"It is an undoubted truth that every doctrine that comes from God, leads to God; and that which doth not tend to promote holiness is not of God." George Whitefield
David Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Yes, Terry. This is the most important thing of all to talk about. I think perhaps we should stop all posting and talk only about THIS. :-)
Despite all doctrines and concepts, it really all comes down to relationships and loving one another. Knowledge will be done away. That doesn't mean that we cannot study and gain understanding, but we have to put it in perspective. Maybe we should do a study on the book of Ecclesiastes. :-)
Peace be with you.
David Miller, Beverly Hills, Florida.
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Terry Clifton
Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2004 10:05 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [TruthTalk] tough being a Christian
It occurs to me that the only thing tougher than being a Christian, is being a Christian in one accord with other Christians. There is nothing we will not verbally scrap about. We do this, obviously, to uphold truth and denounce error. Judy has all the truth. Bill has all the error, or vice versa. Kevin proclaims the truth and Dave H respectfully disagrees. I had all the truth at one time, but so many people told me otherwise that I doubted my own accuracy. It all gets very confusing. If I ask if it is okay to substitute a doughnut for the unleavened bread while taking communion, one person says,"Of course it is, we have great freedom in Christ. You do not have to walk around with a clipboard under your arm, checking to see what the rules say. Be led by the Spirit".
They even have verses to substantiate what they believe. If it seems okay, that is the Holy Spirit leading in the right direction.
The next person says "Of course it's not okay. Leaven represents sin. The unleavened bread represents the sinless body of Christ. To take liberties with what Christ commanded is sin". They also have verses.
A third group says,"Do whatever seems right with the bread, but do not serve grape juice. The Bible specifically says wine." To which the fourth group responds, "grape juice is the only way to go. One sip of wine could cause an alcoholic to fall off the wagon."
No one considers all this to be nit picking. It has nothing to do with salvation, but everything to do with truth, so we defend these positions as though God would cease to be in charge if we faltered or compromised. Pride rears it's ugly head, and as Lance pointed out, we get angry at the stupid so and so who is too ignorant to see how correct we are.
If God has a really great sense of humor, He may be laughing at how we mortals strain at a gnat, but I suspect that He is more likely looking at us with great sadness, seeing how easily we fail at an easy command like "Love one another."
The enemy is defeating us folks. There is no reason why Dave Hansen should want to be like us. I don't even want to be like us.
What can we do about it? Is this important enough to talk about? Suggestions please.
Terry
HE must increase. we MUST decrease.
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