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The Southern Baptist Church has done more spiritual and psychological damage than can possibly be measured. They don't realize they are living in darkness. I would not follow them in any way, including in their forms of popular music. They use rock music and food (donuts and pizza) to lure in many unsuspecting victims.
But I don't find the appeal of church in entertainment in that way. I would rather it be a quiet place for meditation, prayer, and traditional hymns, particularly those that don't push the "belief" factor of evangelical churches.
It's a question of whether the church and pastor wants to connect spiritually and teach spirit, or whether they want to increase participation and revenues.
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One suggestion would be a type of advertisement. I saw a good TV one from the United Church of Christ showing open homosexual couples. Personally, I would not want to attend any church that did not accept them. That combination of inclusiveness and formal meditative prayer atmosphere should be appealing to many.
That puts the focus in the worldly domain of humanity and not spirit. The question shouldn't even come up and all should be welcomed. Pastors who rally against gays and anyone else is a fraud. Run.
If a pastor is teaching the Bible, that's what he is teaching.
And usually from the standpoint of human understanding which means lacking spirit. Today bible study and all religious instruction is actually intellectual and lacking in spirit. I know most people disagree with this, to their great disadvantage.
And usually from the standpoint of human understanding which means lacking spirit. Today bible study and all religious instruction is actually intellectual and lacking in spirit. I know most people disagree with this, to their great disadvantage.
Actually....most "Bible Studies" as done today tend to be to read a book OTHER than the Bible to see what an author is saying. Or, they read one verse, or passage and then go around the room asking "What does that mean to you?"
The question would be to ask what GOD meant by it -- not what it means to us.
Actually....most "Bible Studies" as done today tend to be to read a book OTHER than the Bible to see what an author is saying. Or, they read one verse, or passage and then go around the room asking "What does that mean to you?"
The question would be to ask what GOD meant by it -- not what it means to us.
So you are saying your god has the same message for EVERYONE?
So you are saying your god has the same message for EVERYONE?
Of course! Salvation is in Christ. The Bible is not about you and me. It's about Jesus--and how he redeemed mankind. That message could be applied differently to different people -- because we all have different situations, but the common core issue is the problem of sin - and that God defeated it.
If I wrote you a letter, do you think that eveyrone else on this board would be correct to take the letter and apply it directly to THEIR lives in whatever way they decided to do so?
Of course! Salvation is in Christ. The Bible is not about you and me. It's about Jesus--and how he redeemed mankind. That message could be applied differently to different people -- because we all have different situations, but the common core issue is the problem of sin - and that God defeated it.
If I wrote you a letter, do you think that eveyrone else on this board would be correct to take the letter and apply it directly to THEIR lives in whatever way they decided to do so?
I suppose if we are not sure whether the message is really from God or not, or whether it is interpreted correctly, we should just ask you?
I suppose if we are not sure whether the message is really from God or not, or whether it is interpreted correctly, we should just ask you?
This. The core messages of the Bible are nearly universal but there is a large degree of symbolism in it that has multiple possible interpretations. This can not be avoided unless you are able to travel back in time and ask what it meant back then.
The question would be to ask what GOD meant by it -- not what it means to us.
The problem with that, Vizio, is that you need to know the "mind of God" to do that. We Christians are told to use the "mind of Christ" to understand the "mind of God," so we should only interpret the Bible through the eyes of Jesus. You do NOT do that, Vizio. You test nothing against the "mind of Christ" as described in 1 Cor 13, Galatians 5 and the Sermon on the Mount. That is Christ's God who IS agape love. You use the OT CONTEXT of a wrathful God who needed to be appeased by blood sacrifices. That is why you get virtually everything WRONG!
And usually from the standpoint of human understanding which means lacking spirit. Today bible study and all religious instruction is actually intellectual and lacking in spirit. I know most people disagree with this, to their great disadvantage.
And usually from the standpoint of human understanding which means lacking spirit. Today bible study and all religious instruction is actually intellectual and lacking in spirit. I know most people disagree with this, to their great disadvantage.
Total nonsense. IF you do not know the characteristics that define the Spirit, you can NOT know who has it and who lacks it. You certainly can NOT know that YOU have it being entirely ignorant about it. You can CLAIM to have it, but that is just ignorant hubris which you share with Rbbi.
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