[JOYnet] Are we willing to forgive
Dear Friends, I really agree with what the following parable is trying to convey us. Infact Jesus himself has taught us to Love and Forgive and we can see = that mostly in His actions. He loved all his disciples even those who = betrayed him. He had forgiven Peter and as a sign of His Love for him, = He made him the Rock of the Church. He not only forgived Peter but = bestowed upon Him a very important Responsiblity - the Rsponsibility of = his own Church. =20 We need to Forgive those who hurt us though it seems difficult in the = beginning but also here we need to remember that when Christ could = Forgive, we as Christians, followers of Christ can do it also. =20 Most of the times even if we decide to forgive it is difficult to forget = the incidence of hurt. Let me give an example here. If we are walking = in a forest and as we are walking if a thorn pricks our feet, what = shall we immediately do, ofcourse we will cry because of pain but for = how long. After sometime we will try to remove that thorn = from our feet though that period of removing the thorn will be painful. = But after the thorn is removed we shall experience healing. But if in = order to avoid the brief period of hurt we decide not to remove that = thorn then what will happen? The wound will become severe and probably = develop into puss. So you see this is what happens when we are = unwilling to forgive. =20 God is interested in our Decision and not our Feelings. Let's make a = decision to forgive all those who have hurt us at some point of time and = leave the rest to God. When we forgive we shall receive God's grace and = through His grace all our Hurtful memories will be washed away. Are we Ready to Forgive then and trust God to do the rest... Love Prayers Jennifer Mumbai -= --- SAND ###STONE =20 =20 One fine Summer two friends were walking through the desert. In a = Specific point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the = other one in the face. The one, who got slapped, was hurt,but not taking it seriously, he wrote in the sand: TODAY, MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME ON MY FACE.They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they = decided to take bath. The guy who got slapped and hurt started drowning and the = other friend saved him. After he recovered from the mishap, he wrote on a stone:TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE The friend who saved and = slapped his best friend, asked him, Why, after I hurt you, you wrote in the = sand, and now you write on a stone? The other friend, smiling replied: When = a friend hurt us, we should write it down in the sand, where the wind of forgiveness take charge of erasing it away, and when something great happens, we should engrave it in a stone of memory in the heart, where = no wind can erase it =20 =20 1. Learn to write in the sand, when u have difference and hurted = feelings with ur friend. =20 =20 2. Learn to write in stone when ur friend has something done really good = to you. =20 [demime 0.97b removed an attachment of type text/x-vcard which had a name of Jennifer Fernandes.vcf] ** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] To know more about Jesus Youth, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org **
Re: [JOYnet] The difference between sand and the stone
Dear Joynetters, I really agree with what George has tried to convey through this parable. We need to Forgive those who hurt us though it seems difficult in the beginning. Most of the times even if we decide to forgive it is difficult to forget the incidence of hurt. However God is interested in our Decision and not our Feelings. Let's make a decision to forgive all those who have hurt us at some point of time and leave the rest to God. When we forgive we shall receive God's grace and through His grace all our Hurtful memories will be washed away. Are we Ready to Forgive then and trust God to do the rest... Love Prayers Jennifer Mumbai - Original Message - From: George Joseph Fernandes [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2001 11:40 AM Subject: [JOYnet] The difference between sand and the stone SAND ###STONE One fine Summer two friends were walking through the desert. In a Specific point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one, who got slapped, was hurt,but not taking it seriously, he wrote in the sand: TODAY, MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME ON MY FACE.They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take bath. The guy who got slapped and hurt started drowning and the other friend saved him. After he recovered from the mishap, he wrote on a stone:TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE The friend who saved and slapped his best friend, asked him, Why, after I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now you write on a stone? The other friend, smiling replied: When a friend hurt us, we should write it down in the sand, where the wind of forgiveness take charge of erasing it away, and when something great happens, we should engrave it in a stone of memory in the heart, where no wind can erase it 1. Learn to write in the sand, when u have difference and hurted feelings with ur friend. 2. Learn to write in stone when ur friend has something done really good to you. ** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] To know more about Jesus Youth, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org ** ** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] To know more about Jesus Youth, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org **
[JOYnet] My comments on Saji's Reply
Hi Joynetters, Just wrote this mail to show my appreciation for Saji's comments.. The traditions we speak of are not Cultural traditions , but actually teachings of the church and the beliefs of christians across 2000 years. the word tradition means handed down. From the teachings of the early church and the belief of the early christians was born the New Testament.So we can say that the New Testament is a selection of specific information done keeping a lot of criteria reagrding the authenticity and veracity of the texts . This process took almost 350 to 400 years. The Traditions include Oral teachings of the Apostles and evangelists and fathers of the church,and also the same and much more in written form.From all this the 27 books of the NT were chosen and approved. Let us please keep this bit of history in mind.. Mail the joynet for further info. Love and Prayers Ravi Mumbai --- Saji Sebastian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: :) Dear brothers and sisters, We don't need to defend the authority of Word of God. Because everyone and everything, exist in it (Him). However I don't think that all of God's Words can be put in to a book. There is no doubt that Book is Word of God. Our God is a living God, who speaks to His people through all generations. (I am not telling that He is not going to contradict His written word some point of time). The Bible took its shape in her (church's) lap. And the church the one who is tells us Bible is the word of God. If any of us take the book and renounce the church that is foolishness. Bible is one of the greatest gifts that the church offers the world (Word of God in a written format). Jesus did so many things and said to his disciples, lot of things that any books cant contain. What was written were written so that people may believe that Jesus is Son of God. So those were not the only things he said. The Church is the sacrament that makes Jesus (God) available to all the peoples; she exists with all Authority given by her master. Jesus tells her she would do greater things than He did while he was in the Middle East 2000 years back. The richness of the wisdom of 2000 years of Christian life (a life listening to the Holy Spirit and acting accordingly) is unimaginable. Those who are fighting against the church and its traditions (which the way of life and a culture), is knowingly or unknowingly joining with enemy to deprive us of those glorious richness. Those who cant love his church (that makes Him visible) cant love him. With lots of love and prayers Saji Sebastian, NJ, USA --- Nicolas Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi Its so encouraging to see how all have brought forth facts to prove that Jehovah Witnesses are a cult and for sure they r not Christians. However so far I had not seen someone challenging the authority of Bible to do so. The first point of Joseph seems to question the Bible and speaks that Bible asks us to follow traditions. Excuse me but both the references given don't speak about traditions. Traditions are not God made, but human made. We Indians might have a different traditional way of worshipping God, some others may have other traditions. The way to worship God is in John 4:24. WORSHIP HIM IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. We all are supposed to worship GOD the FATHER through God the Son JESUS by means of God the HOLY SPIRIT. That's TRINITY. Please note that I'm not defending the JW's. I'm defending the authority of the Holy Bible coz Bible is the Word of God. I firmly agree that JW's are not Christians. Nick Aamchi Mumbai. Joseph C.C wrote: Hai Joynetters, Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. There was a discussion about Jehovah's Witnesses, and I read the replies also. It is great to know that many know the truth. I thought that I should put in some of the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding some of the points raised in the male. 1) Bible is more reliable than tradition Matt. 15:3; Col. 2:8 :As most of us know that our separated brethren believe in Sola Scripture, in other words only the Bible. But they forge the face that Sola Scripture is Anti Scripture. In the Bible we see that we must follow traditions 2 Thes 2:15 and 2 Thes 3:6. 2) Christ is God's Son and is inferior to Him Matt. 3:17 : But in the Bible we see in many places where Jesus identifies Himself with the Father and calls the great I am Jn 8:58. So He is not inferior to the father. 3) Christ was first of God's creations Col. 1:15; Rev. 3:14: If we look into the Catechism of the Catholic Church article 465 tells that Christ is Begotten and not made. 4) Images should not be used in worship Ex. 20:4, 5; Lev.: When the Scripture says images it does not only mean making things, because we see in Numbers 21:4 God
[JOYnet] My comments on Saji's Reply
Hi Joynetters, Just wrote this mail to show my appreciation for Saji's comments.. The traditions we speak of are not Cultural traditions , but actually teachings of the church and the beliefs of christians across 2000 years. the word tradition means handed down. From the teachings of the early church and the belief of the early christians was born the New Testament.So we can say that the New Testament is a selection of specific information done keeping a lot of criteria reagrding the authenticity and veracity of the texts . This process took almost 350 to 400 years. The Traditions include Oral teachings of the Apostles and evangelists and fathers of the church,and also the same and much more in written form.From all this the 27 books of the NT were chosen and approved. Let us please keep this bit of history in mind.. Mail the joynet for further info. Love and Prayers Ravi Mumbai --- Saji Sebastian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: :) Dear brothers and sisters, We don't need to defend the authority of Word of God. Because everyone and everything, exist in it (Him). However I don't think that all of God's Words can be put in to a book. There is no doubt that Book is Word of God. Our God is a living God, who speaks to His people through all generations. (I am not telling that He is not going to contradict His written word some point of time). The Bible took its shape in her (church's) lap. And the church the one who is tells us Bible is the word of God. If any of us take the book and renounce the church that is foolishness. Bible is one of the greatest gifts that the church offers the world (Word of God in a written format). Jesus did so many things and said to his disciples, lot of things that any books cant contain. What was written were written so that people may believe that Jesus is Son of God. So those were not the only things he said. The Church is the sacrament that makes Jesus (God) available to all the peoples; she exists with all Authority given by her master. Jesus tells her she would do greater things than He did while he was in the Middle East 2000 years back. The richness of the wisdom of 2000 years of Christian life (a life listening to the Holy Spirit and acting accordingly) is unimaginable. Those who are fighting against the church and its traditions (which the way of life and a culture), is knowingly or unknowingly joining with enemy to deprive us of those glorious richness. Those who cant love his church (that makes Him visible) cant love him. With lots of love and prayers Saji Sebastian, NJ, USA --- Nicolas Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi Its so encouraging to see how all have brought forth facts to prove that Jehovah Witnesses are a cult and for sure they r not Christians. However so far I had not seen someone challenging the authority of Bible to do so. The first point of Joseph seems to question the Bible and speaks that Bible asks us to follow traditions. Excuse me but both the references given don't speak about traditions. Traditions are not God made, but human made. We Indians might have a different traditional way of worshipping God, some others may have other traditions. The way to worship God is in John 4:24. WORSHIP HIM IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. We all are supposed to worship GOD the FATHER through God the Son JESUS by means of God the HOLY SPIRIT. That's TRINITY. Please note that I'm not defending the JW's. I'm defending the authority of the Holy Bible coz Bible is the Word of God. I firmly agree that JW's are not Christians. Nick Aamchi Mumbai. Joseph C.C wrote: Hai Joynetters, Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. There was a discussion about Jehovah's Witnesses, and I read the replies also. It is great to know that many know the truth. I thought that I should put in some of the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding some of the points raised in the male. 1) Bible is more reliable than tradition Matt. 15:3; Col. 2:8 :As most of us know that our separated brethren believe in Sola Scripture, in other words only the Bible. But they forge the face that Sola Scripture is Anti Scripture. In the Bible we see that we must follow traditions 2 Thes 2:15 and 2 Thes 3:6. 2) Christ is God's Son and is inferior to Him Matt. 3:17 : But in the Bible we see in many places where Jesus identifies Himself with the Father and calls the great I am Jn 8:58. So He is not inferior to the father. 3) Christ was first of God's creations Col. 1:15; Rev. 3:14: If we look into the Catechism of the Catholic Church article 465 tells that Christ is Begotten and not made. 4) Images should not be used in worship Ex. 20:4, 5; Lev.: When the Scripture says images it does not only mean making things, because we see in Numbers 21:4 God
[JOYnet] Traditions
Hi Firstly I thank God for this oppurtunity to discuss by email. I thank God for Joynet and this mailing list. I thank God for our friend from New Jersey who has criticised me. I Thess.5:18(In everything give thanks). I started off writing that the Bible is the word of God, Bible doesn't ask us to follow traditions and traditions are human made. Nowhere in my mail I spoke about Church.: Now Saji wrote :- ). 'The Bible took its shape in her (church's) lap. And the church the one who is tells us Bible is the word of God. If any of us take the book and renounce the church that is foolishness.' Well my friends always try to refer to the Bible as 'Bible' and not book. I don't renounce the Church and so I call the above accusation (foolish) as a mistake. Let me write about Church here. The word 'Church' comes from the Greek word 'Ecclesia' meaning 'to call out from'. Christians are called out from the world system to be 'in Christ'. The word Church can refer to a local group of believers. Philemon 2; Col.4:15. This visible Church consists of those whose names are on local Church rolls, all earthly Church denominations and sects. The invisible Church is made up of those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Rev.21:27. God put all things under Christ's feet and gave him to the Church as supreme Lord over all things. The Church is Christ's body, the completion of him who himself completes all things everywhere. Eph.1:22-23. Hey today is Teacher's day in India. I wish all teachers out there a blessed day. So praise Jesus who is the teacher of all teachers. 'One night he (Nicodemus) went to Jesus and said to Him, Rabbi we know that you are a teacher sent by God. ... John3:2 Dear friends you may or may not agree with me, but I only say that following tradition is not important. Following Christ and His teaching is however very important. Even as its teacher's day today, reflect on the teachings of Christ (Matt.7:21-23). If we keep on hanging to 'handed down' traditions Christians will continue to be divided, with each Church/sect/denomination having their own say. Go ahead and sling mud on me if you want. Whatever I wrote above is to give God glory. Amen. Jesus Reigns. Nick. Saji wrote: Dear brothers and sisters, We don't need to defend the authority of Word of God. Because everyone and everything, exist in it (Him). However I don't think that all of God's Words can be put in to a book. There is no doubt that Book is Word of God. Our God is a living God, who speaks to His people through all generations. (I am not telling that He is not going to contradict His written word some point of time). The Bible took its shape in her (church's) lap. And the church the one who is tells us Bible is the word of God. If any of us take the book and renounce the church that is foolishness. Bible is one of the greatest gifts that the church offers the world (Word of God in a written format). Jesus did so many things and said to his disciples, lot of things that any books can_t contain. What was written were written so that people may believe that Jesus is Son of God. So those were not the only things he said. The Church is the sacrament that makes Jesus (God) available to all the peoples; she exists with all Authority given by her master. Jesus tells her she would do greater things than He did while he was in the Middle East 2000 years back. The richness of the wisdom of 2000 years of Christian life (a life listening to the Holy Spirit and acting accordingly) is unimaginable. Those who are fighting against the church and its traditions (which the way of life and a culture), is knowingly or unknowingly joining with enemy to deprive us of those glorious richness. Those who can_t love his church (that makes Him visible) can_t love him. With lots of love and prayers Saji Sebastian, NJ, USA ** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] To know more about Jesus Youth, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org **
Fwd: [JOYnet] My comments on Saji's Reply
congrats to Saji and Ravi,you have done a very good work. i just add my comments on the same. love seb / Kuwait Hi Nick, both those references are talking about traditions only. ( 2 Thes 2:15, 3:6 ) Why traditions are important in our faith? Certainly Bible is the source of our faith. But there are many things not found in the Bible is also part of our faith. And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written ( John 21-25 ). All the experiences of the disciples of Jesus need not be written in the Bible. All their inspirations also need not be in the written form. Bible is the written form of the Word of God. But Word of God was also found in the oral form. The church was established before the formation of the Bible in the 4th Century. Until that time the Word of God was passed through generations in oral form. That is what we call tradition. Tradition means the experiences and inspirations of our ancestors, Apostles, church fathers etc passed through generations in different ways including oral form. All the apostles are not found in writing the Bible. But they were also carrying the Word of God. They exchanged it in oral form. Bible was available to everybody only very recently after the invention of printing press. Until that time our ancestors were depending on tradition only. Even after the formation of the Bible, God could speak to the Church through His people by private revelations. The Church will discern them and would encourage the believers if they support our faith. Even those who believe in sola scriptura ( Bible alone) believe many things not found in the Bible but from tradition. Take the case of the Holy Trinity, or the Holy Spirit as God, is there any word explicitly stating that in the Bible? From: Ravi Vaz [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] CC: Saji Sebastian [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [JOYnet] My comments on Saji's Reply Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2001 00:01:40 -0700 (PDT) Hi Joynetters, Just wrote this mail to show my appreciation for Saji's comments.. The traditions we speak of are not Cultural traditions , but actually teachings of the church and the beliefs of christians across 2000 years. the word tradition means handed down. From the teachings of the early church and the belief of the early christians was born the New Testament.So we can say that the New Testament is a selection of specific information done keeping a lot of criteria reagrding the authenticity and veracity of the texts . This process took almost 350 to 400 years. The Traditions include Oral teachings of the Apostles and evangelists and fathers of the church,and also the same and much more in written form.From all this the 27 books of the NT were chosen and approved. Let us please keep this bit of history in mind.. Mail the joynet for further info. Love and Prayers Ravi Mumbai --- Saji Sebastian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: :) Dear brothers and sisters, We don't need to defend the authority of Word of God. Because everyone and everything, exist in it (Him). However I don't think that all of God's Words can be put in to a book. There is no doubt that Book is Word of God. Our God is a living God, who speaks to His people through all generations. (I am not telling that He is not going to contradict His written word some point of time). The Bible took its shape in her (church's) lap. And the church the one who is tells us Bible is the word of God. If any of us take the book and renounce the church that is foolishness. Bible is one of the greatest gifts that the church offers the world (Word of God in a written format). Jesus did so many things and said to his disciples, lot of things that any books cant contain. What was written were written so that people may believe that Jesus is Son of God. So those were not the only things he said. The Church is the sacrament that makes Jesus (God) available to all the peoples; she exists with all Authority given by her master. Jesus tells her she would do greater things than He did while he was in the Middle East 2000 years back. The richness of the wisdom of 2000 years of Christian life (a life listening to the Holy Spirit and acting accordingly) is unimaginable. Those who are fighting against the church and its traditions (which the way of life and a culture), is knowingly or unknowingly joining with enemy to deprive us of those glorious richness. Those who cant love his church (that makes Him visible) cant love him. With lots of love and prayers Saji Sebastian, NJ, USA --- Nicolas Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi Its so encouraging to see how all have brought forth facts to prove that Jehovah Witnesses are a cult and for sure they r not Christians. However so far I had not seen someone
[JOYnet] Why go to Church ?
Why go to church? A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. I've gone for 30 years now, he wrote, and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all. This started a real controversy in the Letters to the Editor column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today! When you are DOWN to nothing God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment! _ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] To know more about Jesus Youth, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org **
[JOYnet] Hi Eveybody
Dear Friends, I have been a silent member of our joynet family, I have been receiving a lot of mails and most of them really touching my heart. Its been and ongoing enriching experience, I have learnt a lot from joynet and yet learning this is something I think and I guess all of us would have realized by now. JOYnet will live for a long long time. Today I open my mail to just get a number of emails saying Happy Birthday this is the first time I think in my entire life I have got so much of wishes from people whom I have not seen, Its wonderful to have you as my friends, I thank each and everyone for your wishes. I have earlier missed a night vigil program held in Bangalore which I really regret, due to some reason. I guess I should not miss an opportunity the next time to meet our joynetters. Its a privilege to be part of Joynet all of us realize that, I would like to share with you just one thing that has brought me closer to joynet. I have got a mail Fatima Sharmila that says GOD LOVES YOU THE WAY YOU ARE so be happy today and always these words are just unforgettable. I have been searching for somebody just to make friends somebody to like me the way that I am I have been doing this for the past 5 years now, I realized it only Yesterday that I had already had someone a long time back. Praise god Love and wishes Isaac Jy Bangalore Get email alerts NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger. ** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] To know more about Jesus Youth, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org **
[JOYnet] Birthday Notification !!!
Hi Friends These are the birthday babies of the day (September 06). JOSE JOSEPH [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wishing you a very happy birthday God Bless With Love The JOYnet Family ** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] To know more about Jesus Youth, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org **
Re: [JOYnet] Traditions
Dear brother Nick, What made you think that I criticized you? I was not criticizing you. Sorry if you misunderstood. I know I responded to one thing that you mentioned about defending Word of God. NONE OF US NEED TO DEFEND WORD OF GOD. He (Word of God is nothing but Jesus) doesn't need our protection. Remember what he told the women of Jerusalem on His way to Calvary. He is not helpless and standing in need of our defense. He is a victorious King. The entire humanity is in need of His mercy. Rest everything I wrote was my understanding about word of God and His Church. My dear Nick please don't take anything personally. I have no idea about who you are or anything about your life then how can I judge you or accuse you? Just by reading a mail? No way dear brother. With lots of love and prayers Saji, New Jersey, USA --- Nicolas Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi Firstly I thank God for this oppurtunity to discuss by email. I thank God for Joynet and this mailing list. I thank God for our friend from New Jersey who has criticised me. I Thess.5:18(In everything give thanks). I started off writing that the Bible is the word of God, Bible doesn't ask us to follow traditions and traditions are human made. Nowhere in my mail I spoke about Church.: Now Saji wrote :- ). 'The Bible took its shape in her (church's) lap. And the church the one who is tells us Bible is the word of God. If any of us take the book and renounce the church that is foolishness.' Well my friends always try to refer to the Bible as 'Bible' and not book. I don't renounce the Church and so I call the above accusation (foolish) as a mistake. Let me write about Church here. The word 'Church' comes from the Greek word 'Ecclesia' meaning 'to call out from'. Christians are called out from the world system to be 'in Christ'. The word Church can refer to a local group of believers. Philemon 2; Col.4:15. This visible Church consists of those whose names are on local Church rolls, all earthly Church denominations and sects. The invisible Church is made up of those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Rev.21:27. God put all things under Christ's feet and gave him to the Church as supreme Lord over all things. The Church is Christ's body, the completion of him who himself completes all things everywhere. Eph.1:22-23. Hey today is Teacher's day in India. I wish all teachers out there a blessed day. So praise Jesus who is the teacher of all teachers. 'One night he (Nicodemus) went to Jesus and said to Him, Rabbi we know that you are a teacher sent by God. ... John3:2 Dear friends you may or may not agree with me, but I only say that following tradition is not important. Following Christ and His teaching is however very important. Even as its teacher's day today, reflect on the teachings of Christ (Matt.7:21-23). If we keep on hanging to 'handed down' traditions Christians will continue to be divided, with each Church/sect/denomination having their own say. Go ahead and sling mud on me if you want. Whatever I wrote above is to give God glory. Amen. Jesus Reigns. Nick. Saji wrote: Dear brothers and sisters, We don't need to defend the authority of Word of God. Because everyone and everything, exist in it (Him). However I don't think that all of God's Words can be put in to a book. There is no doubt that Book is Word of God. Our God is a living God, who speaks to His people through all generations. (I am not telling that He is not going to contradict His written word some point of time). The Bible took its shape in her (church's) lap. And the church the one who is tells us Bible is the word of God. If any of us take the book and renounce the church that is foolishness. Bible is one of the greatest gifts that the church offers the world (Word of God in a written format). Jesus did so many things and said to his disciples, lot of things that any books can_t contain. What was written were written so that people may believe that Jesus is Son of God. So those were not the only things he said. The Church is the sacrament that makes Jesus (God) available to all the peoples; she exists with all Authority given by her master. Jesus tells her she would do greater things than He did while he was in the Middle East 2000 years back. The richness of the wisdom of 2000 years of Christian life (a life listening to the Holy Spirit and acting accordingly) is unimaginable. Those who are fighting against the church and its traditions (which the way of life and a culture), is knowingly or unknowingly joining with enemy to deprive us of those glorious richness. Those who can_t love his church (that makes Him visible) can_t love him. With lots of love and prayers Saji Sebastian, NJ, USA ** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth
