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See eufo, a part of the Kingdom of God isn't rational at all. It's a Kingdom of opposites:
You lead to serve-like Jesus
You humble your self to be raised up-like Jesus
You give so that you can receive-like Jesus
Your blessed to be a blessing-like Jesus
The list could go on and on.
Many, many Christians don't know what it really means to be a Christian. But many do, and I pray that at some point, you'll meet someone to at least show you the Truth of God's Kingdom.
Ultimately the decision is yours to make.
Thanks for the friendly discussion.
Kingdom of Opposites. This rings true to me.
What I want to know is: Why do I want to be good? I look at those around me and see them deal in deception and thievery. They amass wealth and power. Yet all I can do is look away in disgust. Sometimes I feel so alone in that. That I'm the only person in my little circle of reality that even thinks about such things. Do people intend to be evil? Or is it born within them? If so, why do I want to be good? Does everyone?
What I want to know is: Why do I want to be good? I look at those around me and see them deal in deception and thievery. They amass wealth and power. Yet all I can do is look away in disgust. Sometimes I feel so alone in that. That I'm the only person in my little circle of reality that even thinks about such things. Do people intend to be evil? Or is it born within them? If so, why do I want to be good? Does everyone?
Well I don't want to wax too philosophical on you, but I think you want to be good because God is tugging on you. I'm pleased at the way you see the world, I think it speaks volumes to your spiritual 'senses' if you will. Anyway, I don't really know you or know 'where you are' in your real life journey, but it sounds like you just might be at a crossroad. I've been there, and the right way is remarkable.
I appreciate your words, and I hope also this is not offensive in return.
I don't like the sound of "surrendering" my life. I think Jesus Christ was wonderful and his teachings should be a lesson for us all. But when you say "to surrender your life to Jesus Christ" what is meant by that exactly?
To surrender to Jesus is not the same as the way we use surrender.
In reality, to surrender to Jesus is to gain so very much. Not worldy stuff, but His love, knowledge of how He works in our lives.
We are surrendering our will to know what is best for us, to One that really knows what is best to us. We actually lose nothing from this surrendering, and we gain eternal life from the surrender. It's like Alpha says, it is all about opposites.
We surrender the desire to sin, to live in the world surrounding ourselves with sinly desires. When we voluntary give this up, we lose the desire to go out into the world and live as before. We find ourselves learning as much as we can about Jesus, daily Bible reading, and so forth.
To surrender to Christ is to Gain everlasting Life. We die to sin, and are reborn striving to be the best we can be.
We lose nothing when we surrender, but we gain everything.
I know I'm probably messing this up in trying to explain it to you.
[quote=kawgpz550;1062818]Thanks Alpha! That was pretty much the jest of it. However, our church has this bad habit that if it isn't their doctrine, it's the wrong doctrine [quote]
[quote=GCSTroop;1063897][quote=kawgpz550;1062818]Thanks Alpha! That was pretty much the jest of it. However, our church has this bad habit that if it isn't their doctrine, it's the wrong doctrine
Quote:
I rest my case
It is this kind of philosophy that scares me.
I can completely empathize with what you're saying unfortunately.
As Christians, there is a certain "doctrine" that we have to follow. But when we start following doctrine so strongly that it tends to alienate those that we are trying to reach, and push them further away, that's a MAJOR problem (IMHO).
Not ALL churches are that way. And it shouldn't be that way! The whole goal is to draw people to Christ. But when it's pushed so hard and so offensively, it has the complete opposite effect. The same goes for everything in life, not just religion. It's in our nature to rebel. If someone tells you to do A and you had better not do B, guess where your natural rebellious self is going to do . We are BORN that way!
It's really a matter of rebellion vs submission. And the cause and effect of those two things are a result of how any particular topic is manifested to you.
There are some people that will respond to IN YOUR FACE fire and brimstone type of talk. Then there are others that will rebel against that type of style, but would respond to a more subtle, gentle style. It's a matter of presentation. And too many people go about it all wrong!
After posting the last response, I got thinking about something. I was talking about rebellion...wouldn't one think that rebellion could actually be the EIGHTH DEADLY SIN
Yeah....sometimes we even surprise ourselves and come up w/ something really good....
HAHA! 1 point awarded to the Catholics.
aiangel_writer, you mentioned in your post about surrendering our "will to know what's best for us". Isn't that almost a paradox? How can we know that surrendering our will to know what's best for us is actually what's best for us if we're surrending that will?
I don't know why, but I find the 7 Deadly Sins very interesting. I know I violate many of them on nearly a daily basis, even though I consider myself to be a moral upstanding person.
Do you think these hold more wisdom than the 10 Commandments? There is a little overlap, but they seem to discuss different things. Or how about the Buddhist's 5 Moral Precepts?
What other guides do we have to morality?
Greetings, First of all I don't know much on the Buddhist's 5 Moral Precepts so I will not comment on them. Secondly, you state that you feel that you violate the 7 deadly sins nearly on a daily basis. Quess what, nobody is prefect and we ar made from the dust on the ground. We have a physical body that has to be kept in check 24/7. It is extremely important to renew your mind to the Word of God daily. By doing so you will develop an inner strenght to resist sinning against God. But, if you do sin, the Bible tells us that we have an advocate, Jesus Christ, who pleads our offense before the Father. No other person can repeat for you. Jesus's blood is the only thing that can wash away our sin. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin. Read the Book of 1 John in the Bible. Remember, Jesus shed his blood on the cross for the redemption of mankinds sin. 10 commandmens are a good thing to live by, but a better thing to live by is what Jesus told his disciples. Love God and your neighbor. The 10 commandment were written in the Old testament. Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament because no one was able to live by the Old testament law. Do what Jesus tells us to do and you will not have any problems living by the OT. This is just a short, but brief explanation.
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unfortunately. 
Renew
