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But is that what the Christian life is really about - trying to live a better life for Christ?
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected bya the flesh? 4Did you suffer so many things in vainif indeed it was in vain? 5Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith 6just as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness?
7Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you shall all the nations be blessed. 9So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
"Emotional experience" ...Sheeesh... Give me a break. Why is it whenever the Holy Spirit touches the heart the Sardisean labels it as an "emotional experience?"
What does "the Holy Spirit touches the heart" mean?
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: - 1 Peter 1:8
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. - Galations 5:22
Lovely verses. But now, back to the question:
What does "touched by the Holy Spirit" mean?
"When you are effective you are attacked." - TD Jakes
Who may not have been a multimillionaire but who taught false doctrine nonetheless. Just sayin'.Leave aside for a moment the untouchable and revered Billy Graham
As E = mc2... So we can divide and conclude that m (mass) = E/c2(energy) ... And there are three varieties...
Natural E/c2 - Cooled plasma - Mass
Mental E/c2 - Intelligence - That which goes on between your ears
Spiritual E/c2 - Energy (Motivation, love) / c2 (faith, hope, charity, joy)
Check into the bible and you will find that the issues the Lord had with the Pharisees was that they had none of the good spiritual E/c2. Their hearts were unregenerated.
Matthew 23
King James Version (KJV)
23 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
So you don't know, either, huh?
Do you often use phrases you can't define?
This is what becomes of religious folk when their religion is in the mind only...
They become mean! The spirit of Jezebel sets in! Which is to kill, dominate, control! We even have bad men such as John Calvin who can toast visitors to his church, such as Michael Servetus, and then issue statements such as this to cover up their dirty work!
"Whoever shall maintain that wrong is done to heretics and blasphemers in punishing them makes himself an accomplice in their crime and guilty as they are. There is no question here of man's authority; it is God who speaks, and clear it is what law he will have kept in the church, even to the end of the world. Wherefore does he demand of us a so extreme severity, if not to show us that due honor is not paid him, so long as we set not his service above every human consideration, so that we spare not kin, nor blood of any, and forget all humanity when the matter is to combat for His glory" - John Calvin
Do not underestimate the corruption of the unregenerated heart! Which is why I prefer non-denominational churches and ministries such as Joyce Meyers these days. Ministries that are clean from the arrogance and hatred that can set in denominations!
Non-denominational churches have watered down doctrines to appease the world loving masses! When Jesus was here on Earth He was confronted time and time again with man made tradition which obscured the real truths of Scripture. Jesus=Truth. Joyce Meyers is all about the prosperity Gospel, which did come from Jesus, that for sure! As Jesus and his disciples often had no place to lay their head, while Joyce Meyers is living large in multi-million dollor Mansion!
Or is it the power of sin remaining in the regenerate heart? We are all 100% sinner and 100% saint.Do not underestimate the corruption of the unregenerated heart! Which is why I prefer non-denominational churches and ministries such as Joyce Meyers these days. Ministries that are clean from the arrogance and hatred that can set in denominations!
I believe the church ages as seven...
1. Ephesus - Apostolic
2. Smyrna - Martyrs - Foxes has the Roman persecutions as ten.
3. Pergamos - Orthodox - A fortified structure for the dark ages.
4. Thyatira - Catholic - Spirit of Jezebel is to control and to dominate
5. Sardis - Protestant - A sardius is a gem - Elegant yet hard.
6. Philadelphia - Methodism - To acquire sanctification was to acquire love.
7. Laodicea - Rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing?
To the Sardisean the treasures are in the mind, to the Philadelphian the treasures are in the heart, and to the Laodicean the treasures are in the materialism. I hate that this is reality but it is.
John B. Cobb, Jr., Ph.D. is Professor of Theology Emeritus at the Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, California... A Methodist theologian, he had this to say about the Laodicean ways that have invaded the church (Why Are We Lukewarm? III)...
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, to which I belong, had strong views about money. In his later years, surveying the remarkable success of the movement he had started, he said that he had no fear about its continuation. His great fear was for its inner spirit. He had observed two things. First, although most converts to Methodism were poor, many moved into the middle class. Second, middle class Methodists divided their loyalties between God and the acquisition of wealth. For the latter I have chosen to use the word familiar to us from the King James and early revised versions of the Bible: Mammon.
The upward mobility Wesley observed with distress is easily understood. In the spirit of the earlier Reformers, Wesley taught that Methodists should earn all they could, save all they could, and give all they could. He himself earned quite a lot through his many publications, lived frugally, and gave away what he did not need. Hence he accumulated no private treasure to distract his attention from doing God's work. His followers became disciplined workers and lived frugally. Many of them were generous with their money. But this generosity did not prevent the accumulation of some capital and its wise investment. The security and growth of this capital became a matter of concern to them, competing for their attention with their service to God.
But, Joyce Meyers does have a heart, so she is not all the way Laodicean. But she is no John Wesley Methodist either.
songs?
Originally Posted by brinny
songs?
I don't like rap. I just like Shai Linne. I guess they call them songs. "Rap performance" doesn't seem very rappy to me.
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