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Post by rockergirl on May 22, 2008 7:35:31 GMT -5
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Post by ironguardian on May 22, 2008 12:28:44 GMT -5
but I wanna be like Britney Spears I've always looked at this slightly differently. By asking Jesus into our hearts, He enters in... and grants us His spirit. The way I see it, it is the Spirit that leads us to hate evil.
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Post by rockergirl on May 22, 2008 19:05:51 GMT -5
I know it sounds nice iron, ask Jesus into your heart etc however like the video says NOWHERE in scripture do we find it happening like that.In the gospels Jesus himself says "God" must draw you so it is not a matter of our decision ,never is.Ultimately it is Gods call so the saddest thing with this is the "power of suggestion" conversions which many churches do even though their intentions may be pure could end up giving people a false salvation because like i said GOD must draw us.
Anyways this has ended up way off of what i intended, to be honest most folk acknowledge God must draw you to be saved.Letting Jesus into your heart sounds nice but is not scriptural and hence a false doctrine.
What i really wanted from this thread is to remind and or awaken people to the reality much of what we watch,listen,associate with is against God and we should be doing all we can to disassociate ourselves from the evil which God hates.We all including myself can and have justify watching a certain tv show or liking a band or whatever but the bottom line is 9 times out of ten it is worldly and or totally contrary or in opposition to what the Christian life teaches.So in my personal opinion you cannot love the world and love God at the same time, as Jesus said you will end up loving one and hating the other.
We are meant to be different from the world so say you are a Christian who may not smoke,drink excessively,sleep around etc and you attend a non Christians party where people do do these things and because it's metal wear a kiss or motley crue shirt.One could argue unless you are using this party as an opportunity to witness and you turn a blind eye to this by saying nothing whilst wearing a shirt of a band who promote this type of lifestyle then it is clear who's camp you are really in.
You can appreciate a secular band for their musicianship or whatever/watch a tv show or movie but when it comes to what they sing about and stand for/promote as lifestyle as with television and movies we must be very analytical and cautious so if it looks like a duck,sounds like a duck and acts like a duck then shoot your gonna have to call it a duck.
Like the video said most of america'a churches have become worldly blindly believing they are saved when they are not and the same goes for the church in europe and australia.
Remember we are meant to be fanatical about what it is and what it means to live for Christ because quite possibly one day soon we will be the terrorists.
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Post by jeffdls on May 23, 2008 8:50:37 GMT -5
Romans 8:8-10
8But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Rockergirl, may I ask what church you go to?
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Post by rockergirl on May 23, 2008 18:43:31 GMT -5
jeffdls,
The Romans verse you shared thanks.Notice even though it mentions believing in your heart this is not giving your heart just believing.God must draw someone for a conversion nonetheless, giving your heart/life or whatever is works whereas God coming into your life after being given that life by the individual and being allowed to work through that person via the Holy Ghost is what i call a conversion.
My other problem is when you say i gave my heart to the lord, i wanted to be saved or whatever it takes the focus away from Christ like you are doing a favor for him when the complete opposite is true.We you, i , me or whoever does nothing to deserve salvation and even seek or want it as the bible says there is NONE who seeks after God , no not even one.Again only God can bring a person to a point of wanting/accepting salvation not us.
Sorry for going on with this however i do believe it is extremely important.Going along to church and responding to an alter call in the heat of the moment or a person witnessing afterwards does not necessarily mean God is behind it.I am not saying this means all alter calls/witnessing are invalid either because i know they are not.The power of suggestion is/can be a powerful phenomenon so like i have been saying all the long only God/Christ is behind the true conversions and we must always remember that.
Now to answer your question i attend a gathering of folk from all types of denominations.We do not really advertise ourselves as a particular denomination however if we were to be put into a box you could say we are evangelical/pentecostal.
A short list of our beliefs.
We are living in the times of the end.(therefore we watch world events without making the mistake of trying to predict things) Israel always has and still is crucial in world affairs. Do not want any part of the prosperity gospel. Women shall not teach/have authority over a man in the Church. Reject homosexual/lesbian as being called by God to be pastors. Stand opposed to the teachings of Rick Warren,Benny Hinn,Joyce Meyers. The return of Jesus Christ to earth to set up a millennial reign at the conclusion of the antichrist one world government. The world will inevitably continue to reject God(revival to the scale that is taught in churches is a fallacy) until the time the antichrist is revealed then the real persecution of God's people begins.
Basically we are fundamentalist Christians.
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Post by jeffdls on May 26, 2008 10:09:22 GMT -5
I think you're missing the point. God's gift of salvation is freely given to al who accept. Does He draw us in when the time is right? Of course. But that doesn't mean that altar calls & such prayers are worthless. Do you not think that God can use them as well? If not, then you under-estimate the power of God. Do we still have the opportunity to turn away even if God has drawn us near? Yes. That is free will.
But as Romans 8:9 says "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
Giving your heart to God is not works. Why? Because it was never truly ours to begin with. God gave it to us. He will let us do what we will with it but if we give it back to Him, there is no work in that.
And BTW, I never said "gave my heart to the Lord". Please make sure you address people correctly.
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Post by ironguardian on May 26, 2008 10:14:32 GMT -5
I was thinking about this the other day, about being "called" to God.
Are not all people already called? If not, doesn't that mean that God is willing to let some people never have the chance to be saved?
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Post by rockergirl on May 26, 2008 18:29:22 GMT -5
Jeff, i am not dismissing alter calls.I am not saying you said "you gave your heart to the Lord" either.
All i was saying is that as both you and i have already mentioned is that it must be a drawing from "God" himself for a true conversion that's all.Some folk fail to include this important point and give the impression they are doing it by works alone without the crucial calling element.
False religions such as the jw's, and mormons converts honestly believe it is God behind their conversion when it ain't.
I am sorry i have somehow lost you and ironguardian in this as what i say is basically the same as what you have both said.If you go back and read what i posted i never said alter calls/witnessing or praying even is to no effect and not able to be used by God.
As long as you acknowledge and believe in your heart God himself is calling you in whatever situation it may be then this is good and all i was saying.
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