23ska909red02:
I... *sigh*... I hate that there are so many Christians lost in a cloud of delusions, misinterpretations, and false teachings.
Off topic, but my wife's parents just asked her over the weekend if we ever think about the fact that our son is 18 months old and we've never taken him to church; the only time he has been in church have been the 3 weekends he has spent with them. We had never had this talk with her parents before, but she finally just flat out told them 'No it doesn't bother us; we're doing it on purpose. We want him to know the teachings of the Bible, and the church is one of the last places he'll learn them.'
The church would never tell you that lust is a sin, but still a forgivable one. The church would condemn you for masturbating, leading you to believe that you should feel ashamed and unworthy, when in reality, the sin of lust is no more or less forgivable than any other sin, and God honors all efforts towards purity made in His name and for His will.
If you believe in God, then this applies: God made us, so He understands our human nature. Perfection is not His goal for our lives.
Sorry, I know there's a lot in all of that.
The shirts are ridiculous. The message behind the shirt is laughable. The people behind the message have missed the point.
I'm sorry but I always see you around as the Christian who seemingly hates all Christians. If you've read the Bible you'd know how important a church is in a Christians life. One of God's goal for our lives is to make us closer to His nature which = perfection right? It seems you've been that dude who's been misinterpreting the Bible.
I'm not saying all churches or even most churches teach the Bible correctly, but you are def. straying away from scripture. Find a good Bible believing church get ya doctrine straight.
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"The church would never tell you that lust is a sin, but a forgivable one." I'm pretty sure
First off, I don't hate all Christians. I don't hate anyone. However, I do hold my brethren to a standard of clarity, tolerance,self-discipline, and an unending search for wisdom, a standard that is directly in line with the callings that Christ gave for followers of God.
Second, regarding the statement 'if you've read the Bible': I have a degree in Advanced Biblical Studies. Does that count as reading the Bible?
Third, yes, His will = perfection. But no, perfection in our lives is not what God has called us to be. Let me ask you, do you believe that the disciples whowrote the New Testament were meant to be 'role models' (for lack of a better phrase) for the rest of us? Sure, Christ is our ultimate example, butconsidering that He is the Son of God, He holds qualities that we don't. But John, Paul, Peter and the gang were regular humans like you and I. With thatin mind, why do we read in the New Testament that our human examples struggled to maintain perfection?
From Romans 7: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.... As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it,but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry itout. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do- this I keep on doing."
The Bible is, according to my belief, inspired by God. The New Testament is, according to Jesus Christ, a new guideline for what God expects for us. And rightthere in the New Testament is a passage written by Paul describing the struggle for doing God's will and falling into sin. Why would that description ofstruggle be in there if God didn't want it in there?
Fourth, how much personal study of the Bible have you done? I mean, for yourself. I'm not counting going to church and flipping the ol' Holy Book openon the preacher's prompt. I'm not talking about jotting down the scriptures he uses for his sermon and then going home and cracking the cover open tolook at those scriptures yourself; that's still his work your looking through. You're just doing it on your own time; your studying his work on yourtime. How much of your own work have you put into learning the Bible? If you're going to tell me that I'm straying from scripture, I would expect thatthe knowledge you're pulling from would be the scripture as you've studied it on your own, not the scripture as you've been told.
And lastly, of course churches believe in the Bible. Practicing the Bible's teachings is not the same as believing in it. Did you know that 10% is not arequirement for tithe? Now what church would teach that? What church would teach that giving money isn't even a requirement at all? Despite what churcheswould have you believe, 10% of your income is not a Godly requirement, and neither is giving any money.
. I like the small personal churches where everybody can know everybody. Those mega churches kinda make it hard to do that.
