Sin
Lets start with happenings since last post. Yes, things look like she is gone for good and I haven't found another young lady to pursue yet. I bought my house. I have gotten into motorcycles (specifically adventure bikes). I have lost my job. Seems to be a cycle of every 2 or 3 years in manufacturing. No worries though, I was blessed with a job that is almost making the bills, so I have that to be very thankful for.
I was looking at my previous posts and have decided that I have been a stupid kid that makes many stupid choices. I can only be grateful that they Lord has gotten me where I am at and that I may have learned a few things along the way. I am still a stupid kid full of sin though.
So what I wanted to post today was about some events that have been unfolding around me. I am tired of saying "I don't know". Someone asked me about a friend that is divorced and if that friend should be allowed back into the church. Of course my first answer was I don't know. That person left the church on their own accord and I have no clue what happened to them since they left. That basically has me asking on what basis should a person be left out of the church. Do I believe in divorce. No. I do not want to keep folks from hearing the word of God being taught either. I can see caution this day in age of what you would allow someone to do. For instance, I wouldn't want a convicted child molester to be allowed in the nursery with children without several other adults. Can I trust that person's statement that they are repentant of their sin? Yes, just about as well as anyone else's word. I will take measures to insure that the individual will be less tempted in the future. Kind of like putting a lock on a tool box in a machine shop, just keeping the honest people honest. Anyone in a machine shop that knows anything about machining will only be a drill bit away from getting in a tool box. So should a divorced person be allowed back into the church? The guidelines I see in the Bible talk about using excommunication because someone in the church was sinned against or to keep the dough clean of yeast (keep the sin from spreading). What if the person left the church for other reasons and is returning divorced or having committed sins but is repentant? Honestly, I don't see a problem with the person returning. Being an officer in the church might be an issue though. I say that because a officer is someone to be looked up to. It is a leader in the church. Someone that makes decisions. All of us are sinners. All sins are the same in the sight of God. Basically, I think this is a Session issue when it is all boiled down. They will have to decided if the sin has been stopped or there was ever an issue to begin with. So, I am still left with a "I don't know".
Basically sin is the issue. The result is death. The only hope is in Christ. I think that if everyone (which will not happen) were to focus on Christ, none of this would be an issue. Seeing that God uses all these issues to mold and sculpt us into what He wants us to be, I am curious what to do with my church in general. What constitutes a good church? 1. Belief that the Bible is the Word of God. 2. The church wants to serve God. 3. Teaches the word of God. Does your church do those things? Do you know the Bible well enough to be able to say that your church does those things? I would hope that if your church does those things, that the leadership of the church would be able to make decisions about things that come up in the church. Unfortunately there still sin no matter how things happen. Because of Sin, things will be rocky at best. I don't believe in prosperity preaching. I don't think that if you are close to God that you will not die or that you will be a millionaire. I do believe that God will put you through trials that you will be able to handle to shape you into what He wants. So, if my church is doing those three things and I don't like the something, I guess I would have to understand what is not liked in relation to the Bible. Should I leave my church for something like the color of the blinds? No. Should I leave the church because they are playing a video during the Sunday School hour? Maybe. If the video is Christian based and teaches from the Bible, the answer is no. Should I leave the church if they start teaching about letting homosexuals into leadership? YES, very quickly. Should I leave the church because they will not let me talk about my fundraiser? No. There are some things that are and should be issues, but there are many things that are not issues. Just don't let the church you attend be a status symbol to you.
I have decided that because of sin that relationships are very difficult. Inherently, the sexes are different. They have different views, different likes, different dislikes, and much, much more. The Bible gives some instruction for each sex to do, but I think that because of sin that each one doesn't know how to properly do their job and often forgets to do their job. I am not excusing or asking for excuses for my wrongs. I am sure I have done more wrong than I will ever understand and I know I don't deserve to be forgiven for. Because of this split from God, getting long is so much more difficult. I wish things were as simple as an OLD Disney movie. There is one or two bad guys and from the start you know whom they are, They don't change. You may not know how to get around them at first, but you will always know. The girl is always interested in the main character and the main character knows how to make her happy. The biggest thing is that the main character knows which one he is supposed to pursue. That is the most tricky thing ever. Without sin, I think that everything in this post would be easier to answer.
I was looking at my previous posts and have decided that I have been a stupid kid that makes many stupid choices. I can only be grateful that they Lord has gotten me where I am at and that I may have learned a few things along the way. I am still a stupid kid full of sin though.
So what I wanted to post today was about some events that have been unfolding around me. I am tired of saying "I don't know". Someone asked me about a friend that is divorced and if that friend should be allowed back into the church. Of course my first answer was I don't know. That person left the church on their own accord and I have no clue what happened to them since they left. That basically has me asking on what basis should a person be left out of the church. Do I believe in divorce. No. I do not want to keep folks from hearing the word of God being taught either. I can see caution this day in age of what you would allow someone to do. For instance, I wouldn't want a convicted child molester to be allowed in the nursery with children without several other adults. Can I trust that person's statement that they are repentant of their sin? Yes, just about as well as anyone else's word. I will take measures to insure that the individual will be less tempted in the future. Kind of like putting a lock on a tool box in a machine shop, just keeping the honest people honest. Anyone in a machine shop that knows anything about machining will only be a drill bit away from getting in a tool box. So should a divorced person be allowed back into the church? The guidelines I see in the Bible talk about using excommunication because someone in the church was sinned against or to keep the dough clean of yeast (keep the sin from spreading). What if the person left the church for other reasons and is returning divorced or having committed sins but is repentant? Honestly, I don't see a problem with the person returning. Being an officer in the church might be an issue though. I say that because a officer is someone to be looked up to. It is a leader in the church. Someone that makes decisions. All of us are sinners. All sins are the same in the sight of God. Basically, I think this is a Session issue when it is all boiled down. They will have to decided if the sin has been stopped or there was ever an issue to begin with. So, I am still left with a "I don't know".
Basically sin is the issue. The result is death. The only hope is in Christ. I think that if everyone (which will not happen) were to focus on Christ, none of this would be an issue. Seeing that God uses all these issues to mold and sculpt us into what He wants us to be, I am curious what to do with my church in general. What constitutes a good church? 1. Belief that the Bible is the Word of God. 2. The church wants to serve God. 3. Teaches the word of God. Does your church do those things? Do you know the Bible well enough to be able to say that your church does those things? I would hope that if your church does those things, that the leadership of the church would be able to make decisions about things that come up in the church. Unfortunately there still sin no matter how things happen. Because of Sin, things will be rocky at best. I don't believe in prosperity preaching. I don't think that if you are close to God that you will not die or that you will be a millionaire. I do believe that God will put you through trials that you will be able to handle to shape you into what He wants. So, if my church is doing those three things and I don't like the something, I guess I would have to understand what is not liked in relation to the Bible. Should I leave my church for something like the color of the blinds? No. Should I leave the church because they are playing a video during the Sunday School hour? Maybe. If the video is Christian based and teaches from the Bible, the answer is no. Should I leave the church if they start teaching about letting homosexuals into leadership? YES, very quickly. Should I leave the church because they will not let me talk about my fundraiser? No. There are some things that are and should be issues, but there are many things that are not issues. Just don't let the church you attend be a status symbol to you.
I have decided that because of sin that relationships are very difficult. Inherently, the sexes are different. They have different views, different likes, different dislikes, and much, much more. The Bible gives some instruction for each sex to do, but I think that because of sin that each one doesn't know how to properly do their job and often forgets to do their job. I am not excusing or asking for excuses for my wrongs. I am sure I have done more wrong than I will ever understand and I know I don't deserve to be forgiven for. Because of this split from God, getting long is so much more difficult. I wish things were as simple as an OLD Disney movie. There is one or two bad guys and from the start you know whom they are, They don't change. You may not know how to get around them at first, but you will always know. The girl is always interested in the main character and the main character knows how to make her happy. The biggest thing is that the main character knows which one he is supposed to pursue. That is the most tricky thing ever. Without sin, I think that everything in this post would be easier to answer.
posted by mechcanoer at 11:13 PM
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