Let us make God in our own Image

H

havok20x Feb 7, 2014

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

--Psalm 19:7-9

How can a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed according to Your word.
With my whole heart I have sought You;
Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!
Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.
Blessed are You, O Lord!
Teach me Your statutes.
With my lips I have declared
All the judgments of Your mouth.
I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
I will meditate on Your precepts,
And contemplate Your ways.
I will delight myself in Your statutes;
I will not forget Your word.

Psalm 119:9-16

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

--Hebrews 4:12

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

--2 Timothy 3:16-17

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation””as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

--2 Peter 3:14-16

Read the above verses. Seriously. Do it.

The Scriptures, by nature, are authoratative, because they are God's words. These are not commentaries on what God did as written by man. These are not even only truths as viewed through the eyes of men. These are truths as given to us by the Lord of Heaven and Earth, Himself!

I remain baffled by many of my brothers and sisters because of their rejection of the Scriptures. To many, the Scriptures are merely a tool to levy their own ideas, although they acknowledge the Authority of God within them. In short, they acknowledge that God is the author, but they own the interpretation.

I want to submit that this is what is happening all over Christianity right now. And it has absolutely demolished the line between truth and lie. It is in your homes. It is in your churches. It is in this forum. The Word of God is used to leverage our own ideas and justify our wrong-headed emotions. Rather than God indoctrinating us with Truth, we are baptizing our own ideas into doctrine.

Think about it! Think about what you are doing!!!!! Whenever someone brings to you an opposing idea, whether right or wrong, we practice quilting together a patchwork of Scriptures that agree with what we already think! Maybe you are right, mayber you are wrong, and maybe you both are wrong.

My soul revolts against this. I cannot believe some of the things that I hear coming from people who claim to be Christians here and at home.

When are we going to take on the attitude of David and let God teach us? When are we going to say, "Truth is concrete and definite! The Lord knows it. I will seek Him!" Instead we use wordly logic, worldly ideas, and worldly means to baptize a bunch of lies into Christianity and call it truth because it seems to fit under the blanket of Christianity that we patched together from 3 verses of Scripture and the supposed leading of the Spirit!!!!!! Nothing makes me more angry than this. And I have a right to be angry.

The issue is submission. THAT is what we are fighting against. Rather than bring every part of our lives, minds, and hearts under the authority of Jesus Christ, we fit Him in when and where we see fit. Then we baptize everything else we like to do or think or say or feel into Christianity and call it God's way. Ridiculous. It is idolatry to the highest degree. You have fashioned a god in your own image and worshipped it.

I hardly even know what else to say. Some of you here have so maligned the Word of God that you might as well just confess that you hate the Scriptures and you'd just rather do it your way.

L

lindi1208 Feb 7, 2014

Amen to your post!! The departure from scripture should not surprise us. This is the great falling away of the last days. Yes it does indeed anger many myself included. Modern day christianity has modelled its own God indeed! The motto is do as thou will not Lord thy will be done!

H

Heydave Feb 7, 2014

Dear Havok20x,

I share your indignation at these things. I refuse to enter into lengthy debates with such persons who want to undermine scripture when the plain meaning is clear to all who humble themselves. True humility is submitting to God's word as the starting place. Nothing can change unless we first settle that God's word is true and final and we are the ones who need to bend, and not bend His word to suit us.

'TheÂ earth also is defiled underÂ theÂ inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressedÂ theÂ laws,Â changedÂ theÂ ordinance, brokenÂ theeverlasting covenant.'
(Isaiah 24:5)

This scripture has been on my heart in recent days. It describes the conditions of the last days. Notice not only are the laws transgressed, but the ordinances are changed and the everlasting covenant is broke. I believe that this refers to those things which God ordained from the beginning for all humanity, such as marriage and the distinctions between male and female. We are seeing the breakdown of all these things today in a way never before seen.

The following verse says it all!

S

Sidewalk Feb 8, 2014

You know God is made in your image when he hates everyone that you hate...

Read that somewhere, seems to fit this discussion?

L

lindi1208 Feb 8, 2014

" You know God is made in your image when he hates everyone that you hate..."

There is difference between truth and hate!! Either one loves the truth and authority of the Word of God or they preach love everything and everyone including heretics and heretical teaching!! Just don't see how one can say they love everyone but are afraid to point out error in that l"love" they proclaim

Love does not rejoice in wrongdoings but rejoices in truth. When we genuinely love we will love truth the two can not be separated. Only a false love sees a brother/ sister in error and does not admonish, or point error leaving that individual to possibly end up with their faith shipwrecked or worse still that person dies still in error of which their eternal destination ends up being hell!

The Word is clear that if one does not love the truth, they will be deceived! In fact God himself will send them a strong delusion that they will believe a lie! That is how much God values truth. So pointing out error isn't hate! And no that statement isn't relevant to the OP or discussion!!

sermonindex Feb 8, 2014

Dear Havok,
I've been sitting here, for about 20 minutes...maybe a half and a hour, looking over your posting, pondering it...weighing...and praying before God...whether I should even respond.....what I might write to you, I write with respect and a measure of love, as this VERY MEDIUM, ie, a cyber forum, communication is fraught with peril.

you cannot hear the tenor of my voice, nor can you see my eyes....communication in LIFE, face to face is fraught with peril, I choose my words carefully....why do I do that?...well, first, I know that I esteem others above myself, and from what you self testified, its seems you are brimming with anger:

Nothing makes me more angry than this. And I have a right to be angry.

the verses you quoted, I read/ate of many times, and if it seems like i'm boasting now in my flesh, nay, I boast in the LORD, fore Psalm 119, as part of a larger work, Psalm 119, I spent almost a month on, this last Oct/Nov, its in my handwritten notebook downstairs. (reason being, I was Led to "dig out" the Basis' {plural] of prayer, and started with the Psalter, said Basis' being praise, petition, repose and woe, or lament)...

i'm not certain whether its WISE...or profitable to even engage a man, who is "more angry" about what he perceives as the failings of other saints on this CYBER forum. i'm well aware you could term your anger as "holy" anger, hence a loving rebuke.

but you made a blanket accusation, on a medium, about unspecified children of God, which doesn't ring RIGHT...Oh, I hear what you're saying, but as opposed to anger, I feel, and HAVE mourned and grieved for many a day and month for these times.

again, I say you have made blanket accusations on a medium...a cyber forum, that I don't believe lends itself to such.

why?, you might ask.....I don't even know your name, much less look into your eyes, or hear your voice, to discern such abrasive accusations....but I can write this, the "tenor" of your WRITTEN words lack meekness and humility, they carry an air of superiority unbefitting one who's sins are washed in the Blood....and I DO write that with respectful humility.

Heal thyself physician.

in Jesus love, neil

sermonindex Feb 8, 2014

Love does not rejoice in wrongdoings but rejoices in truth. When we genuinely love we will love truth the two can not be separated. Only a false love sees a brother/ sister in error and does not admonish, or point error leaving that individual to possibly end up with their faith shipwrecked or worse still that person dies still in error of which their eternal destination ends up being hell!

let me ask you this; the medium ..THIS medium, a public CYBER forum, faceless, nameless....is such the place to engage in "admonishments"?....."rebukes"..."pointing out error"?

if you "yes"....go for it, and finish every sentence with a "!"....but, its VERY EASY and "cost free" to be fire and brimstone on a discussion forum....you can tear apart brothers and sisters, for whom Jesus shed His Blood for, flick off your computer, and go about your day, without realizing the damage left behind.

my point?....do that in the assemblies, and see if can just walk away from the wreckage.

I read SO many posts I absolutely disagree with, but what is the profit, to start a cyber scrum in front of a GLOBAL audience?

L

lindi1208 Feb 8, 2014

Brother Neil, I do hear your concern. However are you suggesting that truth should never be defended? Should we watch our fellow brothers or sisters continue in error and remain silent? How does one rejoice where there is no truth and there is compromise instead?

Jesus Christ did say many will come to Him and say Lord Lord did we not heal, prophecy in your name and Yet Christ answers telling them to depart from Him He never knew them. Did Christ not also die for these people that He tells to depart from Him on judgement day? Yes Christ did die for all mankind! Yet as believers we are to be watchful, prayerful and be at guard always from deception, which is very rampant these days. So for some I guess maybe wisdom is to keep quiet and watch fellow brethren perish because speaking the truth in love is considered fire and brimstone by many and a lack of love! Should this be the case brother? Should we not admonish, rebuke, encourage or exhort one another in this forum? Is it ok to do all else we are charged to do except pointing out error because it causes offence?

We shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ! And His Word which is the sword of truth is the one He will judge us by. If we have a low view of all Inspired scripture including the ones we love to ignore we will still be judged by the very same Word that Christ has spoken to us. Which is probably why many are concerned enough to be careful to point out a departure from the scriptures prevalent these days. We ought to be like the wise virgins replenishing our lamps by the truth supplied in the Word. They will be a time when the trumpet shall sound and the foolish virgins will ask for oil from the wise virgins but the wise virgins will not have enough oil to share in case they also they also run out. Alas!! The Bridegroom will come whilst the foolish are out buying then the doors will be shut!! The foolish virgins will knock and the bridegroom will say I never knew you!

H

havok20x Feb 8, 2014

Brother,

I am nothing. I haven't gotten it all figured out. But this is an issue that I have long seen crippling Christianity everywhere and not just here.

God has given us everything we need for life and godliness, and that includes His Word.

As Christians, if we are truly led by the Spirit, we should be asking the God of all Truth to fill us with Himself and help us to live out that truth.

There are teachers out there that teach that truth is not concrete, it is springy--that it's more like a trampoline than a brick. And Christianity has largely already accepted this idea. Try building a kingdom on something springy. It'll fall apart in a second. I have said so many things and done so many things that were motivated by what I already thought and then I baptized my own ideas with some bible verses and called it Christian. So, it is not like I am blaming everyone else. God is still revealing, especially to me, where I err and how I have removed my eyes from Him. But if we do not hold fast to the truth as revealed by the Lord; if we undermine His Word than we cannot be far from heresy on every front.

Once a person diminishes the authority and truth of God in the slightest, there can be no doubt that extreme error will follow suit. "Did God REALLY say, 'you can't eat from any tree in the garden?'" Now look at our world. Once Eve allowed doubt of the authority of God and doubt of the truth of God to enter in and they acted upon that doubt, humanity was done for.

We are redeemed, and God is purifying for Himself, His own special people. Let us not fall into the same doubt that caused the fall of all mankind.

sermonindex Feb 9, 2014

There isn't the remotest possibility of being understood in a community which does not even have a basic knowledge of the language they are speaking.

Invective
Polemic
Rhetoric

At every level meaning breaks down because we will not be restrained by our use and meaning of words. And if we do press the meaning so as to be clear we will become dogs and warmongers. In the end as Mr West confirmed, even if your words are clear you will still be accused of having a dead wrong spirit. As long as we still call one another brethren though all will be well. In such circumstances there is no likelihood of any truth.

sermonindex Feb 9, 2014

brother (?) sister (?)

I don't even know your name, but as much as I would, I don't HAVE to. (before I begin, hear my voice, soft, quiet...no strident tones here..okay?)

I've read over your response to my 'complaint' a few times, I understand why your burden is, the difference is, that as Led, I come from an entirely different perspective as I am not a Christian, i'm a Jew who follows Jesus, that is I believe God in that He sent His Son, Messiah Jesus as the Last Passover Lamb, and The Blood of Messiah is wholly sufficient to cleanse all sin, That on the Third Day, Messiah ascended into Heaven and we await, albeit groaning and in travail till He comes back. (lindi, i'm writing to you as well, beloved)

I embrace a simple Faith, on the order of Abram, ie, "Abram believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness"....a child-like Faith, with the Son of God revealed to me and in me....and in that vein, as a small child in the synagogue, trained in Hebrew and Torah, I never doubted God....never doubted that he IS here, that He IS my Father.....i'm in earnest...God was always there, He protected me, He led me by brooks and streams, thru fire, thru the coarseness of mankind.....of course I came to my teen and adult stages, and definitely sunk my teeth into the fruits of sin..which is WHY God took mercy on me, it pleased Him to crush me, and then to reveal His Son to me and in me.

I registered that i'm a Jew who follows Jesus, not as an issue of some Christologic "pride", as if i'm some "special" being in the Body....no no no, but to explain why I might look at things from a different angle.

its that i'm so thrilled and blessed that Messiah HAS come, that the Blood IS available to cleanse from all sin, that I have a MORE of God's Word to feast off of, that I have the Indwelling Holy Spirit as Counselor, Comforter....these Gifts and blessings bestowed thrill my heart so much.....I don't have the leading or time to worry or fret over "being led into error"....or some sort of heresy....because I stay with the simple Truths of Jesus.

You read what He said about the children?

"But Jesus called them to him, saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Luke 18:16-17

I took that to heart and soul the very first time I read it 12 years ago....I knew what it meant, which is why I rarely get in to discussions about "-isms", and all the other points of dissension, or dispute in the Faith.

a "child" is totally dependent, if you tell a "child" dinner will be served in 20 minutes, the wee one doesn't furrow his brow, and say, "yeh, sure, right".....because I am and always have been a child of God, Praise His Name.

I also embrace the "shrewd as a snake, innocent as a dove" Word, because there is a VAST difference between "child-like" and "child-ISH"...for a time the Moravians in Hernhutt, circa 1740's went into a period, where they interpreted that as "child-ISH", and brought this Move of God into not a small amount of shame.

Now as far as other saints, or people falling into "heresy".....or "error", if one desires to be a "watchman on the wall", you might not time for anything else, because in these times, there is an ocean of heresy and weirdness....in and out of the Church, or "churches"...this world is aflame, things have gotten so whacky, and so dark, that my Father, OUR Father has hid me away....true, He led me to a wonderful desolate place, far from the madness....now for what reason?.....I don't know.

but I do know, as far as I know, the Call when I hear it....and I haven't heard it, which is why I remain tucked away...Maybe He just wants me to be in His Rest...I don't know.

as far as the those saints who MIGHT NOT, read their Bibles, (Bible reading to me is like breathing....I mean, one cant STOP breathing...right?)...or those engaged in "heretical" practices....I don't fret over any of that.

"why not?"....well, couple reasons, everybody works out their OWN salvation with fear and trembling.....and I KNOW God has things WELL in control...I have NO doubt about that...so if saints aren't Biblically literate?...only God can give them a Holy Hunger for the Word...its TRUE that God CAN use another brother or sister to EXHORT, but that's most effective face-to-face, in a REAL relationship.

in my most humble opinion, cyber discussion, while it can be edifying OR LEAD to real relationships, isn't satisfactory for the REAL fellowships.

so, i'll quit now, and send you both a wonderfully anointed exhortation from the Scottish revivalist Duncan Campbell, entitled, "God Indwelling Us"...I was listening to it, predawn....and oh my, Duncan was a choice vessel of Jesus....give it listen if you have the time, i'm going to give it a second listen:

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?lid=21590

may Jesus fill you with His Grace Love and Mercy, neil

M

MrBillPro Feb 9, 2014

I never get upset at anyone here for their interpretations, or opinions of the word of God, why? because I know, We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Anyone here that gets into these long drawn out debates,are not going to change anyone opinions, if so it would never get to the debate stage. There have been a few debates here that have been healthy and do edify, but not nearly enough, as should be. If only our monitors we peer into were mirrors, we could all begin to be more like Christ.

S

Sidewalk Feb 9, 2014

Like MrBillpro, I do not get upset over the opinions shared here, and since we are just writing and not speaking we are only in conjecture to the tones and hidden attitudes of our fellow participants. On another forum where I participate we all know that once a year we will all be face to face and that certainly tempers the conflict potential. Here we assume we will probably never meet, so we feel free to take less personal restraint. It is just words, and we can quit anytime.

My problem is that I have come to truly love many of the posters, and my heart's desire is to meet them face to face. I do get around the country from time to time, and would cherish a chance to get into a great Christian conversation over a cup of coffee. I live in a beautiful part of the world- San Diego, and my email is in my profile so that if you are by chance coming to my town, let me know and we will have that coffee. My treat!

Again, I am struck by the urging of the New Testament writers imploring us to love one another! It does not insist we all agree, and confrontation is always a part of healthy interaction, but we have no permission to stop loving each other!

G

ginnyrose Feb 10, 2014

QUOTE by lindi on another thread:
_____________________________________________________________
I guess being simple minded I have a tendency to shy away from the vast amount of Christian books in preference to the word. Personally books for me tend to bring about confusion to the simplicity of the gospel which I first heard and then that confusion just causes me to go back to the Word.
_____________________________________________________________

I think lindi is right on.

Allowing the WORD to interpret itself will solve a lot of confusion - comparing scripture with scripture.

_____________________________________________________________
How can a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed according to Your word.
____________________________________________________________

This says it all.

We are becoming more like Him when we hate what He hates; love what He loves. But do we do that?

Thanks for posting, havok.

EDITED