Results 601 - 620 of 6029
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Results from: Notes Author: DocTrinsograce Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
601 | who were the Sadducces and Parisees | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 127808 | ||
By the way, there were a variety of "kinds" of Pharisees. These included "Bruised Pharisees," "Ever-Reckoning Pharisees," and "God Fearing Pharisees." The last group were pretty good guys, actually, many becoming Christians. | ||||||
602 | Faith in Dime Store Poetry | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 127809 | ||
The following, written by Douglas Jones: I dreamed, and behold, it was a strange dream, one with extra pepperoni. In my dream, I was walking along a solitary beach. On the sand before me were two sets of footprints. After a time, I looked, and lo! one set of footprints had vamoosed. I pondered these things in my heart. What does this mean? When I looked up I saw in the distance a stranger standing along my path. He looked to be a wise man, and so I stopped my pilgrimage that I might ask him a query or two. "Stranger," said I, "What do these footprints here in the sand mean? There are two sets of prints, but sometimes there is only one. What could it mean?" He looked at the sand for a moment, and then he quietly said, "How should I know?" "Could it not be," I spake, pressing him further, "that the Lord was walking with me here on the beach, and that when times got hard, the one set of footprints means that the Lord carried me, only I thought it meant He deserted me for a time, but it wasn't true after all, and that I didn't have enough faith?" "Suit yourself," the stranger said, "But I think it only fair to point out that the footprints are already here, and you just got here. Were you through here earlier?" "No," said I. "Well, how could they be your footprints then?" he said, arguing the point closely. "I do not know," I said. "But I have faith that this must be the case. Do you not have faith? Are you not an angel sent here to encourage wayfaring travelers and pilgrims?" "No," he said. "I am a tourist who walked down here from the motel to feed the seagulls. When my wife finishes getting ready, we are going to drive into town and go to Sea World." "But don't you have faith?" "Not faith that believes wayfaring pilgrims can make footprints when they haven't been here yet." "But look," said I, taking off my backpack. "Here is a plaque that describes this very situtation. Don't you see? This is a sign." "Like I said before, pal. Suit yourself." In truth, I was starting to get righteously annoyed. Life is hard and sharp-edged enough without cynics popping up everywhere debunking those precious truths once for all delivered to the saints through Christian gift centers everywhere by means of plaques and those cute figurines. "Look," said I, getting to the heart of the matter, "I am not your pal." "Suit yourself," said he. And grinned. It was the grin that did it. I thought about the inspirational words on my plaque, and I thought of his taunting irreverance, and so I slowly drew myself up to my full height. "Friend," I said. "Are you born again?" "Not if you are," said he. Howling, I poked him in the eye. He grabbed me by the lapels of my windbreaker, and we scuffled back and forth on the solitary, windswept beach. I am not in shape like I should be, so we fell apart panting after a few moments. I haven't been using my evangelical aerobics videotape the way I should. As I panted for breath, I looked down. "Look what you did to my footprints!" I spoke with a holy dismay. "Good riddance," said he. "And they are not your footprints." I pierced him with a smoldering eye. "We have been over this ground before." "I don't think so," he said. "At least you haven't." And grinned again. I stopped. What can we do against such unbelief when the secular humanists have control of the media? When the foundations are being destroyed what can the righteous do? I stooped sadly to put the plaque back in my knapsack. Then spiritual conviction fell upon me. I stopped. What would Jesus have me do? "Would you like my plaque? " said I, looking up. "Does it have any pictures of Elvis on it?" he asked. "No," said I. "Then, no," said he. "Pardon me," I said, "but what does Elvis have to do with all this?" "I don't know," he said honestly. "He just seemed to fit in somehow." One more chance. One more chance, I thought. After that, I would shake the sand off my flip-flops. "Friend, how do you explain the two sets of footprints, and then only one? How do you explain that?" "I don't know," he said. "I am not a theologian. Maybe those were the times when you were off replenishing your hashish." I grimaced. "So you still do not have faith." "No, but I do have quite a story for my wife." |
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603 | Faith in Dime Store Poetry | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 127895 | ||
Explicit, Straightforward Moral: Good theology doesn't come from "warm fuzzy" poetry, no matter how many T-Shirts it is printed on. | ||||||
604 | Christians before Jesus came | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 128479 | ||
Good answer, brother Ed. It is a wonderful truth that men throughout the length of time were all saved by the same means, grace through faith in Jesus Christ. How clearly they see Him varies, but "there is no name under heaven by which a man might be saved." I believe that this one reason that Christ is called "the lamb slain from the foundations of the world." | ||||||
605 | explicate reason, mind, soul, will, fles | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 128642 | ||
Are we still not debating? :-) God has, indeed, created a heart of flesh where there once was a heart of stone -- otherwise we would never be able to desire Him and His will. However, the capacity of the heart to deceive us is still there. There are numerous passages that express this. Simply use a concordance on the New Testament and look for the word "heart." If the heart were not deceitful, how did the saints in Corinth err? How were the saints in Galatia confused by Judiazers? How was Peter drawn in to the point of needing rebuke by Paul? Why didn't the pure hearts of these saints lead them in the right direction? Your other comments are beyond my ability to decipher. I may be too dense to grasp your argument very quickly. Honestly, along with Geof, I am keen to understand. Please explain how the mind, will, intellect, and emotions can be clearly divided. |
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606 | explicate reason, mind, soul, will, fles | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 128749 | ||
Hi, Armond... that comment was an effort at humility and an acknowledgment that I still have lots of things to learn. Sorry if it came across as something other than that! This issue has been argued, studied, and hashed out since before Socrates. In the last 400 plus years people like Rene Descartes, George Berkeley, Jonathan Edwards, and many others have tried to wrestle with the question of man's nature from a Judeo-Christian perspective. (The Roman Catholic Church pretty much hung on to Aristotle's "trichotomy of man" viewpoint. Although folks like Augustine made significant contributions, they weren't able to effect permanent change.) Scripture helps us a bit, but not in the definitive way that we'd all like! Don't get me wrong... we have the Word itself, which is our rock solid foundation. Next we have logic, which is one step removed from scripture, so we have to be a little careful, but its still pretty solid. Finally, we have speculation -- and speculation is never something we can solidly depend on! (See, the farther away we get from the foundation, the less certain we can be about our conclusions.) Now, a little on the language of the Bible itself: Hebrew is sort of like English in that it is somewhat visceral and emotional. The two languages are a bit sloppy, if you'll allow me to use the term. For example, I might say, "Armond, you know in your heart the right thing to do!" Hebrew would use almost the same phrase. Now, as English speakers we know that "heart" means everything. It includes intuition, instinct, intellect, inclination, emotion (sorry couldn't find another "i" word) etc. If you translated that directly into Greek, though, it wouldn't make a bit of sense. The phrase "know in your heart" would come out as "knowledge in your emotions." The Greek distinguishes between "where" we reason (i.e., nous, the mind) and "where" we feel (i.e., psuche, the heart or soul). So that phrase would make as much sense to a Greek as "hear in your nose" would make to us. So, Geof's question was about the nature of man. Where does reason start and emotions end? Where do we make choices? Why do feelings play such a strong role in decisions if we have rational minds? Why do we come to different conclusions with the same facts? Good questions... but hard to answer. What I was trying to tell Geof is that we have an incredibly difficult time as human beings figuring these things out. Its like a mirror trying to get an idea what it looks like by looking into a mirror. Or maybe like a flashlight trying to illuminate itself. Introspection doesn't get us very far. Yet the Word of God can cut like a surgical laser (Hebrews 4:12), even to the point of dividing our reason from our inclinations. (That's pretty fine cutting, that is impossible to humans. We do a good job just having names for these things, let alone figuring out where they start and end!) Furthermore, the Maker of the human heart has no such difficulties (Psalms 44:1). By the way, the very best treatment of this subject that I've found is Jonathan Edwards' "On Freedom of the Human Will." It is the most solidly scriptural statement of the nature of the mind that I've yet to come across. At least, I haven't read anything that seems as conclusive and definitive. If you are interested you can find it at http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/edwards.html So, my question to you, Armond, was this: If you know a good definitive and scriptural way to differentiate the pieces of a man, I want to hear it! Truly! |
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607 | Why are there no women angels | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 129097 | ||
Hi, Ed... good answer! One must note, however, that angels are always spoken of in the masculine. I've been partial to the idea that angels are gender neutral, gender seeming to be a special creation of God in the earth. However, like you said, we aren't explicitly told. By the way, also contrary to popular belief, there are no instances of angels singing in the scripture? :-) PS I've enjoyed your posts from today, brother Ed. |
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608 | Trenches or Playground? | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 129271 | ||
Today, our pastor quoted from a conversation he had with a missionary that is working in the Middle-East: "The Bible is written for soldiers in the trenches, not brats in the playground. You will only understand the Bible from the trenches, never from the playground." Lord, help me to be less the brat and more the soldier! |
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609 | How do we evaluate a pastor | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 129373 | ||
Hebrews 13:17 says that pastors will give account to the Lord for their flock. I always think about that passage and wonder if I am treating the instruction of my pastor with that kind of seriousness. In my tradition, and this also seems to be consistent with scriptural injunctions, we say that the pastor has the authority to bind our conscience, but always and only with the Word. Ed, wouldn't the passages in 1 Timothy, 1 Peter, and Titus also be good ways to measure the quality of a pastor? |
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610 | Reading Harry Potter | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 130049 | ||
Hi, fellas... tossing my two cents in here... I agree with you, Tim. Frankly, I think people get kind of superstitious about this kind of stuff. It reminds me of people who worry about three sixes being in a phone number. :-) When it comes to reading secular stuff, I do have a little problem. There is just so much good, wonderful stuff out there that I never get around to reading, I'd feel kind of guilty spending time on those Potter books. I still haven't made it through Augustine's "City of God!" :-) |
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611 | SHOULD WOMAN BE PRECHING | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 130163 | ||
Hey Hank... My far-better-half is great detective! Who needs something as crude as mind reading? | ||||||
612 | homosexuality | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 130472 | ||
GB, Romans 1 gives the root causes for the sin of sodomy. Examine it closely and you will see that this sin is actually rooted in the mind. There are no mention of demonic activity. I am sure that such activity exists, but man, all by himself, can get pretty messed up. | ||||||
613 | homosexuality | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 130514 | ||
GB, you wrote: "Would you not say that it is likely that those guilty of the lifestyle of the sodomite could be "possessed"?" You cited Eph. 6:12 as the reason for the above conclusion. I'm curious about something. Ephesians 6:12 is definitely talking to Christians (vs. 10 "finally my brethren", vs. 11 "put on the whole armor of God"). Are the lost "wrestling against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness"? I don't think they are wrestling with them. I think they are being influenced by them. So in answer to your question above, I certainly wouldn't lump the whole group together and call them possessed. However, I would lump them all together and call them lost. Still on Doc's computer, Mrs. Doc |
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614 | More quotable paragraph breaks for NASB? | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 131326 | ||
You might be interested in the Theological Markup Language that the Christian Classic Ethereal Library is using. http://www.ccel.org/ThML/ They also have some stuff looking at different versification schemes. Looks like stuff right up your alley. You might also look into XSEM. |
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615 | Have you ever read a book by a Catholic? | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 131533 | ||
Hey, may I jump in a second? :-) I've read some books by Roman Catholic authors. I rather enjoy as a devotional Thomas a'Kempis' "The Imitation of Christ." I've also read -- several times -- "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Nicholas Herman. I've read through all 25 sessions of the Council of Trent -- Zzzzzz. I waded through the Canons of the Fourth Lateran Council. I've read Augustine's Confessions -- lots better! Recently I've just begun reading some of Anselem's stuff. I thought former Father Charles Chiniquy was very enlightening, but he probably doesn't quite fit the criteria. I may not make it all the way through, but I've read the first two parts of the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church -- 1992 Edition, I think, but I loaned it out and didn't get it back. Perhaps it was an unintentionally pugnacious statement, but the words "scholarly," "Catholic," and "fundamentalist" all sound a bit odd to me in the same sentence. Although I am none of these things, sir, might I humbly suggest that one must be careful not to over-generalize when seeking to correct over-generalizations. :-) |
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616 | Have you ever read a book by a Catholic? | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 131658 | ||
Hi, gods son. :-) If you read up the thread you will see I was responding to a challenge to Protestant literacy. By the way, you would thoroughly appreciate Chiniquy... http://www.chcpublications.net/thegift.htm | ||||||
617 | Have you ever read a book by a Catholic? | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 131661 | ||
Been there... been bashed... I sympathize! | ||||||
618 | Have you ever read a book by a Catholic? | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 131666 | ||
Wow! Those of us who are believers in this forum will pray for you as they read this. Furthermore, we will pray for you again as the Lord brings you to mind. Thank you for you for being a ministering servant of the Lord, both in your former occupation and your current one. Although fruit may not be visible -- as with Ezekiel and Jeremiah -- no doubt your obedience will bring God glory. May the peace of Christ be with you, brother! | ||||||
619 | is tounges a sign of holyghost | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 131797 | ||
Hi, Ed... Yes, I agree that it appears throughout history, both in and out of the church. I've done a bit of digging in my books and electronic library. I was rather surprised at some of what I found. Let me summarize: After the time of the Apostles, tongues appears again in the second century with a convert by the name of Montanus. His teachings -- which would be recognizable by us today -- gained significant acceptance. Probably the most influential of Montanists was Tertullian of Carthage (about 160 AD). Ultimately its adherents split from the church. The rise of Montanism that originated the great synods of the church. In addition, the Montanists insistence on what they called "new prophecy" also gave the church the impetus to establish the canon of scripture -- a closed canon. By the time of John Chrysostom Montanism (360 AD) had been discounted and all but disappeared. It was Chrysostom who attested to the fact that speaking in languages had stopped altogether even among fringe groups where suspicion had held that they occurred. Justin Martyr, though he he states that he had "heard of prophetic gifts," does not even mention tongues. In fact, Dr. George Cutten of Colgate University, took a close look at any historical instances of this speaking in tongues. After thorough research, it was Cutten’s conclusion that in the ancient church at least, the church of the fathers, there was not one well-attested instance of any person who exercised speaking in tongues or even pretended to exercise it. However, outside of Montanism I did find a reference where Irenaeus in the second century claimed that he had encountered people who spoke all sorts of languages. The long centuries passed on into the Middle Ages. During this time there was so much stuff going on that was superstitious, mystical, inexplainable, awesome, weird, and monastic its hard ferreting out instances of New Testament spirituality, let alone anything about the gifts! The next thing that seems somewhat verifiable is around the early 1500's with Francis Xavier who claimed to have the ability to speak to people of India. Urbane VIII sanctioned this claim, which seems interesting in view of the things going on in Spain at the time. After the Reformation marked a great burst of vitality and hunger for truth. In this period there are a few incidents of "the ecstatic and the uncontrollable." It pops up among the Anabaptists, Munsterites, Albigenses, etc. It blossoms, however, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During the founding days of America the Pilgrim fathers, Puritan leaders, Baptist preachers, Presbyterian divines, and Methodist laymen did not at all indulge in these practices. It continues to predominate outside of orthodox Christian circles. Note: This is not speculation, provocation, or interpretation. All I did was dig around in church history for glosia, as suggested. Therefore, if anyone has issues with what I found, please search out the sources and examine them for yourself. :-) It has been a long week and I'm tired of thinking for tonight! |
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620 | Have you ever read a book by a Catholic? | Bible general Archive 2 | DocTrinsograce | 131798 | ||
Charles Chiniquy lived in the 19th century. Chuck Publications was founded in 1984. I suspect that Chiniquy used a French translation. Ad homenim arguments might seem persuasive from the perspective of your papal ptolemic, but it will not change minds here. |
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