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The King and His Kingdom are coming soon........otherwise known as the 2nd coming at the end of the Tribulation. Anybody thinking the Kingdom is already in operation, when the devil is actually in control of this planet today seriously needs some more scripture study. What is in operation today is all the believers knit together by the Spirit into "the body of Christ" who are proclaiming the gospel of grace around the planet...........
The good news of Gods kingdom is the work Jesus began, he sent his followers out by 2, house to house, city to city, and it doesn't stop until the end. Matt 24:14-- someone did not teach you correctly.
Looking at the cause as you said, their religion. Which I'm sure did play a part. But if you know Jesus and the example he set, then you can't blame him for what they did. What about your parents hearts?
So, I would recommend rather than jumping to the conclusion that Jesus isn't the answer. Look at all the factors before drawing a conclusion. There is a saying about 'bringing out the worse in people'. Note it says, 'bringing out' and not putting into them. Perhaps if your parents had followed closely the ways of Jesus rather than their church friends, things would have been different.
Sad to see hypocrisy turn people away from Jesus and his Father. Jesus nor his Father are the once harming families. But too often they get the blame. I know many people call it fundamentalism but it's not an accurate word. It's called false religion and false religion comes in many 'isms'.
Well, lets look at the 3 Fundie Churches I was involved with when I was ounger and see what we have
1 Small Town Texas Baptist
Preachers daughter runs away, comes back a year later saying she had been molested. Church believes HIM that she was lying. His son(mildly retarded) Burns up his leg trying to douse a lizard with gasoline. He tells congregation it was a "Motorcyce accident." Preacher abruptly announces one Sunday that he had been called away to do Missionary work, disappears, just recently located living alone in a small town.
What was in my parent's heart? I used to beg them to let us go to a different church and they would not.
2 Big CIty Baptist Preacher gets defrocked after screwing women in the congregation. Over and over again, after being caught , confessing and "repenting" ...then doing it again, . As I recall, What was in my dad's heart (Although this was in one of his psycho-paranoid phases) Was that this preacher was the greatest man he had ever met.
I formally renounced my membership loudly and publicly outside of this church
3 The Ex WIfe's Church of Christ. The biggest hypocrites around, and most hateful, the church included a few alcoholics, at least one wife beater, one sexual abuser, dozens of arseholes and a pornographer.
I did not stick around long.
SO there you have it in a nutshell. Not to mention the bad experiences I had with several Methodist, one Episcopal, one catholic church, one Bible church and countless other non denominational churches I was invited to visit.
The Good Experiences? Buddhism, the self realization fellowship, a chance meeting with an elderly Muslim man when I was deathly ill once in the hospital and a few Episcopal and catholic churches.
SO it looks to me like the best answers in life do not lie in Christian faiths, and perhaps the proof in the example is that Jesus may not be the answer?
And here is another reason families go down the drain. The world is harsh. People treat people so rudely. Take the above post for example. Rather than build up. This poster has opted to accuse and tear down. The OP didn't deserve such a comment. 'No natural affection' indeed.
We are indeed living in the last days. Note the bold above and note the scripture below.
“In the last days ridiculers will come with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires and saying: ‘Where is this promised presence of his? Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as they were from creation’s beginning.’” (2 Peter 3:3, 4)
It appears that you consider anything that disagrees with you to be rude and harsh, and to justify accusing a total stranger of perversion and maliciousness.
I was not addressing the second coming, so what your Bible quote has to do with what I said, is beyond me. Rather than such a reach as that ... quoting a verse out of context as a quasi-sanctified way of attempting a hand-waving dismissal of my points via a scurrilous accusation with implied divine support ... you could simply offer facts, evidence, or rational counterargument in support of your position. But that would be more work, admittedly.
You would do your lord and savior more credit to have some integrity.
Well, lets look at the 3 Fundie Churches I was involved with when I was ounger and see what we have
1 Small Town Texas Baptist
Preachers daughter runs away, comes back a year later saying she had been molested. Church believes HIM that she was lying. His son(mildly retarded) Burns up his leg trying to douse a lizard with gasoline. He tells congregation it was a "Motorcyce accident." Preacher abruptly announces one Sunday that he had been called away to do Missionary work, disappears, just recently located living alone in a small town.
What was in my parent's heart? I used to beg them to let us go to a different church and they would not.
2 Big CIty Baptist Preacher gets defrocked after screwing women in the congregation. Over and over again, after being caught , confessing and "repenting" ...then doing it again, . As I recall, What was in my dad's heart (Although this was in one of his psycho-paranoid phases) Was that this preacher was the greatest man he had ever met.
I formally renounced my membership loudly and publicly outside of this church
3 The Ex WIfe's Church of Christ. The biggest hypocrites around, and most hateful, the church included a few alcoholics, at least one wife beater, one sexual abuser, dozens of arseholes and a pornographer.
I did not stick around long.
SO there you have it in a nutshell. Not to mention the bad experiences I had with several Methodist, one Episcopal, one catholic church, one Bible church and countless other non denominational churches I was invited to visit.
The Good Experiences? Buddhism, the self realization fellowship, a chance meeting with an elderly Muslim man when I was deathly ill once in the hospital and a few Episcopal and catholic churches.
SO it looks to me like the best answers in life do not lie in Christian faiths, and perhaps the proof in the example is that Jesus may not be the answer?
Again, you're focusing on the people. Following the creature and not the creator. If you note in your post what did you speak about? How different people act, believe etc etc and then the label/religion they give themselves. Finding God doesn't start with the people we choose. It starts with the God we choose or if we choose God at all. If a person chooses God then one might ask themselves what kind of God is He and can I find the truth about God. As you have pointed out, looking at human behavior and the huge differences between people its pretty obvious that is not the way to find truth. Yet it appears that is what you have done. Years ago I allowed human behavior to dictate in my mind what kind of person God was. What a huge mistake!
That's is why I look to the Bible. It is above all religions and every person's personal believe for explaining what is truth. There is no better guide. Thus if a person actually studies the Bible they will find that a religion's behavior should be based on the God they follow and God shouldn't be molded to fit a religion's behavior.
My recommendation if you wish to find the truth is the same way people find counterfeit money. Don't examine all the money in the world trying to figure out which money is real and which is fake. Go to the source. Go to where the money is legitimately made, the minter. Then take a bill that you know is real and then compare that to all other money as you examine them. Same can be done with religion. If you study the Bible and the model of Jesus Christ, then you can compare the real deal to all the fakes.
It appears that you consider anything that disagrees with you to be rude and harsh, and to justify accusing a total stranger of perversion and maliciousness.
Not at all. Yet it appears that this is the only defense you have and are avoiding the issue. Yet your very first post on this thread was quite rude to the OP.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mordant
I was not addressing the second coming, so what your Bible quote has to do with what I said, is beyond me. Rather than such a reach as that ... quoting a verse out of context as a quasi-sanctified way of attempting a hand-waving dismissal of my points via a scurrilous accusation with implied divine support ... you could simply offer facts, evidence, or rational counterargument in support of your position. But that would be more work, admittedly.
You would do your lord and savior more credit to have some integrity.
I'm sorry you're not understanding the decline of family, society and the coming of Jesus into power as all being relevant to each other. The Bible says they would all be happening at the same time. People's lack of natural affection and rudeness. 2 Timothy 3:1 says, "that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here." Then it goes into "for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, having an appearance of godliness but proving false to its power."
So the scripture is not out of context. They relate to to each other.
How others treat another adds to the decline of families. Along with one war right after another, earthquakes, starvation, wide spread disease and yes those who say 'all this stuff is not new and has been happening forever.' Every single one of those happening at the same time denotes these are the last days. These are the facts and these facts were foretold they would happen. You are more than welcome to look up the stats for the past 100 years vs all the years before. Never in human history has the earth been in the state it is in now at the levels of severity. I am quite sure you will not see it that way but that too the Bible tells us about.
"If, now, the good news we declare is in fact veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, among whom the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through."-1 Co 4:3, 4
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