Is it really this hard?

Strong in Him · Jun 26, 2018

DaishinKan said:
Hello everyone.

I occasionally wonder about how far I've come since I started walking seriously with God. So many things changed for the better, and i'm extremely grateful for this.
However, I have a pretty strict pastor, he's my role model, and everything he believes is right and wrong he can always backs it up with the Bible as it should be.

That being said I've reached a point in my life where i gave up so much things of the world, now its down to barely a few and I'm finding it getting harder and harder to give them up.

For example, my pastor would not agree with any kind of hip hop / rap associated Gospel because this genre actually started as its own religion believe it or not.

Not that I want to incite rebellion, but what God thinks matters far more than what your Pastor thinks.

The world can make a religion out of anything; if they won't acknowledge God then they transfer their inbuilt desire to worship onto something else - sport, pop stars, music, fame, money etc etc.
That doesn't mean God's children can never do/watch/like these things.

Some people gamble, and get, and use, money for sinful purposes - that doesn't mean Christians can't use money.
Some people drink far too much, get drunk, commit crimes, have affairs or exhibit bad behaviour - that doesn't mean that Christians can't drink alcohol. We follow One who turned water into wine.
Some people eat far too much, become greedy and abuse food - that doesn't mean we have to give up eating.

What does GOD want you to give up, if anything; and what does he want you to have/own and use for his glory?

Strong in Him · Jun 26, 2018

DaishinKan said:
The church doesn't force anyone but these are the guides we follow, this is how my pastor would think and teach us, he's not a bully. We don't believe in living 50%, or being lukewarm as the bible says, its either you are all in, or all out when it comes to God, against or with, and if you are with, you must obey the word in its entirety and completely separate yourself from everything not of God.

Why?
Jesus lived in a country that was ruled by pagans - Romans, with their religion. He didn't say, "these people aren't from God, I'm going elsewhere". He told people to give to Caesar what was Caesar's and to give to God what was God's; in other words, get your priorities right and know whom you serve.
He ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners.
He touched those who were ceremonially unclean, and taught and healed on the Sabbath. These two things cause the Pharisees to say that HE was not from God - yet he was.

DaishinKan said:
I know for a fact if Jesus came back today he isn't watching a single modern day movie for you know what reasons

Do you?
When he came to earth the first time he hung out with publicans, tax collectors and sinners, and criticised the holier than thou Pharisees.
He spoke to unclean Gentiles and forgave a woman who had committed adultery and, according to law, should have been stoned to death.
I'm pretty sure that if he was born on earth today, he would hang around the homeless shelters, foodbanks and, yes, pubs too.

DaishinKan said:
The 1st response pretty much answered my whole post lol. But being 20 years of age and transitioning from secular to spiritual at a fast rate is not easy.

Giving up a whole bunch of stuff, reading and listening to only Christian books/music and watching only Christian films/programmes, assuming you are allowed to have a radio or tv, doesn't necessarily make you holy - not if inside you still think/react/dream/speak like a non Christian and have worldly attitudes.
If every Christian gave up all their possessions, sat in a cave and surrounded themselves with only "godly" stuff, how would the non Christian world be reached? How would we be salt and light in the world, as Jesus said? How would we shine like stars in a corrupt world, and witness for God, as Paul said?

DaishinKan said:
In time i might find the right hobbies to replace the previous ones.

What do you class as a "right" hobby?
Making models of churches out of matchsticks? You might get hooked on the glue or start smoking.
Going to art galleries? You might look at distasteful or "non Christian" paintings.
Listening to classical music? You might discover that the composers were non Christians, did drugs, had been convicted of a crime, or all 3.
Driving cars? A car is a lethal weapon and you could kill/injure someone.
Learning a musical instrument? Unless God has given you a gift for it, you will have to practise for several hours a week just to be average. You won't be able to read Leviticus whilst reading a music score.
Cookery? You might get hooked on food/cakes/sugar and become ill.

Yes I'm being extreme - but then so, I would say, is your pastor.
You're only 20; what are you going to do if you find a job, move away and find a church which is not as strict? Or when your pastor retires and you find your new one has different views? Or if the pastor you have now begins to interpret Scripture in a different way, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit?

Invalidusername · Jun 26, 2018

Strong in Him said:
Not that I want to incite rebellion, but what God thinks matters far more than what your Pastor thinks.

The world can make a religion out of anything; if they won't acknowledge God then they transfer their inbuilt desire to worship onto something else - sport, pop stars, music, fame, money etc etc.
That doesn't mean God's children can never do/watch/like these things.

Some people gamble, and get, and use, money for sinful purposes - that doesn't mean Christians can't use money.
Some people drink far too much, get drunk, commit crimes, have affairs or exhibit bad behaviour - that doesn't mean that Christians can't drink alcohol. We follow One who turned water into wine.
Some people eat far too much, become greedy and abuse food - that doesn't mean we have to give up eating.

What does GOD want you to give up, if anything; and what does he want you to have/own and use for his glory?

I agree with you. This is not about legalism but rather about how God says we cannot serve two masters. If we crave the world then we lose the desire for God. The same is true for the opposite: If we crave God and his righteousness, the world no longer looks appealing to us.

ladodgers6 · Jun 26, 2018

DaishinKan said:
Hello everyone.

I occasionally wonder about how far I've come since I started walking seriously with God. So many things changed for the better, and i'm extremely grateful for this.
However, I have a pretty strict pastor, he's my role model, and everything he believes is right and wrong he can always backs it up with the Bible as it should be.

That being said I've reached a point in my life where i gave up so much things of the world, now its down to barely a few and I'm finding it getting harder and harder to give them up.

For example, my pastor would not agree with any kind of hip hop / rap associated Gospel because this genre actually started as its own religion believe it or not. As well as the fact that you cannot make an unclean thing clean, or step in any on else's world of sin to then tell them what they are doing is wrong. Christian artists are heavily involved with the other artists of the world but as the bible would say,we must shun the appearance of sin, stay away from liars etc etc... My favorite artist was Trip lee, but I've stopped listening due to the above reasons.

Another thing is giving up shows that i still revisit. Eg. Dragonball z / s. I get convictions because the name in itself contains ' Dragon ' which is a beast always mentioned negatively in the bible and obviously one born of the devil. As well as the fact that the male characters occasionally wear earrings, lol. I can't even listen to its soundtracks while working out.

I can't go the the movies because they are guaranteed have nothing to do with God, can't play no games for example my all time favorite, the god of war series. It feels like i can barely breathe sometimes without being convicted with good reasoning. Every corner i turn something fun to do is bad because x y and z.

Edit : Youtube and Facebook are the worst because I can't read comments or go through my news feed without seeing some trash that invades my mind and messes up my constant prayer / God conscious mindset.

The only scriptures that I can relate are all that supports being separate from the world and its trends. And : " Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? " .. which i don't quite understand either.

Any help / opinions are welcomed, thanks.

Yes, I used to be a Pentecostal. I can relate to your issues. First of all, Christ said its not what goes in a man's mouth that makes filthy, but what comes out. Its okay to listen to music, go to the movies, drink starbucks, be on Twitter. But be selective as far as the language in music and movies and other things.

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

Romans 14:1As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Visit whitehorseinn.org for more information on this issue. Look DaishinKan, I understand your position. Always understand to place Christ at the center of your life. You can dance, laugh, sing as loud as loud as you want. Listen to music as loud as you want too! If it causes others to stumble in their faith , because it is weak. Do not do in front of them, causing them stumble, understand? But I encourage you to visit the site. Let me know what you think about it.

BTW, I am no longer Pentecostal, sorry.

DaishinKan · Jun 26, 2018

The last few replies are getting the wrong idea of my my pastor as being a legalist or the church being some house of rules and regulations. Everyone makes their own decisions and is in control of their personal walk with God.

I was just stating that he leads us to thinking deeper about our actions, which is still our choice to make.
For example everyone is upset about the movies. But in my situation, who am I going with? What kind of people are they, is the movie free of sinful content, or worth my time to gain some sort of knowledge or wisdom ( 99% today aren't ), I don't have a problem giving it up.

There's a limit to how far you go, yes you can't expect everything to be christian, that's why you bless your food, your car, etc from where ever it came and that's it. But you have control over what you yourself do. People just don't get it.

Let me give 1 simple example
1 Thessalonians 5:22 - Abstain from all appearance of evil.
2 Corinthans 6:14 - Be not yoked together with unbelievers .. what fellowship does light have with darkness.

But some Christians as righteous and holy as we are will love and cling onto our friends in all their sin and their continued refusal to accept Christ. Yes Jesus spent time with sinners, to save them, but who did he keep close to him? Who were his real friends? They were all righteous people strong in God.
And this is 1 place where we mess up. Imagine 1000 different ways in which we disobey God just like that.

On the other hand there are Christians that believe that one should never ever kill, not even in self defense. Others believe that we should forgive people without them coming and asking for forgiveness. Another false teaching.

So its not about what the pastor says, and his rules and whatever. With the knowledge that he has shared directly from the bible, and how he lives his life, I was encouraged to make changes to mine too fast and at a rate i couldn't handle, as one person said I was not doing it out of love for God, and that's why it seemed hard and i was impatient. Trying to stop doing what i thought was wrong, without fully understanding why, as some people now thought me.

I hope this clarifies

DaishinKan · Jun 26, 2018

Taught**, idk why when i try to edit i get an error message.

ChristopherinLA · Jun 26, 2018

I'm just reminded of Matthew 18:8 "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away." If the things you mentioned cause you to stumble then it is good to cut them out of your life completely I believe. If you cannot cut them out because they are everywhere, you just need to be disciplined to avoid looking at them whenever they show up, "bounce the eyes" so to speak.

I don't think the things you mentioned are all sinful, and I believe some people can do them and be just fine spiritually while others can get thrown out of whack and be led astray. It is also possible that maybe one day God will give you the grace to do some of those things and it will not affect you. After all, He gives and he takes away. Job 1:21

It sounds like you are part of a church that really disciples it's members, which is a good thing. Not many churches do this and if it keeps you grounded and growing in the Lord I encourage you to keep at it, but remember the golden rule Matthew 7:12 where Christ reminds to us consider how we would want to be spoken to or treated. Remember this before speaking against something someone else is doing. So if somebody else participates in these things, try to put yourself in their shoes before speaking against their actions and it will come across as more loving.

Personally, I think your post is helping me realize that should take a break from reading the comments on facebook, youtube, and linkedin. They seem to be a source of great anxiety for me, lately.

Strong in Him · Jun 26, 2018

DaishinKan said:
The last few replies are getting the wrong idea of my my pastor as being a legalist or the church being some house of rules and regulations. Everyone makes their own decisions and is in control of their personal walk with God.

That's good to know, but you, yourself, said.

DaishinKan said:
However, I have a pretty strict pastor, he's my role model, and everything he believes is right and wrong he can always backs it up with the Bible as it should be.

Backing up his own beliefs with the Bible is fine; as long as he doesn't impose his interpretation, and how to put it into practice, upon you.

DaishinKan said:
For example everyone is upset about the movies. But in my situation, who am I going with? What kind of people are they, is the movie free of sinful content, or worth my time to gain some sort of knowledge or wisdom ( 99% today aren't ), I don't have a problem giving it up.

Well that's fine.
I don't watch films; not for the reason that you give though, they just don't appeal. What I, personally, was trying to challenge you on was the "sinful content" or association with a number of activities. Avoiding something because it might contain stealing, violence, drink driving or unmarried people having sex is your choice; and good in a sense. But these things go on in the world - occasionally even in the church, and avoiding them entirely will mean that you end up in a sort of holy bubble; untouched, and out of touch, with everything.

Watching something does not mean you have to adopt the lifestyle. I like the soaps. They are full of sexual activity and standards that are a million miles from my own - but they are what people watch. And if you are going to try to relate to, and befriend, anyone with the view to sharing the Gospel, it is good to at least know something about popular programmes, or what they like.
Saying, "can you believe that x slept with y? That village doesn't seem to have any morals ..... what do you think about it?" Is going to lead to a better conversation than saying "no, I don't watch that; it's full of sinners and not suitable for a Christian to watch."
I'm not saying force yourself to do something that would be deeply unpleasant - I dislike any programme that contains swear words, science fiction, war films etc. To do otherwise would mean you are not being true to yourself.
But films themselves, as a genre, are not all sinful.

DaishinKan said:
There's a limit to how far you go, yes you can't expect everything to be christian, that's why you bless your food, your car, etc from where ever it came and that's it. But you have control over what you yourself do.

I hope that you do.
But you started off by saying that you have a pretty strict pastor, admit that you look to him as your role model and then go on to list all the things you have given up, or feel that you can no longer do. You said your pastor would have a problem with a certain type of music, gave us the name of your own favourite singer and then said that you had stopped listening, for those reasons.

Is it surprising that some of us are questioning exactly how much influence your pastor does have?

DaishinKan said:
Let me give 1 simple example
1 Thessalonians 5:22 - Abstain from all appearance of evil.
2 Corinthans 6:14 - Be not yoked together with unbelievers .. what fellowship does light have with darkness.

Those are verses, or parts of verses, that you have taken out of context, apparently to support your argument.
The latter verse relates to marriage.

DaishinKan said:
But some Christians as righteous and holy as we are will love and cling onto our friends in all their sin and their continued refusal to accept Christ.

Jesus told us we are not to love only those who will love us back.
God loved and accepted us with all our sin, and kept on loving and calling us til we responded to him. If we sin now, he continues to love and be with us; he doesn't leave us because we are not perfect. THAT is how we are to love others - not to say "you sin and you won't accept God; I can't be your friend any more."

DaishinKan said:
Yes Jesus spent time with sinners, to save them,

I don't believe he loved people only with the ulterior motive of converting them.

DaishinKan said:
but who did he keep close to him? Who were his real friends? They were all righteous people strong in God.

What Bible have you been reading?
His 12 disciples were lacking in faith, afraid, argued amongst themselves, tried to work out which of them was the greatest, very often didn't understand what he was talking about, fell asleep at a crucial time, when Jesus asked them to pray for him, denied him, betrayed him and deserted him.

YET, Jesus forgave, explained, showed patience and gave 2nd, 3rd and 4th chances.

DaishinKan said:
Others believe that we should forgive people without them coming and asking for forgiveness. Another false teaching.

No it isn't.
If you forgive someone it means that you don't desire to get revenge on them, you decide not to hold their sin/misdeeds against them and you rob them of any power to hurt you. YOU will be set free by your forgiveness. You may even open the door to their finding faith; they will not be able to understand such godly forgiveness and behaviour. The world says "get revenge/hold a grudge/stand up for your rights". God says, forgive.

DaishinKan said:
So its not about what the pastor says, and his rules and whatever. With the knowledge that he has shared directly from the bible, and how he lives his life, I was encouraged to make changes to mine too fast and at a rate i couldn't handle,

Being challenged by someone's Godly lifestyle is one thing; doing that too fast, taking it to extremes and it becoming something you couldn't handle, is another.

What would your pastor, and self confessed role model, say if you challenged him on his interpretation of Scripture?

DaishinKan said:
Trying to stop doing what i thought was wrong, without fully understanding why, as some people now thought me.

As you said, I hope you have been able to think it through for yourself and study what the Scriptures - not just isolated verses - say about the way we live our Christian lives. Your life is between you and God. If you have given up something that he wants you to do, or a friend he wants you to have, or start doing something that he doesn't want you to do; it's your relationship with him that may suffer.
When we meet God, none of us will be able to say "ah, that was his fault; I was only following him/her".

Personally I don't think that many of the things you have listed as being wrong so that you had to give them up; are.
But it's your life. Not your pastors, yours.

Invalidusername · Jun 26, 2018

I would like to share one perspective shared to me by a much older, wiser person than me.

When this person grew up in a family with a dad who was an alcoholic and his mom would have to frisk his drunk blacked out body to search for money to buy food for his children. He would see his mom literally dragging his dad's drunk body to the bathtub in order to give him a bath. Almost all of his money went to alcohol. He did not spend any money on his family. He grew up in this environment full of cussing, alcohol, infidelity, and general ungodliness.

He decided to not watch any movie with those content in them because he thought, "Since God saved me from that life, why should I watch it for entertainment?" Watching violence, sex, and drugs for entertainment even though God saved him from that life convicted him to not watch that garbage content.

DaishinKan · Jun 26, 2018

I don't think i used those scriptures out of context. The 1st can apply to everyone, any situation or sin or sinful people. We should hate sin like God hates it, but still love the unbeliever like he loves them. He can't hold them close and favor them like he would favor a child of Christ but he is longing for them, and gives them opportunities to turn to him.
Yes, "Be not yoked together with unbelievers" speaks to the people seeking marriage. BoyFriend/GirlFriend, still a friend. If the goal of a christian couple isn't marriage, somethings wrong.
"What fellowship does light have with darkness" supports the previous line but also can be taken generally because fellowship is friendly association with those of the same interests, such as your friends.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ofcourse his disciples always messed up, no one denies that. But there was a mutual love and strong relationship between them and Christ. You cannot begin to even compare a non-believer, which i was referring to, to a disciple of Christ. If they, despite their mistakes, are not qualified to be considered righteous then who really is? Only Job? and David? etc.. No one living today? Righteousness simply means doing what is you know is right (In God's eyes according to the word ), as much as you can. They were people deserving to be around Christ.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Those 1st two i may be still right or wrong but as for what i said about forgiveness I'm 100% certain Lol.

" Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. "
It says " IF " he repents. Consider that God cannot forgive someone unless they ask for forgiveness. We can't either.
Not forgiving someone does not mean holding a grudge. You should release them from your heart, not having hatred. But Forgiveness in itself is restoring a relationship, or trust, however you want to put it, that had been broken. It is like 2 sides of a bridge, you are holding up your end by being open to forgive, and the offender must ask forgiveness, and be sorry, to hold up his end and restore the bridge.
If someone does not seek forgiveness, know that they are NOT sorry, you would not let your guard down to be harmed again and again and again, yet, leave enough space for that person to come and repent.

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Also every time that i challenged my pastor with scriptures, i was blown away by the knowledge and wisdom and how much sense his explanations always make. Especially when linking different parts of the Bible together to answer my questions.

Andrew77 · Jun 26, 2018

DaishinKan said:
Hello everyone.

I occasionally wonder about how far I've come since I started walking seriously with God. So many things changed for the better, and i'm extremely grateful for this.
However, I have a pretty strict pastor, he's my role model, and everything he believes is right and wrong he can always backs it up with the Bible as it should be.

That being said I've reached a point in my life where i gave up so much things of the world, now its down to barely a few and I'm finding it getting harder and harder to give them up.

For example, my pastor would not agree with any kind of hip hop / rap associated Gospel because this genre actually started as its own religion believe it or not. As well as the fact that you cannot make an unclean thing clean, or step in any on else's world of sin to then tell them what they are doing is wrong. Christian artists are heavily involved with the other artists of the world but as the bible would say,we must shun the appearance of sin, stay away from liars etc etc... My favorite artist was Trip lee, but I've stopped listening due to the above reasons.

Another thing is giving up shows that i still revisit. Eg. Dragonball z / s. I get convictions because the name in itself contains ' Dragon ' which is a beast always mentioned negatively in the bible and obviously one born of the devil. As well as the fact that the male characters occasionally wear earrings, lol. I can't even listen to its soundtracks while working out.

I can't go the the movies because they are guaranteed have nothing to do with God, can't play no games for example my all time favorite, the god of war series. It feels like i can barely breathe sometimes without being convicted with good reasoning. Every corner i turn something fun to do is bad because x y and z.

Edit : Youtube and Facebook are the worst because I can't read comments or go through my news feed without seeing some trash that invades my mind and messes up my constant prayer / God conscious mindset.

The only scriptures that I can relate are all that supports being separate from the world and its trends. And : " Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? " .. which i don't quite understand either.

Any help / opinions are welcomed, thanks.

First, I am not a big fan of the idea that Christians should block out all of the world. I think it is difficult to reach out to non-christians and have a positive influence, if you have no idea what the world is like.

Further, walling yourself off doesn't keep sin out, because it is our own human souls that are sinful and evil to begin with. You would still sin, even if you a blind paraplegic. You must work to overcome your own evil, not just wall yourself off.

Dragons are mythical, and while in the Bible it is not used positively, I don't think there is any reason to avoid it now.... at least not anymore than dogs.

If you want some real Christian irony, consider dogs. There is not one positive use of dog in the Bible that I am aware of. Dogs are always used negatively, and calling someone a dog what consider a most offensive of insults.

So why don't we avoid dogs, if they are so bad?

As for rap, or hip hop.... I personally hate rap. Rap has a terrible history to it. The culture of rap is equally horrific. Compare the number of performers murdered, and suicide, is massively high for Metal, Punk, Rap, and Hip Hop.

The causes of musicians’ deaths, by genre

But again, that's just my opinion, based on evidence. It's not a biblical law, nor a question of salvation.

Meaning... there is no where in the Bible that says 'rap is evil' or anything of the sort.

Your pastor is likely just thinking it's best to stay away from that stuff....because that is what he sees in this world.

It's up to you. There is no 'sin of rap listening'. This is one area that you simply have to make your own choice, and then follow the Lord, as best you can with the choice you make. It's that complicated, and that simple.

thesunisout · Jun 26, 2018

DaishinKan said:
Hello everyone.

I occasionally wonder about how far I've come since I started walking seriously with God. So many things changed for the better, and i'm extremely grateful for this.
However, I have a pretty strict pastor, he's my role model, and everything he believes is right and wrong he can always backs it up with the Bible as it should be.

That being said I've reached a point in my life where i gave up so much things of the world, now its down to barely a few and I'm finding it getting harder and harder to give them up.

For example, my pastor would not agree with any kind of hip hop / rap associated Gospel because this genre actually started as its own religion believe it or not. As well as the fact that you cannot make an unclean thing clean, or step in any on else's world of sin to then tell them what they are doing is wrong. Christian artists are heavily involved with the other artists of the world but as the bible would say,we must shun the appearance of sin, stay away from liars etc etc... My favorite artist was Trip lee, but I've stopped listening due to the above reasons.

Another thing is giving up shows that i still revisit. Eg. Dragonball z / s. I get convictions because the name in itself contains ' Dragon ' which is a beast always mentioned negatively in the bible and obviously one born of the devil. As well as the fact that the male characters occasionally wear earrings, lol. I can't even listen to its soundtracks while working out.

I can't go the the movies because they are guaranteed have nothing to do with God, can't play no games for example my all time favorite, the god of war series. It feels like i can barely breathe sometimes without being convicted with good reasoning. Every corner i turn something fun to do is bad because x y and z.

Edit : Youtube and Facebook are the worst because I can't read comments or go through my news feed without seeing some trash that invades my mind and messes up my constant prayer / God conscious mindset.

The only scriptures that I can relate are all that supports being separate from the world and its trends. And : " Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? " .. which i don't quite understand either.

Any help / opinions are welcomed, thanks.

Hey brother, this is all part of God making you into a new person through Jesus Christ. Your whole mindset will change, and the things that you used to enjoy you won't enjoy anymore. Your new desires will be centered around your life with God and His Kingdom, and not of the world. Nothing in this world will satisfy you but plenty of it will pollute you. Your joy will be found in serving God, doing His will and ministering His kingdom to a lost and dying world.

I've given up pretty much every form of secular entertainment. The only thing I have left is a mobile skill game that I play once in a blue moon. I used to be a video game and movie addict, now I could care less about them. Most of them are abominable and full of the devil. I keep up on the news, from a distance though..I don't involve myself in anything political. Don't despair because God is doing a mighty work in you right now and your heart will change to where all you want is God and you don't even miss the worldly pleasures you used to enjoy.

Loren T. · Jun 27, 2018

I was brought up in some very legalistic churches. It's one of the reasons it took me so long to get saved. I didn't want to be just another Christian clone, mouthing and the right words and dressing a certain way. Took me a long time to find out that isn't what Grace is about. Avoiding certain activities because you're guarding your heart is a beautiful thing. Following a set of rules to be accepted is an ugly thing. Only you can know which you are doing. My advice is to follow the Spirit, not your pastor.

Myychael · Jun 27, 2018

DaishinKan said:
Hello everyone.

I occasionally wonder about how far I've come since I started walking seriously with God. So many things changed for the better, and i'm extremely grateful for this.
However, I have a pretty strict pastor, he's my role model, and everything he believes is right and wrong he can always backs it up with the Bible as it should be.

That being said I've reached a point in my life where i gave up so much things of the world, now its down to barely a few and I'm finding it getting harder and harder to give them up.

For example, my pastor would not agree with any kind of hip hop / rap associated Gospel because this genre actually started as its own religion believe it or not. As well as the fact that you cannot make an unclean thing clean, or step in any on else's world of sin to then tell them what they are doing is wrong. Christian artists are heavily involved with the other artists of the world but as the bible would say,we must shun the appearance of sin, stay away from liars etc etc... My favorite artist was Trip lee, but I've stopped listening due to the above reasons.

Another thing is giving up shows that i still revisit. Eg. Dragonball z / s. I get convictions because the name in itself contains ' Dragon ' which is a beast always mentioned negatively in the bible and obviously one born of the devil. As well as the fact that the male characters occasionally wear earrings, lol. I can't even listen to its soundtracks while working out.

I can't go the the movies because they are guaranteed have nothing to do with God, can't play no games for example my all time favorite, the god of war series. It feels like i can barely breathe sometimes without being convicted with good reasoning. Every corner i turn something fun to do is bad because x y and z.

Edit : Youtube and Facebook are the worst because I can't read comments or go through my news feed without seeing some trash that invades my mind and messes up my constant prayer / God conscious mindset.

The only scriptures that I can relate are all that supports being separate from the world and its trends. And : " Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? " .. which i don't quite understand either.

Any help / opinions are welcomed, thanks.

Myychael · Jun 27, 2018

DaishinKan said:
Hello everyone.

I occasionally wonder about how far I've come since I started walking seriously with God. So many things changed for the better, and i'm extremely grateful for this.
However, I have a pretty strict pastor, he's my role model, and everything he believes is right and wrong he can always backs it up with the Bible as it should be.

That being said I've reached a point in my life where i gave up so much things of the world, now its down to barely a few and I'm finding it getting harder and harder to give them up.

For example, my pastor would not agree with any kind of hip hop / rap associated Gospel because this genre actually started as its own religion believe it or not. As well as the fact that you cannot make an unclean thing clean, or step in any on else's world of sin to then tell them what they are doing is wrong. Christian artists are heavily involved with the other artists of the world but as the bible would say,we must shun the appearance of sin, stay away from liars etc etc... My favorite artist was Trip lee, but I've stopped listening due to the above reasons.

Another thing is giving up shows that i still revisit. Eg. Dragonball z / s. I get convictions because the name in itself contains ' Dragon ' which is a beast always mentioned negatively in the bible and obviously one born of the devil. As well as the fact that the male characters occasionally wear earrings, lol. I can't even listen to its soundtracks while working out.

I can't go the the movies because they are guaranteed have nothing to do with God, can't play no games for example my all time favorite, the god of war series. It feels like i can barely breathe sometimes without being convicted with good reasoning. Every corner i turn something fun to do is bad because x y and z.

Edit : Youtube and Facebook are the worst because I can't read comments or go through my news feed without seeing some trash that invades my mind and messes up my constant prayer / God conscious mindset.

The only scriptures that I can relate are all that supports being separate from the world and its trends. And : " Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? " .. which i don't quite understand either.

Any help / opinions are welcomed, thanks.

Oh you poor thing i feel so sorry for you heres a glass of milk and three OREO cookies !!!!!
Well praise GOD for your Pastor and how much you trust him and think of him.Really lets look at the whole picture what did you really give up that was a help to you or a benefit to your growth in Christ
a Video game,R movies PG rated did you smoke drink internet inappropriate content???.Is your Pastor grooming you for something or a serving in the Congregation? What do you personally want with your walk with GOD
I see your a Pentecostal and probably attend a Pentecostal Church maybe you have seen healings
and miracles.i believe if you make a list of what Jesus has done for you and what you have given up
You would probably be adding to the list of what the LORD is doing for you everyday please dont be a straddle pole Christain.The devil is afraid of young Christains like you.I would like to make a suggestion to you ask your Pastor to teach you to pray maybe he would allow you to pray with him alone or at a prayer service praying will pull you through when the chips are down and help you get prayers answered you build a personal relationship with GOD speaking with him I don’t no anything more
Powerful than prayer.

Martin Luther published a fine book on prayer a simple way to pray I believe.well hang in there brother
All things in this world will pass only what’s done for Christ will last

NothingIsImpossible · Jun 27, 2018

I'd honestly avoid someone who basically says to (in my words) go live in a cave and have nothing to do with anything of the world.

I'm not saying the world isn't dangerous of course. There are some things we should hands down avoid. But if you want to not watch tv or not play a game or not listen to any music, its to extreme.

For example when it comes to games I avoid things with witchcraft/satanic stuff in it. But I do play other games instead. But I choose what to play or not to play based on my own conviction, not what others tell me I should feel convicted of.

While I don't watch Dragonball Z, I don't see anything wrong with watching it really. I don't fully understand it but many seem to enjoy it. Just because the word dragon in it is not a bad thing. its just a word. Now obviously some words like devil or a swear word are the exception. When I married my wife she wanted me to get rid of a ring I had that looked like a cobra (snake) because snakes are evil and demonic. I thought it was absurd to believe that. She was taught some things that were "twisted" scripture.

I mean when you see a snake in real life do you call it the devil? Of course not. Its just a animal.

I'd pray about these things and ask God for conviction on things and to separate whats your won conviction versus what your pastor is making you feel guilty about.

marineimaging · Jun 27, 2018

Southernscotty said:
Fishing!!! Hunting!!! and dare I say Fishing and Hunting :]

Wait, you forgot hunting and fishing and camping and shooting and reloading and writing a book and drawing and painting and fishing and hunting and camping and long walks in the woods carrying a gun in November and singing gospel songs and talking about hunting and fishing. Wait, did I mention hunting and fishing? And reloading and..., I know, target practice. And skeet shooting (18.00 for two rounds and 12.00 for two boxes of shells and doing it with friends and some mild and friendly competition, priceless.)

Southernscotty · Jun 28, 2018

marineimaging said:
Wait, you forgot hunting and fishing and camping and shooting and reloading and writing a book and drawing and painting and fishing and hunting and camping and long walks in the woods carrying a gun in November and singing gospel songs and talking about hunting and fishing. Wait, did I mention hunting and fishing? And reloading and..., I know, target practice. And skeet shooting (18.00 for two rounds and 12.00 for two boxes of shells and doing it with friends and some mild and friendly competition, priceless.)

Thank you clarifying Brother, I knew I had forgot something. lol
Hey there is a thread we need you in Guns in the church

Myychael · Jun 28, 2018

AlexDTX said:
Sounds like your pastor lives by the law and not grace. The law is wise and right, but impossible to keep. Grace is a leading of the Spirit that deals with one thing at a time in our lives to make learning to do what is right more manageable. When you live by the Spirit and not the law, the things that the law tells us not to do, fall away naturally by the Spirit so that no desire to do those things even remain. But this is a process of time called sanctification and does not happen overnight. There are some things that God's deliverance can make happen overnight,, but many things are complicated knots in our heart that takes the Lord time to untie.

Strong in Him said:
That's good to know, but you, yourself, said.

Backing up his own beliefs with the Bible is fine; as long as he doesn't impose his interpretation, and how to put it into practice, upon you.

Well that's fine.
I don't watch films; not for the reason that you give though, they just don't appeal. What I, personally, was trying to challenge you on was the "sinful content" or association with a number of activities. Avoiding something because it might contain stealing, violence, drink driving or unmarried people having sex is your choice; and good in a sense. But these things go on in the world - occasionally even in the church, and avoiding them entirely will mean that you end up in a sort of holy bubble; untouched, and out of touch, with everything.

Watching something does not mean you have to adopt the lifestyle. I like the soaps. They are full of sexual activity and standards that are a million miles from my own - but they are what people watch. And if you are going to try to relate to, and befriend, anyone with the view to sharing the Gospel, it is good to at least know something about popular programmes, or what they like.
Saying, "can you believe that x slept with y? That village doesn't seem to have any morals ..... what do you think about it?" Is going to lead to a better conversation than saying "no, I don't watch that; it's full of sinners and not suitable for a Christian to watch."
I'm not saying force yourself to do something that would be deeply unpleasant - I dislike any programme that contains swear words, science fiction, war films etc. To do otherwise would mean you are not being true to yourself.
But films themselves, as a genre, are not all sinful.

I hope that you do.
But you started off by saying that you have a pretty strict pastor, admit that you look to him as your role model and then go on to list all the things you have given up, or feel that you can no longer do. You said your pastor would have a problem with a certain type of music, gave us the name of your own favourite singer and then said that you had stopped listening, for those reasons.

Is it surprising that some of us are questioning exactly how much influence your pastor does have?

Those are verses, or parts of verses, that you have taken out of context, apparently to support your argument.
The latter verse relates to marriage.

Jesus told us we are not to love only those who will love us back.
God loved and accepted us with all our sin, and kept on loving and calling us til we responded to him. If we sin now, he continues to love and be with us; he doesn't leave us because we are not perfect. THAT is how we are to love others - not to say "you sin and you won't accept God; I can't be your friend any more."

I don't believe he loved people only with the ulterior motive of converting them.

What Bible have you been reading?
His 12 disciples were lacking in faith, afraid, argued amongst themselves, tried to work out which of them was the greatest, very often didn't understand what he was talking about, fell asleep at a crucial time, when Jesus asked them to pray for him, denied him, betrayed him and deserted him.

YET, Jesus forgave, explained, showed patience and gave 2nd, 3rd and 4th chances.

No it isn't.
If you forgive someone it means that you don't desire to get revenge on them, you decide not to hold their sin/misdeeds against them and you rob them of any power to hurt you. YOU will be set free by your forgiveness. You may even open the door to their finding faith; they will not be able to understand such godly forgiveness and behaviour. The world says "get revenge/hold a grudge/stand up for your rights". God says, forgive.

Being challenged by someone's Godly lifestyle is one thing; doing that too fast, taking it to extremes and it becoming something you couldn't handle, is another.

What would your pastor, and self confessed role model, say if you challenged him on his interpretation of Scripture?

As you said, I hope you have been able to think it through for yourself and study what the Scriptures - not just isolated verses - say about the way we live our Christian lives. Your life is between you and God. If you have given up something that he wants you to do, or a friend he wants you to have, or start doing something that he doesn't want you to do; it's your relationship with him that may suffer.
When we meet God, none of us will be able to say "ah, that was his fault; I was only following him/her".

Personally I don't think that many of the things you have listed as being wrong so that you had to give them up; are.
But it's your life. Not your pastors, yours.

Strong in Him · Jun 28, 2018

Myychael said:
Shame ln you sir

Are you talking to me or to AlexDTX?

What do you mean by shame on you?

Is it really this hard?

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