I don't have any issues with interracial marriages. Moses was in one when he married Zipporah. Of course Miriam didn't like it, and God dealt with her over it.
Date who makes you smile as long as you're both Christians and on the same walk with Christ.
James 3:17-18 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
When have I attacked you? I've always had a decent amount of respect for you, and don't know that if I've ever blatantly tried to "attack" you. Sorry you feel that way.
I don't think Jesus broke any law that He was bound by. I can understand how one could suggest it, such as picking grain on the Sabbath, but at the same time God's Word states the sabbath was made for man, but Jesus is also God. So if he is the Lord of the Sabbath, then I believe His sovereignty would allow Him to determine His course of action.
I think we also see a fair acknowledgement of human law, when asked if taxes should be paid to Cesar. He wasn't trying to invalidate Cesar's tax, but rather separate it from what is given to God.
As far as the Holy Spirit, if it is God's Spirit, then how can He not be God? That would be like saying Jesus is God, but not His arm. Of course that doesn't make sense, because His arm is a part of who He is. As I recall, Paul even do a sermon about the parts of the body and how there is a union.
I think it would be helpful to hear Richard's thoughts directly on this. Obviously context is important and I could buy the statement, "Jesus broke laws" in a certain context, but those same laws He wasn't specifically required to follow because He is who He is.
Teddy,
How about we give Richard some space to respond peacefully? I get that you have disagreements with him, but if it's nonstop jabs at each other, it's probably never going to go past that. We don't need to accuse each other. We can peacefully learn from one another and this can be a form of fellowship.
Remember, Satan is the accuser and I'm not suggesting you are in that likeness, but we do need to try to separate ourselves and resolve things while exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit. Right now it seems like the focus ends up too much on offense and defense, when we can all just study scripture together and try to sort out whatever it is we don't understand. You know, the "Iron sharpeneth Iron" approach. Just a suggestion.
What specific teachings would you like me to address? There are some things Richard has said that I agree with and there are things I disagree with.
Reality, none of us gets it right all the time. My hope is not to see Richard, you, or anybody else fail or misunderstand, but rather that we should all succeed together in Christ.
And Richard, please stop acting nutty. I know you are better than this. I've seen you act "normal" enough times to know you are capable. I sincerely believe people would take you more seriously if you didn't go round-n-round and randomly post scripture without explanation as why you are posting them. I try not to be critical, because scripture is scripture, but it helps if you share in fellowship how those scriptures are impacting you. One of the most important things we can share is our personal testimony.
Not everything is doom and gloom. Not everything is judgment, pain, and suffering. Sure those things occur, but I think many of us also wish to recognize the joy of it all as well.
Reminds me of the story of Jonah. He was commanded to go to Nineveh and preach. Even after the fact, he's sitting outside the city and waiting for the fireworks when the people might be brought to judgment. Instead the people repented, and the one who ended up miserable was Jonah who had no shade, because the worm ate the gourd that was giving him shade, and the sun was beating down on his head.
The comfort Jonah received was given by God, but He also took it away from Jonah to show Him a different side of things. We can see the bad, but that's just all the more reason to bring light to others. If Jonah would've stayed in the city, I'm sure he could've found shade, and even friendship with the people.
It's my belief that we need to hope for ourselves, but also hope for others, then when they lack hope, our hope can help carry them.
When I posted my initial comment, I was getting ready to take the woofers for a walk around the neighborhood, so I just quickly shared what I believed God to be leading me to share.
I think judging others is something we should take very seriously and first examine ourselves carefully to make sure we are ready for the task.
As far as David, I believe Nathan was there to help clear the plank out of his eyes. Obviously he was greatly enmeshed in his scheme considering he tried to get Uriah the Hittite to have relationships with Bathsheba before eventually sending him to the front line. Nathan sharing about the man with a single ewe taken by the rich man brought David back to reality. :)
With the women caught in adultery, there's no doubt that Jesus was the actual target. I'm not looking at the scripture right now, but I'm pretty sure the Bible states that this was their intent. Of course they trapped themselves. If one of them could've decided to cast a store, it's very likely that the others would've judged that man by his actions, and seen it as an action making them look inferior. It's hard telling what came of the man she committed adultery with. They either dealt with him already or didn't care. Using the woman would've created a greater spectacle with how they viewed women, and if Jesus would've directly sided with her, they would've had a "gotcha" with the other people with just that alone.
It's not that we can't just, but we are to judge righteously. Furthermore, you need to be in a position to judge. I'm going to be a bit lazy here, and not post the scriptures directly, but here are some of the points from the Bible. I can share the references later if anybody would like them.
- We are told we are equipped to judge the matters of life, just as we will be equipped to judge angels.
- When the Pharisees bought the woman before Christ for adultery, they could not righteously judge her. None could "throw the first stone." That goes back to judging and being judged by the same measure.
- We also seen this with Nathan and David over the lamb the rich man took from his servant who had only one lamb. David actually, without realizing it at first, pronounced his own judgment.
So yes, we can be judged but we must be equipped to do so and righteously, while not being guilty of that same matter. If not, we would need to judge ourselves first and settle that.
- That goes back to where it says remove the plank out of your own eye first.
When we don't have a plank or a mote in our own eye, we can see our brother more clearly, and we can just righteously. If we are judging while blind or partially blind to that matter, then we are ill equipped to do so.
