May 17, 2008 11:50PM GMT
Question
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Religion - Christianity
Christians: What kind of Christianity should we be preaching?
I have seen a multitude of Christians on SodaHead of different denominations and walks of life. Many are eager to get God's message out to others, yet I have seen multiple versions of "Christianity" preached. I'm curious to find out what kind of Christianity my fellow Christians think should be taught on SH.One form of "Christianity" seen on SodaHead could best be described as "Pie-in-the-sky, by-and-by." In this form, God is all-loving, never judges anyone for anything under any circumstances, and everyone gets into Heaven no matter what they do or in what they believe. There is no judgment, no sin, no Hell, and, ultimately, no real need for redemption.
In another form of "Christianity," God is purely vengeful and full of wrath. Here, God is seen as constantly angry and condemning pretty much everyone to everlasting torment in Hell. There is little (if any) discussion of hope for eternal life in Heaven with God, just fire and brimstone.
Another form of "Christianity" emphasizes God is both loving, yet just. In this form, God indeed loves all of us dearly, but His holy nature cannot tolerate sin, and sinners will never see Heaven... Unless they accept His gift of eternal life through Christ's sacrifice. There is a strong emphasis on the danger of sin and Hell, but an equal emphasis on the redemptive nature of a relationship with Jesus.
What kind of Christianity should we Christians be preaching here on SodaHead? Which of these three is most in line with Scripture and thus closest to truth? Which is best to help those who do not yet believe, to save those who are currently in spiritual darkness?
If you believe a fourth (or fifth, or sixth, or seventh, or...) type of Christianity is closer to the truth, please pick "Other" and share with us!
I have tried to make this a balanced poll, so I apologize if I offend anyone. I've tried to give a nutshell description of the three different brands of Christianity I've seen on SodaHead.
Thanks, all.
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raves Oct 09, 2008 02:37AM GMTDave wrote: "...when the Apostles and Elders were martyred and there was no one left on earth with the authority to carry on."
Every born again child of God has full authority to handle, preach, and teach the Word of God. They have had this authority since the day Jesus was crucified and the Temple veil was rent in twain.
"These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee." Titus 2:15
God promised to PRESERVE His Word, and that He did do. He did not deprive people for hundred of years until Joseph Smith came along. -
raves Oct 09, 2008 02:56AM GMTThe gift of the Holy Ghost didn't come until the Day of Pentecost. That's why they were told to tarry in Jerusalem. The apostles had had the Lord's hands placed on them already, but the gift of the Holy Ghost, to be passed to others, had to be given through the ordinance of the laying on of hands. To be "born again" requires baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. You can't just claim it by reading a Bible verse. Titus had received this authority. God's Word is eternal, but the Bible is not.
God predicted this time: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it." (Amos 8:11-12) This cannot be the loss of the written word since we have had it continually, so it must be of the authoritative spoken word. -
raves +1 Oct 09, 2008 03:16AM GMTBeing born again is NOT dependant upon baptism and I don't know where you got that tid bit but it simply is NOT so.
The verses you quote from Amos 8:11-12 are prophecies by Amos concerning Israel and have nothing to do with the supposed lack of the Word of God from the last of the Apostles until Jeseph Smith. Don't give me anymore of your convoluted crap Dave. You have wearied me with your blasphemies and heresy against the Lord and His written Word, not to mention His promises. -
raves Oct 09, 2008 03:21AM GMT (edited)I know this one.
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:3-5)
So you say that it is only Israel who will have a lack of the word of God, but they have the same scriptures the apostles used.
If it is blasphemy to say that Jesus Christ is the Word of God, then let me be a blasphemer. -
raves +1 Oct 09, 2008 04:07AM GMTDave, I never denied that Jesus is the Word of God, He is indeed. When John finished Revelation on the isle of Patmos the written word of God was completed.
I never said that "only Israel who will have a lack of the word of God." There is a lack of the (written) Word of God in the land today, people don't read it, don't know it, and don't live by it. What I did say is that the verses you quoted from Amos do NOT explain your claim that we did not have all of the Word of God from the Apostles until Joseph Smith. -
raves Oct 09, 2008 04:19AM GMT (edited)And you say you learned that the written word of God was finished from the Bible?
When it says they will seek for it and not find it, doesn't sound like what you describe where they just ignore it.
We still do no have all of the written word of God because there is more to come. What it does mean is that the spoken word of God, coming through God's prophets and apostles directly to man will be impossible to find for a while. And they were. -
raves +1 Oct 09, 2008 04:31AM GMTThe only word yet to come are the lying deceiving words from the devil. He will sweep many gullible souls away to Hell with him because they were looking for more...
The Word of God is complete. We have had all of the revealed Word of God since the Revelation was finished. God did not leave us here with only a part of the truth or having to guess how we should live our lives. He saw to it that we had all we needed. Then in 1604 He set 47 Godly men to work and out of all the accurate sources He had them compile the King James Bible which they completed in 1611.
You are already deceived by being in the Mormon Church Dave and you are seeking to be deceived even more by looking for what you suppose to be more of the word of God to come. I find it a sad thing to witness those who are so blind they cannot see and that is not said spitefully, but sincerely.
I will not argue with you on this thread further.
Good night. -
raves +3 Jul 03, 2008 12:22AM GMTThanks, I've seen wayyyyyyyy too much of both kinds, and both are dangerous. The first leads to "Oh, I can do anything, believe anything, say anything, lallalallaa it doesn't matter, I get to Heaven, yay!" The second leads to "What in the world does it matter? God hates me and I'm going to burn for eternity no matter what I do, I think I'll just kill myself..."
The third is the Bible's way! -
raves +6 posted Jul 01, 2008 10:36PM GMT
Answered God is loving, but just. We are all sinners in danger of Hell, but all who accept Christ will be in Heaven.
God gave His only Begotten Son so that we could have eternal life with Him if we choose to accept Him. The Bible also tells us that no one comes to the Father except through Him. If we do not accept Jesus, we cannot have eternal life. No other way around it. If we have accepted Jesus as our Personal Savior, then we should want to live for Him! :) -
raves +6 Jul 02, 2008 12:27AM GMTWell, the Bible says many just literally cannot see the truth. Scripture talks about people being blind to God...
John 12:40... "He (God) has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them."
2 Cor. 4:4... "The god of this age (Satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." -
raves +5 Jul 02, 2008 12:39AM GMT (edited)Hehe well I think you and I would have an interesting debate about that one because I'm a Calvinist. :) I believe people are completely depraved and absolutely incapable of choosing God... I believe the only way we can "choose" God is if He first chooses us and warms our hearts to Him.
Many people say we are like drowning men who are thrown a life preserver and have the choice whether or not to grab onto it (free will). But from what I gather from Scripture, we are not drowning men... We have already DROWNED, we're dead. We cannot do anything to will ourselves back to life. It takes God to breathe life into us... No choice on our part, just God's (predestination).
So that's how I view salvation... As coming purely from God's end. Unless He decides to open your heart to Him, you will remain in darkness and closed off to His Word. Paul talks a lot about this (predestination) in Romans 8 and Ephesians 1.
It's a very hard doctrine to swallow, the idea that God is the one who chooses people to be saved and not people choosing to get saved... Especially when you wonder why God chooses some people and not others (Paul addresses this as well!)... But an argument can be made that Scripture supports this view.
However, I fully believe that predestination vs. free will is NOT ...Hehe well I think you and I would have an interesting debate about that one because I'm a Calvinist. :) I believe people are completely depraved and absolutely incapable of choosing God... I believe the only way we can "choose" God is if He first chooses us and warms our hearts to Him.
Many people say we are like drowning men who are thrown a life preserver and have the choice whether or not to grab onto it (free will). But from what I gather from Scripture, we are not drowning men... We have already DROWNED, we're dead. We cannot do anything to will ourselves back to life. It takes God to breathe life into us... No choice on our part, just God's (predestination).
So that's how I view salvation... As coming purely from God's end. Unless He decides to open your heart to Him, you will remain in darkness and closed off to His Word. Paul talks a lot about this (predestination) in Romans 8 and Ephesians 1.
It's a very hard doctrine to swallow, the idea that God is the one who chooses people to be saved and not people choosing to get saved... Especially when you wonder why God chooses some people and not others (Paul addresses this as well!)... But an argument can be made that Scripture supports this view.
However, I fully believe that predestination vs. free will is NOT a core doctrine, that if you believe in predestination and you're wrong or you believe in free will and you're wrong, that doesn't preclude you from Heaven. I think of it as a peripheral doctrine. The important thing after all is to "Confess with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead...' no matter whether you chose God and said that or whether He chose you and enabled you to say it. ;)(less) -
raves +2 Jul 03, 2008 12:41AM GMTWell, we Calvinists believe there IS a point to preaching the Gospel not because our message gives people the opportunity to choose God (because we believe no one chooses God)... But that God uses us as tools to preach to those whose hearts He has transformed and made able to accept the Gospel... In other words, there are a certain number of individuals on this earth who have been chosen by God and have the capacity to respond... And we need to preach to everyone we can to reach those chosen individuals.
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raves +3 Jul 03, 2008 12:34AM GMTIt is a very hard doctrine to swallow Shirk. You know me.. I'm a 5 point Calvinist myself.
The way I like to picture the role of our will (an no, I wouldn't use the adjective free in front of will, as I believe the will is either a slave to sin or a servant of it's Master) is that it certainly doesn't cooperate in our salvation. However, the battle of wills (flesh versus spirit) is the key to the sanctification process. It's a battle whereby the flesh ever so gradually yields in full to the Holy Spirit.
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raves +5 posted Jul 01, 2008 04:36AM GMT (edited)
Answered God is loving, but just. We are all sinners in danger of Hell, but all who accept Christ will be in Heaven.
1 Cor 15:3" For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures", 4 "and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,"
Romans 3:23" for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Great question ! I truly believe there is only 1 kind of (Christianity?) its saving faith In Christ's perfect work on the cross! The question you pose seems to me anyway is the DELIVERY of the message. Are we going to try and "clod-bust"
people by the "old man" i.e. the old sin nature of Adam, or the new nature God gives the at the very instant that were born-again? I believe the Scripture that hits this issue head-on is
1 Pet.3:15: be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; 16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. 17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. how? ..with meekness & Godly reverence. DearShirkie, I think that's EXACTLY how you go about it here at Sodahead ! Bless you, God's doing a great work through YOU! -
raves +3 posted Jun 21, 2008 04:57PM GMT
Answered Other (please share!)
One of the first answers on this poll seems to be the one that I align with the most. I've always grown up to believe that Christianity is meant to be a religion lead by example over preaching. Churches are set up for believers. For the most part, people who are actively seeking out the Lord go to church, random strangers do not just drop by. Churches are set up to create community with like-minded people. Community with like-minded people are set up to help each individual but to also demonstrate to the outside world the excellence of the community and how they live their lives. I believe that the best testament to God and scripture is to live your life, in all areas, to what you believe to be true to the word of God. In such a corrupt world, even the most tainted of hearts WILL notice your lifestyle and ask what makes you so happy, which is your best method to preach the word of God. That's just in my own experience, though. -
raves +2 Jul 03,
Answered God is loving, but just. We are all sinners in danger of Hell, but all who accept Christ will be in Heaven.
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