I came across this piece of poetry I had clipped out of a Science of Mind magazine some years ago. I think this is a wonderful piece of work and one of my favorites. I wanted to share it with all of you today. May your weekend be filled with lots of love , peace and joy for you and yours. The following poem was written by John D. Engle, Jr.
THE LARGER LOVES
The larger loves will never ask for proof.
They are their own proof, and they are secure
in knowing that there is a certainty
beyond the reach of doubt, a trust that glows
although it need not be defined or spoken
The larger loves allow the soul to fly
to heights that only larger loves can know,
beyond the petty and the commonplace,
beyond mere speech to telepathic skills
that only larger loves can use and understand.
The larger loves do not manipulate, do not expect,
do not insist on rules to fit behavior.
are slow to anger, invulnerable to hurt.
will not submit to jealousy or scorn.
The larger loves breathe freedom and respect.
They know a flame restricted must expire.
so they do not restrict. Instead they feed
the growing flame of joy with fuel of faith.
They have the strength to let what will be, be.
They have the wisdom to let wisdom rule.
They do not question the unquestionable
nor deny the undeniable,
but they do ponder the imponderable,
for they exist to fulfill love's mystery.
John D. Engle Jr.
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Hi, cap, hope you're feeling well. This subject title is very timely as i have been discussing the "larger love" with someone of interest. No matter how wonderful something sounds if it is composed by men who deny God's written word in order to justify sin, it's not worth paper written on. I notice this poem incorporates some attributes of the Bible, but is mainly off on a misrepresentation of love.
Real love does question because the wrong path is deadly. Real love won't stand by and watch anyone perish if there is the slightest possibly they can be helped. Love does direct. The Bible is full of direction. Behavioral rules are also important. Love does restrict. Homes woud disintegrate without rules, society would crumble.
In contrast the Bible says, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." (I Cor 13).
Jesus Christ said, "Greater love has no man than this, to lay down his life for his friends." (John 15) Dare say most of us don't love each other that much.
The Greater Love is Jesus, and he PROVED it by going to the cross to make a blood atoning sacrifice that saves us. His love is the only guaranteed path that leads home to God. Shortcuts that neglect the council of God will not do it.
Will you please share your thoughts about the cross for those of us who are interested in what you think? Most importnat, do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day? And what for?
Thnx, cap.
Thks for your thoughts on the poem LM To put it simply I think Jesus was inhumanely slaughered by people who were afraid of the truth. Was Jesus raised from the dead I dunno about that one I wasnt there but I do know hi spirit was and is still alive
Thanks for the poem, and I agree with you totally on this one!
Thank you Chris. Hope your week ahead will be filled with much love wisdom peace and joy for you and yours
Interesting. According to comments ascribed to you, you believe that people killed Jesus because he was telling the truth, yet you don't know if he raised from the dead or not because you weren' there. yet, in another post, you said that you knew what Jesus was thinking about something, even though you weren't there with him then, either. How do you know his spirit is still alive? Cap, it's clear that you are a strong disciple of SOM, but if you're gettin' this stuff from them, I hope you'll rethink it. You may quote Jesus and his teachings, but you can't pick and choose what you believe about him. Its the whole truth or none at all. Other religions twist words and create their own jesus with a little j, and they deny his resurrection, which is the whole reason he came to earth. If you really believe he was telling the truth, you must believe that he rose from the dead. there were 500 witnesses to his resureectin and people died for their testimony.
Jesus was not teaching SOM. He came to fulfil prophecies and reveal his Father God, and to pay the blood price of our sins.
Did you know that God is a title, not a name? Islamic allah is their name for him. Jehova is an english name, but God is title of ultimate authority in english. Jesus is part of the God family as Son. He could have proclaimed himself to be God, but he didn't. He demonstrated submision to his greater part, the Father, and directed attention to him. SOM points you to yourself as god with a little g. We are like gods to ants and those under our power, but thats as far as that can go. think about it, cap. Have a great day.
Why cant you see tht I dont have to explain myself to anyone or accept anything anybody tells me as truth? I am man enough to live my life as I want to and the way I treat others is the only thing I should be "judged" on.I dont giv e a hoot what you or anybody else believes in as long as it isnt something that is mistreating others. And Id love to have the same respect from others.I know you are adamant in yor bel;iefs and thats the way it should be. But Ive tried your "way" and it just dont work for me.BTW I still say if you can have your God come to me and tell me I need to change my beliefs then I will do so.SOP far tho He has not shown up and I dont care to hear all the "resons" why He hasnt like because Im too much of a sinner or Im too closed inded or whatever else may make you feel good about always telling me Im wrong. No offense LM but its the narrow mindedness of folks such as yourself that drove me away from churchs and religion in the first place. I do hope that you and yours will continue to have a great life and taht you always find peace with youir beliefs.
Oh yeah LM Maybe yu should try reading other stuff like the Urantia Book,Books by Og mandino, Richard Bach, Ernest Holmes Joel GoldsmithJosepth Campbell, Eckhart Tolle, The Kabbalah, Michael Beckwith, The Text of Taoism, Thomas Troward, Shakti Gawain,Rocco Errico, and Ralph Waldo Emerson just to name a few. If you can "see" past the books of the Bible long enough to read some of these other teachings maybe then you would not be quite as hard on me or my beliefs. Just a thought.
Cap, Don't let narrow minded, Christian, religous folks get you down. It's easy to quote scriptures that agree with your dogma. But if one would just stop and actually study the scriptures instead of spouting off silly little sound bites, they would see the hypocritcal arrogance in their statements. If Jesus actually entered their church would they recognize him? Would they accept him? Doubt it! Would Jesus actually enter their church at all? Doubt it!!
Thanks Chris for the encouraging words. Not to worry as I am adamant in making sure I dont let others hold me down at least not for very long. I totally agree with your words. Hope the week is going great for you and yours
Gentlemen, you continue in folly. My input is not intended to force anything, but to enlighten as this blog is about. You aren't obligated to accept anything. Each person choses life or death. The choice is yours. Being forces is in your own mind. I know you don't like a counter perspective, but open minded people like you should be able to read it without getting so bent out of shape.
The illogical comments are getting to be too numerous to count, though. Chris lumps every Christian into the same barrel, and that just ain's so. Intelligenet people understand that. Maybe you had a bad experaience with christians, but maybe they weren;t genuine christians. The only thing that idenitifes a true discipel of Jesus is evidence of the fruit of the spirit. Do you know waht that is?
You and Chris appear to be the real judges here implying that I haven'[t studied the scriptures or any other perspectives. You and Chris appear to be the real judges here implying that I haven'[t studied the scriptures or read any other perspectives by writing "actually study the scriptures instead of spouting off silly little sound bites." If you consider the Bible defination of love silly and prefer to boast of love that allows anything, you truly have lost touch with reality. You should be reading the Apostles Paul, John, Luke, Matthew and all the prophets. I bet you have never investinagated all the fulfilled prophecies about Christ, and that would be because you really don't care. You embrace philosophy that allows you to sin. I'm begining to think that's the bottom line. If no God of the Bible exists, if Jesus was a liar, then you are free to do anything you want to. You are not submitted to God, you are a little g god in your own mind. It leads to eternal darkness, cap.
A Bible scripture says that if someone won't receive you, that a Christian should shake the dust off their feet and move on. Also not to throw pearls before swines. I am not Biblically obligated to continue praying for you, but I chose to because I love you with the love of God. I kjnow you don't get it, but you don't have to. This is bigger than you.
Cap, your challenge to God is not the first of its kind. I don't think you mean it, but when He does shake you, you will know it. A day comes.
Yes, I know what the fruit of the spirit is. Thanks for asking! And if you are no longer obligated to change our minds - according to you understanding of scripture - then by all means please stop. You do nothing here but antagonize and berate other peoples beliefs. Do you know what antagonize and berate means???? I’m sure with your extensive knowledge of biblical history you have heard the term judge not unless you be judged? Or maybe your God’s personal mouthpiece and therefore can pass judgment on everyone with different beliefs than yours. Also, Jesus was speaking to his disciples about shaking off the dust. They were Jews not Christian! Christianity didn’t happen till a little later. But if that helps you to sleep at night, great! But get your facts straight before you start passing judgment on all of us poor sinners destined for hell. Jesus said to the teachers of the law that prostitutes and tax collectors would enter the kingdom before them. That’s weird, huh! Since they never said the sinners prayer! Stop judging!!!!
Chris, , I am aware of what the scripture says, but generalized for those who don't know facts. I was not giving a Bible lesson. Those diciples were Jews, but Christian in nature (Christ like). Semantics. You can play with them all day.
You and Ron judge me when your own beliefs say you can't. You judge me as judgmental and wrong. In your view, I'm a god, too, and there is no right or wrong, so you shouldn't correct me. you can't reconcile the lunacy of such a belief system.
If what I share with cap disturbes you, you don't have to read it. Others do read it, and one of them is a friend of mine that capron almost influenced. I offer a different view. In SOM, my view is right as much as yours is, and a person just has to choose which truth they like. How far out is that? I once met someone who didn't believe that Germany was a real tangible place. He had never been there, and for reasons of his own (mental illness, no doubt) he did not believe it truly existed. Now, just because he denied it did not negate it. It is a real place whether one believes it or not. There is one reality on the ground, and one reality in the spirit.
Furdthermore, Jesus did not condone sin. His point had to do with religious hyprocrites who justified their sins vs people who knew they were sinners. He came to save the sinner. If you don't accept the Bible as God's Divine Word, none of that will matter to you.
Additonally, I do not judge by my own standards, but that of the God you aspire to be and are not. If I judged by my own standards, I would be wrong to do so. Yet you judge me by your own standards. That makes you a hypocrite and wrong at same time. Unless you are a true disciple of Christ, you don't even have the right to judge one who is. God can save you, and I can't judge your salvation. I do judge what you teach and lead others into as heresy. you'll have to live with that, but remember, i'm a god who can't be wrong. There it is again, lunacy.
I judge SOM against the word of God and you come up short at every point of measurement. you have incorporated parts of the Bible and throw away anything that you don't like.
You're supposed to remain open minded and respect my opinions unless that is just more of high minded attribute that you don't truly possess. A lot I could say,but the Spirit restrains. Have a good one.
You speak a lot of my beliefs, but I don't recall ever giving you any information on that.
Are you too busy trying to prove yourself right to even listen or care about others? And where in the world did you get this little god's bull? Did I ever say I was a little God? perhaps if you stopped commenting under anonymous maybe I could refer to you by your name. Maybe just maybe I'm a Christian. Or is that for you to judge too? Maybe your the little god. My understanding is that God will judge all men, but you seem to be doing that right now. So maybe you should look in the mirror and pull the plank out of your eye and quit worrying about others. Unless, of course, your a little god!!!!
Chris, Chis, no god complex here. I get the god thing from capron who believes that he is a god in his own right by his own words, and material he promotes. The reason I post the Christian view is because I do care about others. I don't know you and only read what you post. You admonish me for pointing out the truth that refutes poisonous teachings. You encourage cap to not listen to narrow minded people like me.(I am narrow minded when it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ. One has to be because there is only one truth.) If you're a christian, you demonstrate poor discernment, and we differ on theology but can still be members of the body of Christ, and we could discuss that. However, you are not a Christian if you deny the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and his Sonship and his superior Divinity. You are not a Christian if you believe that you are on equal footing with Jesus and God himself. Sorry. Christianity is a target and has been infiltrated by many sources that preach false doctrines. The Bible predicted it.
it's apparent that you don't understand judgment. We judge all day long. You are judging how judgmental I am right now, so stop playing holier than thou. As Christians we don'[t judge a man's salvation as God is able to work in lives and make it happen, but we do judge rightly about such things as SOM. A good Bible study would help you understand the necessity of judgment instead of saying there is no right or wrong. The Bible demands it. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey me." SOM doesn t promote obedience, but self sovereignty and freedom from God's authority.
Its easy for spin masters to use Bible quotes out of context like you did, and appear righteous to the unlearned. The whole council of God must be accepted, not bits and pieces to suit the moment.
Trust me, I constantly repent of sins, but the plank thing is out of context here. I am judging a philosphy, a false doctrine, a deception. God will judge you, and He has determined by what measuring stick He will do that. It's in the Bible and about Jesus.
If you or capron could properly explain how all things are right and no wrong exists, or if you could reconcile the contradictions throughout all the posts, then you might gain a disciple or two. HOWEVER, the only answere one gets from this board is "I don't have to explain anything." That's because you can't. You have buried your heads in the sand and pretend you are in great shape. I think otherwise.
I post annoy for family reasons. And I don't want my email made available to unknown people. You can address me by my initials, LM, if you care to or not. Sincerely yours.
"HOWEVER, the only answere one gets from this board is "I don't have to explain anything." That's because you can't. You have buried your heads in the sand and pretend you are in great shape. I think otherwise."
What? I bury my head in the sand. No, my friend, I don't. It is you that choose to believe that all 66 books of the bible where written by God himself. You look past the fact that throughout all of scripture there are more contradictions than can ever be addressed here! You stated in an earlier comment that 500 hundred people witnessed Jesus after being raised. Funny, there is absolutely no historical account on that! you would think that someone other than the writers of the Gospel would report such an event. Which, by the way, were written AT LEAST FIFTY YEARS AFTER JEUSUS' DEATH! but your not interested in the truth are you? Please, stop passing judgements on my belief, because you don't know what I believe. And, if you can remain anonymous why shoud we give you any more info?
Chris, sorry you do not accept the Bible as God's testimony to man through man. You obviously do not believe it. You should not discount the many facts that support the Bible, unless you just don'[t like it to begin with. Any idiot knows the Bible was drafted by the hand of men and inspired by God according to the Bible itself. Those men wrote what God told them, what they witnessed, and it is from very many different perspectives. the contradictions you mention only appear to be contradictions to those who don't know the full council of God. To say the Bible is the word of God doesn't mean that an author was not influenced to include his own perspective and that of his surroundings. It is a history book with a consistent theme and message for humankind. Any supposed contradiction over periods of thousands of years do not alter the message not one tit. What's with the 50 years? Nobody disagrees. Let's see now, when was SOM published? How many years after Christ? You argue points that lead nowhere but further argument.
Regarding the 500 witnesses, history is full of martyred christians because they would not renounce Christ resurrected. How many people do you know that would die for a lie? Would you? Surely not for a lie, but for truth maybe. They did.
About you giving me more info - you haven't given any, never will, and I did not ask you to. you inserted self into dialogue with cap. Facts are nasty details, but relevant. Sincerely. LM
"the contradictions you mention only appear to be contradictions to those who don't know the full council of God."
Wow, that's an easy answer! No need to ponder any more! you know the council of GOD! What is a SOM?
Oh, Science of Mind. SOM doesn't claim divine inspiration. however, I have never read it, or heard about it until now! There are many people that died fro their faith through history that weren't Christian. That argument doesn't really hold up. unless, of course, you have the one true council of God!
My dear LM I am just as "inspired" by God to write these words here on my blog as the men who wrote the bible were. And just as you are inspired by God to write your words.But it very possbile that both you and I and the writers of the bible didnt quite get what inspiration there was exactly right. That could be possible you know.
cap, I was prepared to let this go, but I have to respond. NO NO NO I do not agree that the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob, the God of Christianity inspired you to write anything contrary to the testimony that He left behind through the Prophets over period of thousands of years. He sanctioned that record, and you alter it.
Your blog is not on equal footing with the Bible, cap. And there's that equal to god thing again. Man, you actually believe it, don't you? You actually believe that you have as much authority to proclaim truth as those God used to compile the Bible. That's dangerous, cap, and very arrogant. You and I completely disagree. How can we both be right? its nonsensical.
If you want to be equal with God, create a world, hang stars in the sky, heal yourself, heal others, predict the future a mere 50 years ahead of time. Build up and tear down nations. Raise up whom you chose to represent yourself. Die for somebody and raise from the grave. Then I will say you are on equal footing with the God of the Bible. You are far removed from such a claim as I.
The Bible says that sin is conceived when we entertain it, and that God does not cause us to sin (paraphrased). NOT Everything is inspired by God. You don't believe in an adversary called Satan, but he is the father of all lies. He has inspired many writings and false religions. If you think that God and Satan is one and the same, then god as you know him is schizophrenic at best. I wouldn't serve such a master, and yes, you are enslaved by false doctrine that offers you solace now and eternal darkness later.
The complexities you offer up is astounding. If all is inspired by God, that will include maniacal writings of Charlie Manson and other mass murderes, and worse Hitler, Marx, and the Chinese dictator mao whatever name. Those people slaughtered millions of innnocent people. the holocaust murdered 6 million Jews. Written propaganda declared the Jews to be devils. Come on, cap, please tell me you are not so far gone that you really believe all that came from the LOVING GOD you propose who has no wrath in Himself. If so, you have leaped off the bridge, friend, and you need to reach for a branch on your way down.
This sounds harsh I know, but cap, its a message of love God reaching out to you. I hope you can see the real light as provided to us by God through Christ. There is no other name under heaven that can save us. Not your name, not mine, just that of Jesus Christ.
LM
"If all is inspired by God, that will include maniacal writings of Charlie Manson and other mass murderes, and worse Hitler, Marx, and the Chinese dictator mao whatever name. Those people slaughtered millions of innnocent people."
@ Anonymous- You're right. Innocent people were never slaughtered in the bible. The Egyptians deserved it, and the various peoples in the promised land deserved extermination. Their only sin was not being a part of God's elect. Tribalism is a human trait, something which I would imagine the divine would transcend. Which lends to the point that as a book written, edited, and transmitted by man the Bible speaks more about mankind than the divine.
Dear Mr. Eruesso, I am not the author of the comments you reference, however I am moved to respond to your comment. It is of interest how one's views are automatically influenced by their own perspective going into any conversation, as surely as I am, too. I am certain that our mutual friend LM did not indict the Bible in any regard to the subject of innocent people being slaughtered. The subject was not about innocents being slaughtered. It was focused on Divinely Inspired Writings, not the fact that people were unjustly killed or not. Those people in Egypt and the promised land you refer to are not appropriate subjects in this dialogue as they did not generally submit writings to be received as divinely inspired. LM made the correct point that people like Hitler composed material that was evil in nature and practice. It is wrong to blame such evil on God by saying that God inspired his material and hatred of Jews. Therefore, not all written material including this blog are God inspired.
Regarding your comment, and from the human perspective, yes, those people were slaughtered. You are incomplete when you write, "their only sin was not being a part of God's elect." From God's perspective they were reprobate and faced judgment, as unpopular as that may be with those who do not recognize sin and divine judgment. In other cases, the Bible cites murder and other crimes as examples of man's failure and sin against God and humanity.
I hope this clarifies what the subject matter was about. Thank you.
No worries it is very clear. I am speaking from a strictly historical and non-religious perspective. And from here on forward I'm sure it will seem as if I'm against the Bible, but to make myself clear I am a liberal Christian. I don't believe in the inerrant word of the Bible which was put together by man (if you wish to read further on my views on the bible you can do so here). My comment was to raise the point that as a book physically written, edited, and transmitted by a fallible creature we must take into account the historical origins of the Bible. I do not believe that a compassionate God would slaughter innocent people to prove a point or even his power. This leads me to believe that the bible is a very human book which speaks more about mankind than about God. It is what a particular set of people thought about God and themselves. I was merely pointing out the humanness of the Bible with it's tribal nature.
Please feel free to share your thought through my link but to be perfectly honest, what is the intent of your visit to this site? If it is to try and change the minds of my mind or Ron's, the owner and operator of Dreaming with Captron52, I'm afraid you'll be spinning your wheels for quite a while. I only know Ron through this site and I email him on occasion but do you truly believe your comments will change our minds? We are extremely open minded and open to other faiths but if your efforts are to convert us, I'm afraid that's a lost cause. I hope my words don't come across as coldhearted, that's the curse of communicating through written word. It's difficult to express my feelings without us being face to face.
Peace and blessings,
Sam Morales (Eruesso is my pen name).
Dear Sam, thank you for this dialogue, and I wish to answer your question about wanting to covert you. I do not expect to do that at all. However, I understood this blog to be one that thinks outside of the box and keeps an open mind in search of spiritual truths. Other input with a Biblical perspective is one of those trails that should be considered along with Science of Mind. If one is truly seeking the truth, surely you agree that it would be unwise to discount the Biblical view. If one rejects it, they are not truly open minded. In general, it appears the Bible is rejected and more "modern" writings are easily accepted. All of them lead away from Jesus as the Savior. The purpose in sharing is just that - to share the Biblical view on the road to spiritual fulfillment. Mr. Captron52 and others point readers in an opposite direction of the Bible. It should be acceptable, if open minded, to let readers hear the other side of subjects. An informed reader will make their own decision, but not because they weren't at least exposed to the Biblical perspective.
There are those near me who watch this blog and discuss it among themselves. I dare say most are astonished at the lack of logic applied to the reasoning process, but if we were all the same, I am quiet sure it would be a dull world.
Thank you. David Judd.
"If one is truly seeking the truth, surely you agree that it would be unwise to discount the Biblical view."
As for a monolith Biblical view, this I don't believe. Every Christian denomination states they are following a Biblical view yet these biblical views differ. There is no ONE biblical view as there is no ONE correct Christian denomination. It's all tribalism. Ron can speak for himself but the Bible is one of the books I meditate upon daily. I read it differently, period. Each group reads their bible differently. And if that wasn't complicated enough try reading into the history of the Bible itself (as I'm sure an educated man as yourself already has). There are bibles with less books than the protestant bible and then their are bibles with extra books (and some books which were once considered inspired but were later struck down by the church). This alone makes me approach the Bible very very humbly. Which Bible is correct, which translation, which interpretation? And down the rabbit hole we go. It's all very mind-boggling and very humbling.
People have put aside the Bible in the 21st century because it doesn't speak to them anymore. It's not that they're reading it wrong but that as citizens of the 21st century trying to communicate with God in 1st century (and much older) language and symbolism just doesn't click. This is why churches are trying anything they can to bring kids back to church.
Continued...
It's not that the world is becoming more and more ungodly. The younger generation is still reaching out to God/the divine. This is where the Spiritual But Not Religious crowd comes in. Why are kids leaving the church but still cling to the spiritual, the divine? Because they still feel a yearning for connection, a yearning for God but the Bible just doesn't speak to them anymore. In comes new translations, new forms of Christianity, new everything! Everything is in constant change, constant flow, and I fear Christianity may be left behind if something is not done to reform it. I'm not trying to scare anyone these are just the latest results from the Pew research group. The country is shifting away from traditional Christianity towards labels like "None" or SBNR. Why? Understand why these people are shifting this way and you might be able to understand why Ron and I believe what we believe. If you're ever in Chattanooga, let me know and we can discuss this in person. Which is much better than in this format. Of if you know a bit about video chat I'm more than willing to discuss over video. Scroll down this page and send me a message through the blue box.
I don't post my email directly anywhere because of spammers. The blue box is a direct line to my inbox. Your email is never shared except with me.
Peace and blessings,
Sam Morales
Sorry about going off topic. I do that alot.
Dear Sam,
Although one finds some truth in what you say (and I am not a debater of such things) there is more to it than what can be examined with the eye and our limited understanding of the mysteries of God. I am aware of those mysteries, and have even questioned aspects of the Bible myself. However, in the end, the Bible offers a consistent theme that bears out as true throughout the centuries. It is consistent and thorough although comprised over centuries by different authors. The most important evidence that the Bible is more than a literary work efforted to explain mysteries is found in the fulfilled prophecies relating to the coming of the Messiah. I am not a student of Judaism, but I understand that religious Jewry acknowledges the Messianic prophecies, and are still waiting for the Messiah to appear on scene. Christians believe they are fulfilled through Christ, and the Bible clearly explains why the Jewish people were blinded to that truth. The Bible is also a history book, but is different from other historical accounts for the above reason. From my perspective, it is practically useless to spend hours debating the validity of the Bible as I believe many of these things are spiritually discerned and not totally dependent upon our limited intellect to sort it all out. You may disagree, however, faith is something that cannot be debated our of anyone who truly believes. As well, it is useless to try and impart faith to believe. That must come from God alone.
Many youth leave church because it is a dry intellectual pursuit, when it should be an alive, vibrant, and exciting path to Christ. If you have been around churches, you know that many are just that -dry and lifeless. That is not the genuine cup that overflows. Pastors teach what they have learned, believed blindly, and pass it on to their flock and expect them to accept blindly, too. That is improper, and youth should question, should call out to God to reveal truth, but they should keep their eyes fixed on God to reveal truth, not men without proven track records and those of questionable design. Religion has been infiltrated by deceivers who preach a different gospel even, and not all presented in the name of Christ is that of the Christ.
Sam, i appreciate your offer to further dialogue, however I am not gifted with freedom of time to pursue this. I know others who would gladly debate details, and they may want to jump in, but I am not trying to change you, and although I would like to know you have a real relationship with the genuine Christ according to my faith in him, I must leave you with HIm to sort those things out.
What alarms me about this blog is the presentation that we are all gods in pursuit of our own path, and that everyone is right regardless of that path. That is a direct contradiction of the word of
God, and not one I find choiceable for readers without the benefit of direction to a book of ancient origin with a proven track record, that being the Bible. The Bible is rejected by this sites owner and followers to their own loss, I fear, as pointed out to me by friends who are reading along from time to time.
I leave you with best wishes. David
@David- I thank you for your reasonable response (one of the kindest I've come across recently).
"it is practically useless to spend hours debating the validity of the Bible"
I couldn't agree more, and although I read the Bible from a different perspective I appreciate your humble approach.
"but I am not trying to change you, and although I would like to know you have a real relationship with the genuine Christ according to my faith in him, I must leave you with HIm to sort those things out."
I wish most Christians would respond in this humble manner, thank you for this. I understand your genuine desire for me to embrace Christ but the only issue is that it is how you see Christ according to your faith. What about my neighbor who may embrace Christ according to his faith, and so on and so forth? The point is everyone who embraces Christ do it according to how they individually see Christ. And, in a way, are seeking Him on their own path. Mormons, Catholics, Unitarians, Gnostics, Baptists, the list goes on and on throughout history.
"What alarms me about this blog is the presentation that we are all gods in pursuit of our own path, and that everyone is right regardless of that path."
This point however is difficult to explain without properly understanding it. I'm afraid I can not properly explain it myself (since although I understand it intellectually, it's not enough to give it a proper discourse without going on and on for pages). Although the best explanation for what I believe is Pantheism or Panentheism can be found here. I'm merely a student of religion (I minored in Religious Studies under Rabbi Rami Shapiro at MTSU) who seeks to understand the faiths of others because I believe that understanding our fellow man leads to an increase in love for our neighbor.
Peace and Blessings,
Sam
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