If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Yes I'm in prison ministry.
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Something to think about.
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aReformedPatriot
Ron Paul for President!
id be convicted but id take a serious beating in the trial though with much evidence against me. Praise Him for being a merciful guiding Father.
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Andyman_1970
Trying to walk in His dust...............
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1 Peter 3:15-16 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience , so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. The assumption Peter makes in this passage is that you would live in such a way that those around you would ask you about the hope you have.
How often do those around you ask you about the hope you have? Would the world know you're a Christian if your mouth was duct taped shut?
How often do those around you ask you about the hope you have? Would the world know you're a Christian if your mouth was duct taped shut?
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Gwenyfur
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Well....probably so...
I work with a couple of pagans who openly admit to practicing Wicca...and well....
They're always running away when a few of the other drivers and I are reading the Bible during a break LOL
So yeah....I guess I'd be convicted, sentenced, and eventually killed
But, as our society isn't quite there yet....almost....I don't have to worry about 'em getting even by testifying quite yet LOL
I work with a couple of pagans who openly admit to practicing Wicca...and well....
They're always running away when a few of the other drivers and I are reading the Bible during a break LOL
So yeah....I guess I'd be convicted, sentenced, and eventually killed
But, as our society isn't quite there yet....almost....I don't have to worry about 'em getting even by testifying quite yet LOL
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LostnFound
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Yeah, I'm afraid that would be my answer, too!The Lord's Envoy said:
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One things for certain. If any Christian were put on trial, it would be sommmmeeeee event! After all, no true Christian would ever take the Fifth (against self-incrimination)
And, no true Christian would fail to testify (for Christ).
We would be more than happy to confess our crimes (sins against God), too!
The only remaining question would be -- are we guilty as charged because we are truly Christians, or are we just imposters confessing in the hope of gaining (God's) attention?
Yeah, I would love to be convicted for God!!! Wouldn't you????
Matthan <J><
And, no true Christian would fail to testify (for Christ).
We would be more than happy to confess our crimes (sins against God), too!
The only remaining question would be -- are we guilty as charged because we are truly Christians, or are we just imposters confessing in the hope of gaining (God's) attention?
Yeah, I would love to be convicted for God!!! Wouldn't you????
Matthan <J><
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You know, we've all sort of patted ourselves on the back for being such bold Christians, but I wonder what God would say about us if he was asked to testify against us. The world sees us carry around a Bible and go to church, but God sees into the heart, and to some of us he is someday going to say, "I never knew you."
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SonOfThunder
Senior Veteran
I try not to think about it too much. Standing up in a court to declare your faith would be hard if you are faced with being harmed.
One thing I do know is that God sees deep inside, past all the outer shell and show to others.
On that I will be judged
James
One thing I do know is that God sees deep inside, past all the outer shell and show to others.
On that I will be judged
James
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jim62 said:
There's a hierarchy even in the Trinity. John 8:28
So Jesus said, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.
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John 17:11,22 =11- And now I am no more in the world, but these (us) are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
22- And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
again Jesus and God are one!
22- And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
again Jesus and God are one!
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Or girlfriend, wife, husband, lover, food, vision of the future, handy gadget, fancy knicknack, or whatever.
Here's a great story about how we can let our own private gods interfere with our love for the one true God:
THE VASE
What would she find most important when she was forced to choose?
A woman was flying home from a Paris shopping spree with a priceless antique vase. The airliner started into some turbulence and even in the First Class section, she could feel the plane bucking and lurching. The woman jumped up to get the box containing the vase out of her carryon bag and clutched it tight as the plane fell thousands of feet and crashed into the ocean.
Somehow she continued to cling to the parcel as she miraculously exited the plane and got into a small inflatable life raft with the six other survivors. None of the others had been able to save anything off the plane before it sunk to the bottom. Out of nearly 300 people on board the plane, these seven alone survived.
The life raft had caught on an ocean current and within hours, they were many hundreds of miles from the site of the crash. They had no provisions to be exposed on the ocean for long, and they began to fear that they, too, would be lost.
I dont care, said one of the survivors as he wept. I dont care to live now that I have lost my wife and kids on that plane. My spirit died with them.
Another moaned with his pain, I want to get back so I can be with my family. They depend on me for everything. It was hard for me to leave them even for these two weeks. What will happen to them if I die?
I must get back, said another. I had an argument with my husband before I left, and I must tell him how sorry I am and how much I love him! I cant die without his forgiveness.
Another showed little emotion as he said, My business will fail if I die. I must get back. That business has been my whole life for forty years. If it fails, my life has been meaningless.
The woman with the vase said, I WILL get back so I can cherish my priceless vase in my own home for many years to come. My friends will be so envious of my precious possession! And she clutched the box and gently stroked it, thinking about how much she loved her vase.
A little while on, the raft started taking on water. There was no sight of shore, and they knew that they were drifting further and further from the crash site where the rescuers would be looking for survivors. The rescue crews probably thought that all had been lost, and were not even looking for a life raft full of people. The businessman took charge. No one is going to help us out here. If we are going to survive, we must save ourselves. We need to bale out our boat and find the way to land. Does anyone have a compass?
The man whose family had been lost fished around in his pocket and drew out a Swiss army knife with a tiny compass on it. Then someone saw a group of gulls flying overhead, heading east. They discussed whether or not the birds were flying toward land or away from it, and with the compass, they decided that the birds were headed toward land. They needed to bale out the boat and paddle with all their might toward the east.
The businessman turned to the rich woman and said, We need your box so we can bale the water. But the woman clutched the box more tightly and said, No, the vase may get chipped if it is out of the box! We arent asking for your precious vase, he said, Just the box. Please! No! the woman said.
The others tried to reason with the woman, explaining that if they all died in the sea, it wouldnt matter if the vase got chipped. But the woman protested louder, NO! Even if I die, someday someone will find my beautiful vase and know that it belonged to me, and they will envy me and know I was important!
The others begged the woman. All they wanted was to get to shore, and they could if they had the box to bale with. Even the man who had lost his family begged her for the sake of the others. But the woman clutched the box and the vase with all her might. They tried to pull it away from her, but her selfishness was stronger than their weakened bodies.
Three miles from shore, when they could already see land but were too weak to swim, the little life raft sunk beneath the salty water and all aboard perished.
On the way to the bottom, the vase slipped out of the box and was broken to pieces in the rocky surf.
What luxuries are you holding on to, even though they are preventing you from helping those who are perishing?
What things are preventing you from giving your best to God?
What is God calling you to give up for His sake?
Jesus called us to a different life, a life of sacrifice and love. He warned that selfishness and greed are incompatible with the call to follow Him. Dont lose your soul in order to keep your hold on all that stuff!
"But Abraham said to him, 'Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish.'" Luke 16:25
Then Jesus said to the disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul? For I, the Son of Man, will come in the glory of my Father with his angels and will judge all people according to their deeds. Matthew 16:24-27
Don't store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be. Matthew 6:19-21
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will have eternal life. But many who seem to be important now will be the least important then, and those who are considered least here will be the greatest then. Matthew 19:29-30
And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? Luke 16:11
Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. 2 Corinthians 6:10
"What sorrows await you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now. What sorrows await you who are satisfied and prosperous now, for a time of awful hunger is before you. Luke 6:24-25
Here's a great story about how we can let our own private gods interfere with our love for the one true God:
THE VASE
What would she find most important when she was forced to choose?
A woman was flying home from a Paris shopping spree with a priceless antique vase. The airliner started into some turbulence and even in the First Class section, she could feel the plane bucking and lurching. The woman jumped up to get the box containing the vase out of her carryon bag and clutched it tight as the plane fell thousands of feet and crashed into the ocean.
Somehow she continued to cling to the parcel as she miraculously exited the plane and got into a small inflatable life raft with the six other survivors. None of the others had been able to save anything off the plane before it sunk to the bottom. Out of nearly 300 people on board the plane, these seven alone survived.
The life raft had caught on an ocean current and within hours, they were many hundreds of miles from the site of the crash. They had no provisions to be exposed on the ocean for long, and they began to fear that they, too, would be lost.
I dont care, said one of the survivors as he wept. I dont care to live now that I have lost my wife and kids on that plane. My spirit died with them.
Another moaned with his pain, I want to get back so I can be with my family. They depend on me for everything. It was hard for me to leave them even for these two weeks. What will happen to them if I die?
I must get back, said another. I had an argument with my husband before I left, and I must tell him how sorry I am and how much I love him! I cant die without his forgiveness.
Another showed little emotion as he said, My business will fail if I die. I must get back. That business has been my whole life for forty years. If it fails, my life has been meaningless.
The woman with the vase said, I WILL get back so I can cherish my priceless vase in my own home for many years to come. My friends will be so envious of my precious possession! And she clutched the box and gently stroked it, thinking about how much she loved her vase.
A little while on, the raft started taking on water. There was no sight of shore, and they knew that they were drifting further and further from the crash site where the rescuers would be looking for survivors. The rescue crews probably thought that all had been lost, and were not even looking for a life raft full of people. The businessman took charge. No one is going to help us out here. If we are going to survive, we must save ourselves. We need to bale out our boat and find the way to land. Does anyone have a compass?
The man whose family had been lost fished around in his pocket and drew out a Swiss army knife with a tiny compass on it. Then someone saw a group of gulls flying overhead, heading east. They discussed whether or not the birds were flying toward land or away from it, and with the compass, they decided that the birds were headed toward land. They needed to bale out the boat and paddle with all their might toward the east.
The businessman turned to the rich woman and said, We need your box so we can bale the water. But the woman clutched the box more tightly and said, No, the vase may get chipped if it is out of the box! We arent asking for your precious vase, he said, Just the box. Please! No! the woman said.
The others tried to reason with the woman, explaining that if they all died in the sea, it wouldnt matter if the vase got chipped. But the woman protested louder, NO! Even if I die, someday someone will find my beautiful vase and know that it belonged to me, and they will envy me and know I was important!
The others begged the woman. All they wanted was to get to shore, and they could if they had the box to bale with. Even the man who had lost his family begged her for the sake of the others. But the woman clutched the box and the vase with all her might. They tried to pull it away from her, but her selfishness was stronger than their weakened bodies.
Three miles from shore, when they could already see land but were too weak to swim, the little life raft sunk beneath the salty water and all aboard perished.
On the way to the bottom, the vase slipped out of the box and was broken to pieces in the rocky surf.
What luxuries are you holding on to, even though they are preventing you from helping those who are perishing?
What things are preventing you from giving your best to God?
What is God calling you to give up for His sake?
Jesus called us to a different life, a life of sacrifice and love. He warned that selfishness and greed are incompatible with the call to follow Him. Dont lose your soul in order to keep your hold on all that stuff!
"But Abraham said to him, 'Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish.'" Luke 16:25
Then Jesus said to the disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul? For I, the Son of Man, will come in the glory of my Father with his angels and will judge all people according to their deeds. Matthew 16:24-27
Don't store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be. Matthew 6:19-21
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will have eternal life. But many who seem to be important now will be the least important then, and those who are considered least here will be the greatest then. Matthew 19:29-30
And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? Luke 16:11
Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. 2 Corinthians 6:10
"What sorrows await you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now. What sorrows await you who are satisfied and prosperous now, for a time of awful hunger is before you. Luke 6:24-25
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nhzname
Work in progress ... Phil. 1:6
Yes, He does see into my heart, and praise the name of Jesus that because of His blood, I am accepted by God. I know there are times when I stumble in this race, but God has not let me fall. He says He won't. So, as long as His Spirit is alive and kicking in me, I know that I can trust Him when He says, "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."lambslove said:
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mesue
Love all, trust a few. Do wrong to none.
Matthan said:
I agree, and take it one step further ...
My Pastor asked this same question as the OP and then added
Could you show them where in the Bible why you believe what you believe when you take the stand?
Oooo! Did that ever motivate me to read God's word.
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What if the court disallowed as evidence things that even unbelievers have or do, like going to church or owning a Bible. Would you still be convicted if none of these things were admissible as evidence against you?
The accused:
owns a Bible
goes to church
listens to Christian radio or music
watches TV preachers
gives to charity
has a Jesus fish on his car
has some Bible tracts
serves at a soup kitchen
loves his/her children
is friendly with the neighobrs
gives blood
has a cross(es) hanging in their house.
prays
read the whole left behind series
shops at a Christian bookstore
knows all the words to Awesome God and Shout to the Lord
has a hymal on their bookshelf
can recite the entire westminster catechism or any catechism
knows the apostle's creed and/or the nicene creed by heart
wears a cross
celebrates Christmas
gives something up for lent
takes Good Friday off
took a trip to Israel/toured the Holy Lands
owns Bible teaching tapes and videos
went on a mission trip
gives to the poor
fasts
was baptized
What if none of these things was admissable as evidence because even unbelievers have/do them? Would any of us still be convicted? What would identify us without question as Christians?
The accused:
owns a Bible
goes to church
listens to Christian radio or music
watches TV preachers
gives to charity
has a Jesus fish on his car
has some Bible tracts
serves at a soup kitchen
loves his/her children
is friendly with the neighobrs
gives blood
has a cross(es) hanging in their house.
prays
read the whole left behind series
shops at a Christian bookstore
knows all the words to Awesome God and Shout to the Lord
has a hymal on their bookshelf
can recite the entire westminster catechism or any catechism
knows the apostle's creed and/or the nicene creed by heart
wears a cross
celebrates Christmas
gives something up for lent
takes Good Friday off
took a trip to Israel/toured the Holy Lands
owns Bible teaching tapes and videos
went on a mission trip
gives to the poor
fasts
was baptized
What if none of these things was admissable as evidence because even unbelievers have/do them? Would any of us still be convicted? What would identify us without question as Christians?
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Gwenyfur
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That leaves to my mind anyhow...witnessing as a basis for conviction?
I'd hope enough people would stand up and say I had shared the Gospel with them...Sometimes I've seen fruit, sometimes I've just been the seed planter or waterer...but I do share it...
I'd hope enough people would stand up and say I had shared the Gospel with them...Sometimes I've seen fruit, sometimes I've just been the seed planter or waterer...but I do share it...
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