Giving to the poor that stand at the street corners
Posted : 25 Oct, 2010 12:53 PM
Itasca
Heed twospperrows on the 1Corinthians passage.
As for ministering to these people, I happen to speak out of experience and I happen to know that God himself put everything on the line (his powers, his reputation as God, even his life) so that they may be able to be free of whatever has taken them captive, both at the spiritual and the physical level. Now, that's what I call the will of God, i.e. not what these dregs of society are but what God wants them to be.
First of all, let me make it absolutely clear that I do not drink at all.
Now, I think that within American culture the phrase a drinking Christian is somewhat of an oxymoron due to the fact that many of your churches' opinions on alcohol were shaped by the prohibition which was enforced in the 20ies of the last century. We in Europe have never had issues with alcohol.
While I do understand practical reasons for forbidding alcohol to people who have just been cured from a chronic problem with it, I also believe that alcohol is something that God has created. Now, everything that God has created is GOOD. How it is used and in what quantities is a completely different matter.
If I remember rightly, the church in Ethiopia considers the book of Enoch a part of their Old Testament.
As for my opinion on it, I read Enoch about five years ago. Sadly, apocalyptic literature does not inspire me very much, or I should say it is not my favorite kind of literature.
I'd say 10 is an absolute MUST. I consider 11 and 3 very important as well. 1, 6 and 7 would be welcome as bonuses, but they are by no means essential.
Giving to the poor that stand at the street corners
Posted : 23 Oct, 2010 01:38 PM
Speaking out of eight years of working with Gypsies, I's have to agree with springrose.
Stormcountry
I hope you do not mean what you said. It really sounds as if you would give just for the sake of giving and quieting your conscience. What about giving as an act of love?
Here is one more ark for you. The basket which Moses' mother used in order to send him down the river (Exodus 2) is also referred to as an ark in the original Hebrew.
I wander what you'd make of that. I hope it does not mess up your scheme.
First of all I am appalled at the way you people allow yourselves to discuss evil and suffering as if they were distant philosophical categories.
Secondly, the blindness/sight language of the passage and the whole chapter reminds me of similar language in Isaiah (e.g. 6.10). In Isaiah restoring the sight of a person means restoring that person to the state for which God had created him. This has connections with restoring the image of God in us which sin has marred (see Ps. 115.1-8).
Finally, the work referred to in v4 is God's work in the world. If we have had our image of God restored by the death and resurrection of Jesus, then God's next step is to invite us to perform the role of his representatives, which is what was the function of an image in antiquity. Thus, God, wants us to join him in his creative work in the world.
Anyways, thanks for allowing me to comment on a passage which has been pivotal in my life and in the lives of my parents.
You are dealing with someone who is going to use spiritual abuse if nothing else works, i.e. asking his house group to pray for you. Sounds to me as if the next desperate thing that he will try on you is to start telling you that God had told/ordered/commanded him to marry you. Just remember that God has not told you anything and that unless that changes first whatever this guy says may safely be ignored.
Would you marry a man your family didn't approve of?
Posted : 22 Oct, 2010 12:30 PM
Good question Jeremiah!
Given my closeness with my parents and given the wisdom that God has given both of them, I think I would have to take any of their objections very seriously. I trust my dad more then my mom though since she some times comes up with reasons that are simply based on stereotypes.
As far as my sister goes, she is a much better reader of people then I will ever be. Her opinion on the woman I am about to marry is important to me too.
Yet, there is one thing that makes me relax about this question. I know that even if I was to get married to someone against the wishes of my family, they would always love me and support me no matter what.
