I'm the worst man I know. I'm weak. I'm argumentative. I'm not profound. I don't know what's best for people apart from what God's Word says. I'm a coarse man that's lived a coarse life. I'm obliged to admit every fault. But I cannot and will not compromise on the Gospel, ever.
@farmingandJesus As a millennial like Oliver, it's a bit poetic in a sad, hollow way. A selfish generation that worships its own lusts. Too selfish for God. Too selfish for even an external, false god. The focus is entirely on self and the indulgence of self.
@farmingandJesus Lost three friends to this in my lifetime. All before I knew Jesus. I know all are without excuse, but I still wish I could've told them about Him.
@DPGBehler@lisavsworld Appeal to Emotion is easily top 5 used everywhere I turn. We need to teach logic so bad as a society, including proper contextual use of it. Some fallacies are so gross they must be pointed out in casual conversation. But not everything merits a critical application.
@Nexusafro@LivZe48598 A Muslim Nigerian. Shouldn't you be busy setting fire to schools and kidnapping kids? Your opinion is worth less than the USAID bags of rice you've stolen.
Not to dismiss your point. But a caveat here is that Jude states that what he is quoting from Enoch is prophecy while Paul does not say that about the Athenian poets.
I'm not saying 1 Enoch is prophetic in it's entirety or even beyond what Jude quotes. But it does lend more merit to that spectrum of the argument.
-Didn't know Hebrew (and struggled with Greek)✅
-Relied heavily on Greek philosophy ✅
-Unable to work with textual Hebrew nuances ✅
-Made logical leaps (whether right or wrong) to make sense of harder passages ✅
I like Augustine. But if that's character assassination, one would have to first assume Augustine wasn't (as) prone to error as literally every other man. What a strange accusation.
You've made an appeal for others to study the source of their own tradition. I see nothing wrong here.
@ReformedCaio This man's PhD hopes need to be blackballed so hard. All future interactions with churches or seminaries must be limited to non-denom only.
This. Cultural similarities. Shared experiences. And most of us (Jews) also grew with stories of our grandparents being hunted down, hauled off, murdered, or expelled. As the years go by you learn more, that this has happened over and over for millennia. It creates a rather cemented group identity.
The only thing that cuts through group identity and reverses (not simply negates) the "us vs them" mentality is Christ.
I make it plain that I'm a Jew so other Jews can know that our God has *not* abandoned us and that He can be found in Christ Jesus with the simple faith of a child. And for the Gentile I'm living proof also that God has not abandoned us, that He's simply opened this same offer to any and all who would believe.
So at it's core, for me, I display my Jewish heritage as proof of God's enduring mercy and loving patience as part of a people who have spurned Him time and time again. To the Jew, I am as a Jew to win Jews for Christ.
I'm not taking sides anymore. I've only been disappointed. Babies are still slaughtered. Boys are still castrated. Girls are still sterilized. Drugs are still available to broken hearts and minds. Non-citizens still get better benefits than our own poor and homeless. The Constitution is still ignored in light of political expediency. The nation is still pagan and getting exponentially worse. I will not commit myself to another vote where I would have to explain to God, "Lord, they said they wouldn't murder as many babies as the other side!"
Some Christians are all about Christian Nationalism. Great, if that's your conviction, go for it. I could very well be missing the forest for the trees. But I do not care if this nation goes by Christian laws or not as long as the citizens still hate the things of God in their hearts. The Israelites had the Law and their hearts only hardened as a people.
I care about the heart of the one bound for hell. The hurting, rebellious heart of the man or woman who has fought for so long and so hard on their own power. The heart that cries for a personal answer to their personal hurt. The heart that cries for a Jesus it doesn't know.
My citizenship is a wonderful blessing that God has granted me and I cherish it. It's a tool to spread the gospel more freely than most in history could even dream of. When every American man says to the Lord, "What does my lord say to his servant?" Then we'll have a Christian Nation.
Until such a time, I'm far more concerned with the Kingdom.
Joshua 5:12-15 --- When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.