Results 421 - 440 of 657
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: stjones Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
421 | TKO, does God operate differently today? | Acts | stjones | 49321 | ||
Greetings, TKO; Jesus said "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35) Your insults of forum members and your blanket condemnation of the church as a whole do not seem rooted in love. If you are a Christian then many/most of the folks in this discussion are your brothers and sisters in Christ. And we are part of the church you seem to despise. You are entitled to your interpretations of Scripture; other forum members are entitled to disagree and to cite the Scriptures on which their understanding is based. Jesus' own disciples disagreed with one another on matters of faith and practice. Do you suppose that now, 20 centuries later, you are the sole custodian of truth? And just for the record, you did say in your response to Grace_and_Truth that God has changed since the first century and we (the church) haven't. If your answer was not what you meant to say then why not just admit it and move on? "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:29-32) Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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422 | TKO, does God operate differently today? | Acts | stjones | 49329 | ||
Do the words "turn the other cheek" ring a bell? Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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423 | TKO, does God operate differently today? | Acts | stjones | 49335 | ||
TKO; I can read. I understood the question; I understood your answer; I would guess that everyone who's following this thread (for whatever unfathomable reason) understood both the question and your answer. I wish you well. Goodbye Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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424 | TKO, does God operate differently today? | Acts | stjones | 49651 | ||
Greetings, GandT; This is what I meant. Time to move on from silly trading of recriminations to something of substance - like your note. Thank you! I think there are several points of disagreement, but I can't address them until this weekend. Hopefully, we'll both still be interested in what I have to say. ;-) Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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425 | TKO, does God operate differently today? | Acts | stjones | 49914 | ||
Ok, I'm back. Now on to something of substance. Acts 8:13-24 does not say that the laying-on of hands by an apostle is the only way to receive the Holy Spirit. It just says that in this instance that's when it happened. It doesn't say that the laying-on of hands caused the Holy Spirit to be given. It says that in this case the gift of the Holy Spirit was accompanied by the laying-on of hands. I certainly don't have to admit that the Holy Spirit of today is in some way inferior to what he was in the first century. God is immutable; that includes the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12 makes very clear that gifts are given for building up the body of Christ. That work has not stopped, neither has the need for the gifts of the Spirit to do the work, neither has the giving of gifts. There is no passage anywhere in the Bible that says the Holy Spirit disappeared or changed and there is no passage in the Bible that says the gifts are no longer given. Until you can present some kind of biblical authority for this teaching, it is of no value to a Christian. I'm sorry you've never seen the Holy Spirit at work; I'm sorry you've never witnessed his gifts in action. I have. I know I have because the Bible describes the gifts and their purpose and I have seen the gifts applied to that purpose. The gifts are not meant to impress men so I have never desired to speak in tongues. God will equip me for what he wants me to do. If he needs me to speak in tongues, I'm sure I will. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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426 | TKO, does God operate differently today? | Acts | stjones | 49951 | ||
Hi, GandT; Sorry if I sounded upset. I was tired. ;-) I'm sure you know that the passage in Mark is suspect. We'll have to agree to disagree on its significance. God is immutable - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I just can't see anything that says God would abondon his fledgling church after 70 years or so. So I guess we'll have to disagree about that too. Fortunately, our salvation depends on Christ alone and I'm sure we can agree on that. Have a blessed day. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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427 | TKO, does God operate differently today? | Acts | stjones | 49958 | ||
Hi, GandT; Well, I remain unconvinced. I find that other books and pasages confirm the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit and bestowing of his gifts. It's Ok to disagree. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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428 | information on speaking in tounges | Acts | stjones | 50033 | ||
Hi, Steve; It seems to me that any definition of the word "apostle" must account for both Paul and Barnabas ("But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting..." - Acts 14:14) and for Andronicus and Junias as well ("Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles" - Romans 16:7) Paul identifies apostleship as one of the spriritual gifts (1 Corinthinas 12, Ephesians 4). Unless one holds to the belief that gifts ceased at the end of the first century (I don't), one must assume that calling apostles continued and may continue today. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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429 | information on speaking in tounges | Acts | stjones | 50143 | ||
Hi, Steve; Keep me posted. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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430 | What was infused? | Acts 1:3 | stjones | 44621 | ||
Hi, Tim; It’s been a while. I'd like to address a couple of points in your replies to Doug. 1. You commented here that "most who argue that a day is not a day then go on to say that Adam wasn't Adam either". This is a classic straw man argument, not at all worthy of you. It is very common in these kinds of discussions. It often shows up as "if you assume Genesis 1-2 is not literally true then there's no reason to assume that the gospels are literally true". Or "belief in 'theistic' evolution leads to belief in godless Darwinian evolution". This argument always addresses some potential consequence of the assertion, not the assertion itself. I, for one, believe that "day" does not necessarily mean a literal 24-hour day and I believe that Adam and Eve were the result of special attention by God the Creator that set them apart from all other creatures on Earth. 2. Wise Christians have always accommodated their understanding of Scripture to the revelations of science. The church's pathetic response to Galileo's discoveries is the prime example of failure to do so. But let me say most emphatically that faithful Christians do not accommodate the spiritual truths - i.e. everything related to Jesus, his person, his work, and the necessity of it - to science. These truths can never be contradicted by honest science (see below) because they are beyond what honest science can address. 3. Modern science is indeed deceitful. The validity of science rests solely on the integrity of its deductive logic (reasoning upward and inferring large principles from small observations). Many modern scientists have discredited their own work by reasoning deductively - they start with an assumption that there is no God and reason downward from there. Many "creation" scientists do the same thing – they reason deductively from a particular interpretation of the Bible. They may be faithful believers and good theologians but they do bad science. Being a good scientist and being a good Christian are not mutually exclusive. Good scientists can be faithful believers. Their faith allows them to approach their work inductively, knowing that eventually every truthful path will lead to God. There is no need to discredit the science by starting out deductively. 4. Evolution does not provide an alternative explanation for creation. Atheistic scientists hate the Big Bang model because it opens the door to something they cannot tolerate – a first cause. Stephen Hawking himself has tried to discredit this aspect of his own work. But we old-earth Christians know who the first cause is – God the Father Almighty. Hope you’re enjoying this lovely Hoosier spring. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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431 | What was infused? | Acts 1:3 | stjones | 44631 | ||
Hi, Steve; Thanks for your comments. But of course, I have to disagree - I'm living proof that it's a straw man. I doubt a literal 24-hour day and accept a literal Adam. And I have a logical, consistent, and (IMO) Biblically-based reason for the distinction. There are grounds for attacking my belief regarding creation days. But an assumption that rejection of Adam's historicity is the inevitable consequence of that belief is not one of them. And I hope you understand that I don't insist on anyone's agreeing with me. Some of my best friends are young-earth Christians. ;-) Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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432 | What was infused? | Acts 1:3 | stjones | 44636 | ||
Thanks, Doug; Nice to have someone to share the foxhole with. ;-) Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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433 | What was infused? | Acts 1:3 | stjones | 44676 | ||
Hi, Tim; Thanks for your reply. As usual, we agree more than we disagree. I had not thought about Adam's age ("fully functional adult male") or the implications of it. But I'm still learning - what do you see as the issue here? Around here, it seems all of the flowering trees from magnolias to crab apples just popped out in the last couple of days. I hope you dry out; I guess it's good that God promised no more floods! Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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434 | I would like to learn more about this! | Acts 1:11 | stjones | 79212 | ||
Hi, Taleb; Hear, hear! Your diatribe brings to mind a related tragedy in the church - our collective obsession with fotrune-telling. I refer, of course, to the thriving prophecy industry which drains people, time, and money from the real work of the church. Instead of taking seriously Paul's question "And how can they preach unless they are sent?" (Romans 10:15), we squander millions trying to guess when Jesus will return and speculating on the sequence of events when he does. Instead of believing Jesus' simple declaration that "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Matthew 24:36), we buy books, go to conferences, and support TV shows that purport to tell us when that day or hour will be. It troubles me to think of the missionaries not sent, the Bibles not printed, the translations not done, the voices stilled because of the church's fascination with trying to guess a future not given us to know. What difference could all of this possibly make to a lost sinner who simply needs to know the Good News? Where does this crystal-ball-gazing fit in with Jesus' instructions to his church? I do not mean to criticize dmvd or others for being interested is such things. If people on this forum want to speculate on matters akin to how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, they'll hear no objection from me. Nor will they have to read my opinion because I have none. :-) The only thing I know about the future is that Jesus will return at an appointed day and hour unkonwn to me. But I hope that anyone who is fattening the wallet of a fortune-teller will consider diverting at least part of that money to a mission that is actually working to save souls. Thanks for listening. This cranky old curmudgeon will now crawl back into his hole. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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435 | Judas - betrayer not savior | Acts 1:25 | stjones | 43287 | ||
Hi, kalos; Your note showed up as a new thread. Were you replying to someone? I don't mean to speak for SirVant, but I think maybe we're both wondering why you might post this passionate denunciation of Judas out of the blue. If I read his posts correctly, I'm sure we both agree with what you said about Judas. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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436 | When will I speak/pray in tongues? | Acts 2:6 | stjones | 27720 | ||
Hello, a2b; Just out of curiosity, can you show where the Bible says we get to choose our gifts? Or that there is any gift that all believers are given? I think the references already given support the notion that gifts are distributed as God wills, not as we will, and that there is no one gift common to all. I certainly don't mean to challenge your gift or even your discovery of it. But I would caution you against generalizing from your own experience. It's easy to imagine Peter, James, and John getting the idea that the only "true" disciples were those who were present at the Transfiguration. But they had Jesus to show them that their experience was uniquely theirs and not a standard by which to measure others. We have the Bible which serves the same purpose. Peace and grace and a blessed and merry Christmas, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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437 | When will I speak/pray in tongues? | Acts 2:6 | stjones | 27807 | ||
Hi, a2b; Thanks for your reply. If I have a sweet spirit, it's that Holy one, not my carnal one.... At the risk of generalizing from my own experience ;-) I will just say that I have been baptized by the Holy Spirit and do not (yet, anyway) speak in tongues. Yet others have told me that they see evidence of the Spirit's indwelling. The passage you cite is troublesome because of its absense from early manuscripts. I hope you don't go 'round drinking Drano and playing with rattlesnakes. ;-) Peace and grace and a blessed and merry Christmas Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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438 | why is Acts 2:44 not practiced today | Acts 2:44 | stjones | 107709 | ||
Greetings, rcreasy53; I think the answer is found in your question - that was the first Christian church. All the believers, together with the apostles, were in one place. The majority of them probably knew each other or had friends in common. Those who weren't eyewitnesses to Jesus' ministry, death, or resurrection were rubbing shoulders with people who were. That kind of gathering won't happen again until we are all together in Heaven. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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439 | why is Acts 2:44 not practiced today | Acts 2:44 | stjones | 107711 | ||
Ah, I love these sweeping condemnations. Can you explain how I can be together and have everything in common with my brother in Kenya or my sister in Korea? Thanks. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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440 | Need Biblical support for programs | Acts 2:47 | stjones | 52408 | ||
Welcome, Eric; Short answer: If the program itself in Biblical, it's Biblical. There's nothing inherently Biblical or un-Biblical about the existence of such a program. Long answer: God wants his church to grow. As long as the program itself is ethical and scripturally sound, I wouldn't worry about it. If its purpose is to reach out to the community and bring people into fellowship with the Body of Christ, that's Biblical. If the purpose is to grow the budget to fund a new softball diamond, I'd be concerned. If the program tries to attract members of other churches, that's divisive. If the program is expensive and has serious long-term impact on missions and other forms of outreach, that seems to miss the point of the Great Commission. But if we worried about the mechanics of running a church today v. NT times, we wouldn't have heat, air conditioning, Sunday school, hymnals, or bulletins. (Elsewhere on the forum, there's a long list of things we wouldn't have.) We wouldn't have a sound system, we wouldn't tape our services, and we certainly wouldn't breathe a word of our existence on radio or TV. That's my .02 of a dollar; hope it's helpful. Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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