Re: [TruthTalk]UNITY?
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1309/is_1_37/ai_64830803 Although the small sun-filled penthouse, reached through a well-hidden set of stairs from above the 15th floor of a modest but chic building on Fifth Avenue in New York City; has its own special aura, it is not a Zen palace as one might imagine. The offices of the Temple of Understanding, the oldest global interfaith organization in the United States, may be a far cry from the grand building envisioned by its founder, but the global interfaith movement, which includes spiritual traditions as diverse as Jainism, Christianity and Native American, continues to promote dialogue and understanding among all the religions of the world. The Temple of Understanding was the brainchild of Juliet Hollister, an American housewife who, while eating a peanut-butter sandwich with a friend one day, happened to wonder what the world would be like if the many different religions began conversing instead of feuding. Ms. Hollister began to form a vision of an organization that would promote understanding among the world's religions, recognize the oneness of the human family and achieve a "spiritual United Nations". Through prayer and determination, she attracted such prominent supporters as Eleanor Roosevelt, Albert Schweitzer, Jawaharlal Nehru, Pope John XXIII, Anwar el-Sadat and United Nations Secretary-General U Thant. In 1960, the Temple of Understanding came into being. The Temple knows it still has a long way to go in realizing that vision of an American housewife, but it continues to sustain her hope which informs its mission and work. Sister Joan Kirby, the current Executive Director of the Temple of Understanding, believes that the organization evolved essentially as a mobilizing force, with only a small staff and no actual "temple", for a reason: its longevity is due in part to the fact that it is not a centralized entity, as spirituality cannot be institutionalized or localized. In fact, since 1968, the Temple has sponsored six "Spiritual Summit" conferences, producing a worldwide network of spiritual leaders, all devoted to the principles of the interfaith movement, whose modem character can be most easily traced back to the first World's Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago, United States, in 1893. It has progressed from the creation of a model of interfaith cooperation to generating understanding and a sense of unity among religious traditions, which nonetheles s retained their individual belief systems and autonomy. ... The need for laying aside differences and embracing the links that bind us is nowhere more urgent than in my own field--the prevention of and planning for the impact of HIV/AIDS. Relax. Yahoo! Mail virus scanning helps detect nasty viruses!
Re: [TruthTalk] UNITY
The first step to True unity is PURITY Neo unity is of the basist - lowest common denominator in order to widen the gate so that all sorts of heterodoxy might passundiscovered. It is Rebellion against God yet the brotherhood of Man. "On all hands we hear cries for unity in this and unity in that; but in our mind the main need of this age is not compromise but conscientiousness. First pure, then peaceable... It is easy to cry, A confederacy, but that union that is not based on the truth of God is rather a conspiracy than a communion. Charity by all means: but honesty also. Love of course, but love to God as well as love to men, and love of truth as well as love of union. It is exceedingly difficult in these times to preserve ones fidelity before God and ones fraternity among men. Should not the former be preferred to the latter if both cannot be maintained? We think so" (C.H. Spurgeon).__Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: [TruthTalk] Unity Judgement (was Basis of Unity)
On Sun, 6 Feb 2005 09:27:26 EST [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: In a message dated 2/5/2005 9:56:11 AM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:There is no strife or disunity in Christ and He is not divided JD: On the surface, this is untrue. jt: Had you ever considered that maybe what we see 'on the surface' is not the reality? No. There are reasons why surface impressions are what they are. The truth, in this case, is more involved than one might originally thinkbut the surface is reality. Not always and men are afflicted withtheir own fleshly bias. Proverbs says "It is nto good to have respect of persons in judgment. He that saith unto the wicked. Thou art righteous, him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him" (Prov 24:23) Surface reality is judging after the flesh and Jesus said to the Pharisees "Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man and yet if I judge my judgment is true for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me." (John 8:15) Jesusis our example and the one we are to follow after. He istheone we are toemulate. Jesus says: "Judge not according to the appearance but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24) God says the same thing to the prophet Samuel "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature because I have rejected him for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (1 Sam 16:7) But, perhaps I do not know what you mean with the phrase "no stife or disunity in Christ." jt: It means just what it says - No it doesn't or I wouldn't have asked the question. the Church he is coming for will have no spot, wrinkle, or blemish; wouldn't you categorize strife and disunity as wrinkles and blemishes?. And here is where we part company -- I on the right and you on the left (I just love talking like you guys -- it gives me such a sense of power , anyway) I beleive that the unblemished Church is the redemptive work and consideration of God in Christ. You think it has to do with your efforts. I didn't say that did I? However it will never happen without our cooperation"Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word; that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Eph 5:25-27) When can we say unity has occurred? jt: When we are of one heart and one mind. When we are all say the same thing and doing what He says. What is the situation with God and disciple(s) until that happensas in the case with you and I? Are they in Christ or what? jt: We should separate ourselves from some things (see Ephesians 5:3-6) because we were once darkness ourselves but now we are to walk as children of light and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them - all things are reproved as they are made manifest by the light. To answer your question. We are in Christ as we walk in the light as He is in the light. If we fall we go to the throne of grace, repent, get back up and continue on. When a division occurs and assuming one believer in definitely in Christ -- how does the onlooker tell the difference in the two opponents? jt: Eventually, as ppl grow into Christ and His love is perfected in their hearts a wolf will be exposed in spite of the sheepskin by what is coming out of his mouth. "grow into Christ" you say. So there is a time when the church is not united in lockstep teaching and doctrinal verbage. You do include "verbage," correct? jt: I've never included "lockstep" anything John - this is your term and to me it sounds like Hitler's army but then maybe that is how you want it to sound..
Re: [TruthTalk] Unity
In a message dated 7/25/2004 2:56:19 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Unity is only possible in a loving acceptance of those who follow Christ and claim Him as their God. Sounds good John but at this point attempting to lovingly unify with all of those who claim to follow Christ and say He is their God would accomplish something like Babel or the UN where it is impossible to have a meaningful conversation. Each serves the Master in our own way and this is not only as it should be, it is by the appointment of God (Ro 14:4). Romans 14 records the vertical relationship each has with the Father. We are made correct by another -- "... and he will make us to stand." We are not correct (in terms of thought) without the Divine hand of God's fellowship. God is light and those who walk in His presence already have fellowship with one another ".. if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light we are having fellowship with one another ..." (I Jo 1:7). In terms of "creating fellowship with the others, we are passively involved as seen in the 1st John reference and as stated in Acts 2:47, the Lord does the saving and the adding to. We do not "lovingly unify" anything, rather we accept the fellowship of the Body of Christ into which we have been placed by another (God) and deal with our problems in that light. I am probably preaching to the choir on this -- but I wanted to cover all the bases. To keep the peace we must stay with surface issues only because digging a little deeper would cause what is really going on to come to the surface. This, of course, is not what I advocating, either. It is my belief that true unity will only happen as we unify around the truth of God's Word so as to have one mind and one heart in Christ. This is not a present reality that I can see but I do believe that this is what the Church He is coming back for is going to look like because LOVE always rejoices in the Truth. The grandest of all illustrations presenting our relationship to one another is surely that of the "family" -- God the Father, Christ the Son and we who have been adopted into this family. And why do we suppose this illustration is used by God. Because we all know how a family should function. Because we all know how a loving and caring family survives in the presence of each other. And how is that. Well, I can only speak for my family -- seven children; one own's a dairy and is very conservative, another is a lawyer and about as left wing as our Canadian buds, one a minister, two are worship leaders and housewives, there is a doctor in the house and still working on matters of faith, one has escaped to Colorado against the wishes of the Mom -- some tearful and even heated exchanges occurred during that one and so one. Lots of opinion. A very successful family with LOTS OF EGO. The point, if not obvious, is that family unity is real and vital when a loving respect and acceptance is center to all other considerations. And that exists in our family. Guaranteed, the bigger the family the more obvious this consideration becomes. Note that I did not say that this was the only circumstance in which unity can occur but it is the primary consideration. Most of us in our family shares the same "divinely appointed political view" but that really does little in terms of fulfillment. Correct thinking really does little to bind us together but it sure as heck can tear us apart. I have a brother in Christ, he considers himself a prophet but he is really not. What do we do with this guy? In some churches he would be deleted. But those of us who know him see his love for the Lord and his zeal to do the right thing. Morgan is his name. Morgan is the one who would stand in front of a firing squad for the Lord while I, for example, would be running to get help. And so Morgan is truly a family member -- he is just a little goofy in terms of what he thinks. We all love him and, yes, we pretend that he is NOT goofy when in his company. He is accepted because the focus is on that which exalts him. We see his courage and know that none of us measure up to him in that -- we think of him more highly that we consider ourselves in that one thing -- and that is enough to maintain a loving relationship. God in Christ has made amends for his incorrectness. We can love those with whom we disagree and "unity" exists the second we do because the reall differences have been solved in Christ. This is a public forum BUT it is really more than that (as are all Christian forums) because it entertains the opinions of those who claim the name and serve the Savior. Anyway -- enough said by me. You either accept the point of view or not. It makes little difference to me in terms of my respect for you and your individual place in the sight of the God you serve. a brother, John Smithson Grace and Peace, Judy.
