December 31, 2008 8:35 AM
Sam wrote:
I wonder what Philemon thought when he read this letter. Paul was presumptuous in assuming he would accept his once-slave, Onesimus, back, and as a brother, not a slave. Paul's dig about Philemon 'oweing him his very self' was one I bet Philemon thought about a bit. If Philemon was truly a man of God, a follower of Christ, then I assume that he eagerly looked forward to Onesimus' return with a warm heart. holding no grudge against him. But it seems that Paul suspected that Philemon was NOT a completely changed person, otherwise he would not have written all he did, just maybe...I am sending Onesimus back to you. Paul is 'preaching' to his friend to remind him of his place in Christ, I think. How about you? Do you need reminding some time that you are a Christian and should welcome everyone with a warm heart? I know I need reminding all the time. I know I need to remind some of you occasionally to spend some time with God so that you can remind yourself of some of the things Paul refers to in this letter. I need reminding about greed, pride and selfishness quite often. I am glad you are my friends in Christ as I expect you to 'remind' me much like Paul reminded Philemon.
Was down to 2 degrees (above) last night...woke up to a heat wave (9 degrees). Hopefully when we drive to State College, PA tomorrow, it is warmer there and on the way. Should be back in Atlanta this Sunday. Reply to this
I just wanted to say thanks to you Mac, for running the forum this year. It has really renewed my bible study and with everyone's comments, it has given me much better insights than I have had previously. Reply to this
December 31, 2008 11:23 AM
Tony wrote:
I to wish to thank you for this blog Mac. None of us are NEAR as consistent as you but without this blog we would be much worse off, at least I know I would. When I don't post I go back and read and get convicted, if not from what was posted, from the quilt of not being there as I (we) should be for each other. You ARE an awesome man of God mac Reply to this
December 31, 2008 10:53 AM
Johnbob wrote:
Philemon 6 in the NIV states: I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
This is an good example of a subject that has popped up on this forum on and off over the past couple months. This scripture was used quite a bit to get us to go out and invite people to church. Really nothing wrong with that in and of itself. However, it is a misapplication of this scripture - which is really talking about sharing your faith with other christians and mending relationships, which is the context of this scripture.
The TNIV apparently fixes this: "I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ."
douglasjacoby.com lists this and several other examples (just do a search on Philemon). So I think this forum is important as it forces us to study and look for the right answers and applications to the word. So in this case, I hope we are united with out brothers, and have worked out all the kinks in our relationships. Reply to this
December 31, 2008 11:18 AM
Tony wrote:
6 "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ."
How active are we in our faith? There is a scripture about better to be cold than luke warm. Are we even luke warm. I can not remember the last time I shared my faith. I KNOW there is a God. I KNOW there is a heaven and a hell. And I FEAR at this point I am bound for the later. I do not fool myself, I know my heart, but I also know my LACK of actions.
We will not get to heaven with good intentions. We can not get there by deeds alone. We can not get to heaven by doing deeds and saying "look at me". Then how do we get to heaven? We go back to the verse 6 and we GET active in sharing our faith. My faith by actions sucks. My belief in the Lord condemns me to hell if I don't get the lead out. We may die today, we may not even get to finish the next minute and Jesus comes back. Are we ready? We all know ourselves, I love you all, but we are NOT ready. In yesterdays chapter we had 400 prophets of God, yet God only spoke threw one man. How many men today think they are men of God? There is yet another scripture that says if we don't do the good we ought to do we sin. Lets try to keep it real this year, Jesus gave up everything, how hard is it for us to share our faith? Love ya brothers, these are just my thoughts this morning. How about we stay in the new testament this year as it is more applicable to the grace we have been given and it can be a tool in helping us gain knowledge to share our faith. Reply to this
I wonder what Philemon thought when he read this letter. Paul was presumptuous in assuming he would accept his once-slave, Onesimus, back, and as a brother, not a slave. Paul's dig about Philemon 'oweing him his very self' was one I bet Philemon thought about a bit. If Philemon was truly a man of God, a follower of Christ, then I assume that he eagerly looked forward to Onesimus' return with a warm heart. holding no grudge against him. But it seems that Paul suspected that Philemon was NOT a completely changed person, otherwise he would not have written all he did, just maybe...I am sending Onesimus back to you. Paul is 'preaching' to his friend to remind him of his place in Christ, I think. How about you? Do you need reminding some time that you are a Christian and should welcome everyone with a warm heart? I know I need reminding all the time. I know I need to remind some of you occasionally to spend some time with God so that you can remind yourself of some of the things Paul refers to in this letter. I need reminding about greed, pride and selfishness quite often. I am glad you are my friends in Christ as I expect you to 'remind' me much like Paul reminded Philemon.
Was down to 2 degrees (above) last night...woke up to a heat wave (9 degrees). Hopefully when we drive to State College, PA tomorrow, it is warmer there and on the way. Should be back in Atlanta this Sunday.
Reply to this
I need reminding as well - so bring it on!
I just wanted to say thanks to you Mac, for running the forum this year. It has really renewed my bible study and with everyone's comments, it has given me much better insights than I have had previously.
Reply to this
I to wish to thank you for this blog Mac. None of us are NEAR as consistent as you but without this blog we would be much worse off, at least I know I would. When I don't post I go back and read and get convicted, if not from what was posted, from the quilt of not being there as I (we) should be for each other. You ARE an awesome man of God mac
Reply to this
Philemon 6 in the NIV states:
I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
This is an good example of a subject that has popped up on this forum on and off over the past couple months. This scripture was used quite a bit to get us to go out and invite people to church. Really nothing wrong with that in and of itself. However, it is a misapplication of this scripture - which is really talking about sharing your faith with other christians and mending relationships, which is the context of this scripture.
The TNIV apparently fixes this:
"I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ."
douglasjacoby.com lists this and several other examples (just do a search on Philemon). So I think this forum is important as it forces us to study and look for the right answers and applications to the word. So in this case, I hope we are united with out brothers, and have worked out all the kinks in our relationships.
Reply to this
6 "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ."
How active are we in our faith? There is a scripture about better to be cold than luke warm. Are we even luke warm. I can not remember the last time I shared my faith. I KNOW there is a God. I KNOW there is a heaven and a hell. And I FEAR at this point I am bound for the later. I do not fool myself, I know my heart, but I also know my LACK of actions.
We will not get to heaven with good intentions. We can not get there by deeds alone. We can not get to heaven by doing deeds and saying "look at me". Then how do we get to heaven? We go back to the verse 6 and we GET active in sharing our faith. My faith by actions sucks. My belief in the Lord condemns me to hell if I don't get the lead out. We may die today, we may not even get to finish the next minute and Jesus comes back. Are we ready? We all know ourselves, I love you all, but we are NOT ready. In yesterdays chapter we had 400 prophets of God, yet God only spoke threw one man. How many men today think they are men of God? There is yet another scripture that says if we don't do the good we ought to do we sin. Lets try to keep it real this year, Jesus gave up everything, how hard is it for us to share our faith? Love ya brothers, these are just my thoughts this morning.
How about we stay in the new testament this year as it is more applicable to the grace we have been given and it can be a tool in helping us gain knowledge to share our faith.
Reply to this