Good afternoon from the SF BAy Area. Well done, Russell. Although I disagree with you on many issues your wisdom in this assessment of spiritual judgement is right on. I grieve for what I see in what was the church I grew up in and have long ago left. I wish more people of your faith would listen to you. Blessings.
Thank you so much brother More for your clarity, I listen to our dear brother JP’s podcast and I was very disappointed and totally agree with everything you said, still love, my brother, but he has a major blind spots, thank you for your wisdom. God bless you.
Excellent description and analysis of what’s going on. It is a form of faith in ideology, not in Jesus. It’s faith in “I’m in the in-group, the “right” group, the “good” group, and that’s all I need to worry about. As long as I’m in the “good” group, I’m saved.” It’s like some of the Pharisees, in John 9, after Jesus healed the man born blind. They could not open themselves up to really looking into what Jesus was doing (by healing a man on the sabbath). The man born blind simply described the facts of how Jesus healed him. But in response to that, some of the Pharisees, feeling threatened, immediately jumped to a rebuttal. They announced, “This man [Jesus] is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath” (ESV John 9:16). Sabbath-keeping and circumcision were two ways first-century Jews marked their “goodness,” their status as in the “in group” of God’s people. So those Pharisees, when threatened just retreated to that cut-and-dried litmus test of who’s in and who’s out, who is on “God’s side” and who is not. I’m sure it made them feel more safe, secure, to remind themselves that this man from Nazareth was doing new things and shaking up his world… to remind themselves they in fact THEY were the “real” people of God, not him. I think that’s similar to someone saying, “Jimmy Carter was not from God, for he’s not a Trump supporter.” Someone saying that is trying to feel “good,” trying to feel safe in what they perceive as the “in group,” as if there's only one in group. But, as you said, Russell, doing that is a lot easier than real faith. Faith in ideology is just that -- faith in ideology. It’s not faith in Jesus or God. That kind of faith is a much more messy experience.
Thank you for the tribute to Present Jimmy Carter, an outstanding example, in my opinion, of a follower of Jesus. He lived the values of kindness, humility, and peacemaker striving for righteousness and fairness. His standard was the one Jesus gave: to serve humanity. Few leaders do so much. For those that disparage others, I can only quote the words of Jesus in John 8:7, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at [him]." At his death, I envisioned Jesus and all saints and angels open their arms to him in welcome.
Good afternoon from the SF BAy Area. Well done, Russell. Although I disagree with you on many issues your wisdom in this assessment of spiritual judgement is right on. I grieve for what I see in what was the church I grew up in and have long ago left. I wish more people of your faith would listen to you. Blessings.
Thank you so much brother More for your clarity, I listen to our dear brother JP’s podcast and I was very disappointed and totally agree with everything you said, still love, my brother, but he has a major blind spots, thank you for your wisdom. God bless you.
Excellent description and analysis of what’s going on. It is a form of faith in ideology, not in Jesus. It’s faith in “I’m in the in-group, the “right” group, the “good” group, and that’s all I need to worry about. As long as I’m in the “good” group, I’m saved.”
It’s like some of the Pharisees, in John 9, after Jesus healed the man born blind. They could not open themselves up to really looking into what Jesus was doing (by healing a man on the sabbath). The man born blind simply described the facts of how Jesus healed him. But in response to that, some of the Pharisees, feeling threatened, immediately jumped to a rebuttal. They announced, “This man [Jesus] is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath” (ESV John 9:16).
Sabbath-keeping and circumcision were two ways first-century Jews marked their “goodness,” their status as in the “in group” of God’s people. So those Pharisees, when threatened just retreated to that cut-and-dried litmus test of who’s in and who’s out, who is on “God’s side” and who is not. I’m sure it made them feel more safe, secure, to remind themselves that this man from Nazareth was doing new things and shaking up his world… to remind themselves they in fact THEY were the “real” people of God, not him.
I think that’s similar to someone saying, “Jimmy Carter was not from God, for he’s not a Trump supporter.” Someone saying that is trying to feel “good,” trying to feel safe in what they perceive as the “in group,” as if there's only one in group. But, as you said, Russell, doing that is a lot easier than real faith. Faith in ideology is just that -- faith in ideology. It’s not faith in Jesus or God. That kind of faith is a much more messy experience.
Thank you for the tribute to Present Jimmy Carter, an outstanding example, in my opinion, of a follower of Jesus. He lived the values of kindness, humility, and peacemaker striving for righteousness and fairness. His standard was the one Jesus gave: to serve humanity. Few leaders do so much. For those that disparage others, I can only quote the words of Jesus in John 8:7, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at [him]." At his death, I envisioned Jesus and all saints and angels open their arms to him in welcome.
Those same people that doubts Carter's Christianity believe Trump is a real one.
Political cart before Gaspel horse