A Christian Viewpoint

Water baptism is an outward sign of repentance, a cleansing away, and for those who are baptized as Christians, representative of the washing away of our sins by the blood of Jesus. To come to this repentance is a work of God. Being therefore cleansed we can be baptized into the body of Christ as his Spirit comes to reside within us. One should not confuse the outward sign, which we should do, with the reality of God’s work that happens in a moment of time. We are born again, through the water (repentance) into the body of Christ (by his Spirit). These are the two essentials.
🙂

Ah, the rightness of my way. I want to share with an open heart what the Lord has revealed to me.
What, you disagree with what I wrote? No problem, you are young in the Lord.
What, have wisdom of years? If you could read Greek you would see the error in your thinking.
What, have studied Greek! Well, that is a technical reading of the passage but the passage must be spiritually discerned.
What, the Spirit of God told you this? Evidently you have a wrong spirit.
What, judge you according to your good fruit, your good works? The enemy can appear an angel of light.
Argh! You just don’t get it.
Argh! Argh! No, you don’t.
Argh! Argh! Argh! You’re stupid.
Argh! Argh! Argh! Argh! You’re shadowspawn.
Argh……………
:crazy:

Someone complained that some ministers, pastors, evangelists, teachers and a few Christians are doing a sales pitch for what people should believe.

Each one of these ministries has there own way of reaching people. Their respective ministries are for different purposes and their target audience sometimes overlap but not always. Judge your own work and let God judge the others. I must admit though, it does appear that a few nuts are sprinkled in the good fruit salad bowl of the kingdom.

The average Christian who does not have one of the ministries listed by you should simply be ready to give an account of the hope that is within them. That’s a personal testimony of their walk… not a teach, preach or lead me exercise. Andyman, quoting Peter, is correct in this regard.

🙂

Traditions… you can get a glimpse of them in the scripture: water baptism, communion service, the moving of the Spirit in meetings, the sharing of goods, fellowship meals, prayer meetings, evangelistic crusades. Each district seems to have their own slant and emphasis. Things are fine until you try to cross every ‘T’ and dot every ‘i’. When that happens exclusion of people begins and the church is fractured. As charismatics we know that there is a danger of quenching the Spirit when we try to squeeze the Spirit through a traditions knot hole. Traditions do have a place and can be beneficial. Yet, it is dangerous to carve it in stone as the finger of God did when he wrote on the tables of stone that Moses provided.
🙂

Personally I believe that a “tithe” is more like a token of thanks given to God for all the good things that he has given me. That is the premise for the tithe. There are many ways to give thanks. Monetary giving of thanks is but one method. The thankless heart will not go far in the kingdom. Be a cheerful giver. Do alms. Increase your treasure in heaven. Raise your hands to God and give thanks that he has accepted you into the family of believers. Do it out of love and not under law… and whatever you give will be accepted.
🙂

Mr. See and Mr. Soar were old friends. See
owned a saw and Soar owned a seesaw. Now
See’s saw sawed Soar’s seesaw before Soar
saw See, which made Soar sore. Had Soar
seen See’s saw before See saw Soar’s seesaw,
then See’s saw would not have sawed Soar’s
seesaw. But See saw Soar’s seesaw before
Soar saw See’s saw so See’s saw sawed Soar’s
seesaw. It was a shame to let See see Soar
so sore because See’s saw sawed Soar’s seesaw.

🙂

A heated discussion about what it means by Jesus became sin. This was my response to the discussion.

This discussion is like one over the word impute. As when Abraham believed God and that belief was imputed to Abraham for righteousness. Was the righteousness of Abraham real? Was it his or just a word game that righteousness rested on him but really wasn’t a part of him? Jesus on the cross had the sin(s) of the world imputed to him. If Jesus, who knew no sin, was given the sin, and he embraced it for his own, then when he died on the cross those sins were actually paid for. So was the sin his or not his? When you agree to take on the debt of another person do you not become the debtor? It is a game of semantics that can become very dangerous in its final outcome. As I see this thread going…

Regardless of what impute means, I thank God for the sacrifice that Jesus made to pay for the sin(s).

🙂

Where is the blasphemy?
A further response dated 22 March, 2005

I say with Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Sounds to me that our sins were imputed to Jesus. If the word of God says that the iniquity of us all has been laid on Jesus… and I agree with that statement, how could I be wrong? You mentioned 1st Peter… but only one who is pure and not stained with iniquity can take on our sins (or as 1st Peter 2:24 writes “bore our sins in his body“) to pay for them. Everyone else dies because of their own sin. You mentioned 2 John… but that has to do with; following his commandment to love and to believe that Jesus came in the flesh.

Your response does not answer my question… “When you agree to take on the debt of another person do you not become the debtor?”

🙂

Someone complained about holy laughter, rolling on the floor or barking like a dog.

It does not matter whether someone barks like a dog, gets slain in the spirit or laughs large. They can be manifestations of: the Spirit, a spirit, a mental disease, suggestiveness, or a plain and simple show. What is important is to have the discernment to know which of these they are. I have seen the rolling, heard the barking and chuckled along with the laughter. Sometimes I knew it was the Spirit. Sometime I knew it was one of the other reasons. Most times I didn’t know. One must be careful not to smudge the working of the Spirit. Listen to those you know have discernment to judge each act on its own. Then act or not accordingly. I find it is too easy these days for churches to quench the Spirit because of bad calls. Fear and bad judgment has taken its toll on the church.

In a furthur response…

Since you posted this under my sub-thread I would ask where is the problem? I have said that all manifestations need to be discerned as to origin. From what you write, if it doesn’t look holy it can be suspect… and some things you reject out of hand, like dog barking. So I fear the selectiveness is part of your post. Read my post again.

As for dog barking… I have heard it in several meetings that I have attended. Once the Spirit witnessed with me that is was of the enemy. The other times I received no witness from the Spirit as to the root of the manifestation. Yet I will not say they were of God or not of God… no witness… no knowing. But like you I can give a pretty good guess. But guessing in these cases, as in all cases, is dangerous. If an angel of light appeared and told me something… without a witness from the Spirit I would not be too hasty to jump at the angel’s word. The enemy can appear as a messenger of the light. So can those who are his human servants.

The key is Discernment!

🙂

Gen 2:24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

This is the fundamental concept of marriage. In later years sexual acts and who you can do them with became more restricted. There is no place within scripture where this basic model was repealed.

If the state wishes to include man with man or woman with woman, that is a state law. If some churches follow that pattern they will be judged according to “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” Because of this, I am content to leave the final judgment in God’s hands.

There are times for learning and times for repentance. The Spirit will bring light to the word of God people have heard or read. What they do with it is up to them. If they choose wrongly, there may be a few more people looking on who are not allowed into the kingdom. It is faith that counts… but it is the faith that rests on God’s word for its foundation.

🙂

A conversation. Sometimes as baby just crying out with no reason why. As a child needing help or asking for help for others. As a teen too full of words and not enough language to speak them precisely. As an adult with knowledge and wisdom birthed of the Spirit. And tongues, when none of the above is fit for the purpose.

🙂