Results 41 - 60 of 75
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: userdoe214 Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
41 | What is the Word-Faith movement? | John 10:27 | userdoe214 | 7849 | ||
Well-versed, maybe not. The Word of Faith movement is largely orthodox in nature, but has developed some pretty strange extremes. Some of the things these guys say are great, and some of it worries everyone. For example: Some (most?) of them see the promises of God from the point of view that these are the things God HAS TO DO FOR YOU, or else He is a liar. I haven't been able to ascertain if there are leaders in the movement who really believe this, and I've often hoped that they use such extreme language to shake people loose from their lack of faith--to make them take a stand on the promises of God, rather than let God's blessing pass by. If that is their motive, great, but when I hear one of their followers misusing such language(my way of saying, standing on wrong belief), I fear they dishonor God by imagining His owes it to them to bless them. There is an unconscious acceptance of a stingy, unloving God who we force to bless us just to protect His reputation for telling the truth. Such teach is not orthodox in my estimation, for it leads to an image of God, rather than a revolation of the God of the Bible. For another example: 1 Pet 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. The typical faith position on this verse is that healing is in the Atonement and just like all your sins were forgiven in Christ's bloody death, so were all your diseases healed. So if you are sick, it is not real. For faith does not believe the way things appear, but the way they really are. This starts getting very strange when someone dies of a disease they didn't really have. I've often thought that if they would read the next verse and always keep them together, it might help clear up the confusion, 1 Pet 2:25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. Let's put them together and see: and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. That sounds more like moral healing to me. I also question the period at the end of verse 24, which tends to strengthen the confusion. My problem is not with healing, it's just when you put it in the Atonement in Christ, it means as solidly as you are saved you are healed. So if you get a cold, should you be worried about your salvation too? Of course not, you just doubt the testimony of your runny nose. I like the idea of taking a stand against sickness, but I don't think we should deny our common sense experience of reality--thou we all know even "reality" can be a tricky thing at times. Moving on. The Word of Faith people are often very concerned about getting all the blessings of God, and that eventually leads to the subject of money. Now when you get it wrong about healing, you just quietly bury the person, but when it goes wrong with money, the IRS gets involved and that might be almost as bad as dying in your sins. The press gets involved too. Much of what people know of Word of Faith people has to do with scandals in the press related to money. Yet I know there are Faith people who are very honest. Yet when it comes time to give, a FAITH event will strongly encourage people to give more than they have, because if you give you will get from God. Not infrequently it will degenerate to if you give a dollar God will give you back one hundred, regardless of your motive. The principle of sowing a reaping is throughout the Bible, but to hear them tell it, it's a physical law, right there with cause and effect. If you give, God must (He has no choice) to give you at least one hundred times back in return. It reminds me of a Las Vegas slot machine which you win every time you play. This is ever so brief and very incomplete, because I haven't taken time to tell you what they do so well. I have read the literature of their critics, and often feel that they either misunderstand them, or in a few cases go way beyond the bounds of Christian temperament their judgements, so much so I question their motives. Anyway, this is not the place to present long explanations. I say, give them an ear, but if you get all excited and want to jump on the wagon, just remember that all of us that have fallen off, got pretty badly bruised. Also know that the Spirit of God will never, never, never lead you into deception, so always keep your heart open to Him. He can walk you through the mine field completely unharmed. |
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42 | Is the Word-Faith movement biblical ? | John 10:27 | userdoe214 | 7994 | ||
Sorry, I'm no fan of CRI | ||||||
43 | Mark why do you say that? | John 10:27 | userdoe214 | 8005 | ||
Dear EdB, You pick a sore with me on this. If you look at my bio you will notice that I've walked with many fringe groups (more than listed). I've never felt like a part of such groups, but my attraction is their many outlandish yet totally committed members. I like people who sweat and bleed what they believe. My only complaint has been; I wish they would think as hard as they believe. But so often I saw people who acted on slightly wrong belief being cared for by God. It's long been a warning to me not to think that God's loving care is based on my sound intellectual knowledge of the Bible, theology, history, or the power of careful thought (all things which lead to boasting). I must clarify that all of these groups were believers in the infallible Scriptures, the Lordship and divinity of Christ, the Lordship of the Holy Spirit and prayed to the Father God. They all believed that it was their mission in life to make the Gospel known to all men. I add this to make it clear that these are in my opinion necessary for a genuine faith--the kind God acknowledges with His presence. So I am not talking about J.W., Mormons or the various expression unitarians.... Now imagine me when I know these people personally and hear a trusted defender of the faith vilify them without mercy. Imagine my feelings when I find out a personality widely trusted/widely published contacts us and says if we don't change our teaching, he'll tell everyone we're a cult. Imagine again that we know that his personal life is in a mess: making a living as a fruit inspector all the while his orchard is worm infested. Should we fire back? In this case we did not, for the supposed evil teaching was not that big a deal to us. Anyway, where could we find a platform big as his? I've often taken the same criteria of judgment the defenders of orthodoxy use and applied them to historic denominations and seen that it's possible to make them look like cults. This gets to a more basic problem. Throughout the history of our faith, there have been defenders of orthodoxy who whipped up powers that be to punish those whom they judged enemies of the faith. Not infrequently we call such a person Saint, Reformer... or some title of dignity, but history has proven that the ones persecuted were holding opinions we consider acceptable today. Now if it just stayed in the boundaries of words, maybe I wouldn't care, but many cases ended up killing people (even their children) for what we today relegate to a difference of biblical interpretation. When I hear attacks on groups (even Mormons, J.W.,...) by these on the radio, I wonder why we continue to defend the faith in this way. My objection is simple: We do not need such men to protect us, for The Holy Spirit and The Holy Bible together are our guide. Any person who caught up in a deception is there because they've 1st silenced the Voice of God, thus 2nd blinded themselves to the Word of God. The maintenance of orthodoxy is between the believer and God: that's why the Scriptures say, you need that no man teach you (and don't take that as a denial of the role of teachers in the church). Now should we talk about right doctrine? Yes, but in the free market place of ideas. We must attempt to extract personalities from discussions and center on the core issues. Admittedly, we often can't tell the difference between core and fringe, but fair/courteous discussion can't hurt. And most of all, never draw the sword over differences of practice--tongues, raising hands in church, infant baptism, church government, laughing, dancing, litergy, KJV-vs-NASB-vs-NIV...get the idea. And just incase you think I go along with some bizarre interpretation of scripture which the faith teachers teach; I do not. There is one in particular who came to my Bible School in the 70's which a voice inside said "be very careful." Now you can read that man's extremely weird beliefs when reading about the errors of the faith leaders. But I always have to say, be sure you really understand what a man means before you judge his words. Many fringe leaders do not have knowledg of the history of doctrine, and don't realize what their words mean to those how have the benefits (and weaknesses) of such study. Think and ask before judging. Give time a chance to expose hearts, and remember ours is a vital faith, not a stone monument. Finally: I ask people to turn off their TVs and radios, reducing their diet of opinion, which passes for learning. If you want to know more of God, seek Him in a quiet place, in unaided Scripture study and with your dear friends. After all, the world you effect is where you live, not hundreds of miles away were TV/radio originate. If you're like me, I can't tell if I listen or watch because I want to know more, or want to take in opinions to strenghen my own to fuel self-complacency and arrogance There you see the puss under this scab Imperfectly His, mrk |
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44 | Mark please more info and no puss :-) | John 10:27 | userdoe214 | 8012 | ||
Don't worry about picking my scabs, it was only a warning of what might follow (I never know what I'm going to write when I get started). I did not mention CRI in that last letter on purpose. Mine is not a complaint about CRI, but the whole world of opinion for popular consumption. The real issues of life are very close at hand. The real news of the day is happening in your sphere of influence, and I don't feel unsafe to conjecture that God is mostly talking to you about the people and events which touch you and you touch. The works of God you do benefit your neighbor, and when you lie down at night the voice you hear saying "Well done good and faithful one," is not coming from a radio. It's all so very simple, but I find it easier to convince children than adults. This has lead me to long wondered why, and suspected that we adults, and long time believers rely on way too many sources for help and information. I like the low tech walk with Jesus more than the gigabyte information sources--(I'm scratching my head right now, trying to square what I just wrote, with the fact that I'm communicating by way of the Internet.) I'm starting to feel a bit embarrassed, like I've talked way too much, or way out of line. mrk |
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45 | Mark why do you say that? | John 10:27 | userdoe214 | 8013 | ||
Well I have been noticing that membership in the Mark Sutton Fan Club has dropped off to -3 mrk |
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46 | Mark why do you say that? | John 10:27 | userdoe214 | 8020 | ||
Thanks EdB, I was wondering what I said to set Radioman off, for Me thinks his diatribe nearly burned me alive. mrk |
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47 | Is the Word-Faith movement biblical ? | John 10:27 | userdoe214 | 8142 | ||
Dear Joe, I'm not so simple minded as to disagree with you, and I did not (reread if necessary) scoff at anyone possessing the spiritual gift of discernment. The person raising the question obviously did not have that gift or is not yet confident in that gift which is in him (else he would not be asking), so I was saying leave it to God--who is the distributor of gifts to the Church. Why should such a person waste their time trying to figure out why he feels uncomfortable in the church environment, when he probably has the Voice of God in his heart saying, "Time to move my son." And if such a voice were speaking to him, is not that the basis of discernment? Am I wrong to defer to God in such a situation? Does that make me a false prophet? I happen to love my brothers in the "Faith" Movement, even though I reject many of their leaders strange teachings. I am certainly not going to speak evil of a brother, just to give someone the courage to do what I trust God is already telling them to do. And I'd much rather encourage a person to obey the subtleties of conscience than to drag them into the dirty affairs of men. I'd much rather men trust what the Lord said was true--My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow me, than the testimony of any man. Looking back, I wish I had been a bit more circumspect, not so much for the sake of the person asking the question, but for the others who read it second-hand. But I was not writing for the benefit of those who have already made up their mind. mrk |
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48 | Is the Word-Faith movement biblical ? | John 10:27 | userdoe214 | 8150 | ||
I hope I'm not the only one giving a standing ovation. mrk |
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49 | Is the Word-Faith movement biblical ? | John 10:27 | userdoe214 | 8171 | ||
Dear Joe, Yes it reads very much like a personal remark. This brings up a point I'd like to make. How about we not respond to each other's posting like we are taking a chance to vent our pet peeves, or our pet doctrines, but rather always respond to what the person says. Case in point is the diatribe I got from Radioman. I couldn't take it personal, for it was largely not a response to what I said, but what it made him feel. OK enough scolding, I'm too far away to take it personal, and I have no doubt you are in the trenches dealing with people who do not know the Lord, and those system of lies whose sole purpose is to keep them blind to the Person we love. I guess it's simple enough: Our faith is not in a body of truth, but in the Person who embodies the truth, and our zeal is for Him. mrk PS. Sorry, but I like signs and wonders, but not on TV. I like the ones that come out of my own hands. |
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50 | Is the Word-Faith movement biblical ? | John 10:27 | userdoe214 | 8215 | ||
Dear Radioman, You break my heart. Forgive you? You are no way near the 7 X 70. I love a hot head, it's proof of a soldier's heart and if you look at the 12 Jesus chose, two were the Son's of Thunder, one was a Zealot and we all know about Peter. Jesus keeps company with the likes of you; calling you friend instead of servant. By the way, your stray bullet just might have been ordained for me (Ps 76:10), for much of what you said was a warning how close I get to a line I should never cross. Friends? I sincerely hope so. Brothers? I pray you judge me so. mrk |
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51 | in John 21:15-17 What 3 words for love | John 21:15 | userdoe214 | 8968 | ||
Thanks Ray, that was some good writing. mrk |
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52 | Eternity; Heaven or Earth? | Acts 3:21 | userdoe214 | 8221 | ||
The work of Christ will finally be the restoration of Earth the way it was suppose to be before our parents fell (or maybe it's better said, before they jumped). I've been putting off really studying this out, but this question (the long and the short) started working on me years ago when I was taking a class in Ancient Philosophy. The topic was Plato and his teaching on the triune nature of man. The prof stopped midstream and made it clear that Plato's body-soul-spirit view of man should not be confused with the Christian view, because the Greeks held that the body is the prison house of the soul, and death was an happy escape, where as Christians believe death is an enemy (ICor 15:26). What he, my prof, seem to be telling us was that the resurrection of the dead is fundamental to the Christian faith and foreign to the Greeks. Remember how unthinkable the resurrection was when Paul was explaining the Faith in Athens(Acts 17:32)? To my knowledge the resurrection of the dead, rather than a population of after life phantoms, is unique to the Bible. If I understand right that the resurrection is fundamental to Bible faith, it makes me think that after we're raised from the dead we will take up our residence on Earth (New Earth). This probably sounds like pointless speculation. If someone (there must be many) has worked on this, please speak up. |
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53 | Did Shakespeare help write the KJV? | 1 Cor 2:1 | userdoe214 | 8901 | ||
Nolan, I've been reading Shakespeare for quite some time (still no expert) and around his life too. Never have I seen mentioned his connection to the KJV. If you read in that time period, you will notice English was being written and spoken possibly better than ever before or since. It had to show up in the KJV. But I might add that a surprising amount of the wording of the English Bible goes all the way back to Tyndale. The man had a remarkable grasp of beautiful, clear and direct English. He also appreciated the need for exact translation--t'was a matter of life or death in those days. Thus I would say a stylist would have been totally unnecessary in the days of KJV. NASB might be improved by a stylist (I was troubled by a misplaced comma last night), but the translation is so plain and honest, I'd hate to see any more attempts to gussy it up. mrk |
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54 | Did Shakespeare help write the KJV? | 1 Cor 2:1 | userdoe214 | 8942 | ||
To quote Barnard Shaw (an ardent unbeliever), the treasures of the English language are "Shakespeare, Milton and the Bible." Naturally the order is wrong. So much beautiful prose, poetry, theater and even some fine music for voice were born in that time, but unlike the Italian Renaissance, the most lasting from all that great creative energy is the best translation into another language of the Bible. It's imperfect, but it's still the best. It's so good that it invites plagiarism, and it saddens me that it is no longer the chief source for preaching. I console myself with the fact that the power of God's Word is not a matter of style. | ||||||
55 | Did Shakespeare help write the KJV? | 1 Cor 2:1 | userdoe214 | 8956 | ||
Thy mock of the spear, doth sake me in my chair. mrk |
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56 | Examine yourselves! | 2 Cor 13:5 | userdoe214 | 8283 | ||
Dear JVH0212, I know I'm way late in the game, but your question is certainly not a simple one; and I'm not saying any of the answers you received thus far are simple or incorrect. But I wonder if referring to Scripture was what Paul was meaning? They certainly didn't have the New Testament; which best defines our Faith (I mean our as in all believers, not in the sense of the individual believer). Could it be (as I believe) that Paul was meaning look at your heart--your seat of affections, love and place of worship--are you still in love with God? Or is your heart full of strange gods? We safely (and wisely) consult the Bible to test ourselves, but fundamentally it is our relationship with God (which is more real than any other relationship in our experience) which tells us if we've moved from left field to some place out of the ball park. Testing yourself is looking in your heart to see if it is the temple of the one God. Is God in your temple, or have you replaced Him with one or some of the gods of the nations? mrk |
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57 | Examine yourselves! | 2 Cor 13:5 | userdoe214 | 8301 | ||
Dear Hank, It's not easy to answer without sounding like a religious feely-guy with no content. So "lend me you ear" and I promise not to yell in it and return it deaf. I can't agree because of my personal experience, which I do not believe is unique. I came to faith in Jesus without a knowledge of the Bible. I'm not going to say I never heard the Bible or that what I had heard was not seed that gave life to me. But I honestly do not believe the Scriptures led me to Christ. I had an encounter which utterly changed me. No need to go on, you know what I mean. Now I came to correct faith (yes I had and have a lot to learn) when I met Jesus. Then when I read the Bible I was jumping around and saying Right! The Bible gave me objective confirmation of my experience, and I'm confident if the Bible were in error I would have rejected it then and there. I am NOT saying to trust deepest feelings (I do not) I'm saying our relationship with God is more real than our objective confirmations (just like my relationship with my wife is more real that our marriage lisence--which by the way is without error). The Jesus in the Bible is the Jesus in my life. Jesus is not a concept that can get cloudy and needs redefinition, He is the definition of all things. I just can't see it any other way, and I really don't believe I have some special revelation. In fact if I did believe it, I would be in error. You've probably seen many people go off in the wrong direction and disregard the direction of Scipture (if not you must be living on a desert island), but I still contend that error starts by turning from God. We've all met people who are intellectually orthodox, but could pass for an empty church. That's not Christianity. It's error every bit as poison as the most famous cults. Jesus is the Christian faith, and the Bible exists because He lives, and it actually scares me to get close to any thought which could lead to The Faith exists because of the Bible. Here's your ear back Hank. mrk |
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58 | Examine yourselves! | 2 Cor 13:5 | userdoe214 | 8315 | ||
Dear Hank, This is such an interesting discussion, and not just because I like to hear (read) my own thoughts. After speaking (writing) my mind, I realize a crucial piece of evidence I over-looked which brings into question some things I've said: Jesus' parable of the sower. That is a clear statement about faith self-evaluation. It's not exactly saying see what the Bible says, but it does say that we can know if we are out of the game, disqualified, warming the bench, good for a base hit now and then, or really putting the ball in the stands: we can know by looking at our batting average. And just in case you or anyone reading thinks I'm taking a stand against you: if you ever grow hoarse yelling "People saved or not, know your Bible!" I'll gladly supply a P.A. system to extend your reach. Untold numbers of hardened sinners have come to the Lord reading it or hearing it read. It has not only led to the salvation of souls but nations, for the Bible has worked wonders everywhere it's read to bridle the insanity of humanity. It's great literature, it's great history, it's great sociology, it's great psychology...it's a great education, but most of all it IS the work and word of God and a bless'ed gift to humanity. It's a shame we find ourselves encouraging people to know the Bible: it's like telling people to breathe. Hope that sets you mind at ease about me, but if you feel like praying for me, please do. It's so much easier to write than to live. mrk |
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59 | did i miss something? | Col 2:8 | userdoe214 | 7828 | ||
I hate do sound crass, but who asked? mark |
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60 | I need to know if this is a cult? | Titus | userdoe214 | 8368 | ||
Dear donnag, Your letter struck me much like if it had been a girl writing a question like this: I'm having problems with my boy friend, she wants to have sex before marriage. Quite naturally I would want to deal with the gender issue before premarital sex. I've been in a few 6 membered churches and it was very good, because it was so much like a family. Now if your church is not close and people cannot get along with the pastor, that is not normal. Possibly there is more than a small problem with the very nature of your congregation's authority structure. I don't want to say a woman cannot be a pastor, for I have read some convencing arguments for the possibility of women in governing authority, but you must admit it's not an easy argument to support with Scripture. So if it's not working, just move on. You don't have to call it a cult, or even say they are wrong; just find that place where your heart says family. mrk |
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