- Chameleon Christians
by Ready2Rapture
19 y
3,044 16 Messages Shown
Blog: Bible Study
A.W. Tozer stated:
"Many tender-minded Christians fear to sin against love by daring to inquire into anything that comes wearing the cloak of Christianity and breathing the name of Jesus. They dare not examine the credentials of the latest prophet to hit their town lest they be guilty of rejecting something which may be of God. They timidly remember how the Pharisees refused to accept Christ when He came, and they do not want to be caught in the same snare, so they either reserve judgment or shut their eyes and accept everything without question. This is supposed to indicate a high degree of spirituality. But in sober fact it indicates no such thing. It may indeed be evidence of the absence of the Holy Spirit.
Gullibility is not synonymous with spirituality. Faith is not a mental habit leading its possessor to open his mouth and swallow everything that has about it the color of the supernatural. Faith keeps its heart open to whatever is of God, and rejects everything that is not of God, however wonderful it may be. Try the spirits is a command of the Holy Spirit to the Church. We may sin as certainly by approving the spurious as by rejecting the genuine. And the current habit of refusing to take sides is not the way to avoid the question. To appraise things with a heart of love and then to act on the results is an obligation resting upon every Christian in the world. And the more as we see the day approaching."
Although I have been unable to track down the source of this quote, you may be surprised to learn that Tozer died in 1963. The current fruit of this problem is growing from a much deeper root, a "weed" that was planted almost as soon as the "wheat" (see Matthew 13:24-30).
Compromise is what turned the early church from a lean, pure body into a bloated, corrupted monster, and timidity is the vehicle that carries it. We "fear people rather than God" (Acts 4:19), in stark contrast to the early disciples who spoke boldly and paid with their lives. We refuse to confront error in doctrine, preferring instead to make the lost comfortable in our presence, hoping that the gospel is spread simply by our making friends of the wolves at the door.
Is this the example we see in the scriptures? Did Peter tell the crowd at Pentecost that if they gave their hearts to Jesus they would be happy and comfortable? No, he pointed his finger at them and said,
"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day."
(Acts 2:36-41)
Jesus was hardly popular either, and was continually condemning the Pharisees, yet he was kind to the humble. Who are we to say He did it all wrong? Who are we to tell the disciples that they could have done much better by only making friends with everyone? Where does today's timid sort of "evangelism" come from? And even if someone is saved by this approach, what happens to them when the inevitable suffering we were promised (John 16:33, 2 Timothy 3:12) comes to them?
Certainly the church at large has many of the "qualities" of the churches Jesus warned in the beginning of the Revelation. Yet another sign of the times.
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Ready2Rapture
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- mortal men by sydneydave
19 y
1,455
| I think the trouble with church bodies and the interpretation of churches by believers and non believers is the human element which is often corrupted by there own imperfections sins and egos , speaking for myself i have basically always had a strong faith and belief in god and jesus , but in todays society i find myself constantly wrestling with temptations of one kind or another often giving in to them . What makes church leaders any different ? nothing exept that there in the publics eye and if somethings not politically correct these days youll be judged by the multitudes but then again not judged at all . Jesus showed us the way to live and treat others he led by example and that was his purpose as well as to save us from our sins . Our lives have been engulfed by consumerism ,electronics and our comforts ,hardly similar settings than were around in biblical days .
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sydneydave
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- Re: mortal men by Ready2Rapture
19 y
1,351
| That's true, but I guess it really doesn't matter what the level of technology is or the pressures of leadership. After all, Adam and Eve sinned in a perfect environment with only temptation from the serpent and each other. But the pressures are greater for those who must set an example, and the Bible tells us the standards are higher, so it really is a tough job. We are all weak but that points out all the more our need for a Savior and Helper. Why anyone could look at all this and still say we have to try and earn our way to heaven, I don't know. But when we do fall, we know God will forgive us if we repent.
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Ready2Rapture
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- Re: mortal men by sydneydave
19 y
1,355
| For awhile now ive developed a belive system that revolves around a few different concepts and i dont ever expect anyone to belive what im saying nor do i preach to people , but after your last comment which i agree with i must share what i believe .I believe that on this earth there are new souls and old ones , old ones that have been reicarnating over and over and new ones that have emerged through a divine nessesity for that particular being a way of thinking that wasnt there before perhaps >i believe some of us have crossed over between different sexes the aim to experience every way of thinking and to learn as much as we can , to me alot of this explains homosexuallity which i accept but at the same time i think its evolved through the transition between past lives as a women ,Our goal is to reach a kind of purity and not until then can we be elevated to heaven nor will it accept us , until we reach an understanding and have fulfilled karmic law so that weve paid for all our wrongs and become complete in a karmic sense we keep reincarnating again and again . IN no way dose any of this conflict with a belief in god and it dose explain alot of mysteries concerning reincarnation cases where people have identified themselves and there past lives under hypnosis .Once you understand that reincarnation is a fact and not just some crack pot hippi theory it opens up alot of doors and things make sense > death for alot of cultures is merely a transition , I belive that god understands each and everyone of us on a deep personal level where all unique and by no way can be judged alike he knows our heart and when we do wrong he understands the reasons that led to that , he is fully aware of temptation to a point where he allowed it , the faith we have is only the faith that god gave us , a person without faith is like a pen without ink , wether logic convinces some of us otherwise it will never change the fact or truth of what we are .WE do certain things ina life we pay for them in the next might be a disability etc time is endless the space of life quick but time enough to learn and evolve ,everything is exactl how it should be at any given time because karmic law has made it that way ,wether its a war fought on a global scale or the war within ourselves ,these are nescecary processes .GOd gave his only begotten son not just to forgive us for our sins but to show us that he loves us ,there are laws there that we may never understand to do with our father , but nothings ever black and white where alot more complicated than that .
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sydneydave
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- Re: mortal men by Ready2Rapture
19 y
1,420
I've studied many belief systems including reincarnation, and it is completely incompatible with the teachings of the Bible. The one true God is not a cosmic bean counter who tracks karma and makes entry into heaven a matter of achievement on our part. Salvation is by faith in what Jesus did on the Cross for us, not on our level of maturity or understanding or achievement. Since the Bible makes it clear that none of us is good enough to earn our way in, reincarnation would be a living hell because it would never end. A gazillion lifetimes will never perfect us; only Jesus can do that. Those who claim they can "prove" past lives are being deceived, and we know who is in the business of deception. Any belief will do if it keeps people from knowing the Truth, the Way, the Life.
The Bible has some gray areas, but salvation and sins such as deviant sexua| practices are not among them. While your belief system does not have to exlude faith in some kind of god, it certainly does exclude the God of the Bible, which says that we "die once, then face judgment". Please read over the first blog entry on salvation.
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Ready2Rapture
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- Re: mortal men by sydneydave
19 y
1,501
| Yes we die once as who you are now ,karma is gods law not something thats invented for gods sake or our convenience .Karma dosent need tracking it is what it is .Perfection on a personal level not as what you might assume to be perfect on a divine level is what i meant .I have faith in jesus and what hes done for us , ive had an experience in which the mention of his name alone has saved me once in a very dark situation which i wont go into here , ive come to belive that the grey areas of the bible are many and that people through history have taken certain passages out of them for there own personal reasons which may suit them at the time , how can you claim that one thing is gospel and yet not another , you have to comprimise some where along the line .Just because my belief system dosent fit with one particular passage of the bible like we die once , do you think you have the right to condem it , come on .
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sydneydave
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- Re: mortal men by Ready2Rapture
19 y
1,350
Let me explain something to you.
First, this is not a debate forum. There are plenty of those in other areas of curezone. Don't keep coming here to try and argue with me or I'll have your posts deleted.
Second, truth is what God says it is, not what we wish it is, and the Bible is His Word. It isn't ONE passage that tells me there is no such thing as karma or reincarnation, it is many.
Third, what right do you think YOU have to tell me I'm wrong? Believe what you want, because you will anyway, but it won't change what God has said. As long as you think God has to answer to you, you will never be doing what He says is required to get to heaven: trust in Jesus alone and nothing else. Not karma, not maturity, not anything. God tells US what truth and salvation are, not the other way around.
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Ready2Rapture
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- Re: mortal men by sydneydave
19 y
1,511
yeh well il leave it at that , but i dont know in what manner you think that i was trying to say truth is what i want it to be not what god says it is , but i do get you now ,YOu take everything in the bible as the ultimate truth and it would be very hard for you to accept anything else , in fact youd probably have some kind of break down before that happened belive me ive been there ,its called conditioning alot of catholics go through it and people that have been brought up in religous schools and homes it is very hard to shake and get alot of the cold values the bible sets out out of your head , the one thing alot of these religous teachings miss is the fact that god and jesus are also about ultimate love and that they love us all even the worst of us , why ? because he knows us all .When i mentioned reincarnation you dismissed it by saying wed be living in a constant hell , well maybe for some but maybe not for others it would explain hell wouldnt it ?In our fathers house there are many mansions .REad john 14, 15, 16 @ 17 "immy fathers house there are many mansions " dwell on that not for an hour or a minute but for a whole day , as you go about your work , who is your father ? what is meantby many mansions ? and that there aremany mansions in his house what house ? It is your body , that is the temple , many mansions are in that body , many temples, for that body has been again and again in the experience of the earth , they are sometimes mansions sometimes homes sometimes huts .
* KNow that in what ever state you find yourself of mind ,of body of physical condition , that is what you have built and is necessary for your unfoldment .
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sydneydave
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- Chameleon Christians by stuednt7
19 y
1,458
| hallelujah !!!!I was saying this on yeserday--God is my witness! When will the church awake and become the church able to point out those who are defrauding adn are walking around proud and puffed arrayed beautifully-adorned in everything but Jesus Christ. So many weak, lip wristed individuals are professing the name of Christ and have no back bone for the real faith---they are fearful and cowardly easily intimidated and swayed and when a true Christian arrives on the scene they quickly assume the psotion that they are indeed the counterfeit when they are true representatives....when when...but the Lord promised us in His word that there would be many false one sthat would arise adn there would be many that willsay in that day Lord, Lord....this is another reason my appetite in Christian television has changed so drastically-----so much not Christ but propaganda,religion, and extreme philosophy with entertainment---sickening----and yet more facades are being put on---one day you are this and another day you are that wearing many shades and hues of varioation upon variation.---i hear ya loud and clear
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stuednt7
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- Chameleon Christians by stuednt7
19 y
3,225
| hallelujah !!!! I was saying this on yeserday--God is my witness! When will the church awake and become the church able to point out those who are defrauding and are walking around proud and puffed arrayed beautifully-adorned in everything but Jesus Christ. So many weak, limp wristed individuals are professing the name of Christ and have no back bone for the real faith---they are fearful and cowardly easily intimidated and swayed and when a true Christian arrives on the scene they quickly assume the psotion that they are indeed the counterfeit when they are true representatives....when when...but the Lord promised us in His word that there would be many false one sthat would arise adn there would be many that willsay in that day Lord, Lord....this is another reason my appetite in Christian television has changed so drastically-----so much not Christ but propaganda,religion, and extreme philosophy with entertainment---sickening----and yet more facades are being put on---one day you are this and another day you are that wearing many shades and hues of varioation upon variation.---i hear ya loud and clear
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stuednt7
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- Re: Chameleon Christians by Ready2Rapture
19 y
1,368
| Hi, nice to meet you stuednt7. We can pray that more people will wake up and see "the emperor's new clothes" for what they are, but along with prayer must come action. God prepares hearts before moving them, and I see hearts being prepared to chuck the whole ecumenism/churchianity thing and get back to what Jesus and Paul really started. The internet is a great start, but sooner or later we have to face actual churchgoers and explain why we're leaving. Whether anyone with "credentials" will step up and speak the truth or not, we must go where the Spirit leads.
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Ready2Rapture
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