IS THE WORD TRUE ? OR, NOT?
Hebrews 13:5 KJV
… I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Matthew 28:20 KJV
… lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
THEN WHY DO THEY PRAY IN MANY CHURCHES: “OH, GOD, PU-LEEEZE COME . . . !!” ?
ON THE SUBJECT OF PRAYING EFFECTIVELY … I have kinda learned to go into a “verbal translation mode” in my own mind when I hear self-defeating prayer; so, while everybody else is wailing “OH, God, if it be your will, PLEEEASE Create in me a clean heart” I’m saying “Thank you God that you have already created in me a clean heart (through Jesus)!” BUT THEN IT HIT ME: What about all the other people who are visibly waiting, waiting, waiting, for God to show up? Jesus’ great gift to humankind occurred at the cross. The method of praying before this earth-shaking event occurred totally pales in the Light of Jesus’ FINISHED work.
“OH, GOD, I AM SO UNWORTHY!!” IS A WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG WAY TO PRAY !!!!!
PUT ON YOUR ‘NEW MAN’ AND KEEP IT ON !! . IT IS NEWLY CREATED (SEE BELOW):
Ephesians 4:24 KJV
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
LOOKING AWAY FROM THE “EVIDENCE” AND LOOKING DEEP INTO THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT BEING EVASIVE. It is how we apply the truth that heals.
We cannot do anything helpful at all if we’re overwhelmed by the seeming “evidence”. We know that God’s view of the universe as well as His Kingdom is impeccable.
What are you impressed with?
THE PRETERIST PROMISE
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
John Lennon
THIS IS A COMMAND – NOT JUST A GOOD IDEA !!
John 14:1 KJV
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
IMAGINE . . . . . if it’s really true that Jesus actually completed everything he set out to . . . . . imagine what that means for all mankind . . . . every last one of us . . . . finally free !!!
Free of religion, free of competitiveness, free of fear, free of pride, free of sickness and disease, free of thinking that any group of people is more loved than the next. Finally free of the whole stinking religious mentality!
Speaking/praying in Tongues is unspeakably amazing!!! . God’s pure Thoughts come rushing in – unhampered by the human brain! . God’s Thoughts ARE perfection, and don’t need to be qualified, or set to words. They just move on in – and stay there!!! . I often give it a rhythm, usually borrowed from a hymn I’ve just sung, like “He leadeth me, O blessed thought, O words with heavenly comfort fraught! . Whate’er I do, where’er I be, still ’tis His hand that leadeth me.” I’ll even accompany myself, doing guitar runs (KeyEmaj). . Among the gifts God gave me while doing this today, I was reminded that, while God’s perfect communications rush in, a lot of junk is flushed OUT !! . No struggling to use my human willpower to activate this, just a sangin’ an’ a twangin’!!! . So I didn’t even need to blame myself when I got distracted as those thoughts went OUT !!!
WE HAVE GOT TO LEARN HOW TO PRESENT ANOTHER PERSON’S OPINION (WITH WHOM WE DISAGREE) ACCURATELY AND WITH DIGNITY. People rarely do this – so invested are they in showing the other person to be mistaken.
Leave it to Jonathan Welton to write in his usual scholarly expertise exactly what I’ve been wanting to say.
Here’s an excerpt from Jonathan’s newest blog post:
Part of what it means to disagree respectfully is to quote those you disagree with in a way that accurately presents what they said in context. Academics are very careful to do this, but unfortunately, many leaders in popular Christianity misrepresent those they disagree with. They take their words out of context and make assumptions about what others mean by what they have said. This sort of misrepresenting, misunderstanding, and attacking of others has been happening for a long time, but it is not honoring or helpful to approach disagreement this way. Instead, we need to learn how to disagree without disrespecting and without exaggerating. Our goal should be to understand the beliefs of others clearly and fairly so we can draw our own conclusions.
Praying in tongues builds us up on our most holy faith. How many times have you needed your most holy faith to take you through a certain trial, and yet you haven’t used this gift of the Holy Spirit? Verse 21 also says we keep ourselves in the love of God when we speak in tongues. Have you ever asked the Lord to pour out His love on you? I imagine you have, but this doesn’t say to pray that way; it says we are to keep ourselves in the love of God. We do that by speaking in tongues. We don’t ask God for that which He’s already given, we simply stir up the love that has already been commended toward us, by speaking in tongues. This is a powerful gift. Isaiah 28:11-12 says,
For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. [12] To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
James Carter
