(September 13, 2015 at 6:21 pm)Luckie Wrote: Christians, if you are here reading this you are already lost among the flocks. Having an open mind, being who you are, following what you think is right-- it's not the religion you profess to follow. Pretty much, yer doin it wrong. The truth of the bible is this:Division does not have to mean hate. it simply means separation. For some, they must separate themselves from all contact from what they deem sinful influences. For others not so much. we are all different members of the same body,meaning we all have different functions. For your brother being new to all of this is 'young in the faith' Paul tells us those young in the faith need the milk of the word. Meaning we need out rules and boundries. He says this right after giving the example of those young in the faith who still think it is a sin to eat meat offered to idols. For Him who is mature in the faith says there is nothing wrong with eating the meat offered to idles because the idols represent nothing. But, for those who need 'spiritual milk' eating meat offered to idols is still a sin. for them Paul says he wouldn't eat any meat ever again, just so one would not stumble and compromise what they believe.
Quote:"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place." (Matthew 5:17 NAB)
"It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for the smallest part of the letter of the law to become invalid." (Luke 16:17 NAB)
Luke 12:51-52
51 "Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division." 52 "For from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three"
Matthew 10:34-35
34 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." 35 "For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."
I have a lot to say on this particular subject in general, but most recently I was invited to my brothers new place. He "quit drinking" and has finished a program for homeless via Salvation Army where they took 80% of his paycheck (of jobs they found for him) and now he has a place of his own. I told him how proud I was, he's 25 it's his first place. I asked if we could spend as much time before I moved out of state as possible with him to which at first he said he would love to see me! Then he replied:
Quote:Just so you know, I mean I know your my blood sister, and you have a special place in my soul, but that being said, I am a devout followet of Christ, and I am doing everything in my power to keep a reverent fear of God's wrath and absence. So, I've got nothing but things about what God has done in my life to share. If my faith makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to come. I am riding God's canoe through an ocean I had no idea I was even floating on. I will never hate you. But I need to be wary of people who do not believe in God and the salvation of ours souls through Christ; even if it is my own family.
5 hours ago
I feel as if he's just built a giant wall and left me out in the dust. This kid I grew up with toe to toe shoulder to shoulder--is every year pushing himself away from me, and my mom (whose LGBT). He's said some of the most disgusting things he could say to us like how I'll end up a puke slathered corpse one day on the side of the highway (when I told him I no longer believed in the abrahamic god). He's disowned and repaired and disowned my mom so many times it's mean, and he hangs out with my cousin who also professes Christ is King! In the middle of stores and stuff like a weirdo. But that cousin? Has secret threesome sex with his wife and other men. Some good Christian man he is. He's an ugly person inside, I found out the hard way and others have as well. One day so too will my brother. But until then, I'm the one he has alienated. Not based upon who I am as a person, how much love I have to give him, how tolerant I am of his 'faith', or what have you--I'm deemed the leper solely because he fears me based on the words in a book he read. This kid, whom I taught to read, read something and now thinks I'm something to be avoided.
That, my friends, is the inevitability of Christiantity. Separation, alienation, and lifelong prejudice.
The bottom line being, Christianity is not about bondage to rules, it is freedom from them. A place like the salvation Army has to provide a 'milk' message because of the nature of the people they minister to. If/when your brother matures in his faith things will change.
(And no freedom from the law does not abolish the law, the law itself allows freedom from its rules through sacrifice.)
