March 20, 2004

• I just realized that today is the last day of my third year on xanga and thus tomorrow will start my fourth year. Time flies when you are having fun.  I’ve met a lot of fine and interesting people here and though many have come and gone, I appreciate each and every one of you that take the time to come here and read what I post and especially those of you who sacrifice your time to comment.  I may not always agree with you, but I do appreciate your efforts nonetheless.  I’ve been working on this blog for several days now but have either been interrupted or lacked the mental discipline to get it finished until today.  Plus, I don’t take this subject, or any concerning Christianity, lightly so I like to give it time to “simmer” before posting.

  
  

  1 Corinthians 13:
  ¹If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
  ⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
  ⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. ¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. ¹²Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
  ¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

  
  

  My purpose today is to address some of the excellent comments I received on the last blog but first I wanted to include, as I have done a few times in the past, 1 Cor. 13 which, I believe, is a much overlooked passage of the Bible, in as much as how it instructs us to live before others.  The meaning of God’s love and how we are to live it has certainly been distorted by the modern interpretations and presentations of love which could be better defined as “lust” or “sex” and requires much more involvement of emotions rather than genuine concern for the needs of others.

  
  

  One theme I perceived (and as always in the impersonal communication through the written word) was that those who were in some way in disagreement with the quote and my use of it seemed to read more into it than either I or the author, I presume, had intended.

  
  

   

  
  

  Examples:

  
  

   

  
  

  The first part, “For 35 years, I have been discovering that the world isn't nearly as hostile to the gospel as I thought it would be. It is not nearly as frightening as we have been told it will be” was commented on with “… the passage below is not exactly Scripturally accurate.  God has told us that the real Gospel will not be welcomed by the world (John 15).”  It was my view that the quoter was actually indicting the church for it’s instilling into people’s minds that witnessing is a scary thing to do and was not an attempt to indicate opposition to God’s Word.  Jesus walked the earth preaching the Gospel to many and was not always rejected.  While the world system certainly does not welcome the Gospel, if everyone is going to reject it then why would we have been sent to preach it?  Is it powerless to change lives?  This sort of reminds me of a blog I wrote long ago asking the question of why we think using the Word to prove our point in witnessing will do any good anyways if we are preaching to people who don’t believe in God or in the work of the cross. Why would they believe in the Word written by those they don’t believe in?  Is this why Paul implored us to live our lives before men in an acceptable and honorable manner?  This is not to say the Word is powerless because it is God’s Word but merely to reiterate my previous point about it’s validity to unbelievers and why it’s important that we witness from a lifestyle of love and not condemnation.

  
  

   

  
  

  The second part of the quote, “Outside the walls of the church there are many people who want to be loved and would love to have a connection with someone that didn't treat them like a prize to be won, but persons to be loved” provoked the following comment, “Well said.  When I see the sin in my heart, how can I judge another?  There is however, a need to teach what is sin and how God regards it as well as how much He loves us.  As I work with people I am amazed to find that many do not see anything wrong with their actions.  In one case a woman is facing several felony counts as the results of her actions with my agency.  One is providing false documents to a government agency.  When I asked her if she would like to talk to me about it, she said she was fine with it.  Without real love, we are not truly winning people to Christ.”  This comment, in my interpretation from knowing the commenter from our internet relationship, seems to address all I said but in a slightly different way. Carol added that love does bring correction, which I didn’t address directly but I assumed was implied to those who really read my statement with a discerning heart.  A couple of commenters indicated their agreement with this comment but went on to appear to disagree with me when, to my understanding at least, this comment was in agreement with me.  It is my belief that we are to teach the world everything that the Word says, nothing excluded, but rather than from a view point of being the stern authoritative experts on God, we are to be the loving servants used by God, at His direction, in His time and in His place, to gently instruct people as to what God’s Word says about sin.  He gave everyman freewill to choose how he wants to live and we cannot, and should not, demand that people accept our interpretations of God’s Word or our individual choice of the lifestyle we lead.  Proverbs 15:1 tells us, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” so we need to remember that a lot of our problems come not from the message we preach, but from our attitudes and therefore the method by which the message is presented.  We can speak with God’s authority, but we need to allow the message to convey that authority and not our demeanor.  I’d also state that a careful study of the gospels will show that Jesus usually reserved His anger and sternest rebuke to those supposedly “religious leaders” who though they were so intelligent and tried to twist His words to make Him look like He was wrong.  (There is still a lot of that in the church today.)

  
  

  Jen summed it up pretty well when she said, “I think it all comes down to judgment - and what judgment is.  Of course, we must love others as Christ loves us, and that means that we must love all people unconditionally.  Yet, part of loving them a lot of the time is correcting them in their mistakes.  For example, it would be the loving thing to point out (charitably) that homosexual behavior is wrong and sinful to a practicing homosexual.  It is wrong to judge the person, though, as only God can judge.  That being said, it is wrong for people to try to judge other people's intentions and their heart, as only God can do that.  I try to keep this as my guide in talking to others; and above all else, I like to keep in mind that I'm a sinner myself.”

  
  

  For now I’ll close there and will pick this up again next time as there are still some other comments I’d like to address.

  
  

   

  
  

  God IS Good!
  
  Go Ahead! Say It! Believe It! Confess It!
  
  You're Invited!!
  
  Go to The Prayer List , don't forget the others in need!

  
  

   

  
  

  "Next to the wonder of seeing my Savior will be, I think, the wonder that I made so little use of the power of prayer." - D.L. Moody

  
  

   

  
  

  Due to some confusion as to where to send prayer requests I want to clarify that you can use the email link at Isaiah56 (The Prayer List) or use this link (Click Here).  Please include your xanga address so I know who you are!

  
  

   

  • 8:14 am
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