Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Amen! Righteous anger is another oxymoron. Anger is a human psychological weakness unjustifiedly attributed to God. God has NO human psychological weaknesses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Finn_Jarber
It is what Jesus displayed while flipping the tables of the money changers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StanJP
That would be ONE example.
Jesus is human and had all the weaknesses of a human. That is the whole point of His existence, to bring the Holy Spirit of agape love into a HUMAN consciousness and overcome those weaknesses in a supreme demonstration of agape love for all, including His torturers and murderers. Get a clue. It is ALL ABOUT agape love and if you do not possess it, you are failing, no matter what mumbo jumbo you believe ABOUT Jesus and God. If He was NOT as human as we are, His accomplishment would have been meaningless. How big a deal is it that a God could do what Jesus did???? None whatsoever.
Last edited by MysticPhD; 10-25-2015 at 11:13 AM..
Sometimes a thread begs for the re-posting of this beautiful sermon:
pcamps, your post here reminded me of it:
Quote:
Originally posted by pcamps - Has it ever crossed your mind that those that have the spirit can be misguided by an unholy spirit..... speaking as someone who was formerly an evangelical fundamentalist i know that i was, and being aware of this i refuse to reject them as being not christian, no matter how much unchristian they may appear to be. I'm in the business of bringing down the attachments to fundamentalist beliefs and not bringing down the fundy, which i feel is your agenda.
EXCERPTS FROM:
LOVING YOUR ENEMIES
By Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr
Quote:
And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and see deep down within him what religion calls "the image of God," you begin to love him in spite of. No matter what he does, you see God’s image there. There is an element of goodness that he can never slough off. Discover the element of good in your enemy. And as you seek to hate him, find the center of goodness and place your attention there and you will take a new attitude.
Love is patient, Love is gentle, KIND.
Quote:
In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.
Love is patient, Love is gentle, Love is kind.
In word and action.
Quote:
Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a descending spiral, ultimately ending in destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love.
Being "tough" only forces the other side to dig their feet ever deeper into the soil of their own views. Tearing down another human being is never beneficial. It only serves to elevate the one doing the tearing. Selfishness is what is highlighted here, even though "selflessness" is the so-called stated goal. It's a difficult trap to get yourself out of, but once you someday, finally realize what it is you are doing, you will look back and see all of the wasted opportunities. Loving others involves listening with kindness and understanding. Looking for common ground, is so vital.
Quote:
For the person who hates, the beautiful becomes ugly and the ugly becomes beautiful. For the person who hates, the good becomes bad and the bad becomes good. For the person who hates, the true becomes false and the false becomes true. That’s what hate does. You can’t see right. The symbol of objectivity is lost. Hate destroys the very structure of the personality of the hater.
This does not only apply to "hate" or "hatred". There can be no hate involved, but instead an urgent desire to not be wrong, an urgent need to retain the upper hand or to save face. You can become absolutely, tragically blinded. The tragedy being... all of the good you seek to bring about has just been defiled. Rendered useless.
Love is gentle.
Kind.
Quote:
Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. That’s why Jesus says, "Love your enemies." Because if you hate your enemies, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption. You just keep loving people and keep loving them, even though they’re mistreating you. Here’s the person who is a neighbor, and this person is doing something wrong to you and all of that. Just keep being friendly to that person. Keep loving them. Don’t do anything to embarrass them. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with bitterness because they’re mad because you love them like that. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.
pcamps post reminded me of the above. It is truth. Belittling, mocking, painting someone else with a negative, ugly brush, all of these things are not love. They are destructive. Love is gentle, kind. Love doesn't seek to defeat and bring down another. Love looks for the good in another, and tries to look past the bad. Because that is how we treat others in the way we wish to be treated.
Quote:
There is a little tree planted on a little hill and on that tree hangs the most influential character that ever came in this world. But never feel that that tree is a meaningless drama that took place on the stages of history. Oh no, it is a telescope through which we look out into the long vista of eternity, and see the love of God breaking forth into time. It is an eternal reminder to a power-drunk generation that love is the only way.
Love is gentle. Love is kind.
In word and action.
Just some thoughts.
Hopefully we can all try to turn things around and look for common ground with each other and go from there. I think at one time or another we have all been guilty of some of the non-loving things mentioned above. Actually I don't think, I KNOW we have ALL been guilty. But maybe if we, at this point, leave that in the past and start over. Focus on LOVE and what it TRULY means, (and not just paying it lip-service), perhaps progress will be made, instead of remaining in stagnation.
Sometimes a thread begs for the re-posting of this beautiful sermon:
pcamps, your post here reminded me of it:
EXCERPTS FROM:
LOVING YOUR ENEMIES
By Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr
Love is patient, Love is gentle, KIND.
Love is patient, Love is gentle, Love is kind.
In word and action.
Being "tough" only forces the other side to dig their feet ever deeper into the soil of their own views. Tearing down another human being is never beneficial. It only serves to elevate the one doing the tearing. Selfishness is what is highlighted here, even though "selflessness" is the so-called stated goal. It's a difficult trap to get yourself out of, but once you someday, finally realize what it is you are doing, you will look back and see all of the wasted opportunities. Loving others involves listening with kindness and understanding. Looking for common ground, is so vital.
This does not only apply to "hate" or "hatred". There can be no hate involved, but instead an urgent desire to not be wrong, an urgent need to retain the upper hand or to save face. You can become absolutely, tragically blinded. The tragedy being... all of the good you seek to bring about has just been defiled. Rendered useless.
Love is gentle.
Kind.
pcamps post reminded me of the above. It is truth. Belittling, mocking, painting someone else with a negative, ugly brush, all of these things are not love. They are destructive. Love is gentle, kind. Love doesn't seek to defeat and bring down another. Love looks for the good in another, and tries to look past the bad. Because that is how we treat others in the way we wish to be treated.
Love is gentle. Love is kind.
In word and action.
Just some thoughts.
Hopefully we can all try to turn things around and look for common ground with each other and go from there. I think at one time or another we have all been guilty of some of the non-loving things mentioned above. Actually I don't think, I KNOW we have ALL been guilty. But maybe if we, at this point, leave that in the past and start over. Focus on LOVE and what it TRULY means, (and not just paying it lip-service), perhaps progress will be made, instead of remaining in stagnation.
peace,
sparrow
Wow, another beautiful post and well received, sparrow. We would all (especially me) do well to remember to be kind to one another in both words and deeds even if we THINK we have "righteous anger."
Wow, another beautiful post and well received, sparrow. We would all (especially me) do well to remember to be kind to one another in both words and deeds even if we THINK we have "righteous anger."
Thanks, friend!
Things welling up in my own heart caused me to stop and reflect. And pcamps post made that sermon bubble up to the surface of my mind.
It is what Jesus displayed while flipping the tables of the money changers.
Note WHERE His righteous anger took place--in a house of worship. Please note, too, that, with one exception the only people Jesus spoke angrily towards--were the bible believers of His day.
Nowhere is the gospels is Jesus' anger displayed toward non-believers (like Samaritans) or those who were otherwise considered "sinners." His anger was only toward those who pounded their chests crying, "Thank God, I'm not like that 'homosexual' (or other "sinner") over there." It was solely against those that claimed to know God, but treated people as objects upon which a rulebook could be imposed. His Word was always "put people first, the law is secondary," and He proved it by contradicting the understanding Pharisees had of the OT and emphasizing what they chose to overlook--the poor, the disenfranchised, those beat up spiritually by the "religious" people of that day.
Righteous anger should ONLY be displayed toward those claiming Christ but displaying a spirit of divisiveness and exclusivity toward others--that is if you want to walk in Jesus' footsteps.
Nowhere is the gospels is Jesus' anger displayed toward non-believers (like Samaritans) or those who were otherwise considered "sinners." His anger was only toward those who pounded their chests crying, "Thank God, I'm not like that 'homosexual' (or other "sinner") over there." It was solely against those that claimed to know God, but treated people as objects upon which a rule-book could be imposed. His Word was always "put people first, the law is secondary," and He proved it by contradicting the understanding Pharisees had of the OT and emphasizing what they chose to overlook--the poor, the disenfranchised, those beat up spiritually by the "religious" people of that day.
The Pharisees advocated a strict observance to external forms (the outer cup) without any regard to the Spirit in their self-righteous and hypocritical stance. It was nothing more than posturing to mask their fears, while desiring to control the people.
The Pharisees advocated a strict observance to external forms (the outer cup) without any regard to the Spirit in their self-righteous and hypocritical stance. It was nothing more than posturing to mask their fears, while desiring to control the people.
I have a fundie brother, he is a very unpleasant person.
Anyone not baptized in his precious cult (99.99999999% of population) is Going To Burn In HELL.
It's a form of mental illness that has been justified and tolerated for far too long imo.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
