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3 Things Christians Do That Non-Christians Despise
Spend two minutes talking to almost anyone outside the Christian faith and you're almost certain to hear a list of complaints they have about Christians.
The problem has been around awhile. As Mahatma Gandhi famously (and sadly) said: "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
He's not alone.
The problem with many non-Christians isn't that they don't know any Christians. The challenge is they do.
So what gives?
Many Christians would tell you we have an image problem: we're treated unfairly, we're being persecuted, or we're just badly misunderstood.
I'm not so sure.
It's not so much that Christians have an image problem. It's far more likely that we have an integrity problem.
Do we get misunderstood on some issues? Of course. But that's outside our control.
There are more than a few issues entirely within our control that give us a bad name with people outside Christianity.
Here are 3 things Christians do that non-Christians despise.
1. Judge
It doesn't take long for non-Christians to tell you how much they hate the way Christians judge other people.
Another two minutes on social media will reveal Christians and preachers condemning unchurched people for their sexual habits and preferences, life-style choices and even political views. I doubt this is what Jesus had in mind when he gave his life in love for the world.
Disclosure: without the mercy and intervention of Christ, I'm very judgmental. And years ago, I realized how devastating judgment and criticism can be to others. So I'm waging a life-long battle against it. Confessing it, repenting of it almost daily.
I realized years ago that very few people get judged into life change. Far more get loved into it.
It also occurred to me that the presence of judgment almost always guarantees an absence of love.
Think about it through the lens of your marriage, a friendship or even someone you work with: it is virtually impossible to love someone and judge someone at the same time.
But wait, you ask: what if they're making a mistake and I need to correct them?
First of all, look at your mistakes and the depth of your sin, and deal with your issues first. In the process, you'll encounter a loving God who forgives you despite your rather egregious sin.
And having been loved, you can love others.
I try to remember this rule: If I'm judging someone, I'm not loving them. You can't judge someone and love them at the same time.
What would happen if Christians stopped judging the world (isn't that God's job?) and started loving it instead?
I believe that's what Jesus did.
2. Be Hypocritical
There's a word for Christian who say one thing and do another. The word is hypocrite.
It's far easier to call someone else a hypocrite than it is to admit you're one.
The truth is that as much as I hate it, I'm a hypocrite. My walk doesn't always match my talk. That's why I don't have a fish on my car. When I'm in a hurry and my natural impatience surfaces, the last thing some person God loves needs to see is a Christian cut him off.
Of course, it's worse than that. I'm not always a loving husband, kind father, steadfast son, patient boss, or even compassionate friend. Like you, I'm a mixture of good
and not-really-that good evil.
What did Paul say? Nothing good lives in me. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 7:18). That could be a life-verse for me. Well, actually, it kind of is.
Sanctification is a process that never ends.
I am not who I want to be (yet). I am not who God wants me to be. But I'm different. I'm changing. And Christ is at work in me.
I believe that's the reality for every person who calls Jesus Savior.
So what do imperfect Christians do? I mean just deciding you're not going to make mistakes never keeps you from making mistakes.
I think the answer is simple: you watch what you say.
Don't pretend to be something or someone you're not.
I find the more humility I add to my words, the smaller the gap is between who I am and who I say I am.
When you admit your shortcomings, you build a bridge between you and others. Owning your sin is different than living in it; confession is never an excuse for complacency.
So what do you do if you live in the tension between what you usually say or want to say and what you do?
I think you change both.
You change how you live through the power of Christ day by day (getting better), and at the same time, you change how you talk about your faith, yourself and how you live (adding more honestly and humility to your words). I wrote about things modern Pharisees say today in this post (the Pharisees were an ultra-religious group Jesus strong criticized).
Want a quick fix for hypocrisy? Accelerate your walk. Humble your talk.
Nothing closes the gap between word and action faster than that.
3. Stink at Friendship
Friendship is hard.
We all have ideas of finding the perfect friends with whom we'll never disagree, share 1000 common interests and ride off into the sunset with.
Well, very few human relationships ever work that way. Even in marriage, the best marriages are almost always ones in which people have overcome deep and real obstacles to find a powerful love that's far deeper than emotion.
Perhaps the first obstacle between non-Christians and Christians is that relatively few Christians actively pursue meaningful friendships with people who don't share their faith. Between churches that offer programs 5 nights a week (leaving little time for Christians to make friends outside the church) and Christians who are afraid of the world, many Christians don't pursue authentic relationships with non-Christians.
Which means much of the interaction non-Christians have is situational and observational rather than truly relational. They observe Christians in life and at work, notices traces of judgment and hypocrisy and draw all kinds of conclusions. I get that.
But Jesus went so much deeper than that. Jesus pursued friendships with people who were different than him. Whose lifestyles were far different than anything God had in mind for them (or for people in relationship with him).
Yet Jesus was their friend. He went to their house for dinner. They traveled together. They shared moments and meals and life.
It scandalized the religious leaders of Jesus day, and sadly, when it's practiced authentically, it still scandalizes most of us today.
Think about it. When was the last time you hung out with a hooker?
When was the last time you had someone who's not your skin color, not your political persuasion and doesn't share your value system over for dinner, or when was the last time you broke bread with an addict (who's not in recovery)?
Often when Christians do pursue 'friendships' with people far from God, it's more of a project than it is a friendship.
But people aren't projects; people are people. People can smell it a mile away if you see them as a project, not a person.
Which leads us to another tension in our friendships with those outside the Christian faith.
Some Christians do have a relationship with unchurched people. So: how exactly do you talk about faith?
Great question!
Most of us swing to one extreme or the other: either we always talk about faith, or we never talk about. Both are mistakes.
Always talk about faith, and you're turning the relationship into a project. Never talk about, and you miss the most important thing in life.
Real friendships always drill down on real issues, and few things are more significant than the meaning of life.
How do you talk about? Naturally, organically, in the context of your story is a great place to start.
Real friendships are like that.
Want a simpler place than that to begin? Try this. Just like the person. As much friend Reggie Joiner says, people will never believe you love them if they feel you don't like them.
So Let's Work On This Stuff
Of all the mysteries we try to crack in life, the mystery of becoming a better, more Christ-like, person is the most challenging.
That's why I'm so excited about my book, Didn't See It Coming. It's all about overcoming the 7 greatest challenges everyone experiences, and no one expects.
Take pride for example. One of the things that makes you jealous, judgmental and bad at friendship is, well, pride. And in most of us, pride doesn't become an issue because of narcissism, but because of insecurity.
That's exactly the kind of self-limiting behaviour people struggle with, along with cynicism, compromise, emptiness, irrelevance and more.
Jud Wilhite, Lead Pastor of Central Church, Las Vegas, calls Didn't See It Coming "the most important book you'll read all year."
Brian Houston and Andy Stanley call it 'powerful.'
Check it out for yourself and grab your copy here.
What Do You Think?
Anything you see that people who are not Christians despise about Christians?
If you're a Christian, what helps you overcome these issues, and what other issues do you struggle with?
Scroll down and leave a comment!
767 Comments
Jesus was welcomed by a few. He had just 12 Disciples. One of which Judas Iscariot betrayed him with a kiss on the cheek for 30 pieces of silver. Matthew 26: 14-15 Filled with remorse he returned the money to the Temple. Shortly there after he went into a farm field and hung himself. Where the term "bought the farm" comes from. Acts 1:18. Even the Sadducee's and Pharisees (Chief Priests) accused him of many things. Mark 15:3.
Jesus knew that to follow his teachings and his way would not be acceptable to many. Matthew 16:24-26 Jesus said "take up your cross and follow me".
Jesus was just too tolerant for the rules of that day and time. They didn't care for the people he associated with. Jesus said "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Read the above scriptures closely. John 8:31-32 the truth will set you free.
May Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior find what I have written here acceptable. Let me get out of the way. Amen
I came across this post when I googled "How do I stop hating people as a Christian?" I didn't have any single person or group of people in mind when I wrote that. It's just a general feeling of dislike for people at large, especially in large groups. (I get very, very frustrated in traffic, as you can imagine.)
I'm a Christian, but people in general get on my last nerve. They didn't used to when I was younger, but the older I get, the more irksome and frustrating I find the human population. From constant bad news on the Internet, to having to deal with inexperienced or irate people at fast-food restaurants, to dealing with people who DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DRIVE OR WHERE THEY ARE GOING, I just feel a constant wave of dislike bordering and sometimes crossing over into actual hatred.
Like I said, it's not any specific group of people. Just a general sort of thing. I don't like feeling like this, but it's how things have been recently.
What's worse, part of me doesn't want to change. :/ I know that's terrible, and I know that attitude can send me to Hell if I keep it up. But I'm just so, so tired of people being….imperfect. (Yes, even myself. I get incredibly irritated with my own imperfections as well. I don't mean sin, though that's frustrating, too. I mean like accidentally spilling a little soda when I'm trying to pour it into a glass, or dropping something, or whatever. Little things.)
Full disclosure, I haven't frequented church in a while, and have had a very rough 2019. Loss of a parent, a major surgery, losing a job…it's all kind of built up. So it could all have something to do with all of that.
Anyroad, I feel like my candle burned itself out after I lit both ends and the middle a long time ago. How do I get a new candle? Where can I find it? Because I sure would like one..
That is a tough one. Know one knows how you are feeling better than you (except Jesus) so it is very hard for anyone to give advice/help. We are in a spiritual battle each day….God is love/goodness,…..Satan is bad, evil, and wants you to suffer. Sometimes we just have to lower the stress level, try to stop worrying, don't sweat the small stuff, etc etc but even after trying all those things we sometimes feel terrible and do not always know exactly why. God is in charge of this messed up world and we should be thankful for each day and pray each day for peace in our lives. We cannot control everything but should have faith God has it under control….he has a plan….he is all knowing….
Hi Liz. I am so sorry you have had such a tough year in 2019 and I can truly, personally, understand the way you have been feeling. However, the fact that you did your particular search and ended up here seems to indicate that part of you does want to change. I think that is part of the whole healing process after being through a very rough year of stressful things all piling on top of each other in your life. I am sure you can find a way to "get a new candle". Speak kindly to yourself and nurture yourself before you try to deal with all those frustrating people around you. Just because you have not frequented church in while (I am in the same boat) does not mean that help from God is not available to you. You do not have to go to church to have a personal relationship with Him if you wish it. Seek out some grief counselling, because it sounds like you may need some to help you cope with the loss of your parent, as well as your major health issues – all these things can cause grief, anger and depression. Sometimes just having a chat with someone who understands can give you enormous support and help you to find peace. All the best for 2020. May you receive many blessings.
Have you ever tried meditation? I started many years ago in conjunction with yoga practice. Once you learn how to calm your mind and center yourself you will find your life falling into place, being at the right place at the right time. Eat healthy food and take time for yourself. Enjoy nature wherever you find it. Make a plan for your future, map out the steps and follow your path.
Yes meditation…necessary for peace. Maybe if we all have more peace and love we will all get along much better and make the world a better place. Enough hate out there….too much….we need peace for a happy life
I can sum up the distinction between my faith and that of Christians. As a humanist I believe that we are inherently good and turned "evil" by circumstances, which can be mitigated via education. Christians believe that we are inherently evil and need salvation. I abandoned Christianity at age seven when I was informed about "original sin".
Albert…you are correct in your distinction, but I wonder what your definition of "original sin" is. For some reason many people assume this to be sex, which is not supported by scripture at all (Sex itself is, but not it being original sin). But if you mean that people are inherently evil, then your understanding is correct. There's a reason we don't have to teach children to lie, steal, use foul language, be disrespectful, etc., as they're already inclined to do these things. Rather we have to show them why there are negative consequences even if there's an initial payout. But even with education to mitigate the evil, any future "good" cannot rectify a spirit that is already contaminated by past evil. I don't know to what extent small children are held accountable and I think it varies with the individual. But it took a perfect life – which only Jesus lived – to accomplish this "cleansing". That is why we need salvation.
Salvation is just something people made up so they can feel better about having done something wrong. All of those of you studying endlessly looking for answers you'll never find should go have a latte and start enjoying this life while you can.
I lived your life at one time…much much better now..and I am not the only one…God changes lives
My take on Christianity is that man doesn't have a brain powerful enough to understand what God is or what God wants any more than you can teach physics to an Earthworm. Anyone who claims to know what God is or what God wants is a liar and a manipulator.
I'm not an atheist but I refuse to belong to any organized religion because of all the harm they do with their "them vs us" mentality. "I'll pray for you" means "I don't approve of you and I use God as my weapon to try and intimidate you." "Bless you" basically means "fuck you" if said to someone the "Christian" doesn't agree with. Many of today's so-called Christians are "ChristoFascists" and the Evangelicals are off their rockers. The rampant hypocrisy and pushiness of the "Christians" is appalling. "Christian" support for Trump and/or the GOP is unforgivable. One thing I've learned since the 2016 US election is that many "Christians" are racists.
Believe whatever you want but leave me out of it, get out of my face and out of my government. It's way past time to tax the churches. Supposedly they have tax-exempt status because they do charity but I see little evidence of that. The best thing Christians could do to remedy their bad reputation would be to just shut up and keep their beliefs to themselves and stop trying to push their religion on others. Live and let live and keep in mind that Jesus was NOT a Christian.
Wow…You had me with that first sentence, but it pretty much went downhill from there.
"Man doesn't have a brain powerful enough to understand what God is or what God wants any more than you can teach physics to an Earthworm"
I SO agree…this is why we have so many conflicting religions claiming to know how to attain enlightenment, nirvana, moksha, etc…and this is why it's such a good thing God came to us to teach us about Himself, and gave us a book with a tiny snippet of this knowledge which is enough to study for a lifetime.
As for the rest…I don't think you've actually met many real Christians if the second paragraph is your impression. Get out of your government? So, you'd rather have a government with no moral standards, akin to fascist Germany, the USSR, communist China, the Ayatollahs or the Taliban? You see little evidence of charitable work by Christians…um, how about the hundreds of inner-city homeless shelters and soup kitchens? Or the international organizations that provide disaster relief and food and clothing to children and poverty-stricken families, which are supported by churches and individual Christians – Samaritan's Purse? Compassion International? Food for the Poor? We should shut up and stop trying to push our religion on others? How is trying to live our lives the best we can while sharing the best news ever, "pushing" anything?
Your last sentence was the only other correct one, as obviously Jesus could not have followed Himself.
We don't need religion to have a moral compass. The most corrupt governments are run by religious people. The judeo/christian idea of god is pretty warped. By your own admission one needs 100s or 1000s of hours of study to understand it. So the good news is there are no half wits or illiterates in the next life.
Try to live a year without religion or hoping some supernatural being is going to solve your problems. It is liberating.
I didn't say one needs thousands of hours to understand the Bible, just that one could spend a lifetime studying it as there is always more to learn. What people need to understand is pretty much on the surface, but they complicate it by trying to twist and distort the passages that require lifestyle or attitude changes, or don't fit their concept of what "God" should be like. And yes, we do need belief in a unchanging, supernatural being in order to have a moral compass. Otherwise, what would we base our morals on? History has proven that humans are too fickle and selfish to be trustworthy in this regard – ergo ethnic cleansing, institutionalized racism, slavery, and other atrocities that have been deemed at one point or another to be good, right and even "natural". But even if I tried to live without God for a year, He would not allow it. I don't expect Him to fix all my problems; I expect Him to fix ME.
The simple message of the Bible is believe in Jesus as Lord and saviour and you will have everlasting life. The rest of the "study" just gives more reason to believe and helps you grow in faith and knowledge. The Bible is the most unique book in history. The guide book of life and where our morals come from. As mentioned left to ourselves morality could have many meanings. God loves us all and wants the best for us and the Bible repeats that over and over. Called the "Good Book" for good reason….
If you live in the USA you might benefit from studying about our founding fathers. The country was founded on freedom of religion and that also means freedom FROM religion. There are over 200 religions practiced in the US and the Christians hold no monopoly on God even though they would like everyone to think that. Christians think their religion is the only right religion. They have no place in government. NONE. You are really out of line even suggesting that Christians in government would create a more "moral" society when they have proven over and over to have exactly the opposite effect. Oppression and attack on everyone NOT Christian is all they will ever achieve and NO ONE will be converted to believe in the Bible just because you try and force it on us. Worship any way you please but leave me out of it and I mean it. I will fight to the death to keep our country from adopting a National Religion. How would you like it if I had the power to decide that the National Religion would be Muslim? or that we should all be Sufis or Buddhists? You don't like that do you? Selfishness and self-involvement is a characteristic of Christianity and so much suffering has been caused by Christians pushing their religion on others. I never hated Christians until they supported the Trump monster. I learned a new word this year. "Christofascists" That's what they are. Moral Majority indeed. Ha! That's a laugh.
If you live in the USA you might benefit from studying about our founding fathers. The country was founded on freedom of religion and that also means freedom FROM religion. There are over 200 religions practiced in the US and the Christians hold no monopoly on God even though they would like everyone to think that. Christians think their religion is the only right religion. They have no place in government. NONE. You are really out of line even suggesting that Christians in government would create a more "moral" society when they have proven over and over to have exactly the opposite effect. Oppression and attack on everyone NOT Christian is all they will ever achieve and NO ONE will be converted to believe the nonsense in the Bible just because you try and force it on us. Worship any way you please but leave me out of it and I mean it. I will fight to the death to keep our country from adopting a National Religion. How would you like it if I had the power to decide that the National Religion would be Muslim? or that we should all be Sufis or Buddhists? You don't like that do you? Selfishness and self-involvement is a characteristic of Christianity and so much suffering has been caused by Christians pushing their religion on others. I never hated Christians until they supported the Trump monster. I learned a new word this year. "Chritofascists" That's what they are. Moral Majority indeed. Ha! That's a laugh.
It came down to a choice between 2 people. One pro abortion, one pro life. No people are perfect and neither are Christians. People left to their own judgement will see what THEY want to see, not what really is in many cases. Corruption comes when morality goes away. Our founding Fathers based this country on Christian values and we have been slowly turning away from those and you can see the results. Selfishness is not a Christian trait. Love is but again, people are not perfect…….God is
It's best for me to just avoid Christians altogether because they are so pompous and self-righteous it's infuriating. It's a fact that most Atheists know way more about Christianity and other religions because unlike most Christians they don't just take it "on faith" they actually learn about other religions. have you read the Quran? I have. have you studied Buddhism? Hinduism? ANYTHING? Have you ever even read the "Sermon on the Mount"? Not very likely based on the behavior of the so-called Christians today.
I already regret signing up for this page and I'm out of here. I don't want to talk to such narrow-minded self-involved hateful people who still think that their religion is the only "good" one. Disgusting. Goodbye.
And NO you are NOT going to install Christianity as a US state religion. Not as long as I'm alive to fight back.
Vince writes: "Our founding Fathers based this country on Christian values" That's completely untrue. They based our Consitution on the right to practice religion in any way you please. The biggest lie Christians enjoy telling is that this was founded as a "Christian" nation. It plain and simple WAS NOT. Please go back and learn something about the forming of this country.
Please if you want to belong to the cult known as Christianity thankfully you are free to do so but stop pushing your religion on others. All you'll get is push back and a good smackdown which you would deserve. And NO that's not "persecution" that's self-protection from unwanted assaults and advances form hateful people who think their religion is the only one or the best one. Saying "Happy Holidays" is not an insult to Christians. It's being fair and inclusive of all the other religions that are practiced in the US that have holidays around the same time as the Christians do. If you actually knew anything about your own religion you would know that much of it is based on far older Pagan rituals. Since the GOP is pure evil and claiming Christians as their vile "base" I've gone from tolerating Christians to hating them. Is that what you want? That's what you're asking for so don't whine if we hate you for your obnoxiousness.
To Kathy Konkle…I actually wouldn't want a "Christian" government, as this would create problems of its own. I've seen it in the former USSR, where the Russian Orthodox Church has taken over the Russian Parliament so that even other Christian denominations have to jump through hoops to do any charitable work. The idea of our Founding Fathers was that there should be no state-mandated religion like the Church of England, but that everyone should be free to practice as he chooses – or not at all as you say. At the same time, Separation of Church and State (which isn't in our founding documents but was coined by Thomas Jefferson) doesn't mean that religion should not influence government; it should and must in order for people to have moral societies. And I do maintain that countries with historically "Christian" societies and governments have more freedoms and higher moral standards overall. North America, Western Europe and Australia are where women have the greatest freedoms and equality with men, where governments take things like sex-trafficking seriously rather than sweep them under the rug, and where people are least likely to be persecuted for not following the "majority's" religion (like Islam). The problem we're running into more and more here in the US is that conflicting belief systems mean differing moral standards, so that what you may perceive as "forcing" or oppression is simply Christians having to push back just to maintain our right to practice as we believe – e.g., not being forced to participate in a gay wedding or acknowledge a biological male as a female. As for studying other religions, I have read sections of the Quran and been exposed to Hinduism and Buddhism in school. I even had a conversation with a Bahai classmate. As I mentioned above, most faiths are about man reaching God (or some godlike state) by being good enough or following a particular code, whereas Christianity is about God coming to us. The difference is that simple. From your comments it looks like you've signed off to go be angry and won't be reading this, but for the rest here it seemed a response was called for.
Honestly, as someone who has around 400 to 500 scriptures memorized in three translations, I feel it is safe for me to say that there are several things not in alignment with sound doctrine. I think that's dangerous. It is like raising one's self above the authority of the apostles and prophets. There is an order, biblically speaking. I think too the fact that I've been a teacher in a church for over four years adds a little bit of credibility to my assertion.
However, before I get into that, there are things that I agree with such as leading in love is better than judgement without mercy, which is or relates to James 2:13. I have found it's good to put the scriptures because the majority of Christians don't actually know the Bible in its entirety.
As a straight A psych major going into the field of counseling and social work, I know how important it is to have a good understanding of human nature and behavior and how deep some issues go. One shouldn't pretend to be a psychologist because that's dangerous. I see that often from people and their lack of knowledge is very obvious. But people open up when they see that someone truly cares and so it must be real. Fear of judgment causes people to shrink back as does shame if they are not strong enough to accept criticism. Many are broken already. They do not believe they have value or are loved. But like I said, I agree with some things.
My disagreement is on friendships. Paul said in second Corinthians 6 starting at verse 15 that light and darkness do not mix in speaking of human relationships. Again in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 33 Paul's speaks about bad company corrupting good morality and to be sober minded and stop sinning for some have no knowledge of God and this was written to shame. This is truth and also social psychology. Even the elephants are wise enough to discern their surroundings and understand when something is off. As someone who was atheist until 30 and also a drug dealer and user, I can assure you that it's not always good to have friendships with nonbelievers. I hurt people. People who wish to reach higher levels should have friends who are of the same mind. Now, I think it is good to associate with all people but only for a time or season in order to help, but there should be wisdom, prayer, and caution. God gives people a sound mind and wisdom. I also tempted many people into going further down into holes. I corrupted them. It often occurs slowly. You can see it when people began trying to fit in and if one does not curse when speaking I've seen them slowly begin to do that or mimic their behavior over time. I associate with the lowly as commanded by the apostle in Ronan's twelve, and honor all people as commanded by the apostle in 1 Peter chapter 2 around 14 or 17, but I avoid doing what is not good and I exit before it goes down. The clever are always having to figure out ways to get out of problems, but the wise avoid them altogether. I have helped many by being a good example and not by lording over them as commanded by the apostle in 1 Peter chapter 5 by conducting myself in integrity. It is often to long-suffer which is written in Galatians 5 kjv or patience but long suffer puts depth to the process or how it goes. Many dwell in hedonistic pleasure, but as the apostle wrote in titus that those who live for pleasure are dead even though they live. Also Galatians 6 speaks on how one should rescue people out of their temptations and sin but in a spirit of gentleness and to be careful lest you fall into it also. People should be careful. Many do not know how deep darkness goes but ten years of meth addiction showed me a lot. Many are naïve. The result of being raised in church around relatively socially compliant people. I say that after recently writing a very large paper on organizational involvement and social deviancy. Also, Jesus helped people but told them a few times to go and sin no more lest something worse should occurs which is restated in other words in Galatians 6 about reaping what one sows. Also, John stated that he who is born of does not practice sinning any longer because Gods Spirit abides in him and that's true but practice is the key word. I've read many books including the old mystics like John of the Cross and being a psych major I've read many books on that and philosophy. I agree with satisfaction being a life long process because flaws are constant, but I do not think they equal sin. Many do not even understand what sin even is. Anyway, I've already written too much lol, but enjoy writing. We need each other to edify and build each other up and that includes rebukes even sharp painful ones, as Dr. Carl Jung stated that nothing in the unconscious being brought into the conscious is without pain, but that causes growth and Paul said to rebuke the unruly and encourage the simple minded or faint hearted in Thessalonians 5. That also goes into Ephesians 5 around 14 about exposing peoples darkness so that it becomes light but going into Ephesians 4 the truth should be spoken in love and love going into 1 Corinthians 13; it has to be real and it's even more powerful to lead the person there and let them become aware on their own because they can have ownership. That requires great skill. Anywho lol. Crazy I used to break windows out of churches and urinate on the doors and hated Christians and here I am taking about it haha, but God ya powerful and I feel that power saying it. They call it pneuma or the breath of God. Dynamis in acts 2:8 explosive and dynamic power. I learned much in one year which is a shame to many I meet who have been Christians for years. God honors time given in solitude to Him and that's real and grants much inwardly. Peace.
Everything you said. I was also blessed because we have similar backgrounds and results in Christ. You Blessed me.
That's awesome! Always cool to meet people who come from a similar place. It strengthens the soul, I think, because it's real and personal. It's been my experience since June of 2015 that people who have come from the deepest darkness generally shine the brightest and are of a stronger faith and are more grateful, which goes into the parable of the two debtors from Luke 7 beginning at verse 35. I love that parable because a religious leader sees a woman who is unclean kissing Jesus's feet and he thinks to himself that if Jesus was actually a prophet he'd know what type of woman was touching him, Christ knew what he was thinking and answered him with the parable. The one who had the largest debt would obviously love more and as He said he who is forgiven little will love little. Reminds me of the saying that the deepest valleys often produce the greatest fruits. Coming out of deep darkness often brings deep compassion for others in that darkness because it's known or been known personally. I often find people who are broken gravitate to people like that. It's a blessing but can become high pressured and develop into compassion fatigue or burnout, but there's wisdom to learn from that. Good to stay balanced or know the seasons or when it's time to rest and the time to work.
I honestly didn't even think anyone would read that. I was up reading while my son slept.
So I'm going to assume, and I might be wrong, but we have somewhat similar personalities. I love reading deep things. I term the area psycho-spiritual. A year after my conversion a church hired me as a janitor though the evangelist said I was much more because immediately people began coming in off the street which was cool even though the leadership hated me for it out of jealousy. I was vacuuming one day in a back area and saw a book. I read one paragraph from the middle and immediately connect with the author. Up until that time I had felt so alone or different from others and it was refreshing to me to connect on the level where I was. I prayed to God to be able to read that book and put it down with a sadness in my heart and went back to work. Twenty minutes later I walked in the sanctuary and the evangelist stopped me. He said I have a book here I think you'd like and he gave me the book. It helped me so much and edified and built me up like discipleship. The book is called the best of fenelon. It's on amazon. I give out copies sometimes so I know it's there. Think you will love it.
Also, all of A.W. Tozer's books are awesome like the crucified life. There are not many left who preach like he did or write like he did. Also, John of the cross, Meister Eckhart, Thomas A Kempis, Thomas Aquinas are deep writes as well. They are catholic and I am not, but they were on a deeper level inwardly. All those books are pretty much on the inward life which is why I call it psycho-spiritual. The imitation of Christ is a good book along with the dark night of the soul. That one is about how a new convert is on fire and Godbus continually giving milk and maybe powerful signs are following, but eventually the milk is withdrawn in order to give strong meat and it appears to the individual as God withdrawing and as darkness. Interesting book which one who knows would understand and know that the knowledge has come from true experience and not religious tradition.
Another book but one that's not spiritual but that I like is mans search for meaning by Dr. Viktor Frankl, and the wisest person in the room by two social Psychologists from Harvard and Princeton. I love the science of individual and group behavior and that book is basically like a small view of that field from an academic perspective and is well written, but sometimes a little redundant, but it is interesting. Anyway, maybe someone will read this comment and find something useful to them or yourself, idk lol, but I hope you have a merry Christmas and a satisfying and favored life in what is and will be, and I don't doubt that honestly, because it's how it goes. Peace friend 🙂
Thank you! I love reading suggestions from others! Sometimes I find something that speaks to me… sometimes I find things that do not but even then I am enlightened as to where others are coming from. Sometimes I think that is even more valuable. You don't have to agree to understand. When you understand you do not fear. When you do not fear you can love without hesitation. When you love without hesitation you are one step closer.
Thanks Kathleen for that response. I really loved it. Had to read the bottom end a few times. I read all kinds of things too and don't always agree with everything. I often find that in time I don't always agree with myself lol. People are finicky by nature anyway. One day they lift you and the next day they drop you. Jeremiah said don't trust in man, but have faith God (big paraphrase). That's right above where he says blessed in the man who trust in the LORD whose trust is the LORD; he is like a tree planted by the stream and so on. In all your gaining; gain understanding. Understanding is the foundation of wisdom. Wisdom is the application of knowledge. I love that stuff. It says in proverbs that wisdom shouts in the streets. It can be found everywhere to the ones who seek and pay attention. And I agree; people only fear what they don't understand. It's truth. The prophet said God is the God of truth; and in new, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him, because He abides in you and with you. Better helper than people though it's my experience that they are often used and sometimes don't even realize it. Anyways, thanks for sharing; it was nice and made me think. Communication is so powerful and so enriching when it's used that way. Hope you have a really great Christmas and a great life. Peace friend 🙂
Sounds like you had your Saul to Paul moment. 🙂
I loved the article, thank you. Unfortunately, the time I spent reading the comments pretty much proved the whole point. I yearn to return to my Christian roots and find a place for my soul to heal and grow but, dear Lord, I am terrified by the Christians.
I will buy the book… perhaps I will find a little sane direction within.
The Bible says to judge rightly. Hmm. Who does that?
So you're telling me all "non-christians" get a pass on hypocrisy? Ha ha. Opps.
The is no greater love (friend) than one lay don heir life for another. Who did that?
You do not know what love is. Nor do you understand each single word has numerous definitions. The dishonest pick their words to distract you from the truth. This is evils way. Our real enemy and crew is not of flesh and blood; just enslaving many flesh and blood. The legion of in-congruent lies. A half-truth is a whole lie and many things posted here are just that.
The first thing is to stop and be true to yourself. God know you better than you do yourself. And this is all our problem. You don't define GOD accurately or truthfully. No matter what you think, GOD has 3 attributes. He is everywhere present, AKA eternal so in and out of time as well. That's not now us. #2 GOD is all knowing and that's is seeing. Including all our hearts. #3 GOD is indeed all powerful. Which mean GOD has no brothers, or makers. He never began. GOD is the beginning and the end (philosophers take note and stop chocking on your own limits).
Because what most are missing is… you have an issue with GOD USING evil and turning evil ultimately into good. You call GOD evil or at least partly and this is your flaw. Accepted or not that fails the very definition of a perfectly good (AKA Holy) GOD. [Caps are just a text way to show we're taking about The God and not your boss at work. And a king could be called a God, but not GOD. It's just language/words/text standards.] So the thing is… You haven't proved GOD is a myth by your limited misunderstandings about Him USING evil. BECAUSE pure logic actually required GOD to use evil, for ultimate GOOD! That's the whole point. That's not the same as DOING evil; which God never does. And this is not THAT hard people. Stop mixing spit! You(and me before Jesus) just want to do bad things and The Bible says so. that our MO!
So can you handle the TRUTH? No not most. But I'm loving this out for you the remnant . The weak and not the strong, in your own ignorant pride. you either got to give it up or you will STAY a slave to your wickedness. And you (and GOD) know which.
So if there a hypocrisy battle (and we ALL are) then those against Christians win that game. Why? Don't you see yourself? Here is the problem. No, your (our) good deeds CAN NOT cancel our bad ones AND we all got bad ones!!!!!! So I must be all about measuring up (anther pretender) to the unattainable and that way we're all going to burn right?! No; but only because of what Jesus did AND NOT US! Now here's the kicker….. Even our GOOD works, being always imperfect do in fact qualify us for toast, forever more BECAUSE GOD is that HOLY and our best (without Jesus) is not. This is why I am a undeserving (by my work) Christian. Who are you?
And also, Hell is no scare tactic alone. Why. Do you want me to prove that. No prob. BECAUSE that kind of fear(a WORD), meaning the sorrow unto death WILL NOT SAVE YOU. Sure what fool invites death? But fear of evil, is evil and you'd only be giving real evil place, power or YOUR permission. Whatever you wish to call it. Did you have any idea YOUR choice was that critical. Do I mean you are responsible. HELL YES! There's hope for you yet.
You see the other major deal is no; GOD is not responsible for you. At least not with out your responsibility. Now I'm about to clear up a whole mess!….. So stop reaching for your denial button,\; cause this is a text forum people. You'd only be fibbing to your own self. Major thing here is (while I can think it, as inspired by guess who) GOD is not your excuse for your being irresponsible. …
LOGIC (AKA Truth, so Jesus) dictates He(GOD) is autonomous. We through out(up) that fancy word about mankind; but mankind does NOT have full autonomy. And one thing we can prove about mankind and our-self is we do have CHOICE. Now wait a minute and listen. If you will (see what I did there). i did not say you have the choices of GOD. Nor all choice; because I already siad GOD has full autonomy. So here the kindergarten brain storm: We have some choices and not others. God grant us the surinity to know the difference. BECAUSE all our lives we are getting that bass-akwards (many places) and this is mankinds biggest problem. Why biggest? Because our biggest issue is death. And I don't just mean the great sleep AKA passing. I mean forever death. AKA not being saved by what Christ did for us on the cross.
Most people don't really GOD we OWE GOD. We didn't start the party because I want to be REAL clear GOD is also CREATOR. You don't have to agree (with that choice); but I'm talking about the creator science is SCREAMING is before time/space (so eternal AKA Spirit) and even GOOD. Why because good science (the one with GOOD evidence not WHITEWASHED, beyond mans argumentative numerous perspectives/limits). So deeper deer true seekers. And yes CONFESS so you can see around ourselves. Because I tell you right now, if your salvation depends on my perfect we ALL going to HELL! LOL. it's not about me or you! It's ALL about Jesus.
LOOK! The boy (GOD/Man) said He was GOD the creator. YOU have to deal with that. Some things are BOTH and not everything is fundamental(to us; I'll explain next); but this is not one of them. You serve one of two master and if you are not sure who Jesus is you are a unknowing pawn. Why? Because you have you our patent beliefs and therefore only you can be the "god" of that. Just ANOTHER false man-made religion. Now "religion" is a word. It used to more mean a true system. now it/'s usually taken as false manmade attempts to work your way to GOD or your highest ideal/PURPOSE.
I ask you. What is Any of this without absolute TRUTH? The point? How did you come about and where are you going. Because if your today gets that wrong then we"re going down hill in a hurry. See? Where is the LOVE without real truth? Because you know I am not taking about erotic (expression of His love is Holy marriage) nor am I just talking about good sibling type brotherly love with family and friends. Christian or not. indeed but hey, Christian or not?! Because division lives there and that we should understand. It is NOT by your family blood you can be saved. Only The family of Jesus blood shed for us and His body broken so you can STOP playing the blame game, trying in vain to prove you have no flaw. Yes you CAN be MORE brother or sister, or (mankind)father or mother with your sibling in Christ than family blood. AND THAT"S THEIR OWN CHOICE.
But Jesus love in us looks different to the lost and they call Jesus and us evil. You must stay with the world(system/lost) or pick Jesus. And He say we are not His slaves and Jesus does not call us His servant; but FRIENDS BECAUSE He has already told us (all we need to see it enough; from our limts) basically WHAT He is PERFECTLY doing.
GOD is NEVER early and HE is NEVER LATE! Time is the factor we often forget. Everything has to WIND UP perfect or you'd be right about GOD WAITING. But you are not right to say GOD is imperfect and your so called proof GOD is not perfect or some evil is FLAWED at the core, AKA presupposition.
Get off you soap box with your false assumptions about GOD and even His children. You may mean well; but you're actually killing children. Why because you are elimination hope and all hope. But of course that's a lie. It can be a lie and you didn't know what you were saying, you know? Thing is…HOPE is JESUS and real. Meaning no one can reasonably deny good ans evil EXISTS here! We see them everyday in the mix. What you need to think out is EVIL is the limit and GOD/HOPE/JESUS has no LIMIT.
See because perfect is no limit of goodness. And then the head philosopher ask if GOD could make a rock so big he could not lift it. HAVE you ever considered you've not caught anyone but your self is your own lack of ability to ask that well. instead of blindness. God is The Rock. While there are kinda no bad questions, it's actually OFFENSIVE to GOD. BUT have you noticed we're not all dead for it????? Because we really should be; accept that would be leaving iout the fact GOD is with us, in Christ Jesus who suffered bloody beatings for that, just so you can APPROACHED GOD without being vaporized. And by what, His goodness. Don't misunderstand me, I said anyone can approach Him BEFORE renewal. Because you don't heal yourself and then go to the doctor. Get up, take up your mat and GO NOW. Because I have no idea if this is you last day, or not. I just had a cushion drop dead so this is no joke or scare tactic. And you likely already know you can REST ASSURED jESUS HAS YOUR BACK, if you will only face Him.
Rise up! The way The Bible (GOD word is Him in same Spirit) says. Not the world bad rebellious way. Rebel against evil, not good! Because if a crazed, drugged out robber was in the process of beating down your door, then now matter your ability you WANT THE LAW to show up.
And what is all this based on? not just just good human right; but it's more about your LAST rights? Is GOD's good laws on your side? Will Jesus say He never knew you, meaning you turned away and in goodness he LET you.
Two more things. People are all a twist about GOD vs. man's choice. Even many so called Christians about Calvin(and predecessors) vs. Methodist Armenians or WHATEVER. (I said I would explain.) You see that it is BOTH!!!!!!! What do I mean by that?….
Hey! We agree to disagree as Christians (if rightly. God knows the heart, we're just wise fruit observers) and this stuff is deep and a lot of life needs to happen, for folks to change their points of view (this is an old person fight); but the whole time; GOD and His word didn't say it wrong! We READ HIM wrong! Getting this now? You get to read it yourself. I can tell you that you have been lied to about the Bible (FOR SURE). So why don't you think figuring that out, with deep Bible study OF YOUR OWN matters to you? Distracted? What happens when we are distracted from all that is good? Who is doing that? Do you need to better select your friends. Because anything goes kills you. Just ask yourself what's left over and you may make it home.
So POINT: We all have different choices based on the deeds we do over our relatively short time here. The choice of salvation (from that death, our TOP and BIGGEST need, absolutely) first of all is from then on. meaning it's not like you are stuff and regretting being enslaved. You get to choice again the next day. Did you mean it or was it just emotion? So look. What does that mean. It MEANS YOU ARE THEN FREE! And which are you now? I hope you see without Christ; nothing is left but slavery every day. See how backwards the world tells you that is? This is why cults (mentioned) a ARE cults. No choice. But be careful. freedom is NOT doing anything. You can certainly try and that choice is indeed freed; but remember! Is it right. Because (simply) if what you do is actually wrong, even if you didn't know it, with TAKE AWAY MORE CHOICES. And guess what? This addition and subtraction of SOME choices is GOD's rock solid UNCHANGING "reaction"(we think of it). How is that possible? Simple. Because you just found one of those pesky fundy things(NOT all are). GOD forgives the REPENTANT and has GOOD wrath for the deserving unrepentant. And don't freak out over "repentance" it simply means to change your mind and ways. Stamping out the lies AKA half-truth the bind people LIKE chains. See. slavery. Jesus is free indeed.
So I hope you heady dude got that. It is often MISTAKENLY thought of as fundamentally all GOD or all man and infered wen have to pick a side. Guess what. It's kinda both. Now you Calvanist or Armenians in a bunch; do not assume what I am saying here. We did not start the party. GOD did. Jesus told us we did not "choose" Him; but He choose us. Look up the word "choose" in it's original text. Jesus was telling His CHOSEN(mean massively adored remnant), and yes we get all upset Jesus knows exactly who they are(and when), that Jesus started up the party and they could not. But look at you false assumptions! Christians and non alike. Jesus ALSO did not force each disciple to CHOOSE to follow Him. Now did He? You may be thinking who could deny Jesus "calling"? Yet another mistranslated ASSUMPTION, believe it or not. Yes Jesus calls people and (in a PARTLY weird to us eternal way) did things(does things, see eternal) even BEFORE we were born. Heck before this age was "born". Yes there really is no happenstance or AKA chance {what we sometimes rightly call chance experienced is really God's will). Be we forget we forget. And never never something yet! Get it now? We are called to increase in knowledge WITHOUT making it an idol over GOD and we need to see we are not supposed to know EVERYTHING. At least now. There is actual IMPORTANT value in us not knowing some things. So chill. AKA, it would be very bad. Let GOD be GOD. Some things are not our job. Some things are. Can you get that? Would you establish the foundation of a new Earth and explain all that? How about GOD's created space/time altogether? And don't forget the rest of reality, the spiritual. Are you going to tell me how to create angels? See? We will NEVER be over absolute equal the ONE GOD(by our language definition of the word GOD). We are called only to be His child. But oh! The association. That it your and my highest position and it's about time we look at the pure logic of this. Who's royal family are you a part of? What are we? Because when I say all our hearts lean evil(without Jesus) I did not say we're not in the very image of GOD. Now whether we act like it is up to you.
And that's the thing. GOD will let you choose hell. GOD OWNS us and yet gifted up with SOME choices/freedom. Now if you had a child and so you are their guardian would you condone making slaves our of your children??? No of course not (but sadly does happen). Now if grabbed your babies hand just before it made it into a LIVE LIGHT SOCKET then wouldn't you be steeping in and overriding your babies freewill? The pint is THAT's not slavery. And when GOD steps in; He NEVER, EVER EVER enslaves, doing that. Remember what GOD does is let us learn the HARD way ACCEPT when it's not His plan. If you think think about your life and times this far and honestly(the kicker right there) then you CAN learn to see just that.
So, we we get scared and go our own stubborn way, BY NOT considering what's right (and my point above was The BIBLE is THE ONLY GOOD standard OF LOVE laws (for us NOT against us) and you probably missed some accurate history lessons thereto) . And frankly being LIED to about history, getting exactly the OPPOSITE messages(that you can dig up yourself and see.)
Oh yeah and we do see mans part choices and my assertion it's GOD and us together BOTH (Him depending on repentance so not actually changing) doesn't mean I'm HELPING GOD or anything like calvanist fear. Look the problem here (mans limits) is BOTH sides are NOT admitting what is not clear, or falsely assumed. by focusing on what CAN be known. Not just what's beyond us. And my pint there is why do we expect to see the GOD side perfectly. We don't exist in all times, He does. So duh. i understand my assertion we meet GOD and it's both (good parts from the reformation and the good parts from Methodists/Armenians). Wise men from each camp will say "that's not what we mean". And that's your clue. Stick to the Bible. Respects others may have studied and experienced parts unlike you have. Yes we need accuracy, GOD knows. And truth is NOT relative to man's ideas! But only Jesus get's it perfectly. And usually it';s just various gaps along the path of each persons walk not yet passed.
Take every single doubt your have and hunt it down like a dog; until your understand more. If you don't then your actually know you misunderstand and are treaging through life just a miss. What cold POSSIBLY go wrong?
Let me make it easy for you. You know all that stuff you're sure is dead wrong. Stuff you see people do evil. Don't do it yourself! You actually are very special; but NOT that way!
But you see there are MANY things thought evil the Bible says are OK. Plus many things very much thought OK; that are evil. And please understand, and no matter me, if you get that wrong you will keep it. that ultimate death is the ultimate no more choices and it is COMPLETE insanity, forever. Always blaming our perfect God. That's what pure evil does.
Please forgive my mistakes. I pray Jesus comes through my weaknesses. I'm just sick and tired and being sick and tirerd of the BS. Just trying to be plain. And taht's what clear and real.
And it's love; whether you thought so or not. Best wishes dear time traveler(only forward, hopefully up)!
Wow! What a ride! Where do I sign up for the LoveTrain?
I read this in the voice of the Black Israel guy on the train. I hope you and he get the help you need to overcome your delusions.
So much stupidity, hate and bigotry.
So little time.
You are right….so little time. God loves everyone…no exceptions. It is a tough world we live in and it is not easy at times, but God cares and loves us through it all and we all need him. He is the only hope for the world we live in….
Good font.
4. Be responsible for the death of 50 million Native Americans in North America alone and then act like your faith is morally superior to all other religions on Earth. Stop complaining about Muslims. They will NEVER reach your body count.
Are you referring to the introduction of smallpox and other European diseases to the Americas? One did not have to be a Christian missionary to carry these as viruses are equal-opportunity infectors. Fur trappers, explorers and fortune-seekers were as much to blame for carrying them into the interior of the continents as anyone. The deaths of 95 percent of the humans that were here before us was an accident and a tragedy, but not genocide, by "Christians" or anyone else.
Why didn't your G, the Almighty One, encourage his church leadership to study and embrace Science so Mankind could have learned about infectious diseases sooner and allllllll those people (you know, G's creations) would not have suffered such horrible life ending diseases? In many cases it is as simple as washing your hands. Or is suffering good and G wants us to suffer pain and agony before death?
Good question…basically you're asking why God does not give us all of the answers and stop all of the bad things that happen in life. You could also ask why He didn't stop the Bubonic Plague from wiping out 1/3 of Europe's population (or at least make people more aware of how to contain it), or why He doesn't give us the cure to diseases like AIDS and cancer today (which in future generations may seem as simple as washing one's hands). The wisdom literature books (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes et al.) in the Bible does encourage people to seek out knowledge (= science), and King Solomon who wrote much of these was one of the more learned people of his time. But the overarching reason for ignorance and suffering gets back to human evil. I personally believe that if man had not turned his back on God, we not only would have no diseases but we'd be colonizing other galaxies by now (which I think was the original idea) because our knowledge of science and the natural world would be so much greater. But because we told God back at the beginning that we didn't need His help and we were going to do things our own way, we've been left to figure things out on our own – which we have to an extent but not in time to prevent a lot of suffering. It's not fair that innocent people (if they exist) suffer but this is a consequence of our own choices. And rather than just snap His fingers and fix everything as we might like Him to, God sent Jesus to take our punishment for us so that this screwed-up world wouldn't be the only reality we experience.
Yes,,,,God has far greater wisdom and knowledge than us humans and that is part of the reason we worship him. He created all things as he said he did. It is up to us to believe and follow, or do not believe and reject. The evidence is there for those who truly look….
Probably the best reply here and very true. Man has always tried to figures things out and what's best based on our own knowledge and as we can plainly from the way things are in the world, it hasn't worked and it never will. But we all have a chance through the blood of Jesus, even as we continue to be imperfect beings. Seven times or seventy times seven, God will not give up on us and is forgiving of us as long as we turn to Him. Daily.
You are a bit confused….God gave us all a brain to use and science, doctors, etc etc but he also wants us to believe in him which will change us. We will see the world in a different light and have different values. God changes people and you can see examples of many who have been changed forever. Just look around if you are serious….
You only believe that because that is what you were taught by your parents and culture. Any "change" comes from within. The old joke: Q:How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? A: Just one, but the light bulb has to want to be changed, applies here. Any change you feel is just you doing you better.
I do look around everyday and marvel at the world around us, the beautiful flowers in my garden, watching my cat stalk a lizard, the sound of my turbo revving, a woman's smile, the slight taste of anise in my biscotti and I try to enjoy every minute as I know it is fleeting and it is up to me to experience life to the fullest without worrying about whether this brand of religion was right and mine was wrong, or I skipped a ritual and now I'm doomed.
No, once you drop the yolk of religion and gods, the freedom and relief is wonderfully liberating.
You will find that you still give to charity but now you feel better about it and you keep it to yourself. You will be happier because you will never feel guilty about feeling good and having fun. You will have more time and the friends that you develop will be genuine and long lasting.
Good luck with your journey. I hope you find what you are looking for.
Actually back then the people who came to North America were pretty much all Christians, and they purposely gave the Indigenous "savages" blankets that were infected with the smallpox virus. They knew what they were doing.
Perhaps most or all were Christians by affiliation (as any European would claim to be Christian at that time) but again not all were missionaries. Having read Charles C. Mann's "1491" I've gained a pretty good sense of how and why European diseases killed so many Native Americans; and despite what appears to be an extensive amount of research there is no mention of widespread, deliberate infection during the Age of Exploration. Otherwise I have come across references to smallpox-infected blankets being given to Native Americans (by ???) during the push west (perhaps in the 1800s) but displacement of native peoples was a controversial topic even in that time and certainly would not have been Church policy. How would this have made sense? Jesus died for all of mankind, and exterminating so-called "heathens" and sending them to hell would have defeated the whole point of the Great Commission. Every age has its racists, and the enlightened view of indigenous peoples as human beings is not a new concept.
Not sure the Christians did that, but people did….sad but do not blame Christians……they would never do such a thing….
They wouldn't molest kids, steal babies and sell them, or support dictators, but they did.
Wrong, I believe that because I believe Jesus is who he said he was, and did what people saw him do. It is not a blind faith, it is faith and belief in God the one and only. We all make decisions in life after we see the evidence for what it is regardless of how we were raised. You have to believe for yourself, no one else. Because you were raised a certain way does not make it right, you must decide. Never blindly follow anything…..Again, the evidence is there if you REALLY want to look. Many do not take the time…don't care….they are missing out bigtime on what life could be for them…..
Actually Muslims have killed 270 million people since the beginning of Islam and they haven't yet stopped.
I googled that because it seemed too outrageous to be true, and low and behold, it's not true.
The correct spelling of the term is "lo and behold" … not "low and behold" (lo, not low)
Remember there are posers in the Church and world who call themselves Christians or followers of Christ who have never really been born again…..have never asked Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. It is personal and public with God. Has to be real…..not just lip service or for show. This is the most important issue in life so you want to be sure of what you are doing….positive…will you be perfect after that absolutely not but God will be guiding you along this new life and that is a great comfort in this short life we have here. It does not make you better than anyone else but it does change your life forever in the best way possible..
lying doesn't help.
that was so long ago. also, we understand our religion better now. let it go. we're so much different from how we were back then. while that was a horrible thing to do, today's Christians (or at least none that I'm aware of) would never do anything close to that. and even if any "Christians" would, they clearly aren't true Christians.
Being "Judgemental" does not equal "not accepting". Meaning, if a Christian does not accept homosexuality as a normal lifestyle, but still loves the homosexual as a human being, this is not being "judgemental".
Thank you…it seems that few people understand that distinction.
Christian or not, people live in fear of others, and without faith, that's normal. (Violence on TV doesn't help) Those who have never had God's love, are living lives in darkness, and it's my responsibility to walk in the light, or truth, and share the love of God with all, not just who I choose, and the modern church fails at this task. When in church service we see a much of people watching a show (On tv and radio weekly) by the preacher.
But the little things that we don't do, cost Jesus big time. We act like he's not that important to us, and we our ashamed to associate with him, yet LGBT crowd is worshiped almost as much as sports idols. Our priorities are not correct, and that's the preachers job, not lay believers. I tell you that many church leaders are failing Christ. Weak messages designed with emotions, and psychology, rather than faith based preaching
Read the whole string…it's simple, ALL religions require one thing…blind faith. It matters not whether its is Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Tao…it just requires one believe in the Book without judgement. Each religion has it's good points and it's downfall. The problem results when one thinks it is right and the others are wrong…if people took off their blinders and read the Books of each other they might realize the message is the same, the culture and experiences of the men who wrote them is the difference…faith must be blind or it is not faith.
No they don't. Some religions require no faith at all. You're obviously not familiar with primitive religions.
Hum, I have no doubt that Jesus the man did exist but Jesus, as described in the bible, did not why do I say this I base that on logic and critical thinking. Whats basically described in the bible are superpowers such as walking on waters and healing powers that are only performed by touching the sick, considering how modern medicine and science have evolved over the centuries and herbalists.
As for Jesus is moral teaching…well most peoples were not ready for such deep philosopical discussions thus though its words were word of the god. Jesus might have even been influenced by earlier Greek philosophers
No shade, but walking on waters might be a super power. But you have no proof that it didn't happen. God is know to be perfect. Which He was sent down by our father. if you where a true believer you wold understand that not only did God walk on water, he died for our sins, and resurrected the third day. read the bible because it is proven that God is still alive.
Jesus was Jewish. His conduct and preaching came from the Laws of Judaism.
Jesus made it simple…did miracles with many witnesses, said follow me,spoke in parables, and made it clear why he was here. You have to decide if he was God in the flesh as he said he was. If you believe you will have eternal life he says. He will not force anyone to believe, just offers himself to all for the choice and we all have the same choice. If he is true it is the biggest decision any of us will ever make in this short life……
IMO, this is where the faith part comes in. As far as I know (and I could be wrong), there's no worldly evidence for or against the miracles of Christ. It's something you have to accept as true if you accept that Christ was really the Son of God, and that He truly died for our sins and was resurrected on the third day. (The accuracy is proven with documentation and such, but it is a very, very deep dive that's far too complex for an article reply section.) Hebrews 11:1 – "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
There are some things every human has to simply take on faith, that we simply trust is true. That's why Christ said we must come to Him as a little child. (Matthew 18:3)
I disagree about people not being ready for "deep philosophical discussions" when there were deep discussions going on in Israel and in the surrounding countries and communities constantly. The Greeks, the Romans, the Hebrew leaders…there were discussions on top of discussions! And honestly, humanity isn't much smarter now than we were back then; everything we think of as "smart" was built off of other things that other humans made before us. At our core, we haven't changed.
(I know this comment is a little old, but I wanted to throw in my own $.02. 🙂 )
aluminium heatsink
I googled what does the Bible say about association of Christian's with non believers……All the verses are against it…True Jesus did that but he was in no danger of changing with the vAssociation.
That sounds like a paradox: Love everybody except…
Jesus is attributed with many good philosophical tenents of a peaceful amd harmonious lifestyle but the religion that followed the mesiah/nonmessiah is/was a disaster. We are better off without it .
Love everyone….NO exceptions….but….we don't have to like them or get along with them. Love is far far different than like. disaster you say???? far far from it…
Jesus did know people of questionable backgrounds, this us true, but because of Him, they did not stay that way! There were people who rejected Him, but the people who were closest to Him did not continue to be tax collectors, thieves, killers etc………People today confuse love with accepting questionable behavior. This is not the case. We love ALL people, BUT hate the sin that plagues us. None of us are without sin, but society today has normalized sin. Think abortion, homosexuality, living together, petty theft i.e. Office supplies, white lies, disrespect etc, that the mere mention of sin is considered judgemental. Using good judgement in life is not being judgemental but rather doing all on can to follow Gods rules, and not the worlds. Do we fall? Of course we do…..every day
This whole post is telling me to act in a way that you please the world not God. I see a lot of "I believe" but I'm telling you that are wrong because no matter how much you feel you have to softly talk to people in order to not hurt their feelings they'll despise you the moment you tell them you believe in Jesus for that sole reason and that sole reason alone. Don't be a friend to the world by trying to please everybody please God do what God tells us to do in the bible tell them the good news, the truth and plant the seed as it Jesus says and then let it be if they want to talk more then you'll know.
The majority of people who claim they are part of a religion, do so for public posturing, or do make money, create business, community networking and such .. and HEY, that is ok, kind of.
You aren't a christian if you don't follow the example of jesus christ – charity, faith and hope. Putting everyone before yourself, even your enemies. Not casting a stone at sinners, or judging others (because obviously we are all sinners).
There are some horrible 'christians' and 'muslims' all around the world – but here is the thing, they are using religion for social posturing and protection – its disgusting!!!
Mormons are the best christians I have ever met, and the upsetting thing is' that many so-called christians groups don't class mormons as christians! … they call them a cult. Yes a cult of over 15 million members worldwide! You can't spell culture without cult! With Mormons, its all in the name, The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints (LDS or Mormons).
Mormons are kind, gentle, caring, quiet and full of good spirit … they are true chrisitans, and I say that as an agnostic person with no connection to religion other than from my interactions in daily life.
I have met some HORRIFICLY horrible mean spirited catholic women, SERIOUSLY what is with cathoilc women!? They are always shouting or arguing with their boyfriends and husbands. They are mean, and I have had many a horrible encounter with catholics. Catholics are catholics only in name, because there is nothing universal about their religion.
Every catholic I have spoken with, did not even know how the catholic church originated and was formed from the ashed of the Roman Empire, as a means to control and subdue the upcoming retribution and punishment that was coming from their conquered territories! …. it was a smart move! The crumbling Roman Empire, adopted the popular Christian religion, and called it 'Universal – Catholic' and thus The Holy Roman Empire was created.
Its disturbing that most don't know the history of their own religion.
Mormons are the only tru christians in the world … if you want to learn how to be a good christian, follow their examples.
I will just offer that the reason most evangelical Christians reject Mormonism as a legitimate Christian denomination is that they ultimately reject Christ as the Son of God and believe He was a created being – "Our Big Brother" – rather than equal to God the Father. It follows that they don't believe in salvation by faith in Christ, which is a central tenet of Christian doctrine. I will admit that I don't know everything about Mormonism (apart from women being eternally pregnant), but one doesn't learn the truth by studying the counterfeits. I also won't argue that Mormons are generally "good" people, but there are a lot of people in this world who do good and aren't Christians. You don't get to call yourself "Christian" just because you do good (or believe in God), just as one doesn't claim membership to a given society without being an actual member, poor as that analogy is. One cannot simply claim to be Christian while skipping over the whole repentance/forgiveness part (which is what makes us capable of truly good works) and trying to emulate Christlike behavior in the absence of the Holy Spirit. Yet some wish to redefine what Jesus actually taught and then judge Christians by those redefined standards.
Well that's more than I'd planned to say but I hope this answers your overall question. I'll probably take some flak for being "judgmental" (although I'm really not), but I'm simply drawing out the differences between Mormonism and Christian doctrine. Sorry you've had some bad run-ins with Catholics; not being Catholic myself I can't speak for them but I do think some (not all) are true Christians and are nice people.
Many feel "judged" simply by the mention of God/Jesus name. They may be convicted that they need a savior in their lives but do not want to have to face it. If you represent and believe in God/Jesus it can make people feel judged when you have done nothing of the sort. It is a spritual battle on this Earth and you must choose sides. Not choosing is saying you do not believe. Sad truth is non believers label believers as judgemental people who think they are better than anyone else. They are not better. We are all equal in the sight of God.
You had me until Mormons. You are correct about the lack of religious knowledge for many cathlicks. They were told early on that since they are illiterate and stupid that they must listen to the priest and not read the good book or think too much. Thinking shows lack of faith. And Mormons might be good people on the face but their prophet was tripping balls when he looked into the magic hat and read the golden plates! Scratch the surface a little and you will find the M's have a dark side too.
I have encounterd many Mormons like you have Catholics, who have been very critical of other religions, extremely dominating over there wives and spend more time at there meetings than they do with there families. Therefore I feel that your statement in regards to Mormons being kind, gentle and full of good spirit is highly over exaggerated. This is exactly how they wish to be perceived and I speak from knowing many Mormons personally.
Interesting that you say that about Mormans.
I have found Mormans to be very nice people. Very humble, and caring.
Those are traits found in Christians. Our Christian Minister calls them a cult as well, and throws the Catholics under the bus too. So on and on it goes….
I was simply trying to be a better follower of Christ, I have read most of the comments and I see my error but for the most part I did find out that I'm not alone in my desire to understand. I actually found the comments to be more helpful than the book .I want to say thanks to the many insightful and inspirational biblical reviews and thoughts, I will continue my journey with much improved understanding. God Bless you…In the name of Jesus Christ….if any comments are sent to me or added, its okay I won't be offended…
What bothers the most about religion, and I'll zero in on Christian, as I was raised such, is two things: Lack of historical knowledge (start in Nicean Council where the religion was codified), and the ability to twist anything to fit their metric.
For christianity to be valid, Judaism must be valid. The OT reads like Harry Potter or the Hobbit, or more like other ancient religions. People live for 100's of years. People travel from land of the dead to land of living and supernatural beings (angels, cherubs, demons, etc) help and thwart the humans. Gods even mated with humans and made a race of superpeople (that left no record of themselves). The people of the True God must fight the people of fake gods, kill them (violating the 1st commandment), but for some reason their G does not defend them and they are murdered and enslaved, but they get away when the new leader (foretold by prophets) leads on a mysterios journey (that no one has a record of) that takes decades to go 100 kilometers to the promised land of milk and honey where they live happily ever after. Along they way they made sacrifices to G so their wishes would come true.
Let's not forget Abrhm. He was going to kill his son because the voice in his head (G) told him to and then not to. And from that we have a religion that requires weekly meet ups and little sacrifices (tithes) cause the priest needs to eat too.
And then we have the messiah who wasn't even though 100s of prophets foretold these events. By hook or by fake census J is going to be from house of D (prophets, remember). Sadly, there is a lot of good advise and healthy psychological philosophy to be found attributed to J that his followers are not good at following. Forgiving your offenders 7x7x7x7 is a good one. As is minding your own business, live within the law, pay your taxes, invest wisely, share, bathe often, don't be a prick, are a few that come to mind.
But if going to church and singing songs and fake prayer & handshake rituals are your thing then go for it. The next time you start drifting off during the sermon answer these qustions for me: why is G making us fight? Who felled and milled the lumber for a giant ship? Did human sacrifices really work to make G happy? Have ever lived without the yoke of religion? The sense of freedom and joy knowing that this day is a one of a kind, it will never happen again so it is up to me to make it be the best day I can have.
Wow…First off I will offer kudos in that you've probably read more of the Bible than a lot of Christians have. I would also agree with your first three statements about lack of historical knowledge, the use of proof-texting and the continuity of Christianity from Judaism. As for the rest, well…it seems if anything you need to read it again, and again…If you do you might see that rather than this being a collection of (contradictory) short stories about good and evil, it is one long, consistent telling of God's interaction with man that continues into the New Testament. I don't know if you have an actual point to make or if you simply found a place to rant, but there has been more and more archaeological evidence that the OT stories happened (unearthing of cities, etc.) and that modern translations of the Bible are consistent with ancient texts (which were for the most part written by eyewitnesses, close to the time events happened). And your taking some of Jesus' statements at face value while questioning the more controversial ones (e.g., being the son of God, being the only way to God) is not unusual. I could respond to other false accusations you've made but it doesn't seem that these are the point. As for the "yoke" of religion, we are all slaves to something or someone, be it a benevolent God, our own delusions or yes, the religion of doing good; and the "light burden" that Christ promised is the one I choose.
How about: There is no God, prove me wrong. Belief in an afterlife has been the worst thing for mankind. This is the only life you have. Provide for your family and community and help keep it going for future generations. That's it. Nothing more.
You might find some of the works of C.S. Lewis (e.g., "Mere Christianity) interesting as he was an atheist before choosing to follow Christ. Also I'm told that "How to be an Atheist" by Mitch Stokes is a worthwhile read as explains why atheism is not intellectually self-consistent and what atheists must also believe if there is no God.
I think CSL was a tool. The great thing about not having religion or its fake restrictions and rules is I don't have to worry about missing a meeting, thinking the wrong thing (you are the only one that can hear the voice in your head), or any other nonsense.
We all have the decision to make as to the existence of God and who he is. You can study all the religions of this world but there is only one who's leader claimed to BE GOD…Jesus Christ. You can poo poo it away as fantasy, or study to truly find the truth. All religions are NOT the same . If you really want to find God you will…if you really don't care you will not. Heaven….eternal life in a perfect place is appealing to most people and if it is true, they would want to go there after their short lives here. I think most people would not want to leave this up to chance….too much at stake….eternal life, or eternal death…
Decent and to the point. Thanks.
If "We all have the decision to make as to the existence of God and who he is." So, if I decide that God is not real, then God does not exist? What if God is just a Neutral force whose energy created all the life on Earth and we are just a product of the evolutionary process and we had to make up stories to explain the stuff we didn't understand and our cultures just can't let go of the myth of the Supernatural Being that is going to save us?
By your own logic, God and all Gods are made up by people. If walking around dreaming of Heaven and what ever that means to you helps you in some way, please let me know.
I think we, as a society, would be better off if we would stop lying to ourselves. When I was a child, my parents lied to me about many things: Where the dog went, Easter Bunny, Santa, Jesus, What happened to Gram, etc. They should have told the truth: the dog died, we celebrate Spring and Fertility, we celebrate the Winter Solstice and the Return of the Sun, Gram died. Simple as that.
I wish they had said:
Just like the flowers and plants that come alive in the spring and thrive though the summer and fall and finally die in winter, Gram and the Dog had a life, it lasts as long as it lasts so you have to make the most of it. Some of us get one season and some of us get 100 seasons, it's not fair and it is OK to be sad when someone dies, but don't let that stop you from planting seeds and harvesting your crops and remembering your loved ones with fondness and hope that you are worthy of being remembered when your time is over.
Instead, if you are good Santa will bring you presents, he is watching you all the time, and so are G and J 'cause they're everywhere all the time and can hear your thoughts so don't think bad things or you won't go to heaven and you'll never see Gram again. And other such nonsense.
What you believe will not determine the existence of God..he either does or does not exist. He left enough evidence for us to decide for ourselves…..simple. He was either who he said he was, or was not but again, there is enough evidence if you want it. If you do not want it, so be it….your choice. You can study study study until you are satisfied, or you can study just a little.Or… ignore it all because it does not fit your human plan for life. God is supernatural and if he is really God, created everything as he said he did. Your choice to believe or not. He promises eternal life in a perfect heaven after death which is just a short time away. I think it would be good to know for sure if this message is indeed true like so many in the world believe. You can throw it all away if you like….there is more than enough there if you look.
Meh, I know Jesus is the son of God I know He came down to save us, I am probably going to hell I have repented over and over again but I had just stopped trying.
And now I have to repeat my college class for a third time because I am Lazy.
Someone pray for me my urges to do nothing are too great to a point where it threatens my future.
Also one thing I don't understand why do you not believe in Jesus? Don't you want to go to heaven? Jesus is the only way to heaven
From what I heard the other religion already has your destiny written to Hell when you die.
You know because you sin too much?
I am not an atheist because I don't want to be decomposed nonexistent) It creeps me out I'd rather go to hell than to do that.
I want to inspire people to become chirp ahem rewording it followers of Christ. But I am too lazy.
I am depressed now because I see everyone passing me by on the road of life. Succeeding
It sucks!
And I think I hate myself
All the same mistakes has led to this.
Pray for me will ya?I'll appreciate it
good plastic bottle supplier and manufacturer.
I stopped reading after the first sentence: "Spend two minutes talking to almost anyone outside the Christian faith and you're almost certain to hear a list of complaints they have about Christians." No offense, but this is ridiculous, hyperbolic nonsense.
The same can EASILY be said about every other religion on the planet. Pathetic. It is not CHRISTIANS.
Actually you would be the last person to know. This is so much more common than you can imagine.
These complaints are very common where I work and they're always shared behind someone's back. The most common one is "she's really nice when she's not a happy clapping zealot".
No one wants to hang with a zealot but that didn't mean we're not nice to her. We just keep her at arms length because she had an agenda.
Christianity has an image problem. In the eye of the secular (and not so secular) public, the Church is little more than a boy's club filled with pedos or the mystery had been so striped from it that a congregation and a rock concert look like the same thing.
There's a lot of work to do, and rightly so.
Christianity has always had an image problem, His name is Jesus. "If the world hates you, it is because they hated me first", Jesus the Christ!
While, I believe I understand you are trying to bring loving correction and self reflection within the body of Christ, I believe it would have better served the Body of Christ if you used the Word of God as the standard. We are not to counsel with the wicked. We are called to be in the world not of the world. We are not to please mankind nor are we called to fellowship with darkness. The Lord makes this very clear, bad company corrupts good morals. I don't believe it is a fair assessment to state many non-believers hate true Born again Christian's because of their judgement, hypocrisy, and inability to maintain godly friendships. While, I would be lying if I said we never judge unrighteously, walk in hypocrisy, or are bad friends, I dont believe your article was an accurate assessment according to the Word of God. After all, we are accountable for our decisions each one of us, and scripture states men hated the light and would not come to the light lest their deeds be reproved. Any non believer judging a true follower of Jesus Christ is the definition of hypocrisy. The Body of Christ is being transformed by Christ! Christ in us, the hope of Glory. Christ paid a heavy price for His Bride, and He adores His people. He also desires the lost that they would be translated from darkness to the glorious light. But the very comment about judgement is dangerous! We are called to judge all things. When we bring the truth of Gods word, in love, Gods very Word judges them! This is righteous judgement. Warning someone of impending judgement is exactly what our purpose here is. To preach the gospel! To live as Christ lived. People hated Him and He is the very Person of Love.
Christianity has always had an image problem, His name is Jesus. "If the world hates you, it is because they hated me first", Jesus the Christ!
While, I believe I understand you are trying to bring loving correction and self reflection within the body of Christ, I believe it would have better served the Body of Christ if you used the Word of God as the standard. We are not to counsel with the wicked. We are called to be in the world not of the world. We are not to please mankind nor are we called to fellowship with darkness. The Lord makes this very clear, bad company corrupts good morals. I don't believe it is a fair assessment to state many non-believers hate true Born again Christian's because of their judgement, hypocrisy, and inability to maintain godly friendships. While, I would be lying if I said we never judge unrighteously, walk in hypocrisy, or are bad friends, I dont believe your article was an accurate assessment according to the Word of God. After all, we are accountable for our decisions each one of us, and scripture states men hated the light and would not come to the light lest their deeds be reproved. Any non believer judging a true follower of Jesus Christ is the definition of hypocrisy. Any one following Jesus, He said come out from among them. Expose the unfruitful works of darkness, not partake in them. Not one place I'll n scripture ever states to be friends with someone who rejects the gospel. As a matter of fact Jesus said contrary. We are to love people and even love our enemies, but we are never called to be in any relationship with someone who rejects Christ, ever. That is completely unbiblical. We can serve then and love them, but not fellowship with them. The Body of Christ is being transformed by Christ! Christ in us, the hope of Glory. Christ paid a heavy price for His Bride, and He adores His people. He also desires the lost that they would be translated from darkness to the glorious light. But the very comment about judgement is dangerous! We are called to judge all things. When we bring the truth of Gods word, in love, Gods very Word judges them! This is righteous judgement. Warning someone of impending judgement is exactly what our purpose here is. To preach the gospel! To live as Christ lived. People hated Him and He is the very Person of Love.
Christians spend so much time bickering and arguing over the existence of their God that they have absolutely no time to address the very real issues that plague the human race. They are so self absorbed in building that stairway to heaven for themselves that they ignore the suffering around them. It's like they don't even care about the future generations that are to inherit this world as long as they secure for themselves that ticket for that train ride to their little fairytale heaven. They are despicable in the regards that they have nothing positive at all to offer the human race in terms of reality. They act like it's pointless to face the issues which are destroying the human race because some great wizard in the sky is going to come down eventually and make everything better. Religion is destructive to the human being's motivation to ensure that our planet and societies are left in better shape for future inhabitants.
IHateGodandYourReligion…Perhaps you're not aware of the plethora of Christian charities that work all over the world to relieve suffering, both in the wake of natural disasters and in the face of everyday poverty. Followers of Christ were the ones to lead the charge to end institutionalized slavery in England and the U.S., and the numerous secular charities, for all the good they do, are mere copycats of ministries initiated by the Body of Christ. Obviously there is still a lot of work to do, and maybe you're frustrated that there is still so much suffering in the world. But things like slavery and poverty exist because the world is evil, not because the Church has failed or doesn't care. However Jesus did say that the poor would always be among us, and ultimately the Church's mission is to share the truth of Christ with the world. We work to relieve suffering out of obedience to God and to pass on the hope that Christ gives, but food and shelter without the message of the gospel would be an empty gift.
IHateYourGodAndYourReligion that is literally the most feeble argument I have ever heard. CHRISTIANS believe in God. That is the base of Chrisianity, yet you say they argue over His existence?
"that they have absolutely no time to address the very real issues that plague the human race. They are so self absorbed in building that stairway to heaven for themselves that they ignore the suffering around them." Samaritan's Purse. Compassion International. Operation Blessing International. We believe that we are not living for ourselves. Also, do you expect us to donate hundreds of millions of dollars to research efforts? Is that a valid reason for hating us? HOW do we "build that stairway to heaven?" By helping… ourselves? That goes against Christianity yet again. We build our "stairway" by helping others and just generally doing good. Us "not caring about future generations" is very, very stupid. Are you implying that we don't take care of our children so that they may take care of their children, etc.? Well, agree to disagree, I suppose.
Unrelated, but I agree that Christians can be annoying sometimes, and I'm a Christian. Believing in Christianity and being a follower of Christ are different. Ideally, we (Christians) would all be good followers of Christ, but, sadly, most are NOT.
You are the very definition of what this writer is writing about…God LOVES ALL PEOPLE!!! The second that you suggest that Christ only paid a price for His church or His Bride, as you say, you miss the point. Christ died for all of humanity. Their are those who will accept that Jesus is the son of God sent to die to atone for humanities sin and accept that GIFT through FAITH, by GRACE. It is not of works, least any man should boast!
It is NOT about you! I will say that 3 times so maybe you get it. It is NOT about you! It is NOT about you! It is not about you! Salvation in Jesus Christ is a GIFT…having nothing to do with your works or anyone else's. Jesus himself was often in the company of what was considered the WORST of society. He ate with and was seen in the home of hated tax collectors who were viewed as corrupt and "on the take," by their own people. He was seen with prostitutes and associated with liars. Some of His most well known servants were once murderers, drunks, liars, and hypocrites. If you know the Bible then you know of whom I speak. (Saul turned Paul, Noah, Abraham, and Peter) Not only does God expect that His people will reach out to the WORST of humanity…He tells us as a prophesy in Isaiah 61 that Jesus would be sent to save those who are lost, to bind up the broken and set the captives free, and again Jesus himself says in Luke 4:18 that He came to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for all the prisoners. If we are to be Christ-like or a Christian then that is the example we are to follow. Being Christ-like to those who are lost and broken may be the only Jesus that some ever see or experience. He does say, the world will hate you as they hated me…but the hatred comes from misconception and people flying a banner for Christ who do not represent Christ and that misrepresentation has festered hate. The only two commands Jesus gave was to love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself. No where in that is their a command to set yourself apart from all others who could potentially corrupt you. Instead we are instructed to be salt and light that mix with the world to show the world what being Christ-like looks like. The world doesn't change us…we change the world by showing and sharing the GIFT of Jesus Christ by Faith through GRACE. Amen.
Exactly what I was just thinking!
You absolutely hit the nail on the head! Amen and thank you for speaking BIBLICAL TRUTHS!
People hated Him and He is the very Person of LOVE ~~~~
Yes Cathryn…people hated the very person who loved them the most. Satan is alive and will work in this world…just look around today and since the beginning of time. Easy to see we are in a messed up world in which we all need a savior to be truly happy and content. We will all face trials in this life and some of us will have comfort through the trials, and some will get through on their own power alone. Very sad mess this world is in……we all need a savior….
Extraterresterrails placed humans on this planet . Jesus was an extraterresterial and from afar advanced civilization than ours from afar off distant Galaxy and from another dimension which is why he was able to do all those miracles.wake earthlings don't be niave and stupid.religious people just like killing other people from other religions.watch ancient aliens on television and you will learn the real truth.religion is for controlling people period.that doesn't mean there isn't an all powerful good who created everything because there is an all powerful good who is love and is the creator of the universe and everything that exists.wake up earthlings and smell the roses you simple minded fools and idiots.we are all extraterresterials .extraterresterials we're here on this planet before humans were.they brought us here and Jesus was an extraterresterial.!it's the God given truth !only the truly enlightenen ones will understand this.uou don't have to be any religion to realize that God is love!love rules all!love is god!God is love!it's just that simple.!nothing is more powerful than love!wake up world!the sooner you earthlings realize this it will change everything!I am God's messenger!I'm giving you the real truth!listen to me and you will change forever and prosper forever !it's just that that simple.!love is the most powerful thing there is!God is love!S.H.
People who are not acquainted with the Spirit will not understand its work in people who
living by the Spirit. You can't try to form an outward show.
Christ was incensed by evil. Advisements also changed along even the disciples' way. To
me every day is a somewhat different challenge and the Spirit leads.
I don't see it as effective to tell anyone anything until they are living the life, now. I hope
I never deny God to people, but I refuse to give much to nonbelievers if they are inclined
to pretend they know anything about this life and if they criticize from the outside.
If you don't know how to drink from a cup, telling you anything more than some do and you could
is useless.
1 christians drove this poor girl leelah alcorn to suicide because she was trans
2 you believe a stupid book is more important than actually living your life
He's probaly a pussywhipped Canadian husband profitting from one of America"s loop holes;/
It's just click bait to get people to read another revision of the great Jesus, savior or the poor and brain dead. Send money.
So sad but true…even as a Christian/Catholic, I despise some "die hard" blind Christians/Catholics. Some ten to quote the Bible and take it literally and use it to justify their own intentions.
This has made me struggle with my faith. I believe in God. I believe in Jesus Christ. The Bible is a good guide book. What is written in it may be as accurate as can be. But, correct me if I'm wrong, it was put into writing a long time after these events occurred, right? So accuracy as to what was exactly said may not be accurate. And humans wrote the Bible, chose what was to be included and what was not, some were even destroyed. Did one ever think why it could not account for 20 years of such an important persons life too?
This is not at all a put down of the Bible nor the faith…I am trying to search for answers so that I can understand and deepen my faith further.
I am not saying too that I do not judge people. Heck, I'm not perfect…I am only human. Which is why I despise those who are human but act as if they are gods…self righteous holier than thou's…
I throw them my thoughts and concepts, and the reply i get is – that's blasphemous. Uh okay…whatever you say. But that doesn't answer my questions.
I live in a country that where people blindly follow their faith because that's how they grew up…they never really learn and explore…possibly because they don't dare? fear of being punished or even excommunicated?
how blind are they? Thou shalt not kill for example. I say if that's the case, why did God ask Abraham to kill his son? The reply i get – you are so stupid. don't you read the Bible? read on…uh okay…so if i were in Abraham's place, at that point in time…do i say wait God…I know how this plays out…I know it's against your law to do what you are asking me to do…BUT these Catholics/Christians are telling me that I can READ ahead about something that has not happened…and know how it will play out…really? Let's not forget those who died in the Red Sea…God created all right?
Oh well…unfortunately, it is difficult to talk to people who do not want to keep an open mind…but how i deal with it is try to the plant a seed in their minds…that in order to deepen your faith, you have to question…
John…yep, God's definitely big enough to handle our questions. I know I've had my share – e.g., how could God be watching Himself grow up on earth and yet Jesus didn't know He was God until He was a young man of 12? It boggles the mind. But I don't think asking questions is blasphemous. Some of the greatest apologeticists were once atheists or agnostics who kept asking questions until they were convinced. A lot of Christians have become too "comfortable" in their faith, never having had it tested or challenged even though they need to be able to explain why they believe what they believe.
My understanding of when the Bible was written is that the New Testament was penned within the lifetimes of Paul and Jesus' disciples; so by around 60-70 A.D. There is a 20-year gap in the account of Jesus' life as you mentioned, so apparently it wasn't important for us to know the things He said or did during that time – only that "He grew in favor with God and men" and that He never sinned. The Old Testament was written over a period of several centuries, and of course the creation story was written a long time afterward, along with the account of Abraham and the other patriarchs, by Moses it is believed. How he knew all this stuff was probably a combination of oral tradition and direct revelation from God; but as I've commented elsewhere if men wanted to pick and choose what to include they would have made the people in the Bible (including Moses) look flawless rather than portray them with all their faults and mistakes. The rest of the OT was written by people who were alive at the time the events occurred – Job (presumably, although we don't know exactly when he lived), Joshua, King David and the various prophets. Overall the writings that are now believed to be divinely inspired are consistent in theme and theology, although others (outside the canon) are useful as historical references. The ancient texts that have been unearthed by archaeologists have confirmed that the writings have been for the most part unaltered between the time they were written and today, with the exception of minor changes in spelling and grammar.
As for the specific accounts you mentioned…God told Abraham to kill Isaac before the 10 Commandments were given centuries later in Exodus, although after the Flood He did give Noah a warning about men who killed other men. So apparently as God is God He can make exceptions depending on His purposes. God Himself is the standard, not rules and laws which are simply reflections of His character. And the law in the 10 Commandments says, "You shall not murder" – i.e., take personal revenge or take the law into your own hands. If Abraham had killed Isaac he would simply have been obeying God, not committing murder. Neither was killing the Egyptians in the Red Sea murder as they were trying to kill the Israelites, nor the inhabitants of Canaan as God was punishing them for sacrificing their babies and for other abominations. But as we see, the "sacrifice" of Isaac was a test of Abraham's faith and a picture of the coming Christ as the ram in the bush became the substitute for Isaac on the altar. Of course Abraham didn't know that, but it's one of those situations in which the "what if" is moot because it didn't happen, and we just have to trust that God is good. (It also begs the question, "Is there something I love more than God, that I wouldn't be willing to give up?")
Good points overall and ones I hadn't thought of…Don't be discouraged by those who don't like you asking questions. Find a group of people you can learn with and from, and keep reading and studying. As you've already found, asking questions is how we learn and grow; but the one caveat I would offer is to consider whether you're asking the right questions. I've set out to find certain answers, only to find that I was asking the wrong question. And I've heard of people who get metaphysically hung up on the purpose of sawdust(?), but in the meantime they're missing out on what's really important. The things we need to know are the ones God wants us to understand; otherwise they're either moot or beyond the scope of our comprehension. Best wishes!
Well spoken! Thank you!
As a Catholic-Christian, I try my best to Be Christlike and be more like Mother Mary. I fail and sin daily. Stop judging others who sin different than you. If you cannot help them (water, food, clothing), then do not hurt them–pray for them, keep it moving. My friends range the entire spectrum, from dedicated Catholics to agnostics, gays, drug-addicts, hookers. Who am I to judge anyone? They accepted me and never made fun of me nor rejected me for being a proud Catholic-Christian. Like Mother Teresa said, "If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
I did notice that some of my fellow Catholic-Christians that are judgmental end up making the rest of the majority look bad. Catholic-Christians are lovely, loving people who resemble Christ. We embrace our daily shortcomings, failures, tendency to sin, but we also have tools to combat and counter these vices. I do trust Catholic-Christians a bit more than a nonbeliever. I do not use church to shame others, I am not better than anyone. I admit, I need church to heal from my mistakes, an escape from this evil, cruel world, and to remind myself of my one, true purpose and mission in my Life. "Jesus came down to serve, not to be served." ~Mark 10:45
"He/She that is without sin among you, let him/her cast the first stone…" ~John 8:7
Like the other famous quote from Mother Teresa, "…For you see, in the end, it was between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."
The quote from the book of John seems to be a favorite of many, Christian and non-Christian alike. However the context of Jesus' statement was His rescue of a prostitute (presumably) from being stoned to death. After her accusers left, He told her to "go and sin no more." He didn't judge her (or allow others to do so), but neither did He sugar-coat, excuse or enable her sin. It seems that this is the balance we must strike as Christians.
But I love your last quote from Mother Teresa.
Ugh….really trying to be more like Mother Mary? He/She
Try reading the scriptures by putting your catholic lens in the drawer…..this is the deception you have heard so much about.
how can you not "sin" at least pnce in your life everybody does it all the time
In the land of the Blind, the one-eyed man is King!
Watch ancient aliens and learn the truth of mankind!
If you are serious about the question of "is there a God, and if so who is he?" then you will have to do some homework. It is not a blind faith at all. We were left with eye witness accounts, a book written by many authors over a period of time who all say the same thing basically…far far from co incidence. All you have to do is look at the evidence and decide for yourself. God/Jesus will never force you, he has given all of us free will. He gave you a brain to use, make decisions for yourself. If you truly want the answer to this question, you will get the correct answer, but you must really sincerely want it. If you are not serious about it you will never get an answer but just be confused and uncertain or…..you just plain do not care. If this Jesus was real….and he is who he said he was in the only book left for us regarding him specifically, wouldn't you want to know it? Jesus says he will give eternal life…and he has a place for us after death….a place of peace, love, happiness forever. I think most would like that to be true…and it is. The decision is before all of us equally…we are all equal in God's eyes….all of us. He forgives us all of our wrong doing from the worst to the best of us…he sees no difference. His love for us is greater than any human can imagine..he is so good…..
Only J didn't leave such a book and oddly not much was written about this man during his time. Does it matter that the Council of Nicea codified the religion and told the priests what to say and when to say it because it was a way to control and tax the population? One codified religion would be easier to tax and control than the dozens of religions in the domain. The Church actively used the fake Jesus to justify centuries of oppression, murder, war, rape, conquest and actively thwarted education and creativity.
In order to accept J as the Messiah, one has to embrace the Hebrew Faith, he was supposed to be their messiah, all those prophesies predicted it. And let's face it, most of the OT has been regarded as allegory as much as fairy tale. So, if the wandering goat herder's myths are not true, how could their superman savior be true?
Your simplistic argument could also prove Santa.
The Bible is such a book. Look at prophecy..look at the eye witness accounts..there was much written in this book and others regarding the existence of Jesus. Most all students of history agree that Jesus was here. Now you have to decide who he was. The new testament talks much more about Jesus…study it closely and you will see. Most will not take the time as they assume it is not accurate or real. If you approach it with an open mind you will be able to see how old testament prophecy and new testament confirmations are moist impossible to simply create but actually came to pass. As I said, it takes much study of historical documents and the Bible to confirm. The problem many have is that Jesus although man, was also God and therfore supernatural in one sense, man in the other. Yes, this as you say is a simple argument but complex also. To connect all the old testament prophecy to new testament time takes study and research. Again…if you really want the answer to this is Jesus real….God real…you have to truly seek it. If you do seek it….you will find the correct answer….
You can study the Bible and all the Ancient Texts and Scrolls for the rest of your life,but please riddle me this, while the Big G was trapping people in fish for days on end, and turning women into salt, and raining plagues down on the wicked, and flooding the world, why oh why didn't G gives us a hint about washing our hands? Or the tip of the penis for that matter. We got to cut the tip off???
If you are telling me one has to study to nearly PhD levels, then I wonder if G only wants really smart and dedicated people in Heaven with Him. I mean, I'm dysllexic and my brother is a half-wit so we can't possibly get there. Your God is not very nice.
Thank you for sharing, helping me get along with Christian friends.
I hope you know this is nonsense. We are told to judge righteous judgement.
No No NO….God is for all people…smart and not so smart. Smart /very intellegent people have a hard time with all this sometimes so they may be the ones who need to study hard to understand the simple plan of God and how he gives and gave us his message through his Son Jesus. It is quite simple….Jesus came here and told us the good news…we have the choice to believe it or not to believe. You choose not to, others believe and choose. Not all will believe but I believe you are missing the simple message. If it seems so complex to you and others like you, you may need to do some homework and get all the details you can before you can make a decision. In the end it will take faith, but faith based on what you see and hear. Many like you have done it….very intellegent people, atheists, and found the evidence for God/Jesus overwhelming and became believers as a result. We live in a world that is imperfect and messed up…we did that, not God. It was never his original plan….we the people, messed it all up and that is why Jesus came….you can read all about it…
I am having trouble processing this response.
I grew up in a Catholic household, and still hold a lot of those traditions dear to my heart, as it brings great comfort when I am feeling lost. Now going to the present, I am a rather conservation person, living a lifestyle that is sinful (I am gay with a monogamous partner.) I attend church and pray, etc. Here is my problem. I have a (Self Professed Christian) friend at work who is very close to me, who tells me much about her life. She is intensely negative and continually complains about all aspects of her life, her marriage, her children, her family, how she is always right and I've been seeing the darkness and hate that she holds in her heart. She basically makes herself a miserable person… I know she disapproves of my happiness because my lifestyle is a sin and it hurts to know she doesn't show any sort of interest (it's a way for me to turn our conversations into something positive, since my partner and I don't have any issues or anything I can complain about) she tends to cut me off or just ignore it. So I wrote her a letter telling her how I feel about her not caring about me in addition to how the toxicity is becoming overwhelming that I only see darkness within. (I am distancing myself.)
Her reply is what I am having trouble processing. "You are my dear friend and I do care very much. We are all sinners in need of a savior. Call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and repent. He wants to save us all from his coming wrath. Nothing else in life is as important as this. Get right with him Jonathan, before it's too late."
I don't find this to be genuine at all, since in the 4.5 years knowing her, she has remained miserable. I see it as her being self righteous yet again. I don't know how to respond.
I'm so sorry your friend hurt your feelings. I know in my heart that you're God's child and perfect. Being gay is your blessing. It was my one gay friend that had the empathy towards me when I needed help in the biggest way. I think him being gay gave him an insight and kindness at a young age. Many people don't experience discrimination or hardships and maybe that can make it tough to understand what others struggle with. Not that I wish hardships on anyone or think only through suffering can one have great empathy. I don't know a lot about too much but I am glad you found love in Christ and that he blessed you with love in your life. I'm sure you deserve it! I bet your friend will come around by just seeing an example of real love and commitment. Maybe she's hurting and can't be as happy for you as she would like to be.
It is a shame that your co-worker professes to be a Christian yet drags you and everyone around her down with her negativity and complaining. From her response it appears that she "knows" what is right but has a hard time living it out in her attitude. It may well have been your letter that woke her up and made her realize the effect she is having on people. But I would contend (in disagreement with Mitzi Linn) that your original assessment of your lifestyle was correct – even though to say so is unpopular and considered unloving. Everyone has weaknesses to struggle with, and yours is no worse or better than mine. If you are already willing to acknowledge it as sin (as it appears you do) then remain open to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to complete His work in you as only He can. If you have received Christ you are God's child, indeed sensitive and kind, but nobody is born perfect; we are only perfected in Christ. Read the scriptures, take every thought captive to Christ, seek counseling if you can – and maybe even encourage your partner to do so as well. As for how to respond to your friend, no response is needed unless perhaps she takes up the conversation again. But you are not responsible for any hypocrisy on her part or anyone else's.
being gay is a sin? stfu
I find it Ironic that so many Christians are so angry and self-righteous. It seems they ignore the teachings of their savior about forgiveness, selflessness, generosity, wise investing and harvesting the goodness of their lives. So many it seems don't hear the words of the prayers they like to recite, you know, "…forgive me my sins as I forgive those who have sinned against me…".
Thank you for your share
I am having trouble processing this response.
I grew up in a Catholic household, and still hold a lot of those traditions dear to my heart, as it brings great comfort when I am feeling lost. Now going to the present, I am a rather conservation person, living a lifestyle that is sinful (I am gay with a monogamous partner.) I attend church and pray, etc. Here is my problem. I have a (Self Professed Christian) friend at work who is very close to me, who tells me much about her life. She is intensely negative and continually complains about all aspects of her life, her marriage, her children, her family, how she is always right and I've been seeing the darkness and hate that she holds in her heart. She basically makes herself a miserable person… I know she disapproves of my happiness because my lifestyle is a sin and it hurts to know she doesn't show any sort of interest (it's a way for me to turn our conversations into something positive, since my partner and I don't have any issues or anything I can complain about) she tends to cut me off or just ignore it. So I wrote her a letter telling her how I feel about her not caring about me in addition to how the toxicity is becoming overwhelming that I only see darkness within. (I am distancing myself.)
Her reply is what I am having trouble processing. "You are my dear friend and I do care very much. We are all sinners in need of a savior. Call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and repent. He wants to save us all from his coming wrath. Nothing else in life is as important as this. Get right with him Jonathan, before it's too late."
I don't find this to be genuine at all, since in the 4.5 years knowing her, she has remained miserable. I see it as her being self righteous yet again. I don't know how to respond.
Hello there. As a non-Christian who came across your article I want to say, thank you for writing it. It truly does address several of my own daily observations…particularly on social media these days.
I try not to be judgmental of Christians or of anyone of any faith really (I stress the word try, I don't always succeed), to each their own and whatever works for them in their life works for them and that's great in my view.
As for me, I tend to be very Pagan in my own beliefs. I walk my own path and have had some very productive conversations with Christians and Catholics. I have several friends with similar pagan beliefs as my own who constantly feel attacked, particularly by Christians (sorry to point you out guys)…but I have to say, in my observation it's not always the fault of the Christian person in the conversation. I have watched some of my friends, they instantly become defensive when someone says "oh, you don't believe in God?" It's an innocent question….but they key to how the conversation goes often hinges on the response. If my friends respond defensively the conversation becomes defensive and unproductive and they have a bad experience. I realized I always had good luck speaking with people of the Christian/Catholic faiths because….I do not become defensive; therefore….I do not make them feel defensive in return.
My view when it comes to having conversations with people of differing belief systems is…be respectful of others views. We all need to do this regardless of our faith (or lack thereof). This goes back to your observation about judging others. I do my best to be respectful of others beliefs when we get into discussions regarding dogma, theology, ancient history etc….and it is refreshing to me when someone is respectful to me in return. In fact one of my favorite conversations happened when I had dropped my son off for a Scout meeting at a Catholic church. It's a beautiful church and I love architecture, so I was strolling the grounds and came across the grounds-keeper. I have a fascination with ancient history and art and that church just happens to have a treasure from the Italian Renaissance that most never get to see. The gentleman was kind enough to allow me a private viewing. As we strolled the interior of the church we naturally had a discussion about faith and the differences/similarities our differing beliefs have. No judgment from either side, no defensiveness at all. It was an hour well spent between total strangers.
THAT is something I wish I saw happening more often.
Now, having said all of that I would like to add one thing to your list that those of us who are not Christian find really off-putting….no, make that 2…but they work together and it's something I've heard many non-Christian's complain about.
#1 Cherry Picking verses out of the Bible simply to suit your needs.
Now, I do not pretend to know the Bible cover to cover, but I have read the majority of it during theological and historical studies. I cannot tell you how many times I have personally experienced a Christian quoting Bible verses to me….but twisting them to suit their purpose, and in fact….taking them totally out of context. This drives non-Christian's batty (particularly those who ARE in fact familiar with your scripture.)
#2 Quoting Bible verses to back up a Christian point of view in religious discussions with non-Christians.
This is an exercise in futility if I ever saw one and I've experienced this myself. It never makes sense to me when a Christian quotes the Bible (a book a non-Christian does not believe in) to a non-Christian. Honestly, if you're going to quote a book I'd rather hear Shakespeare. I'm not saying that to be disrespectful here either, but to make a point. It's pointless to quote Bible verses to non-believers.
I think that's about it for now. If you have read my response, thanks for taking the time to read it…blessings.
Hi Anita…it is refreshing to be able to have a civil conversation with someone rather than an argument. I also agree with your first point that many Christians take verses out of context much more often than they should. (It might actually do them good to be called out on this so they can better hone their side of a discussion.) If I might offer one response to your second observation – speaking for myself at least – if I bring specific verses into a discussion it's not so much to "prove" my point as of course we would need to have the common ground of basic belief in the Bible in order for a scripture-based argument to be valid, but to demonstrate why I believe what I believe and that I'm not simply making up my own theology as I go. There are some great apologists out there who can defend Christianity without quoting a single Bible verse, but I'm afraid I'm not one of them and still have learning to do in this regard. Thanks for your post…I'm not on social media at all and so don't really see the ways in which other Christians present themselves and their faith in online debates – which may be just as well as it's probably often embarrassing.
Believe me it is!!
Jesus and the cross is foolishness to those who perish. But to those who believe it's the word of God.
People need to understand the Bible is not about what you or anyone else thinks or feels or believes or not. It's about the Creator of the world telling is wayward children to come back to him or suffer his wrath when Jesus returns.
That is going to happen.
Jesus will return and his rewards are with him.
That's not being judgmental it's stating a Truth.
Amen…yes…God is love but he's also a judge and as christians we can judge ritcheously accord to what his word says…not according to our feelings..Praying for discernment for us christian s who have accepted Christ as their savior❤
Please explain How and When Jesus will return. Will there be another virgin birth and he's a regular kid until one day he unleashes his supernatural powers and strikes dead forever the unbelievers? Or does He just appear one day as a human and take over? Or, does he appear as a 700 foot tall giant.
It might sound like I am mocking you, and I am. But your mythology and superhero story sound like something Stan Lee and Marvel might have come up with and need further explanation.
The belief that the world is ending soon by modern religions has been the cause of war, murder, and overall bad planning for generations.
Remember: The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.
Be Well, Live Long and Prosper…
Blaming war and murder on religion is like blaming death on guns. Of course people have misapplied the Bible and distorted it to their own ends, but this does not make the faith itself evil. If anything it has been the people of faith leading the fight against the Hitlers and sex traffickers. If God doesn't exist then there are no consequences for evil and we have no reason to live selflessly or think beyond ourselves and our personal agendas.
Otherwise, mockery does not become you as you've obviously read the Bible and must know that not even Jesus Himself knew when He would return (while He was on earth), and also the manner in which He will return when the day comes.
We don't need gods to make us behave in civilised manner. If you do, then you have problems and should get therapy. Your Jesus is not coming back, ever. Your religion and many other use the religion as a basis for war. Can you spell crusades? The very founder of Protestantism in England was a war mongering rapist and serial murderer. It is easy to correlate guns with gun deaths. The usa has highest rate of gun ownership and highest rate of gun deaths.
Doug, nobody will know when he'll come, but he will, and he will show no mercy to those who have wrongdoing against him. Locusts, earthquakes, the Antichrist, they all will come. You don't want that to happen to you, do you? God loves you and wants the best for you, but you might burn in Hell for what you said. Hope he goes easy on you..
If you believe in God, you must believe there is a Satan as Jesus spoke about many times. The battle here on Earth is spiritual. Satan for all things bad, God for all things good. This is why we have disorder and hate in this world and we all must live in it and find our way through it. God will help us fight our battles and cope in this world. Satan will give aid and encouragement to those who do not believe. Not all will believe, but those who do, will find peace and comfort through the chaos of this world. God loves us all……all…..everyone…..
So scared am I! Your wrathful G-d has such fragile ego. I will make sacrifice tonight to make amends and repent!
Nah, I ain't gonna do that. Going fishing after work. Wahoo are biting!
Doug…You mock now, but a day is coming when you will wish you could take it all back. If God had such a fragile ego He would have destroyed us all a long time ago, but instead He is patient and is waiting for as many people as possible to repent. And no, you don't have to make sacrifice because Jesus already did that for you so that you can just go fishing and not worry about God's wrath – if you choose to accept His mercy, which is free. After all, Jesus is used to hanging out with fishermen :).
That's all in your imagination.
No, not in the imagination….real. It does appear that by your comments you are not serious about finding out if God is real. If you do get serious, you will find the answer. In the meantime your answer is no. Your choice……
Hi Anita! I loved your response – Thank you! As a Christian I agree with you 100%!!! I see this at church, I see it if I happen to be out with my fellow Christians, I see Christians being judgmental and being a hypocrite and each time I just cringe!! And you are right – this is exactly what turns Non-Christians off!!
I have friends who are gay, are members of a biker gang, I have known ladies of the evening, drug addict and alcoholics – I like these people – I don't like labels. Everyone has a story of where they have come from and where they are going. I am no different. We are all broken people living in a broken world.
I believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and I believe in Satan – he is very real.
I recall one night sharing my story in bible study (I came from a very abusive childhood) and one of the other ladies said "I can't relate to that". I have never forgot that. From what I have read, Christians seem to forget that Jesus spend more time with the "broken" than He did with Christians.
I think we all need to spend more time with the human beings that Jesus loved to spend time with and just maybe, one day we could all live as one. What a wonderful world that would be.
Blessings to you Anita,
It is too bad when professing Christians mis use the Bible etc etc. Probably just insecure in them selves. Jesus would never do this if you read about him and what he did in his short three years of ministry. He went to Bars, streets, slums, palaces, everywhere and told people what they needed to hear because he cares for us more than anyone else can. People often mess things up….God never does. If you keep your eyes on Jesus and what he said and did, you will see the right way to respond to any situation. You may not do it every time as we are human and imperfect, but we must strive to live as Jesus did. If all of us in this world would do that the world would change dramatically. Jesus was the only perfect person and he loves us all equally…..no favorites…
I totally agree with your points, I have similar experience which made me believe in what you said.
Thanks for your article, man.
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I think the answer is simple: you watch what you say.
I have come to learn recently that Christians like many people have festering wounds (just as other non-believers do). Hurting people hurt people is something many people overlook whether religious, atheist or non religious or faith oriented. When someone acts in a manner that drives others away from them chances are that they have gone through something traumatic that leaves them confused, angry and unpleasant in general. Only a person who can discern that can approach a hurting person with genuine concern and find out why they behave or think a certain way. I live in a neighborhood where most people are church going but they never invite me to their churches or even ask how I am doing life wise. I guess I have come to accept that people don't realize how they are…really. I am okay with not being everyone's cup of tea. I find strength in loving me first then others is extra. Christians who generally have a caring heart will dare so to call, invite and even follow up on someone that is hurting. It took me a long time to get to a place of peace after overcoming adversity in my life. Things are looking up now and I am settled knowing that people don't like being burdened by other people's problems maybe because they have enough of their own or they are the way they are. I stopped looking to neighbors for help of any kind; I just started trusting God in my own way and He has been very providing through others outside my neighborhood. Neighbors of today can be as isolated as an igloo resident despite living in close proximity to each other. It's a pity but that is what society has come to nowadays.
I agree with you, it IS a pity though I feel the problem with society is a problem we have had as humans for a long time if not since after Adam and Eve were turned out of The Garden. It's just manifested in different ways. Perhaps it's selfishness- not sure how to "label" such an issue. However I personally have prided myself on being genuinely caring and interested in others' troubles/stories…I was raised to be this way also…I even DID turn away from my faith as a Christian because I felt calling myself such meant nothing since all of the Christians I knew were selfish and callous. I have since turned back to my faith…I have never felt so committed to the word of the Bible (I used to be a pick-and-choose "preach-it-to-me type…) ! If you read the Bible (I was forced to read it as a child- but now on my own have- it's not so much even about the typical stereotypes of needing to help others. However it's a part of being a good person and good neighbor- not just a Christian. Sadly I feel when I have tried to reach out and help people and show my compassion for them- I get turned away and even treated as someone creepy. The world is headed for the end of times (says so in the Bible- wether sooner or later- feels sooner to me…) and people are so paranoid about people being selfish- like perhaps they are – they have trouble accepting help. It's a world of "what's in it for me" and always has been to most people but I feel as we get closer to the end times it will become worse. We must all take care of ourselves to be able to properly help others- but it's depressing that kindness is not accepted by many people openly let alone fostered anymore.
You said it Bridgette! End Times! We are The Last Generation and too many Lukewarm Christians out there does not want to talk about it. They are lazy Christians who find feel good Pastors to preach to them that it's okay to living your best life. My goodness the day is near ! Just as in the days of Noah while people was carrying on marrying /drinking/partying as Noah warned the people about the flood but eh they had no care in the world until it started pouring and the door was shut closed.
Noah warned them for 120 years but they grew out of patience and went to their merry ways. Remember there were only 8 people left after the flood . God is not interested in feel good Christians ! There is too many lost souls He needs leaders that are going to tell the Truth and obey His Loving Instructions! We must be examples and live according to His Loving Instructions for Our Lives. He left us His manual . Remember He sent His Only Begotten Son Because He Loved Us So Much so that he who believes in Him shall receive Everlasting life. Jesus Yahshua said Go out and preach to all the nation's . And if that person doesn't want to hear the Gospel just dust your feet off and go to the next.
There is so much deception in the world right now with so much distractions between t.v and entertainment they want to take everyone's time up to keep anyone from seeking The Truth! Be prepared and ready keep watch as we know not the hour or day of His return . But I'm excited and prepared don't let anyone tell you not. Satan is the father of lies he wants to confuse and distract. he has his minions whispering in weak people ears . any non follower of Jesus that doesn't want to hear the Truth is because they don't want to give up their sin. And any christian that willfully sins after knowing Jesus then I suggest you repent and turn from your ways . As Jesus said to the lady at the well ..(I'm paraphrasing) " Go and Sin No More!
So just because we are saved by Grace doesnt give anyone a licence to sin. Take care sister Bridgette . see you in the shamayin.
I have a mean neighbor- you know the type. She ran the HOA for 30 years, all the while terrorizing every neighbor she could. She sneers if you try to wave. But to a few "chosen ones" she is polite and nice as long as it gets her something in return. Every lawn company knows her and calls her very bad names. The man that gives tennis lessons at the courts runs when he sees her coming. My dog barks like he channeling Kujo when she goes by the house.
I have always wanted to invite her to church, thinking maybe she just doesn't know that God loves everybody equally so we should treat everyone as brothers and sisters. I didn't because I didn't want to seem like I was one of THOSE Christians- the ones who are like, you are so full of sin you better get to church before God smites you! I was waiting for her to be sick or sad or something – I don't know, it just seemed too pushy. The other day, I was getting my trashcan from the end of my driveway and a gentleman (from the HOA) out walking his dog was chatting with her. She said "OK, if I don't see you there, I will see you at church". I almost tripped over the trashcan!
In the 12 years I have lived across the street from her, it never occurred to me that she was a Christian! I like to think I live my life as anti-hypocritical as I can. I am far from perfect but I am quick to apologize and try to stop myself from behaving is a completely non-Jesus way. I tithe. I treat the "least of these" deferentially. I even worked for free on three different occasions at three different times in my life serving marginalized people, even as I struggled to buy groceries. I am just giving you background to say this… I am not flamboyant. I quietly serve. It is easy for people to overlook me. I can tell you there are many of us that you would never even know were Christian, because we are assumed to just be "nice" people. Jesus doesn't get the credit that he deserves because we are not loud in our calling and service and random acts of kindness are presumed to be human nature while judgmentalism (not a word?) is presumed to be Christian nature. Others, like the lady across the street (who probably hands out those little "Jesus is the door" pamphlets to teenagers acting silly in the mall) is known to everyone. When she acts the way she does, people can say "see, that's why I hate Christians". Our every day actions are an advertisement for God. What are you selling the World? I wonder if I should invite her to church?
No. Not unless you are friendly all year long. She may justifiably take it the wrong way. Converse, get to know her, then ask if she attends a church and if not or if a religion you don't fall or, only say we are inviting friends and neighbors to our such and such meetings and if you would like we could attend together since we so conveniently live so close to one another. If she thinks you have an ulterior motive which you do, be honest and tell her exactly why. You don't know if she knows Jesus as Savior and His desire if none be lost so you care also. Then ask her point blank if she is a believer in God's Gospel, The Way or Christ as Savior or born again. However you feel the Holy Spirit leading. Then if she is off put or negative, apologize that perhaps your not the best at approaching an idea and if she ever changes her mind great. Smile and go home. Pray for her and let God use the seed you put forth to take root and grow. He promises the Word will never go void.
I think this gets to the point of "people as projects". For me, if this scenario of connecting with a person is not something that would happen regularly, then I need to examine my self. I need to determine why I'm not connecting with people like this regularly. If I'm not living this way, then it's a project.
So, should you connect with this person? Sure! My only point is that it may require personal change. This may be that opportunity!
Even the ones judging us as bad Christians are bad too. Just live your faith and in your failings repent and go forward. God will help us all by taking the good and leaving the bad. If I'm putting God first best I can and still fall; I cannot waste my time concerned about the issue of being judged. Try to keep your eyes on Chris and not in your own strength. It will all sorts out on the end. Focus instead on God and Kingdom. Nobody even those seeing our mistakes are better. Refuse to see that stuff.
Makes sense!
The Christian Church that got me is far worse than your list I agree with. Judgemental, HARDCORE hypocrites, and DEADLY friends. This church INSIST that I am "POSSESSED" by the DEVIL or I am the DEVIL a.k.a Lucifer. Totally wrecking my life. For years. They wrecked my last job attempt in Dallas, Texas trying to force me back to "EXORCISE" the DEVIL from me. Leaving me homeless on the street with medical issues and constantly craving suicide to evade them. Medical issues wemt out of control due to FORCED faith-healing just like Christian based "Jonestown" that left 918 people dead in 1978. I have found there is no help for a person like me. ONLY SUICIDE because I do not want their religion. I am a skilled professional and a very decent person. I helped a woman that had cancer for over six years. Only one date cancer free. I did not really know her, but she really needed my help. Called the Devil for it. Hence the name change.
I've long since decided not to concern myself with the opinion of others whether they be evil, good, secular, or Christian. I have to please God first and foremost, then take care of myself so that I can care for others.
Judgmental? it depends. what if someone is evil and hurtful to themselves and others? should we enable that instead? foster the dysfunction?
Hypocritical? depends again, I do my level best not to initiate meaness and evil, and for the most part I do not! However, I react to such with passionate anger. golly-gee-willikers don't do that, don't be like that, etc..just doesn't cut it!
ad friend? I do my best to be there for someone. however, many of us are just spread that thin, and have prioritize so pardon me if your hang-nail and constant need for recognition and negative-attention isn't all that important.
I feel the same/similar! This is just an opinionated article anyhow. For most my life I was raised "Christian/catholic" (not a thing btw! Lol ) and was taught that judging others is a big "no no" but in the Bible it actually says you shall judge others actions! If you look it up it mentions that you shouldn't judge intention but action. If you never judge at all you'd go around making horrible decisions. We were given the ability to make decisions for a reason and it is important that we think of Christ and make as many of our decisions as we can with him in our hearts and minds…though God knows as humans we will not ALWAYS do this and can only do our best- he only knows what our best is (IMO), but we must put in the effort to follow his word. It's natural for us to be hypocritical as people- I think that's something very grey area and depends how introspective you are to catch yourself. I (agree…?) there's a big difference between being hypocritical and simply reacting with negativity to a negative situation. Even Jesus and God have been unhappy with situations and have shown passion in those moments. It puts a bad taste in my mouth when people try to say Jesus and God are 100% hippie-dippy walking around as if everything is ok and "peace" all the time. It's not accurate to the Bible anyhow.
But not all Christians are like that, I'm not not that way, and i really try not to be that way either.
Christians are human like everyone else….imperfect like everyone else, so we have to learn to live together and help each other in life. Jesus was the living example of that. Study, read, learn of him in the Bible. Seek after him as for Silver and you WILL find him. Seek as your life depends on it….you will find him and the peace that comes with him. No, not a perfect life or easy life, but a life with him to help guide you through, and we ALL need that. No one has their life together…just look around….none of us. "He came that we might have life and have it abundantly"…..turn off social media for awhile and really study/search for yourself as it is the most important decision you will ever make in your life……….
I have found my faith again and have never had such a great relationship with Christ as I have since I cut out social media. (Besides actual phone calls texting..) . I was so caught up in people's orchestrated lives on the inter webs and in trying to make friends with people that were not able to actually foster any kind of genuine relationships…Now I barely have any friends I keep in close contact with since they all prefer fab/ twitter/ etc…But I still feel better off and healthier. Social media is toxic, even as Christians trying to reach it to others it can be a tightrope walk.
Well… I thought long on how I wanted to respond or maybe I shouldn't respond to this post because I am sure I will get my head bit off however I respond by some very righteous person (s). Here it goes.
I have only been back in the Kingdom of God for 23 months after being out for 17 years after I was asked to leave a 30,000 member Baptist Church because I was asking to many questions such as; If we believe the Holy Bible is the ardent Word of God, then why aren't we using the gifts that the Holy Spirit gave us and why aren't we making disciples like Jesus said to do. I only recently found out that people who attend Baptist seminary have to sign some sort of wavier that they will never speak on these subjects to their congregation. Wow! How sad for God.
I am judging right now because a pastor should never stand up in front of a crowd of people and say, We Believe the Word of God to be true, and then leave out the part about using the gifts of the Holy Spirit and making of disciples, which is part of the New Testament and New Covenant, which is all about Jesus.
The members of a church are under the umbrella of that Churches beliefs and therefore the members pick up that same belief system unknowingly and live their lives accordingly to their Pastors beliefs. Birds of the same feather do flock together.
I am now a practicing Christian (I deeply love Jesus and the Holy Spirit and people) in the Charismatic and Evangelism movement and have seen and experienced some pretty amazing healing(s) and making of disciples that are happening within the Church. But even so, there are prejudices within that following- as well.
The one thing the Lord spoke to me about when coming back into the Kingdom of God was that I never could ever speak about how someone else teaches because that Judgment was left to Him alone. This made me more sensitive or alert to what people spoke on and taught about the Word of God to and audience. (God never left me while I was out of the Church for those 17 years.)
I was so surprised at how many pastors, speakers, and teachers who taught the Word of God ousted what others were saying and teaching on that was "wrong" and said so to their congregation or audience of thousands! This has made my heart hurt witnessing this within the Christian community. How confusing this is to Christians who are hearing it.
I am sure I am judging right now! I really need to get this off my chest. I do apologize if I am offending anyone with my comments. The Holy Spirit will condemn me if I am wrong. He is really good at reprimanding me and I am truly grateful that He does, because my heart belongs to Jesus and I want to do well because of His Love at the cross for all people.
I have been acutely aware of what pastors, Christian speakers and teachers, and especially Christians believe is the 'Truth' about God and His Word. What I have found is a group of really messed up and confused people who have a wide range of beliefs that are self limiting and hurtful to themselves and others all in the name of Jesus and all because they subscribe to a church that has taught them to believe the way they do, which creates separatism within the Christian community and non-Christian community. Like it or not, we will judge others and Christians do a bang up job doing just that.
My suggestion to Christians is to; Stop attending church, Stop listening to TV evangelist, and Stop watching YouTube Christian videos, Stop reading well intended books written by Christians, and Stop going to Christian events for a minimum of 1 year, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you, teach you, and reprimand you when you do wrong so that you can become more like Jesus.
I know that you will be refreshed and come out with better knowledge of what you should be doing or acting more like the way Jesus did. It is not easy to stop all of these Christian ways of doing. You will learn a lot about who you are and the bad habits you picked up along your path back to God that are wrong. You will build a better relationship with God, a more loving relationship. Loving God means to be loyal and obedient to Him, not other Christians.
You will have to deal with a lot of fear of not doing what you usually do for your Christian faith. The peace you will have in your heart once you get over yourself is greater and will last far longer than you have ever experienced at any other time in your Christian walk. You will start loving All people the same way, which is a blow to your ego, but you will get over that too.
After being away from the Church for 17 years, I sense there is Something is very wrong in the Christian community. There are over 30,000 off shoots of Christianity for 1 God? I know some of you will say that you start off on milk and then work your way up to the meat, therefore, there will be different teachings. Really? There is only 1 Holy Spirit who is our teacher that was given to every Christian after Jesus died who will guide and strengthen you, and only 1 Holy Bible to learn about God wanting to have a relationship with people and how He did that. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, which are all hard to have without Him, and in which I see very little of it within and outside the Christian community.
I hope you can be gentle with your responses to my comment. I am only observing how Christians are and what they say they believe and how they became to believe what they believe about Jesus.
With Love, Lisa
I've been a fan of Beth Moore as I've been through many of her Bible studies, and one thing she said once that stuck with me was, "You don't want to listen to just yourself." The reason for this is that without the benefit of "iron sharpening iron", we tend to go off on our own tangents, assuming that the way we interpret scripture is the "correct" way. Yes, people are fallible and can teach incorrect things, but we need a balance between personal study and input from other believers – especially those who have walked with Christ longer than we have. We weren't meant to live the Christian life in isolation, which is why Paul wrote not to forsake gathering together with other believers. I myself have been pursuing my own private Bible study for some time but I still participate in group studies, in part so as not to delude myself that I've "arrived" and think I know everything. And yes, Christians who love Jesus can disagree on different points and still be Christians. There are certain tenets that are indispensable, but we won't have all of the answers until we get to heaven. It does seem odd that all Christians worship the same God and have the same Holy Spirit to guide us, yet disagree on multiple points of interpretation. Maybe this is a product of God giving us brains instead of making us robots. The important thing is to have unity within the truth of the gospel despite our differences. Even Jesus' 12 disciples were a diverse group – the outspoken Peter vs. the quiet John, Simon the Zealot vs. Matthew the tax-collector. Yet they all followed Christ and changed the world in His name.
Terry, a Christian is never alone. They always have the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and God with them. I am only suggesting for you to stop everything that YOU are doing and spend some time with the Holy Spirit who will guide and teach you the right way of being. As I said in my comment, it is hard to get over oneself and be alone with the Holy Spirit who will love you into doing what is right and not what some well meaning teacher says is right.
I agree that time alone with the Spirit is important…maybe a weekend spent in solitude or even a week-long retreat (as one sister I know has done this), but a whole year without interacting with other believers seems excessive. And it's not so much an either/or proposition, with either us teaching ourselves OR the Holy Spirit leading us; but "both-and" with us asking questions and studying the scriptures while the Spirit leads and directs. I'm not entirely clear on what you're suggesting but it could be that we have different ways of describing the same thing. I suppose my red flag comes from thinking of all of the cults that began with "God told me…"
Terry, you're kidding, right? "God told me" is the authority of every book in the entire Bible. Abraham, Moses, all of the prophets, Paul on the Damascus Road, and even the Apostles themselves were told by the God-Man. If you don't believe such stories from people you can see, how could you possibly believe them from people you have no sure knowledge even existed in the first place?
Everything people say is a red flag, whether in the Bible or outside it, because people lie. You have to use your thinking organ to process it all, but that red flag is the beginning of the process, while you made it the end. You should be an atheist with such epistemology. So why do you believe the Bible? Because your parents told you to? If you're like most, they also told you about tooth fairies and Santa Claus as well. Maybe even an egg-laying Easter Bunny.
For me, if I want to know if God said something, I just ask Him. If it's at all important, He'll answer. What do you think Abraham and Moses would have done in the same situation? Read the Bible?
Jake…no, I'm not kidding but allow me to clarify. My comment was made within the context of people inventing their own belief systems outside of scripture. Not everyone who claims to have heard from God actually has, and Paul warned us that Satan can appear as an angel of light. When someone says "God told me…" and then follow with something that is contrary to the gospel and Biblical principles in general, that should be a red flag. For example I don't believe God would tell someone to murder an abortion doctor because God doesn't contradict Himself, and murder and taking the law into one's own hands is clearly wrong according to scripture. God also wouldn't reveal something secret to just one person (e.g., Mohammed, Joseph Smith) that He had kept hidden up until that point – which is part of why we have the Bible. If we didn't, it would be so much easier for priests and pastors to rule by divine fiat, with a "new" message from God every day. Instead they are held accountable to a book that we can all read – or if not in cases of mass illiteracy they have judgment coming to them for misleading the people. So our standard of belief for "God told me" is whether something is consistent with scripture. I do think God still speaks to people today, in ways that are consistent with the gospel and His own character. He tells missionaries where they should serve, whether someone should accept that new job in a different city, if that man or woman is the person someone should marry. None of these things present "new" theology or contradict the principles He has already laid out in scripture, but show people how to apply it in specific situations.
I also believe the Bible stories are true, and that God revealed Himself before scripture was written to Abraham, Moses, David and others in a way the He apparently does not today and has not since the canon of scripture was completed within the lifetimes of Paul and Jesus' disciples. So of course the Patriarchs did not have the Bible to fall back on, and their understanding of the coming Messiah would have been limited. Still, they believed and obeyed God even though they weren't perfect – which is one way we can know the scriptures are accurate as they don't paint these "heroes" as flawless but as humans, warts and all. And the consistent theology over 6,000(?) years of Biblical history speaks to its reliability, as men using their own minds don't agree on much. I was raised to believe the Bible (so yes, my parents told me to), but there's also a depth of wisdom there that can't be found anywhere else. And in the case of any book, it helps to know the Author.
It would seem from your comments to me and others here that your experiences with Christians and the Church in general have made you angry, cynical and jaded. That makes me sad for you, and I would hope that you find a group of genuine, Bible-believing and Bible-teaching Christians who will love on you, encourage you and help you grow in your knowledge of the scriptures so you can understand the gospel of Christ for what it is.
I agree with you I heard God say a little while back that his real disciples will come out of the churches, because bad teaching that tickles people's ears is rampant there are not many churches left teaching God's word the only reason we have to study alone at the moment all the time is it's hard to find people who truly are on the narrow path to study with us
I would go yet further, Lisa, and leave the church altogether. They are the synagogues of the Pharisees. In His recorded mortal lifetime our Master never had a use for them.
I Love you, my sister.
Conclusion: there is basically one thing Christians do that non Christians despise:
– Being a human, just like everyone else, imperfect and full of flaws.
It seems to me like we have to be some sort of super hero, all virtuous, spotless and without a blemish. But guess what: we're not, just like everyone else.
Exactly. We're just forgiven.
Yes, you're forgiven, but not them.
Christianity as commonly practiced is toxic and narcissistic. And this is exhibit A.
The distinction of forgiveness is not intended to be elitist or merit-based, but a simple acknowledgment of our imperfection. Why would anyone need forgiveness if they were already perfect? Anyone can be forgiven if they would simply ask.
John 15:18-25, Jesus spoke about this:
If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: "A servant is not greater than his master." If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: "They hated me without reason."
This was an eye-opening article, but I had a lot of issues with it. First off, with the judging thing: there is a way to do this without it being a sin. The Bible calls us to let our brothers know when they are sinning. It says (forgive me, I can't recall the reference) that the first person to notice a sin should go to the person alone and point it out. If they refuse to repent, it must be brought to the attention of the church elders, and they must talk about it with the person. If the person still refuses to repent, it must be brought to the entire church. And if they still won't repent to the entire church, they must be cast out. Given, this takes place within the church, the Bible literally commands us to talk to people who are adamantly sinning. This leads me to believe that, if someone decides to become a Christian but they, say, are a homosexual, or a klepto, or have a significant other that they are intimate with outside of marriage, it needs to be brought to their attention that this is a sin. We cannot just ignore these things to allow corruption within the church. By judging these people, you ARE loving them, AND you're loving the Lord. As for your comments on being a hypocrite, I thought that you were very accurate. We all sin, and we need to be much more willing to admit it than we are. However, I do feel that many Christians (at least where I live) are very humble! In my church, several people usually walk down the aisle every Sunday to confess their sins on their knees before the Lord. I'll definitely give you that there are some Christians who think they are holier-than-thou, but maybe that is the biggest sin that they struggle with in their life! And as for the friendship part, it hit very close to home. Over the past year, I have tried very hard to create good relationships with some people at my school who pretty much hate God. They are atheists and homosexuals and people who have denounced their faith, and I realized in reading this that I have somewhat treated them like projects. I mentioned faith in most of our conversations. However, I did invest in other parts of the relationships. We would work on projects together, I'd compliment some of their artwork (a few in particular are incredible artists) and I genuinely thought we had a lot of fun together. The bad part to this is that someone saw me associating with these people and called my parents to tell me they thought that I was that way, too! My parents got mad at me and accused me of being emo, etc. They believed me when I said I was trying to witness to these people, but you were exactly right in here when you said that's it's looked down upon to befriend people the way that Jesus did. So overall, I thought your article was ok, and you definetly had some good points. But I hope that you yourself will try to draw closer to God and have a better relationship with Him before you go around writing Christian articles with almost no scripture references in them. And (a little roast before I go) you spent this whole article judging Christians. Just sayin.
One line in your comment should be number one on this list and represents a lack of empathy, perspective, and willingness to understand by the majority of individuals following the abrahamic religions. The assumption that non-believers in the god of abraham hate god. They do not. They see the god of abraham as a myth just like the multitudes of gods before and since, or as an all paths lead to the same place. That simple choice to demonize and dehumanize those who do not believe as you is the fundamental issue that creates a lot of the animosity. The sheer arrogance this unwillingness to understand another perspective turns a lot of people off, and is part of the "your my pet project" syndrome. While seeking to understand has never really been the strength of many dogmatic doctrines and is getting worse as the majority dwindles in america.
Well thus far nobody has come to my defense (perhaps to allow me to speak for myself) but I will post a few comments on Sarah's (and all Christians') behalf…In rejecting other religions, we are not "demonizing" or "dehumanizing" their followers. The reason for our seemingly exclusive (=arrogant) viewpoint is that Christianity is not just another moral code. Religion in most cases means man + good deeds = heaven, moksha, nirvana, etc. Christians understand that we cannot earn God's favor by any amount of good works; rather we do good works as the result of our salvation by grace – which is God's unmerited favor enacted by Jesus' taking our punishment for us. What other religion can claim this? This is the message we have tried to share from the beginning, however imperfectly – a message that confirms human worth rather than devaluing it – but people still believe the lie that all paths lead to God. Perhaps we should have a deeper understanding of other faiths – and even atheism – for the sake of meaningful conversation, but our message will remain the same. To the world this appears as arrogance, lack of empathy and limited perspective, which the Bible terms "foolishness"; but we are fortunate that God made a way for us at all, and that anyone can choose it.
He said a lot, but he cited only one verse from scripture. This man loves his own voice, and his own opinions. He doesn't even know God's, if he isn't consistently backing up what he says with scripture. Poor man, dragging many into hell with him.
Moses never backed up anything with scripture either. I guess the ten commandments are out the window then.
If the 10 commandments saved people then why the need for Christ's crucifixion and resurrection?
Jesus requires us to be born again. We need to recognize that we are sinners in need of the Savoir . The Father draws us to the Son through the Holy Spirit. Faith comes through hearing the Word. Without the Holy Spirit opening our spiritual understanding we remain unable to understand.
In response to your comment, anyone can call themselves a Christian it doesn't mean they are a follower of Christ. Perhaps you have heard of the "wolves in sheep's clothing" , and warnings of False teachers and false prophets long ago? Evil doers parading as believers isn't unanticipated to those familiar with the scriptures.
The problem isn't with Christianity it is with individuals.
As far as God is concerned He can do as He sees fit because He is the all powerful Being . You are a finite being with a finite intellect so understanding the existence of an all powerful , all knowing being that always is in the present is beyond your current capability. A created being can not make sense of an infinite being without an intervention or drawing to Himself by His Spirit , though His Son . IE your sins must be for given and a measure of faith given through His word so you can understand. Without this it won't make sense to you . I hope you do come to understand.
Maybe that was a little too honest for you, eh Carey?
How does it feel to be denegrated as you just attacked an entire body of people because they follow the teachings of Christ (who is an excellent representation of the goals that all humans should work to attain).
I truly believe that SOME non-christians (like you) feel the need to smear us in order to justify their own faith. Therein lies the real issue right? Because everyone has to have faith in something because there is no observable proof of creation/evolution/aliens/etc.
Maybe your faith is in evolution or aliens or perhaps it just rage at God, because you feel He abandoned you. Whatever the reason, you certainly did not present a journalistic view. It was just a sarcastic ugly generalization of people that you have labelled under one umbrella. Oh wait. Isn't that what you say we do? hmmm.
Yes, you see it clear!
Elena stop being hateful. The author was simply trying to help christains become more christ like and non judgemental. The author did nothing wrong besides trying to help.
I agree and wow I could not have said this better Elena!
You are an inspiration to this non-Christian. As Thomas Merton pointed out, some of us cannot honestly force ourselves to believe what we cannot believe, but we may still seek the humility, authenticity, respect, and love that I suspect was was at the core of Jesus' teachings. I find these qualities in some Christians, but also in people of other faiths, and they all inspire me to live the most meaningful and compassionate life I can. I am moved by the evident hunger to emulate these qualities of Jesus in this column.
I am dismayed by the judgementalism I read in these comments, however, and, ironically, here this judgementalism is most frequently aimed by Christians at other Christians with whom they disagree on some finer point of doctrine, eschatology, or politics. I doubt that Jesus rejected anybody because of their beliefs and it is unsettling to see his followers reject each other – and everybody else – based on belief.
The obvious correlate of love and humility has to include the acceptance that our opinions are sometimes inevitably wrong, and therefore to make love and respect the foundation of our interactions with others, rather than seeing them an enemy combatants on a battlefield of belief.
p.s.: I'm not the same Terry as in other comments. I didn't realize this person was in the comment section until after I wrote the above. So please don't blame him for what I wrote above!
Her, actually :).
I do not agree one bit with this article, I'm sorry.. As a Christian I DO NOT judge anyone, I let God do the judging. I also have great relations with friends that don't share the same beliefs and are agnostic etc and i do not judge them either, nor do i try to convert them or whatever you may think.. They have brains and can make up their own minds and opinions. i'm also not a hypocrite like the far left liberals that blame innocent people with crimes or what not but end up committing what they are accusing you of. Sorry about the politics but you can not have a discussion on religion and leave out politics. Also please don't tell me "well then you are unique" or some other reasoning because i am definitely not the only Christian that thinks this way. If i did happen to agree with you, your 3 reasons are the most innocent that its a joke. What i mean by that is, are you really gonna despise Christianity over these 3 things you stated? How come i don't see the same outcry over Islam? Yup, the same islam that will suicide bomb us Christians and non believers of Islam, shout "death to America" , blow up churches that are ignored by the media, throw any LGBT member off a roof, stone you to death, took down our buildings on 9-11, and i can go on and on.. instead you stay silent with them but yet hate on Christianity, try to ban Chic-fil-A from airports, and create hysteria over some Christians bakers that didnt wanna bake a cake for a gay couples wedding (Hypocrisy right there). I know the real reason why you despise Christianity and it stems from the old saying "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Lets face it the war on Christianity is definitely political. Hell , the left couldn't even call us "Christians" when these cowards blew up the churches in Sri Lanka this last Easter.. What did they call us? Oh that's right "Easter Worshippers". Pretty sad if you ask me since Christ taught love and "love thy enemy" while Mohammed was quite the opposite, and probably cherished by you people that hate on Christians .. By the way, Terry this isn't a reply to you, i just couldn't find a way to start a new comment..
Sorry to leave a comment here about your reply. I am trying to be objective.
So, first of all, you said, Christian don't judge, but weren't you judging Muslims and stereotyping their behavior that stems from political problem into what their religion teach them about. okay, wait, don't get pissed. Just to tell from another perspective.
Second, the author never mention HE despise Christian, but trying to convey how non- Christian think and react (innerly) towards Christian's general behavior ( what I mean by general is, not applicable to EVERY CHRISTIAN).
Yup, just my short reply as someone who happens to "passby" your comment.
I'm sorry but you have no idea what islam teaches about, JK. I think you should have read Quran, hadiths and Sira before posting your comment. The ignorance is very dangerous nowadays.
I believe this article was a generalization of the average Christian and did not include all Christians but I say "if the shoe fits, wear it" , if not find one that does.
Jesus said, in the presence of His own sainted disciples and the land of His own blessed virgin mother Mary, that a pagan Roman centurion had more faith than everyone in Israel. That's how I know He was the real deal and why I find His claim to divinity credible: because He was as enlightened as a Supreme Creator would be. He didn't care about religion any more than you do: His concerns were unconditional Love for everyone, from which flow non-judgmentalism, humility, and all those other values in your heart.
You could be the truest of His disciples on this entire comment section. I certainly recognize you as a brother and fully expect to see you in the coming heaven, even just as you are now. He came to be a template, so that He would be "the first born among many brothers and sisters". The falsehood of the churches is revealed in that they do not make their congregants better people, and they do not change the world.
Hmmm…. very interesting. Jenni with the good hair, you have a lot of comments on here. I think you're still searching for something, that missing link, hopefully you'll get it! People like you make the best apologists/ believers the Kingdom Of Heaven will offer. Just like Apostle Paul!
The Bible— besides hearing from God frequently—that's our one true operational manual. Now note, it's not our God, it's not what we believe in, it's just our manual. Jesus (the son of God) is who we call savior, master, friend, brother, and Lord.
All the controversy about the shortcomings of Christians, non-Christians and atheists is just that, CONTROVERSY. Believe it or not, everything that is proposed to happen in this world, will happen. There's no stopping the prophecies in the Bible from unfolding. Let's all remeber that. For those of us who are in the body of christ already: never depart from the Bible, I beg of you. I struggle to read it sometimes, I'll admit but I know how important it is. It is indispensable! The Bible doesn't exist of it's own, it can be interpreted in many different ways and the negative effects of this can be seen all around us today—all the damn CONTROVERSIES. Although, there's a good side, the Bible can be interpreted by the author—God. Before you read it, pray one simple prayer: Lord, as I read this, open my eyes of understanding, and open my heart of acceptance. Let me not be led astray. And for those of us not in Christ (yet) let me be the first one to tell you; THE FIGHT IS NOT AGAINST YOU, ITS AGAINST THE DEVIL. So don't feel too threatened, if anything you should feel challenged, to take a new step (surely the best you'll ever take), in life. Find out for yourself what this Jesus-people are always talking about, I assure you it's more fun than they potray it as.
Anyone who is not Christian, and who also understands the intricate workings of the powers of good and evil at play in the world and the place of the supernatural, will attest to this; things are so much bigger than what we see. It has always been that way, and it will always be that way.
As far as controversies go… just like Christ intended Christianity will never be forced on anybody. Jesus offered a path, a solution, a promo offer (if you will), and a suggestion. He says they're two paths in life; one of death and destruction that might look good and pleasing, and one of love, restoration, acceptance, growth and relationship which is also paved with a few jagged patches (life's troubles and oh our sweet sweet confusing controversies). He says we can choose any, that in itslef is the POWER OF FREE WILL THAT GOD HAS GIVEN TO ALL MANKIND. But wait.. wiat, he strongly advises that we choose the path of life, love and restoration. After you've chosen the path, stick close to the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit, continue to run back to God and rant about all your worries. At that rate, all of the confusion that the devil has put in your way will melt one by one, all of the second guessing, the social media controversies, the tests of patience, the temptation to just 'forget about it all', and every other thing in between is no match for continuous fellowship with Jesus Christ.
Remember this and remain blessed beloved.
Yes, as believers in Christ we have an ultimate guide book….the Bible to giude us down this path in life and we should never stray from it very far. We are imperfect people who need a perfect Father to guide us in what is right and true. Often our emotions get in the way and we can get confused. God is not the author of confusion….Satan/ The Devil is. We are in a constant spiritual battle while we are here and it is not easy but if we ALLOW, God WILL direct us. It is a simple plan he has left for all of us to choose, or not to choose….up to us….free will. If this is all true…the Bible, God, Jesus, I would want to know it was either true or false as all eternity depends on it as far as I/you are concerned. To put this off for any reason is to make the most important decision of your life not possible for you. We spend so much time wasting away when we could just look into the Bible and teachings of Jesus and our lives can be changed forever…..here and hereafter. "Seek me as gold or Silver, and you will find me"…..
May I submit to you that if you honestly believe that you are a hypocrite that you need to be born again. It's not that you have dispensed with the carnal or natural man. It's still there as long as you live in this fleshly tabernacle. The trouble with that statement is that it disavows the new nature that you have been given. To put it frankly you have defiled or condemned yourself with your own words. You started out well when you rightly said that many of us judge people and condemn them ( I know that I have been guilty of the same ). However, what you have followed up with flies directly in the face of certain Scriptural truths 2 Cor 5:17, 21 we are new creations, we are the righteousness of God in Him. When you proclaim that you are a hypocrite you discredit everything that Christ did on the Cross for you. Please don't get it twisted. Do we make mistakes? Of course we do. But perhaps the biggest mistake that we as Christians make is that we don't learn to adopt the Pauline revelation of who we are. We are in Him. And we live by His Grace. If you have a Grace based mentality you will not want to condemn anyone else. If you have a Grace based mentality then old habits that initially seemed to die hard abate effortlessly. If you have a Grace based mentality you will ultimately experience greater sanctification. But if you hold on to a sin_conscious mentality then you inhibit the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Many Christians are acquainted with the negative side of confession. Yet, the Bible has much more to say about the positive side of confession or the Word of Faith. Right thinking results in right believing which results in right living. And while I'm not so sure that you're thinking is in the right place, I know that your heart is. Thank God for His Grace! May the Grace of the Lord Jesus be with you
When one side is labeled as incorrect in their 'judgement', then those accusers must be right. If this is correct, then the author of this piece believes she's (or he) right. Explain this. Why are your judgements decidedly right and the Christian's decidedly wrong ? I would suggest you dwell on this awhile.
The Bible tells us to not associate with unbelievers to the point we hang around them regularly because we could eventually become corrupted or led away from our faith…it's true Jesus did eat and drink and visit with all kinds of people… but….he did not socialize with those people on a constant basis. His disciples he spent time with of course as they were HIS followers….we too must socialize with co-workers…and people we casually meet everyday…we should do our best to share the love of Jesus and what he does and can do for us all…
Non-christians often feel judged by Christian's because when the WORD of GOD is shared with them their consience can become convicted by what GODS WORD says… but they blame the Christian who shared it or when they read it or hear it at church…This is not Judging by any Christian…. but by GODs WORD… big difference….
The only examples of not associating with non-believers that fall under the new covenant comes from Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:13-15 and 1 Corinthians 15:33. But these specifically applies to adhering to and strengthening one's faith, not associating with people who are non-believers that do not stray you from your path.
Your perspective of "you are either with us or against us" is a perfect example of exclusionism being talked about in this article, and creates prejudicial division with good people for no reason other than the fact that you read it from a book written and edited by men claiming it is the word of Godvfor the past several thousand years.
People forget that God is, in fact, a God; so maybe he has people on the same path, just a different way of going about it. It's sad that you justify pushing people away, regardlesss of their quality and the content of their character, simply because they don't do exactly as you do.
I have known many Christians who do good works, yet even more non-believers who did equally the same or more, and never once disregarded someone or refused to form a deeper emotional relationship with them for not sharing their beliefs. This is exactly why Gandhi said, "Oh, I don't reject Christ. I love Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike Christ. If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today."
Not only that, but if Paul contradicts Jesus, then Paul is wrong. Paul spoke his own opinion all the time anyway, even making explicit that He wasn't speaking with God's authority.
You are not bringing anyone to God. You embody the judgementalism that's written about in this article. Your life should be a light & not a wall.
You raise a good point. Bring it a little deeper. light attracts but without any words or sound! One cannot be a light if their light is hidden behind a shroud of inner insecurity…such as one who is the least bit concerned about judgemental-ism. Peace!
Jesus message to the Outcasts of this depraved earthly paradigm was: Go and sin no more.
The entire law is wrapped up in the commands Love God with everything you've got and your neighbor as yourself. That is how you go and sin no more. No more, no less. The "law" is advice on how to do that. It was made for our benefit, not for our judgment.
As an antithiest, there's things I'd like to add to that list.
1. Saying people misinterpreted the bible when they're interpreting it literally. The bible being fully coded is like opening up the Never Ending Story and letting it take you on a personalized ride.
2. Saying they only follow the teachings of Christ to ignore terrible sciptures.
3. Thinking athiests are mad at their God, and that's universally what made all of us athiests.
4. Praying instead of taking action.
5. Waiting for the apacolypse instead of actively trying to change things.
6. Justifying away the power dynamic in the bible. God > man > woman > child > animal. Which reflects itself in abuse statistics.
Agreed. Even though I'm Christian. 🙂
Hi Jenny,
I was an atheist who became a Christian so perhaps I can shed some personal perspective on your comments.
Interpreting the Bible – there are lots of places where it's not meant to be translated literally , Revelations for example contains a great deal of figurative language ,metaphor, symbolism and so fourth. But there is truth behind these. For example, the term Lamb of God as a reference to Christ . We know he wasn't a literal lamb but there is truth to his lamb-like demeanor when He laid down His life and the fact that the Jews of the day offered sacrifices their sins.
As far as "the story " goes it definitely has a beginning and an end.
2. ignoring terrible scriptures? I'm unclear as to what your comment means.
3.atheists being mad at God . – I was separate from God as an atheist and in my sin was not a child of God . I argued against the existence of God every time I had a chance to do so and was full of anxiety and lacked any hope. Angry ? Yeah I think that is fair . I tried to place my hope in humanism and leaving my part of human potential behind on the world, so in some sense my life mattered in the face of an impending physical death. My thoughts at age 25.
Life was to me a senseless ratrace of birth,schooling, career, mariage -possibly children and death. This did nothing for my sense of hopelessness and impending death and the apparent meaningless existence of humanity. I had little empathy for other people and was drowning in self -centered destruction and dislike for Christianity and Christians were to me simple and I disliked holy people. And then the search began….for truth. That and peace I wanted above all else.
4. praying instead of action -We often pray before action or in a case where there is nothing to be done , we pray.
"Faith without works is dead".
5. waiting for the apocalypse instead of changing things- – – -Real Christians are changing things ,they are spreading the Gospel, feeding the hungry, counseling those who lost loved ones, supplying clothing to the needy, helping during disasters , contributing money to the needy …..We all have gifts and talents and we use those to help others.
6. Justifying away the power dynamic in the bible. God > man > woman > child > animal. Which reflects itself in abuse statistics. – – -So God has more power than man – -ok. Man has more power than woman. In many areas sure men have held more power in certain spheres. However , woman have also had power in certain spheres that men haven't had. Instead of seeing imbalance we see completeness like 2 pieces of a puzzle both valued equally but serving different roles. Men aren't permitted to abuse their wives in Christianity nor are wives permitted to abuse their husbands. They are to love – -"Husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church". As far as abusing animals I don't see anywhere in scripture where it says to abuse animals we are to take care of them. There was animal sacrifices where they were killed but I'm not aware of commands to torture or abuse animals. And Christ put an end to the animal sacrifices.
So because of the "power structure" , abuse necessarily must follow? If it hasn't always resulted in abuse then what is the dynamic like in the instances where abuse didn't take place? I would argue its not the structure but rather the individuals that make the difference. Because for example child abuse has existed should we then have children raising, teaching and guiding their parents?
On #2, the teachings of Christ are the only part of the Bible I actually believe in, because they're the only ones that make any sense. Why would I not ignore the rest of the Bible where it tells women to be silent and wear veils and provides for their sexual enslavement? Why would I follow the homophobic and pro-slavery bits? They are preposterous on their face.
I was just hoping you could add some color to that one.
As for the rest of the list, spot on. You seem like more of a Christian than anyone I ever met in a church. But then, I don't think Jesus required you to believe anything to follow Him, just to value Love and Goodness as your core virtues, and to Love people and seek their good as much as you seek your own.
Jesus requires us to be born again. We need to recognize that we are sinners in need of the Savoir . The Father draws us to the Son through the Holy Spirit. Faith comes through hearing the Word. Without the Holy Spirit opening opening our spiritual understanding we remain unable to understand.
Christians are sadistic sociopaths. I don't have to be an atheist to see that. In fact, because I am not an atheist, I can see Christians for who they truly are.
It is really frightening that these terrorist sympathizers have political power. Many people think Trump is a terrible president. Imagine Mike Pence becomes a president. Atheists, LGBTQ community, and religious minorities will suffer Christian theocracy.
I hope that day will never come, but our country seems to slowly get to that direction.
It's interesting that those holding opposing viewpoints each seem to consider themselves the underdog, as it were…for Christians, our forecast (and fear) is that we will lose what freedoms we have remaining to practice and share our faith if we remain silent and do not defend them. I can't speak for all Christians but I myself would not want to see a Christian theocracy, just a republic in which everyone is free to speak and live out their beliefs without censorship, persecution or being asked to choose between following their faith or obeying the law. I believe this is what the Founding Fathers intended. But as this isn't really a political thread I think we'd be getting off-topic to go beyond this irony…
Your comments are offensive and not really a response to this article, so I would appreciate you stop insulting the Christians and show respect to our President and Vice-President who never have spoken of any theocracy and are just trying to improve our lives. Your last name seems to be Vietnamese so you probably know about the "killing Fields" and how much Christians suffered when the Atheist Marxist Communist took over! You judge the Christians calling them all sociopaths & friends of terrorists, which is false. You should be happy to live in a Country where there is freedom of speech, which many take advantage because you are not in North Korea, or China or Iran, etc. or any other Country where you cannot say or do anything against the leaders or you end in prison, tortured and dead…if you are not happy here then you are free to leave, not like East Germany under Soviet control when they would not allow their people to escape! But if you stay, we hope you will open your heart to JESUSCHRIST because HE accepts you as you are and offers you what no dictator or politican can offer: peace, love, joy, eternal life in a place with no hate, no tears, no misunderstandings or divisions.
Sorry, the above comment is a reply to the comment of KhánhMinh Nguyễn
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For anyone to assume that they know how ALL Christians are like or what and how they believe is hypocritical, judgemental, and just plain ignorant. NOT ONE SINGLE person on Earth has any right whatsoever to ever judge anyone or their religion, their beliefs or non-beliefs. There are bad, hypocritical and judgemental people in EVERY SINGLE religion, and to believe otherwise is absurd, foolish and very unrealistic. All you so-called "wonderful" people who don't like Christians can believe whatever you wish, and keep your ugly noses in your own business and out of everyone else's!! I'm sure, though, that most Christians couldn't care less what non-Christians say or think, anyway, and non-Christians need to do the same.
1. Y'all can and will make christianity a part of your identity. So we can't talk about our problems with an institution without offending you personally.
2. When we do call out a terrible Christian, or an entire ministry, y'all will pretend like they're some alien force that has nothing to do with the bible, its teachings, or christianity. So you may not be a bad person, but you certainly arent doing squat to figure out the problems within christianity, or your abusive God that you worship and serve, eh?
Wow. OK. So for me I try to concentrate on myself and my own shortcomings. There are enough of those to keep me busy for the rest of my life. I leave the rest to God. I have no right to stand in judgment of others, that is not my purpose in life. I see my purpose as having a "personal" relationship with God. Not sure I ever considered it to be an "identity". For me I just concentrate on my personal relationship with God and the best way for me personally to do that is not to spend time judging others. I don't perceive the Bible to be "coded". In my opinion we should spend less time with trying to figure out other peoples problems and more time on our own. How can I really love another person without loving myself first or have my own house in order. Every single human being is on their own journey. There is nothing I can do to change that. So "calling someone out" on what they are going through at a particular moment in time is not my job. Hopefully God can help them. There are bad people everywhere. Christians, Muslims, Atheists, etc. etc, I just takes me further and further away from my personal relationship with Christ to judge everyone else's shortcomings. Hopefully I can become a better person every day. Your post has made me think about that. Thanks!
I in no way am offended by anyone pointing out the short comings is any so called Christian institution. Many institution claim the name but have never followed the way. Many preach the way for profit or other motives. All in all the way is spoken and we can make our choice. But if we confuse the message with the messenger we will only see the short comings of the messenger, as Gandhi and the op did. They both start by judging all Christians. I hope one would study the way, truth and light then put it unto action, this I THINK is the only way to find out for ones self if his is THE WAY. Until then you can not really know what tour talking about
The bad fruit of the messenger is every reason to reject his message. Jesus said a good tree cannot produce rotten fruit. The world rejects the churches because they are false.
What is this? Platitudes and opinions about human behavior and psychology? It is not about us. It's about Jesus Christ and what he did on the Cross to redeem us. Comparing ourselves amongst ourselves we become fools. We are to preach the gospel. That those who are without Christ are dead in sin. That they are enemies of God, and that without repentance and faith toward Jesus Christ and what be did on the Cross they will face an eternity in hell. Period. Christian's are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, not because they ate sin free, but because of they are no longer looking to self, but to Christ. We died with him 6000 years ago and ate raised to newness of life in Him. If our faith remains in Him, the Holy Spirit continues to work in us to form us into the image of Christ. We need to continually preach don't look at me, look at Him! Nor try to make ourselves into some sort of icon. Jesus didn't die to make us spiritual supermen in and of ourselves. He died to that wr might die and he might live in us. He is our strength and him alone or we dont have any. Come back to the faith of the Son of God who lived us and gave himself for us!
Two words, LaRona Son…Amen, and proofread! 🙂
Nice superiority complex. Did your abusive God give that to you?
Very interesting read with some good points made. However, the comment of one cannot judge and love someone at the same time doesn't make much sense to me, especially in terms of parenting.
Except that you're not my parent.
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I dislike that the woman I love (and whom claims to love me as equally) likely won't marry me because I will not accept Jesus as God.
I have recently found God in my life, and come to love Jesus for the sacrifice he made to absolve me of my sin, and have changed my life to live in his example with regards to forgiveness and kindness. However, I personally have not been able to feel the grace of God with regards to accepting that Jesus is God incarnate. I'm also conflicted with works compiled by man, because we honestly don't know if the words in books like the Bible have been altered over the centuries to fit the needs and justifications of men. I ask God about this every night, to guide me to an answer of the true path and if the current Christian model is truly his will, and yet these feelings of mistrust with regards to what other men say we should do continuously get stronger, and I constantly feel God has me on a different path with him, just as I was on a drastically different path to find him.
I feel the conflict being generated by other Christians due to my similar but different beliefs are ruining my relationship, not because my significant other honestly believes the words and scriptures allegedly contradicting our union, but because others in her church are telling her it's wrong, and that to be a good Christian woman, "God" and "the Bible" say you can't marry a nonbeliever who doesn't accept Jesus as God. Is it not enough that we both love God and Jesus? Is it not enough we agree on essentially everything religiously, with the acception that I don't consider Jesus to be the exact same person as God? Furthermore, why would God put someone in my life that would help me find my way to his love, and to the woman I came to love, only for it to be a "surprise! You guys can't love each other."
It breaks my heart that what I came to accept as a religion, or I should say specific followers of w religion, allegedly based on acceptance, love and forgiveness, would be so quick to judge and destroy this wonderful thing that I know God put in my life. It makes me very resentful and question Christianity even more than I did before, reaffirming by assumption that this religion is not the true word of God, and rather one manipulated and distorted to fit the needs of men. This is tribalism at it's finest, and I know in my heart this is not the will of God, because God would not be this cruel.
You're in a tough position. If you both share the same spirituality, then it shoudn't matter what or who you call your God. The believe in the SPIRIT of Christ is what most would consider the important part of Christianity. Isn't being Christ-like the ultimate expression of what the Christian God would expect, and judge you for? This is precisely the problem the author talks about. I'm an Atheist, although I believe I live my life more Christ-like than most Christians I know. I have a wonderful marriage of 12 years because my wife's spiritual values are the same. If wouldn't matter to me what RELIGION she was, as long as her values and mine worked together. Being a "Professional Christian" doesn't make you Christ-like. Just practice as he preached. Good luck to you.
And yet your sins are unforgiven because you haven't repented and asked for Christ's forgiveness. You may live the rest of your life without sin (if that is even possible), and there are many "good" people out there; but no amount of good deeds can make up for the evil that we do. That's why Jesus had to die. Unless we receive him and allow HIS grace to change us and not our own efforts, we still die in our sins.
Sigh… This comment is a perfect example of the judgmentalism Carey is talking about. You have no right to presume someone's spiritual state. You do not speak for God, and your interpretation of the Bible is not necessarily the same as someone else's. Try a little humility.
Hi Melody…It seems that what it means to "judge" is a point of disagreement between Christians and non-Christians. Judgment is evaluating someone against my own personal rules. If a passenger in my car points out that I'm breaking the speed limit, she's not judging me; she's just pointing out the law which she did not write. If I tell people what the Bible says (and most of it leaves little room for alternate interpretation) I'm not passing judgment in the sense of applying my own personal standards. Christians can be judgmental when it comes to alcohol, R-rated movies and other things the Bible doesn't specifically address (and it does say NOT to judge in this way); but there is verse after verse that tells us how to be saved (which is good news, btw). I only glean information about Wizard of X's "spiritual state" by his own comments, and if he is indeed an atheist then by definition he cannot have asked for God's forgiveness. Note that I used the word "we" in my comments to him as I myself am included in those who need this. No true Christian can claim to have earned God's favor by being good enough.
Yes, we seldom have enough info to assume/presume someone's spiritual state…."by their fruits you will know them"….and even then we are never really sure, so we must love all equally and hope to be an example/witness and treat everyone as we would like to be treated. God is responsible for their spirit, we must be the vessel….and be available…..
That's your problem, Terry: you are speaking on behalf of God, justifying your beliefs worth your own interpretations of what you think is right. Who are you to speak on behalf of God and tell me what is right, and cast judgement on me for not believing exactly what you do? Responses like yours are why I turned my back in Christianity. You claim love and acceptance, yet only if we believe what you do.
To everyone else: thank you for your kind responses. This wonderful woman in my life played a major role in me finding my way to God through the strength of her beliefs and the love and kindness of her heart that she always attributes to her faith. It's just sad that other people in her life have so much influence over her decisions, with them telling her it's wrong because I'm not apart of their religion.
I've tried to present my comments in an explanatory light (which may or may not have come through), as I'd rather have a dialogue than an argument. I would reiterate my definition of "judgment" (see above), but I know that to many non-Christians our beliefs seem judgmental and unloving – and indeed the message of gospel in itself is offensive as it seems exclusive and people don't like being called sinners. As for acceptance of non-believers, we ARE commanded to love Christian and non-Christian alike; but to non-Christians this love includes sharing the truth, however much it might sting. God does accept everyone as they are (as we couldn't have a relationship with Him if He didn't initiate it), but then He sets about fixing us as He loves us too much not to. Thus what may appear to be our lack of acceptance is actually acceptance of the person but not per se his/her beliefs (and who agrees 100% on everything anyway?) as we want others to have the relationship with God that we've been given. It's not about agreeing with us per se; it's about agreeing with God (and beyond the basics, even Christians disagree on several points – hence the multiple denominations).
It is a difficult situation you're in, and I hope the Christians in your lady-love's life are not making it worse with rudeness (and I do commend you for wanting to officially commit to her). But apparently sharing the same beliefs and worldview in marriage, as the most significant human relationship in life, is very important. Even if you ultimately choose not to receive Christ, I hope you can at least understand the concerns of her friends and family.
I'm not sure this would be the appropriate forum for an extended discussion, but if it seems that I am applying my own personal interpretation of the Bible I would invite others to read those passages on being "unequally yoked" and why good works are not enough for being "Christian", in the context in which they were written, and comment on what they mean. Given that scripture often runs counter to our preconceptions (not to mention the unflattering portrayals of Bible characters), man's manipulation of it to fit our own beliefs seems unlikely – in addition to there being a Bible at all as it would be much easier for priests to rule by divine fiat. I've met Christians on the other side of the globe, with a different history, who speak and read the Bible in a different language and yet share the same beliefs, even under persecution. I don't imagine that we'd come to an agreement here, but I do hope you'll continue to discuss these things with your lady and even her friends and family. It could very well be that God brought you together to bring you to Himself.
Reading back over Bane's comments on Jesus' sacrifice to absolve us of sin, I would just add that if Jesus is not God, He was just a man and was therefore not qualified to make atonement for us. Perhaps I should have focused my comments on this as the controversies over marriage and good works are symptomatic of this fundamental disagreement. For this oversight I apologize. In any case, I would add this topic to my above invitation for discussion if this seems too narrow an interpretation.
Get fucked, Terry.
This makes me sad too BUT, at the same time…praise God you are not willing to succumb to the opinions and interpretation of men. Keep seeking the one true living God…he said, seek me and you shall find me. Not, seek men's wisdom and you shall find me. The bible is the most scientifically and historically authenticated book ever published. I am an analytical, rebellious type who mercifully God has loved, blessed and given me hope beyond measure. I truly, and wholly believe Jesus Christ is both fully man and God, I believe the Father, Son and Holy Spirit…but cannot fathom it. Thinking you can understand the God of the bible is like trying to fit the ocean inside your coffee mug. It will never happen and he says so over and over and over. My journey to faith in the blood of Jesus to reunite me back to God was over 15 years! Jesus shed his blood to satisfy the wrath and righteous judgement of God. He took his blood and applied it to the judgement seat in Heaven. So all who have faith in the blood, Jesus says, Father, he is mine…he's been cleansed in the blood. The bible says without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin. Passover was a foreshadowing of Jesus. The Hebrews were instructed to take the blood of their animal and spread it around the door posts. When the death angel came and saw the blood he was not allowed to enter and take the first born son of that household. You may not believe this but it is between you and a very loving, faithful, and long suffering God. Please do not allow imperfect, prideful, and judgmental people deter you from your journey. Please dont pass judgment on God based on bad behaving people who may or may not be followers of Jesus. Jesus also said, some will come disguised as light but really is like a roaring lion who comes to kill, steal and destroy! I will pray for you and this woman you love. I dont know what God has planned for you both but there are hundreds of promises from him to those who love him of goodness, blessings, far greater than what we could think or imagine. I am excited for you both and what God has for you if you follow Him not man. All my best!
Thank you for your kind words and prayers, Lynn. This woman was the catalyst for me getting closer to God and accepting Jesus into my life, which is why it hurts so much that The same members of her church want to rip her away. Like you talked about: I leave it up to God to decide what happens, but I will fight for her until his will is done.
I'm in the somewhat of the same position. The woman I love is staunch Christian and I'm a bit of a liberal type person. I think that living a good life and trying your best to help humanity in your own way is the way . I don't believe I was created to worship a deity and certainly I was not created to blindly worship without questioning what is written.
The one thing that I can't stand is the fact that she's taught that she cannot marry a non believer. She has told me according to her belief I'm destined for hell for not believing in jesus. She's basically damned me to hell and then says she loves me. It's almost like she was hoping I'd see the light of her god and this is what I can't stand. Christians force their religion on everyone non Christian and look down on others as hellbound for not believing. They damn the entire non Christian community as no good sinners who will burn in hell.
Love thy neighbor should be changed to 'love thy Christian neighbor and try to convert all other neighbors by damming them to he'll.
It's scary to think that for the billions of non Christians that even maybe the kindest of them who are decent human beings will be all be damned to hell by jesus for not believing in him. Me personally,I'd burn in hell with the rest of the good folk who's major crime was not believing.
Christians are too judgemental.
I agree with everything you have said.
The woman I love has been been judgemental or forcing me to convert; only those around her. She is also on a major predicament because she doesn't know if she should follow her heart and be with me (which she feels is being guided by God and the Holy Spirit), or to listen to those around her and not. She's in a very hard place because if she chooses me over listening to them, she's afraid she will be exiled from her church, family, friends, etc.
I love her dearly, but I also would not want her to sacrifice the other people in her life for me, only to feel shunned by the other people she cares about. Ultimately, it is her decision, but I can't understand how individuals claiming to follow a religion of love and forgiveness can be like this.
Correction: The woman I love has NOT been judgemental or forcing me to convert; only those around her
Christians are in no position to judge anyone as to their spirituality…God is. The Bible has been preserved over time so we may reach our own conclusions based on it's authority or lack of it. Most will never take the time to study and research it enough as if what is in it could lead to eternal life, but just as an old outdated book. We all have to come to a decision regarding it….
Too bad Abraham never had a Bible to read. I guess he's in hell then lol.
I'm sorry to hear what you're going through. I think a lot of your answers as to the questions of God and Jesus and their relationship to one another are answered in the new testament. In regards to your reservations about the bible I encourage you to watch "A Case for Christ." It's a movie on Netflix right now about a husband and wife who were both atheist and the wife turns to christianity and he is a reporter and goes on a quest to prove to his wife how it cannot be true. He addresses the fact that the books of the bible written by man with experts and this may help to give you clarity. I feel like God gives us all the answers we need through his son Jesus Christ. Just recently I read the entire new testament and I understand things more clearly than I ever have before so I hope and pray that you find the answers and clarity that you are looking for.
Bane, there is an abyss of difference between Christendom and Christianity. Your letter is heartfelt, and I admire you as you walk the path to Truth. Divorce yourself from every aspect that is religious and binding, and you will find what you are looking for. Most so-called Christians are actually only members of the false version known as Christendom, a word coined by the great true Christian Kierkegaard. We can't marry unbelievers? Hosea married a whore, and he was a man of God–a prophet. I will say that Jesus is the Logos, and the Logos is God, therefore Jesus is God. But you will need to come to that conclusion yourself. And you won't find your conclusion in the Bible, which only mirrors what we are taught by God first.
Hosea did marry a whore, but only because he was commanded to; not because he loved her. God was making a point about Israel as God's "bride", whoring herself out to other nations and their false gods. Sometimes there are exceptions to the rule, but only God is allowed to decide when. Otherwise I agree with your distinction between Christendom and Christianity – Christendom is an institution; Christianity is a relationship. But if Jesus is the Logos, the Word of God, we can trust what it says about who God is.
Christianity is a religion which is why it is false. Religions are all systems of thought and often political control, used for power and profit.
I do believe that Jesus is God, that He, the Son, created the multiverse by His own power. But I do not believe it is necessary for you to believe that to follow Him in truth. Jesus said that a pagan Roman centurion had more faith than everyone in Israel, and His disciples heard him say this, meaning the pagan had more faith than them. Why? Because the centurion Loved. If you value Love above all and Love your neighbor as much as yourself, then you are following Him. The disciple Thomas didn't even believe in the resurrection of Jesus, he had to put his hands in Jesus's side to believe it. If it's necessary for you to believe in Jesus's divinity, He will provide it for you in due course, otherwise, don't worry about it. Love should cast out fear.
I hope your love finds her way to enlightenment and that you both have an abundance of life.
I became good friends with a very kind man. I knew he was a Christian but didn't think much of it. It didn't take long for him however to start judging the whole state of Califorina, gays, 'lazy' welfare recipients and all those people who 'want a handout.' He began pressuring me and my daughter to go to his church, which neither of us want to do. I began to feel unconmfortable. Finally the last straw was finding out that he practically raises Trump to sainthood and loves the Republican Party. I don't care if he loves Republicans, but Trump was is way too much. You cannot be a Christian in good conscience and love Trump unless you are pitiably brainwashed. Sadly I don't think I can ever be friends with this or hang out with anymore. I suppose it's not his fault, but these people are just too much!
By the way, I'm a gnostic Christian and read the Bible. I believe Paul is a false apostle and destroyed the church like the greedy always do. That doesn't make me a Christian by almost all standards, but my conscience tells me that I'm closer to the Lord Jesus than the Paulians are.
…and who's doing the judging here?
Since you came to this blog and felt triggered, he might be talking about Christians like you. You know, the judgmental ones.
I Had to come to terms one day that it was God who is doing the saving. I merely responded to His grace. for by Grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2: 8-9.
The biggest problem in all of Christendom is that no one is preaching a true gospel. That and people are coming into the churches who are not even born again and are setting up shop. If there is a real reason why you will find fault with alleged Christians is that they are not the genuine article. There are a lot of people out there to be professing Christians but are going to hear the words one day depart from me workers of iniquity I never knew you. The only real advice i can give you is do not trust in todays unbiblical teachings. Many are going away from the bible which is our only true authority on all things Christian. Go to God directly in prayer asking for His truth and guidance and to protect you from falsehood. Read the Bible and often. Study its contents especially the New Testament and know the truth for yourself. Don't be putting your trust in mirror people and don't base your faith on flawed human interactions. Put your sole trust in Christ alone.
Your book is missing something that you don't seem to understand or grasp? A pit and a trap when you try to explain in human terms meanings of love for Christians to follow(rules). The law of God is kept in our hearts and mind and not in our actions, so that no man can boast that he should be saved….. only by the grace of God that we are saved. You are trying to rewrite the letter of the law by stating conditions? Jesus said" I came to fulfill the law and not too get rid of it. Love does love but it also can not deny the truth? What is the truth ? That Jesus paid the price for sin so we should forgive others like Jesus did. Sin is horrible and we can't act like God who can read the human heart and mind of others. You need to find out what love is? Let's say that you comments are true than why did Jesus chased out the people from the temple and call them bad names? You can't call evil good and good evil because this comes from the Devil himself. Moses lift up the tables and said" who is on the side of God… and you know the rest of the story of what happen to the other people. Let me ask you a very deep question and probably you will rewrite other book to make money….questions from a mystic wants to know? How can God grant mercy and at the same time punish those that are evil? We are the mirror of God and not God himself. Any attempt to place conditions into us making us into God comes from the evil one. No one is perfect but God. So the same conditions that you imposed on another will be imposed on you. Now, that's a lot to swallow and understand. So you see that neither side is correct in their thinking! You are only human not God. You can say to yourself but wait aren't Christians fake but you're doing the same thing by pointing it out. Acting like God !
I believe the word "Love" needs to be defined, because the world has twisted it's meaning. Love is simply Jesus Christ himself, not an emotion. Love died for your sins, to bring repentance and obedience to the holy Bible. Christians are commanded to keep each other accountable for their actions, but it must be carried out with the attributes found in 1 Corinthians 13, and it must always bring the person back into obedience to the Bible. Love doesn't accept any wrongdoing, ever.
Wow you just deleted love from God, by circularly defining it as God. Why even bother telling us that "God is love" then?
More judgmentalism. Look in the mirror. You're more arrogant than you say Carey is.
You're extremely judgmental. You are far more arrogant than you accuse Carey of being. Stop being such a closed-minded bigot.
Hi, I wrote this article for Christian's struggling with hearing evil voices and protecting their mind and safeguarding their faith in God and Jesus Christ. Please read and if you feel it can help other Christian's that visit your website then please feel free to post. You can make any minor changes or additions you feel will help. God Bless You. How Christian's Protect Mind & Faith While Hearing evil Spirits Inside Their Head And Outside The Body. Hearing Voices That Torture The Mind This is written for Christian's struggling with hearing evil spirits inside and outside the body, and hearing voices that torture the mind. How to break the cycle of responding to and communicating. evil will arrange their words, sentences, and manipulate syntax, to use all their speech to cast evil spells, vex, and curses. THIS contains the SECRET to protect losing your mind, guard your faith, and safeguard your belief in God and Jesus Christ. After reading this you will EASILY recognize and understand the child-like plan evil uses. YOU will be able to protect your mind, sanity, and relationship with God and Jesus Christ. There are people, living, that have the ability to make and control their spirit to leave their body and travel to and invade another body. HOW and WHY evil communicates This is how evil uses communication to completely Warp your mind, brainwash you, and destroy your faith in Christianity. evil will arrange their words, sentences, and manipulate syntax, to use all their speech to cast spells, vex, and curses. Psychopaths, sociopaths, sadists, narcissists, sums up types of evil people. Some chose to turn away from God and Jesus Christ and turn to darkness. They now are evil and will use evil power against you. REMEMBER, one of the things they want is negative attention, like a little child throwing a temper tantrum. They want to Start a dialogue with you that NEVER ENDS and repeats OVER AND OVER again John 10:10. Matthew 7:15 PURPOSE AND MOTIVATION of evil My chart EXPOSES the child-like game that is used. It is a abuse cycle that has 2 phases used OVER and OVER AGAIN. Meaning it starts at phase 1, moves to phase 2, then moves back to phase 1 and then phase 2. So it just repeats OVER and OVER AGAIN, like a broken record. evil likes to torture for purpose of fun, to feel emotional pleasure and satisfaction because it's the only way they can derive pleasure. evil achieves these feelings by infliction of pain and suffering, and anguish. They feel the need to develop and maintain control over people and every situation. What they fear the most is 3 things. 1) Losing control over people and situations they are controlling or trying to control. 2) Being exposed and people discovering that they don't feel regret, remorse, sympathy, happiness, attachment, intimacy, love. Nothing. They learn to almost expertly fake human emotions to blend in and to manipulate victims. 3) They fear being abused themselves. John 10:10 GOALS OF EVIL evil will seduce, manipulate, coerce, lie, decieve, distort, lead you in opposite direction, abuse, bluff you, Attempt to brainwash you and re-condition you evil will arrange their words, sentences, and manipulate syntax, to use all their speech to cast spells, vex, and curses. Also for mind programming. Attempt to break your mind, lose your sanity, and grip on reality Attempt to abuse you and exploit your emotions. Attempt to destroy your faith and move you away from God and Jesus Christ Attempt to get you to agree to accept evil power Attempt to make you agree to make a satanic deal to sell your soul, body, spirit, and any or all Powers you received from God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. Attempt to make you agree to join them, then they take control of you, train and employ you, and have you do the same to others. evil will attempt to get proof of your crimes and threaten you so you never will be able to leave. Attempt to trap you, make you a slave, then use you for any purpose (John 10:10) Attempt to convince you your God or Jesus Christ in the flesh so you no longer worship God. Exodus 20:3 Attempt to use the same temptation used in the garden of eden by the serpent to deceive you to think you can be like God. Genesis 3:5 Attempt to make you commit the same sin as Lucifer. Isaiah 14:12-15 Attempt to convince you that evil really means good and good really means evil Attempt to convince you to commit suicide, or convince you to commit murder, or some serious crime. Attempt to make you believe Jesus Christ is not the son of God and that Jesus Christ is really God. John 3:16 1 John 4:15 2 PHASE CHILD-LIKE ABUSE CYCLE Honeymoon PHASE – used only once There are only 2 Abuse cycles they repeat OVER and OVER 1) Abuse Phase – subtle and really obvious and serious abuse. 2) Rescuer Phase – abuse that is almost undetectable and covert abuse. Fake bonding. They smooth talk you to Gain compliance, cooperation, obedience, trust Matthew 12:34 1st PHASE – ABUSE This phase will use subtle abuse and escalate to serious abuse. Use MAKE-BELEIVE CHARACTERS of PERCIEVED authority to bluff you and create MAKE-BELEIVE SCENARIOS AND SITUATIONS. They alternate MAKE-BELIEVE CHARACTERS and the MAKE BELIEVE REALITIES to maximize abuse. Also using reverse Psychology to force you to choose the option they want when they can't normally force you to do what they want. 2nd PHASE – RESCUER Stockholm syndrom/Fake bonding/Trauma bonding. Rescuer, Mentor, Cheerleader, Playing The Victim, They reduce tension, stress, anxiety and move to being supportive to play the helper, protector, cheerleader, counselor, to started the brainwash cycle of obtaining your trust, confidence, compliance. Then you subconsciously believe they have rescued you or helped you or helped you out of the situation they created in the in the 1st place. They also call this the hurt and rescue principle where they're responsible for throwing you off the boat into dangerous waters and now they throw you a buoy. Simply switching from the abuser to the rescuer. This cycle of switching back-and-forth between abuser and rescuer will continue OVER and OVER AGAIN until they attempt to achieve their goal. They will sometimes stay in this phase for different periods of time, sometimes short, sometimes long, They want to create fake bonding. Typically this phase has very sneaky and overt abuse tactics, mind warping that sometimes goes undetectable. REMEBER, this phase is about subtle abuse that it is often not recognized and to paint the picture that someone has entered the picture that is now your protector, mentor, guardian, long lost friend, rescuer. Matthew 12:34 Isaiah 5:20 ***REMEMBER, There are only 2 Abuse cycles repeated OVER and OVER and Only 9 make-believe characters that alternate back and forth. The 9 MAKE-BELIEVE CHARACTERS OF PERCIEVED AUTHORITY TRUST GAINING (RESCUER PHASE) 1) The Cheerleader Compliments, flattery supporting statements, ego building kindness, acting amazed when you speak or do something unamazing. This is simply to start the trauma trauma and mind warp you into forming a fake, sick, emotional bond. They want to pretend their on your side like their championing you. TRUST GAINING (RESCUER PHASE) 2) The Protector, Defender, Rescuer Helper false made up concern and caring used in interactions to exploit trust They do this to subconsciously condition your belief system to trust them, their percieved authority. NOTE : Be on the lookout for a new character who suddenly arrives that portrays goodness and this character will ask you questions that you already answered but this is just another make-beleive character made up by evil to keep the conversation going on OVER AND OVER again. It is a pattern of a never ending dialogue Of answering questions and communicating With them to reinforce the pattern of Continuously responding to them when they talk. TRUST GAINING (RESCUER PHASE) 3) The Questioner, Interviewier Questioning can be used as as form of control in communication. It is also used for fake bonding. evil will attempt to catch you off guard by surprise questions, to bait you into a NEVER ENDING dialogue where your answering questions, many times to put you on the defensive as well as to distract you. As children we are taught to obey authority and answer questions when asked. evil exploits this principle. The other intentions evil has is to to profile your personality They want to keep you in a pattern of responding OVER and OVER AGAIN. TRUST GAINING (RESCUER PHASE) 4) The Victim/Helpless Faking The victim and sympathy, They must always feel in in control and dominant. They want you to feel pity for them, by suggesting and playing the role of someone being victimized when really it is you who is the victim. They are playing on your normal human emotion of wanting to help and comfort another person in need. they thrive on negative attention. evil will arrange their words, sentences, and manipulate syntax, to use all their speech to cast evil spells, vex, and curses MIND WARPING – COVERT ABUSE 5) Storyteller, Narrator Controlling your mind by painting a picture of your expected future behavior. Telling the way things are that you do not see or realize to create trust and blind dependence. Also they want to control and shape your reality by poisoning your mind and grasp on reality by telling you things are not real, the reality you see or live in is not real, and make you believe your in some other reality. Shape, mold, and control your behavior, thinking, and view of reality. MIND WARPING – COVERT ABUSE 6) The Counselor, Psychologist, Advisor, The Mentor, The Teacher, Expert Induce concious and subconscious internal conflict in your mind, make you doubt and have self doubt. Ask you if your okay or alright in ways that try to induce paranoia, fear, anxiety, stress, and cause mental disorder, and loss of coping skills. Projecting fear with their vocal tone, patterns of speech, and use brainwashing language such as N.L.P. Sometimes when you answer questions evil will make it seem like they do not believe your answers and put you through a fake verification process. PUNISHMENT, CONTROL (ABUSE PHASE) 7)The Control Freak, Micromanager, The Critic Telling you what to do,nit pick, humiliation, make up rigid rules both small an big for you to follow because they have to establish control over you and power. This is undercover abuse. Shape, mold, and control your behavior, thinking, view of reality, evil will arrange their words, sentences, and manipulate syntax, to use all their speech to cast evil spells, vex, and curses PUNISHMENT,CONTROL (ABUSE PHASE) 8) The Persecutor, Prosecutor, The Critic, The Bulley criticize, ridicule, belittle, destroy, self esteem, keep you on the defensive, accusing, slander, they label you, insult you, use curse and humilitian Setting rules to control and abuse abuse. Shape, mold, and control your behavior, thinking, view of reality, Setting rules to control and abuse. evil will arrange their words, sentences, and manipulate syntax, to use all their speech to cast evil spells, vex, and curses. PUNISHMENT,CONTROL (ABUSE PHASE) 9) The Punisher, Torturer, Tormentor Threaten to send someone to kill you, threaten to kill you, death threats of family, friends, and loved ones to make you feel fear, anxiety, panic, stress, and unsafe. Telling you there is poison in your food, in the water. Shape, mold, and control your behavior, thinking, view of reality. evil will arrange their words, sentences, and manipulate syntax to use all their speech to cast evil spells, vex, and curses. BASIC AND NATURAL HUMAN EMOTION ABUSE evil will provoke, use, exploit, manipulate, distort these BASIC and NATURAL human Emotions to produce abuse, trauma, mental breakdown and torture psychologically, spiritually, socially, emotionally Love, Care, Trust, Joy, Happy, Excited, Surprise, Anger, Sad, Pride, Fear, Rage, Shame, Neglect, Self Esteem, Ego, Safety and Security Then make evil offers, evil bargains, evil aggrements, evil negotiations, and satanic deals. Shape, mold, and control your behavior, thinking, view of reality, evil will arrange their words, sentences, and manipulate syntax, to use all their speech to cast evil spells, vex, and curses. PROTECT THE 4 REAL EMOTIONS evil IS AFTER There are 4 EMOTIONS evil really wants to attack is 1), to have you in a state of complete fear, 2), cause you to doubt yourself, your own thoughts, judgements, opinions, beliefs, 3), make you feel hopeless to the point that there's no reason to go on, and 4), attempt to make you lose faith or belief in God and Jesus Christ. They want to destroy Christians and everything relating to Christianity. 1) Fear 2) Doubt 3) Loss of Hope 4) Faith/Belief SOLUTIONS Now you can RECOGNIZE and EASILY understand how the abuse is being done. Knowing this will give you the knowledge to guard and protect yourself. Next step is to STOP all communication with them. STOP answering questions and speaking in any way to them. That means in your thoughts or speaking outloud. NO RESPONDING, NOTHING. YOU are taking back control. 1) Pray to God and also talk to Jesus Christ asking for help. Pray to God asking for spiritual protection, wisdom, and knowledge. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11 Ephesians 6:10-18 2) Read the Holy Bible and find verses that comfort you when you become stressed. TRUST the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 3) If you own any possessions that represent evil, witchcraft, or satanic items, you MUST throw them all away. 4) Speak with your Christian friends for support and comfort and talk freely with them because all of you have the same beliefs 5) Go to a Christian Church and talk to the Pastor and tell him what your going through, ask for his advice, and ask him to pray with you. 6) Do not have friends or hang out with people that are non-beleivers. Choose wisely the friends you keep and trust. 7) Make sure your going to Church every Sunday and if you have time, even the Wednesday night Bible Study as well. evil will continue to speak to you non stop. they will give you the impression without saying you should be happy I'm here to talk to you and I'm here so you might as well talk back to me. Make no mistake, this is evil your dealing with. it is not a game or something to be taken lightly. They will also play off any feelings of loneliness and communication needs you have that are not being met. Under no circumstances make jokes or laugh with remeber these people are not human and their predators looking for their next victim to abuse. Matthew 7:15
Needs a bit more clarity. Can you help by expanding your thoughts on abuse, characters, victims and the 3 T's please?
I see a problem that has been going on in the comments section. What started out as free opinion has become an attack. Arguments have formed instead of free discussion. We as Christians shouldn't be arguing among each other and opposing one another. Whether we are evangelists, protestants, non-denomination, etc. we are all supposed to be one church under Christ, there should be no separate churches. What is happening here is one of the reasons why those who don't believe in God dislike what we are preaching, because they see how we come against each other like this. Yes, while what some people are saying may not be true and may be a false representation of the doctrine, we still shouldn't argue or fight with each other for it, but correct it with the Word of God. As when Peter said something wrong about how Jesus shouldn't die, that he wouldn't allow it, in this he believed he was right. However, he was wrong in his beliefs, but did Jesus attack him with His words and argued with Him? No, he instead rebuked the Devil. Remember, our enemies are not human, but are evil spirits that work against us. We allow demons to come into us and overthrow us when we attack one another, because that is just what Satan wants. This right here is an example of un-christ like behavior. We shouldn't be showing this behavior when trying to preach the Word of God. Also, there is only one thing that I don't agree with in this blog, and that is that we shouldn't be preaching the Word of God all the time. When you look at the Bible, what did Jesus do? Even when He hanged out among sinners He was speaking about the Word. It was not only His mission but His way of life. If we want to be Christ-like we must always preach the Word. However, this is an almost impossible thing to do for someone to always be talking about the Word so I believe that the un-believers exaggerate when they say that Christians always preach the Word. They probably just don't like that they talk about it a lot. I do agree with the fact that Christians shouldn't be aggressive when preaching. It didn't work for Paul and it certainly won't work for us.
Thank you for writing what I needed to read…I will say God inspired you. In application, in time, I believe it will help me live truly more Christ like and not more Christian. As a wife, mother and grandmother, this read was like fresh air for my lungs, a new air stream for my wings, another knot to hold on to haha Many blessings for being so brave to write a bit of reality.
Why not just stop trying to push the lie that you believe onto others? Jesus was just an insane jew. Mary lied about being a virgin because of her fears of how her having a child out of wedlock would be judged. Your so called god gave you brains… Use them please. jesus christ people……
I'm a believer and I agree with all that was said here, which is why I'm not in a church and why I can't even keep TBN on before long turning it off, angry. I'm not supposed to be angry listening to the Word.
But, this comment, Lee Terry .. This is just repaying good with evil. We're taught not to repay evil or good with evil, but with good. What you wrote here doesn't actually reply to anyone/anything here. I'm not understanding what made you just decide to spew anger and hatred for no reason … But, this is what the first comment's author was making a point of. Everywhere, in every comments' section of nearly all websites, there's random assaults of pure evil and hatred. Even with Christians aside … You just seem like a horrible angry person to be around, period. Jesus or no Jesus. My God, man.
I'm turning on my brain.
Some angry girl said to.
Same one who said that
Jesus "was a crazy Jew."
To know that she's very old
Or possibly just venting
Most Bible text I was told,
and so I'm dissenting.
Shoout out to the sales people who call themselves Christian:
You guilt-trippin hypocrites should stop all and listen.
I know locations of churches —
And places of spirituality.
But brainwashed, pushy, and thoughtless isn't up my alley
Any house can be a house of God and worship in his name can be done therein…!!! Remember that when you decide on what church fits you! You are the house he resides in not a stuffy building with a cross on it!
I met this friend of mine many years back who grew up in church. We worked together at a job with the school system and I was his trainer. He had a lot of questions, personal ones, about my church attending history and beliefs. I told him that I am a follower of Jesus and consider him my Savior but am not affiliated with any churches. He was taken back by that and kept bringing me in teaching material, and even wanted me to hear his testimony in finding Christ. I accepted and enjoyed hearing him out and he seemed really interested in learning more about my life since it was so different from his. He invited me to his Baptist Church with his wife. She was very nice when I first met her and we all attended the small groups meeting before service. This went on for months and during that time I started finding out that he lied a lot. So I eventually realized that his wife did not like my presence at church and after a month or so would treat me cold and very distant from me pulling him along with her. I think that had a lot to do with why he would not invite me over for dinner to do a more one on one study that I told him that I really wanted to work on with him. Bible studying was not easy for me and still isn't. Many months goes by and he only gets worse with the lies and telling people secret discussions that we shared only to cause a big problem with some co-workers. He became a supervisor, mind you I trained him, and he did that for a while and always seemed to put a lot of the work on me. I thought maybe it was just that he trusted me more, then later I found out from the upper manager who came to talk to me that this so called "friend", keeps insisting that they fire me. What!!! I was like you have to be kidding me not from him. He said "yes he says you do not work with him well and always causing problems with co-workers". I was so upset to the point that I took a transfer to another building. Come to find out the "causing problems with co-workers" was not my doings, it was me sharing personal, one on one private discussion with a friend and at the time, my supervisor, who I felt that I could trust and deserved to be upfront and point out the problems we were having in the workplace. The problem was only when he decided to share it with them and cause it to become blown out of proportion. I confronted him about the firing comment and he denied that he said anything like that and that the trouble that I have with the others is a problem though. I reminded him that the problem was when he shared personal private discussion with them that he had no business doing. As we were talking about this he eventually came out with and in fact did mention firing me. I had to step back and make him repeat it and he was stumbling over his own words. I could not believe a die-hard Christian and a good friend would stand here and treat me me this way and go behind my back and cause my reputation to be bad. This friendship turned into a snake that bit me when I least expected it. He had even confronted me and told me that, "he is not able to be my friend because he has no time and needs to spend more time with his wife and a child coming". I have never heard anyone tell me this before and I still do not know what really was behind him saying something like that but it was down right mean because we didn't spend anytime but a few minutes to go over his teaching material he brought from the church. We both ended up leaving the job. I still maintained going to church as he stated that he felt bad and wanted to maintain "church friendship", yes that was the term. I stopped going not too long after that and honestly he never contacted me again. Why would I maintain any friendship when you just down right told me you have no time for that. When someone wants to sit and share their story and hear me out about my life I freeze up and refuse to say anything further when I know their Christians. I was betrayed by a what I thought was a good friend that cared about my spiritual life and well-being only to find out he just wanted the credit of getting me in his church to show his friends that he can do it. His friends in the church would not say much to me at all, especially when we had that blowing out issue. Even before then they kept insisting behind my back to him that I should look for another group that can fit my needs, lol!! Never found out what needs that was. There was so much hate and distrust going on with them as well that it was just becoming a shock and I did not want to lose my faith with Jesus. I hope others set their boundaries of true friends and those that are true family. To be part of a church you have to be a family who helps and pull each other out of the darkness and into the light. This is just one of many stories that I have that really gives Christianity a bad name.
I am so sorry to read about your experience but I ask you why give up your relationship with Jesus Christ because of a betrayal. I too relate to this gut wrenching betray when I came across this article that helped me not only forgive but press on in my relationship with Christ. I have experienced so much gut wrenching sorrow from those inside and outside the church when I found a deeper relationship with Jesus as I learned a lesson of don't waste your sorrows but allow the sorrows in like to strengthen your walk with our Lord. Learn from the sorrows as we will always experience pain and sorrow when we rely on human beings and the expectations that come with our looking to them in our pain. I do believe Our Lord had me happen upon this for the purpose of His wanting to heal your heart of this betrayal. I hope you read this and allow the article to open your heart to His love for you.
he Blessing of Betrayal
H.L. Roush
To all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ to sincerity, and who have been wounded in the house of your friends for His sake. May this message be used in the hands of the Holy Spirit to help transform your crown of betrayal into the blossom of blessing. May the loneliness of personal rejection fade into insignificance by the warmth of His fellowship. May the Bride of Christ be made to know the reality of her union with Jesus.
H. L. Roush
The snow fell silently like drifting feathers and soon covered the drab and soiled earth with white. It had been snowing all night and I looked from my study window with a warm quiet heart on the first snow of winter. It was the day after Thanksgiving and the snowfall gave me all the excuse I needed to slow down my busy schedule to take the needed time to enjoy the fellowship of my family. We had much to be thankful for that year, as always. The hand of the Lord had been so obviously upon our lives and ministry that we could only bow before Him with grateful hearts and in the quiet knowledge that He had been the doer of it all.
The precious calm of that morning was soon shattered by the insistent ringing of the phone. It was the first link in a heavy chain that was soon to bind me in despair and sorrow; for the voice on the other end of the line informed me that great trouble had just entered my life.
Circumstances had been brought to pass that now endangered my whole ministry, as well as the potential ruin of my personal and family life, It is amazing how quickly the whole world seems to change when our circumstances change.
Truly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, for the quiet white of the snow now seemed to me to be only hypocrisy that covered the hard, cruel facts which I knew lay beneath its deceptive cover. The lingering joy of Thanksgiving with my family quickly disappeared beneath the shadow of this present sorrow and I sank in my chair trembling and shocked. Serious accusations had been made against me by an unknown accuser, and God knew my heart that I was an innocent victim of distorted circumstances. I could only cry, "Oh, Father, who would do this?" My prayer was answered in a few short days and with it came the deepest pain of all; for, my betrayer was discovered to be a friend who professed to love me.
For two days I brooded in stunned silence and blackest despair. The trouble which I found myself facing was serious enough but was compounded beyond that which I felt that I was able to bear by the unbelievable fact that the one who had brought this grief into my life was one who broke bread with me around the table of the Lord and spoke often of their love for me. The precious truth which I learned through that experience are the subject of this book. Our "personal" experiences are not so personal as we might imagine what is happening in our lives as members of the Body of Christ is happening for the comfort and help of others (2 Corinthians 1). It is "happening" because it is the mutual inheritance of the members of Christ's Body to share in the sufferings of the Head (Philippians 1:29; Colossians 1:24).
The withering experience of being betrayed by our friends and loved ones must of necessity come in every believer's life. I base this observation on much experience in the Christian life plus the clear and simple teaching of the word of God. It is an interesting discovery to learn that the word "betray" and its forms are only used in regard to Jesus' betrayal by Judas, except a single time in Luke 21:16.
In this passage, which is prophetic, it is used to depict the end of the age of grace and is stated to be one of the identification marks, or signs of, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The verse simply reads: "And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death." This is a terrible thing to look forward to, but it is the plain promise of the word of Christ. The age of grace is to end with a world-wide religious deception. It will be the time of the great counterfeit perilous times in which the truth will be resisted by deceit and trickery (Study Paul's words in 2 Tim. 3:1-8).
I believe that every man, in whom Jesus dwells, will in these last terrible times have his own personal Judas; for in the age of the counterfeit the false brother will be prominent. Also, betrayal is the common experience of every man whom God has ever used for His glory. Our verse in Luke 21:16 says that betrayal comes by the hand of "parents, and brethren, and kinfolks and friends." Startling, but true, and for a good reason.
First, our enemies cannot betray us. We do not let them close enough to our hearts. We are not intimate enough with our enemies. It is with our brethren and our friends that we share our hearts, Since our enemies cannot hurt us, it is our friends who wound us.
So, the Psalmist said in Ps. 55:12-14:
"For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have born it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: but it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company."
So all Bible history echoes the fact of betrayal at the hand of our friends. Abel was betrayed by his only brother, Esau by his twin brother, Isaac by his son, Uriah by his trusted king and by his lovely wife, Jesus by His devoted disciple, Paul by "false brethren." We need not go on, for this solemn truth remains: it is often our friends that rise against us and so magnify our troubles in the Christian life. In general I have been treated with far more kindness by the unsaved than by professing brothers; and I have experienced often the crushing wound of betrayal at the hand of those who professed to love me.
This paradox may disturb and distress us, but the wisdom and love of God in it all is seen in the sobering truth that He spared not His own Son in this regard, but sent Him to His death by the hand of His friend. May God instruct our hearts in this precious lesson!
The method will always be the same. First, our betrayers will choose the time carefully. In the case of Jesus, He was betrayed at the exact moment in His life when He needed human fellowship the most (Mark 14:37); at the hour of His greatest need; and when He stood at the threshold of His greatest work (Calvary). Take heart, dear reader, if betrayal has been your recent experience. There must be great things ahead for you, else Satan would not strike at this very time. Our betrayers also know the place to strike us. John 18:2 shows that Judas knew the secret place of Jesus' retreat. They observe us and know our place of agony and prayer; and so having the advantage of intimacy, they smite us in an opportune place.
Their means of betrayal will always be the kiss. They encourage our love that they might strike us in an unguarded moment. The word of God says: "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me" (Psalm 41:9). There is a precious word picture in this verse. The original meaning portrays a trusted family horse viciously kicking from behind an unsuspecting and trusting friend.
What became of Judas? History has written his tragic end, but lurking in the seeming vagueness of the brief accounts of his death is a drama that has remained untold too long. In order to see it in its real perspective, we must look briefly at the relationship between Jesus and Judas. Jesus chose Judas and prayed for him (Luke 6:12-13), as He did for Jerusalem that rejected Him and for those who crucified Him. Jesus desired Judas to eat the last Passover with Him (Luke 23: 14-15), loved him and offered him the place of love and communion at the table in the Passover chamber (John 13:26). Jesus washed his feet (John 13:5) and, hence, expressed to him a love that was indeed unfeigned and worthy of the Son of God. Jesus gave Judas full recognition and never revealed him as His future betrayer, referring to Judas as His "friend."
Careful meditation on the events leading to the betrayal will reveal that Jesus offered to Judas every token of love and was unwilling to disown him even at the moment of his crime. Jesus taught in Matthew 5:44 that we love our enemies and He practiced all that He preached on the subject. Even though He knew full well in advance the evil which Judas would work against Him, He demonstrated His sincere love in every conceivable manner.
In Mark 14:45 Judas agreed to betray Jesus with a kiss. There are two words in the original for "kiss." One means the kiss of friendship and one means to kiss fervently, or the kiss of real love.
Now come to Gethsemane and see the final scene. Judas comes with the multitude armed with staves and swords to take Jesus prisoner. Judas greets the Lord and kisses him; but, according to the original, not with the kiss of friendship as he agreed, but with the kiss of genuine love!
Only eternity will reveal what happened that moment in Judas' heart. Perhaps, in the flickering light of the torches, Judas sees in the face of Jesus the shocking truth that in spite of his betrayal, Jesus loved him yet, for He called Judas, "friend." Jesus is taken away and Judas cries that he has betrayed innocent blood; he had learned that Jesus' love for him was real. His heart must have experienced a crushing blow, and now he cannot rationalize his madness or justify his dastardly deed. He tries to undo what he has done by returning the money, but is rejected by his worldly friends in contempt, as not even they can keep company for long with a Judas.
His momentary gain turns to dust in his hands – the future is black without the fellowship of Jesus and his friends – he has lost forever his ministry given to him by Jesus (Acts 1:20); his habitation will now be desolate, and another man will take his crown, and Judas will go to his own place in a lonely death by his own hand. Did Judas die at his own hand? It seems apparent to me that Judas died under the force of the irresistible love of Christ. Judas destroyed himself because he could no longer live with himself or others and all of this was worked by the unfeigned love of the Lord Jesus Christ. It seems to me that the words of Romans 12:20-21 are suddenly clear:
"Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Is not the Word fulfilled that states: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal…" (2 Corinthians 10:4).
"Charity (love) never faileth…" (1 Corinthians 13:8).
Indeed we desperately need to settle in our hearts that the word of God is true. We only give reason to the hatred of our enemies and cause to the betrayal by our friends when we recompense evil for evil.
Love that is unfeigned and unmoved because of evil worked against it will ultimately drive its betrayer to the lonely slopes of Aceldama to die.
There is another consideration in the fact of Judas' betrayal. He was chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ, although the Lord knew beforehand that Judas would betray Him (John 6:64). In my own personal experience of betrayal at the hand of a friend, the dear Lord showed me this precious truth. While in the fire of this trial, I went to bed one night brooding over this one who pretended to love me and used his profession to betray me into the hands of enemies. In the night I awoke in prayer to be answered with these thoughts: the Lord Jesus chose His own friends and knowing in advance the treachery of Judas, He chose him anyway!
He said of them that He had chosen them twelve, and one of them was a devil. I was made to thank God for that devil, as he was necessary to the ministry of Jesus, and for my betrayer since he must be needed in my life as well. What possible need could a believer have to be betrayed by friends or loved ones?
What good purpose could the pain and sorrow of a wounded heart serve? I asked these questions and found answers in the night that met the need of my heart. We have need to learn the faithfulness of the Holy Spirit in our lives, Consider the fact that Jesus was never deceived in Judas. "… for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him" (John 6: 64).
I am sure that in every experience of betrayal in the believer's life he can look back and remember the faithful warning of the Holy Spirit. In one case, I recall I could have known from the beginning if I had only listened to the witness of the Spirit within. Who can explain the nature of the warning of God in the soul against a false brother? It is not easily put into words but all saints know the uneasiness that reason cannot take away about some who profess to be our friends. We know and experience that real wall of restraint that seeks to prevent us from giving our hearts to those who would betray us in a time of need in our lives.
We would not so often be heart-broken and disappointed by others if we would be more sensitive to the faithful One who indwells us. Do we not believe in "discernment" by the Spirit? Then why do we often brush aside the strangeness of our hearts toward professing friends and proceed to conjure up "fellowship" over all the warnings of the Lord Jesus Christ by His Spirit? When will we learn that, "The Lord knoweth them that are His"? Our business is to listen to Him in the deep recesses of our soul and depend upon Him to search the hearts of others by His Spirit. The betrayal experience brings into sharp focus the truth that public acceptance among believers, using the phraseology of the saints, doing religious works, preaching, or any other outward mark that is often accepted as "proof" of a man's salvation and trustworthiness, does not tell always the true story.
"… for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).
Let us give to every man the standing which he professes to have with God but never let us go beyond the testimony of the Spirit of God in our hearts in our relationship with others. We read of many who came to Jesus and professed faith in Him, based purely upon the miracles that He performed and not upon a real heart faith in Him as the Son of God. Drawn only by the impression of His outward works, they numbered themselves among His followers; "But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man" (John 2:24-25).
Our obligation is not to open our hearts to every man who seeks entrance into our inner man, hut to let our hearts be affected toward others by the Holy Spirit Who will never fail to warn us of those who seek to deceive us. Let us learn that "fellowship" is the work of the Holy Spirit and not of man.
Let us not seek to establish it without His help or to ignore it when He has so obviously created it between our hearts and others in the Body of Christ. What is the need of betrayal? Perhaps it comes to light through Peter's words in his first epistle when he observes that the "heaviness through manifold temptations" of his readers "need be." Needed because, as he so beautifully explains, there is a future and present fruit of such heart-searching experiences.
In the future, this trial of faith, like gold tried in the fire, will be brought out of the furnace of our lives as praise, honor, and glory for the Lord Jesus Christ at His appearing. If we could only lay hold of this tremendous potential in the midst of our trials, how differently our hearts would respond to the challenge of the hour! Yet, besides this, (grace upon grace), the heavy trials of life are used to do a work so necessary to all of us; the work of increasing our love and joy in this present life. Read 1 Peter 1:6-8 and remember that out of every furnace of affliction, we have come out loving the Lord as never before and rejoicing in the reality of His fellowship.
We need the betrayal experience to learn true submission to the Lord. The greatest prayer which the child of God can utter is the prayer of the perfect Son:"… even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight" (Luke 10:21).
When we can thus cry from our wounded hearts, the sting is gone and we have triumphed; for our submission to the pleasure of the Father in our lives brings victory over every attack against us (see 2 Corinthians 2:14).
Read 2 Corinthians 4:15-18, which gives more reasons for the seeming unreasonableness of life's great disappointments. Paul gives the proper perspective to our heartaches by telling us that the attack is not against the outer man, but against the inner man. We so often tremble under the fear of what this will "do to me," and forget in times of trouble that nothing can harm us in the inner man, if we have taken to ourselves the full armor of God. These things are only for a moment compared to eternity and will one day work an eternal weight of glory. These deep waters will only serve to lift our eyes from earthly ties and "things" and put them upon the values of eternity.
The enemy would overwhelm us and darken our reason by causing us to concentrate on the fearful details of the outer experience; thus, while we occupy ourselves with meaningless worry about the outer man, we are often smitten in the inner man to our own defeat. Many a saint has survived the outward experience only to fall mortally wounded by bitterness, resentment, malice, and an unforgiving heart.
In times of betrayal let the saint first learn to gird up the loins of his mind in Christ and to appropriate the full armor of God, which is actually putting on Christ in all of His strength and might.
Consider the blessing that betrayal brings when, through it, we learn to recognize no hand but the faithful hand of our loving Father in heaven. We give far too much glory to the devil, the world and the flesh in the circumstances of our lives. We blame our enemies when we are buffeted; but great peace and quietness of heart becomes ours when we refuse to recognize second causes in our lives.
God is sovereign and He is our Father. He has been pleased to allow this to happen to us and our part is to believe that "… all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)
In the blessing of this quietness, David endured with a patient spirit the cursing of Shimei and forbade any evil to be returned to him for the evil rendered. David saw but one hand behind it all – the loving hand of God working good through Shimei's evil.
Joseph was bitterly betrayed by his brothers, placed in the pit and sold as a slave only to be befriended by Potiphar's wife and then cruelly betrayed again. Placed in prison, he made friends with the butler and soon knew the agony of the kiss of betrayal once more; for when the butler was restored to the favor of the court of Egypt, he broke his prison promise to Joseph and -"Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him" (Genesis 40:23).
So much trouble for one man seems sufficient to mortally wound him in the inner man until he would perish under the bitterness of soul that often comes from personal rejection; but the years passed and Joseph was remembered of the Lord and exalted to the throne of Egypt in victory and the blessed secret of his sanity, yea, of his triumphant, conquering patience is revealed in his words to his brothers:
"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good…" (Genesis 50:20).
Peter manifested this same truth in his perspective of Calvary's cross. Although he accuses the nation of taking Jesus by wicked hands to crucify and slay Him, Peter viewed it as no tragedy, saw in it no victory of Satan; but, triumphantly announces that the Lord Jesus Christ was "… delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God…" (Acts 2:23).
And so, my dearly beloved saints of God, who at this moment find yourselves in perplexity over the betrayal of a friend, admit this moment that God could have overruled it if He had wished, but allowed it for your good. Rejoice in this blessing, as He is owning you as His son and preparing you for the comfort and the blessing of others (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). He has graced your life with the glorious privilege of sharing with you the most intimate of the sufferings of Christ (Philippians 3:10).
This fellowship is with a select company, for not all are privileged to know the agony of betrayal that we might share in some degree the depth of the love of Christ. Your betrayer has meant it for evil, But God will make it all for good; and as Jesus chose Judas, since He had need of the betrayal in His own life, so God in His faithfulness has chosen our betrayers – He knew full well that if the choice had been ours, it would never have been made.
You ask "Chosen our betrayers? What good can they do for us?" You have forgotten that Judas' betrayal delivered Jesus Christ to His greatest work and put in motion the events that fulfilled the eternal purposes of God in Christ. Eternal redemption through the blood of Christ was the fruit of Judas' despicable deed! It remains a fact that our friends will not do this work for us. Only our enemies will deliver us to the pain of circumstances beyond our control; and hence, perform a real service to the saints of God. A betrayer delivered me to circumstances that changed the course of my ministry and released me to the greatest work of my life.
A betrayer worked hardship in my life that resulted in my being freed from dependence upon man and made me the Lord's free man! A betrayer brought suffering into my life that resulted in the present fruitful and joyful ministry that I have received of Christ for His Body. Like all saints, my hindsight being better than my foresight, I look back and thank God for every "devil" chosen by a faithful Father, as I might well have missed some of life's greatest blessings had it not been for them.
The blessing of betrayal? Only God could make it thus, but I have found the paradox of these words to be a reality. Betrayal, at the hands of those whom we have trusted with our hearts, can yield blessing that we are not able to contain. Through betrayal I have learned what the Psalmist meant when he sang "By this I know that you favourest me, because my enemy doesn't not triumph over me"(Psalm 41:11) Also, what the Prophet meant when he wrote "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD" (Isaiah 54:17).
Through betrayal I have learned that the strength and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in my life can only be worked in the blessing of weakness brought to pass by the buffeting of Satan's messenger as a thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7).
Through betrayal we are prepared for the blessing of being used to comfort others in the same trial of faith with the same comfort wherewith we ourselves have been comforted of God (2 Corinthians 1:4).
Through betrayal at the hand of a "friend", I have received the blessing of putting in this message the precious truths which I have learned in the fellowship of Christ Jesus my Lord. The blessings of thousands who will read this message flow from the fountain of betrayal and, hence, the evil of that deed is transformed, by grace, into the goodness of God.
Through the experience of betrayal by false friends, I have received one of life's greatest blessings in learning how to love my enemies and to bless those who persecute me. These words "Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not" (Romans 12:14)
For years these were hard for me to understand and much more difficult to practice. The performance of these words are diametrically opposed to all that is in man; and the understanding of them lay couched beneath the bitter waters of savage attack by my "friends." Experience alone has made them a blessed reality. The word "bless" means to "eulogize," or "to speak well of."
The words "curse not" mean to "wish no ill." When the blessing of betrayal is realized, when we look back and see how much we have reaped in increased joy, love, grace, strength and fellowship with the dear Lord Jesus, we are overwhelmed with the realization of how much good our betrayer has worked for us. His intentions are of no concern.
It is the blessed fruit which he has brought into our lives that matters. How gloriously easy it becomes to truthfully "speak well" of him and wish him no ill. Yes, when we look upon our present blessed state and realize that we were delivered by an enemy to the liberty and largeness of the land that we now possess, we can say: "I can say nothing but good of him, for he has been a blessing to me!" Thus, like the trampled flower whose perfume rises to bless the foot that crushed it, so our hearts can find no bitterness, seek no revenge, wish no ill. The fullness of our own cups must overflow and bless the hand that afflicted us.
No one is perfect…we are all flawed humans . If anyone wants to find out if there is a God, you can do your own research with references available best being the Bible itself. If you think the Bible is false, you can research that also and decide for yourself……if…..you really want the truth and answers. Just like anything else you want to learn/study etc. You have to do the work and put in some time. This would be the most important time you could ever spend if it turns out to be true. If you never take the time to seek, you will never find. So many never take the time but have so many unfounded excuses. God says…"seek and you WILL find"…no maybe. You WILL find if you truly seek…..
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Jesus Christ is Lord and King.
Thanks Michael for the blazing example of the irritant [professed] Christian behavior Chrislema [and Gandhi] spoke about. Instead of fruitful discussion you just douse the conversation with scripture regurgitation.
Society tends to water down deeply complex issues, whether for the sake of convenience or otherwise. It is not uncommon to hear one word ("left" or "right" for example) uttered and accepted as descriptive or definitive of one's politcal or ethical views.
Because we label ourselves or others as "Christian," we inherently set a stage for misunderstanding, because our beliefs are shaped by our experiences — all of which ate individual. Are those who feel the need to push a particular brand of religion (wherein they say one thing and do another) really "Chritians"?They're not acting in a Christ-like way, in my opinion. If they are, I don't what they have to offer because I wouldn't enjoy unwantedly imposing something on someone. Christians, in my view, are those who are trying to in accordance with what Christ taught via quiet deeds rather hypocritical speech.
here is one: pushing bible literacy in public schools. I remember growing up into chtristianity. I dont believe it anymore, and i feel sad for kids that have it enforced upon them by law making Christians that should probably not be shoving that in schools.
I work in a school in Ohio. I tried to get an after school christian club. Nope! We can't even mention Jesus in school. Yet you are concerned about some kind of literature? I see it like this. Freedom of choice, do you believe in that? If so, how can they have a choice if they never see what the choices are?
Good. Please keep god and all of his pathetic followers away
Yes, Bria, I'd be interested to know if you could cite with specificity (no unsupported anecdotes, please) a single instance in the United States in the last 40 years where Christianity was being legislatively enforced in public school. I don't think you can. If you did, it would likely be a local anomaly and most Christians would condemn it. Believe you me, Christians, above all people, do not want bureaucrats teaching their faith. In fact, we'd prefer them to not teach their secular moral philosophies and worldviews, either. Those are as "religious" as any monotheistic worldview and often far more intolerant of dissenters. We'd probably prefer HS and under to reading, writing, math, and the scientific method; and we should all be happy. We'd get a better bang for our buck, all of our kids would be competent for the marketplace, and teachers and administrators could be more effective. Release time for religious instruction statutes don't count because no one need participate and were/are not government funded. Those laws did not promote or establish Christianity but merely accommodated religious communities, something you would expect from a constitutional order tasked with protecting the free exercise of religion. Most of those statutes have gone by the wayside, anyway. Let's not tilt at windmills. There is no mainstream Christian theocracy movement It's a silly notion among Christians and quite unreal.
But let me say Bria, I am sorry you regret the religious environment you grew up in. It sounds like you resent it. Our parents, like ourselves, can do things wrong even with the best intentions. Christianity, in its essence, is an offer of peace with God, and an offer of eternal life to redeem the pain and horrors of this earthly life. If you don't believe it or can't believe it, I believe you and I certainly see how that could be. God judges, no man can. In that case, Christians should treat you as they would themselves. For we beilive that you are created in God's image and should be treated with great dignity and enjoyed for your beauty, character, compassion, skill, and talent you bring to this often dark world. If I, or my brothers and sisters, fail you, I'm sorry. Really. Many of us wrestle with our failures in this regard. Sometimes we do it right and sometimes we don't. But I can assure you, most professing Christians want to do you right regardless of where you stand on these things. I will be more mindful of this having read your post. Thank you.
Sounds appealing, but for a Christian for over sixty years and in ministry AND business for most of my life, I see a lot of accommodation in what you are saying. I went to a church where the pastor was pushing the UNCHRISTIAN book and decrying how negative Christians were about homosexuality. Andrew Marin of IVP wrote a book on befriending gays – starting out as a strong Christian, he ended up an apologist for the LGBTQ agenda. I regularly interface with people of different faiths and politics, but to refrain from ever telling the truth is not the basis of any good relationship. It seems your approach would take most of the gospel off the table, since the cross is indeed an offense to the unbeliever. The world accuses Christians of being judgmental when in fact they are often smoky repeating what the Holy Spirit has said in the Bible. The Holy Spirit asked the question – "What fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness?" I an be cordial, I can enjoy some time together, but I cannot recall a time with an unbeliever who was not in the process of considering the claims of Christ that was true fellowship. I understand the friendship evangelism concept, but following all your guidelines, I would like to know how many people have been saved from sin and brought to Christ and whether or not you have compromised your beliefs to maintain a friendship. Any free to respond – please!
The tragedy of the humanistic religious is the self-righteous veil that enshrouds them. Please do not lose fact that we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. Flashing Christian credentials and seniority figures does not remove you from the "all" category. Your use of the much regurgitated terms like "accommodation" or "compromised" reveal a spiritual insecurity. I in no way propose diluting scriptural truth. What scripture calls sin is sin. The New Covenant is an atmosphere of grace…not religious condemnation. The scripture depiction of Peter taking a sword and cutting off a servant's ear during Jesus's arrest is symbolic. If one takes the Word of God and aggressively attacks those not in Christ, thinking one is defending God's Word [Christ], then one cuts off their hearing the good news of the Gospel. It is imperative that I follow Christ in reaching out to those who are sick[lost] while at the same time not promoting any behavior scripture calls sin. In my case I make my position on the behavior clear at the onset…and then move on to share about the infinite love of God as depicted by the sacrifice of His only Son. I explain God's desire for all to be right with Him. What many professed Christians do, probably with good intentions, is focus on whatever sin a lost soul is struggling with and begin utilizing the human intellect to come up with successful ways to overcome sin. NEWS FLASH! This has NOT worked…and will NEVER work! Only understanding God's love will promote the renewing of one's mind in matters of sin. Only feeding daily on God's Word primarily under the guidance of the Holy Spirit will separate truth from deception. Jesus spent more time with the despicable sinners than the self-righteous religious…and He commanded that I follow Him. I strive to accomplish this daily because I have my underlying prejudices to deal with also…I am no saint apart from my Savior! In answer to your closing question, it is not my concern in how many "I" bring to Christ or save from sin. I am only commanded to follow Christ and do so in an atmosphere of love and grace, trusting the results to Him.
Amen. I didn't even make it past that second sentence after accommodation where his friend who had "befriended gays and eventually became an apologist for the LGBTQ agenda". That was where I stopped. I stopped because, it's quite clear, as a man who's not afraid to share my insecurities or the fact none of us are perfect … All I thought was, "Well, unfortunately, and unfortunately for the church's agenda, I mean" that friend of his, well, he obviously wasn't confident or sure enough in what he was preaching in Christ as he was befriending the "gays" as he put it. If that's your calling, if you feel necessary, say, to be an addict in recovery who found Jesus and then drop yourself right back into the areas of hanging out & befriending other addicts, etc. and so forth … active addicts, say … and eventually you fall back into your addiction or gain new ones? That's no one's fault but your own. As far as the LGBTQ "agenda" as he wrote … Agenda or not, I'm friends with whoever. Who I'm not friends with are people who aren't or can't be friends with me. I don't know if I'm coming clear here, but all I meant is … Throwing out all these credentials and then blaming his Christian friend for befriending gays as the reason he became a mouthpiece for them .. That's ridiculous, man. C'mon. And I'm happy YOU, Jim, wrote that reply because that alleged master preacher with 1000 years in ministry is obviously wrong and not even wrong, but foolishly nonsensical … The whole argument was completely ignorant in its origin and this ignorance, this piousness of somehow no longer being the same as your fellow human beings, brothers and sisters, is what has kept me away from church. While I do believe that Christianity or the teaching of Jesus and The Word of God of course must be firm and unchangeable, unwavering, etc. I get it, of course. But, you can't pair the Word up in a fight scene between 2 Humans and then state something ridiculous like that. Spiritual & Physical Insecurity is more like it, as Jim stated. And not just the friend, but BOTH this super experienced "minister" and his friend are showing clear, obvious insecurities and hatred, fear. Also, lastly, if that's his friend's calling .. to evangelize the Word, etc. Then, it's his calling, but not brash or forced. It's all about Love, correct? Therefore, good. I'm glad he was befriending other human beings in sin, as he was and as we all were/are/could be again, etc. Matter of fact, cleansed or not, as Jim stated agagin, "We all fall short of the glory of God". Amen. I hope what i replied here makes sense. It's really just a thank you summation to Jim and of that alleged preacher and his ignorant comments. God be with you all, I gotta get going. In a rush 🙂 Thank you for those words, it was great to end my reading on.
who are you and what gives you the power and authority even to say these things. "Me thinks, thou protests too loudly." REALLY?! Do you think you get it? You've only been a privileged man in conservative evangelical circles. May you find time to have compassion ,weeping, and repentance for those of us females who actually believed you all had a corner on the truth. We actually have been abused, maligned, or at best, patronized, by your system. Lord have mercy! Christ have mercy!
Perfect nailed it. OP is probly a new aged shill demon possessed fake christian here to distort the true word of Father. Or he just doesnt get it..either way devils work is done
4. Believe in something irrational and put every other fact aside, even though the proof for that fact may be overwhelming.
I'm sorry you have addressed only cliches about what we think about you, but have not gone to the heart of the matter. Your attempts to search for a historical christ is unsuccessful. Your beliefs are based on legend, that very search being a nail into your faith. You have stolen Hellenistic ideas and made them a god. You have mutilated your own religion and molded it into what is convenient at the time. You have done everything to have your beliefs imposed on others, through legislation and under punishment of death, even today, if some of you could. However the one great redeeming factor is that you too will be on the scrapheap of history. Your religion is dying in a changing world where our only salvation is reason. I do believe Hal Lindsey and others that say that christians will be persecuted for their irrational beliefs. Stop bothering the rest of us.
Not all of us do that. When I was going through school for my biology degree, most of my fellow classmates were also Christian. Each of us believed in the tangible as well as what we had to take by faith. Many Christians believe in the teachings of the Bible as well as in science and proven facts. My church actually had a class on how the creation in Genesis aligns with the scientific proof of the big bang. I do believe that more Christians should be exposed to how faith and science can work together. Non-Christians should also be more open to the fact that they can both be true.
I still feel like a "baby Christian" who is learning what I can. I admit, I still am not as versed in my Bible as I should be but, when I'm reading it, and I stumble onto something that I question I try and research it. So far, everything seems to line up with what is known and widely accepted.
I have no intention of starting an argument, but couldn't you say such things about every religion?
If your mind is made up, then you're actually blocking out many truths that are right in front of you, because you've been conditioned to believe what they want you to believe. This goes for Any religion, but it also goes for so-called Non-religions. Just because there's no supernatural aspect doesn't mean that something like, say, science, does not have Devout Unquestioning followers that are a perfect force for the world's rulers to order around. All I see are a bunch of pointless arguments that are nothing more than a waste of time and a distraction from something More, something each of us is meant to experience that gives us a profound peace once we learn to let go of our presuppositions and have our minds willingly renewed.
No matter what, those in power will use whatever they can to control your minds so the body will follow, but deep down there is always your gut whispering to you that something is wrong, or that You might be wrong, or unknowingly misinformed. From what you've shared, the irrationality seems to be one example. Sure, we don't live in a time where superstition reigns supreme, yet rulers are Still attracted to the supernatural, but at the same time the ones in power can use an argument that sounds Perfectly Logical against you. That's how clever Evil is, and it feeds your pain by giving you what you want to hear so you'll be oblivious, or in denial, to the Truth, which is always Completely Different from what you were Taught it is. I believe everyone learns this the hard way once they see that the root of many problems lies within themselves, and yes, you've surely been hurt by other people amd entire institutions, but giving in and holding on to that hatred is just the easy way out isn't it?
It seems to me that people focused too much on Emotion for centuries to explain things they didn't understand, but now it's the other way around, focusing too much on Reason and relying on it to explain things that Can't be explained. Why do you think concepts like ☯ (yin yang) exist, where opposites with completely different natures (fire water, woman man, reason emotion, natural supernatural, etc.) somehow balance each other out.
You're not Supposed to rely on one over the other, because each is meant to guide you into the Whole Person you were meant to be, before whatever pain broke you. Emotion amd Reason guide each other in ways unique to their very natures, telling you that everything around you is a distraction, including the thoughts in your own mind, meant to steer you away from the Truth, and it's not until you're completely alone and broken that you'll start to see what's truly important in life, that there's something more, and saying 'it's all in your head' is just a cop out. You can either hold on to your anger, or realize that doing such a thing only leads to death and nothingness in the end. But if Death is an absolute, then how come so many live otherwise, and you can tell it's not them Escaping from their problems, but becoming stronger From their pain?
Let the anger go and ask whatever or whoever's out there to Know what's Real, and how you can heal, but be prepared, cuz you're Not going to like it. It doesn't matter to me what religion or non-religion you hail, because all of us Will go through this at some point and see what's truly meaningful and what isn't. If you've been hurt by others, then your anger is justified, but why not just give them the middle finger and show them you'll be better, that you refuse to be under their control? Those noble characters from around the world are the ones I admire, becoming stronger from the pain no matter who they are and using it to fight the evil they Know exists, no matter who calls them crazy, because They Know, they Lived it, and I find their words to be far more reliable and human than an isolated scholar who doesn't connect with ordinary people. Plus, what you think of them doesn't matter, cuz once they know what the Truth is, there's no going back. You can either give up and give in, or show that you refuse to comply.
I was a stripper…its funny that you said in the article Christians judge and don't have friendships with non-Christians… I was inside working in a strip club and these ladies started coming right before we opened at night… they brought us food and just started talking to us…thet didn't say anything about God to us or preach that we were going to hell it's was so strange to me having heard of God from family, even though I was working I didn't feel like they were condemning us…like they just would come once a week bring food and talk … One lady I started talking too ask me my birthday and she ask about my family … She was genuinely being a friend … She gave me a book called redeeming love about a prostitute and a guy who pursued her even when she ran away from him and cheated on him he kept pursuing her! …this was a story they adapted from Hosea in the Bible, I'm not here to argue science or religion, but this book made me open a Bible with no judgement! These ladies never made me think they hated me … If anything it was nice to be able to express and be friends with her because I told her what I went through in my life. She actually cared and was such a light in my life of hurt were I had felt rejection didn't feel loved by my father had horrible relationships …she just listened …she just said I wish I could have been your mom! I learned that this Lady was a Christian! I was having a horrible day and I was working at the strip club one night …and this is why and when I actually believed in God, not because of some scientists or religious preaching… But because when I was having this horrible ( I use to cuss a lot I would have called it a sh!t day!) Something inside me decided to pray to God, I said God I don't want to so this anymore…that was pretty much what I prayed then I didn't realize it but I had had said I didn't want to do this anymore and a guy heard me and offered me to come apply for a job… That could not have been a coincidence at all everything inside my mind just was amazed because that's when God became real…he was there answering the prayer of a stripper inside the opposite of a church! He is not some statue people rub his belly or some necklace you buy and wear …i experienced God actually listening and answering and changing my inner turmoil…like the day was crap…how did I after this feel peace after anxiety attack after anxiety attack… My self esteem and value all that he started changing … Ever hear the saying sweating like a hore in church…i was so scared to go to church! But just because someone goes to church doesn't mean they exactly know God…I think because the love and friendship of this Lady I started to wonder if God was real …i had been exposed to God as a kid…i didn't grow up under a rock…but this was not the last time …it was just the beginning of what he was doing… Kindness of God is real …im not a stripper now … I haven't been for six years… I really started trying to read the Bible in fact at first I was watching a movie called flywheel that was opening up some really cool stuff I didn't know…tbis movie is pretty much about a car salesman …i read the new testament and bought the movie the gospel of John… I put it in and was cleaning my house just listening while cleaning…i literally felt God stopped cleaning and started busting into tears… It was amazing…like I knew these words I couldn't understand how they resonated so deeply inside its like the exact things I needed to hear! God was talking to me…no doubt in my mind! Was the coolest thing ever! It's why I love John (the book in Bible) so much!
Cassandra, thank you for sharing your testimony and how God has moved in your life through developing a friendship! Do you and this woman still keep in touch? If you liked Flywheel, I think you would love War Room. Same creators and producers. They are brothers…you should read their testimony some time 🙂
God works in strange ways so we should never underestimate his power and how he can use people to reach him. We all need him and he loves us. It may not be easy, but he will never leave us but only help us get through whatever we face. So glad you turned to God…..
Many people do not look closely at the evidence that Jesus was real and walked this Earth in history just as others such as Ceasar, Aristotle etc. If people REALLY want to know if this Jesus is real and did all these things he is supposed to have done, they would research this as if their life depended on it….and it does. Most have their minds made up and will not/do not want the truth. We are all imperfect and need a "crutch" as some say….Jesus/God is perfect and if he is real, I would want to know it. We are so full of fear that we cannot accept that there could be a supernatural creator, but we continue to go through life with no hope. If this God stuff is crazy and too good to be true, I would want to know that before I poo pooed it away….way too important
I have been a Christian for almost 30 years now and before I became a Christian I experienced such things and since I had become a Christian I have experienced such things. Either those people that practice such methods in sharing their faith are very immature in their walk or they really haven't connected to God and Christ Jesus. It is sad because it affects non-believers in a negative way.
What if I told you that belief was the least important part of making a disciple? What if I told you that what ignites the fire is only Love?
hmm, this judging issue is slippery bird. It is not my experience at all that Christians are generally judgmental. Just because we get accused of it by unbelievers does not make it so. To judge just means to distinguish between two things, and we are told to judge rightly (John 7v24). And to have nothing to do with the deeds of darkness but rather expose them (Eph 5v11). We should be saying that some things are right and some things are wrong. But we shouldn't do that self rightously bur rather humbly and pointing to the cross. My experience with a lot of the gay community, for example, has been that they reject me because I cannot say that how they are living is right. This is at the same time that I say that I am miles from perfect, and that its not really any of my business what they do, and I still love and accept them. But still accused of being judgmental because I cannot agree with them. And I am not the one who usually brings the subject up.
Some more discernment here needed I think. We are not called to win a popularity contest, but to live and share the gospel. And people are not going to always like that no matter how humbly, or inoffensively we try to do that. So, I am cautious on this one. I think the church gets bashed too much from the outside for people no the inside to uncritically also bash it. This is the body of Christ.
What a powerful article!
God bless you abundantly.
Looking forward to read such power-filled articles in the future.
It sounds like you are trying to hold non-Christians to a godly standard based on your comment of the gay community. That IS the problem. They are not Christ followers yet. They can't and shouldn't be held to any standard that has to do with God. Once they surrender in salvation, that is a different story. They probably don't accept you because you are telling them their lifestyle is wrong based ion biblical truth. They don't care about biblical truth if they are not a believer. Just build a relationship and genuinely care for everyone like Jesus did, with no agenda.
I seriously doubt there's anything wrong with two guys falling in love and living committed lives to each other. Christianity will never throw off the just label of being judgmental hypocrites until they stop demanding lifelong celibacy and loneliness from people who weren't created for it. The world sees that, correctly, as hate, whatever the motivation. The Bible was used recently to justify not recognizing interracial marriages too.
Well put!
If we put things into perspective of what would Jesus do…and we should, we would see that he accepted all people and counseled them without judgement. He will judge people in the end. Christians are called to be "salt and light" in this world but never to judge. We are all imperfect and should do our best to genuinely help each other in life. Pray each day that we may be good servants in this area…..God will help us do it
Well said. We, in Covenant with God through Jesus Christ, are not to be fools. There is indeed sinful behavior that has to be called sin. From reading the Bible it seems that Matthew 7 is saying that we are to clean up our own act first THEN we will be able to help others clean up theirs! Our goal, should always be, in revealing others Biblical sins is to set them free from sin and death. That's love and humility on our part hands down! NOT beat them to death! Look and read the two book ends of this very issue in the Scripture AFTER the famous John 3:16. Here is the eye opener to what the Savior's purpose was which makes it OUR purpose as followers of the One leading the Way. John 3:17 (NKJV) "For God did not send His Son into the world to CONDEMN the world, but that the world through Him might be SAVED. Yes, we can love others with the TRUTH of what sin is. Only "The Truth sets us and them FREE! Just do it, just reveal, just inform, just speak it with the goal of sinners potential salvation (saved = 3:17) in mind. Carefully examine yourself first only then speak in a loving way with salvation as your goal. Pray before AND AS you speak. You cannot do this on your own nor are you suppose to. It is God that does the calling. Therefore plant, water, and let Him give the increase. Finally, do not throw your pearls before swine. That is another variable for another time but always be aware there are some people that will not be saved, there just is.
Yes….we are vessels to be used and can be used in mighty ways…never doubt that. We do have to be careful regarding judging but we never know how the unbeliever will receive our message but if we allow God to work in us it is the right way…
thank you for defending the Word against these evil demons
FINALLY!!!! I am so thankful to our Lord for revealing to me that others are being awakened! Also, it so refreshing to read an actual beneficial discussion…rather than that "Oh yeah?" thing that has permeated this discussion. Ian, and to some extent Kat, you have cast a light through the cloud of deception that has stagnated the Way of Christ. Most professed Christians of today appear to have joined "club Christian" rather than enter into a relationship with our Lord. Most are guided by human intellect contrived teachings rather than guided to the truth of God by the Holy Spirit. I sincerely pray our Lord continues to open the eyes of your heart!
I google why do I feel alone? I am struggling really hard with family. I believe in christ, I believe in the calvary, its so many are not believing in Jesus christ, they feel we have been lied too, they feel the bible has been changed, they feel that the african american people you guys took away our freedom, of which in a sense we were enslaved, two what we've been taught about Jesus that is not his name, its been changed. We are the chosen people. I see how we are treated, my faith in christ, I believe, I do agree it may have been changed over time.. I still believe he was born of virgin mary, he walked this earth, he died on the christ that we may have eternal life. I know that I have sin, I am born in sin. I repent, but! Others can't except my past, is true but! Who I am wanting God to be within me now, My grown adults have been fighting against me, they don't see there blatant disrespect is wrong. I am being called out my name.. I feel that I am being overwhelmed. I don't feel the holy ghost? I feel I am loosing this battle, all I want is to feel christ..
My family is always fighting. I have a son that I am reading the bible too, i quit my job, to take care of my mother, with medium moderate alzkeimers.
Its been really over whelming. I need prayer for strength.. I feel I am being attacked, when I say how I feel, not others how I feel… What can I do?
You have a lot going on. I cannot imagine the intensity of your burden. I ask you to find a quiet moment…even if it's in the bathroom. Tell God that you are weary and that you need Him to take over the battle…then let Him have the battle. Lay aside anything that others have confused you with concerning God and pray for God to reveal Himself and His ways to you. Then trust Him. Isaiah 30:15 says, "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength." Rest in Christ and trust the Holy Spirit to open your heart to receive Light. I sincerely pray that our Lord helps you to see the truth of how much He loves you and desires you to know Him…right now, as you are! God bless!
Wow Laquita, you have a lot going on. You show much courage in reaching out to read words of wisdom, and to ask for help. Jim's reply is very helpful.
Remember God is 'the God who hears' and the One who cares so tenderly for you and for your family. I encourage you to continue to tell Him your needs, and then thank Him that He is the answer, that He is the God who hears – and cares. He delights in you.
I pray you will know His guidance and that you will feel His Presence in this day. Love, Susan
You sound very overwhelmed, and I would be too if I were in your shoes. I would recommend that you join a support group for people who are caretakers for individuals who are suffering from Alzheimers and possibly some talk therapy with a licensed professional. Secondly and equally importantly, one doesn't need to "feel" Christ within them for him to be there. Everywhere you are, there he is, be you in a dark back ally or on bended knee in the front pew of a Church. Live a good life, an honest life, a noble life, an ethical life, and leave sinners for God's Holy Spirit to work on. Be as patient with yourself and with your humanity as God is. As for others, let the way you live YOUR life be the Gospel that you preach. The most beautiful witness is the way we move through this world, not the words or quoted scriptures or the admonitions to repent that we impose upon others. No one wants to be preached to. No one.
Good. Please keep god and all of his pathetic followers away
Great topic!
I would like to say that I became a Christian at the age of 5 and I fully understood what it was and sensed the warmth of Holy Spirit hovering over me as I made the decision to accept Jesus into my heart. In those days I attended a church that had strong views which I now consider judgemental.
Through the years, I have made many mistakes which landed me in prayer asking forgiveness for decisions which I learned were not pleasing to the Lord. I worked in the church starting very young, married a man of like beliefs and raised 3 beautiful children, and now have grandchildren.
Judging others does come out of insecurities, and many times I have asked forgiveness of others as well as God for this terrible sin. Yes, I do believe it sucks the very life out of any Christian, and does place a wall between believers and nonbelievers!
In my profession, I often become friends with nonbelievers. I learned through the years that I didn't truly understand His love for me, and that because of this missing element within me, some were turned away from me, though I wasn't verbal about my faith at work. I allowed the Holy Spirit to work inside of my mind, will, and emotions, and he has continually strengthened my understanding about his love for me, and for each and every person in this world.
This made a huge difference in the way I think about myself, and I consistently ask the Holy Spirit to keep working with me to understand HIS love for humanity! It's interesting, the more love I demonstrate toward nonbelievers, the more they are drawn to me, asking me about what is different about me. Now, I fully understand the grace of God and walk humbly before him every day. It's amazing how love is the missing element within the hearts of every person!
Love is contagious and is the only way of truly being friends with anyone. Then the scripture comes to mind (as I paraphrase) They will know you are Christians by your Love! The original text means agape love!!
I had read something the other day about a celebrity who I often enjoyed watching on screen, and she recently came out as Hindu. My appetite for research got the better of me, and after a few days of finding more and more negative information about her, I started to comment on a post about 25 years after a movie, where all the starring cast were being interviewed.
Before I knew it, I was criticizing everything about her choices and how she took her husband away from his wife… I stopped abruptly and began to cry, asking God to forgive me for allowing all this trash into my heart. I did NOT post the comment. Then I went back to God and have started to pray for this celebrity asking that He will bring laborers into her path, and the scales fall from her eyes so she can be drawn by the everlasting love of God!
It's so easy in today's culture to be pulled into judgment of others. I continue to ask Holy Spirit to hover over my heart and bring such seeds to nothing BEFORE they can harm one of the little ones that Jesus died to save!
Thank you for exposing your inner struggle. This is beneficial to others who are awakening to struggles as the Holy Spirit draws them away from the behaviors that have entered into spirituality from the human intellect. I would offer that I myself experience struggles with what the religion I was brought up in taught. Some years ago I let go of that religion and it's teachings and prayed that the Holy Spirit would guide me to all truth as promised in the scriptures. I feed on the scriptures daily (two chapters) without applying any interpretations allowing the Spirit to illuminate and reveal truth. It is the truth that sets us free to love one another as Christ loves us. (See John 8:31-32).
Wow, I had to skip over the comments 🤷🏼♀. Just wanted to say thanks for your insight. Keep sharing my friend ❤
Really enjoyed this article. I don't consider myself at all to be a Christian, but I am a strong believer for sure. The reason I don't call myself a Christian is because of the exact thing's that have been discussed. I can't call myself a Christian because I am not a follower of Christ, I am not obedient. I can't claim I am a follower just because I am a believer, even the Bible says that demons believe in God, so that tells me there's more to it than just believing. You can't just talk the talk, without walking the walk, and I say this of myself and no one Else. But I can see where non- believer's are coming from, especially when you see a lot of Christians sitting on their high horse and living no differently than a non- christian and claiming to be a follower of Christ all because they believe his word , but fail to follow it. Judgement is a hard thing to not do, because when we witness thing's that are skiddish ,our minds go to assuming and making judgements before we even realize that we are doing so. We all have faults, but I was thinking about baptism the other day and what it symbolizes. I was thinking as in marriage terms, but with God. When we say our vows in marriage , we are making a commitment to be faithful, and so much more. When we get baptized we are committed to God, saying we are going to be faithful to him as well. Saying that we're something and proving false to everything we claim to be, that makes people question is. Kind of like a husband that claims to love his wife, and his words are there ,but aren't in sync with his actions. So that's why I don't call myself a Christian, but the word's are there, but the action's are not and hopefully one day I will be able to put action's and words together.
Enjoyed your article!
Thanks for the sensible critique. Me & my neighbor were
just preparing to do a little research on this. We got a grab a book from our
local library but I think I learned more clear from this post.
I'm very glad to see such fantastic info being shared freely out there.
1) Judgement – The problem with Christians is that they tend to judge the non-Christian and not their brothers in Christ. Which is opposite of what they should be doing. Non-Christians are not living by Gods rules so you cannot judge them by God's rules. Other Christians however are supposed to live by God's rules so we should judge each other and correct each other to help keep each other on the right path. The non-Christians should be shown love and compassion.
2) Hypocrisy – This will sound strange to hear, but everyone should be a hypocrite! Being a hypocrite is not necessarily wrong! Should an alcoholic push others to be drunks or should they tell others not to be like them? If someone has a problem they are struggling with, they should still tell others not to do it. It would be far worse of them to push something they know is wrong just because they cant help themselves. The problem isnt that Christians are hypocrites. The problem is the world expects Christians to be perfect and we are not. We are human too. We have problems. We have struggles. We make mistakes. Just like we are supposed to show compassion to others for their problems, we should be given compassion for our problems we are dealing with too.
With that said, the only hypocrites that are actually bad, are the ones who say they dont sin and tell others they are wrong for sinning.
3) Friendships – This is where you have this completely wrong. Christians are told by Jesus not to be a part of the world. We are not supposed to have close relationships with non-Christians and become to closely involved with non-believers. We are supposed to treat them with loving kindness, compassion and be their to help them when they ask. But our closest relationships should be with those who have the same beliefs. Because the deeper we get involved with the worldly, the easier it is to be dragged away from God. If you are already involved with someone who is not a Christian and you become one, then you have a hard road ahead of you. You need to stay true to them, love them, but you will need to be on guard not to be dragged into sin because of them. I had friends who were not Christians. I got my life right with God and they stopped wanting to hang with me. I let them go. If they ever need my help, I am there for them. If they ever need someone to talk to I am available. If they ever want to hang out, I am willing. But I will not do things with them that I believe is a sin and I will look to spend more time with someone who is of my belief than them. I will never push anyone away, but my relationship with Jesus comes first. My love for God is above everyone and anyone else.
That's not how it works. There are people who belief that selling drugs is not wrong and dont believe the law is right. So do we let the cartels be since we cant judge them on a law they dont ageee with? Not in reality you cant.
I always find it funny when a non Christian says that they dont like Christians because they are hypocrites and judge people. Um, just that statement alone is judge and being a hypocrite. You cant tell someone accept me for me but I dont have to accept you. Just look how gays are, if you cant except my beliefs (even tho theirs are already proven to be false) then you are a bigot but yet it's ok to hate God, Christians or anything moral. Lastly, judging and the truth gets confused. Telling the truth is not judging.
You have some good arguments.
Lead by example. Actions speak louder than words.
Don't judge, lest ye be judged.
None of us have a choice but to be a part of this world. It is called a quagmire or a quandary. Why?
You become part of your surroundings whether you like it or not. It isn't as simple as, let us do not engage in immoral behavior. You can only be a non part of this world if you take off to some far away uninhabited land and live off the earth as the Native Americans did. Even they had to kill animals for sustenance and later on deal with living peaceably with new comers onto the land. And that has never ended well anywhere on this earth.
Our challenge is in changing that. You say to embrace that need as a not of the world type person. How do you be not of the world and simultaneously make it better than it is? Quagmire/Quandary.
i just my 2 cents of view. that you are projecting is emotional love which is i love him with all my love and my relationship with come come first. now the question is if your relationship with him is strong y aren't you projecting what he is projecting?
i am not a believer but what i know is love is selfless. i did had a argument with my friend forcing me to church and that last sentence is the same thing he said. And no way you can be drag away from him because he is not somewhere at a place. he is the world in everyone in heart. that how great love is i guess. how many humans in this world doesn't know jesus? but everyone in this world know what is love right? Different view of love bring different sights. So Non-Christian means? if they are more actively doing good deeds and because you dont mix with them makes you greater in a sense?
My answer is God is love and Love is god . So someone that is not believer is spreading his kind of love and being look at differently makes me feel what are people preaching now a days. While you are in church receiving love , i am spreading love to anyone who needs help regardless of race or religion. And yet telling me he could not be close with a non believer.
So whats the different is god is love not Jesus is love. That is the different. Any one who can give love selflessly to the community is a higher being in regards of any religious . love is god is by spreading true love that god has to every corner giving without being name is love. His love is so great but being projected through people seems so small. we are one human race. his love to all beings is equal get it? Don t preach his love in a narrow mindset would really help. human loves to divide everything up and get sense of belonging. what makes you so great if you are to only go receive love and believe you are greater then people outside giving love doing what he preach? i dont know what is in the bible but i know how a human should behave. one of them is i tell myself if i see charity drive asking for donation for medicine i would empty my whole wallet every time fate link us up. i dont care if i get rewarded anot it does not matter as long as the sick get its help. cash on me sometime can be 1-2k at times . And my pay is not high but i know whats giving. how it feel to be helpless. if the love for him is so great please dont sit in there. We have more then enough people sitting down and teaching people how love should be but take his love and let it shine for the humanity of this world.
everything i said is in my point of view with no harm intended. sorry in advance if i offended anyone . Have a happy day ahead .
This is a good qualifying statement/comment about the friendship segment of this post. Yes, Jesus extended himself to befriend very worldly people. But he was Jesus! In allowing our daughter to be a "best friend" with someone we knew had been through some horrible childhood trauma, we inadvertently exposed our sweet, innocent child to almost everything that this broken young girl had been exposed to by her derelict parents. The scary part was that this girl knew how to walk and talk "christianese" and together they covered up a couple years of downward spiraling into cutting, drugs, and promiscuity. Satan is a jerk for sure, and is willing to take the weakest of the flock and devour them quickly.
I think the point that is being made is not that we should seek out non-christians to marry, to be our mentors, or our business partners. However, if we don't have any quality meaningful interactions with people that are non-christians, then we really aren't fulfilling the commission to go into all the world, or even to take care of the widows, orphans, homeless.
Yes, Jesus hung out with Mary Magdalene, but I don't think Jesus would have counseled Mary Magdalene to go spend time with extremely wealthy men with sexual addictions at the annual pagan fertility gala dressed in culturally provocative attire so she could truly be a friend and be relatable to the patrons when she came from a life of prostitution. However there are many other people she could interact with, that wouldn't expose her to old habits or behaviors that might entrap her. At the same time, who is there more effective at confronting and being a true friend to a drug addict, or sex addict, then a former addict who knows the ropes, knows how to hold others accountable, and knows how to treat them with true dignity and tough love.
Moral of the story: I personally think it's a "yes… and!" Yes Jesus commands us to go into all the world which includes all the world, and we need to be on guard against the tactics of Satan.
So, the point is well-taken… YES, we need to do a better job of not limiting our interactions to the interior walls of the church, AND, let's be careful as we recommend this solution for others, that we also be well aware of Satan's schemes to kill steal and destroy the weakest brother or sister in our families and churches. That's why we need the Holy Spirit to provide discernment and wisdom, and we need to teach newbies how to listen and test the spirits to confirm the truth.
The best point made in this article is that we as Christians have to get better at this humility thing. The older I grow the more I realize how little I know. God help us all, and help our next generations learn (from our mistakes) to walk in humility before they have to experience the humiliation that generations before them have had to walk through as a result of our pride.
Good comments…questionable article. Here's a thought, while I greatly dislike non-Christians citing snippets of verses, indicating quick "cut & paste" research, I greatly dislike Christians that haven't read the Bible in its entirety, front to back, in the order presented, in a daily fashion, with lots of accompanying thoughts and prayers along the way.
Regarding judging, Christ didn't say not to judge (judge not lest you be judge)…another partial verse intentionally subverting the true context. He said, "judge not lest you be judged, for by the standard of judgment you use will you also be judged by". Kind of like the oft misquoted verse, "money is the root of all evil", no sir, it's "the LOVE of money is the root of all evil".
And regarding Jesus as a cool guy (my words, your implication), when confronted by those who condemned Jesus for breaking bread with tax collectors, prostitutes, and the like, He said that he didn't coming to heal the healthy; implying those he associated with needing healing, a change to be brought about, that what they did was displeasing to God.
I don't agree with the teachings of Islam, or Mormonism for that matter. But I read the Quran as well as the the Book of Mormon (also Pearls of Great Price and Doctrines of the Covenant) in their entirety. After that I am able to "discuss" Christianity in the manner laid out through the teachings of Christ and His disciples (including Paul), and present the Gospel (the good news). But know this…God gave man free will. They choose freely…and then one day (maybe) they stand before God and answer for that choice. Until my time is up, I am a non-judgmental friend to each I've spoken to, accepting Christ or not. To stand against anyone who chooses a different way to worship, a different god (or gods) to worship, or to recognize no god or religion, goes against that which my God allows…free will. We all will give an account. As the commercial says, "Choose wisely my friend".
Jesus would be very dissapointed in the shit they've pulled over the last 2000 years. If he even existed.
I don't hate them. They don't know any better. How can one expect an ignorant slave to suddenly deny what they've had crammed into their brain since day 1? How can one expect them to understand that they are reaping the result of nearly 1800 years of persecuting other people?
I was one of them. I also used to be full of hatred and anger when I learned the truth about Christianity. It's a waste of energy. Energy should be applied towards becoming your best self, and to not be a slave to a being who doesn't love you.
Just some thoughts.
You are one of those who blame Christianity for everything that is done wrong in the name of Christianity. Which tells me you never truly got to know God in the first place when you were claiming to be a Christian.
I was once screwed over by a black friend who stole my check and forged my name to cash it and left me with our two bedroom apartment and rent due and no money. If I was to blame all black people for this, I would be a racist and wrong. It is always wrong to blame an entire group for the actions of a few or the actions of others who falsely claim to be one.
There have been a lot of so called self proclaimed Christians who have done a lot of bad stuff through history, but just because they claim to be one, does not mean they are one. If someone is not living by what the Bible teaches, they are not a Christian. Jesus teaches to love and forgive. To help others. To be compassionate to others and to respect others. If you do not do those things, it doesnt matter how much you claim to be a Christian, you are not one and it is just as wrong to hold Christianity responsible for the actions of the false Christians as it is to commit the sins in the name of Jesus.
There are far more pseudo-christians than there are true Christians and its the true Christians who are taking the blame for their actions.
If you were truly a Christian at one time, you would understand that.
I don't know if I completely agree with that. Only God knows the heart of every man and every woman, so only He knows who is one of His true followers or not, and it is very possible that the so called 'pseudo Christians' you speak of may just be beginning their relationship. Anyways, like I said, I don't know if I agree with what you claim or not, and the reason I don't know is because of also what I said, only God really knows all of that, so I cannot claim to know for sure. But if the pseudo Christians are just beginning their walk and relationship with Christ, we need to give them the same love and grace that Chrisr has given us. We might be falsely accused of being certain ways because of young Christians just like people who claim to be and are not. But we must bear that cross with Christ.
Gentleman, care to explain what's so awful about what I said?
Your name isn't very fitting for you. Maybe you have some growing up to do.
John 15 tells us that the world hated Jesus first and it will hate us too, if we belonged to it it would love us. Do you read the Bible, or are you just like every pastor in America " God is Love" "judgemental christians bad" seems like you're just concerned about people liking you and hearing a feel good message as opposed to how rough the life of a follower of Christ is. God has much more depth than love, but I guess that's the mantra we will stick to to put people in the pews.
The problem with that philosophy is where and how do you draw that big red line between "the world" and "followers of Christ". HE was not only the Son of God, but the Son of Man. How are you going to spread the Word if you assume all of the world (including those who have not been Saved yet but long to) "hates" you. Even if that were true…the sacrifice was made out of love. Don't throw the first stone, turn the other cheek…so on and so on. Look at who followed Jesus. Were they perfect? Were they all pure of worldly desires? No! And, it is the same for all of his children here and now. You don't have to like the sin to show love to the sinner. Let that love guide them to the word.
Also, those outside the faith aren't dumb. They know Christians stumble because of course we do! Judging people just pushes them farther away and gives the impression of a fake high standard that is impossible to fulfill.
It's a great post. More humility and love does good for both Christians and Nonbelievers alike.
If you don't know the difference between the world and followers of Christ, that should be a red flag.
I agree with Sandy. And particularly, I find more true followers of the Way in the world than I do in the so-called church.
It appears you have not had a near death experience or you would understand from truly knowing God is the maker and reason you know love in the first place. The Love and Peace felt is so much more magnificent unlike what you are capable of feeling on Earth. Downplaying Love is discounting Jesus and His Love for everyone.
My reply was to Bozes November 18 refuting "God is so much more than love."
Whoa, whoa, get out the way with that good inanrmftioo.
Fabulous, what a website it is! This weblog presents useful data to us, keep it up.
Introspection is a good word to look up. The KJV was translated by something like 52 scholars over a time of like 5 years. Other Bibles generally piggy back off it. The Noah Webster 1828 Noah Webster Dictionary would do everyone a benefit. Quit listening to words! Look them up. How many know what a reviler is?
Again so many try to mix cultural norms and expectations of society with the faith. Good flakes do such and like it. Be real.
Don't forget all scripture (which is meaning the old testament, but new testament) is good for reproof and doctrine.
Do a History of where the Bible New Testament was canonized! Hint, it was in the fourth century.
Look up the Didache and read it.
Find out who the Apostolic Fathers were and read their writings! Surprise, surprise, surprise, we have writings of those who followed after the apostles who your preacher didn t tell you about.
Perfect yourself, then you provide an image for others to be molded after if you reflect God (Galatians 5:24 on, which is by no means an exhaustive means of qualities).
Find a real support group, which church is supposed to be.
Thanks Robert!
im in a program that teaches us to practice good principles in all our affairs. ALL. i try to be consistent … practice not perfection . Anyway, it is easier.
i try to be the same to everybody. im not an overt salesman of what works for me – but i am aware that folks observe always
Have to say that my father is so good us all and he is the name, Jesus
Praise The Lord Jesus for this perspective which should be repeated and used to resusitate Followers Of Christ in newer generations. I learned this from studying my relatives 200 to 400 years ago. They were born together, they lived together (stayed in communication) and died together (buried together = buried in neighboring plots., and when they married they stayed in touch with all their new families.
"LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU". (John 13:34) This is the command of Jesus. I would dare to conclude that essentially, this command wraps up the whole Bible.
What would happen – If WE as Christ Followers would just do THIS ONE THING?
HARD by the YARD-but a CINCH by the INCH.
We can confess, repent and begin anew-with one person at a time. ..
Because our Lord does not change the human heart-He TRANSFORMS it. If our hearts are truly transformed in Christ, would there not be so many negative comments against Christ Followers on this thread?
Evidently Carey touched a nerve here because of the responses of so many who have encountered Christ Followers -and obiviously not in a way that exemplifies who we are supposed to be.
Are we talking the talk but not walking the walk?
Maybe it's time for us to make a visit to "Our Great Physician" (John 5:1-9) for a heart check. His office never closes and He makes house calls.
P.S.-I'm first in line.
Hi, Sorry for posting this as a comment but I see no other way. I subscribed to this thread but later decided I have too much to handle and and needed to cancell. However I still get heaps of email notifications from this thread eveny single day. It;s just extremely annpying. I have no wat to turn them off, I can't log in as I have no account anymore. I had sent emails and not had any reply. Can sombody please please stop sending me emails?
I'm in the same boat as you. You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave!
As a gay person and woman, I have never been welcome in your christian religion.
Now with christian support, the most corrupt inhumane "person" is president. Now christians have their big chance to install a christian taliban in the Uinted States.
This fact, proves everything I have known and experienced from christians my whole life, most are hypocritics. You are NOT love or kindness you are about POWER over others, discrimination, hate and disrespect. The bully you support, is YOUR reflection in the mirror.
What would your jesus do? I think his followers have shown me LOUD AND CLEAR.
Susanne, You are sadly confused as I once was also when I felt I was judged and not accepted by the church because of my many preferred ways of living my life. Things that I was drawn to that were outside of God's will. Like having sex with my boyfriend, lusting, drinking, swearing, the way I dressed to look as sexy as I was told by the culture that I should be to make men want me, telling lies, gossiping….it all came so naturally. How could it be wrong? Why were they judging me and telling me I had to change? Well the answer came to me when I began seeking what God Himself had to say about my life in His word the bible. And I learned that Jesus was judging me. He was telling me to come to Him and He would help me change. Matthew 11:28-30 and Isaiah 55:8-9
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the Lord.
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." And He would change my mind if I trusted in Him alone, let Him teach me His ways and cut off what the world wanted me to do and be. I found that I was denying Jesus by my lifestyle and self seeking. "But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven. 34Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to turn 'A man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, A man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'…"Matthew 10:33-36 It's tough stuff but its all true stuff. As the saying goes, he loves you yes. But he loves you too much to leave you the way you are. "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus replied. 44"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me—…John 6:43-45 …So unfortunately and predictably also, you are shooting the messengers here. Christians try to tell unbelievers the truth that can set them free but it's hard to hear, its scary and it does hurt. But it is more than worth it in the end if you push through that pain and fear and trust and follow Him. doctor who tells you that you need surgery to remove cancer that is killing you…is he unloving for telling you the truth that will save your life? Its the same idea my friend. "Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 then I will be found by you, declares the LORD, Jeremiah 29:12-14 May God bless you as you seek Him.
WOOOOW THAT WAS BEAUTIFULLY SAID. God trully blessed you and will bless everyone hearing you speak His Word.
Kellli, THANK YOU in the NAME OF Jesus. may our Gracious, Loving, and Merciful God bless you abundantly for these words of both CHALLENGE and ENCOURAGEMENT
Do you have a moment to talk about the Allfather?
Your "god" is a thoughtform.
I follow Jesus, not religious Chritianity. Your insights are right on. Even when Jesus walked this Earth, He could not get the folks following Him to understand He was not here to be a political leader. And His disciples did not even understand this on the night he was betrayed.
I share that to say something I share with my friends who don't follow Jesus because they have correctly made the same observations you have, please please please don't let the poor behavior of "Christians" negate the truth of Jesus being whom He said He is in your life.
I only disagree with your last sentrance. We have 4 different books written about the life of Jesus in the New Testament. I can promise you if you looked at the life of Jesus there, you would see a completely different picture of what Jesus would do.
From what I read in those books, Jesus would be hangout with and loving you. And from what I read in those books, Jesus would be chastising the religious bigots because they have missed the entire point of God in their lives and that their hearts are are played out daily in the very actions you have described.
Please please please don't let the foolish acts of religious Christianity define who Jesus is to you. He really does love you and pursues you relentlessly every day. And you can read His words and see how He acted anytime you like without any need of another person's thoughts on Him.
I bid you peace Susanne. While I am broken and make many mistakes too when it comes to representing Jesus in my life, I hope our paths cross someday. When they do, I will simply follow His command to love you (my neighbor) like I love myself. And we will just enjoy a moment without the awkward foolishness of everything you have seen from Christianity.
I have to agree. I must also add that what is completely ludicrous about Christians? "God blessed us by making us rich. He heard our prayers and deemed US for all intents and purposes, worthy OVER OTHERS to have lots of money." Give me a break!
Joyce, on the contrary, Jesus was teaching totaly OPOSITE from what your view about money and Christians is. PLEASE read this whole thing and i pray it will bless you.
Mark 10:17-31
The Rich Young Ruler
17 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
18 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
19 You know the commandments, 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'"
20 And he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up."
21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
22 But at these words [a]he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
23 And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, "How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!"
24 The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus *answered again and *said to them, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
26 They were even more astonished and said to Him, "[b]Then who can be saved?"
27 Looking at them, Jesus *said, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."
28 Peter began to say to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You."
29 Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake,
30 [c]but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in [d]the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.
31 But many who are first will be last, and the last, first."
The current "trend" about prosperity gospel is nothing but false teachings. God can careless about whatever you have in this world, yours SALVATION and eternal life by His side is the only thing that matters. Our minds can not comprehend the concept of eternity and therefore ppl say "it does not exist". He CLEARLY told us otherwise
Isaiah 55:8-9
8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord.
9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
I love you Joyce and He loves you even more.
Oh I AM NOT CLAIMING this outrageous phenomena! I'm saying I have heard many Christians state that God blesses them bc they prayed and prayed. It's egregious to claim you were given money bc somehow YOU were so special as to be blessed with riches. I don't BELIEVE what they profess. Sorry for the confusion.
God is the same today, tomorrow as he was yesterday. If you read the old testament, it is absolutely filled with God blessing people with riches on earth. In the new Testament God teaches us our riches will be in Heaven. So why the difference?
In the New Testament, those passages are not saying God wont bless you with riches on earth. They are basically pointing out that if we hold our money and material things above Jesus, we wont make it. God must come first.
Today God does still bless some people with money or power. Some people God keeps poor. I am one of those for the most part. lol But God will bless his faithful how He sees fit and He does not do it the same for everyone. If money is so important to you that you believe God doesnt bless you unless it is through money, then your heart is not in the right place with God. If you believe God will never bless anyone with riches, you havent read the old testament.
God has a plan. It is not our place to question Him on his choice of who he blesses with money or how he blesses us. Remember, God created us to serve Him. Not the other way around.
They're not paying attention. All they're going to do is spout off scripture and false promises, and they don't know any better. It's an automatic process not worth paying attention to.
Stay strong and free. You are not a slave. No true god needs servents.
There are a lot of so called Christians who do not live the teachings of Christ and give real Christianity a bad name. There are many more pseudo-christians than there are real Christians. Too many believe that just because they believe in Jesus and go to Church they are a Christian and its not true.
They are right when they say homosexuality is a sin. It is. So is a man having sex with a woman if they are not married. So is lying and many other things. We all sin. It is wrong to judge people for their sins. You as a homosexual are not evil. God does not hate you. God loves you. Any real Christian would show you love and kindness.
I have a step-daughter and a step-son who are both gay. I have made it clear to them that I love them very much and will always be there for them. At the same time I have made it clear that I do believe what they are doing is a sin and I will not condone it. It is no different than if someone gets into drugs. You dont cast them out because they are doing pot and you disagree with it. You should still love them but not condone what they are doing.
When it comes to church, I would show you the love of Christ and teach you what He has done for us. I will tell you homosexuality is a sin but that is something you will need to work out between you and God. We all have desires that are considered sinful and the closer we get to God, the less we desire sin. You can be gay and be a Christian. But you cannot be a practicing homosexual and believe it is okay with God. But again, that would be for you to determine how close you want to get to God because every sin we have in our lives will be like a brick in the wall between us and God.
I'm not sure what "religion" has rejected you but Christianity will always accept you and Jesus true followers of will never reject or not accept you. You were created by God and He has a purpose for your life. The Lord loves you and there is nothing that you can do to stop Him from loving you. Jesus came that you may have life more abundantly. He loves you more than you could ever imagine. He wants you to return to Him so that you can receive His Love, Agape Unconditional Love, and also give His Love to others. He wants you to Love him just as much as He loves you! He wants you to seek him and get to know him by reading His Word, The Holy Bible, and spending time with Him in prayer, and listening to His Voice.
It is my prayer that you listen to Him as He knocks on The door of your heart! Open it up and let Him come in.
I follow Jesus and am a bisexual man. He taught Love, nothing else. I follow Him, because He's God, and the Bible isn't. I'll be marching in August in the Pride Parade, because I believe Jesus wants me to support all hated and despised and oppressed people. He's the reason I rejected the hateful interpretations of the Bible and found peace with God and myself.
What would my Jesus do? March in Pride with me, and bless you with a wonderful woman who loves you as much as you love her.
I know I'm late to the game here, and I know others have already pointed out that these three things are minor. They don't differ much between Christians and Non-Christians. No, the biggest thing the rest of us despise are the attempts to strip us of our rights based on your religion. It's okay to hold Christians to those morals and beliefs, but using politics to try and strip our rights away (abortion, gay marriage,etc.) because of a religion we don't even believe in is abhorrent. I understand that you believe it is wrong, but belief doesn't constitute fact either on our end or yours. So let us live in peace and we'll do the same. We wouldn't have nearly as many problems with Christians if they didn't try to shove Christianity down our throats.
I'm also slightly alarmed that Christians actually think that those three reasons are big deals for us. They aren't even close.
I discovered this article online whilst researching something for work. Reading it was REALLY PAINFUL for me.
I spent many years at a religious school (Christian) where I was bullied dreadfully for not being the same religion. I learned whilst at that school as a child that so-called Christians can be bigoted, intolerant, cruel, bullying and unkind, which was a message that shocked me to the core and turned me off Christianity completely (I am now an atheist). I still suffer today as a result of the heartless treatment I received at school. It shocks me to think that people who called themselves Christians, and who included both adults and children, could be so horrible to an innocent child. Me. For that is what I was when the bullying started. A little child!
The things I was subjected to made me question if many people who claim to be Christian actually are Christian at all. Because their values do not seem to be much like those of true Christians. Where in the Bible does it preach hate, intolerance, racism, homophobia, criticism of foreigners and people who are of different faiths? I do not believe the Bible explicitly tells anyone to do these things. But these are ALL things to which I was subjected by people who called themselves Christians.
So, why do non-Christians struggle with Christians? Here I shall outline the treatment I was subjected to, and explain why it hurt so much, and why it turned me off Christianity. Perhaps in the reasons I give, people will recognise reasons why so many non-Christians struggle with so-called Christians;
1. Constantly trying to "convert" you – I cannot stand this. Personally, I accept that people have different beliefs, and that beliefs are personal to all of us. If somebody believes something different to me, that's fine. We are all allowed to believe what we like. The problem is when one person starts trying to force their beliefs onto another, which is what too many Christians try to do. They seem to think that EVERYONE should be made Christian, and that if you are not Christian, then they have a right to tell you that you are somehow "wrong" and "sinful". They never stop preaching at you, and trying to tell you to adopt their faith. I have even had people who I knew in the past reject my company because I refused to be "converted". This is deeply insulting. Am I not a good enough friend unless I convert to their beliefs? If not, then what does that say about our friendship? That it never really was a friendship? That they only spent time with me to try to "convert" me?
2. Acting arrogant and superior – so many of the people I knew who claimed to be Christian looked down on me because I was not. You could see it in their faces, and hear it in their talk. Added to this, they never shut up about how they were going to be "redeemed" because of "the grace of God", but non-Christians would "go to hell". I think this is an evil way of acting. It is basically telling oneself that one is better than others by being Christian. It is also prejudiced. How dare anyone say that another person "deserves to go to hell", for whatever reason. Wicked, truly wicked!
3. Spreading malicious gossip and rumours – this was one of the most hurtful things that the so-called Christians who I came into contact with did. The schools I attended, and the community I grew up in, were hotbeds of gossip, spread by so-called "caring Christians". Most of the gossips were older women, but some were men. They gossiped and spread nasty rumours about people they knew, many of whom were not Christian. Sometimes they gossiped about Christians, people who were in their own church. The gossip seemed mostly about salacious "tittle-tattle", and one-upmanship. They would spread rumours about people who they believed were gay, or divorced, or about women they said were "tarts", or about other things that they believed people were doing that they disapproved of. It never seemed to cross their minds that the things they said might not be true, or that saying this about a person might be harmful to that person. Indeed, they appeared to care very little – if at all – about the impact of their vicious gossip. Some of them even seemed to get a kick out of it. I know they gossiped about ME, because I HEARD IT. I was called a "Gippo" (which means gipsy) because my family had dark hair, eyes, and "swarthy" complexions. I was accused of "cheating" at school because I got higher grades than the gossipers' kids did. I was always called out as the "naughty" kid, even when I was not behaving badly – they seemed to justify doing this by making arguments that because I was not Christian, I would naturally be bad. They said nasty things, too, about my mother (because she suffered depression). I am shocked and disgusted to this day by the cruelty and insensitivity of the gossip that was spread by the so-called Christians I came into contact with.
4. They can be racist, sexist, homophobic, and prejudiced in many ways – I saw this on so many occasions. Firstly, the schools I went to were pretty much exclusively white, Christian attendees. There were only TWO black children in the WHOLE SCHOOL (that is a school of over 500 kids). Only 2 children out of over 500. That is clearly RACIST. And, what's more, children from ethnic minorities like this who attended the schools, were still expected to be Christian. In religious education classes at the schools they only ever taught about Christianity. Not Islam, or Buddhism, or Hinduism, etc. That is far too exclusive, and again reeks of racial intolerance. My own mother-in-law who is a Born Again Christian openly said to me that "Buddhists and non-believers will burn in hell because they haven't had the light of Christ"! Gays and lesbians were absolutely reviled in the community I grew up in, and these so-called Christians made openly hateful comments about them. I have heard them called "dirty", "sinful", "weird", "perverted" and other horrible names. Mixed-race marriage was frowned on, and I was educated to believe it was wrong because "it is hard to choose what religion a mixed-race child should be brought up with". Worst of all, many of the so-called Christians I was brought up around (including my mother-in-law) condemn ALL Moslems automatically believing they are terrorists. Not all Moslems are terrorists, just like not all Irish people are IRA! But these Christians will NOT believe this!
5. Intrusive and snooping, always noseying into other people's lives – this is something that went hand-in-hand with the unkind gossip. Many of the people in the so-called Christian community where I grew up were incredibly interfering. It was a community of "curtain twitchers", of people who constantly watched what everyone else was doing, what they had, how they dressed, what they earned, and so forth. I felt that you grew up endlessly subject to comparisons with others, whether you liked it or not. Why can these people not just learn to mind their own business? I hated the comparison of one person and his/her life to another. Especially because this often lead to gossip, much of which was not at all Christian-like in nature. The snooping seemed driven by envy and resentment. The people most likely to be gossiped about were usually non-Christian. Others might attract gossip because they had possessions, careers, clothes, wealth, looks, qualifications or something else that the snoopers and gossips themselves wanted, but did not have. So, if you were attractive, you got negative comments saying you were "vain" or "slutty". If you got high grades at school, the gossips said you were "snobby", "stuck up" or "a swot". If you were a career woman, the gossips accused you of being "selfish", or " a bad mother". If you had stylish clothes, they accused you of being "vain" or "image obsessed". What I find awful about this is that the people on the receiving end of the comments often had no idea what they had done wrong, or why others were so hostile to them, because they were just minding their own business living their lives. If the gossips had not been so busy poking their noses into other people's lives, they might never have noticed what others wore, earned, worked as, drove, etc… Christians need to learn to MIND THEIR OWN BUSINESS.
6. Being judgemental – this ties into being snooping, intrusive, and to being gossips. When these so-called Christians stick their noses into other people's business, and then gossip negatively about it, they are being judgemental. What gives them a right to judge? After all, they are only human, and are far from perfect themselves. This is what I find so off-putting. NOBODY is perfect. Sadly, too many of the Christians I met went around as though they WERE perfect, and thus had a right to judge other people and talk badly about them. The truth is that none of us can ever really know what another person's life is all about, or what it is like to live it. So, we have NO RIGHT TO JUDGE IT. We may know somebody is divorced, but not necessarily the full reason why. We may know somebody is gay, but not how they feel about having dared to admit this. We may know somebody is beautiful and fashionable, but not whether she is aware of this herself, or how much self-confidence she has… To judge people without knowing the full story is utterly WRONG and when Christians do it, it makes them seem very uncaring and fake. Like they are not real Christians at all. What gives anyone the right, for example, to gossip about a young woman and call her "vain" or "slutty" just because she is pretty and fashionable? THAT is being JUDGEMENTAL. Sadly, I saw this behaviour over and over and over in the Christians I came into contact with. It made me feel that far too many Christians have serious envy problems!
7. Hypocrisy – need I say anything more about this, because, after all, every example I have given above is one of hypocritical behaviour! If you call yourself Christian, and claim to be kind, loving, tolerant, caring etc. then how can you gossip, harbour prejudices, be judgemental, make comparisons, pry into other people's lives, envy other people, spread malicious rumours, and generally ostracise people who do not believe what you do?
8. Being show-offs – this is a REAL bugbear! I hated the way that many of the Christians in the community I grew up in would criticize other people and condemn them for being "stuck up" or "show offs". So, for example, if somebody said they preferred ballet and museums to bingo and bible reading, they would accuse the person of being "snooty". If a non-Christian did something nice like have a big fiftieth birthday party at a fancy restaurant, they would call it "stuck up". Heaven forbid that a Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Moslem, atheist or whatever had a big, swanky wedding ceremony! But when it came to what the Christians THEMSELVES were doing, it was ALL a huge show. many boasted about their enormous, expensive church weddings. My sister-in-law was like this, showing off about how much her wedding dress cost, how many bridesmaids and ushers she had, how many guests she had. I know of NOBODY quite like CHRISTIANS for showing off how much their wedding cost, and how big it was! They also liked to show off when they got engaged, show off if they got a raise at work, show off if they had kids, show off if they went to college, show off at birthday or anniversary parties… but if a non-Christian did this, they would criticize them! Another example of HYPOCRISY!
9. Moaning and whinging – many of the Christians I have met never seem to stop doing this. Especially they older generation. They moan about illnesses, aches and pains. They moan about young people, loud music, music videos, films. They moan about Punks, Goths, Emos, Hip-Hop, Rap, Heavy Metal. They moan about the people they gossip about. They moan about divorce, homosexuality, mixed-race marriage, birth control, abortion, Islamic terrorists… They moan about absolutely anything they apparently can think of to moan about. Including the fact that they moan about nobody coming to church any more. No wonder nobody wants to come to church any more! Why would anyone want to spend time around a bunch of moaners? Stop grousing and get on with living your lives!
10. A huge sense of entitlement – this one really stinks! First off, they seem to think they are entitled to preach at everyone they meet, and try to "convert" them. They also seem to think they are entitled to foist their views onto everyone else, and they are entitled to believe that their views are automatically right, and should thus be the only views. Rather than accepting that people live differently, they condemn those who do not live lives exactly like their own. They also seem to think that people should just "fall into step" with their beliefs and their lives, without questioning. I can give examples of this. Such as, many of the Christians I know believe that boys are superior to girls and so they treat children accordingly. This, in my eyes, is wrong. As an extension of this, many (including my mother-in-law) believe that women should not work, but should instead be housewives and stay-at-home mothers. Rather than accept this is not what all women want, they try to force it on them, by criticizing and guilt-tripping. I have had this done to me. I have been labelled "selfish" for wanting an education and a career. I have also heard gossip inferring that I "must be a lesbian" because I have not had children yet, despite being married! Many older Christians in the community where I live seem to think the are entitled to demand that family members give up their own lives to care for them as they age. Again, my mother-in-law is a dreadful example of this. She KNOWS my husband and I work, are busy, need privacy etc. but insists on asking us to walk her dog for her, run errands for her, help about the house for her, do shopping for her… She does not seem to care that her demands are intrusive and sometimes inconvenient. If we say we are busy, or cannot do something, she plays the "poor me" game and tries to use guilt to force us to do it anyway. She will even go to the extent of gossiping to other people about how "uncaring" and "neglectful" we are, despite all that we have done for her. Sometimes, she will claim that because we are refusing to do something for her we "are making her ill" or "will give her a heart attack". She always uses complaints about her aches and pains, and her age, to try to make us feel sorry for her so that we will give up our time to do thins for her. On one occasion (and this is a TRUE example, as were ALL my others) she fainted in church, and I received a phone call demanding that my husband and I go round to her house to look after her. I responded by saying that I was due to go into Hospital the next day for SURGERY (I have a long-term condition, Endometriosis, which causes pain, fatigue, swelling and affects my mobility and digestion). Do you want to know the response? It was to say that Endometriosis (and the surgery I was due to have) was "trivial" (the EXACT word used) and to infer that irrespective, my husband and I should still go look after my mother-in-law. If THAT is not the most narcissistic sense of entitlement ever, tell me what is!
These, and probably far more, are things that Christians do that non-Christians despise. I have had them all done to me personally, so I can tell you first-hand just how offensive and hurtful such things are. After seeing Christians behaving this way, is there any wonder that I am an atheist? This is not to say that I inherently hate religion(s). Rather, it is to say that I find that many people who profess to being religious, do not act it. The sad thing about Christianity is that far too many so-called Christians let it down. I thought there was a saying "practice what you preach"? From what I have seen, Christians are not very good at this.
I'm just curious by what standard does one who is atheist judge someone else for what they believe? You said you thought Christians behave in evil ways…what is evil when you don't believe in God? What is your standard?
Here's a quick test you can do:
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ." – Ephesians 6:5
Did this text inspire you to support slavery? If you answered 'No', then congratulations: you've just proven two things. 1) You're not a monster. 2) Your morality is based on sources other than the Bible, in this case, probably empathy.
You might want to look into the true depth of what a slave is in the Bible times. They were nothing like what we think of them today.
I couldn't have said it better.
Stay strong.
You might want to look up homosexual too.
A. Thiest,
I am sorry to hear of your pain. I humbly urge [not command or demand] you to change your focus. Those superficial surface Christians who attacked and pressured you are in truth merely misguided seekers not of God but of belonging. The organized religious arena, which is not guided by the Holy Spirit, utilizes disguised legalisms to draw the misguided in and once they have a sense of "belonging" command them to use their legalisms as a sword to attack those designated as "not acceptable". Focus on what the scriptures reveal in Christ…never mind the paranoid Christiophrenics who are but humans. God is not a Christian…He is love.
You were so much closer to being right early on in your comments. You mentioned that you questioned if they were even real Christians because they were not living by the rules it teaches in the Bible. That was dead on.
There are millions and millions of people claiming to be Christian. There are so few who are true Christians. The world and many so called Christians, believe that if you go to church, read the bible, and believe in Jesus, you are a Christian. Not even close. You can say a few words and claim to be a Christian but that doesnt make you a Christian any more than if I was to put on a helmet and run around with a football would make me a professional athlete. A true Christian LIVES by the teachings of Jesus. They strive every day to get closer to Christ and the closer they get the more like him they will become. They struggle with sin but they try hard to deny sin and always are asking God to forgive them for their sins. They love their neighbor!
But there are so many who claim it, but dont live it that it gives the world a bad image of Christianity. And unfortunately turns many who would be Christian away. But just because humans with our sinful nature dont live up to the teachings of Christ, does not prove God is not real. It only proves that the devil is just as real.
eh, that sounds rather arrogant and presumptuous to say those other christians arent real christians. Might sound like youre the fake christian, along with all the other christians making such condescending remarks. Oops. looks like i just judged the whole belief system as full of arrogant twits that probably shoudnt tell non christians theyre evil when they didnt bother to clean their own mirrors properly.
You're exactly right. I have observed all of these same behaviors myself. And I would add one more. Protestant as well as Catholic Christian churches have a serious problem with sexual harassment and sexual abuse. You don't have to take my word for it. The hierarchical worldview that those churches have, which is God>Man>Woman>Child>The Planet in descending order, leads to a perception that some people are far more worthy than others. The sad result can be seen if you go to Twitter and look at #churchtoo. You can also check out #exvangelical where stories get shared about why young people, in particular, are leaving the church. They've got excellent reasons.
I could give you a list of what drives people crazy about Christians. The 3 given are decently minor.
1. Judging: Yep, Christians certainly do that, and they love to roll their eyes at my tattered jeans and my wife's belly shirts or short shorts. But here is the biggest issue, the judgement of Christians not as a personal attack but as a broad attack. A hurricane goes through and lives are devastated. Instead of reaching out to help the victims, you go online and find Christians almost praising their god for wiping out the 'wicked and unjust'. How does that say 'love'.
2. Arrogance: This kind of goes along with judging, but it's also very different. Christians believe they know the truth, the absolute truth that doesn't change. Which is understandable given what you believe and how it's taught. But that doesn't mean it's seen as any less self-righteous. When people say that "God's word trumps the Constitution" there are BIG reasons to be concerned for everyone else. How could we ever trust Christians to run the country? They can't even agree on what the Bible tells them. And what if you get the ones who think the Old Testament ways should be followed? If you don't think there are messed up commands from God in there… Christianity is only obviously the real religion to Christians. Just as any other religious person would say the same. The difference here…. I can't name any other religion that is trying so hard to impose itself on the Nation.
3. Faith-healing: This one kills me. Idaho has multiple child deaths every year because of Churches who practice faith-healing. IF God were powerful and listened to prayers… why does he allow these children to die? Especially because these families, who won't take their children to the hospital, are just waiting to tell the world of the miraculous healing that happened. My wife was a very devout Christian through her teens, and though she went to church with her step-mom when I initially met her, she stopped by the time we were married. At first I thought it was my fault, and while I'd not like my kids to be raised in an environment that can be toxic, I felt bad she'd lost faith. But then she told me why. She has extreme anxiety, and she was told to pray for it and believe God would heal her of it. Nope, God never did. And their answer was she didn't have enough faith. Aside from that, she had the desire to be a pastor, and well… because she wasn't born with a penis.
4. Prosperity Preachers: Not much individual Christians can do here aside from make sure the world knows they don't agree with them. But… I've known Christians who will defend these multi-million dollar 'leaders' to the end. "I have 3 jets, but I need another because this jet doesn't get me there in one stop." "I can't take public transportation because I don't want to be around all those demons."
5. Hijacking: Christians claim that America was founded by Christians and is a Christian Nation. This simply isn't so. Christians will 'fight for America' as long as America puts their god in schools and puts their commandments (why are the 10 commandments the only thing that survived of all the commandments in the Old Testament?) in courthouses. Christians would have a fit if Muslims tried to put their stuff in Court Houses but expect special treatment in the same motion.
Conclusion: Try all you want, but the excuses Atheists/non-christian's give are not really the reasons they stay away. These are more the symptoms we see to a bigger issue. The issue being that we simply cannot see the Christian faith as anything more than a myth that survived long past it's usefulness.
I agree. What urks me, is that Christians don't understand that there are over 600 Commandments they have distilled them down to basically a glossary of terms by making them only 10. And most don't even keep the 10 that they have. Just today I heard a Christian lawmaker say on television that we're going to get rid of abortion so you ladies better get your coat hangers. And this is not the only time I've heard things like this. These people don't even follow what Christ told them to do they are counterfeit. They are politicians. And they are false prophets. The ones on TV that are trying to represent all of Christendom are just that they are representing Christendom and in a bad light. It will not take long before they get what they want persecution. But it will be a persecution not because of their faith. It will be a persecution for their evil actions.
Stephen, actually the 10 commandments you mention are part of the covenant God had with Israel, also known as the "Old Testament." They were important to first century Jews, but don't apply to 21st century Christ followers in the same way. When Jesus came to the world things changed. He gave us only two commands. Rules to live by, if you will. Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love one another. That's it. Jesus death and resurrection completed the old covenant and established a new one with the world . . . the WHOLE world and everyone in it and it's based on those two commands. Mother Theresa is the only person that comes to mind who even came close to getting both of them right. One person out of millions and millions. Guess that is a testimony of how hard it is.
Following Christ won't make anyone perfect, and I too wish people who claim to be "Christian" would stop doing the things you correctly call them out for. I do believe following Christ will make your life better, and make you better at life. Thanks for your honesty and candor.
I am just saying you guys are saying Christians are so judgmental but you guys are JUDGING Christians. Also not all Christians are bad some people say they're Christians but they aren't. SO PLEASE STOP JUDGING CHRISTIANS.
We didn't start this, Christian's did. It sucks to be judged! If Christian's were non-judgmental (following their own rules they preach) from the start, we would never say anything. Your response was that of a typical Christian "victim." Funny how, even though we don'tt start it, we are never allowed to be the victim's of Christian's. That "tolorate my intolerance" mentality – is pure garbage.
I am at a loss as to which is worse. An anti-Christian professed gay person who has no idea what he is talking about or responding professed Christians who have no idea what they are talking about. What a mess religion has created!
4. Acting like you have all the answers – when you know exactly how much the rest of us know, which is nothing.