And Such Were You

Another turn in our discussion.
I am sure there are many out there who are reading this blog series and are fascinated  by the many turns and subjects this whole blog has traveled since the start.
Bible study methods- church beliefs both true and false religions, church offices, general subjects. Popes, Roman Catholicism, and so on.
Seems the Bible study methods were the best read. I would conclude that there are a few out there who are interested in that topic. Great. Keep it up.
Here is the new avenue we will travel down for a while.
True conversion.. The requirement that Jesus gave to Nicodemus as recorded in John the third chapter. And yes, I will be using scripture in the Jewish/Christian Bible.
So let me start:
I have been a Christian now for-- let's see, 1968 to 2020, 52 years. I think that is enough time to have somehow accumulated some knowledge.
No. If you have read my  postings of many years ago you knw what I am talking about.
I also posted a post on can God be known. Click and go to that one.
Back in 1968 I was at Taft College, journalism major. I got a phone call from home which was down the coast at Brentwood, California. My brother, Todd, had been killed in the Viet Nam war. He was a medic. The date was around March 13 when I received this call. I went home and went through the funeral. I found myself asking just where Todd, in death, was, heaven or the other place. Ie remember thinking of that passage in Job, "The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away." Okay. New Testament says that for a person to see heaven he must believe in Jesus. What does that mean? The Bible says that we are all sinners. "There is none righteous, no not one."
I had been brought up in the Roman Catholic system, so I was somewhat used to the Bible. Never read it up to this point. The priest read it. the nuns taught it in school. Mostly Matthew and the first pope being Peter passage and the authority given to Peter to retain and forgive sins  ( don't bother looking, there is none. That is one of the proof texts the Catholic system points to to try to prove something the Bible does not teach)
Anyway. Jesus claimed to be the way to God and God was in heaven. If I was to be in heaven and with God when I died I had to come through Jesus. "I am the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." He said. It is recorded in the Bible (And the Bible is Bod's communication to man) Also the Bible tells me that all who come to the Father must believe (receive) Jesus. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved."
Enough for one posting. There will be more in the future.

Bible Study

   Let us get back to basics. I have told you time and again that the source of truth and trustworthiness is the Bible.

   Since that is so we need to study it more. I admit I approach the Bible with a big bias. God has spoken and He has caused what He has spoken to be written down. All accounts of historical places, names, and events are assumed to be accurate and true.

    So when we hear it being preached from the pulpit we are hearing God's word being spoken. True, it is being heard by us in the voice of a man but the words he is reading are God's word.

    It is then our job to read it for ourselves and not just by ourselves. We need small groups. We need to discuss what God has said. We must realize that  the words are as important as the thoughts. We can have confidence in its message.

   I do not recommend a paraphrase.  A paraphrase acts as a commentary not a direct word. I recommend the New American Standard or the New King James. Be careful using the New International version. It is good, but in places it leans toward nonliteral in word choice. I will discuss translations later so I will not, in this posting, venture there.

   What translation do you use? Maybe that is soemthing I can post about if there is interest.

  

Hidden Assets

  I was sitting in church today looking out at the congregation. I am the chat room man on the media team. As such I sit in the back of the room next to the IT man and the video man. I glanced out on all these heads in front of me. Now since I was in the back I could view the whole room.. I noticed that they were mostly female heads. There were some male heads out there, but mostly female.

   And I got to wondering why weren't there more men out there? Why weren't men coming to church? Is there some reason that I was not aware of?
    Just having finished a book called "Why Men Hate Going to Church" I have an idea. Most of the service is geared to feminine psyches. Not too much masculine involvement. Illustrations from the pastor that are geared to the lamb rather than the lion aspect of God.
    Please give me some feedback on this. Let's start a discussion.
    Follow me. Become a member. And comment. I want to hear from you out there.

Education and Skill Training

   I am all for education. Yet with the cost of a higher education  being so high it is best to consider, is that
college degree all that important for you in your future plans for life? I mean, if you wish to be a plumber, do you really need that college degree? You can find a master plumber  to learn under and with sweat equity and close supervision you could get what you need to be a plumber. Just be the best plumber there is.
   I don't think Jesus had a college eduation. He grew up in a carpenter's family. He learned the trade from Joseph. I am sure Joseph and Son was a good compnay. And after the death of Joseph I am sure Jesus Bar Joseph was a good company to get your chairs and tables and other things from.
   He was an easy learner. What we might call a genius today. He picked up what needed to be known. Of course, being 100% God and 100% human helped, but I don't think he shortcercuited the human. He had to learn the same as us. He was tempted in all things, such as we, but without sin.
    And he knew the Jewish Scriptures. In Luke we are told He was left in Jerusalem in his thrirteenth year and stumped the wise men in the temple with what he was saying. But still he went home with Mary and Joseph to continue his child and young adulthood. At about thirty He came out and was baptised by John in the Jordon.

Salvation God's Way-Part Two

So we are still concerned with salvation. To do so I must insist we take only what can be found in the Bible as the authority. In Romans 4:3 we are told something about this man Abraham. Abraham was the man God called out of Ur of the Caldees to go to a land He would show him. And Abraham was given the promise that he would become a great nation. At the moment this was said to him he was childless and old.

   And in Romans we are told "Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness."

   Abraham's good works made him righteous, but these did not save him. Paul, the writer of Romans, says we can all be saved the same way. Yet the Roman Catholic Church adds to what the Bible says.

    The Catholic Church adds to the doctrine of Sanctifying Grace a road block. Adam and Eve lost it in the garden. A Catholic holds that a person gains this sanctifying grace only through their form of baptism. Then, they say, a program of good works must be followed to gain enough merit to go to heaven. Sorry, guys, but that is not what my Bible says.

    My Bible says that it is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to God's mercy, we are saved.

    Yes, faith is basic to salvation. Good works are not. Faith for the Roman Catholic seems to be in the truth revealed in the Bible, and the traditions of the Church, and the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. This is important as the postings on the cults continues. Not that I am calling the Roman Catholic Church a cult. I will leave that up to you

    The Roman Catholic sees salvation based on faith plus works. They have a seven rung ladder set up.The Seven Sacraments of the church are the steps..

   The Bible puts no qualifications on God's grace nor can it be lost by the believer. God gives eternal life when the believer has faith in Jesus Christ as his savior. And we can be assured of salvation through Christ's work (Not ours) and God's promises.

   Please feel free to comment. Am I helping you? Am I causing you to think? Talk to me and I will talk to you.