April 23, 2009 6:36 AM
rik wrote:
even non believers respected Paul. do non believers Respect your faith If you ask them not to swear, of put smut away will they? Reply to this
April 23, 2009 10:25 AM
rik wrote:
Pre coffee comment. The leadership in the two cities respected Paul. They put a lot of effort into protecting him. He was a prisoner, would they have done this for all the prisoners? Do the people we work around have a respect for our beliefs? Reply to this
April 23, 2009 1:10 PM
Sam wrote:
I think a lot of people respect others' beliefs. After all, they ARE just beliefs. But, if you heard Perez Hilton's nasty comments when Miss California voiced HER beliefs on gay marriage, it was painfully obvious he did not respect her nor her beliefs, even though the contestants are SUPPOSED to be honest and answer the questions using THEIR beliefs, not necessarily the judges'. Shameful behavior on his (it's) part. So, there ARE people in the world who do NOT respect others' beliefs, but want to impose theirs' onto others.
Now, let's reverse the tide a bit and look at it from the boat rather than the shore....
Do YOU respect other people's religious beliefs? (and the 'you' is not intended to mean 'you', but Christians in general). How many times have you heard, thought, or said, that YOUR (the Christian belief) is the ONLY true belief and that all others are wrong? Ouch! Right? We are 'taught' by leaders, using what we call Scripture, to NOT respect other people's beliefs, but to actually try to change them into believeing what WE believe. I don't think that is really 'respecting' their beliefs, do you? For example, let's take a devout Muslim. We might tell them that they can't get to Heaven because Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh, BKA Muhammad is not 'the Way', only Christ. That is not respecting their religious beliefs. No, we don't go to extremes seen in this and the previous chapter, but I DO think we don't really respect non-Christian beliefs.
Now, is that GOOD? Or BAD? I don't know, but to ask if others respect what WE believe in, begs the opposite, do we respect what THEY believe in.
No, I really know what you were getting at....do the people SEE THE BENEFITS IN OUR ACTIONS AND WORDS so that they COULD respect our beliefs? THAT is a different, but probably a more appropriate question. We WANT them to respect what we believe, so we need to act in a way to gain that respect (as you know in the military, respect is not inherent, it is earned).
And, back to the 'us respecting others' beliefs' thing----we need to be humble enough to respect what they believe, and not 'lord it over them' that they'll end up in Hell if they don't change. As you know, we have been TAUGHT this in some of the 66 books we read daily, but their beliefs could be just as strong in another way, and, who knows, really? They COULD be correct!!! God is a marvelous 'Creation'. He does things HIS way. If He wants to bring Hindus, Muslims, Islamics, Buddhists, Judaizers and Catholics (oops) into Heaven, then He WILL. Having respect for others' beliefs is really having respect for God and His awesomeness. God is, was, and always will be, IN CHARGE. Reply to this
April 23, 2009 8:45 AM
Johnbob wrote:
It is interesting that Paul's salvation is in the Romans - Paul was 'lucky' he was arrested or he would have been killed for sure.
I think the lesson is that God is in control and He wanted Paul to go to Rome, so events leading to that fulfillment begin to occur.
I wonder why 'the' church (can I say that there was only one back then?) eventually fell into traditions and false doctrines and eventually, even after all the miracles and after the New Testament was put together, the church as it was meant to be fell apart - it fell into some real darkness or worldliness over the next several hundred years up until (arguably) Martin Luther. There have been some really great revivals since Luther as well. Even now, many churches seem to be preaching more of the 'right' stuff - though there is a long way to go there in order to ensure that people are actually following what is preached - even, to an extent in our church. Reply to this
April 23, 2009 1:25 PM
Sam wrote:
Oh how true are your words today!! The 'church' has definitely seen dark days (centuries of them) since Christ died. (And Hollywood picked up on some othis 'darkness' in the upcoming movie "Angels and Demons"--the book I am rereading right now.) We are really not completely 'in the light' even today. If we, as A church, were, then all WOULD be teaching the SAME thing, and we'd all start with Matthew 5, 6 and 7, I think. Darkness prevails when religious leaders make exhorborant amounts of money. Darkness exists when men (and women) who are put into positions of authority in 'the church' abuse that authority and especially when they commit such atrocities as we have read about lately in 'Christian' churches all over the US. Darkness is rampant when the color of skin is the determining factor on which church one attends. Darkness covers all light when preaches teach things based upon their 'beliefs' rather than what Christ taught. Darkness covers the land when people 'fake it' by going to church in their "Sunday Best" and have on their "Sunday Smile" and say their "Sunday Prayers", yet spend 98% of the week in a "Saturday night" -style of life----sin, sin, and more sin.
Yes JB, there IS a long way to go. People do NOT follow what is (I mean, was) preached. We go our own way, interpret those teachings to suit our wants, and end up deeper and deeper in darkness. Reply to this
even non believers respected Paul. do non believers Respect your faith If you ask them not to swear, of put smut away will they?
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huh?
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Pre coffee comment. The leadership in the two cities respected Paul. They put a lot of effort into protecting him. He was a prisoner, would they have done this for all the prisoners? Do the people we work around have a respect for our beliefs?
Reply to this
I think a lot of people respect others' beliefs. After all, they ARE just beliefs. But, if you heard Perez Hilton's nasty comments when Miss California voiced HER beliefs on gay marriage, it was painfully obvious he did not respect her nor her beliefs, even though the contestants are SUPPOSED to be honest and answer the questions using THEIR beliefs, not necessarily the judges'. Shameful behavior on his (it's) part.
So, there ARE people in the world who do NOT respect others' beliefs, but want to impose theirs' onto others.
Now, let's reverse the tide a bit and look at it from the boat rather than the shore....
Do YOU respect other people's religious beliefs? (and the 'you' is not intended to mean 'you', but Christians in general). How many times have you heard, thought, or said, that YOUR (the Christian belief) is the ONLY true belief and that all others are wrong? Ouch! Right? We are 'taught' by leaders, using what we call Scripture, to NOT respect other people's beliefs, but to actually try to change them into believeing what WE believe. I don't think that is really 'respecting' their beliefs, do you? For example, let's take a devout Muslim. We might tell them that they can't get to Heaven because Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh, BKA Muhammad is not 'the Way', only Christ. That is not respecting their religious beliefs. No, we don't go to extremes seen in this and the previous chapter, but I DO think we don't really respect non-Christian beliefs.
Now, is that GOOD? Or BAD? I don't know, but to ask if others respect what WE believe in, begs the opposite, do we respect what THEY believe in.
No, I really know what you were getting at....do the people SEE THE BENEFITS IN OUR ACTIONS AND WORDS so that they COULD respect our beliefs? THAT is a different, but probably a more appropriate question. We WANT them to respect what we believe, so we need to act in a way to gain that respect (as you know in the military, respect is not inherent, it is earned).
And, back to the 'us respecting others' beliefs' thing----we need to be humble enough to respect what they believe, and not 'lord it over them' that they'll end up in Hell if they don't change. As you know, we have been TAUGHT this in some of the 66 books we read daily, but their beliefs could be just as strong in another way, and, who knows, really? They COULD be correct!!! God is a marvelous 'Creation'. He does things HIS way. If He wants to bring Hindus, Muslims, Islamics, Buddhists, Judaizers and Catholics (oops) into Heaven, then He WILL. Having respect for others' beliefs is really having respect for God and His awesomeness. God is, was, and always will be, IN CHARGE.
Reply to this
It is interesting that Paul's salvation is in the Romans - Paul was 'lucky' he was arrested or he would have been killed for sure.
I think the lesson is that God is in control and He wanted Paul to go to Rome, so events leading to that fulfillment begin to occur.
I wonder why 'the' church (can I say that there was only one back then?) eventually fell into traditions and false doctrines and eventually, even after all the miracles and after the New Testament was put together, the church as it was meant to be fell apart - it fell into some real darkness or worldliness over the next several hundred years up until (arguably) Martin Luther. There have been some really great revivals since Luther as well. Even now, many churches seem to be preaching more of the 'right' stuff - though there is a long way to go there in order to ensure that people are actually following what is preached - even, to an extent in our church.
Reply to this
Oh how true are your words today!! The 'church' has definitely seen dark days (centuries of them) since Christ died. (And Hollywood picked up on some othis 'darkness' in the upcoming movie "Angels and Demons"--the book I am rereading right now.) We are really not completely 'in the light' even today. If we, as A church, were, then all WOULD be teaching the SAME thing, and we'd all start with Matthew 5, 6 and 7, I think. Darkness prevails when religious leaders make exhorborant amounts of money. Darkness exists when men (and women) who are put into positions of authority in 'the church' abuse that authority and especially when they commit such atrocities as we have read about lately in 'Christian' churches all over the US. Darkness is rampant when the color of skin is the determining factor on which church one attends. Darkness covers all light when preaches teach things based upon their 'beliefs' rather than what Christ taught. Darkness covers the land when people 'fake it' by going to church in their "Sunday Best" and have on their "Sunday Smile" and say their "Sunday Prayers", yet spend 98% of the week in a "Saturday night" -style of life----sin, sin, and more sin.
Yes JB, there IS a long way to go. People do NOT follow what is (I mean, was) preached. We go our own way, interpret those teachings to suit our wants, and end up deeper and deeper in darkness.
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Interestingly enough
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