This is my favorite thing ever

Thank you

Seriously

Go out and become a preacher.

This second. I think it may be your calling.

Seriously

 

Go out and become a preacher.

 

This second. I think it may be your calling.

I am preaching with this, am I not?

I don't need to become a reverend to preach God's Word.  All I need to do is keep on being the same kind of contemporary Evangelist that I am.

Thanks, though.  I appreciate it.

Sometimes it takes a layman to correct the reverend.  But a church sermon isn't the place to do that.  A nice talk with a larger crowd of people who are more apt to listen, is how to correct it. 

You sir just made my day!

Thank you!

I'm just genuinely curious. Since these same set of moral and loving principles can be found in countless other religions and philosophies, why follow Christianity?

I'm just genuinely curious. Since these same set of moral and loving principles can be found in countless other religions and philosophies, why follow Christianity?

Many religions may offer similar moralities, and some may even believe in the same God; as some may not know, the Muslims "Allah" is literally just another word for "God" - but they have different prophets and messiahs, and may not believe in Jesus Christ.  

We follow Christianity because we are disciples of Jesus Christ.

He is our Saviour.

We believe in the Holy Trinity; God is one in all; The Father (Yahweh), our Lord and Creator, is God; The Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is God; and the Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost, the spirit of our Lord within us, is God.

Jesus Christ was God's one and only begotten son, and He lived to spread the Word of God for everyone; and He was bullied, spat on, beaten, and treated like dirt - and one day, they crucified Him.  He died on the cross to save us from our sins. 

We are all sinners, but we may find Love and Grace, and Forgiveness, from the Lord. 

We are Christians because we are God's Children, believers in Creation of everything by our omnipotent Creator; We are Christians because we are Jesus' followers, letting him lead our lives, and praying in His name that we may be forgiven; We are Christians because the Holy Spirit of the Lord lives and dwells in each and one of our bodies, the eternal flame of life that we will never let the Devil blow out.

The Lord's Prayer:

"Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy Name.

Thy Kingdom come. 

Thy will be done in earth, 

As it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive them that trespass against us. 

And lead us not into temptation, 

But deliver us from evil. 

For thine is the kingdom,

The power, and the glory,

For ever and ever.

Amen."

"The Way" to the Lord is your way, it is how you find his love and grace, it is how you pray and talk to Him, it is how you love everyone around you with all the strength in your soul provided by the Holy Spirit.

Everyone's "way" will differ, and that is why there is an infinite number of ways to the Lord, so long as you believe in the Father as our Creator, the Son as our Saviour, and the Holy Spirit as our eternal flame and strength in life.  

You can pray any way you want to because no matter what, He is always going to hear you.

~ Miles

I appreciate your input. 

If Jesus Christ never existed and Christianity never become the widespread religion that it is today, surely our contemporary understanding of morality would not be negatively affected, right? You do acknowledge that morality and ethics have existed long before the Judeo-Christian Religions came about, right? 

Take for example, the Golden Rule:

"Do to others what you want them to do to you. This is the meaning of the law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets." ~ Matthew 7:12

"Wish for your brother, what you wish for yourself" ~ Muhammad (570 AD - 632 AD)

Your thoughts?

I appreciate your input. 

 

If Jesus Christ never existed and Christianity never become the widespread religion that it is today, surely our contemporary understanding of morality would not be negatively affected, right? You do acknowledge that morality and ethics have existed long before the Judeo-Christian Religions came about, right? 

 

Take for example, the Golden Rule:

 

"Do to others what you want them to do to you. This is the meaning of the law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets." ~ Matthew 7:12

"Wish for your brother, what you wish for yourself" ~ Muhammad (570 AD - 632 AD)

"The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own. He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind. He is faithful to the faithful; he is also faithful to the unfaithful: for Virtue is faithful." ~ Tao Teh Ching, Chapter 49

"Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." ~ Confucius (551 - 479 BC)

"One should never do wrong in return, nor mistreat any man, no matter how one has been mistreated by him." ~ Plato (424/423 - 348/347 BC)

"Now this is the command: Do to the doer to cause that he do thus to you." ~ From the Ancient Egyptian story of The Eloquent Peasant (2040 - 1650 BC)

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." ~ Code of Hammurabi (1780 BC)

 

Your thoughts?

I disagree, as, with Jesus, it's not "eye for an eye."

Matthew 7:12's meaning is "Do to others what you would want them to you" which means, other people follow "eye for an eye" but not oneself, they will hit you if you hit them.  But, we are to turn the other cheek and not hit back if someone else hits us first.  Which is why we don't follow the "golden rule" in that sense.

Of course, I know that Jesus says to turn the other cheek, but as someone who knows human instinct quite well (it saved my life once when I had to drop my motorcycle to save myself from being slammed by a car coming at me in my lane around a corner)...  I'm likely to hit back if someone hits me; which of course is sinful to do, but...  lol, anyway...

The morality in Christianity is not the same as the kind of ethics you can get without Jesus.

~ Miles

P.S. https://mlpforums.com/topic/111764-so-talk-me-out-of-or-into-buying-a-motorcycle/?p=3170130

My instincts were definitely influenced by the Holy Spirit that day.

I'll be sure to read about your experiences.

Now going back to what you said here:

Matthew 7:12's meaning is "Do to others what you would want them to you" which means, other people follow "eye for an eye" but not oneself, they will hit you if you hit them.  But, we are to turn the other cheek and not hit back if someone else hits us first.  Which is why we don't follow the "golden rule" in that sense.

Well, let's ignore the Code of Hammurabi and focus on the main questions. What you are saying has also been said by Plato and Taoists centuries before Jesus was born.

"One should never do wrong in return, nor mistreat any man, no matter how one has been mistreated by him." ~ Plato (424/423 - 348/347 BC)

"The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own. He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind. He is faithful to the faithful; he is also faithful to the unfaithful: for Virtue is faithful." ~ Tao Teh Ching, Chapter 49

Surely people who follow their teachings would be just as well off without ever knowing Jesus Christ, correct? So morality, ethics, and teachings of love and mercy predate Christianity, as I have shown you here with the famous quotes above. I'd just really like to know your thoughts on this. 

I'll be sure to read about your experiences.

 

Now going back to what you said here:

 

 

 

 

 

Well, let's ignore the Code of Hammurabi and focus on the main questions. What you are saying has also been said by Plato and Taoists centuries before Jesus was born.

 

"One should never do wrong in return, nor mistreat any man, no matter how one has been mistreated by him." ~ Plato (424/423 - 348/347 BC)

 

"The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own. He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind. He is faithful to the faithful; he is also faithful to the unfaithful: for Virtue is faithful." ~ Tao Teh Ching, Chapter 49

 

Surely people who follow their teachings would be just as well off without ever knowing Jesus Christ, correct? So morality, ethics, and teachings of love and mercy predate Christianity, as I have shown you here with the famous quotes above. I'd just really like to know your thoughts on this. 

Well, I can see now what you mean.  And while I agree in stature of the comparisons...

The fact is, the morality comes from God.  God always existed.  The love you speak of, I so kindly bolded there in the quote, is from God.

So, what I'm saying is, the belief/creed/religion itself doesn't affect the fact that if God always was, then the morality and love always came from Him.  So, sure, a person without creed could honor the same kind of morals, just, naively.  The morals came from God, and to say that morals can also come from rational reasoning doesn't contradict that they came from God in the first place.  The philosophers were using God's morals without knowing God, or believing.

But, in any time, God was prevalent in knowledge by the people, and whether or not people believed in Him was the greater issue.  Anyone can have morals that stem from God, but you must also love God to perfectly follow the morality that Christianity gives us.

~ Miles

Nice article. While it did get kind of heated there at times, the heat conveyed passion, not anger.

If there is many ways to love, and if all God is, is Love, then why do we still need a Saviour? To save us from the hate that is in our nature? To perfect us?

If so, then the eastern thought of "enlightenment" is really being perfected in Christ. Perhaps?

But, in any time, God was prevalent in knowledge by the people, and whether or not people believed in Him was the greater issue.  Anyone can have morals that stem from God, but you must also love God to perfectly follow the morality that Christianity gives us.

In other words, all human Love is an expression of God, but to be perfected in Love, you need Jesus Christ. Right?

Nice article. While it did get kind of heated there at times, the heat conveyed passion, not anger.

 

[1.] If there is many ways to love, and if all God is, is Love, then why do we still need a Saviour? To save us from the hate that is in our nature? To perfect us?

 

[2.] If so, then the eastern thought of "enlightenment" is really being perfected in Christ. Perhaps?

 

 

[3.] In other words, all human Love is an expression of God, but to be perfected in Love, you need Jesus Christ. Right?

Indeed, it is passion.

1. Well, God is not merely only Love; He is our Creator... etc.  We need Jesus because humans are all sinners, and to have forgiveness we must repent our sins to Christ.

2. I guess you could say that.

3. Correct.

What is your definition of sin? Perhaps, the absence of love, or hate?

I would say the most simple definition of sin would be:

Doing something against God's teachings.

While some sins may be worse than others, we all have the same preliminary punishment; earthly death.  Beyond that, God's judgement on us and our sins will determine the rest.

The absence of love and/or the presence of hate is just one sin in a list of many others.

Guess what? I couldn't use my computer yesterday because Linux was disfunctioning. I had it fixed late at night, but was FAR too tired to want to use it. And I had a good day because prayer (and Dan Vs.)

What a refreshing post.  I wish that more people shared the sentiments which you've related here, and hope that some will feel inspired by them.

I like many things about this post although I disagree with one huge facet. There are not "many" ways to the Lord. The ONLY way to the Father is to accept him as Lord and Savior and to truly believe that Jesus sacrifice of crucifixion is the ONLY way our sins can be paid for in order to be in gods presence. There is no other way. "No man cometh unto the father but by me." Just being a good person and loving everyone wont do it, though it is commanded of us to love others, it is not a way to the Father. The salvation part is critical.

I like many things about this post although I disagree with one huge facet. There are not "many" ways to the Lord. The ONLY way to the Father is to accept him as Lord and Savior and to truly believe that Jesus sacrifice of crucifixion is the ONLY way our sins can be paid for in order to be in gods presence. There is no other way. "No man cometh unto the father but by me." Just being a good person and loving everyone wont do it, though it is commanded of us to love others, it is not a way to the Father. The salvation part is critical.

Yes, but I believe you misinterpreted what I meant.  Each person accepts Jesus as their Savior and the Lord as their Creator in their own way.  That's what I meant by "many ways" - your way, my way, and other's ways of accepting the Lord.  

The only way to the Lord is through faith and acceptance, indeed, but the way you do it, the way I do it, and the way others gain faith and accept the Lord may differ.

Love comes in infinite flavors, is essentially what I'm trying to say, and hate comes in one flavor.

Thinking and describing it this way like I do can make it easier for those who are not believers, that want to believe, be able to do so.  It's not hard to follow Jesus!  It's easy to accept Him, and you can accept Him in your own way!  And that's what I'm trying to say.

~ Miles

Question:

What about the anti-gay stuff in the new testament?