Especially For Reformed

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blue_ladybug

Senior Member
Feb 21, 2014
70,862
9,581
113
#21
So your biggest concern was that someone you know might see you in the parking lot of an adult literature store? So what if they do, all you have to tell them is that you made a wrong turn. The only thing on MY mind would be, where is the stupid turn for where I actually need to go.. lol

God knows you didn't go there on purpose. The heck with what anyone else might think. You should only care about what GOD thinks. :)


So I was headed for Goodwill this afternoon, to try to find a chest-of-drawers to use to make a new house for all the feral cats who come here to eat. I accidentally made the wrong turn and pulled into the parking lot of an "adult" literature store. Horrified to be there, then horrified if someone who knows me should see me there, I whipped a U-y, to get out of there.

Okay. My question:

Should I promise to never ever do that again?
Did I lose my salvation?
Should I go to confession?

Do I have to get saved all over again?
Do I only need to get rebaptized?
Should I go back to the old church, because I now know that the Reformed doctrine doesn't work after all?
I saw a laundromat at the other end of the building. Do people
really
think they can get their clothes clean there???

Seriously, though, folks! I was horrified and went flying out of there as fast as I could.

So my real question:

What resources (along with the Bible) would you suggest I use to most quickly get a solid foundation regarding the Reformed doctrines, as I do my best to discard the old beliefs?
(I am looking extra-biblical resources because they convincingly taught us to read their thoughts into the Scriptures, using the very same Scriptures the Reformed use to teach theirs.)
I am thinking maybe the creeds, confessions, or catechisms? If so, should these be read in a particular order?
 
Feb 7, 2015
22,418
413
0
#22
So I was headed for Goodwill this afternoon, to try to find a chest-of-drawers to use to make a new house for all the feral cats who come here to eat. I accidentally made the wrong turn and pulled into the parking lot of an "adult" literature store. Horrified to be there, then horrified if someone who knows me should see me there, I whipped a U-y, to get out of there.

Okay. My question:

Should I promise to never ever do that again?
Did I lose my salvation?
Should I go to confession?

Do I have to get saved all over again?
Do I only need to get rebaptized?
Should I go back to the old church, because I now know that the Reformed doctrine doesn't work after all?
I saw a laundromat at the other end of the building. Do people
really
think they can get their clothes clean there???

Seriously, though, folks! I was horrified and went flying out of there as fast as I could.

So my real question:

What resources (along with the Bible) would you suggest I use to most quickly get a solid foundation regarding the Reformed doctrines, as I do my best to discard the old beliefs?
(I am looking extra-biblical resources because they convincingly taught us to read their thoughts into the Scriptures, using the very same Scriptures the Reformed use to teach theirs.)
I am thinking maybe the creeds, confessions, or catechisms? If so, should these be read in a particular order?
Well, better to learn it now.... rather than a few seconds after you die.
 
Feb 7, 2015
22,418
413
0
#23
Please forgive me -- the top portion was supposed to be humor. Apparently, a very poor attempt.

The bottom part was serious. :)

Don't worry about it -- just pretend I it's not here . . . .
Gal...... You have to spell it out for half this crowd before you even attempt to post humor or sarcasm here.
 

Angela53510

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2011
11,780
2,940
113
#24
Please forgive me -- the top portion was supposed to be humor. Apparently, a very poor attempt.

The bottom part was serious. :)

Don't worry about it -- just pretend I it's not here . . . .

Perhaps next time set the top portion apart, maybe into a quote bracket, with a bit of an explanation on top or below - like LOL or Haha or maybe :p.

Then, put some serious stuff, if required at the bottom?? Just thinking aloud how not to be tricked into thinking someone is being serious when they are not!

You got me! LOL
 
L

lancaster

Guest
#25
My suggestion is to start in the book of Acts and find out what they did; if it worked then, then it will work today. See Acts 2, 8, 19, and chapter 10.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
24,167
12,764
113
#26
I think Beez just needs some practice in how to express "sarcasm" in a post, and her failed attempt just made a big mess of that OP.
I believe Beez was hoping that one of the Reformed folks would confirm to her that her arrival at a questionable location was predestined, predetermined and decreed.
 

Angela53510

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2011
11,780
2,940
113
#27
My suggestion is to start in the book of Acts and find out what they did; if it worked then, then it will work today. See Acts 2, 8, 19, and chapter 10.

Actually, Acts was a special and unique time, ordained by God. Acts is the birth and growth of the church. It was “Jerusalem” before the gospel spread, then Judah, Samaria and all the world.

Now certainly, we have much to learn from Acts! But, does God expect us to recreate Acts in modern western society? Or perhaps in a third world country with no knowledge of God, the Bible or Jesus?

God wants us to reach out to our friends, neighbours and all the world. But, since my neighbours all speak English, tongues are not really necessary, are they? Or, if someone goes to an undeveloped nation to share the gospel, perhaps learning the local language is what is necessary?

And I don’t even see sharing one’s belongings in the epistles, although certainly we should be helping our brothers and sisters. And the poor! But, communal living died out in the rest of the NT, because it was part of that very special birth of the church! Not as a Biblical principle.

Just some thoughts. Personally, the gospels are the place for someone to start. Because you need to encounter Jesus before you worry about spreading the good news, right?
 
Z

Zi

Guest
#28
It's always sad when people buy lies from half teachings.
Actually, Acts was a special and unique time, ordained by God. Acts is the birth and growth of the church. It was “Jerusalem” before the gospel spread, then Judah, Samaria and all the world.

Now certainly, we have much to learn from Acts! But, does God expect us to recreate Acts in modern western society? Or perhaps in a third world country with no knowledge of God, the Bible or Jesus?

God wants us to reach out to our friends, neighbours and all the world. But, since my neighbours all speak English, tongues are not really necessary, are they? Or, if someone goes to an undeveloped nation to share the gospel, perhaps learning the local language is what is necessary?

And I don’t even see sharing one’s belongings in the epistles, although certainly we should be helping our brothers and sisters. And the poor! But, communal living died out in the rest of the NT, because it was part of that very special birth of the church! Not as a Biblical principle.

Just some thoughts. Personally, the gospels are the place for someone to start. Because you need to encounter Jesus before you worry about spreading the good news, right?
 

valiant

Senior Member
Mar 22, 2015
8,025
124
63
#29
Originally Posted by Angela53510
Actually, Acts was a special and unique time, ordained by God. Acts is the birth and growth of the church. It was “Jerusalem” before the gospel spread, then Judah, Samaria and all the world.

Now certainly, we have much to learn from Acts! But, does God expect us to recreate Acts in modern western society? Or perhaps in a third world country with no knowledge of God, the Bible or Jesus?

God wants us to reach out to our friends, neighbours and all the world. But, since my neighbours all speak English, tongues are not really necessary, are they? Or, if someone goes to an undeveloped nation to share the gospel, perhaps learning the local language is what is necessary?

And I don’t even see sharing one’s belongings in the epistles, although certainly we should be helping our brothers and sisters. And the poor! But, communal living died out in the rest of the NT, because it was part of that very special birth of the church! Not as a Biblical principle.

Just some thoughts. Personally, the gospels are the place for someone to start. Because you need to encounter Jesus before you worry about spreading the good news, right?
It's always sad when people buy lies from half teachings.
YOU said it lol
 
Dec 27, 2017
112
1
0
#30
Actually, Acts was a special and unique time, ordained by God. Acts is the birth and growth of the church. It was “Jerusalem” before the gospel spread, then Judah, Samaria and all the world.

Now certainly, we have much to learn from Acts! But, does God expect us to recreate Acts in modern western society? Or perhaps in a third world country with no knowledge of God, the Bible or Jesus?

God wants us to reach out to our friends, neighbours and all the world. But, since my neighbours all speak English, tongues are not really necessary, are they? Or, if someone goes to an undeveloped nation to share the gospel, perhaps learning the local language is what is necessary?

And I don’t even see sharing one’s belongings in the epistles, although certainly we should be helping our brothers and sisters. And the poor! But, communal living died out in the rest of the NT, because it was part of that very special birth of the church! Not as a Biblical principle.

Just some thoughts. Personally, the gospels are the place for someone to start. Because you need to encounter Jesus before you worry about spreading the good news, right?
Actually, the book of Romans is where a Babe in Christ should start.

For that matter, it should be where a lot of self professed spiritually mature people around here should also start.<<<<<This comment is not directed at you personally.
 

Angela53510

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2011
11,780
2,940
113
#31
Actually, the book of Romans is where a Babe in Christ should start.

For that matter, it should be where a lot of self professed spiritually mature people around here should also start.<<<<<This comment is not directed at you personally.
I read Romans every year. But only in the last few years, really am I really starting to dig into the meat of the book. I mean, the gospel is certainly laid out clearly in Romans, Roman Road, and so forth.

But, John, for example, lays out who and what Jesus came to do, in a way that is not quite as theological? Well, I guess we all need to start where God wants us.
 

Lucy-Pevensie

Senior Member
Dec 20, 2017
9,261
5,618
113
#32
What is this reformed doctrine? Is it a new American thing? When I first read the OP I thought it was referring to The Protestant Reformation. Reading further posts I can see it must be something else. A something else I am unaware of.
Would someone be kind enough to explain please?
 

preacher4truth

Senior Member
Dec 28, 2016
9,171
2,718
113
#33
What is this reformed doctrine? Is it a new American thing? When I first read the OP I thought it was referring to The Protestant Reformation. Reading further posts I can see it must be something else. A something else I am unaware of.
Would someone be kind enough to explain please?
You're not familiar with Reformed Theology and are not aware of it accept for the Protestant Reformation???? One of my posts links to RC Sproul defining it in this very thread. This is nothing new at all.

You are aware Spurgeon was Reformed right? R C Sproul? Alistair Begg? Sinclair Ferguson? Stephen Lawson? Al Mohler? Paul Washer? Voddie Baucham? D James Kennedy? James M Boice?
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
24,167
12,764
113
#34
What is this reformed doctrine? Is it a new American thing? When I first read the OP I thought it was referring to The Protestant Reformation. Reading further posts I can see it must be something else. A something else I am unaware of.
Would someone be kind enough to explain please?
Reformed Theology, Calvinism, and TULIP are ll basically the same and present "another gospel". They essentially state that God elects some people for salvation and others for eternal damnation (but stated so as not to be too offensive). Look up The Westminster Confession of Faith and the The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith to understand exactly what they teach. In order to be a member of a Reformed Church one must believe these statements of faith unreservedly.

There are quite a few Reformed doctrines which would also be those on non-Reformed Christians. But TULIP is unacceptable to many. It is an acronym for the following:

T = Total Depravity
U = Unconditional Election
L = Limited Atonement
I - Irresistible Grace
P = Perseverance of the Saints
 

Grandpa

Senior Member
Jun 24, 2011
11,551
3,188
113
#35
You're not familiar with Reformed Theology and are not aware of it accept for the Protestant Reformation???? One of my posts links to RC Sproul defining it in this very thread. This is nothing new at all.

You are aware Spurgeon was Reformed right? R C Sproul? Alistair Begg? Sinclair Ferguson? Stephen Lawson? Al Mohler? Paul Washer? Voddie Baucham? D James Kennedy? James M Boice?
I used to listen to radio programs with R C Sproul and Alistair Begg.

R C Sproul seemed like he was always about to laugh after he explained biblical principles. I really liked listening to him.

And I always liked Alistair Beggs accent, as well as his teaching.

I also liked listening to Ravi Zacharias and Charles Stanley too....
 

preacher4truth

Senior Member
Dec 28, 2016
9,171
2,718
113
#36
Reformed Theology, Calvinism, and TULIP are ll basically the same and present "another gospel". They essentially state that God elects some people for salvation and others for eternal damnation
Another vitriolic straw man.
 

Lucy-Pevensie

Senior Member
Dec 20, 2017
9,261
5,618
113
#37
You're not familiar with Reformed Theology and are not aware of it accept for the Protestant Reformation???? One of my posts links to RC Sproul defining it in this very thread. This is nothing new at all.

You are aware Spurgeon was Reformed right? R C Sproul? Alistair Begg? Sinclair Ferguson? Stephen Lawson? Al Mohler? Paul Washer? Voddie Baucham? D James Kennedy? James M Boice?
Never heard of any of them.
Denominational Church history has never been my area of study.
 
D

Depleted

Guest
#39
So I was headed for Goodwill this afternoon, to try to find a chest-of-drawers to use to make a new house for all the feral cats who come here to eat. I accidentally made the wrong turn and pulled into the parking lot of an "adult" literature store. Horrified to be there, then horrified if someone who knows me should see me there, I whipped a U-y, to get out of there.

Okay. My question:

Should I promise to never ever do that again?
Did I lose my salvation?
Should I go to confession?

Do I have to get saved all over again?
Do I only need to get rebaptized?
Should I go back to the old church, because I now know that the Reformed doctrine doesn't work after all?
I saw a laundromat at the other end of the building. Do people
really
think they can get their clothes clean there???

Seriously, though, folks! I was horrified and went flying out of there as fast as I could.

So my real question:

What resources (along with the Bible) would you suggest I use to most quickly get a solid foundation regarding the Reformed doctrines, as I do my best to discard the old beliefs?
(I am looking extra-biblical resources because they convincingly taught us to read their thoughts into the Scriptures, using the very same Scriptures the Reformed use to teach theirs.)
I am thinking maybe the creeds, confessions, or catechisms? If so, should these be read in a particular order?
I really am reformed. Really really. However, I never went out of my way to become reformed. I'm just kind of bad at understanding the Bible as it is 2000(+/-) years old, so full of customs and people I just don't get as a 20th century woman. (I know it's the 21st century now, but I grew up on the 20th century, and don't want to plunge fully into this century yet. lol) So I read from trusted scholars. (I call them my Dead Guys.) And, trust comes with age, and these books have stand the test of age, and sure enough, they're mostly reformed.

Reformed isn't a new diet fade. It's just a systematic way of seeing the whole Bible as one book about God without constantly getting tripped up because Joshua went off and said "choose this day" and Paul tells us that God chose to love Jacob and hated Esau. What gives with who is choosing whom? Reformed simply puts it all together.

I fear you're going at this as if you've decided to get rid of your old wardrobe and feel a need to pick out new wardrobe. But it's not about wardrobe. It's not what do we look like. It's who is God and what does he want?

You showed up in the parking lot of an adult bookstore. Good for you. I've been lost and showed up in the parking lot of a strip bar. It gets funnier than that. lol No big deal, we were simply driving somewhere we didn't particularly mean to go. Going in would have been a problem. (My problem would have been learning how many shades of red I can become. lol)

That said, if you want our basics, how about a nice catechism or two? Westminster's Catechism. Copy paste those words into Google and you get to decide if you want the shorter one or longer one. lol)

Or how about our confessions? Westminster Confession of Faith. <---PDF version. There are non-PDFs if you rather not do the PDF thing.

And if you want Foundation in don't-need-to-be-brilliant-to-understand mode, try Foundations of the Christian Faith by Boise. (I can understand him. I can't understand Calvin.)

But really, we don't get nervous over trying to turn around in a parking lot. That just comes under the usual whoopsie of getting lost in the car. You don't have to become one of us. It's not like a new wardrobe. It usually happens before the person even realize it is happening, simply because we're studying God's word with help from Dead Guys.

Our change started with a philosopher, not a Bible scholar. (Well, he was both, but he was really a Christian philosopher.) His name was Francis Schaeffer. Long way from catechisms and confessions.
 
D

Depleted

Guest
#40
Beez, it looks like you are wilfully choosing to go into error. What makes you think Reformed Doctrines are closer to the truth than Bible Christianity? You may have noted that the majority of Christians here reject TULIP for good biblical reasons.
Nah. That's just your particular way of setting your blinders.