Christian Perspectives on Peak Oil

BigTex · Last edited by BigTex on Fri May 16, 2008 10:23 pm; edited 1 time in total

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BigTex

btu2012

In my opinion the problem is narcissism, the idea that a superior anything (which is often more imagined than real) gives one the right to look down on others and possibly to disregard them.

One wouldn't try to dictate to other people what to believe if one had any respect for them, isn't it ?

Thus others are complete idiots, sheeple, useless eaters, harmful, (or evil, sinners, possessed by the devil), deserving of being "population reduced" etc. There's lots of this on these boards but also in the society at large.

We were all told how "special" we are, that's the culture we live in.

I definitely see it every day, people would use any pretext whatsoever to look down upon and disrespect others. They are older, have a better title, position, connections, nationality, looks, clothes, religion, philosophy, skin color, more money, prettier wives -- whatever reason is good enough. Nietzsche expressed this very nicely at some point but I don't want to repeat it here. It only got worse since then.

At the root of all this there is usually just fear and envy.

Btu
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only the paranoid survive

Micki

btu2012

Gandalf_the_White · Intermediate Crude Joined: Nov 21, 2007 Posts: 511

I was blessed this morning to meet with a group of men for a Bible study. I was very blessed by their fellowship and testimonies. It is amazing when you meet people and you know by their descriptions of their former way of living that without Christ they could not have changed. The Lord is very good at changing lives, that is a major testimony. When you hear of hard, mean men falling to the ground in sorrow for their sin.

That is how repentance comes.

Hearing the message of the gospel
Conviction of sin by a work of the Holy Spirit
True sorrow for sin
Asking forgiveness for sin
Turning away from sin
(Redemption) Cleansing by a supernatural application of Christ's blood
Regeneration unto newness of life.

Some will debate on the ordering for parts of that, but for the most part that is how it happens and all Christians agree on that. Some churches, sadly, view church membership as salvation. Not so!

By Grace are you saved through faith, not of yourselves it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:9

One can argue that without the Holy Spirit ready to regenarate us, to infill us, it cannot happen. So many argue that salvation is grace through and through. Others see a clear choice to follow the lead of God's Spirit at each point, so that freewill is exercised if passively during the whole process.

This seems right Scripturally. God will not force you to be saved, but without His finding us we cannot be saved.

I will post a study that always refreshes me, about the basic concepts of the gospel message, redemption, regeneration, sanctification etc.

God bless you. Lord bless these men I met with today who are standing strong for you, sincere but not always scholarly, their hearts for you are far more valuable than a Phd.

In Jesus Name. Amen.
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I return to you now at the turning of the tide.

Gandalf_the_White · Intermediate Crude Joined: Nov 21, 2007 Posts: 511

November 12, 2001

The Basic Gospel

Years ago I heard a preacher say that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was so simple that even a child could understand it and I agree. I was also told that preaching should remain stupid simple, but the more I know about the Lord the more I know that anyone who spends any real time with Him at all cannot remain simple for long. In fact the deepest people I have ever met have been Christians. I do not say this to slight the great thinkers of our time (God has already done that.) Rather I say that when a person is connected to the heart of God the way that faith in Jesus can connect them, there is not a man living who can plumb the depths. Now this may strike a sour note with some of the super-spiritual among us but let it be stated clearly, no prophet sees completely.

We are all finite and so we cannot fully contain the understanding of God. Some have taught and still do teach that we obtain the very mind of Christ. As far as this means having the mind of one who is completely set free to let every thought be of service to God again I must agree. If however you mean to say that the very mind of the Godhead is caused to rest within our finite minds I must say no. 'My glory I will not share with another.' We will not become equal with God, but we will find complete peace in the place for which He has created us. It is a glorious place and a place of honor. As you will see we are the recipients of a special grace from God Himself.

What do we mean when we say the 'Basic' Gospel. Well that is to say the bare essentials, the skeleton if you will. But as we all know our body is not only bones but skin and sinew and heart and lungs and... so it is with the truths of the Gospel. All that we need to know for truth and godliness is contained in the canon of Scripture. There is no end to the depths of study to which you can dive. Yet the things of God are not deeply intellectual. Take for instance the 'Basic' Gospel. As the Bible accounts inform us we have:

Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, who after being baptized by John the Baptist went about the countryside of Judea performing many miracles. After a period of about three years He was handed over to the authorities (who had always and almost uniformly despised Him). On a certain day He was crucified for our sins, died and was buried. Three days later He was raised from the dead by the power of God.

This is a simple account of the ministry of Jesus Christ. It is similar to many of the creeds of the early church, but it is only a beginning, a foundation. With a little study we can elaborate on this basic creed. The following presentation is more in depth and brings in the necessity and purpose of Jesus' earthly ministry.

Before anything existed there was God. God exists as a Trinity given in the Bible as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These Three are co-equal in power and authority. They are co-eternal and although in certain actions there seems to be a hierarchy among them they each fully deserve the title of the Almighty. Because (as the Scriptures teach) God is One, we do not find the members of the Trinity ever acting alone. Whatever One is doing all Three are a part of.

At some point it entered the heart of God to create man in His own image. He placed the first man Adam and his wife Eve in the Garden of Eden to take care of it. Around the time that God was doing all this creating He also created a group of beings called angels. Now for reasons we will not deal deeply with here the angels had the ability to disobey their Creator. At some point one of them did. His name was Lucifer. Because Lucifer was angry with God he hated the man and his wife who were pleasing to God.

One day Lucifer (disguised as a serpent) went into the Garden and tempted Eve to disobey God. She did and then she tempted Adam to do the same. The Bible has a special word for disobedience to God, this word is sin. When Adam sinned he lost his privileged place with God. Adam and Eve were forced to leave the Garden of Eden, but worse they were separated from God by sin. We say they died spiritually that day. So it is that all men were cursed by Adam's actions to be born under God's wrath. Why is there such a thing as God's wrath? When we look at justification in a later study it will become clear. For now just know that there was a need for someone to appease God's wrath with respect to mankind.

So we have man, lost in sin. Not only inheriting sin from Adam but embracing it as a personal choice. God could not stand to see his beloved creation lost. What would He do? Enter Jesus Christ. One of the titles that the Bible gives to Jesus is Emmanuel , this means God with us. So here's the plan, God sends His Son to present himself as a sinless sacrifice for the sins of fallen man. Through His death and resurrection we can be restored to the place with God lost through Adam. In fact by His death Jesus was making peace for us with God. Jesus' resurrection shows us that God accepted the offer.

Now through faith (trust in the faithfulness of God) placed in Jesus we can be 'born again'. This means basically that we are restored to a right standing with God.

This is salvation from eternal death which was caused by sin. It is important to know that it is not by any 'good deeds' of our own that we are saved, rather it is the gift and work of God in the believing heart. All the good works follow after. Because of this we can now enjoy all the fruits of truly knowing and loving God.

Read that again. Does this seem reasonable to you? Does it ring true? Do you believe it?
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I return to you now at the turning of the tide.

Ludi

Gandalf_the_White · Intermediate Crude Joined: Nov 21, 2007 Posts: 511

Repentance

Repentance is the lost art of Christianity. A lot of Christians in America today can tell you a lot about 'deep' things like dispensations or prophecy, but many have only the most basic understanding of repentance. In fact for most, the question "What is repentance?" is answered with nothing more than a quick, "Oh repentance is turning from sin". True repentance is turning from sin but the teaching of scripture on the subject is much richer than this.

True repentance is not simply asking for forgiveness for wrongs done, nor a mere admittance of sins already committed. True repentance bears fruit in a changed position with God for all future time. The fruit of that new standing with God is a life characterized by the fruit of the spirit (Gal 5:22.) A man who 'repents' each time that he views pornography but never gains victory over the temptation to view pornography has never repented. To walk in this place is to be double-minded and unstable at best, but possibly no more than a Biblically educated fool, a person sure to be damned, decieved by religion, not connected to the Head who is Jesus.

"But we all stumble the Bible says so!" I know, but we do not stumble over the same things for the entirety of our life. And we cannot embrace a pattern of complacency regarding anything that God calls sin. If we are 'struggling' with something there will be anguish over lapses and in Christ victory. Remember Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." So it is that we can bear with a brother who is sincerely struggling with an issue but if it is simply a pattern of deceit we must separate ourselves from this.

That said lets look at some of the topics associated with repentance in the Bible. We can show a progression through five stages.

1) Recognition of Sin (Conviction)

2) Sorrow for Sin (Conviction?)

3) Confession of Sin

4) Asking Forgiveness for Sin

5) Turning from Sin (Repentance)

1) Firstly the Bible says true repentance is accompanied by a recognition of sin (Ps 51:4). The recognition we talk about is a conviction of the sinner that his or her actions are contrary to the will of God and that they are thereby separated from God (Is 59:2). This personal conviction of sin is produced by the action of the Holy Spirit upon the soul of the sinner (Jn16:8,9) and usually acompanies the preaching of the gospel. It is not simply a recognition that we have wronged somebody but rather that we have transgressed against God (Ps 51:4). A recognition that all wrongdoing is a transgression against God who is Love (1Jn 4: Cool

. And as time progresses and we know more about those things God calls sin, the Holy Spirit works a deeper and deeper brokenness as we repent of each trait of our sinful self that is contrary to God.

2) Some people believe that conviction by the Spirit produces sorrow. Sorrow however is a reaction to circumstances or facts. We become sorrowful when we see our sin as it is and understand that for our sins Jesus died. The difference between a godly sorrow for sin and a worldly one may lie completely in a person's willingness to submit to the truth of Scripture. Paul said I did not know sin until the Law revealed it to me. Good evangelism always contains some preaching of the commandment so that we can see what law we have broken. The truth of Scripture is impressed upon us by the Spirit. It is the godly sorrow Paul speaks of in 2Corinthians 7:9,10 that is the next step towards true repentance.

3) Following upon godly sorrow comes confession of sin (1Jn 1:9). We are not here just admitting to someone that we have broken God's law. No this confession is directed towards God, "God I have sinned, I have broken Your law."

4) John also says we must ask for forgiveness (1Jn 1:9), a literal asking of forgiveness for sin from God. We must understand and know that forgiveness of sin is precisely why Jesus died (Col 1:13,14). His resurrection is the proof that forgiveness was granted (Jn 11:25,26). So if we are first timers we pray something like,

"Lord Jesus forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart and be the Lord and Savior of my life."

If we already know the Lord and have stumbled we might pray something like,

"Lord forgive me for this sin. Please search me and help me to understand why this is happening. Lord please help me to overcome in these areas. In the name of Jesus. Amen"

If this is a sincere response to the Holy Spirit, God promises to hear and apply the atoning blood of Christ to our account (1Jn 1:9). We start a new life and are considered clean in God's sight (Col 1:21,22).

5) Now recieving forgiveness from with the intent of sinning again makes no sense. If sin is an offense that can lead us to hell, it is still sin to seek fire insurance. God please forgive me, and I'll be bakc later to ask forgiveness of the sins I am going to commit after I get up off my knees. That is not salvation friends. So when these things include a real determination never to sin again, a knowledge that we were bought with a price and are now beholden ot the Lord, from this comes an attitude which abides with the penitent, an attitude of seeking to do no thing which is offensive to God, out of gratefulness for the presence of God in this life. It is this abiding attitude that produces the 'fruit meet for repentance' talked about by John the Baptist (Mt 3:7-9). That fruit being actions which reflect a changed life, actions that demonstrate a turning from sin. Before we did whatever we wanted, now we do and care for the things of God. With this pattern established in our lives struggles come only to pass, and the longer we walk with Jesus the more the struggles are purely external because our souls are being conformed more and more to the image of the Son of God (2Cor 3:1 Cool

.

And glory be to God, we are not required to accomplish this in our own strength in fact we cannot do it, but rather, as many as are led by the Spirit, they are the Sons of God (Romans 8:14.)

God bless you as you seek Him and as you understand Him.
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I return to you now at the turning of the tide.

threadbear · Expert Joined: Jan 22, 2005 Posts: 7475

I find all of the emphasis on being child like and submissive before an authoritarian kind of God, interesting. I prefer the idea that the Creator, wove himself into his own creation, and we are tiny threads within this great tapestry. I think it/God, gave the threads in this matrix, free will (within the constraints of physical law), in order that it/God could experience the furthest limits of it's own potential, while being surprised and entertained by it.

The New Age movement does seem to turn the search for beauty meaning and God into a self involved vision quest, which shrinks limitless potential to the size of a dot. To use the matrix or fabric of creation as a metaphor--those whose ego subsumes all else, become frayed ends, that eventually break away completely, and ironically, in pursuit of "connection".

Ludi

Threadbear, so you prefer the idea of a Creator who wants his children to have curious minds, rather than submissive ones?

If I were a parent, I would prefer curious children rather than submissive ones, even though I know they would be more trouble! Smile

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