rainy day thoughts...

Hi
I was reading this article and they were talking about how some sins have become more acceptable to Christians then others. Things like jealousy, gluttony, selfishness, and gossiping are overlooked and rarely talked about while other sins are always in the spot light. I realize that God does not hold to any degree of sin so I wonder why it is that many professing Christians do. Do you think there is an attitude of compromise? We look at adultery and think that's dreadful but we say nothing to a fellow believer who gossips or is gluttonous?

Anyone have any thoughts on the matter? What has God been showing you about your own walk lately? I know for me it is easy to paint a target on someone else back and think myself very righteous because I don't have issues in "those" areas of my walk and yet I dismiss the very dark sins in my own life that crucified the Lord because I don't view them as so bad....

rdg

I think all forms of sin should be addresses and confronted by the preaching since the Bible lists lying , covetousness, backbiting side by side with murder, adultery, and homosexuality.

Most likely the sins that are not addressed in preaching are the same that hold the preacher in bondage.

What God has been showing me in my walk lately is something completely different.
God is showing me that not desiring Him is the most grievous sin .

We could stay away from all the wrong things and do all the right things. But if we do not desire Him, we are dead.
My prayer now is that I would desire God with all my being. I have been listening to lots of preaching on revival. I want God to come down and make His presence known. I want to see myself and others consumed with one holy passion. I want to see the Holy Spirit taking over pulpits and preaching God and the story of redemption through Christ. I want to see people open about their secret sins, forsaking them, and make restitutions instead of living double lives and bowing the knee to the god of this world.

The reason there is not preaching about sin is that we have churches that are full of unsaved people, and unsaved preachers. Being a pastor today is nothing more than holding a job. There is an unwritten agreement between the Pastor and the congregation that says: You supply my salary and I will give you some preaching, but don't take anything seriously. It is just a game we are playing.

But I will not take part of the game. I want the real thing and will keep persuing it until I have for the kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force. I want God and nothing less.

I am a dreamer. I have a dream. Will you dream with me?

UntoBabes wrote:
The reason there is not preaching about sin is that we have churches that are full of unsaved people, and unsaved preachers. Being a pastor today is nothing more than holding a job. There is an unwritten agreement between the Pastor and the congregation that says: You supply my salary and I will give you some preaching,...

Another story: a few years ago I was talking to this former Lutheran pastor and I asked him why he quit and he said that he got saved! In the beginning he had tried to filter in the truth to them but they knew and they were in the process of voting him out as well and he quit too.

God bless,
Lisa

rainydaygirl wrote:
Anyone have any thoughts on the matter? What has God been showing you about your own walk lately?

The Lord is showing me that love is looking at yourself first before you look at other people’s sins and then when you do look at others, you look through a glass of mercy and humility.

God bless,
Lisa

I realize that God does not hold to any degree of sin so I wonder why it is that many professing Christians do.

According to Scripture, God clearly does hold that there are degrees of sin, both in this life and at the judgment.

hi, i live in south louisiana on the mississippi river and we have river pilots who take over ships from their captains and bring them up the river.a man was being questioned about his qualification to be a pilot and was asked if he knew where all the pitfalls in the river were and he said he did not.the panel then asked him to tell them why he then was qualified to be a pilot.he said that he knew where the channel was and if you stay in that channel you avoid the pitfalls.if you preach Jesus and Him crucified,the message of the cross,and you are in Him sin will have very little influence in your life.Jesus defeated sin and death and if you walk in the Spirit sin will not have dominion over you.i have found that people who are sin preachers have more problems over sin than those who preach the love of Jesus.sin is the problem but Jesus is the answer to that problem.we need to look unto Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith.Jesus did a lot when he cut the covenant for us on the cross and being sin conseous puts the onus back on our behavior and away from His finished work.jimp my longest by far sorry

The message of Christ crucified changes lives - even for some of us way up here in Minnesota! Jesus is always the answer.

Something that I keep very close to my mind is the fact that when I stand before God on the day of Judgment, all of my flaws will be revealed no matter how well hide on my part or not. Stepping into perfect Love will reveal these truths that are overlooked. SO now even as we stare through a glass dimly lit I ask the Lord while reading the word to reveal in me sin that needs removed, if I find something I ask the Lord to skillfully and quickly remove it like a trained surgeron.

As to the other sins this is something that I have thought about very much one of which is Homosexuality, So many people condemn these people yet a great majority of these people are living in sexual sin which is EQUALLY condemned. IF you are going to condemn homosexuality you MUST condemn immorality all together.

I think there are some very good responses here. I just wanted to chime in and say thank you to those who shared. I know it has been a blessing to me. I was reading over a small portion of an article written by Art Katz this morning. As I read it through the second time I realize I have not been living with eternity in mind. I have allowed the world to creep in and I see the very deadly effects of not having been on guard. God is showing me much in my heart and life that does not reflect HIM. There is a great and urgent need to put much of self, and selfish living to death.I have become to willing to "over look" sin in my life and in the lives of others around me. I have not taken my responsibility to others in Christ to heart and shared with them on the realities of what it means to live in HIM, in light of HIS truth. I have not demonstrated the realities of eternity... Its been a rainy morning here, its quiet and I have had time reflecting on these things. As I read over this portion Father has really impressed upon my heart some of these things. The truth is in the words written here by Art Katz, "It is not enough to be “correct”. We have to come to them, as it were, from the eternal place”.

God bless
maryjane
_______________________________________________
For anyone who feels led to read the following portion from the teaching I thought I would include it here:

“Why do we not speak with that same simplicity, that same urgency and that same absoluteness? I believe it is because we do not believe it as absolutely as Paul did, nor do we live as if we believe it. We are simply not occupied with the things that are eternal, and therefore we are unable to persuade men. We need to press mankind to come to terms with eternity even though they will accuse us of being dogmatic, narrow-minded and intolerant, and yet that will be enough to intimidate many of us to silence. There is nothing more embarrassing and intimidating to the modern Christian than to be considered narrow and dogmatic. It did not, however, intimidate Paul. Eternity is not a narrow concept. The world needs to be disturbed by people who cannot contain themselves, who are beyond the issue of taste, politeness and good manners, who burn with the reality of eternity and who take every opportunity to express the things that are Divine.

Our absoluteness is the very height of offense to a world that is relativistic and pluralistic. They do not want to be told that there is anything that is absolute, that there are only two alternatives, but they need to be told, not by people who bring (only) the correct doctrine but by those who come with a burning conviction. Do we really believe that God has fixed a day when He will judge the world in righteousness? Our apostolic task is to bring an unwanted and unwelcome message to an indifferent world, and it is a message we can only bring in the same proportion that we can demonstrate it. It is not enough to be “correct”. We have to come to them, as it were, from the eternal place”.

Art Katz - “The Challenge of Living an Authentic Christian Life”