Jump to content

Do We Have a Christ Followers Thread?


ernest_t_bass

Recommended Posts

3 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

It is currently en vogue in the recovery community to call oneself "recovered" as opposed to the "recovering" that was common for decades.  I don't think I'm a big fan of that.

I have similar feelings about "saved," or even "born again."  It's an ongoing process that can stop at any time and restart. That is probably more implicit in "born again" than in "saved."

Present participles seem appropriate, past not so much.

Is there new testament scriptural basis for this?

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, BurntEyes said:

Pretty far from it. However, a mocking of anyone else's beliefs falls outside mine. While may differ on my vision of faith, my beliefs first and foremost acknowledge at the core, the good have far more in common than differences. I even accept atheist even if their path is different from mine. 

Others have already noted similar idea to mine in that, your path is yours. I accept it. Mine is mine and if your interested in learning about I'm happy to explain. If not, no problem. If upon explanation you disagree but accept my path, cool. 

I died. Literally. Yes I'm using the word correctly. 

I've stood at the divide between this world and next. Unlike most, my beliefs are based on first hand experience. 

Whether or not you see value in what I learned is entirely up to you and I'm good with it either way. 

One love

*you’re

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was raised catholic, am an atheist now. Honest question: let’s say I live my whole life as a non-believer and just act like a general dirtbag. When I’m on my death bed, can I not just say I’m sorry for all I’ve done and accept Christ as my lord and savior, and end up going to the same place as a lifelong devout Christian?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, StruggleBus said:

Leave it to two lawyers to ruin the thread

So you say you turned the jug of water into wine, yet my client cannot recall ever seeing the jug full of water. I then, ask you, would it be possible that the jug never contained anything but wine all along - and that this man, Jesus, as he is referred to by his "disciples" is merely a conjurer of cheap tricks attempting to dissuade, amongst others, my client into a belief that he and he alone is the son of God?

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

It is currently en vogue in the recovery community to call oneself "recovered" as opposed to the "recovering" that was common for decades.  I don't think I'm a big fan of that.

I have similar feelings about "saved," or even "born again."  It's an ongoing process that can stop at any time and restart. That is probably more implicit in "born again" than in "saved."

Present participles seem appropriate, past not so much.

I agree. The concepts surrounding things like “once saved, always saved” render flat the depth of scripture. There’s too much biblical discussion of people falling away, endurance to the end, working out salvation with fear and trembling, etc. to boil it down to trite truisms like this.

The “once saved, always saved” crowd often tries to wave this away with something about people falling away having never been saved in the first place, but that seems like a distinction without a difference.

24 minutes ago, Helobious said:

I was raised catholic, am an atheist now. Honest question: let’s say I live my whole life as a non-believer and just act like a general dirtbag. When I’m on my death bed, can I not just say I’m sorry for all I’ve done and accept Christ as my lord and savior, and end up going to the same place as a lifelong devout Christian?

According to Jesus, yes. See Matthew 20, the parable of the workers of the vineyard. If God gives me a wonderful and undeserved gift, why should I be jealous if someone “less deserving” gets the same gift? It’s not my gift to give.

Edited by Mole
  • Hook 'Em 4
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Mole said:

 

According to Jesus, yes. See Matthew 20, the parable of the workers of the vineyard. If God gives me a wonderful and undeserved gift, why should a be jealous if someone “less deserving” gets the same gift? It’s not my gift to give.

That’s what I’d figured, just one of many things about religion that I don’t understand. It made more sense to me that a place in heaven should be earned through living a righteous life, in service to God. 

I will say I’ve always been fond of the artistry that religion can evoke in people. There’s beautiful poetry in the Bible. “O death where is thy sting, o grave where is thy victory” -Cor 15:55 (thanks Johnny)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, Helobious said:

That’s what I’d figured, just one of many things about religion that I don’t understand. It made more sense to me that a place in heaven should be earned through living a righteous life, in service to God. 

I will say I’ve always been fond of the artistry that religion can evoke in people. There’s beautiful poetry in the Bible. “O death where is thy sting, o grave where is thy victory” -Cor 15:55 (thanks Johnny)

You can’t earn heaven it’s a gift. Be content you received the gift rather than being jealous of others who received the gift under what you might consider less worthy circumstances 

Works are important though. It is how a Christian is known to be such. We (I) generally do a really poor job on this count

Edited by Sawbonz
  • Hook 'Em 3
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

You can’t earn heaven it’s a gift. Be content you received the gift rather than beInfo jealous of others who received the gift under what you might consider less worthy circumstances 

Works are important though. It is how a Christian is known to be such. We (I) generally do a really poor job on this count

It's funny.  I was raised Methodist, the original "faith without works is dead" sect.

I was a "good kid" growing up but not a total goody-goody, and grew up in the church and then fell away sort of, as the young often do.  My faith and spirituality was rekindled by my experiences with alcoholism and recovery, where action and works are very important.

Which is why I think if you aren't continually working at it, mostly through others, your faith becomes empty and salvation is in jeopardy.  I'm not really concerned with salvation at present.  I need my faith/spiritual tools to get through this life without imploding.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Helobious said:

I was raised catholic, am an atheist now. Honest question: let’s say I live my whole life as a non-believer and just act like a general dirtbag. When I’m on my death bed, can I not just say I’m sorry for all I’ve done and accept Christ as my lord and savior, and end up going to the same place as a lifelong devout Christian?

If you actually believe in your heart that Christ is the son of God and repent of those sins, then yes...I believe you are saved (read the story of the thief on the cross Luke 23:39-43). Despite what some denominations may portray salvation as just say it and forget it, there is no evidence in the bible it works that way. But if you truly do believe, even on your deathbed and you stabbed 14 hookers earlier in your life, then there is redemption for you. It may seem fucked up for some horrible shitty person to have salvation after living there whole life that way, but again if they truly do believe AND repent then it shows that salvation is available no matter what we have done.

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

You can’t earn heaven it’s a gift. Be content you received the gift rather than beInfo jealous of others who received the gift under what you might consider less worthy circumstances 

Works are important though. It is how a Christian is known to be such. We (I) generally do a really poor job on this count

Yes.

The question of "Can i be an unbelieving piece of crap my whole life and then as i lay dying (shout out to William F.), repent and believe in Jesus because there are no atheists in foxholes and deathbeds" I think it's a faulty premise, because of this quote above.

Faith and knowing Jesus is not something you can fake or just say you do. He will say "I never knew you"  (Matthew 7:21). Faith is a gift that only can be given; you can't seek it hard enough or study hard enough or be legalistic enough, which is why Paul said he can't boast for it was nothing he did to get Faith.

And that is where my testimony begins: I was certainly not looking or seeking for Jesus but, when I pause and reflect that in all the infinite wisdom, mercy and love outside the bounds of infiniteness and time and space, I was still saved and given the gift of faith, I am grateful and I weep.

It's easy to get wrapped up in obvious sin. It's even easier to get wrapped up in self-serving sin and worshiping your lifestyle or a new car or bigger house or nice job with beautiful kids and all that fleeting stuff that doesn't mean anything after the blip of time we are on this fallen speck of dust. It is when I am too much of the world that I find it's helpful to meditate on the vast expanse of our universe, our limited understanding of time and space and light, and try to understand what infinite means. And then understand what being spiritually and infinitely dead means and never being called by my creator in infinite peace and joy.

A wretch like me, indeed.

 

 

Edited by Rougarou
  • Hook 'Em 3
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Bash Riprock said:

Religion is for people that are afraid to go to hell. Spirituality is for people that have already been to hell. 

Nonsense.     Sounds like you had some fucked up shit in your life.  And I'm genuinely sorry that happened, and very glad you are doing better.  But I know tons of folks who are very spiritual - yet have never 'been to Hell'.   They are just good, kind, spiritual people.  I have a great friend who is now a Quaker, and she was headed toward that service to others path when I met her forty years ago.  She had a great childhood,  married a great guy while young, and has a wonderful family.   She is just a spiritual soul.   Also, there are tons of folks I know who who treat religion and church like a social club, and they don't have the faintest worry about going to hell.

That sound like some fortune cookie shit.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Helobious said:

I was raised catholic, am an atheist now. Honest question: let’s say I live my whole life as a non-believer and just act like a general dirtbag. When I’m on my death bed, can I not just say I’m sorry for all I’ve done and accept Christ as my lord and savior, and end up going to the same place as a lifelong devout Christian?

Per the Bible, Yes and No.  For eternity every believer ends up in the same place, eventually, so to answer your question Yes.  That said prior to eternity but after the days of judgement, of the living and the dead, there is a period of time of reward for some and a period of regret for others, a mix for the rest.  Since God says He is righteous and cannot be mocked He would be a liar if everyone got the same judgement, for instance when one tries to live a believers life while another lives a life mocking it.  Therefore He must, to be righteous and true to His own word, for a period of time reward those who believed and lived according to those beliefs.  How and what the judgement is for each only He knows.  For the unbeliever It says a range of things but for many they will spend time in a place of regret.  For how long the period of regret/reward is also not really known, some say up to a 1000 years.  To receive a gift, sonship, requires only ones belief at a high cost to Him.  Salvation, a life long process of maturation, requires more of a cost to the believer.  That said after that period of time for all people, each according to their judgements, all believers end up wherever He is for eternity.  

Edited by RollLeft
  • Hook 'Em 4
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, PRONG HORN said:

When did they change the names of the guys named Luke, John, Paul, etc?  You think those were the names of the guys who wrote those books?  

Yes?

If they sound strange to you and not archaic enough it's because we've been using the same fucking names for 2,000 years. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, PRONG HORN said:

Was Jesus a European name?  Or Middle Eastern?  Where were the people who named a kid Jesus from?  

Hebrew

jesus_etymology_1.jpg

John is also Hebrew. Luke is Latin. Paul is Latin.

(I mean obviously these names have been translated and spelled differently in different languages over the years - but their roots go back just as far or farther than the time of Christ)

Edited by ztejas
Link to comment
Share on other sites

49 minutes ago, Gatorubet said:

Nonsense.     Sounds like you had some fucked up shit in your life.  And I'm genuinely sorry that happened, and very glad you are doing better.  But I know tons of folks who are very spiritual - yet have never 'been to Hell'.   They are just good, kind, spiritual people.  I have a great friend who is now a Quaker, and she was headed toward that service to others path when I met her forty years ago.  She had a great childhood,  married a great guy while young, and has a wonderful family.   She is just a spiritual soul.   Also, there are tons of folks I know who who treat religion and church like a social club, and they don't have the faintest worry about going to hell.

That sound like some fortune cookie shit.

It is. It comes from AA. Not AA doctrine or official anything. It's just a saying that is used to help overcome resistance or skepticism toward the program because of it's religious/Christian roots. 

We use a lot of simple tools to try to save people's lives. And a lot of newcomers are neither particularly intellectual, intelligent, or favorably disposed toward religion. 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a topic I’ve struggled with dating back to as young as I can remember. Both of my parents go to church every Sunday and I used to go with them. But I’ve always had this overwhelming doubt that lingers in my subconscious mind, so going to church has always been a struggle for me. I always have to catch myself from rolling my eyes at certain comments preachers make.

I understand the value of committing your life to Christ, and having faith that you aren’t in this alone. That there is a higher power that genuinely has our best interests at heart. I genuinely want to get there, not just for myself but for my parents. They beat themselves up all the time because in their opinion, they failed in this regard. But I don’t know how to get there. I don’t know how to get the light bulb to turn on.

I know there are plenty of people like me that finally turned a corner. What happened for you? What clicked? I’ve been struggling to get there for awhile now and I feel like I haven’t made any progress. I feel like my faith has gotten worse as I’ve gotten older.

 

edit: I apologize if this is derailing the thread. Looking at the OP, I feel like this might be off base, and not really what the thread was intended for.

Edited by youdunnf'dup
  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, youdunnf'dup said:

I know there are plenty of people like me that finally turned a corner. What happened for you? What clicked? I’ve been struggling to get there for awhile now and I feel like I haven’t made any progress. I feel like my faith has gotten worse as I’ve gotten older.

I went back and forth between wanting to die and being terrified of it. I decided that I wasn't going to jump, and that I wanted to quit digging, so I did. 

That was how it clicked for me, but I'm not religious or a practicing Christian, and I'm not sure you have to reach a point of desperation to change your outlook (but it can make it easier). I just try and have faith that things will be okay and that in the grand scheme of things my problems are insignificant, so there's no point in worrying about what is going to happen. Part of that too is a pretty high tolerance for what other people choose to beleive in. I don't beleive in hell, but if that belief helps people live a better, happier life then it isn't my place to judge.

Now, surrounding this was a relationship with drugs and alcohol that I had to end. I won't get into that because it doesn't seem topical, but there's a lot of good discussion on the alcoholic thread. You can pretty much come ask anything you want there. We're good at talking about ourselves and telling people what to do. (a little self-derision there)

  • Hook 'Em 3
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...