Honour Amongst Christians

I like the moral of that kind of story. I think I like this, but I'm not sure. What does "comes to God" mean? Is it possible to live righteously and not "come to God"? If so, I don't like what it implies. However, if "comes to God" and "live righteously" are synonyms, I then think it's very wise. Add to it? I still want to take stuff away from it.I think God would be most impressed if we lived righteously. That's it. If you want to live righteously and include the concept of Christian grace... awesome. If you want to live righteously and also "come to God" in an Islamic sense... fantastic. But both extras seem unnecessary to me. I can't think of a reason why a God would want us to do anything more than "live righteously". Isn't that a huge enough task (nigh impossible) on it's own? Isn't any time spent doing anything else taking away from time you could be focusing on living righteously? Doesn't it seem like that should be the priority?...sorry if that sounds preachy. I'm more asking those questions in a curious sense then in a lecture-ish sense.

i really do too. i'm not sure. it's very hard to find rational religious books when you don't know who belongs to what whacko sect. i know who the crazies are in christianity. i'm reading a new book about american muslims. you should check it out. war on error. i really am enjoying it. it's brief and not very in-depth, but it's about people and showing that they're american, not about explaining their islamic faith.the old testament talks about a lot of "righteous men". but when you read their stories, you find they were really terrible tyrants or philanderers or murderers or worse. they were considered righteous because they had faith in god regardless of their own failings. it's great to say "i'm going to live righteously". but it's not going to happen. you can try. you can fight injustice. you can give to charity. you can do all kinds of stuff. but, somewhere in there, you're gonna be mean to someone or fail to give when you should have, or scream at someone, or cheat on your wife, or something. it's going to happen.i think the biggest point of at least these big 3 is that god wants to know you despite your failings. yes, he wants you to be good. but he also wants you to know that even when you can't, he still loves you. if you don't have issues with guilt and you can live righteously, then you have no problems. jesus said he didn't come to save the righteous. clearly, there must be some righteous people, or he wouldn't have said that. he really wasn't one to say useless things, whatever your ideas of his origins. but, for the rest of us, who fuck up and feel bad about it (this isn't a jab), there's comfort in the knowledge that i am forgiven. and, no, i don't think that forgiveness is exclusive. i'm apparently a terrible christian. i don't think my club has a membership card.Edited by brennakimi, : No reason given.

God.

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Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

Hi Stile, You are reading me wrong.I have an automobile that will do 130+ miles per hour.
Our Government has made some dishonorale rules the speed limit is 70 mph on the interstate. They have proposed penalties if I exceed that speed limit. The officers can use their discresion and allow me to go faster if they so desire without giving me a ticket.Now what keeps me from exceeding the posted speed limit?It is not that my automobile won't exceed the speed limit.
It is not the penalties if I don't mind paying the fine, besides they got to catch me first.
That leaves me only one thing to keep me from exceeding the speed limit. I choose not to exceed the speed limit.I would like to be able to explain to you and everyone else why I do things. But is is like trying to tell you about my favorite place in the world. I can describe it to you paint a beautiful pricture. Even show you one's I have taken with a camera but until you have been there you don't really have a clue as to what I am talking about.So I am going to give it a go and see what I can do but no promises.I met my wife when she was 14 and I was 15. I was in the reck room at school drinking a coke and she came up as said is this seat taken.
I said no would you like a coke. I got her one she told me she was tryig to make her boyfriend mad because he was mad at her for cuting 8" of her hair off. Little did she know she had my lifetime devotion at that time.At this time I am already saved and under these less than honorable commands that you talk about. Many of which apply to my wife and how I am supposed to treat her.
I am commanded to love my wife. Does that make it less than honorable if I do.
I am commanded to love my children. Does that make it less than honorable if I do.
I am commanded to honor my wife. Does that make it less than honorable if I do.
I am commanded to honor my father and mother. Does that make it less than honorable if I do.
I married that young girl I met 3 years later, We have been married 50 years and 7 months now. I love my wife more than I have ever before does that make it any less honorable that I was commanded to do it?
At anytime during this time I could have chose to walk out the door but I didn't. Was it because I was commanded not to. Or because I chose not to.Now I will tell you a little about me I was born and raised as an only child by my grandparents and my dad with 2 uncles in the house.
Needless to say I could get my way they were outnumbered. I could always get what I wanted from one of them. This made me a spoiled roten child. I can assure I have never done anything that I did not choose to do no matter what the consquences might be.Now back to Jesus yes He commanded me to Love my neighbor as myself then He set the example by dying in my place.He commands me to love God above all else. Then sets the example by submitting to His fathers will to purchase my freedom from the penalty of the first mans disobedience. Jesus did not have to do that but he did.What makes it less that honorable if I choose to do these things because Jesus gave a command to do them?Have fun,Edited by ICANT, : No reason given.

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"John 5:39 (KJS) Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

Actually, in your scenario it is absolutely YOUR God's fault for destroying the bridge.You keep making the God you created more and more evil. Now you make the God you are marketing stupid as well as evil.Looks like you also expect the buyers to be as stupid as your God, trying to sell them the idea that Born Again is some one time thing.

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Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

Hi jar How many times you been born physically?You can be born no more times spiritually than you can physically. Maybe you right jar and everything is God's fault.
If you got to have somebody to blame as you are not man enough to be responsible for your own actions. Or am I reading you wrong?Have fun,Edited by ICANT, : No reason given.

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"John 5:39 (KJS) Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

Hi Stile,Better today than yesterday thanks, had a stomach bug. Try to understand I at no time have tried to portray that you are judged and go to the lake of fire for not believing in God. I have said that you are going to the lake of fire because the first man disobeyed God and sold you into slavery to the devil. Fair, no but a fact none the less. God did provide a way for you to escape your impending doom. jar says it is God's fault, I say it is the first man's fault. But regardless of whose fault it is if you are not born again you will spend eternity in the lake of fire. Is that fair? I think so when I consider the price Jesus paid to secure my pardon. Especially if I refuse it.Have fun,
I will try to refrain from using ask in the future as I don't like it either. Too many just say say a prayer after me that means you are asking but you can do this and still not accept God's offer.

Hi Ringo, Have it your way.Just don't expect my boss to pay your claim when you are not willing to pay the premium.Have fun,

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"John 5:39 (KJS) Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

Hi Phat, Do you have any idea who the goats that are refered to in Matt. chapter 25?Have fun,

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"John 5:39 (KJS) Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

If God is omniscient and did nothing to stop this, then he bears responsibility. It's like allowing a child to put his hand on a hot stove - if you could have prevented it but allow it anyway, its your fault, not the child's. The "price" he paid was trivialized by rising from the dead. Since he knew that he was going to come back to life three days later, and then ascend to live in Heaven and be worshiped for thousands of years, his death was not a sacrifice, it was an inconvenience.In any case, any Christian argument that involves the threat of the lake of fire (or the reward of heaven) is inherently dishonorable, as it appeals to a person's fear of eternal punishment as opposed to any rational thought.

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When you know you're going to wake up in three days, dying is not a sacrifice. It's a painful inconvenience.

Bullshit. That is simply the old canard. Being Born Again is something you try to do each moment of the day. There is no Silver Bullet, no Magic Get Outta Hell Free Card. Actually it is your God's fault, but then you created Her. You have not been reading at all it seems.

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Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

Yes, followers of Jesus.

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Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

Hi Stile,I saw this and wanted to comment. That is why I like to use full pardon. In this life if you want a pardon you have to apply for it. There is a review process. Then it may be granted. But this is a free gift because you are not paying for it unless you hire a lawyer to interceed for you.If you ask God for a pardon you don't have to hire a lawyer one is supplied in the form of Jesus Christ. There is a review process but since the judge and the lawyer both know the answers the decision has already been made. Now the review would be if you mean business and have really put your trust in Christ for salvation.
You can not buy this pardon. You can not earn this pardon. You can only accept it or reject it. Your decisionIs the process fair? I am presuaded to believe if you ever accept the pardon that shortly thereafter you will agree that it is fair and just.Have fun,

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"John 5:39 (KJS) Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

Hi jar, Since you believe the Bible is a bunch of stories by a bunch of ignorant people and most of it is myth anyway how do you know this is not just another embellished story to scare people into doing good cause if they don't they go with the goats into the lake of fire?Have fun now,

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"John 5:39 (KJS) Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

What you do doesn't have anything to do with honour. Honour is only concerned with why you do things. Loving your wife is a good thing. If you love your wife because you are commanded to, it is a good thing, but it is not honourable. If you love your wife and you are not looking for anything in return, it is a good thing, and it is also honourable. If you do those things simply because you are commanded by Jesus, then there is no honour.If you do those things looking for nothing in return, and they simply happen to coincide with some commandments Jesus also made, then it is honourable.From what you told me in Message 63: ...it seems like you are following these commandments because you want to remain in His Estate.If so, this is not honourable. It may certainly well be a good thing. But there is no honour in it. It is a trade or deal. Of course, I may be misinterpreting your statement from Msg 63. Did you mean to say something else?Try not to confuse "good" with "honour". Honour deals with why we do good things. Not just that those things are good. My problem isn't with there being any price. It's in the asking... here it's in the application. Even submitting the application is dishonourable. If God deems me worthy of being pardoned, then I will be. Applying for such a great gift cheapens it, demeans it to the point of becoming the fulfillment of a request rather than a gift. I do not want to buy it, I know I can't afford it.
I do not want to earn it, I know I'm not worthy of it.
I would certainly accept it if it was granted to me.But I cannot apply for it, the application shows dishonour to God, it turns me into a nagging inconvenience, and it's demeaning to the power of the gift. I don't need to be pursuaded into believing. I can see right now that the process is fair (you ask for something, and you get it in return). It's also good (no one is hurt and everyone's better off after the situation). But it's not honourable.