Dean writes:
cd: Amen John but on that shady side I want to be sure that "thought" did come from God and not man-but I can also agree that the Holy Spirit can teach us which is of God and which is of man. This fear of being sure stems from the fact that I dwell upon the read word almost continually and in doing so those word become a part of who I am-they are in effect becoming me-or better said I am becoming them- so the purest me will be the most pleasing to God as the reflection of the Son must show in me-if not then I will have failed this Holy God and I don't want to always do so. The thrill you speak of is love for God John-I am thrilled to understand that and see that in you-thank for sharing this.
We are tethered to God and cannot go far from Him. You simply -- we simply cannot fail to grow up into Christ. Continued time in the written Word is not only an important aspect of our growth, it is also a source for confidence. This notion that iron sharpens iron is the very thing that occures on forums such as this. It is wrong to think that we do not NEED each other. I believe the Hebrew writer speaks of the purpose of the Christian assembly in this wise: "...to encourage one another to love and good works." There is more to our relating than just this, but the statement evidences our need for each other. "Iron sharpens iron" implies confrontation (perhaps) . If the association never leads to peace, it is not of God. But "peace" may be years in the making. Until then, God is at work in US both to will and to do His good pleasure. &n
bsp;
By the way, there are those who believe this passage ("God at work within us ...") is a statement of the collective reality and not a personal reality, per se, in this passage. God is at work within the relationship and the relating that we know as the "Church." Could be. Certainly, the realty is true. If that is true, then our exchanges (here on TT) are of God and should reflect His presense in our manner of speech.
Maybe I need to go pray, right now!!
KEEP WRITING Dean. the highlighted part of your quote above (in green) The thought you are expressing is great. Lance said something a few weeks ago that has encouraged me. He suggested that we do what the early Church FAthers did. And what were they doing? Writing. Writing what they believed. Defending what they believe. And improving in that defense and _expression_. Most of the writings we have from them are addressed to other believers. Sometimes they agreed. Sometimes not. And so, I have decided to do more of that. Not to appear as a "know it all" but to bounce ideas around. I write for me. As such, arrogance may be "apparent" but it is not really the case. Nothing I say on this or any other forum is written without a question mark in the backside of my little beady brain. There is a great deal of potential for meaningful exhange on this site
.......as much as any other and more than most !!
Appreciate your attitude -- it is as much a learning experience for me and anything written.
jd
Keep writing and don't get all balled up if someone disagrees. You never know how much good you are doing until that good appears -- quite often suddenly and unexpectantly.
My Unitarian son was asking me the other day, "Do you believe in verbal plenary inspiration, Dad?" If I had said "yes," the fight would have been on. He's a lawyer , 38 years old and a sharp son of a gun. So I said this: "What I believe, son, is the thrill I experience as I study this book and a truth jumps out and hits me right between the eyes !! The mesh that is one thought moving into another thought, expressed hundreds of years apart but making perfect sense as you read them together, well, that is all the "proof" of inspiration I need. When it is all said and done, The Bible is extemely important to me because it takes me from the center of my world and puts Another's opinion there - one that has been proven over the centuries. " And so I study and share and my son nods his head And, hopefully Dad has scored one for th
e Kipper !!
cd: Rest assured that if they become silent they are listening- to receive a nod is to get agreement-well done. My son is at odds with my beliefs also but it helps me to remember that those who loved Jesus the most is those He forgave the most-these usually end up being the strongest preachers of Gods word- so with my son I see hope beyond the drugs,Homo tendencies, fornication and the love of using others to have gain as my God is stronger than those weakinesses.So with that thought ever couple of years I try again. This year at Christmas he watched the Passion of Christ with me and later that night I heard him playing the DVD again-hope grows.
No more noble an effort on my part than what you do with the Word in your world. Some of your methods are disagreeable to me. But you get this same thrill (I assume) not so much as you study but as you reach out in ministry -- Street Preacher Style. Our functions are different but the passion is of the same source.
jd
cd: Good to see you are not in total disagreement with Street Preaching John. Would you care to go and wittiness some of that in person in order to better understand why we preach in the manner we do? New Orleans Mardi Gras Tues Feb 23- March 1 -We have food and lodging but the expense for the trip is "Dutch". Regardless of choice-thank you for sharing a part of yourself John as now I understand you more:-)
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Dean Moore" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
----- Original Message -----
Sent: 1/6/2006 3:38:57 AM
Subject: Re: Re: [TruthTalk] Christ as the incarnate God
Hello Bill. thanks for the post and the thoughts. Apparently, I missed reading the last sentence or two below, just prior to Dean's quote of Wesley.
cd: John what I meant by stating:" You on the other hand are a different matter entirely" in the last couple of sentences is that you view /search thing differently then I . I just accept things at some point in my search ESP when I realize there are some things will never be understood while in this flesh. -you go deeper with the why/how -I think but realize I also searched this long and hard many times thur the years.I think I am saying I have rest with Christ being God you want more-make sense?
