Your tradition or Paul’s tradition?

HopeSings said:

Speak for yourself and not others

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When I said "we", I meant "we in the West" and "we on these forums."
As far as I am aware, you are not going to spend tonight in jail because you have been freely expressing your views and writing a number of threads.

timothyu said:

Graham (unlike his son) repented in his late life for ever involving himself and his ministry with politics.

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Maybe that's why many churches don't speak out against the system because they like their tax status. What about people voting?

Laodicean60 said:

What about people voting?

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Is there a choice for 'None of the above"? How many follow God's will rather than their own or their contributors?

timothyu said:

Graham (unlike his son) repented in his late life for ever involving himself and his ministry with politics.

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They wined and dined him because he could bring in votes for them,

HopeSings said:

I obey Paul's tradition in scripture. I don't follow man's church tradition however. If the church wants to follow Paul's tradition then they should be poor and be dressed in rags like the apostles were. See 1 Corinthians chapter 4

They should have a messenger of Satan torment them like Paul did. They should be out of their own minds for God somtimes as the apostles were.

They should carry death in their bodies as the apostles did. That's tradition.

Not tradition in some of the churches but all of the churches. Note the scripture below

1 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.

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Anyone who would call themselves an apostle should reflect this image of an apostle presented to us.
The apostles instruct us in godly behavior, in which "outward appearance" means little without
"the signs of an apostle".
2 Corinthians 12:12 Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance,
in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.

Philippians 1:
27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ,
so that whether I come and see you or am absent,
I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit,
with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,
28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries,
which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation,
and that from God.
29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him,
but also to suffer for His sake,
30 having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.

The spiritual condition of a congregation does not depend on the entire body
being like an apostle, it depends on their commitment to one another,
and the Holy Spirit's authority.

2 Corinthians 1:24 Not that we have dominion over your faith,
but are fellow workers for your joy; for by faith you stand.

I prefer following Jesus first, then John, Peter, Paul, James et al in no particular order.

Diamond7 said:

They wined and dined him because he could bring in votes for them,

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And he the religious right as followers. It was a two way street of gain

HopeSings said:

Ive wanted to commit suicide because of people online. Don't tell me what I experience. They treated me like worthless trash

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Who is worse men or women? We have to be positive or I would not be able to get up out of bed. Positive energy heals, negative energy tears us down and makes us depressed. Doctors love to feed off of negative energy or attitude because it puts money in their pocket. I understand when Paul says to pray without stopping because when adversity hits we keep praying hoping God will heal us. The nice thing is that everyone I have ever asked tells me that God does not EVER disappoint them.

fhansen said:

I prefer following Jesus first, then John, Peter, Paul, James et al in no particular order.

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I follow Moses and Jesus red letters. NO ONE adds anything to them. They only help us to better understand. If I were to pick a third person it would be David. Even Paul loves to quote David and Paul learned a lot from David. It does bother me that he was a man of blood and not qualified to build the temple for God. Yet his son, the product of adulatory was allowed.

fhansen said:

I prefer following Jesus first, then John, Peter, Paul, James et al in no particular order.

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This made me think. A lot of people reverence Paul's teachings and his teachings were directed toward Christians. As far as I know, when Paul spoke to non-Christian it was about Jesus. My question is how did it evolve with today's Christians pointing out all nonbeliever's sins?

Laodicean60 said:

My question is how did it evolve with today's Christians pointing out all nonbeliever's sins?

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Vanity

HopeSings said:

Ive wanted to commit suicide because of people online. Don't tell me what I experience. They treated me like worthless trash

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I wasn't telling you what you experience.
I said:

Strong in Him said:

As far as I am aware, you are not going to spend tonight in jail because you have been freely expressing your views and writing a number of threads.

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Your bio says that you are in America.
I'm not aware that Christians in America get taken off to prison because of their beliefs in Jesus and the Gospel. I'm not aware that the US government is preventing Christians from sharing their faith on these forums, or anywhere else.
Yet in some countries, they would, and do, have that level of censorship. That is what I was talking about; unbelievers trying to suppress the Christian faith by locking up/torturing its followers. Which is exactly what happened to the Apostles.

If you have been treated as "worthless trash" by unbelievers who oppose your faith - then you have indeed had some taste of the sort of persecution that Jesus was talking about.
If you have been opposed by Christians who disagree with your views; they should not have made you feel worthless but, personally, I would not call that religious persecution.

Laodicean60 said:

My question is how did it evolve with today's Christians pointing out all nonbeliever's sins?

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People do not want to judge themselves so they judge others.

Strong in Him said:

If you have been treated as "worthless trash" by unbelievers who oppose your faith - then you have indeed had some taste of the sort of persecution that Jesus was talking about.

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I think you miss the point. You are the one that is persecuting her and treating her like worthless trash all the time feeling justified in what you are doing and saying. This is why we left England and came to America to get away from this sort of persecution. Of course you are not from American so you have not learned about the persecution we have endured and the price we paid to gain the freedom we have today.

I am a direct descendant of the first person Bloody Mary burned at the stake. So we have endured the kind of persecution you are talking about and that is why people went to fight in WW2 to protect the freedom that we have paid a high price for. The director and principal of my high school were holocaust survivors. My dorm father was actually been a prisoner of war in Poland where a guard knocked out one of his eyes with the butt of a rifle. He wore a patch on that eye. Later on he escaped when he cut down a tree and pole voted over the barb wire fence.

Maybe you have not been persecuted but here in American we have paid a high price for the freedom that we have today. My dad served his country and was stationed in Germany right after the war. He was one of the first to go into the concentration camps after they were liberated. He want back 20 years later and he said he could still smell the burnt flesh. I wonder if that was his imagination.

At work the brother of one of the owners was at the invasion of Normandy. He was shot and there were dead bodies on top of him. It was five hours before they came to take care of him. He was kind of mixed up and confused. He would do some some unusual things. Paint things weird colors and stuff like that so we had to take care of him.

But somehow you think we have a sheltered life and we have not had to endure persecution? Who told you that nonsense.

timothyu said:

Vanity

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Good point. Just wearing the name "Christian" makes no one immune from that particular vice, or whatever we call it. In fact, I believe we all struggle with it throughout life.
.

Diamond7 said:

I follow Moses and Jesus red letters. NO ONE adds anything to them. They only help us to better understand. If I were to pick a third person it would be David. Even Paul loves to quote David and Paul learned a lot from David. It does bother me that he was a man of blood and not qualified to build the temple for God. Yet his son, the product of adulatory was allowed.

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Well, it's all the word of God at the end of the day, the word of Jesus who is God and the words of men inspired by Him. The main problem sometimes is in figuring out just what, exactly, is being said.

HopeSings said:

Hate is murder and its persecution. Go argue with John

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I'm not arguing with John, nor am I opposing you.
I simply made the observation that, as far as I know, you will not physically be dragged off to prison by non Christians who are opposing your faith.

If there are non Christians who hate you for being a Christian, that is persecution. It's mild, compared with what some people go through, but it's still real.
If Christians hate you, that is wrong and it should not be like that.

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