From The Underground

From The Underground

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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in glampunk82's LiveJournal:

Saturday, June 19th, 2004

1:13 am

Any Opinions On What Paul Was Saying Here? Especially In Verses 4-6
Hebrews 6

1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[1] and of faith in God, 2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And God permitting, we will do so.
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because[2] to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
7Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
9Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case--things that accompany salvation. 10God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Current Mood: gloomy

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Wednesday, June 16th, 2004

11:55 pm

Should We As Christians Stay Out Of The World?
i'm just sick and bored and felt like posting something. i'm not sure what though. the only thing really on my mind is how we have double standards in our faith and lives. we may be against something bad, but we may be for something equally bad. another thing is the fact that the Southern Baptist Convention will tell people it's time to start pulling their children out of public schools because they are 'ungodly,' when were public schools ever truly godly to begin with?

if we all withdraw ourselves from the world and stay in our little houses or go to our country clubs know as churches, who is going to be there to bring people to the Light?

i think it's time to realize that this life isn't about how 'clean,' and sinless we can stay. it's about showing love to others and hopefully through that we can bring those people to God. i'm not saying by any means that it's alright to do anything we want because as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:12 {You may say, "I am allowed to do anything." But I reply, "Not everything is good for you." And even though "I am allowed to do anything," I must not become a slave to anything.} so yes we can do anything, but we have to realize that we should not let those things take control of our lives. you see this yet again in 1 Corinthians 10:23
{"You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is helpful. You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is beneficial. 24Don't think only of your own good. Think of other Christians and what is best for them."}
here we are told not to do anything that may make another Christian fall. so it has alot to do with, the 'society' we are in at that appointed time. (for example; friends hanging out together with the same convictions can say "bad" words or can drink an alcoholic beverage. as long as that is not a downfall or conviction in one of their lives. Or if you are in a bar, there is nothing wrong with have an alcoholic beverage...you can still talk to an unbeliever about God and share with them the truth of Christianity and not just the religious, dogmatic, organized side of it.)

we have two types of of unproductive Christians in this situation: First, we have the one that feels as if we should do nothing that makes us 'apart' of the world. which means we should not go into the bars, clubs, theaters, etc., etc., where the unbelievers are. well, Jesus, Himself, hung out with the most wicked of the wicked. He feasted with them and drank wine with them.
the argument here is that well that is Jesus...He was perfect. i agree, Jesus was sinless and did not fall prey to the addictions of this atmosphere. however, God will not put a temptation in our lives that we cannot handle. so that rules out that argument, and also God knows we are not perfect. the fact is we should not let ourselves become consumed with that one atmosphere. we must have support and accountability, but we must go into the world bringing people to God through Christ as we have been commanded.

the second type of Christian is the Christian who is already in the world, but he is not striving to make a change. this person already goes to the clubs and bars for fun, but he never does anything more than that. 1 Corinthians 6:23 says You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is helpful. You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is beneficial. 24Don't think only of your own good. Think of other Christians and what is best for them.
if we are apart of that crowd then we are being selfish and are worried about only ourselves, we then have a right to be judged by our fellow believers. however, we can change one aspect of this scenario and change the whole situation. while we are having our fun, we should be open to possibly bringing up a conversation with somebody,not just starting off about God, but we could talk to the person and get into a conversation and possibly our beliefs might have a chance of coming up. if not though, we still were striving. the fact is that the witness field is where ever we are. when we are out having fun, we should always have our eyes open to a possibility of witnessing to somebody.

the third Christian is the one who feels like it is being useful and a witness to bring a non-believer to church. that is not being a witness, and it is harmful for the church.
'the Southern Baptist faith and message' says "a New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth." it's very interesting that it says a congregation of baptized believers which means that non-believers do not belong in the church. it also says it is always seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. i see that as saying that the people in the church should be doing their job and witnessing and trying to save a person instead of bringing a non-believer into the congregation. now days though, i understand that it's easy to be 'saved' by the churches standards, and i also understand that it's more about how many people are attending the church and how much money the church gets these days more than if all the people are getting saved. just as religion is based on your personal spiritual life with God, i believe that bringing somebody to salvation is the same. we should be doing it one on one instead of bringing our friends to church and hopefully they will get something out of the message. salvation has nothing to do with a church, it is between a person and God.

the world is a dirty, sinful place. we as believers will be criticized on both sides of the fence also. the organized religion will not like the fact that we say we are believers, but are fellowshipping with the 'sinners,' and many sinners will not like us being in our territory. however, it is important, and it is something we should be doing as believers. remember, the 'religious' people of the Biblical era condemned Jesus for hanging out with those people also. however, the people in many churches do not need a physician as Jesus said about the jews of his period (note: might i add that it's not that they did not need Him, but it's the fact that they did not think they needed Him. it's just like a person may think he or she is well, but could totally be eaten up on the inside with cancer....however, that person never knew they needed a physician.) i believe that's it's time for us as 'true' believers to step up and show that to be an effective Christian we must go into the world and bring people to God. the deceived/non-believers are not going to come to us.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: none

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Sunday, June 13th, 2004

4:16 am

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