Does God Feel Like Me?

[John Hyperspace]

This is what Christianity sounds like to me:

"I know what the bible means!" "You are a false teacher!" "Holy holy holy like me!" "Sinner!" "Jesus will kill you!" "That's not Jesus!" "I know what He means when He says that!" "Heresy!" "You are a cult!" "I am the perfection!" "God said it!" "He did not mean it that way!" "You reject the bible!" "You will perish in flame!" "Trust me I know!" "You know nothing!" "Cult!" "That is not the right way!" "Heresy!" "What I say is obviously the bible!" "Sinners will burn!" "Love God!" "Fear Him!" "Hope!" "Vanity!" "My church is truth!" "False!" "You don't know Christ!" "False teacher!" "I am right you are wrong!" "The bible says it!" "It doesn't mean that!" "I am certainty!" "Cult!" "God will save!" "Not without help!" "Heretic!" "Blasphemer!" "Seven swords shall cut you sevenfold!" "Praise Him!" "That is not praise!" "Blasphemy!" "Jesus used the KJV!" "Cult!" "You will burn!" "Believe what I say or Jesus will flay you!" "Jesus is love!" "Love is hate!" "Blasphemy!" "Fear is love!" "Cult!" "We are the light!" "You are darkness!" "Unbelievers have no reason to be confused!" "Heresy!" "What?" "He who questions me questions God!" "Cult!" "You dare challenge me?!" "Hellfire!" "It is simple!" "Heretic!"

Which makes me sometimes I feel like this:

Anyone else?

 

[Albion]

This is what Christianity sounds like to me:

"I know what the bible means!" "You are a false teacher!" "Holy holy holy like me!" "Sinner!"....
Anyone else?

It looks like you're describing Christians rather than Christianity.

 

[1John2:4]

This is what Christianity sounds like to me:

"I know what the bible means!" "You are a false teacher!" "Holy holy holy like me!" "Sinner!" "Jesus will kill you!" "That's not Jesus!" "I know what He means when He says that!" "Heresy!" "You are a cult!" "I am the perfection!" "God said it!" "He did not mean it that way!" "You reject the bible!" "You will perish in flame!" "Trust me I know!" "You know nothing!" "Cult!" "That is not the right way!" "Heresy!" "What I say is obviously the bible!" "Sinners will burn!" "Love God!" "Fear Him!" "Hope!" "Vanity!" "My church is truth!" "False!" "You don't know Christ!" "False teacher!" "I am right you are wrong!" "The bible says it!" "It doesn't mean that!" "I am certainty!" "Cult!" "God will save!" "Not without help!" "Heretic!" "Blasphemer!" "Seven swords shall cut you sevenfold!" "Praise Him!" "That is not praise!" "Blasphemy!" "Jesus used the KJV!" "Cult!" "You will burn!" "Believe what I say or Jesus will flay you!" "Jesus is love!" "Love is hate!" "Blasphemy!" "Fear is love!" "Cult!" "We are the light!" "You are darkness!" "Unbelievers have no reason to be confused!" "Heresy!" "What?" "He who questions me questions God!" "Cult!" "You dare challenge me?!" "Hellfire!" "It is simple!" "Heretic!"

Which makes me sometimes I feel like this:

Anyone else?

Perhaps you need to take a break from CF at least the controversial section anyway.

 

[friend of]

I wouldn't pay so much attention to the faulty indecisive nature of man, Mr. Hyperspace. But I get that all of this can be a real drain.

 

[RaymondG]

I have input, but there's no reason to put it here. This thread will be shut down and removed just like all the good ones. Really no point in posting anymore......

 

[GeorgeJ]

It looks like you're describing Christians rather than Christianity.

Unfortunately, Christians like that are what make people shy away from Christianity. In the eyes of non-believers, they're one in the same.

 

[Albion]

Unfortunately, Christians like that are what make people shy away from Christianity. In the eyes of non-believers, they're one in the same.

That's true, but it's incorrect thinking, even if understandable. What this means should be that whenever we're confronted by someone who says he can't accept Christ because of the worst of his alleged followers we should respond by differentiating between the two of them.

If we were speaking of some club or political party, for example, it would be another matter. Those are organizations that are largely defined by how their members behave. With the Christian religion, though, it's Christ, his identity, and his message that are what they are, regardless of who signs onto them.

 

[Radrook]

Judas Priest! That list would send Sigmund Froyd to the loony bin. Especially the one where Jesus is threatening to flay you alive unless you call him Lord.

 

[GeorgeJ]

That's true, but it's incorrect thinking, even if understandable. What this means should be that whenever we're confronted by someone who says he can't accept Christ because of the worst of his alleged followers we should respond by differentiating between the two of them.

I'm not suggesting at all that we should not differentiate between the two if approached. What I am suggesting is that many will not even bother to confront us and shy away because they of the association they make with folks with the attitudes in the OP. We know it's incorrect thinking, but the only thing those on the "outside" have to go on is what they see, not what we know.....

 

[Albion]

I'm not suggesting at all that we should not differentiate between the two if approached. What I am suggesting is that many will not even bother to confront us and shy away because they of the association they make with folks with the attitudes in the OP. We know it's incorrect thinking, but the only thing those on the "outside" have to go on is what they see, not what we know.....

I understand. The OP, however, was a rundown on what the writer had heard from other people, so I guess that framed my thinking.

 

[GeorgeJ]

I understand. The OP, however, was a rundown on what the writer had heard from other people, so I guess that framed my thinking.

I've heard the same thing from others that the OP has.

Fortunately, I'm grounded enough in my faith that I'm able to tune out what is blatantly just a bunch of noise from the Pharisees.

 

[CrystalDragon]

This is what Christianity sounds like to me:

"I know what the bible means!" "You are a false teacher!" "Holy holy holy like me!" "Sinner!" "Jesus will kill you!" "That's not Jesus!" "I know what He means when He says that!" "Heresy!" "You are a cult!" "I am the perfection!" "God said it!" "He did not mean it that way!" "You reject the bible!" "You will perish in flame!" "Trust me I know!" "You know nothing!" "Cult!" "That is not the right way!" "Heresy!" "What I say is obviously the bible!" "Sinners will burn!" "Love God!" "Fear Him!" "Hope!" "Vanity!" "My church is truth!" "False!" "You don't know Christ!" "False teacher!" "I am right you are wrong!" "The bible says it!" "It doesn't mean that!" "I am certainty!" "Cult!" "God will save!" "Not without help!" "Heretic!" "Blasphemer!" "Seven swords shall cut you sevenfold!" "Praise Him!" "That is not praise!" "Blasphemy!" "Jesus used the KJV!" "Cult!" "You will burn!" "Believe what I say or Jesus will flay you!" "Jesus is love!" "Love is hate!" "Blasphemy!" "Fear is love!" "Cult!" "We are the light!" "You are darkness!" "Unbelievers have no reason to be confused!" "Heresy!" "What?" "He who questions me questions God!" "Cult!" "You dare challenge me?!" "Hellfire!" "It is simple!" "Heretic!"

Which makes me sometimes I feel like this:

Anyone else?

That is exactly how I feel.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

I would ask the Original Poster: Do you have any requirements in regards to what constitutes a truly saved person according to Scripture? Or do you believe in Universalism whereby everyone is saved? Not everyone is going to make it according to the Bible. Jesus says to certain individuals to depart from him because they work lawlessness (See Matthew 7:23). Today, many reject God's laws in favor of turning the grace of God into a doctrine for immorality (See Jude 1:4 NIV). But obviously people who want a greasy kind of grace don't want to hear what God's Word is actually saying to them. So they get upset over those who warn them with Scripture.


...

 

[GeorgeJ]

Jesus says to certain individuals to depart from him because they work lawlessness (See Matthew 7:23).

Yes he did....and if you read the verse before that it looks like he was talking the the "holier-than-thous" who use some of the same rhetoric displayed in the OP.

 

[Deadworm]

The OP basically reflects the highly respected research presented in David Kinnamon's book, "Unchristian: What a New Generation Thinks about Christians...and Why It Matters"

unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters: David Kinnaman, Gabe Lyons, George Barna: 9780801072710: Amazon.com: Books

In North America, the Christian church is generally in free fall decline. One of the main reasons is the younger generation's revulsion at perceived unloving and judgmental nature of the typical Christian character. Many evangelicals seem to imagine that, if you bluntly express their version of the Truth, the Holy Spirit will automatically honor their witness by convicting sinners. Instead, their insensitive lack of empathy often transforms their witness into an inoculation against the Holy Spirit's gentle nudges in a godly direction. When the Holy Spirit is grieved, evangelicals are left with a standard of Truth measured in decibels.

The beginning of Wisdom is not just "the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7)," but also the humility to know what you don't know and then respond to this ignorance with appropriate humility and a fear that your ignorance can sabotage one's potential for growth and the effectiveness of one's witness. Some of the most dogmatic posters on this site are the most biblically illiterate and imagine that it is sufficient just to bluntly spam threads with their naïve pontifications.

A serious consequence of all this is the potential impact of this way of being on their ultimate spiritual fate. Jesus taught 2 relevant principles in this regard: (1) "With the judgment you pronounce you yourself will be judged" and "the measure you dish out to others will be dished out back to you (Matthew 7:1-2)," In other words, God ultimately has no absolute standard of judgment, but will judge us by the standard we apply to others.

 

[1John2:4]

I believe this may be what Yeshua feels about this thread
Matthew 7

“Judge not, that you be not judged.2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

I think we are all guilty of biting and devouring on this forum. We really need to take a good look at ourselves before we cast stones

 

[Bible Highlighter]

Yes he did....and if you read the verse before that it looks like he was talking the the "holier-than-thous" who use some of the same rhetoric displayed in the OP.

Well, obviously you have not read the chapter with any retention of what it said then. For Matthew 7 says this,

#1. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."(Matthew 7:21). What is the will of the Father or the will of God? 1 Thessalonians 4:3 NLT says, "God's will is for you to be holy." Also, see why Jesus gave Himself for us, too (See Titus 2:14, and Ephesians 5:25-27). For without holiness no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

#2. Jesus says,
26 "And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." (Matthew 7:26-27).
In other words, the one who does not do what Jesus says is a foolish man who built his house upon the sand whereby it was destroyed when the storm came. Don't be a kind of house like that.

#3. In Matthew 7:23, the ESV and other translations use the word "lawlessness." Jesus says depart from me ye workers of lawlessness. This means people who break God's laws and they are not living holy. The KJV uses the word "iniquity." Iniquity is sin; And sin is simply transgression of the law (1 John 3:4).

#4. Jesus says,
15 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits." (Matthew 7:15).
Fruits are deeds. We are to beware or be on guard against false prophets who appear to be like good sheep but inwardly they are like hungry wolves.
This is talking about behavior and not beliefs here. Paul warns about these types. He says,
1 "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was." (2 Timothy 3:1-9).


...

 

[Bible Highlighter]

I believe this may be what Yeshua feels about this thread
Matthew 7

“Judge not, that you be not judged.2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

I think we are all guilty of biting and devouring on this forum. We really need to take a good look at ourselves before we cast stones

Sigh. Matthew 7 is dealing with hypocritcal judgment and it is not talking about how believers cannot judge other believers. There are plenty of verses in the Bible that talk about how believers can judge other believers (1 Corinthians 5:9-13) (Matthew 18:15-17) (2 Timothy 3:16-17).


...

 

[FireDragon76]

I think some of that is just due to the nature of internet message boards.

 

[1John2:4]

Did you really say sigh. It's talking about Hypocrites!! Like people who hurt others down with words and then post slams about others.

Lol that really does not make any sense sorry. Let me try again, it's like people who post ugly stuff and then act like they don't post ugly stuff about others. Like I said in my previous post we are ALL guilty of this!!