My Christian Theism gets Personal!

DG85,Thank you for a sincere report, of your dealings with God. Most thought-provoking. You note, Your evident intelligence here sets a high standard, for your pursuit of God. God evidently doesn't require everyone coming to Him to be aware that they are coming not as a child to a parent, but as an enemy seeking to defect from one army to another. But, it looks like He wanted you to understand this. Perhaps you had a fairly extensive exposure to biblical teaching, to go along with your high IQ. Have you ever been taught the story of Jesus and the Canaanite woman, who wanted help for her daughter? (Matt 15:22-28) He says that He is very cold-hearted towards those who do not choose the fear of the Lord (see Prov 1:20-33) perhaps to protect those that already are His children indeed from the ravages of hypocrites and unbelievers.The "gospel" you get from Christianity is not reliable good news, and I understand that it actually exists to break and harden hearts, to turn people away from God. That's what Jesus said, anyway, "You don't go in, and you prevent others from going in." I'm sure that God views many little children coming to Him for comfort as suicide bombers, trying to get into His kingdom, to blow themselves up and take others with them. They may be unaware of that, so He doesn't kill them on sight. But, coming from some Sunday School where they are taught lethal doctrines, they try to get reach God without becoming a part of His kingdom. To really get to Him and His, they have to take the bombs off.I suspect that when you prayed as a child, God heard anything in your heart that really wanted a loving Father, and started the long process of getting you ready for His kingdom. Preparing the way of the Lord, as it is written. But, you are smart. You can read. You can and should by now know the conditions for becoming a child of God. Forgiveness, willingness to repent, admit you are wrong, change your mind, humility, looking for training in righteousness, love, a respect for justice. Quite so. Rev 3:15-16. Christians are almost impossible to save. Hypocrisy has become so deeply ingrained, and spiritual arrogance. They actually use the word faith for their dogmatic opinionation!The true gospel is a gospel about a kingdom, a government, a different citizenship. Anyone can immigrate into this kingdom, just learn the rules, leave the nation you are presently living in, and make the trip. If, in making plans for such a change, in "preparing the way of the Lord," you start asking for confirmation about the rewards, freedoms, opportunities, etc you will have in this new land, I suspect that you will find your prayers answered differently.But, one of the rules is, never ever go to church, or call yourself a Christian. Just find someone to love, who will disciple you, from their home and life.StephenPS. Try calling your natural dad, a "beaten dead" dad. Remember that if God is out there to answer prayers, so is the devil, to make people behave badly. Forgiveness means saying, "The devil made him do it." Remember that the devil even made God be so severe with Job.

MrHambre,Praising the Lord anyway, an old Charismatic idea, was supposed to, and by many anecdotal reports, actually did, increase considerably the rate and degree to which prayers were answered. I've never seen a prayer study that used this as a variable, but it would be interesting. The books on the subject, by Merlin Carothers, were very popular in their day.The theology is interesting. God is in a battle with Satan, but Satan cannot hurt God, He's too big. So, Satan hurts God's image, some of whom are also His children. Then, he (Satan) taunts God, by pointing out that he has uglified His image, and made His children suffer. When those abused persons respond to the suffering by saying "Praise the Lord", as an act of love for their Creator/Father, this diminishes the pain of the taunt, and authorizes God to fulfil His promise to "make all things work to the good." Imagine a kidnapped child, talking to His daddy on the phone, telling him that he has already started celebrating the heroic rescue that he knows his daddy is preparing.Remember, there are some of us who keep close track of increases in our health and welfare, as influenced by our praying and testimonies. But not, of course, decreases in our suffering, since "if we suffer with Him, we reign with Him." But, our ability to endure suffering cheerfully is a part of prosperity. Also, since suffering is a part of most aspects of life, that we have more than the normal amount of suffering is what we expect, if our life is richer in the positive dimensions (being in love, getting new ideas, children, adventures, etc.) We stay reassured that our prayer life is reasonable.Stephen

Chris,Being religious is not highly recommended in scripture, so it is difficult to confirm when God tells someone to join one. On this issue, I tend to side with those who say that one ought to be very careful that what we hear from God be confirmed in scripture. What is written there is this, in James:"If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridel his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."And, from Paul (1 Corinth 4:16), (in a discussion of division in the church)"Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written...."So, what can one hear from God about joining a religion? Just, don't. Take the energy, visit widows and orphans in their trouble, learn to shed worldly ways. (Good examples of worldly ways? Church buildings, Sunday Schools, Church bulletins, Committees, Budgets, Pledges,...none of these written.)I count myself as a disciple of Yeshua, often called Jesus. I refuse the label Christian ("of Christ") because it is specifically forbidden in scripture (1 Corinth 1:12). Actually, in one conversation with God, He told me not to even pray for Christians, because going to a Christian church was a "sin unto death." (1 John 5:16). The tares, that Yeshua said are seeds of the evil one, are bundled up together in Churches.Stephen

MrHambre,Good post. I agree with all your points. Yeshua, whose name I am attempting to honor here, also agreed. "Everyone who leaves (long list follows) for My sake will receiveIN THIS LIFE100 times whatever was given up." And then and only then the promise of even more in the life to come.But don't miss the point of Job, as most Christians do. Job confessed at the end that he had been satisfied to "to hear about" God, and didn't fervently seek His face. His righteousness was of the distant sort, trying to do what is right, etc. Not of the "walk humbly with your God" sort. If it was me, now, and it hit my fan the way it hit Job's, I'd be right up there in the midst of whatever discussion God was having with Satan, making a case for myself, face to face. To which I, the angels on God's side, and some others, say,Hallelujah! It's a lousy message, and anyone who believes it deserves what they get.Stephen "grateful for doing much better than I deserve, thank you very much" ben Yeshua.

MrHambre,Maybe you are right. Let the church-goers fall unwarned into the trap set for them by the tares! Let them learn of the error of their ways when they wake up in Hell, and it's too late! Let's keep telling them while we can that the perfect loving Father, able to do all things, doesn't have conversations with His children, believing that they'll be dumb enough to believe such a thing. Let's not say anything that they might not want to hear. That's not nice! We're much better off being hypocrites, sifting through the scriptures for the nice verses, taking these as the gospel truth, and pretending the others aren't in the same inspired book. Or, better yet, pretending that we are the best judge of the universe, and that the only things that could be true are the things that we agree with. Yeah, that's the ticket.Stephen

MrHambre,It feels good to be so well understood! However, there are a few matters....Darwinist evolution is a scientific theory that contributed greatly to our understanding of how Jehovah created biologic diversity, and to our understanding of His nature. This contribution, of course, was side-tracked by Satan. Duh. replace "all" with "much of," and add, after "anecdote" "with directions how anyone can replicate these experiences, to convince themeselves, if they want to know." Remove "quasi-" replace with "hypothetico-deductive," remove "parodies of" insert "to those poorly trained in." Insert "watched as these untrained individuals" after "I've"And, of course, we all have free will. God makes choices, true, but so do you. He accepts the consequences of His choice, in this case, missing the pleasure of your company for eternity, and trusts that you will accept the consequences of your choice, to learn too late that Satan has made a fool of you, because you decided to let him.Justice is good, don't you think?Stephen

MrHambre,I asked Him, and He said, "It depends on definitions of the words." If you let "two" refer to a set with 2 objects, and "five" refer to a set with 4 objects, two plus two now equals five."So, what happened when you took out a bible, looked up a commandment, and said, out loud, "Jehovah, if you are out there, and truly want me saved, and to come to a knowledge of the truth, as is written here somewhere, speak to me now, telling me how to obey this commandment that I am now reading about. And, when you speak, give me some clue that it's you speaking. I want to know your voice. I promise I will do what you say."Stephen

Chris,You assert, But what does this actually mean? To you? To God? How are you to know that this is true of you? He says not to say it. Because death and life are in the power of the tongue, and by your words you are saved, or condemned. When you say it, you do make a group of it. He tells us to call on His name, and that by "no other name, but the name of Yeshua" are we saved.What I have learned, believing and living in Yeshua, is that anything that comes out of my mouth, or pen, after "I think..." is going to need drastic repentance, changing of the mind. I didn't think so either, and when God told me this was the case, I asked for major confirmation. Which He has, over the course of 12 years, given me. I don't think it has always been so, of course, and also of course, there are some people in "church" gatherings who have salvation, by grace. But, the "house church" movements, now and throughout history, have given people choices, to worship as a true family, in the place where the family lives, or to worship as "make-believe" family, in a place set aside for this illusion.The key here is to alert you and others to an idea, that you must take to the Lord in listening prayer, to hear what He says. His sheep hearken to His voice, know His voice. If you cannot ask Him, and get Him to speak to you about it, you know that you are not saved. Yet. If you are a church goer, or are committing any "sin unto death," He reluctantly hears my prayers for your salvation, but He will welcome your own prayers for salvation. Hypocrisy, or being a conscious liar. Not forgiving others. Refusing hospitality to "the least of those His brethren." Saying that you know the Lord, but not "keeping His commandments." Not being giving enough to go substantially beyond tithing. Not repenting. Here's what He told me. In any identifiable geographic locale, Yeshua will build His church, naming it with His name, and the name of the locale. "The church of Yeshua Messiah in Lawrence." Or, "the church of Iasous Christ in Winchester." Satan immediately plants His seed in that locale, seeds of tares, which get gathered together in other Churches, counterfeits of the real thing. These have other names, but normally do not include, or add to, the name of Yeshua. The righteous are warned about this process, and warned to avoid the bundles of tare, which are destined for the fire. Others seeking some sort of spiritual life, as at the beginning, have a choice between the tree of life (a house gathering, calling itself by the name of Yeshua), and a Church, some building and Institutional Program (the tree of knowledge of good and evil is manifested today in institutions of all sorts: schools, governments, Churches, etc.) As always, they have a choice, between life, being born again into a family, giving up--hating--their past life, and clinging to all their stuff while "going to church." Death, in other words.I'll tell you what I heard God say about salvation a bit later.Stephen

Chris,Now, about the requirements to be saved.There are many ways to express this, all saying the same thing different ways. This is possible because, to be saved means that one is on a path, in a process, headed in a certain direction. On that path are many sign-posts that one must pass, any one of which might be thought of as a requirement to be saved.But the best overall description of that pathway is called repentance, or changing one's mind, where change is exhaustive, as in being born again, or renewed in one's thinking. Normally, as much as possible, this means choosing a life, called discipleship, where one lives in the company of someone who is committed to teaching you ways to change your mind. One gets baptized into various sets of rules that structure this learning process, rules that one can plan on studying forever. This is known as being baptized in (committed to) the name or rules of the Father (the law and the prophets), the Son, (His 140 or so imperative voice commandments), and the Holy Spirit, (the many directives in the scriptures that are based on the Holy Spirit, plus what the Spirit orders day by day.) Actually learning the commandments of Yeshua is the curricular structure around which one fulfills these baptismal commitments. The state of discipleship normally means moving in with whoever is teaching you. You know that you are saved because you hear God telling you that you are His child. "He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own." From hearing this message, faith comes, through which you have salvation. Most of us hear this at first in the voice of the one discipling us, who we know is speaking for God, as confirmed by their testimony of Yeshua walking in the flesh, and shedding His blood to purchase us. They watch over our souls as one who has to give an account, and in that work, ask God where we are. Then they tell us what they heard from God. Obviously, if our leaders hear God tell them that we are lost, they will call us again to repentance. If they hear God tell that we are saved, they will reassure us.We are commanded by the Spirit to be "very diligent" to be sure of our election and calling. Our signs of eternal life are thus,1. We are comforted by the fact that we are learning, and not by what we "know."2. We are told, daily, that we are saved, either by God Himself, or by His spokesmen in our life.3. We consider ourselves disciples of Yeshua, living and walking covanentally with His current incarnation, His body or church, as that body teaches us His commandments.4. Our main goals in life are to hear His voice, and to learn by heart to keep the 140 or so commandments that He left with His first disciples/apostles to teach us.5. We are clean, and cleansed daily, of institutional influences and other bad company. Beware the leaven of the Christian Churchmen.6. We know many scriptural laws, and commandments, none of which do we obey by the letter, but all of which guide us in walking in the Spirit. Our acts of repenting, rejoicing, letting our light shine, Sabbath keeping, whatever, are different every time we set out to obey.Anyone not meeting these requirements must do this. They must go to someone they know personally, that they respect above most or all others, and ask them to teach them the rules for knowing the truth. If that person doesn't know, beseech them to go learn, and bring back what they learn to you. Say, "I choose life." Pray for God, calling on His name--using His name, Jehovah, Yeshua--to choose you. Open the Bible, find an imperative voice command, and ask God to speak to you about how to obey. Fast, give, walk. Do all of this, in the order given, with all your might. The Holy Spirit will save.Remember, He wants you and all men saved more than you or any of us. If we do our best, going for His family life, rejecting institutional ways, He will meet us more than half-way.Just don't ever do anything spiritual with anyone, that doesn't happen entirely within your family life. Going to Church is deadly. "None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life."Stephen