Perry wrote: > "David Miller? Sure, I know David Miller. > He is bald, short, fat, lives in a condo in > Indianapolis, drives an old Studebaker, > smokes, drinks, does a little weed when > he can, gambles, and has 3 girlfriends. > Tell him 'hi' for me. See? I know David Miller!
LOL. I get your point, Perry, but here is where I differ from you. First, I have recognized that some people within other Christian denominations also have a wrong perspective of Jesus. That does not mean that I am going to say that they are not a Christian. Why? Because if I have my own personal esoteric use of the word Christian, it causes language to fail and it hinders communication. Jesus faced the same problem with Jews who thought God was their father. Their father really was the devil, but they called him God. I see no point in trying to argue that they should not be called Jews because of this problem. Second, your analogy fails somewhat because they point to the Jesus of the Bible and say that this is the Jesus that they believe in. Now you and I might know that they depart in many ways from that Jesus, but their declaration that it is the Jesus of the Bible that they accept as their Messiah is enough for me to consider them a Christian sect. Now if they were to say that they believed in Jesus, but not the Jesus of the Bible, and they affirmed that they reject the Jesus of the Bible, then your analogy might have some merit. What I find curious is why you find the word "Christian" so sacred that it must only include those who truly believe in Christ. Does one come into relationship with Christ by joining the Christian religion, or by simple faith in Jesus Christ? I reasoned with a Jewish girl last week. She said that if she believed in Jesus, she would no longer be a Jew. I told her she was wrong. Jews can believe in Jesus. The more we talked, the more this objection kept surfacing. We talked about sects within Judaism that did believe in Yeshua HaMashiach. I finally told her that her rabbis had been lying to her if they were teaching her that she could not believe in Jesus and be a Jew. I told her that she would be a perfect Jew by believing in Jesus. From my perspective, she should not be in a position of switching religions. I don't see where it matters to God one bit whether she is part of Judaism or Christianity. She needs to believe in Jesus Christ and be in relationship with her Creator. That is what is important. Frankly, if she comes to faith in Jesus Christ, I think the religion of Judaism would have more to offer her than the religion of Christianity. Peace be with you. David Miller. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
