Belief Statement - jar

Well, that came up earlier.Remember that it is a two part command, love others as you love yourself. The first part is that you need to love your self. The second it to love others as you love your self. The fact that you might like to be hurt does not mean that it is right to hurt others.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

I believe that far too much emphasis is placed by many Christians on Jesus Death and Christ dying for us.Once GOD became Man in the form of Jesus, the fact that he would die was pretty much a given. The only other possibility would be some form of direct ascension while still a man like Enoch. That would not teach mankind anything about the truth of life after death, so if it was GOD's intent to teach mankind about resurrection, Jesus had to die.When seen in that context I believe that your quote from John fits in with my interpretation, that we should emulate Jesus life, try to treat others as he would have treated them. This also ties in with the messages from Mark and Matthew, that what we will be judged on is what we do, how we behave towards and around others.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

I believe that it is a two part command, and that not everyone loves themselves. In fact, I would say that in particular, most Christians and almost all Fundimentalist or Evangelical Christians definitely don't love themselves.I believe that to love yourself, you first have to know that you are not born with damned stamped on your forehead, that you are not condemned, that you have been given the wondrous gift of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, that we were also given the gift of critical thinking to use all the others.The Knowledge of Good and Evil was a gift, but with that Great Gift came a charge and responsibility. We are expected to try to do what is right and to try not to do what is wrong. That will be different in every single case, and we will always be dealing with inadequate and incomplete information, so we will often fail.We have to try though, and it will be that effort, how sincerely we tried to do what is right, and if we later learn that what we did was NOT right, if we acknowledge and repent our misbehavior, and if we then try to do better in the future, GOD will understand.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Yes and no.I believe what is in the Nicene Creed. Jesus died, was buried, on the third day He rose from the dead, He ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father.Alive is a human centric concept. GOD, Jesus, the Holy Spirit are not alive in the human sense. I do believe they are real, that they exist, but not alive as you or I are alive.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Well let me try one more time because I do believe that is exactly how we will be judged _{and I think you do too}.You gave an example in your message along with a question.

quote:

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The Bible tells the story who gave all that she had, which was a couple of coins. Warren Buffet just gave 37 billion, I think it was, to charity. Does this make Buffet billions of times more righteous than the woman in the parable?

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My answer to that would be "No!"But that is also NOT what you outlined above. That is not weighing the good against the bad, that is weighing Warren Buffet against the lady who gave all she had.As I said IIRC in the very first response to you, I believe we will be judged individually and with love and compassion. I agree with everything you say about how different folk will be judged, and I have never said otherwise. Judgement will be individual, there will be no one standard but instead the judgement will be based on what you did compared to what you could have done.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

I don't think we are really far apart but your questions do let me try to explain and claify some of my beliefs, so keep them comming. I do not think it will be a court of LAW. In fact I think the big point of GOD's message is that Law is neither moral or just.I do think we will be judged on the merits of our behavior. I don't think we will be able to argue very much, GOD will have full and complete knowledge of what we really did and why we did it, even if we do not.I think the judgement will be one based on Justice and not Law, and I think that is an important distinction.Laws are absolute. Speed Limit 30 Miles per Hour.Laws have specific sanctions attached. Five Hundred Dollar Fine, or Loss of License.I think GOD's will is really pretty simple; Love GOD and Love others as you love yourself.At Judgement I think each individual will be judged based on how well he or she tried to carry out that will. I think that the Judgement will be individual, that you will be judged based on what you did, what you did not do and what you were capable of doing.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Great Divorce? Sure, it was required reading. Also Mere Christianity, the Space ntrilogy, Perelandra, Silent Planet, and That Hideous Strength, Narnia of course, Abolition, Pain, Screwtape and all. Lots of Lewis and also the other Lewis, Lewis Carroll as well.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

True, but that only shows they have a total misunderstanding of what "Love yourself means."

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

English is somewhat limited in that we have a word love that can have such broad and often contradictory meanings. In this case I think the term love refers to an inate, internal and brutal honesty about yourself and the will to actually do something based on the analysis. You need to look at your own weaknesses and strengths and actually work to strengthen where weak and temper where strong.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

It most certainly is. Why do you keep telling yourself the lie that you were born damned, that you are condemned? More to the point, why do you keep lying to others as well, particularly that YOU have some knowledge of how one gets saved when it is obvious from what you write that you are clueless?I believe GOD's message is really very simple. Love GOD and love others as you love yourself. You know right from wrong, now go out and try to do right and try not to do wrong.It really is that simple.Why can't you get it?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

I don't think I ever said you should be brutally honest with everyone, but it is probably good to be brutally honest about everyone.You asked me how one should love oneself, then in a typical fundie footdance changed the goalposts. It is trying.Good will is certainly part of the equation, but only part. There are times when good will can be doing something that the other person might not see as all that good.Life is not a setpiece. We move through life trying our best. We will always be working from insufficient and incomplete knowledge.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Okay. No problem.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Again the vagries of the english language.My understanding is that I am charged to love myself first. That includes trying to determine those areas where I am weak and to try to improve those, to determine my strengths and try to temper them. As I said, it does not mean being brutally honest with others, but it is a good idea to be brutally honest about others as well.Once you work to get your house in order, look around to see what you can do for others. As I hav esaid hetre many times, it is not even the big things, but just those common little everyday things you can do. Help someone reach something on a high shelf, help them unload their shopping cart at the checkout line, let the lady with three kids in tow go ahead of you, even if it does mean your ice cream gets soft before you get it home. I have never said it is easy, it isn't. It is hard and it is work.We are but humans and we will likely fail. That is why we will be judged individually on how well we tried. That is why we try to be honest with our selves and to realize when we do fail to do our best, to acknowledge that failure and to try to do better in the future.That is why I posted the Confession way back in Message 11. It really is that simple though.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Okay.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

By trying to do your best, trying to do what is right and not do what is wrong.You don't have to know GOD, to believe in GOD, to worship GOD, just try to do what is right.It really is as simple as that.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion