Where do you stand: Legalism VS License

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Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
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#21
oh ok.
I will have a look.
well theres this anime shop in the mall totally devoted to it but I never got into it. One of my cousins was crazy about pokemon. I think thats like the gateway. I dont have a lot of anime or manga books in my childrens library although Amulet is very popular. Not sure if that qualifies.

the only others I can think of that we have are
avatar
bukugan
pokemon series
and lego ninjago.

The japanese are very liberal about porn and matter of fact about it. But prostitution is not practiced there the way its done in america. for them, its actually considered respectable. as long as done behind closed doors. I dont think it makes it morally ok tho, not in Gods eyes.

There are not many christians who are japanese though, koreans actually took to the gospel better.
having said that the first person who reached out to me with the Bible was Japanese. He became a christian through his host family in nz.
 
Aug 16, 2020
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#22
oh ok.
I will have a look.
well theres this anime shop in the mall totally devoted to it but I never got into it. One of my cousins was crazy about pokemon. I think thats like the gateway. I dont have a lot of anime or manga books in my childrens library although Amulet is very popular. Not sure if that qualifies.

the only others I can think of that we have are
avatar
bukugan
pokemon series
and lego ninjago.

The japanese are very liberal about porn and matter of fact about it. But prostitution is not practiced there the way its done in america. for them, its actually considered respectable. as long as done behind closed doors. I dont think it makes it morally ok tho, not in Gods eyes.

There are not many christians who are japanese though, koreans actually took to the gospel better.
having said that the first person who reached out to me with the Bible was Japanese. He became a christian through his host family in nz.
I’m sorry but I gotta disagree with Pokémon being a gateway, you will only let something become a gateway if you let it take over your life, and that can include bible stuff, cause “legalism” certainly isn’t very Christian, cause it is not by our deeds that will also us into heaven. Also, propersity gospel, teaching that if you believe in Jesus then your life will have no more problems is a lie.

Yeah, Japanese have that outlook on porn because of their young population, due to the fact that the Japanese school systems apply a lot of pressure and tell all their students, “You need to go to college and get a job in your degree, if you don’t you’re a failure”, a great amount of young Japanese are NEETs (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) and they will never leave their homes, wanting to escape reality with hobbies, and Japanese people knowing they can money off of the frustrated youth, make those explicit shows, this stuff has been going on ever since Anime’s popularity boom in the 1980s (Maybe 70s). I know the church my mom’s friend used to teach her “Fit for God” program, they had a group out in Japan teaching Christianity. Plus, you have to consider the history of eastern countries as most were the founding centers for religions such as Buddhism, etc.

I’m not saying that stuff to say their way of life is okay, but I’m saying it in that it is the truth that most Japanese do not know about God.

Also I just wanted to mention that Avatar and Lego Ninjao don’t count as anime, anime is: “If it’s made in Japan, then it counts as anime”. Avatar and Lego Ninjao are just basically “Japanese/Anime inspired”. Without Pokémon, I’m really sure I wouldn’t be on CC, cause it was my interest in Pokémon that go me onto the Internet, the lord let’s everything happen for a reason, this I truly believe.
 
Aug 16, 2020
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#23
oh ok.
I will have a look.
well theres this anime shop in the mall totally devoted to it but I never got into it. One of my cousins was crazy about pokemon. I think thats like the gateway. I dont have a lot of anime or manga books in my childrens library although Amulet is very popular. Not sure if that qualifies.

the only others I can think of that we have are
avatar
bukugan
pokemon series
and lego ninjago.

The japanese are very liberal about porn and matter of fact about it. But prostitution is not practiced there the way its done in america. for them, its actually considered respectable. as long as done behind closed doors. I dont think it makes it morally ok tho, not in Gods eyes.

There are not many christians who are japanese though, koreans actually took to the gospel better.
having said that the first person who reached out to me with the Bible was Japanese. He became a christian through his host family in nz.
I found some bible verses that support my “God lets everything happen for a reason”

Colossians 1:16 (ESV): For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Isaiah 43:7 (ESV): everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”

Ezekiel 20:9 (ESV): But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

I used this website for getting these Bible verses: https://applygodsword.com/god-does-everything-for-his-own-glory-verses/

Plus I liked what this website had to say on this issue: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/does-everything-that-happens-glorify-god-as-much-as-possible

I realized I wasn’t clear enough with my “I believe God lets everything happen for a reason”, so I hope these bible verses and websites help make my opinion more clear ^_^
 
Dec 17, 2018
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#24
So as I’m chilling at home, I thought about the perfect thing to discuss: Legalism VS License

Anything I say is taken as reference from the Bible study “Romans: Good News that changes everything by Melissa Spoelstra”

So I did this study back in January of this year, and the point of talking about Legalism VS License is that you don’t want one or the other to take over your path as a Christian.

License is the mindset of “Anything goes”, while Legalism is “Follow all the rules”, here is a explanation the author used to describe legalism and why it’s bad:

“Warren Wiersbe defines legalism in his Romans commentary as ‘the belief that I can become holy and please God by obeying laws. It is measuring spirituality by a list of dos and don’ts.’ Extreme legalism can sometimes be easier to identify, but we must guard against the subtle ways it can creep into our spiritual rhythms. God knows our human tendency to want to check boxes...When we mark these off in our minds, we can start feeling pretty good about ourselves. As we get good at being good, we also get good at being judgmental.”

So where do you stand? I’m trying to balance both, as I will try my best to follow God’s law, but sometimes I still struggle with judging people, especially if fashion wise they weird me out like a man with painted nails or a woman with a “Man haircut” basically. But I pray and repent, for I know I need to love people, as God loves everyone. But I will stand strong to the best of my ability to God’s law.
Hey Sarah, i know that it can be seen as a license for sinning the fact that we are eternally forgiven and the Lord remembers our sins no more. But nothing can be further from the truth, as the bible says we are death to the law, we where born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ the lamb of God and so, the law that was put into the world to accuse humanity and bring death has no power over us.
That is why the new covenant is written in our hearts, which means desires, feelings, and everything that makes us human. Do we still sin? of course, we have a fallen body...Does that mean we are under the law? By no means says Paul, don't you know that we HAVE DIED TO SIN?" By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"
So your question is hard...Do we have a license to sin? i mean, we are sinning well without a license, as any unbeliever is.
Do we want to sin? are we made for sin? NO BECAUSE WE ARE BORN AGAIN NOT FROM THE FLESH BUT FROM THE SPIRIT AND THIS MEANS BORN OF GOD HIMSELF.
So thank the lord for this easy way that is Jesus Christ and do not worry, you have the law in yourself and you will know what to do if you search it inside.
 
Dec 17, 2018
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#25
Another thing i want to point out, the law is not taken seriously by any christian that i know at least. The people that bring forth some part of the law and leave behind some other part are just behaving in a foolish way. For it is written; 10Whoever keeps the whole Law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
So what is it? are they trying to obey the 613 regulations or is just 9 or 8 or the big 10? For me this is just foolishness.
"Gal 5; 2-4 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace."
And if you think Paul is talking about only the Jewish regulations he also talks about how the law that has been written in stone (the 10) caused him to sin even more by arousing his flesh. (this is referring to the not covet commandment)
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
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#26
pokemon being a gateway to a further interest in anime I meant, I didnt mean anything else by it. Pokemeon is still popular with some children in my school.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
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#27
People that are legalistic need to understand grace and forgiveness.
People that think its a licence need to know why Jesus died and how he suffered for our sins.
 
Aug 16, 2020
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#28
pokemon being a gateway to a further interest in anime I meant, I didnt mean anything else by it. Pokemeon is still popular with some children in my school.
Ah, I’m sorry.

I thought you we’re saying it was a gateway into bad stuff cause you said your cousin got crazy into Pokémon. I recently-ish had a bad run in with a church. You see, I decided in November to make my own Pokémon league and my mom came up with the brilliant idea to have a flyer at the desk when our Mom MOPS/Fit for God meetings would take place, cause we do have ladies with young children and since our town is so tiny, there isn’t much to do out here. Basically it’s only outdoor activities which I’m not against, but I know there are some kids who are not into that stuff, like I was (And still kinda am, lol) and I made this league to help the community to have something else fun to do. But apparently some ladies (I’ve been living with my mom for a few months when this happened, so they should have known how much God mattered to me) were talking to each other via text and said they didn’t approve. They said they hoped for my mom guide me away from Pokémon and that they would pray for her. My mom was legit pissed off at them cause they know her and that she believes that they should know that I was not into bad stuff for liking Pokémon. The church itself wasn’t sure, and mom’s friend that runs Fit for God wasn’t sure.

But my mom’s friend and the church did something that those who didn’t like what my mom did, THEY ACTUALLY RESEARCHED. Yes, they googled up Pokémon and learned that most Christians, including the Pope himself, are okay with Pokémon because it teaches great moral values, like how important friendship is. Now I’m not defending Pokémon, those that don’t like Pokémon basically don’t like the “Evolution and Stone usage part” (Cause some Pokémon evolve by using stones, like using a Fire stone to evolve Vulpix into Ninetails) but I’m using my league to help kids possibly make new friends and for the TCG, to hopefully help them in their math/reading skills, cause the card game takes legit math and reading, I sometimes have to pull out a calculator when doing online matches to make sure I get KO on the opponent, lol.

The church did allow me and my mom to have a flyer back out, but I decided not to, to avoid further conflict that could happen. My mom couldn’t believe that there would be people so upset at pokemon, I knew from watching YouTube videos on the subject, but I think since my mom has seen how it helped me to open up and make friends, she can see the benefits of Pokémon might have for shy children.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
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#29
huh.
well see thing is some people dont understand how fantasy works.
those same ppl think that say harry potter books, which are fiction, are going teach children how to be witches and wizards and be evil. so we should just ban it completely. But I would say, thats kind of saying our God is a weak God and is not even going to protect our children from a fantasy book.

ok porn and incessant advertising YES ban it, cos its rubbish. But a fantasy book, even a badly written Enid Blyton has its place.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
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#30
shy children (and I was one myself) often need the outlet of an active imagination to escape into. Or to create.

some people can live comfortably in reality because their actual reality is so well off or they live in such a complete bubble they dont need to fantasise a different world. Is how I view it. They have all the rewards already in this life so why bother thinking of anything better.

I think with children, imagination is a good thing. The Bible does say the young will dream dreams and have visions.
 
Aug 19, 2020
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#31
those that don’t like Pokémon basically don’t like the “Evolution and Stone usage part”
"Evolution" is kind of a bad term for what Pokemon do anyway. Their changing is more akin to metamorphosis which doesn't roll off the tongue quite as easily, especially for kids learning how to read (which teaching how to read was actually a marketing point on the back of the original games' boxes). "Evolution" is basically just a red flag word for a lot of Christians.
 
Aug 16, 2020
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#32
"Evolution" is kind of a bad term for what Pokemon do anyway. Their changing is more akin to metamorphosis which doesn't roll off the tongue quite as easily, especially for kids learning how to read (which teaching how to read was actually a marketing point on the back of the original games' boxes). "Evolution" is basically just a red flag word for a lot of Christians.
Yeah that is true, I just say “Evolution” cause it was the first thing that popped into my head. I know my mom’s friend won’t be doing her Fit for God program anymore at that church (And probably the MOPS too, cause she put my mom in charge of managing that program), just wondering what it will be like doing these programs at a different church. I know it will go well, but where we held the program at they had a fitness room built, not with workout machines, but you know nice wood floor with bars on the wall for bar exercise routines. But no matter what church we move to, the same ladies who complained will probably be doing our programs so I’m not even thinking of trying to put out flyers, even though we will probably be changing churches to host us.

Just remembered this video’s existence, basically it just goes over all the talking negatives but also positives Christians and other religions had with Pokémon, but it focuses more on the Christian angle if I’m correct:


(If anyone doesn’t like the thumbnail I’m sorry, tried removing it by removing the hyperlink, cause it just appears as text, before posting >~<)
 
Aug 19, 2020
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#33
Just remembered this video’s existence, basically it just goes over all the talking negatives but also positives Christians and other religions had with Pokémon, but it focuses more on the Christian angle if I’m correct:

I've seen some videos by Did You Know Gaming before but not that one. Conspiracy theorists are crazy, lol
 

Billyd

Senior Member
May 8, 2014
5,233
1,641
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#34
Yeah that is true, I just say “Evolution” cause it was the first thing that popped into my head. I know my mom’s friend won’t be doing her Fit for God program anymore at that church (And probably the MOPS too, cause she put my mom in charge of managing that program), just wondering what it will be like doing these programs at a different church. I know it will go well, but where we held the program at they had a fitness room built, not with workout machines, but you know nice wood floor with bars on the wall for bar exercise routines. But no matter what church we move to, the same ladies who complained will probably be doing our programs so I’m not even thinking of trying to put out flyers, even though we will probably be changing churches to host us.

Just remembered this video’s existence, basically it just goes over all the talking negatives but also positives Christians and other religions had with Pokémon, but it focuses more on the Christian angle if I’m correct:


(If anyone doesn’t like the thumbnail I’m sorry, tried removing it by removing the hyperlink, cause it just appears as text, before posting >~<)
Your bobbing signature makes you posts almost impossible to read.
 

tourist

Senior Member
Mar 13, 2014
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Tennessee
#35
The only laws of God that I believe are still in effect are the 10 Commandments. Rather that trying to follow God's law I try to focus on humbly serving the Lord. If you are doing that you don't have to worry about the law. It is good to obey the Lord but it is much better to serve the Lord because in that way others will benefit besides yourself.
 

tourist

Senior Member
Mar 13, 2014
42,598
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Tennessee
#36
are you japanese?
just wondering. I think a lot of what people watch is rubbish and sometimes it comes with no warning. For example, american movies, I was watching one yesterday an eighties movie called Heathers. apparently it was a classic comedy about high school. But it was full of people shooting each other, sexual assualt, bullying, and one sociopath trying to blow up the school. all the teenagers get away with it. The parents dont care.

and this was meant to be FUNNY?! some people would call it dark comedy or black humour, but Im like, I dont think thats funny. Not when theres school shootings.

then I watched Bowling for Columbine afterwards and then thought. I cant handle american movies anymore. Its meant to be entertainment. They screw with your mind.
I can't handle American movies anymore either. The same goes for American television. Generally, a waste of time.