Author	Thread: erosion and stuff
Maniacs1 View Profile History	erosion and stuff Posted : 8 Feb, 2011 08:45 PM im goin to start this by saying i may overexagerate some things in this post, but i hope it is to help partially get across what i hope to say. i am reading a book called the church awakaning by chuck swindoll. at the start of the book he talks about one summer as a child he went to his grandfathers cottege on a cliff overlooking matagorda bay, which leads to the gulf of mexico. his grandfather told him that the cliff erroded away a bit every year. they placed a marker some distance from the cliff edge and measuerd. the next year when chuck visited, they measured again, sure enough, 8 inches were missing due to hurricanes and other factors and he would never have noticed right away if there was no marker to judge how much errosion had taken place. now i am not done the book yet, but i want to ask, how much errosion has taken place not only in christianity as a whole, but in our churches, and in our individual lives, and what are we using as our marker to determine that? one thing i have noticed on some (or many) of these forums is the "im right, your wrong" attitude and in some cases both sides are using the bible to support this civil war. one thing that bothered me before i became a christian (and it still does) is the lack of true biblical unity among christians. i mean, have we strayed (or erroded) that far? i am going to use the whole calvanist/armanian argument as an example here mostly cause that was the last thing i read before posting this, but this can be applied to everything. now both calvanists and armanians both throw scripture and various other stuff around to try to prove that they are right. one thing i ask is that, what if they are both right to some degree. now i am not trying to compromise or harmonize or whatever else, but take a look at ALL of scripture instead of taking the ones that prove you point. i find that most of the arguments not only in this situation but any situation stems (usually, not always) from ignorance of certain scriptures. one thing that i heard awhile back is that scripture always interpretes scripture. basically meaning, if it doesnt make sense, seems to teaching something different or seems to contradict, it may be explained better elsewhere, cause remember, the bible may be 66 different books by 40 something different authors, but they all support one another perfectly. part of the reason that much of these arguments and stuff take place, is because a vast majority of christians listen to sermons, read books, watch shows etc. about these topics but never dig any deeper than that. they get brainwashed into believeing what these people are saying. the bible talks alot about not being suckered into false doctrines and teachings which lead people astray. im going to end with this quote "old testament pictures are new testament principles", which basically means, most (if not all) the old testament events are reflected in some way in the new testament. and i do apologise for this long post, i know people dont like reading them so i tried to make it short and to the point (although i dont know how well that worked) and believe me trying to write this with my attention span the way it is and with what is running through my mind right now, it is brutal. Post Reply
View Profile History	erosion and stuff Posted : 8 Feb, 2011 09:01 PM Thanks, I liked your saying: "Old Testament Pictures are New Testament Scriptures" Just so you know, I am neither Calvinistic nor Arminian, I believe the truth that harmonizes with Scripture is between them. I have not shared my beliefs openly in these discussions. However, there are Calvinists that say I am wrong and they are right. I say if that is true, I'm open minded, prove it, I'll listen. They haven't been able to prove it. I think they go beyond scripture, that is where the division comes in. Lets face it, if they could prove it, there wouldn't be a problem. Post Reply
View Profile History	erosion and stuff Posted : 8 Feb, 2011 09:11 PM Oh, my a person after my own heart1 Chuck Swindoll that is...lol... I love Chuck and have listen to him since 1981, on radio, never missing a morning of Insight for Living. In fact, Chuck and Charles Stanly are the two ministers under whom I was taught all about the Bible. I have gone through all of Chucks Bible teaching from Genesis to Revelation with him. And remember when he taught lessons from the very book you are now reading. Great book... very sound. Anyway, Maniaes, welocme to the board. And you have made some excellent points, there is much erosion among Christians, for the very reason you have pointed out, because Christians today are not studying nor reading God's word for themselves. As in the 1st century church, where we are told that the people SEARCHED the scriptures to see if what the apostles were telling them was indeed true, many Christians today are not doing this. Most people today who confess and profess being Christians, don't even attend Sunday School, church, or Bible Study classes. There are some church today, that don't even hold Bible Study wherein you can dig deeper into Bible book by book, chapter y chapter, verse by verse connecting the dots, instead they hold Wednesday night teaching study for Sunday School, and call it Bible Study. Not many unless they are really digging into God word can effectively spiritually discuss the word, and much STUFF takes the place of God's truth therefore, this causes erosion of the faith, and relationship with God. This also opens the doors for false doctrines and teaching that make a person feel good, becaue no one knows what God has to say about a matter, therefore not much true conversion or conviction, as Paul says, circumcision is going on in the heart. Its more popular to be political correct, sweet, nice and loving instead of being spiritual right and speaking the truth in season or out of season. Post Reply
View Profile History	erosion and stuff Posted : 8 Feb, 2011 09:48 PM sorry, about that Maniaes, I was just looking through some of my notes from Chuck, and study guide, and the teaching was not The Church Awakening, but the Grace Awakening... ella Post Reply
View Profile History	erosion and stuff Posted : 9 Feb, 2011 05:14 AM Thank you for posting,Maniacs1----- Twosparrows hit that nail right on it's head! :glow: Another reason there's so much erosion and discord among Christian people is because so many tares are growing among the wheat. I'm not a Calvanist or Arminian either. What I am is a born again believer who Loves the Lord . There are many pride filled Judges in the Christian world-- but that's no surprise cause Jesus told us it would be this way. Blessings, Deborah Post Reply
riveroflife1 View Profile History	erosion and stuff Posted : 9 Feb, 2011 06:43 AM I'm with u guys..two & born:) Post Reply
View Profile History	erosion and stuff Posted : 9 Feb, 2011 07:05 AM I firmly believe that anyone time you put man's tag on it, and to especially to justify your belief system, you have taken your eyes off the lord and put them on man, you can not be in fellowship with the lord and conduct yourself as some do, and it is high time all of us learn the word of God and quit so readily accepting the pollution of men to the TRUTh, we are to love the people and hate the unbelief. Post Reply
flyby View Profile History	erosion and stuff Posted : 9 Feb, 2011 12:32 PM I am neither Calvinistic nor Arminian but have heard Calvinist say �because your not Calvinist your Arminian, simply because of scepticism to the 5 points (TULIP).�Allegedly some tulip bulb varieties briefly became the most expensive objects in the world during 1637.� I may be biased for the acronym tulip, try doing a search with (tulip witches) but if ya come across The Tulip Torch consider not reading it. I believe there is a certain tulip to help open the so called third eye (pineal gland?) for communication with gods. Charles Stanley was my last hope in my area for tv evangelism until it became clear that we was getting differences of opinions, probably due to the different Bibles we used, one being his opinion on the outer darkness. Remember maniacs1 your reading a book made by man. Also, I too like what you said "Old Testament Pictures are New Testament Scriptures" :~) Post Reply
Maniacs1 View Profile History	erosion and stuff Posted : 9 Feb, 2011 08:19 PM just as a heads up, i am not fanning the flames of the calvanist/arminian debate (at least not on purpose), like i said i was just using it as an example of many of the divisions amongst christians because of lack of true biblical authority and understanding. christians need to start getting "back to basics" and start from there. we are not doing anyone any favours by continuing this. we need to start letting the Holy Spirit be the true teacher of scripture, i mean isnt that what He is anyways (or at least supposed to be) and not lean on our own understanding? i mean yes, people can help open our eyes to certain things that we dont notice right away, but it needs to be supported by all of scripture and guided by the Spirit otherwise it is just mans decieving opinion which, as we can tell by history, can be very destructive. maybe if we all spent more time reading the bible and praying to God for the understanding of the scriptures than we do "going at eachother", than maybe the world wont see us as a joke (at least thats what i use to think before becoming a christian). anywho, just as another heads up i tend to generalise alot, it is a weird habit and i am trying to kick it. Post Reply
View Profile History	erosion and stuff Posted : 10 Feb, 2011 01:50 AM :applause: Praise the Lord, Maniaes, truly the presence of the Lord is speaking a spiritual word through you.:glow: great post! Yes, the church/body of Christ suffers from many spiritual schisms...for lack of God's wisdom, God's knowledge and God's understanding in His word. As I' ve also said many times on this forum, God's word is to be revealed to us hrough the Holy Spirit, and not interpreted by man. No where in the BIble can you find wherein we are told to interpret His word... but we are told that the Holy Spirit HImself will lead into truth, will guide us into the knowledge and undertsanding of the word and God, and He will reveal to us ALL THINGS CONCERNING CHRIST IN GOD'S WORD in all wisdom, knowledge and understanding for the works of the ministry. The only catch, one must be willing to go in search of God by reading and studying which are two differnet things, and must be hungry to know who God is through Christ. Post Reply