Money, Coffee, and Selfish Christians
- Thread starter Allin
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Tintin
Guest
I try not to drink anything that makes me more of a sinner, so there goes the coffee!
No bourbon for me, but White Zinfandel, sure.
You'll need a whole group of intercessors to be delivered from the bondage of coffee grounds. I must be a very good person, because I don't drink coffee! Lord, thank You that I am not like those who drink coffee. I avoid Starbucks and other coffee places and even pray against coffee establishments three times a day. (God help us.)
Tintin, it sounds like you're having a nervous breakdown. Here are your two options, mate:
1. Put up with Allin's posts and stop whining, or...
2. Follow Allin's posts like a fan journalist and keep whining, hoping you'll get others to join your campaign
Now, you're boxed in. Tell me if you're smart enough to find a third option. By the way, about the time you were writing this post, I was out sipping with friends. Don't worry; I wasn't sipping any coffee. I'm much too holy to do that (lol). Don't pull out your beard; it looks okay.
Allin
I am neither asking or seeking to be delivered from the "bondage of coffee". I am not really sure if the criticism of coffee that is read on this thread is basically sarcastic in nature. There no prohibition of consuming (in great quantities) of this beverage in the bible. This is a personal preference of the individual as to whether or not to imbibe and should not be construed as a lifestyle choice. Jesus drinks coffee too, albeit only in the mornings and He turned out alright. You are quite humorous in your replies but you own personal crusade against Starbucks, if serious, is indeed troubling.
Now, my addiction to nicotine, that is open to debate...
I am neither asking or seeking to be delivered from the "bondage of coffee". I am not really sure if the criticism of coffee that is read on this thread is basically sarcastic in nature. There no prohibition of consuming (in great quantities) of this beverage in the bible. This is a personal preference of the individual as to whether or not to imbibe and should not be construed as a lifestyle choice. Jesus drinks coffee too, albeit only in the mornings and He turned out alright. You are quite humorous in your replies but you own personal crusade against Starbucks, if serious, is indeed troubling.
Now, my addiction to nicotine, that is open to debate...
I've learned in life that when someone tells you something (anything), you have to either take them at their word or dance about wondering what they mean. I said many times that I am not against coffee, but then I come out and make jokes about how evil coffee is. Are you going to take me at my word (I'm not against coffee) or dance around what I'm saying. I'm trying to stir people to think, and I know many people hate to do so but I will continue. I've said many times that the self-centered nature in people is the problem; if I then seem to say that coffee (or money, which no one defended) is the problem, you have to either choose to believe that the first thing I said is the real issue or just be confused. But then that's the overall way of seeing things which is how I approach life. Living comfortably, we tend to look at things are either-or but never as a conglomeration of both-and. It's hard enough to understand people face to face sometimes; to think we can do this online all the time is really incredibly dumb. So, some people are basically asking me, "What is it that you are saying?" My response is "Read it and find out." Whatever happened to the Holy Spirit. I often make what I'm saying hard to understand on purpose, but not on purpose; I make it hard for the natural mind to grasp it (the natural mind wants thing tidy and neat and under labels). I often make sure that if someone is going to understand what I'm saying (even in small matters like joking about coffee), they must depend on the Holy Spirit and stop depending on their own ability to reason. Because people tend to depend on their own ability to reason, they often don't know how to respond to what I say, and often when they do, they are so far off the mark that it's hard for me to respond since they are in another line of thinking. I make no apologies for writing in such a way as to expand a person's ability to think, reason, and depend on the Spirit (and not the natural mind that knows so little) for understanding. If you saw a man suddenly start beating his wife silly in public, your natural mind would say basically what everyone else's would say-- that the man is bananas; but what would the Holy Spirit reveal if you knew to listen for His wisdom. That right there is the question. For those who attack me because they don't understand me, they will have to either hate me long time or love me long time, because long time is how long I'm going to be around, saying things the same way and not acceding to their 'unspoken requests' that I dumb down what I'm saying so they can understand with their natural mind and don't have to depend on the Holy Spirit for understanding.
I did not believe for a second that you were actually against this substance (coffee).
It has been years since I my last dance but I am open to the idea of having a new dance partner in life.
As you state that it is your aim to expand the reader's mind you must be surmising that the average reader has a myopic point of reference. The way that you write leads to the opinion that you believe that your thought process is superior to others.
You must have an inferiority complex if you think that the positions you take are under constant attack.
Please accept my apology for hurting your feelings.
If proud people (or people who think they are better than others) gore something in you, that's your problem (literally, a problem that is yours, not theirs). I was never frustrated by prideful people, because they don't threaten anything in me (think about it for a second and get back to me); they don't have anything that I want or care for. Look around you and in the mirror to see the inferiority (not just complex but inferiority) that our whole society has been raised on. You only apologize when you've wronged someone. But please accept a pat on the head (you flopped miserably but at least you tried) and let's move on.
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Ariel82
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Tintin
Guest
Allin, you are so full of yourself, you just don't see it. I don't follow you like a fan-girl. You post often and I've replied maybe half a dozen times, a dozen at most. If I was stalking you like a fan, I'd have replied hundreds of times. People are trying to help you see that you're not superior to everyone else, but you sure continue to act like an ass.
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miktre
Guest
Miktre, that one's on you! Lol. I didn't say it because... well, I guess I'm too humble and therefore better than everyone else. If I was to defend myself, I would be a complete fool. But in today's society, humility is the exception, not pride. People's greatest fear in Western society is to actually come across someone who they believe is better than them (and then take it out on the person if they get a chance). I've looked at this pride issue from the bottom up and top down, and I can probably write a dissertation on it! In fact, I think I probably will! If this thread about money, coffee, and selfish Christians drew the ire of a few (who are defending coffee rather adamantly as if I was getting ready to pass a law that bans coffee), wait till they read what I have to say about pride, many people's heart and soul. If there's any character trait or flaw that needs to be addressed in all of us, and especially in Western society and its Christians, it is pride. A thread on pride would have people ducking and running, attacking and opposing, or humbly saying, "Yep. That's a real big issue today." I've had many doctors try to force me to lay still while they operated on my eye; I was too proud to let them. Lol.
Listening to one to many baptist preachers. Smile. I drink coffee. I also have witnessed the Holy Spirit invade our space while fellowshipping and the prophetic word would come forth... with coffee in my belly. The coffee did not quench Him. The only thing that I have ever seen quench the Holy Spirit all day long is the demonic clerical/laity system. Demonic because it elevates one man and renders the rest of the folks lumps on a log. Not bible folks.
We can compare coffee to beer; both do different things for different people. There are Christians who live a self-centered life; pretty much everything they take part in is toward the end of self, so when they grab a cup of coffee... you got it. Coffee doesn't in itself have the power to quench the Spirit; it does have the power (as so many other things do) to stroke the flesh which then rises to quench the Spirit. The clerical-laity system does quench the Spirit, but there are many other things that do. The flesh is the primary quencher. Paul said, "Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things... We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves" (Rom. 14:1, 15:1). Let's say I really had an issue with coffee and I was in a fellowship where someone whipped out a coffee mug and began drinking because they need it to stay awake or whatever. I could tell him to put it away since I don't drink it, or I could be patient (bear) with their need for it. "We who are strong", if you connect it to the entire chapter 14 to which it is tied, means "we who are able". If someone is a vegetarian because they are not 'able' to eat meat or someone drinks coffee because they are not 'able' to not drink it, the person who can eat meat or not drink coffee without a problem can either look down on the vegetarian or coffee drinker or he can use his strength ('ability' or really 'lack of weakness') to bear with the other person. It's like being physically stronger and hiking up a trail with a team; you see a physically weak person stumbling and go and help them rather than look down on them for being weak. "Receive one who is weak in the faith (without arguing over small matters)... We then who are strong (able) ought to bear with the scruples (infirmities, weaknesses, inabilities, shortfalls-- KJV) of the weak and not to please ourselves."To please ourselves is simply the opposite of bearing with others' weaknesses or inabilities: it's choosing to approach (or neglect) the matter our way instead of God's way. Because we do it our way, we "please ourselves" (satisfy ourselves or our need) and not God or the person. The flesh (self-centered nature that must have its way and leaves room for no other option) is the real issue or problem and always the main opponent and quencher of the Holy Spirit.
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miktre
Guest
Could you please send me a message when you start the thread on pride if you haven't started it already. It's sounds like it will be quite interesting and I would really love to hear more of your insight on the subject.
Thank you
Thank you
I didn't focus on pride since there's too much negative to write about it. I focused more on selfless character as contrasted with self-centered character: http://christianchat.com/bible-discussion-forum/91303-joseph-pride-love-study-character.html.
