Well I tried to write this blog once and ended up rambling for quite a few paragraphs so I'm starting over and gonna cut right to the chase.
I believe I'm a saint
I know the simple gospel of Christ and believe it's enough
I believe the bible is all true
I believe there is deep wisdom and insight hidden in the scriptures which will give us more depth and richness in our walk with God.
There are many teachers of the bible and many eager hearts who want to learn, most which have beloved in the simple gospel before hand.
I went to an Orthodox Church today, and saw many smiles ... Which I perceived to house much joy in the Lord. Saw many old men and women, adults and children stand for a very long time while I felt my own feet tire for the service, a clear devotion to The Lord. I enjoyed the service and that it gave great praise and worship to God although it was more perfunctory than I prefer but I enjoyed it and the devotion and love for God I saw in their hearts. The head Father was adorned in priest robes and very down to earth, making jokes and speaking gently and humbly and lovingly.
i discovered I found myself in great distress when they praised Mary, calling her my joy, my hope, my protection, my refuge, my rest, even the light of my darkened soul. I was indignant and my heart judged them and decided that they were not for me...
they answered me, we know it is the grace of God which came upon her, and she was only a partaken of God's glory, we are only venerating her because she is alive (yes indeed God is the God of the living not the dead), and greeting her as blessed on account of being close to God in the flesh. The father even mention the bible verse where a woman said blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you and he replied no rather blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it. The father confessed himself it was much more important that we love and honor God.
they will of course continue in these prayers which I cannot in good conscious partake in. Who's right? It doesn't matter
we both have big beaming smiles full of the joy of the Lord. We both love God, confess Jesus as lord and God, live by faith, sustained by grace, ect ect ...
am I the one Paul spoke of who couldn't eat the meat sacrificed to idols ?
Maybe.. I think not, but I do believe that pastor was my brother in Christ.. Because he loved God, because he mentioned service to God and his smile came, he mentioned Jesus and his smile came!
So what does this mean ? it means I believe false teaching will be rampant in the church. It means I believe we need to hold on to the truth faith, but let's face it.... No one really understands all of it... Some may be more right than others.... But Jesus himself said, love God, love neighbors! Who did he call a good neighbor? The Samaritan ! Did he know any Jewish law ? No. But if Jesus calls you a good neighbor that's what you are. That one dude on the cross next to Jesus sure didn't know much except that Jesus was innocent. He definitely did not know Jesus was the lamb of God come to take away the sin of the world and to rise in three days and conquer death. What did Jesus say to him? Truly I tell you this day you will be with me in paradise!
See where im going ? Faith that knows little is responsible for very little!
Faith that claims to know much is responsible for very much!
so ... What I'm saying is
many men who we think belong to satan due to our perception of their erroneous doctrine in fact belong to God because we all have erroneous doctrine and God knows our hearts.
To one, it is a great sin to kiss a cross because that person wants to picture God as the living God in heaven whose image is so beautiful and not to be minimized by a golden idol. To another , it's all good, it's the closest he can get to kissing Jesus right now. Both of them are right for both their faith gives honor to God
one cannot pray to Mary while another can in good faith do so!
Sensuality is sin! Adultery is sin! Paul makes it REAL clear what is sin and what is not. Sort of lol. Eating food sacrificed to idols? Perfectly ok! As long as you're with non believers or by yourself . A huge sin if you do it and corrupt the faith of an immature believer.
So ... Anyone who has read Ephesians 5 should realize how serious it is to be Holy . what am I saying then ? Well it's kind of two sides of a coin...
look to john 4:22-23, from what I understand Jesus is saying which Paul corroborates in Romans 2:13-16... (God help me I'm interpreting scripture that doesn't have to do wih love lol.... Deep waters for me)... Seems to me as if what little we know of God is enough if we do good with it. What about Ephesians 5 and Galatians 5? Those chapters make it seems very stringent ...
so ... I guess by what measure you judge, in which measure you have mercy, so too God shall extend the same towards you. If you like to nitpick and prove people wrong on the smallest technicality in the bible.... Watch out that Jesus might do the same to you one day! I'd hate to find Jesus yelling at me and getting more and more angry in Aramaic one day! If you catch my drift.
The bible says you desire mercy not sacrifice (what is sacrifice but atonement for sins or to stretch a little further, justice?) so I am certainly hoping that God will not be as just as possible but rather as merciful as possible... Because surely he is just in all He does, he gives grace to who he gives, and he pardons who he pardons! Is he just to condemn us all to hell? Certainly! Even the ones who have accepted Christ? Certainly! Did Jesus not say "go and sin no more?"
What do I hope will happen? Grace and mercy will prevail!
What do I hope people will do? Be careful in judgment! Rebuke the obvious but make sure you first check to see what obvious sins you are committing first! Get that log out! Maybe confess your obvious sins to your own brother before you rebuke his obvious sin!
Did you read the full forum (at its recent posts before posting?) on many occasions I didn't. Clearly I am in violation of James 1:19... Quick to listen (eager), slow to speak, slow to anger . Truth is I just voiced what I wanted to say cause k thought I was right. Prob missed some opportunities to address what others have said which were insightful or at least gain the insight for myself. I believe now I will be slower to post
The church is to be unified, in one spirit! Confess... I don't agree with this teaching but it may be beyond my understanding! Work out your disputes in private or bring them before more men to discuss... Then the church . The more I write the more I'm saddened by the separation of our church ... All these denominations who distinguish themselves by differences instead of similarities ... Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh .
Well ill there's my ramblings lol... Let me end on a prayer so my heart can come out cause I just used my brain and I can't even understand the mess of words I wrote (doing some plagiarizing on this prayer but most of my prayers are plagiarizing scriptures - at least the good parts of my prayer are , this just happens to be from my favorite book)
Lord I thank you for your goodness and what little I know of a spark of your divine goodness surely allows me to understand better that I know nothing of the fullness of your Goodness, for your Goodness is not understood by anyone except You. I thank you for your suffer and what little I know of the suffering of Christ allows me to understand that I know nothing about it compared to what you suffered for us, which is not understood by anyone except Yourself. So too it is true of the wisdom which I have gained, that it is nothing compared to your infinite wisdom, for my thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your ways. You are great! And we sit here , trying to speak of you, of your ways, of your laws , as if we unders anything at all. We live by faith, which you have given us and strengthen for us by your grace. The bible says without faith it is impossible to please you, yet it always says faith is a gift from God! So where is our boast? Where is our authority? Everything good is from you! What can we do? Except praise you and love you! We can only love because you loved us lol! We are so helpless without you. Forgive us for judging our brethren , for chastening their obvious sin when we dare not even confess our own sins to them before hand. Forgive us because only you know the hearts of men and yet we walk as half-blind men seeing through a blurred lenses yet claim we can see clearly! Let your mercy fall down. Convict us of sin. Let us be bold and firm to point out false doctrine which we can all clearly understand, and let us be gentle and delicate in the more complicated matters which may be justifiable by faith. You word even says blasphemy against Father and Son shall be forgiven! My hope is in forgiveness and mercy! Especially for those who claim to be mature in faith. Be gentle with us all. Continue to prune us, we who have been so gently pruned by you, do not allow us to grab the shears and cut at the limbs of our brethren . Let us bear your good fruit, the fruit of the spirit in all things: joy, peace, love, gentleness, forbearance, kindness, self-control, faithfulness , paitence, and goodness. teach us the love within each verse of scripture, the grace behind each severe word. And yet let us understand too your severity which demands that grace not be perverted! I say so many words but I mean to say:
Mercy Oh Lord!
Mercy Oh Lord!
Mercy Oh Lord!
I plead for your Mercy! And to teach us to be merciful!
In the precious name of your Son Jesus I pray!
I believe I'm a saint
I know the simple gospel of Christ and believe it's enough
I believe the bible is all true
I believe there is deep wisdom and insight hidden in the scriptures which will give us more depth and richness in our walk with God.
There are many teachers of the bible and many eager hearts who want to learn, most which have beloved in the simple gospel before hand.
I went to an Orthodox Church today, and saw many smiles ... Which I perceived to house much joy in the Lord. Saw many old men and women, adults and children stand for a very long time while I felt my own feet tire for the service, a clear devotion to The Lord. I enjoyed the service and that it gave great praise and worship to God although it was more perfunctory than I prefer but I enjoyed it and the devotion and love for God I saw in their hearts. The head Father was adorned in priest robes and very down to earth, making jokes and speaking gently and humbly and lovingly.
i discovered I found myself in great distress when they praised Mary, calling her my joy, my hope, my protection, my refuge, my rest, even the light of my darkened soul. I was indignant and my heart judged them and decided that they were not for me...
they answered me, we know it is the grace of God which came upon her, and she was only a partaken of God's glory, we are only venerating her because she is alive (yes indeed God is the God of the living not the dead), and greeting her as blessed on account of being close to God in the flesh. The father even mention the bible verse where a woman said blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you and he replied no rather blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it. The father confessed himself it was much more important that we love and honor God.
they will of course continue in these prayers which I cannot in good conscious partake in. Who's right? It doesn't matter
we both have big beaming smiles full of the joy of the Lord. We both love God, confess Jesus as lord and God, live by faith, sustained by grace, ect ect ...
am I the one Paul spoke of who couldn't eat the meat sacrificed to idols ?
Maybe.. I think not, but I do believe that pastor was my brother in Christ.. Because he loved God, because he mentioned service to God and his smile came, he mentioned Jesus and his smile came!
So what does this mean ? it means I believe false teaching will be rampant in the church. It means I believe we need to hold on to the truth faith, but let's face it.... No one really understands all of it... Some may be more right than others.... But Jesus himself said, love God, love neighbors! Who did he call a good neighbor? The Samaritan ! Did he know any Jewish law ? No. But if Jesus calls you a good neighbor that's what you are. That one dude on the cross next to Jesus sure didn't know much except that Jesus was innocent. He definitely did not know Jesus was the lamb of God come to take away the sin of the world and to rise in three days and conquer death. What did Jesus say to him? Truly I tell you this day you will be with me in paradise!
See where im going ? Faith that knows little is responsible for very little!
Faith that claims to know much is responsible for very much!
so ... What I'm saying is
many men who we think belong to satan due to our perception of their erroneous doctrine in fact belong to God because we all have erroneous doctrine and God knows our hearts.
To one, it is a great sin to kiss a cross because that person wants to picture God as the living God in heaven whose image is so beautiful and not to be minimized by a golden idol. To another , it's all good, it's the closest he can get to kissing Jesus right now. Both of them are right for both their faith gives honor to God
one cannot pray to Mary while another can in good faith do so!
Sensuality is sin! Adultery is sin! Paul makes it REAL clear what is sin and what is not. Sort of lol. Eating food sacrificed to idols? Perfectly ok! As long as you're with non believers or by yourself . A huge sin if you do it and corrupt the faith of an immature believer.
So ... Anyone who has read Ephesians 5 should realize how serious it is to be Holy . what am I saying then ? Well it's kind of two sides of a coin...
look to john 4:22-23, from what I understand Jesus is saying which Paul corroborates in Romans 2:13-16... (God help me I'm interpreting scripture that doesn't have to do wih love lol.... Deep waters for me)... Seems to me as if what little we know of God is enough if we do good with it. What about Ephesians 5 and Galatians 5? Those chapters make it seems very stringent ...
so ... I guess by what measure you judge, in which measure you have mercy, so too God shall extend the same towards you. If you like to nitpick and prove people wrong on the smallest technicality in the bible.... Watch out that Jesus might do the same to you one day! I'd hate to find Jesus yelling at me and getting more and more angry in Aramaic one day! If you catch my drift.
The bible says you desire mercy not sacrifice (what is sacrifice but atonement for sins or to stretch a little further, justice?) so I am certainly hoping that God will not be as just as possible but rather as merciful as possible... Because surely he is just in all He does, he gives grace to who he gives, and he pardons who he pardons! Is he just to condemn us all to hell? Certainly! Even the ones who have accepted Christ? Certainly! Did Jesus not say "go and sin no more?"
What do I hope will happen? Grace and mercy will prevail!
What do I hope people will do? Be careful in judgment! Rebuke the obvious but make sure you first check to see what obvious sins you are committing first! Get that log out! Maybe confess your obvious sins to your own brother before you rebuke his obvious sin!
Did you read the full forum (at its recent posts before posting?) on many occasions I didn't. Clearly I am in violation of James 1:19... Quick to listen (eager), slow to speak, slow to anger . Truth is I just voiced what I wanted to say cause k thought I was right. Prob missed some opportunities to address what others have said which were insightful or at least gain the insight for myself. I believe now I will be slower to post
The church is to be unified, in one spirit! Confess... I don't agree with this teaching but it may be beyond my understanding! Work out your disputes in private or bring them before more men to discuss... Then the church . The more I write the more I'm saddened by the separation of our church ... All these denominations who distinguish themselves by differences instead of similarities ... Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh .
Well ill there's my ramblings lol... Let me end on a prayer so my heart can come out cause I just used my brain and I can't even understand the mess of words I wrote (doing some plagiarizing on this prayer but most of my prayers are plagiarizing scriptures - at least the good parts of my prayer are , this just happens to be from my favorite book)
Lord I thank you for your goodness and what little I know of a spark of your divine goodness surely allows me to understand better that I know nothing of the fullness of your Goodness, for your Goodness is not understood by anyone except You. I thank you for your suffer and what little I know of the suffering of Christ allows me to understand that I know nothing about it compared to what you suffered for us, which is not understood by anyone except Yourself. So too it is true of the wisdom which I have gained, that it is nothing compared to your infinite wisdom, for my thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your ways. You are great! And we sit here , trying to speak of you, of your ways, of your laws , as if we unders anything at all. We live by faith, which you have given us and strengthen for us by your grace. The bible says without faith it is impossible to please you, yet it always says faith is a gift from God! So where is our boast? Where is our authority? Everything good is from you! What can we do? Except praise you and love you! We can only love because you loved us lol! We are so helpless without you. Forgive us for judging our brethren , for chastening their obvious sin when we dare not even confess our own sins to them before hand. Forgive us because only you know the hearts of men and yet we walk as half-blind men seeing through a blurred lenses yet claim we can see clearly! Let your mercy fall down. Convict us of sin. Let us be bold and firm to point out false doctrine which we can all clearly understand, and let us be gentle and delicate in the more complicated matters which may be justifiable by faith. You word even says blasphemy against Father and Son shall be forgiven! My hope is in forgiveness and mercy! Especially for those who claim to be mature in faith. Be gentle with us all. Continue to prune us, we who have been so gently pruned by you, do not allow us to grab the shears and cut at the limbs of our brethren . Let us bear your good fruit, the fruit of the spirit in all things: joy, peace, love, gentleness, forbearance, kindness, self-control, faithfulness , paitence, and goodness. teach us the love within each verse of scripture, the grace behind each severe word. And yet let us understand too your severity which demands that grace not be perverted! I say so many words but I mean to say:
Mercy Oh Lord!
Mercy Oh Lord!
Mercy Oh Lord!
I plead for your Mercy! And to teach us to be merciful!
In the precious name of your Son Jesus I pray!