Results 41 - 60 of 1444
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: JCrichton Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
41 | Is Jesus always the Light? | Acts | JCrichton | 151667 | ||
Hi, Seedling! Jesus is speaking on the thing to come... for as long as He is in the world, as the Lamb of God, He is the center of the world... yet, there will be a time when the prince of this world will seek Jesus followers (Genesis 3:15; Revelation 12); it will be up to Jesus' disciples to become the light/s of the world, in Jesus stead, so that man can be brought into the fold... God is Light and in Him there's no darkness (1 John 1:5) and since Jesus is God, He is the Light! God Bless! Angel |
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42 | Why can we not just be Christians? | 1 Pet 1:2 | JCrichton | 151666 | ||
Hi, Ray! You've hit on another excellent (more outstanding) passage: Colossians 1:28! There is a goal for the Believer (as in the Old Testament) to be perfect/ed in Christ Jesus... as the Holy Spirit works everything for the edification of the Body... Believe in Christ, yes!... is is through Faith that we are brought into the fold... but as our temporal existence, our spiritual existence deepens and growth in the knowledge and existence of God... we are commanded by Paul to go past the initiation (preaching, believing, baptism) and to embrace all that is God (including abedience to His Will)! (1 Corinthians 13:11-12; Ephesians 4:30 thru 5:21; Hebrews 6:1-6). God Bless! Angel |
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43 | can you lose your salvation or not? | 2 Cor 1:22 | JCrichton | 151660 | ||
Hi, Kalos! It is not I who tells you it is He! It is beautiful to believe! I believe the children are our future... wonderful line from an old song! I believe in God, says... well almost every body... but they create their own version of what that "God" constitutes... for some new age Christians it is a God that loves everything and allows everything including homosexuality and interfaith worship (which allows for homosexuality, atheism, a female divinity, and the acceptance of evil and good as part of God's inner structure...); it is Jesus who tells you to abide in Him and if you refuse to abide you will be cut off and burned! 1I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (John 15:1-6) And abiding in Christ does not mean saying "I believe in Christ!:" 15If ye love me, keep my commandments. 21He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (John 14:15, 21) Saying that we are "saved" or "born again" or that we "believe" does not make it so! Obeying Christ when He Command us to abide in Him or when He Command us to change our ways and be perfect or when He Commad us to stay the course that is what "Believing" means... it never means an easy route to salvation (jumping in line or committing ourselves to sin because we "believe" or because we are "saved..."); if you abide in Me and I in you so that you can bear much fruit... if you do not abide in me... well... just don't go around calling Lord, Lord, because I tell you, "I know you not!" (a little play on words as I paraphrased for your John 15:4-6 and Matthew 7:21-23) Believing without abiding is nothing more than the echo of sound dissipated into nothingness... even the demons believe that Jesus is who He says He is, but they do not obey; they seek to transgress any and all of God's Authority... so does the man who walks with a Bible because he believes... yet, transgresses against God as his will dictates! Was Jesus simply using double talk when He spoke to the disciples? "Abide in me... without me you are nothing!" Does that sound like "Believe in Me (well, I mean 'say you believe in me') and everything is secure... now, go on, go be yourself?" Salvation is free--for the asking! But that "born again" thing is permanent and a person cannot be born into the Light and continue to live in darkness!: 5This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:5-10) God Bless! Angel |
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44 | God being lonely? | Gen 1:1 | JCrichton | 151659 | ||
Hi, mommapbs! You've missed my point completely: "we, humanity, long for His companionship!" It is this longing that can bring us to believe that God is lonely as He longs to be with us! "I suspect that many seek companionship from others and things" It is this emptiness, in us, that could cause man to think that God could ever be lonely... and you are correct, many seek to fill a void in their lives that only God can fill--unfortunately, Satan has taken the reigns and he leads humanity into all sorts of inverted doctrines (bad means good; good means bad)... so we search to satisfy our loneliness in everything and anything except God... and because, as human, we experience the suffocating tentacles of this vacuous feeling we call loneliness, we may suspect that, because we are created in God's image, God too experiences loneliness. God Bless! Angel |
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45 | Why can we not just be Christians? | 1 Pet 1:2 | JCrichton | 151656 | ||
Hi, Ray! I agree with you fully! I think that this is part of Scripture which people tend to omit when searching for answers... it is not just what sin is and what sin does that matters... we cannot, on our own, correct every single impulse that compels us to transgress against God... it is through His Grace that we are made alive... it is through humble obedience that we can submit our will to His! Just take a look at 2 Corinthians 5:20: ""Therefore, we are ambassadors for (Christ)..."" if we were to abide by it, we would not have any need to worry about sin... we would be compelled to abide in humble obedience acquiescing to God's Will instead of defying it! (Hebrews 10:26-39) God Bless! Angel |
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46 | Why can we not just be Christians? | 1 Pet 1:2 | JCrichton | 151650 | ||
Hi, Doc! I understand what you are saying and I do not suggest that Scripture say otherwise... but there are sins that actually build up (as addictive drugs)if allowed to fester (anger, envy, lust, greed...); there's hardly any moderation once a person engages them... I agree with you fully a transgression does not have to be extensive nor repetitious: sin is sin! God Bless! Angel |
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47 | Why can we not just be Christians? | 1 Pet 1:2 | JCrichton | 151585 | ||
Hi! Christians are part of the Body of Christ (One Body); guided by one Spirit (the Holy Spirit); serving one Lord (Jesus) and one God (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)... Sadly, we are made of flesh... weak, contemptuous, rebellious, arrogant, egocentric, ignorant, pretentious, envious, resentful, vindictive... any of these (and others) or their combination are lethal to our will and conscience... Satan uses weaknesses to form barriers between us and God and between the individual Christians... We are coasting blindly... fighting each others at times or demeaning or ignoring each others at other times... We all want to be right! We all want to be "the one" with an incomparable understanding and theology! Remember the old saying, if it is not broken, don't fix it?, well, we run to fix the Church, but not to unite Her; we run to discern new paths, but not if it leads to one body; we run to modernize the Holy Scripture, even at the cost of altering the Truth! As individuals, we can work unexhaustibly to promote our theologies and philosophies and we seek unity in disunity as the cure all for the rupture (no, not rapture) of the Body! Biblical proof? There isn't... quite the contrary there is Biblical proof to the opposite. (1 Corinthians 1:11-13; 12:25-31) God Bless! Angel |
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48 | Why can we not just be Christians? | 1 Pet 1:2 | JCrichton | 151584 | ||
Hi, Doc! Check out Romans 1:29 and 2 Peter 2:13! God Bless! Angel |
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49 | can you lose your salvation or not? | 2 Cor 1:22 | JCrichton | 151583 | ||
Hi! I know that many teach and believe "once saved always saved..." Yet, this is not Biblical! Not once did Jesus say, once you are saved you can't lose your salvation. And not one of the Apostles taught that! There is teaching to the contrary... Jesus tells us that not all who call Him Lord will be saved! He even speaks of those who will perform signs in His name--not even super human powers will secure our salvation... however, abiding in Him does: "I am the Resurrection and the Life," He said at one time so that those who believe in Me though dead will come to life and if alive will not die! But abiding in Him means obeying His Commandments; it means rejecting the world and embracing Him; it means subjecting ourselves to His Will and not our own will! This is eternal life! (John 17:3) Knowing God means abiding in Him in obedience; humbly subjecting ourselves to Him. (John 14:15) In one occasion Paul admonishes the Church: 26For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again. 27So if anyone eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily, that person is guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. 28That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking from the cup. 29For if you eat the bread or drink the cup unworthily, not honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God's judgment upon yourself. (1 Corinthians 11:26-29--NLT) 26For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 27Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. (1 Corinthians 11:26-29--KJV) Paul is not mincing words... Christians can bring damnation upon ourselves! Again, while speaking to the Ephesians, Paul is very adamant about what saves: 1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. 4Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7Therefore do not be partners with them. 8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) (1 Ephesians 5:1-9) Verses 5 and 6 are not speaking of or to the nonbelievers; these verses are very much directed at those who Believe: don't join the crowd; don't do as you once did; no one who practices such deeds will inherit the Kingdom of God! Christians should be striving to be obedient to Christ and to humble ourselves to His Commandment, as John said: "if we confess our sins, He will forgive us and cleanse us!" (1 John 1:9) Jesus is our Eternal Security and our Eternal Salvation. (John 15:1-6) Let us abide in Christ, lest we be cut off! God Bless! Angel |
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50 | what is the diff btwn conse and sanctifc | Ex 28:3 | JCrichton | 151582 | ||
Hi! Only One can Sanctify, the Holy Spirit... God makes us or anything holy (pure/purified/separated) as with the various people that were anointed and the ground about the burning bush, the mountain where God dwell as He visited with the Hebrew people, the Ark... You, I or anyone else, can choose to consecrate your life to God... as the Nazarites, the various prophets, John the Baptist, etc... though we can elect to separate ourselves from the temporal world in order to serve God (as the various monks, hermits and others); it is only God who can call us to that service and it is only God who can sanctify both our bodies and our labor. God Bless! Angel |
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51 | Who are the lost sheep of israel? | Matt 15:24 | JCrichton | 151333 | ||
Hi, Poetlois! While reading through the Old Testament Books (Samuel, Kings, Chronicles) we find Yahweh admonishing Israel for turning from Him, the only True and Living God, to the pagans' gods, anything and everything that was worshipped though not being God... when Jesus came to His people (Emmanuel, the God-among-us) Israel had been rejecting God's Authority--in essense, they had gone astray, in spite of all the warnings against idolatry and rejection of the One True God! Throughout the Old Testament, God promised that, in the fullness of time, He would come to His people and would live among them... but He also warned that Israel would reject Him and run to those that were nongods; He would then, come to those that were not His people and make unto Himself a nation... those that were once God's people would now be called not my people and those that were not God's people would now be called His people (please read Romans 9:1 thru 11:32)... it would be Jesus who would bring Hope (Life) to the Gentiles! Yet, before Jesus could bring the Gentiles to His fold, Israel, the people of God, had to enjoy their visitation with their God-with-us, Emmanuel (John 1:1-14)... once this was fulfilled, Jesus would then, through His Church, embrace the Gentiles! God Bless! Angel |
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52 | Holy Spirit / Tongues for Today? | Acts 2:39 | JCrichton | 151332 | ||
Hi, Huron! We are at complete accord!... I think that this is the result of coming together in His Name! I pray that more and more Believers come together in the Holy Spirit so that we can share Christ's Peace! God Bless! Angel |
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53 | Dominion Miracles | 1 Sam 1:1 | JCrichton | 151214 | ||
Hi! Understanding that the Holy Scripture is not a farmer's almanac (filled with historical accounts of past events and forecasts calculated on past events), we can reason, from the revealed information, that something is or happened or will be: Satan's dominion Though not stated as to when, how, or why it was done we find several passages that alude to this: Luke 4:5-6; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11--notice that Jesus Himself attests that Satan is the prince of this world (remember that there are two kingdoms one is of the flesh and the other of the Spirit). Satan and miracles Again, we have several passages that speak directly on this issue: Matthew 24:24 (compare with Mark 13:22); Revelation 13:11-13; 19:20--again, it is Jesus Himself who warns that the antiChrists (false Christs) will produce signs to seduce/decieve the world and even the elect (Believers) if it were possible! God Bless! Angel |
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54 | Holy Spirit / Tongues for Today? | Acts 2:39 | JCrichton | 151209 | ||
Hi, Mike! I am not suggesting otherwise (water baptism and baptism in the Holy Spirit)... what I am saying is that it was understood that they were part of the initiation into the Body of Christ... the best examples I can offer you are found in Acts 8:14-17 and 10:34-48; on the first passage the people had been preached to and had been baptized; yet they did not receive the Holy Spirit till Peter and others visited them and infused the Holy Spirit on them... the second passage speaks of a totally reversed situation as the Holy Spirit was acting in these Believers but they had not received water baptism... Peter commanded that they be baptized (water) as well as having the Holy Spirit's baptism! Today, we are so engrossed in our individual congregational's views that at times we think that we can omit one part or the other or that we can be at higher spiritual levels than even Jesus who was both baptized in water and anointed by the Holy Spirit! Again, though different events, both water baptism and baptism in the Holy Spirit are part of the make up of Christians... it is, as they say, "the whole enchilada!" God Bless! Angel |
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55 | Bible study. Any suggestions? | 1 John | JCrichton | 151178 | ||
Hi! You may choose to do topical presentations... this allows you to gear every lesson to the immediate concern of the group... I pesonally enjoy these as they can cover various books at once, bringing both the Old and New Testament to bear... also, this format motives the group to work with topics that are applicable to the immediate Christian experience... I am willing to assist you in organizing the lessons, if you so desire, just dropt a line at: jcrichtonfs1@yahoo.com God Bless! Angel Angel |
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56 | Nowadays Examples | Rom 14:20 | JCrichton | 151174 | ||
Hi, cklamhk! One clear example is the growing movement of Christians accepting society's morals and conduct while disregarding Scripture or even brazenly distorting Scripture to gain favor with the world: Abortion, homosexuality, drugs, alcohol, suicide, premarital sex or union (those who claim that they can share their beds with their "soulmates" without engaging in any sexual activities), masturbation, tolerance of all of the above (claiming to reject these acts while supporting those who embrace them)... God Bless! Angel |
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57 | Holy Spirit / Tongues for Today? | Acts 2:39 | JCrichton | 151172 | ||
Hi, Huron! I think that the distinction of water baptism and baptism in the Holy Spirit is only a matter of later generations of Christians... if we follow closely the early Church we must see that whenever there was one the other soon followed... it was indispensable for Christians to simply do without either! I think the root concern is to identify the reason for Pentecost and the mini/semi Pentecosts that would follow... it wasn't a mandate that Christians would speak in strange tongues! The manifestation of the Holy Spirit in signs such as the rumblings and the tongues of fire and the demonstration of an enhanced ability (speaking in tongues) is simply that... a demonstration; a tool to gather both Believers and non-believers about the Apostles and disciples... Notice that there is a difference between Pentecost's revelations and Paul's admonishions: Peter and the others spoke or seemed to be speaking in the various languages of those present during the actual incident... while Paul is speaking about strange tongues or languages not discernable to the human mind--languages that have their originins and their afinity in God! What I have tried to clarify is that when the Believers are baptizedthe, the Holy Spirit will not always be manifested by the signs of strange languages or multilingual ability of those baptized; yet, Christians are baptized in the Holy Spirit and receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, this includes the ability to speak in tongues--this will not cease till the end of times because the Holy Spirit was given to the Church to teach Her and guide Her to the fullness of truth and God's Gifts are perpetual (they will accomplish God's Will by assisting man's limitations throughout the ends of time)... Recap: Manifestation of the Holy Spirit in a manner similar to Pentecost--not necessary once Christians are aware of Hi presence... The ability of Christians to speak in tongues--it is part of the Holy Spirit's Gifts and He will detemine who, what, where, when, and how often and to what degree Christians are to become cognizant of them and practitioners of them. Again I refer you to Paul's words... his concern was not so much that Christians spoke in strange languages... his concern was that Christians aspired for those Gifts that would serve to edify the Church... We get so caught up in this issue that we miss the whole exercise completely: speaking in tongues is only of benefit to the person who is speaking (unless there is an interpreter and the matter must deal directly with the edification of the Body of Christ, not some personal revelation about a particular individual/s)... God Bless! Angel |
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58 | Tongues in different settings? | 1 Cor 14:22 | JCrichton | 151071 | ||
Hi, JRM! I was about to sign off... Quick summation: Paul found himself in the midst of a power play... some were claiming (as it happens today) to be more able than others... perhaps a few were seeking to out do others and basically a battle of the wills emerged... at one point Paul speaks on the value of tongues... he states that in the Old Testament God tells Israel that He will be the God of those foreing to Him because they have continously rejected Him... and it is those of strange tongues that will listen to God while His own people will reject Him--this is the sign of condemnation: Israel the natural Olive rejects the Living God while the Gentiles, the grafted Olive accepts God (this converges in Christ Jesus--John 1:1-14)... So Paul uses this warning to bring order to the chaos that is transpiring... He further explains that speaking in tongues is an exercise between the speaker and God--no one other than a the person speaking in tongues and the person that is guided by the Holy Spirit to interprete will gain anything from the exercise... He uses several examples to demonstrate the futility of fighting among each other to out perform all others who are speaking in tongues (musical instrument; human language...); he even goes as far as to state that his abilities are greater than theirs and that he himself would rather use a legible language to instruct and convict those who hear him than to demonstrate his abilities at speaking in tongues... Another point that Paul makes is that God is not a God of chaos but of order; hence, he commands that when gathered to worship there should be an order for things... that not more than three (3) people should speak in tongues--and these in and orderly fashion--and only if there is someone who can interprete; he does not forbid speaking in tongues; he simply warns that any revelation must be for the edification of the Church, that it benefits all if we seek to preach/teach the Word, that we are to keep order (not everyone shouting and chanting all over the place), and that if there is no interpreter, those moved by the Holy Spirit should do so quietly as their actions should not interfere with the services taking place.... There's no contradiction in Paul's admonishion; there's simply a code of conduct and a command to workd to edify the Church in all that we do! God Bless! Angel |
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59 | Holy Spirit / Tongues for Today? | Acts 2:39 | JCrichton | 151070 | ||
Hi, Huron! Not all were convinced... some just simply played it down as though the Apostles were drunk or crazy... this is the reason why Peter corrected them (Acts 2:14-42)... true, wonderous things happened to demonstrate the Coming of the Holy Spirit... but we must use reason when reading the Holy Scripture: *We must understand that neither all of Jesus' nor all of His disciples' accomplishments and teachings were recorded (way back when there was no such thing as printing pressess and copying machines, everything was done within certain constraints). * Not every single even occurred in a single formatted fashion. * The Holy Spirit did not come to perform wholesale signs and miracles. * There's always a purpose for God's revelations and demonstrations of Power/Authority. * The Holy Spirit is with us forever, till the end of times! I offer the following passages where baptism took place but there was no mention of any special signs: Acts 8:12-26; 8:26-39; 9:18-20; 16:9-15; 16:25-34; 18:5-11... since the Bible does not enumarate every single event in the life of the Church, we must accept the fact that there were way much more baptism performed than those listed and that there would be a variation in the revelation of the Holy Spirit--the Holy Spirit is not performing for Believers or non-Believers; He is exacting God's Plan and, as the Divine executor, He has full Authority and control over what transpires as demonstration of His presence among the Believers! In example: How many people came to their conversion as Saul? How many were placed as precursors to Christ? It is God who determines what must transpire to keep His Plan functioning within His appointed time! Speaking in tongues, as any other Gift, is part of the Church's past and is part of the Church's continued function... however, there is but one Pentecost, and one demonstration that the Holy Spirit has been given to the Church! (John 14:16; Matthew 16:17-18; Acts 2:17-21; John 17:9, 19-23) "1 Cor 13:8-10? (The reason I say that is because it's possible to interpret "when the perfect comes" as heaven)" I must disagree with you on this point... read 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 in light of 1 John 3:2-3... it is Jesus who must come so that we can inherit the final transition as children of God: perfection: the essense of God! Further, the Kingdom of God is at hand! Jesus elevated His disciples to this understanding (where would we go--John 6:68) and He announced that if these things were happening (miracles, cures, baptism...) it was a demonstration that God's Kingdom was at hand (Matthew 4:11; Luke 21:31; 17:19-22). God Bless! Angel |
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60 | Using instruments at worship service | Bible general Archive 2 | JCrichton | 151066 | ||
Hi, BMR47! I've come across some who belief as much... I think part of their rationale lies in the fact that the early Chruch was persecuted under the penalty of death... thusly, Peter, Paul and the rest of the Believers would gather in secrecy (attested by Jesus' appearance, after His resurresction, in the locked room where the disciples were gathered and the various expulsions of the disciples from the synagogues); as the Chruch grew more and more services were conducted in individual houses (churches), in the wilderness, in caves, and later on even in the catacombs... Could you imagine a group of Christians meeting for worship service and employing all sorts of musical instruments (as prescribed in the Psalms) and singing at the top of their voice?... surely, they would be dealt with expediently! The irony of all this is that the empire that sought to destroy Christianity paved the way (through persecution and building of protected roads) for its success and proliferation... The problem with some congregations is that they find the slightest seemingly "novel" idea and they reject all Scripture that deny their theology... Remember king David's foolish behavior?... not only did he allowed the use of musical instruments but he himself danced as the ark was returned to Israel (2 Samuel 6:5-17)... Here's another scenario... could you imagine Christ speaking to the bridegroom and asking him to "stop the music" because God has a problem with musical instruments? (John 2:1-11) Granted, the adaptation of secular musical styles or music scores to render worship to God is close to blasphemy as the mind of those familiar with the songs can easily be caught up with the lirics/styles which reflect anti-Christian values... this could easily be solved if we stop the quest to out do other Christians by introducing anything and everything to make our musical skills standout--some efforts could be placed into the development of musical talents so that the Body of Christ can create its own music without dabbling into questionable formats. God Bless! Angel |
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