Taking Back the Ministry

[Kokavkrystallos]

I guess you could say I'm in part time ministry as I lead a Bible Study, sometimes give a message in church, and am active in several other ways. Not only preaching/teaching, but writing, and doing volunteer work, all of which I'm thankful to the LORD for the opportunities and give Him all credit.

That said, I notice in many ministries a lack of fire, and the LORD wants to bring back that fire, and that thunder that was instrumental in revivals and many true conversions during the awakenings at various times.

"Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" - Jeremiah 23:29

The Word must be preached with PASSION, and the unction & anointing of the Holy Spirit, not the dead letter. We must earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints, standing up for the True Gospel, and proclaiming Salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ and His Cross, by grace through faith, and repentance, of which if there is no repentance, there is no fruit, and therefore one is still LOST!

It's time to cut out all the silly little things that have been adopted and adapted into the church, that have detracted from the faith of many: all the little things of the world, and the glittery stuff of Laodicea especially, and the pride, and pomp, that goeth before destruction, the haughty Spirit before a fall, and turn to God in prayer on our knees and on our faces, confessing our sins, and confessing the sins of the Church - YES, the church, which often has forsaken the way of Christ for a way that does not profit spiritually, and does not save the soul, in many a case.

The ministry needs to stop watering down their messages, using corrupted Bibles that sound like mush, using feel good messages that tickle itching ears, and promoting a Gospel of compromise with the world. Awaken those who are sleeping, seek the LORD while He may be found: Almighty God shall shake up His church, and move within it, as in all the 7 churches of Revelation, who were warned but a two of them, and were cautioned to hold on to the things that were of God, and to repent of the wicked things that were not.

"See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

For our God is a consuming fire." - Hebrews 12:25-29

 

[The Liturgist]

I guess you could say I'm in part time ministry as I lead a Bible Study, sometimes give a message in church, and am active in several other ways. Not only preaching/teaching, but writing, and doing volunteer work, all of which I'm thankful to the LORD for the opportunities and give Him all credit.

That said, I notice in many ministries a lack of fire, and the LORD wants to bring back that fire, and that thunder that was instrumental in revivals and many true conversions during the awakenings at various times.

The “Great Awakenings” in the early US actually had a detrimental effect on the practice of Christianity, by making preaching a form of cathartic relief or even entertainment, and by de-emphasizing the actual function of the Pastor (whether Presbyter or Bishop), that being the celebration of the Holy Mysteries, or Sacraments, such as Baptism and the Eucharist, in favor of a perpetuation of the iconoclastic “Four Bare Walls and a Sermon” style.

"Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" - Jeremiah 23:29

The Word must be preached with PASSION,

That depends on what you mean by “passion.” There are sinful passions.

and the unction & anointing of the Holy Spirit,

Unction is properly defined, going back to the Epistle of St. James, as the annointing of the sick with oil, which was before Luther universally understood to be a sacrament, a sacred mystery of the church (my Lutheran friends such as @MarkRohfrietsch @ViaCrucis and @Ain't Zwinglian have given me a positive view of Luther, but I still disagree with his understanding of the Epistle of St. James, but no one is perfect, with even the Fathers of the Early Church occasionally erring, for example, the argument of St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Isaac the Syrian in favor of apokatastasis being examples thereof) and likewise the anointing or seal of the Holy Spirit is also a sacrament, which follows Baptism and is part of the reception of converts, although in the Western church it is generally combined with catechism and turned into an adolescent Rite of Passage, and I know of some who came to resent this and later apostasized or at least moved away from the liturgical church im which they were raised, so I am inclined to favor the Chrismation of Infants and Children and their first Communion to immediately follow their baptism into Christ’s Church.

not the dead letter. We must earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints, standing up for the True Gospel, and proclaiming Salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ and His Cross, by grace through faith, and repentance, of which if there is no repentance, there is no fruit, and therefore one is still LOST!

On this we agree, but I would argue that two aspects of the True Gospel that are not adequately preached are the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and of the Incarnation.

It's time to cut out all the silly little things that have been adopted and adapted into the church, that have detracted from the faith of many: all the little things of the world, and the glittery stuff of Laodicea especially,

And what things would those be? If you mean Praise and Worship Music and other insolemnities, for example, certain Charismatic practices, I would highly agree.

On the other hand, if this is a veiled argument against iconoclasm, I regard, based on the doctrine of the early church, that preaching iconoclasm is preaching against the Eucharist.

Also, if this is an argument against the use of beautiful vestments, paraments and other liturgical arts, this is simply a form of iconoclasm, since God has commanded we give our very best in the worship of him, and this includes making the the parishes of His churches as splendid, indeed more splendid, than the Temple in Jerusalem which they have succeeded.

and the pride, and pomp, that goeth before destruction, the haughty Spirit before a fall, and turn to God in prayer on our knees and on our faces, confessing our sins,

Well in this respect the Orthodox Churches have this covered. For example, Eastern Orthodox clergy are required to beg the forgiveness of the congregation for their sins during the celebration of the Eucharist, and immediately before partaking of the Eucharist, to pray a confessional prayer in which, in addition to confessing a belief in the real presence of Christ to the sacrament, they ask forgiveness, confessing to being the chief of sinners, which is an intentionally humbling experience (in some churches, the laity join the celebrant in praying this prayer aloud, and in others, pray it silently along with the celebrant), and equivalent prayers and practices exist in the various Oriental Orthodox liturgies.

While kneeling on Sundays and during the Pentecost* (from Pascha until Whitsunday, that is to say, Pentecost Sunday) is forbidden by the commonly ignored Canon 20 of Nicaea, the kneeling, indeed, the full prostration or metanie at other times, beginning on the vespers of Pentecost Monday, and especially during weekdays on Lent, is of great benefit to the faithful. Indeed the pews originally introduced in the 17th and 18th centuries to facilitate listening to the long sermons which Reformed churches emphasized over the Sacraments, and since refined, tend to get in the way of making a full prostration, and are also expensive; I don’t advocate getting rid of them, but in new churches I think they should be placed around the outside of the nave so the faithful can stand and make prostrations in the middle; I would also note that the traditional Anglican church layout of the Choir, with opposing pews not unlike those in the UK Parliament, offers interesting possibilities for doing this, particularly when one considers that in a great many Anglican churches, the laity now sit together with the choristers in the Choir, in part due to declining attendance and shrinking choirs, however, I believe this was always done to some extent at certain royal liturgies in Westminster Abbey (perhaps @Shane R or @Paidiske might correct me if I am wrong on this). Meanwhile, traditional Orthodox churches and the restored naves of many English cathedrals, with movable chairs, also offer great flexibility for prostration.

However I do feel that thick carpeting, such as one finds in a Coptic Orthodox church, is of benefit where the laity are prostrating or discalced; this carpeting can be removed on those occasions when prostrations are not done (also, carpets should be avoided in the ambo in the event of a spill involving the Eucharist).

and confessing the sins of the Church - YES, the church, which often has forsaken the way of Christ for a way that does not profit spiritually, and does not save the soul, in many a case.

The Church, being the Body of Christ, is perfect. All failures of ministry are due to the failures of the human members of the Church triumphant to follow the clear instructions of Christ and His Apostles, and these failures are limited to the Church Militant here on Earth, and obviously do not extend to the Church Triumphant in Heaven or in the World to Come.

The ministry needs to stop watering down their messages, using corrupted Bibles that sound like mush,

Which ones sound like mush or are corrupted? I myself have objections to the NIV because of its incompleteness and the gender neutral language introduced in the third edition, which makes me sad, because if it were not for these faults the NIV would be particularly likable due to its elegant style, but from an Orthodox and Anglican perspective, its lack of the Deuterocanonical books is a huge problem, and the Orthodox object to the change in the text in the third edition. Generally we use the KJV and the NKJV for the New Testament, and various translations of the Old Testament from the Septuagint. I particularly like traditional language scriptural texts such as the KJV, the Bishop’s Bible on which it was based, the Challoner Douai Rheims, the Coverdale Psalter which is from the Coverdale-Tyndale Bible and is used in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, and which in a modified form, made compatible with the Septuagint, is used in the Jordanville Psalter, published by the Eastern Orthodox Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York, and which is probably the best of those English language psalters recently translated for Orthodox use, and the Revised Standard Version, and also the Etheridge and Murdock translations of the Peshitta New Testament, and the Lancelot Brenton translation of the Septuagint. I have not yet found a contemporary language Bible I am completely happy with; there is one however that is released under an open source license which I like, due to it being open source and thus amenable to correction where the translation might be in error or might clash with certain textual variants favored by different denominations.

I really wish there was a solid English translation of the Western manuscript tradition; right now all extant English Bibles are translations of either the Alexandrian manuscript tradition, commonly called the Minority Text, which is preferred by most modern translations, but which is somewhat controversial, and the Byzantine manuscript tradition, which is also largely reflected in the content of the Vulgate and the Peshitta (but not entirely; there are minor differences), commonly called the Majority Text, and which is part of the Textus Receptus. There were only two Bibles that used the Western textual tradition, the second century Vetus Latina, from which we get some beautiful liturgical phrases such as “Gloria in Exclesis Deo”, also the basis of a lovely Protestant hymn (the Vulgate renders this as “Gloria in altissimus Deo” which is awkward and reflects the decline from the classical Latin of the second century to the Vulgar latin of the Fourth Century, which was in the process of breaking up into the various Romance languages that exist at present), and the third century Vetus Syra, which was replaced by the Peshitta in the fourth century, and which consisted only of the four Gospels, but its translation was a priority, since before that time, in Syriac, only the sayings of our Lord, and a cobbled-together gospel harmony known as the Diatessaron, composed by Tatian, who later apostasized and formed a heretical Gnostic sect of the Syrian Gnostic type, related to those of Bardesanes and Severian, if I recall, which naturally made the Syrian bishops immediately suspicious of it, and in general I am opposed to Gospel harmonies. Of course the worst of these is the notorious “Jefferson Bible”, which does not deserve to be called a Bible.

using feel good messages that tickle itching ears, and promoting a Gospel of compromise with the world.

On this we agree entirely. In my youth I became increasingly frustrated with the tendency of some Methodist ministers to preach sermons consisting chiefly of pious sounding platitudes.

For our God is a consuming fire." - Hebrews 12:25-29

Indeed, but He is also purely love. Only those in opposition to Him will experience Him as a burning fire, and thus the Eastern Orthodox doctrinal position on eschatology, as I have recently frequently discussed with my friends Eastern Orthodox friends @prodromos @HTacianas and @FenderTL5 along with my Lutheran friends and my Oriental Orthodox friends such as @dzheremi , is that in a sense, casting the damned into the outer darkness is a merciful act, for being in the immediate presence of God in the world to come would be an unbearable torture for them. And as St. John Chrysostom pointed out, realizing what one had missed out on in the Eschaton would be the worst punishment. But it is one selected by the misotheists, and I am reminded of what CS Lewis wrote when I read the very immature posts of some of the atheist members of the forum in those sections reserved for political debate, that the doors of Hell are locked on the inside. I particularly like what he had to say about hell in The Great Divorce.


*The Feast of Weeks, sometimes called Eastertide, the period from the Feast of the Resurrection, or Pascha, sometimes called Easter in the English language but not in Greek, Syriac Aramaic, Latin and its derivatives such as Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Portuguese, Catalan and French, and various regional languages such as Romansch, and Church Slavonic and the various Slavic languages, and other languages such as Dutch; I mention this in the event someone reads my reply who adheres to the fallacious belief that because the English word Easter is supposedly of Pagan origin, therefore the Feast of the Resurrection, which most languages call Pascha or a derivative thereof, is Pagan.

 

[Kokavkrystallos]

By passion I mean a holy passion, not a works of the flesh passion, which of course is sinful.

The Eucharist/Lords supper is something that should be held sacred, but yet not idolized. One should also examine themselves before partaking that they not take it unworthily and be guilty of the body & blood of the Lord Jesus.

NIV is an incomplete version, so much so I call it "New Incomplete Version." KJV would be the best English translation. In fact Bible numerics don't even work with an RSV, and only fit with KJV as every word was literally translated, with some italics filling in where Hebrew or Greek doesn't connect certain words or ideas. Wycliffe, Geneva, Matthews, Youngs Literal are all from the Received Text which contrary to the new age "scholars" teachings, are the most reliable and were quoted by the early church Fathers, in areas like 1 John 5:7 which is removed from many modern translations.

The Trinity & incarnation are focal points that must be preached, along with the blood, the cross, with the atonement, repentance, putting on His righteousness, and also the return of Christ & prophecy. Declare the whole counsel of God.

Yes, certain contemporary music, the whole prosperity gospel & name it/claim it, little gods - these are heretical teachings that have crept in many churches, and led many astray into occultism.

"Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." - Jeremiah 20:9

Passion is having the firm 100% convictions that Jesus Christ is LORD, and that the Bible is True, and you are saved by faith in Christ alone, that will produce good works and bear fruit: that ye proclaim this with the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

 

[The Liturgist]

By passion I mean a holy passion, not a works of the flesh passion, which of course is sinful.

Well some clarification on that point is always useful, since among the Greek and Syrian fathers, the word passion generally came to be used to refer exclusively to the sinful passions with the exception of the redemptive Passion of Christ our True God, and also in the context of the taming of the passions, but frequently one also finds the phrase “cleansing us from the passions” or “killing of the passions.” Indeed in the Eastern Orthodox church, there is a hymn which I have seen used at vespers and also in the third antiphon of the Divine Liturgy (the former in a ROCOR church, the latter in a Capella Romana recording of Byzantine chant in English) “You came down from on high, O Compassionate, you accepted burial for three days, that you might free us from the passions. Our Life and Resurrection, Lord, glory to you,”

The Eucharist/Lords supper is something that should be held sacred, but yet not idolized.

I am not aware of any church that idolizes the Eucharist, and I am not sure it would be possible to idolize the sacrament of Holy Communion, particularly since the bread and wine become the body and blood of our Lord as attested in Scripture. Since Jesus Christ is God, it is impossible to idolize Him. Now, I am not a Roman Catholic and the Orthodox like the Lutherans do not use the Eucharist in processions or for devotions, but I don’t mind these Roman Catholic practices and do not regard them as being theologically incompatible with traditional Christianity.

One should also examine themselves before partaking that they not take it unworthily and be guilty of the body & blood of the Lord Jesus.

That is correct. I am extremely frustrated that the Revised Common Lectionary which so many Protestant churches have adopted inexplicably deletes 1 Corinthians 11:27-34 from the Epistle on Maundy Thursday (following the Novus Ordo lectionary of the RCC, which introduced the same omission; the Episcopalians used to use a three year lectionary which allowed 1 Corinthians 11:27-30 as an optional lesson, but this is still inadequate, and what is more they have since switched to the the RCL; if any of my friends who uses one of these three year lectionaries can explain why these important verses, which in the traditional one year lectionaries have been a part of the Holy Thursday liturgy since the first millenium, were omitted, I would like to know.

NIV is an incomplete version, so much so I call it "New Incomplete Version." KJV would be the best English translation.

The KJV is good for the New Testament, but the Old Testament uses the problematic Masoretic Text which differs from the Septuagint quoted in the New Testament, and which has a tendency to obscure Christological references (with one exception, that being Psalm 1 v. 12). Also most printed copies of the KJV are incompete, insofar as they lack all of the books originally translated and included in the Authorized Version, such as Tobit, Ecclesiasticus, Wisdom, Ezra, Judith, and so on, books which are used by the Church of England and some other traditional Protestants as well as by the Orthodox and Catholics. Indeed even John Calvin regarded Baruch as being protocanon.

In fact Bible numerics don't even work with an RSV, and only fit with KJV as every word was literally translated, with some italics filling in where Hebrew or Greek doesn't connect certain words or ideas.

I don’t think it is reasonable to expect English translations to preserve gematria, if that is what you are referring to; for those interested that obscure system, the use of a Hebrew tanakh seems imperative. And there is some use for it, for it is through gematria that we can assert that St. John the Beloved Disciple was probably referring to Nero with the Number of the Beast. But this requires knowledge of the original Koine Greek of the New Testament, and of Aramaic, and of Hebrew,.

Wycliffe, Geneva, Matthews, Youngs Literal are all from the Received Text which contrary to the new age "scholars" teachings, are the most reliable and were quoted by the early church Fathers, in areas like 1 John 5:7 which is removed from many modern translations.

The Challoner Douai Rheims, the Bishops’ Bible, and so on are also from the same textual tradition. By the way, the KJV as well as the Luther Bible, the Bishops’ Bible and so on were using the Textus Receptus compiled by Erasmus, a Catholic contemporary of Martin Luther who was sympathetic to the reformers even though he refused to join them, whereas Wycliffe translated from the Latin Vulgate, so the Douai Rheims Bible is basically an easier to read alternative to the Wycliffe. The Vulgate is also useful in that St. Jerome translated directly from the Hebrew and Aramaic Old Testament before the Masoretic Text was compiled by the Masoretes, a group of Jewish scholars, who are believed by many to have compiled in a biased manner. We don’t know if this is the case, but we do know that variant readings found in the Septuagint are supported by the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Trinity & incarnation are focal points that must be preached, along with the blood, the cross, with the atonement, repentance, putting on His righteousness, and also the return of Christ & prophecy. Declare the whole counsel of God.

Indeed, but with regards to prophecy, the focus should be on what the church teaches about eschatology, and also on the importance of preparing to face the judgement of Christ Pantocrator through theosis, since whether God returns during our life or whether we die before His second coming, we will still have to answer for our sins before the dread judgement seat of Christ our True God.

Yes, certain contemporary music,

I would say anything that features electric guitars and a drumkit, for starters.

the whole prosperity gospel & name it/claim it, little gods - these are heretical teachings that have crept in many churches, and led many astray into occultism.

Indeed, I would agree with that. I am extremely opposed to the entire Word of Faith movement, and not just to the Prosperity Gospel subset.

Passion is having the firm 100% convictions that Jesus Christ is LORD, and that the Bible is True, and you are saved by faith in Christ alone, that will produce good works and bear fruit: that ye proclaim this with the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

No, that’s rather a definition of Western Protestant soteriological convictions, which are close to those of the Orthodox, but I would argue that the creedal statement you just uttered is insufficiently Trinitarian and is also vague. And I would not call that “passion,” as I see it, the only truly good passion is that of Christ our Lord, God and Savior when He condescended to allow Himself to be crucified for our salvation.

 

[Alex1st.1066]

I guess you could say I'm in part time ministry as I lead a Bible Study, sometimes give a message in church, and am active in several other ways. Not only preaching/teaching, but writing, and doing volunteer work, all of which I'm thankful to the LORD for the opportunities and give Him all credit.

That said, I notice in many ministries a lack of fire, and the LORD wants to bring back that fire, and that thunder that was instrumental in revivals and many true conversions during the awakenings at various times.

"Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" - Jeremiah 23:29

The Word must be preached with PASSION, and the unction & anointing of the Holy Spirit, not the dead letter. We must earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints, standing up for the True Gospel, and proclaiming Salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ and His Cross, by grace through faith, and repentance, of which if there is no repentance, there is no fruit, and therefore one is still LOST!

It's time to cut out all the silly little things that have been adopted and adapted into the church, that have detracted from the faith of many: all the little things of the world, and the glittery stuff of Laodicea especially, and the pride, and pomp, that goeth before destruction, the haughty Spirit before a fall, and turn to God in prayer on our knees and on our faces, confessing our sins, and confessing the sins of the Church - YES, the church, which often has forsaken the way of Christ for a way that does not profit spiritually, and does not save the soul, in many a case.

The ministry needs to stop watering down their messages, using corrupted Bibles that sound like mush, using feel good messages that tickle itching ears, and promoting a Gospel of compromise with the world. Awaken those who are sleeping, seek the LORD while He may be found: Almighty God shall shake up His church, and move within it, as in all the 7 churches of Revelation, who were warned but a two of them, and were cautioned to hold on to the things that were of God, and to repent of the wicked things that were not.

"See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

For our God is a consuming fire." - Hebrews 12:25-29

We are all being called to get off the fence. Me also!!!!!! Just look at the O/T children of Israel. Will we ever learn. I do hope others of like mind pick -up on this. THANKS from the UK.

 

[Alex1st.1066]

Well some clarification on that point is always useful, since among the Greek and Syrian fathers, the word passion generally came to be used to refer exclusively to the sinful passions with the exception of the redemptive Passion of Christ our True God, and also in the context of the taming of the passions, but frequently one also finds the phrase “cleansing us from the passions” or “killing of the passions.” Indeed in the Eastern Orthodox church, there is a hymn which I have seen used at vespers and also in the third antiphon of the Divine Liturgy (the former in a ROCOR church, the latter in a Capella Romana recording of Byzantine chant in English) “You came down from on high, O Compassionate, you accepted burial for three days, that you might free us from the passions. Our Life and Resurrection, Lord, glory to you,”



I am not aware of any church that idolizes the Eucharist, and I am not sure it would be possible to idolize the sacrament of Holy Communion, particularly since the bread and wine become the body and blood of our Lord as attested in Scripture. Since Jesus Christ is God, it is impossible to idolize Him. Now, I am not a Roman Catholic and the Orthodox like the Lutherans do not use the Eucharist in processions or for devotions, but I don’t mind these Roman Catholic practices and do not regard them as being theologically incompatible with traditional Christianity.




That is correct. I am extremely frustrated that the Revised Common Lectionary which so many Protestant churches have adopted inexplicably deletes 1 Corinthians 11:27-34 from the Epistle on Maundy Thursday (following the Novus Ordo lectionary of the RCC, which introduced the same omission; the Episcopalians used to use a three year lectionary which allowed 1 Corinthians 11:27-30 as an optional lesson, but this is still inadequate, and what is more they have since switched to the the RCL; if any of my friends who uses one of these three year lectionaries can explain why these important verses, which in the traditional one year lectionaries have been a part of the Holy Thursday liturgy since the first millenium, were omitted, I would like to know.



The KJV is good for the New Testament, but the Old Testament uses the problematic Masoretic Text which differs from the Septuagint quoted in the New Testament, and which has a tendency to obscure Christological references (with one exception, that being Psalm 1 v. 12). Also most printed copies of the KJV are incompete, insofar as they lack all of the books originally translated and included in the Authorized Version, such as Tobit, Ecclesiasticus, Wisdom, Ezra, Judith, and so on, books which are used by the Church of England and some other traditional Protestants as well as by the Orthodox and Catholics. Indeed even John Calvin regarded Baruch as being protocanon.



I don’t think it is reasonable to expect English translations to preserve gematria, if that is what you are referring to; for those interested that obscure system, the use of a Hebrew tanakh seems imperative. And there is some use for it, for it is through gematria that we can assert that St. John the Beloved Disciple was probably referring to Nero with the Number of the Beast. But this requires knowledge of the original Koine Greek of the New Testament, and of Aramaic, and of Hebrew,.




The Challoner Douai Rheims, the Bishops’ Bible, and so on are also from the same textual tradition. By the way, the KJV as well as the Luther Bible, the Bishops’ Bible and so on were using the Textus Receptus compiled by Erasmus, a Catholic contemporary of Martin Luther who was sympathetic to the reformers even though he refused to join them, whereas Wycliffe translated from the Latin Vulgate, so the Douai Rheims Bible is basically an easier to read alternative to the Wycliffe. The Vulgate is also useful in that St. Jerome translated directly from the Hebrew and Aramaic Old Testament before the Masoretic Text was compiled by the Masoretes, a group of Jewish scholars, who are believed by many to have compiled in a biased manner. We don’t know if this is the case, but we do know that variant readings found in the Septuagint are supported by the Dead Sea Scrolls.




Indeed, but with regards to prophecy, the focus should be on what the church teaches about eschatology, and also on the importance of preparing to face the judgement of Christ Pantocrator through theosis, since whether God returns during our life or whether we die before His second coming, we will still have to answer for our sins before the dread judgement seat of Christ our True God.



I would say anything that features electric guitars and a drumkit, for starters.




Indeed, I would agree with that. I am extremely opposed to the entire Word of Faith movement, and not just to the Prosperity Gospel subset.



No, that’s rather a definition of Western Protestant soteriological convictions, which are close to those of the Orthodox, but I would argue that the creedal statement you just uttered is insufficiently Trinitarian and is also vague. And I would not call that “passion,” as I see it, the only truly good passion is that of Christ our Lord, God and Savior when He condescended to allow Himself to be crucified for our salvation.

Surely All the bibles we have or will ever be ,will agree there is more the just black print on white paper????

 

[Frosty Cook]

By passion I mean a holy passion, not a works of the flesh passion, which of course is sinful.

The Eucharist/Lords supper is something that should be held sacred, but yet not idolized. One should also examine themselves before partaking that they not take it unworthily and be guilty of the body & blood of the Lord Jesus.

NIV is an incomplete version, so much so I call it "New Incomplete Version." KJV would be the best English translation. In fact Bible numerics don't even work with an RSV, and only fit with KJV as every word was literally translated, with some italics filling in where Hebrew or Greek doesn't connect certain words or ideas. Wycliffe, Geneva, Matthews, Youngs Literal are all from the Received Text which contrary to the new age "scholars" teachings, are the most reliable and were quoted by the early church Fathers, in areas like 1 John 5:7 which is removed from many modern translations.

The Trinity & incarnation are focal points that must be preached, along with the blood, the cross, with the atonement, repentance, putting on His righteousness, and also the return of Christ & prophecy. Declare the whole counsel of God.

Yes, certain contemporary music, the whole prosperity gospel & name it/claim it, little gods - these are heretical teachings that have crept in many churches, and led many astray into occultism.

View attachment 344150

"Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." - Jeremiah 20:9

Passion is having the firm 100% convictions that Jesus Christ is LORD, and that the Bible is True, and you are saved by faith in Christ alone, that will produce good works and bear fruit: that ye proclaim this with the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

A born again person's faith can deliver (save) them from the things of this world, as they sojourn here on earth, but their faith is not the cause of their eternal deliverance.