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.
Well, actually..it is clear you didn't get it. That is not some insult...
you just didn't get it...and that is ok...not worth explaining...that's not an insult either.
(I'm seeing just saying some things can be taken as insults.)
Hello miss,
I hope you havent thought that the Lord sent ole sh'aul without good company. In pairs he sends his loved ones.
"Where two or three are gathered......."
"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."
I think the short answer is that it's easier to follow a list of rules than to use wisdom and discernment to evaluate scripture in its cultural context and extrapolate how it applies to us today.
I don't see how anything Miss H said contradicts that. Setting aside the fact that, as mentioned above, what Paul referred to as "scripture" is not what we now know as the Bible, a specific story or instruction given by Jesus to a specific person can certainly be "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" without being a literal word-for-word instruction to believers living on the other side of the world two thousand years later.
For example, does Luke 18:22, alluded to in the OP, apply to all of us? Presumably, if you've got a device with an internet connection to post on this thread you have not, in fact, sold all of your possessions and given the money to the poor. At least in the bible studies I've attended, we understand that there were reasons why an attachment to his riches was this particular guy's stumbling block, and the implied lesson for all of us is that keeping the commandments requires difficult sacrifices and that we all have things which hold us back from living fully into God's kingdom, hence the need for Grace.
Likewise, there are people who need to be reminded to let go of the anxieties of "keeping up appearances" like Martha; I don't believe that means we should forego ever washing the dishes or cooking dinner if we could listen to a sermon instead. Paul's instructions to fledgling churches trying not to get wiped out by the Roman Empire and exist in a way that allowed them to do ministry to those around them are useful reminders that we need to be the church in a way that allows our ministry to be fruitful to those around us, but that doesn't necessarily mean that early churches in Asia Minor and the churches in the United States today will accomplish that in the same way.
Well analyzed! Taking an educated perspective on ancient writings includes understanding the contexts and cultures at the time. When scrutinizing the entire spiritual fossil record over centuries and millennia across generations, cultures, and eras, my purpose was to detect any common and consistent influence over our speculations about God. My reason for this was my experience in deep meditation of an overarching consciousness not my own. IF it is real, (and I am convinced it is) then its presence suggests that it is and has been available within ALL human consciousness as an influencing force and its impact should be detectable in the cognitive output - what I call the spiritual template influencing how we evolve our understanding of God. That template found in myriad cultures and eras is the Savior template, IMO.
Paul was writing letters to the people of Corinth who he had visited...he was not talking to me,
Miss H in 2019...tho, I can take much wisdom from things he said...as I do with Mark Twain
Aldous Huxley, William Blake or even Dr. Phil..but Mr. Twain was not talking to me, knowing my life situation.
Jesus was also talking 'to' specific people...the woman at the well, the rich guy attached to his riches, Martha slaving
while Mary was cooing into Jesus' eyes...
He wasn't talking to 'me'.
It is up to my discernment to take in any wisdom that will aid in my growth and to lead
a great life with, of course.
I do make a slight exception..I always listen to someone that has fasted 40 days in a desert ...he was talking to Mankind.
You must use your God-given brain to figure these things out, no?
'Talking to that person...talking to all posterity'.
Comments? Ha, can't wait...
Because the stressful times that Paul was living in are what caused him to think with such clarity about God. What "is" true about God back then is exactly the same as what is true about God today.
Paul wrote the letter to correct what he saw as erroneous views in the Corinthian church that he had founded. But I do not believe he also meant the Churches of the twenty-first century called the Baptist. How many denominations are there?
yes--he condemned those that followed certain leaders over others. Nowhere have I said that only Baptists go to Heaven. To be honest, I don't even attend a Baptist Church at the moment. I attend a non-denominational church.
But having said that, there are many different ways we can worship God. I'm ok with the E Free church down the street doing their thing a little differently than the Lutheran one next door. It's all good. I've met both pastors and we agree on the essentials.
Well, actually..it is clear you didn't get it. That is not some insult...
you just didn't get it...and that is ok...not worth explaining...that's not an insult either.
(I'm seeing just saying some things can be taken as insults.)
No offense taken, and no offense intended when I say that you're often on a completely different wavelength than me. That's just how it goes.
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.