A drug dealer that believe he have strong faith

I'm just putting that out there. I wrestle with it, it wasn't meant to be against you.

In fact I've had long prayers of frustration over the minutiae of my own conscience. Not that I'm faulting the Lord in his design but hopefully I'll find some rest from it someday

Honestly that's why when anyone brings up the stuff about obeying laws of the land and to respect authority and that God has placed it there (can quote if you'd like) I get a bit "tart" about it.

I'm sincerely trying but the more I try the more I see how I fail...and I do NOT look up arcane laws or ordinances. I've lately wrestled with the saying "Ignorance is bliss" and certainly in the garden this was accurate but is it really right to be ignorant and therefore not liable? The police don't think so, nor do judges. Certainly they are in the world but we are to abide by a system that seems specifically designed to entrap/confuse.


I mean American laws can even be enforced in other countries if an American company is present if an individual does business with that company, even if the law of their own country doesn't hold them liable our law trumps it because might makes right?

So yeah I do feel there is a middle ground here and that strict legalism is not biblical, but each person's individual walk and what it looks like is between them and the Lord.

I'm in a ranting mood so I'll exit slowly and not return tonight...prayers appreciated.

Apologies for semi-derail. The Pharmakeia angle is the MOST important in regards to the OP in my opinion, that's the only angle that's ever really held me in check on things as well as being the only damning offense, so should be scrutinized in prayer the most.

The founding fathers rebelled against their sovereign lord. Were they right? There exists in America the spirit of rebellion.

Thanks brother, I Remember he also have problem with his girl friend, he Said when he work at the farm to do Concrete he make $650 a week, and her girl friend Happy, now he not work in regular schedule, some time work some time not and his girl friend change.

He is 25 and have 3 children. It may a pressure and he may think Mj or drug is the answer.

One thing that makes a statement about US laws is the nod of approval to the big tobacco corps that make a fortune out of selling an 'approved' product that kills or sickens over half it's users. Cigarettes, cigars and chew have taken out millions of people unawares exactly how deadly 'cancer sticks' are.
Are they bought off or do they think the toxic addictive product is 'ok at user's risk'?

Lot of issues here.


1. First of all, it's probably a logic error to bring up the founding fathers when discussing what YOU should be doing in your daily walk as a CHRISTIAN.

A. They are not you, and their actions have nothing to do with YOU.
How another chooses to act or behave is wholly irrelevant to your own actions and behavior.

B. They weren't necessarily all Christians.
In fact, many of them were definitely not... as attested by their own words.

C. They weren't necessarily using the Bible as their political or philosophical guidebook for their actions.
They were principally deriving their philosophical views from secular sources, such as The New Atlantis by Francis Bacon.

D. You can look as long as you want, and you simply will NOT find any place in scripture where God tells us rebellion is good, and we should violate civil laws and rebel against our government.

- God certainly does use all things to accomplish his purposes. God often maneuvers the lost, or the unwise, to change nations and politics in just the ways he wants them changed. God does move providentially, and he accomplishes his purposes: through lost people and saved people, through sinful actions and righteous actions. God moves providentially through all things to accomplish his ends... but that does not necessarily mean those "all things" are either biblical or righteous.

- So, do I believe God used the founding fathers to establish a new nation? Yes I do.
- Do I believe the founding fathers were paying any attention to God or the Bible when they started a war of rebellion? No.
- How do I make these seemingly contradictory distinctions that the founding fathers were doing something unbiblical, but God still used them in his providence? This idea is found all throughout scripture. God has done this kind of thing continually, all through scripture, and all through history. God is constantly using the actions of unwise people to accomplish his providential will... it's found all through scripture.


2. If American laws are complicated, messy, or unfair, that simply has NO BEARING on the commands in scripture - that God has commanded us to obey the civil laws.

If God gives you a clear command in scripture, and you ignore it... then that is what it is.
You have violated God's command, and you now have to deal with God.
Luckily for us God is generally very patient and merciful.


3. God is also not unfair or crazy: he does not count you "morally" culpable for breaking laws you either DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT, or that for some reason you were UNABLE TO PERFORM.

a. You will still be "legally culpable" for civil laws you don't know about, or that you are unable to perform... the governments of the world are very harsh.
b. But God does not count you "morally culpable" for things you don't know about, or things you are unable to do.


4. LEGALISM: To mention God's clear commands is not to engage in "legalism"... that's not what legalism means.
Legalism occurs when you FABRICATE COMMANDS out of things which are NOT COMMANDS, and then hold people to them.
- An example would be a church having a code for a man's length of hair.
- Another example might be a church having a policy that members shouldn't ever go to the theater.
* But to look in scripture at a clear command, and then repeat it verbatim, and simply say, "This is a command"... well, that does not meet any definition of legalism.


Mii,
Just for the record, I'm not upset with you for honestly raising issues, or honestly voicing your opinions.
I'm just addressing some of the issues you raised.

As Christians, we need to really slow down, study the scriptures, and carefully sort through all these things we struggle with.
And it's ALL of us.
We all struggle with these things, and have to really wrestle with them at times.

..

Being honest, pornography is a problem to all.
Sexual attraction is how we are made, and pornography plays to some important centres of our brains,
so to highlight this as an issue is very healthy. Like most things, restricting access would be a good
first start, and knowing how we can grow in grace and love.

Some are though obviously sensitive to such a subject? Why is this I wonder?

Yes, while I didn't appreciate this judgmental tone I think it is a fair assertion in regards to statistics. I'm not going to deny it has taken basically just "passions cooling" for me to be able to navigate the internet. As well as boredom in simply "pretending".



Sexual sins are far more clear and I've felt guilt/conviction/energy changes in ways that I can't ignore with that one...as well as the science behind it. There is plenty of scientific evidence of how pornography affects the brain as well as how oxytocin works. As a cool aside...the things I felt in my spirit about it eventually came to be scientific fact so in a way that leads to more trust in the Lord for me.

It's difficult to set gender boundaries on a site like this and I think it's more appropriately suited to invite only small group...but I'm not sure.

That's a deep topic that I won't really speak on because that's a solid derail to me...and I'm not really sure how it had any application to the subject matter.


As an interesting aside. The founder Craig Gross which has a software/accountability method for those struggling with sexually explicit material for that turned toward Cannabis and thinks that it brings him closer to God. It was a program that was on my mind since I was 16 and I appreciate the premise...just that his own personal life story bears consideration.


There's is a website that I found that brought tears to my eyes when I found it. Non-religious although Christians do go there. I don't like the name of it so I won't post it but basically it's a 40 day challenge regarding those things and factoring in the testosterone argument. So many stories of positive success but at the same time some subject matter that most users would NOT have known about ever so I'm on the fence about just sharing your struggles publicly.

Yep, than the scary thing is Paul put this oN one of the list that make us not inherit the kingdom