Christ...
But that is not the point of my previous post,
(if ppl ... 'christians' ... want to treat others like that, that's their business, and it's probly not the kind of folks we'd want as friends, anyway, right?),
but my 'dilemma' point was what constitutes walk...
I was only laying out examples,
not calling anyone into a specific thing...
just laying out examples of how ppl interact or treat each other,
and the things we do on a daily basis,
eating sleeping bathroom,
and what, of those kinds of examples of things,
would constitute walking in the spirit or the flesh
and should we have a fear of being left out
if we're not 'walking' the right way at any given moment.
Also, well, I'll leave my next question for another time, but for now, does my explanation of my 'dilemma' question make sense? I hope?
The idea of ppl having friends sounds like a great thing, I would encourage it, and wish it was more of a reality in my own life, moreso than just some aquaintances, but that wasn't what I was referring to at all.
It was just a secondary example with regards to cyber-socializing amongst brothers/sisters in Christ, and how does this modern-day phenomenon fit in with the biblical idea of 'walking in the flesh/spirit.
My apologies if I have wandered off point.
I lived through the aftermath of a false teacher without even ever hearing the false teacher/conman. I joined what was left of that church right after he took the young and the hurting away. I learned what the damage looks like because of that.
This is what I've always preached, and I have already been set free by Jesus Christ. Perhaps the Lord has just started to open your eyes to see, and unplug your ears to hear what we who are the Spirit have been saying all along. And yes, of course I love Him.
Same problem. Instead of being perfected by God, your plan is to be perfected by one of his many attributes, thus killing off that attribute as truly from God and making an interpretation -- Prince's interpretation -- of a god.
Read the whole thought that Col. 2:6 was plucked out of. It answers your questions. Read the whole book. It gives a fuller picture.
Amen and praise the Lord! I admit I didn't read back too far in the thread, so I thank Grace7s for reposting this, but wow Jenna, this is an astounding turn from some posts I remember reading of yours before, and I am rejoicing with you,
I truly hope so and I do pray for you.....God bless you as you follow Him in your life....
Everyone in Christ is in the Spirit....there are "special people in the Spirit"
Romans 8:9-10 (NASB)
[SUP]9 [/SUP] However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
[SUP]10 [/SUP] If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
Believe it or not, I also have prayed for you, this also is the will of God. Peace
If they exclude me, I automatically assume whew! Saves me time and effort. (It helps to know you know me well enough to know I go where I'm not always invited anyway.)Hello magenta...
I was not referring to ppl having close friends that they physically see and invite to their house or go bowling with.
I was referring to 'christians' in a public forum cyberspace and how they often exclusivise and ostracize others in a form of treating others as if they're not good-enough or welcome in their private club.
I see a big difference between physical contact/fellowship, and on-line public communication amongst ppl who claim to be one in Christ...
But that is not the point of my previous post,
(if ppl ... 'christians' ... want to treat others like that, that's their business, and it's probly not the kind of folks we'd want as friends, anyway, right?),
but my 'dilemma' point was what constitutes walk...
I was only laying out examples,
not calling anyone into a specific thing...
just laying out examples of how ppl interact or treat each other,
and the things we do on a daily basis,
eating sleeping bathroom,
and what, of those kinds of examples of things,
would constitute walking in the spirit or the flesh
and should we have a fear of being left out
if we're not 'walking' the right way at any given moment.
Also, well, I'll leave my next question for another time, but for now, does my explanation of my 'dilemma' question make sense? I hope?
The idea of ppl having friends sounds like a great thing, I would encourage it, and wish it was more of a reality in my own life, moreso than just some aquaintances, but that wasn't what I was referring to at all.
It was just a secondary example with regards to cyber-socializing amongst brothers/sisters in Christ, and how does this modern-day phenomenon fit in with the biblical idea of 'walking in the flesh/spirit.
Be careful. It looks like Christianity, but so does Mormonism and JW's until you look closer.Amen and praise the Lord! I admit I didn't read back too far in the thread, so I thank Grace7s for reposting this, but wow Jenna, this is an astounding turn from some posts I remember reading of yours before, and I am rejoicing with you,
^THIS THIS THIS^ is what it's all about! God bless you!
There are some of the anti-grace crowd from some other threads that got deleted that I wish would read this, and also any believers, myself included, who tend to lose this focus and message at times, and need a refreshing, renewing reminder of the love and grace and once-for-all gift of Jesus, and the joy of salvation in Him. Thank you and God bless you for a beautiful testimony and post!
It's okay. No, I never said anything about having friends being not-christian or anything. Maybe you're reading words/meanings into my post that aren't there, and the point about friends was not the point of my other post, which I tried to explain in the last one.Thank you for your response. I am still trying to figure out, though, how people developing relationships that are close with certain people and naturally exclude others can be seen as something that is not Christian, even here in cyberspace. It comes to me that Jesus had His inner circle among the greater number of twelve, and always there were others following along, more on the periphery. I wonder how often they felt left out. Even among the twelve, they jostled for position with Him. Jesus must have seen it as somewhat petty at times but on the other hand He completely understood each of them individually, and comprehended with precision and perfection each of their individual needs, which is not something we are naturally capable of with ease as humans. I say with ease because hammering out the understanding between people can often be painful, as we see here with our attempts to come to a better perhaps more nuanced and more detailed understanding of Scripture and each other in the process. But even setting better understanding of Scripture aside for the moment... I grew up in a large family and so learned at a young age to simply retreat from confrontation, because it was too uncomfortable, and too stressful, and it was constant, just as we find in life, and so seek some sort of refuge in our friends who understand or get us or don't have expectations of us that cause us greater stress or discomfort, with whom we can experience peace and joy. Obviously that is not going to be everyone because people's personalities and perceptions clash. Life is truly complicated and simplicity sometimes is a welcome respite. I may be rambling a bit. I just woke up a while ago, have not eaten yet, and have a terrible headache
/ God bless you sincerely and abundantly! Peace in Christ.
I don't believe God will cast you off if you miss a few prayer sessions, but prayer is a good way for us to stay in touch with God. I believe one sincere prayer in a week is better than 7 insincere and repetitious prayers in a week. God knows our hearts.
