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USER COMMENTS BY “ DOUGLAS FIR ” |
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| Page 1 | Page 19 · Found: 500 user comments posted recently. |
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 9/2/19 10:05 AM |
| Douglas Fir | | Zones Four to Six | |  |  | |  |
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This story is getting to be repetitive--I had to look at all the comments already posted to make sure I had not already added my 2 cents.
First, let's ask what the poll thinks are Christians---do they include Catholics? I think they do, though many who read this news item here are thinking of people who used to attend their gathering, their church meetings.
Some say that the reason there are so many denominations in the US is that people will leave due to the flimsiest of excuses, like the color of the carpeting in a remodeling job. It is sad to see such divisiveness, though any passerby at this website who picks the news stories with the largest number of posts will find the same, if not worse divisiveness.
So, there are plenty of reasons for people to stop coming to a church gathering.
I have posted before on the Big Error of calling 'church' only the building where the people gather, and not the people, as the Bible teaches us.
But in this news item, the building is what they are referring to.
Some people don't like this 'angle' because is then gives another reason to stop coming to the building and prefer a small group gathering. Yes, that is logical, but there are group dynamics at work in those groups that make you think twice before preferring them as a solution. |
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| 8/31/19 4:30 PM |
| Douglas Fir | | Zones Four to Six | | | | | |
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Scientists are searching for a gene to predict Alzheimers Disease. If they find it, what will be the next step? Probably, to isolate these individuals and reduce their lifestyles because, well, you know they won't notice anything anyway, and we have to reduce spending on them due to the Social Security System going bankrupt, high college loan debt (in fact, we can prevent them from even going to college or buying houses, etc, and just put them in special housing facilities, like the Adult Congregate Living Faclities today where the people just sit there and watch TV hour after hour after hour after hour.
Families are happy to send them there since it takes them 'off their hands' so they can pursue their own entertainments of travel, eating out, etc. |
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| 8/31/19 4:24 PM |
| Douglas Fir | | Zones Four to Six | | | | | |
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Sad news, and confusing for John Q. Public who opens up his morning newspaper to read this. He starts to think, who are these 'extremists' opposed to abortion, when here I read of a group of intelligent Christians who support it?
The fact that one of the 'pastors' is a woman goes to show us how far the world's ideology has penetrated the church.
No, we can't use those Bible verses that talk about family, like I Timothy 5, that could be subtitled, "God's Plan for the Older Christian Woman," nor can we dare think we could preach these verses as an application to the church today. That would be upsetting, and we might lose some of our members over what the Bible says, since they are not following it. |
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| 8/29/19 4:12 PM |
| Douglas Fir | | Zones Four to Six | | | | | |
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The 'prosperity gospel' is a contradiction in terms since the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not about prosperity.What is more interesting to study is the link between this 'Prosperity Message' as I would call it, and early 20th Century 'Positive Thinking' or 'New Thought' American writers like Frances Scovell Shinn. And these writers influenced many later writers, like Norman Vincent Peale and others. It is why, even today, the largest number of books you can find in any secular bookstore are in the Self-Help section. Americans are in love with re-starting themselves, and the verse where the Apostle Paul says, "Leaving all things behind, I strain forward for the prize," is used by many to say it's OK to think we can reject our past and start over again. Even in sermons, you can often hear, "7 Principles on..." as if these were things no one in the 2000 year history of the New Testament Church had ever thought of. |
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 8/28/19 4:59 PM |
| Douglas Fir | | Zones Four to Six | | | |
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“ Great Sermon! ”
Thanks for pointing out the New Yorker article about the problem the elites have with the idea that having children within families is objectionable.
This shows you how important it is for Christians and churches to show this difference, that we are 'family focused' because that is what the Bible is telling us to do.
Christians think they can compete with the world's offerings, but the family issue shows you the difference.
Churches need to focus on what the Bible says about families, like 1 Timothy 5, which I would subtitle, 'God's Will for the Older Christian Woman.'
First, she is a widow, (even today, 96 percent of all people get married). Second, her own family should support her, though if younger, she should marry again.
Third, if her family cannot support her, than the church should, though she should meet certain 'work requirements' like 'washing the feet of the saints' and doing good works.
Even the book of James has a verse about 'real religion consists of..helping widows in their distress'
I think Christians and churches who skip by these chapters without seeing their application are doing a real disservice to the message of the Bible. |
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| 8/28/19 4:31 PM |
| Douglas Fir | | Zones Four to Six | | | | | |
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I think the seeds of the problem are in the very words..inclusive...and politically correct..
First, inclusive does not mean what a math teacher says it means in an equation. In the US, it means, anyone who has an opinion we do not like are NOT included. Thus, anyone who says, "Jesus is Lord" or "Jesus is the Only Way to God" is not included. Anyone who says, 'The Bible condemns homosexuality' is not included.
Politically correct means certain facts will not be admitted, like pointing out that Portland, Oregon and Baltimore, Maryland have similar-sized populations run by Democrats for decades, yet Baltimore has a murder and crime rate many times higher. Why is that? Look at who makes up Baltimore population--what racial group do they belong to? |
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