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Shoutbox - 19 comments
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Omar Blasgen says:
I'm starting to get the impression that the Christians here on virb are afraid to have opinions or questions. Does your pastor have to approve of them before you are allowed to voice them or what? Why even have these groups if no one is to actively discuss the topic? Maybe my concern is for the lack of Christians who use their God-given ability to analyze and reason. In my opinion the reason people find contradictions with the bible is for one of two reasons: A)The bible is wrong, or B)We are misinterpreting it. I created a group called thought and theology hoping to draw out the few Christians who consider their ability to reason and approach complex topics with an analytical mind as a gift from God, not their "cross to bare". People who aren't afraid to ask controversial questions and analyzing them until they make sense. Unfortunately, the only people to participate are mostly atheist and agnostics. The even more disappointing thing is I enjoy the conversations with them more than the people here. At least they pay attention to the questions and give honest, opinionated feedback.
I challenge all of you to grow a backbone. If you've got one show it by not worrying if the ones that don't are going to let you into heaven because of what you think. It is not their decision to make. You're not going to hell because you see things differently than the mainstream. As a matter of fact the only unpardonable sin is blaspheming the holy spirit. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling has the word "work" in it as well as "fear" and "trembling". That means you have to get your hands dirty and go through some learning curves. If you are trying to ride in to heaven on the coattails of your pastor and his opinion alone, you may find God telling you He doesn't care what you did for Him. Rather He says get lost, we don't know each other.
posted Jul 7
Omar Blasgen says:
Who or what is the holy spirit? I think vaporous ghost when I hear the word spririt. What does it mean to be filled with him? Are the "gifts of the spirit" bestowed on you, or are they retained by the holy spirit and merely manifested through you? Is speaking in other tongues truly a foreign-to-earth, heavenly language? In acts, during the pentecost, others in the room recognized their own language. They thought this odd, because the Jews speaking it should not have known it.
posted May 20
Comment replies (3)
.elizabeth. says:
i'm not sure what the holy spirit is exactly. i like to think of it as divine spark or the spirit that flows through and envelopes all things.
but then i have no idea what i'm talking about.
i have never personally experienced tongues or glossolalia or nything like that, however, i was at a spanish coffeehouse with my best friend and everyone was singing along and she was super in to it and started singing in spanish. she had no idea until i asked her about it later. i think that could fall under the tongues catagory
posted May 21
Danalieth says:
the Holy Spirit is a part of the Trinity (three persons in one). even if this word is not in the Bible, we know it is true, because God is unique, and there are many reference saying.. i.e.: "God is love" "The Spirit is love", "filled by God", "filled by the spirit"...and Jesus said that he is the equal of God. by examinate all of these sentences of the Bible, we conclude that God is three in one. [[when I say "God", it means "God the Father". The trinity is God The Father (His hebrew name is Yahve), God The Son (this son is named Jesus), and God The Holy Spirit. They are all equal and have the same attributes]] Saint Patrick explained the trinity to Irish men using a shamrock (a clover). each leaf representing a part of the trinity.
the Holy Spirit is a "person", not a "force". it is invisible and immaterial, but it have sentiments, thoughts. when it comes into you, it free you from sinning, which is not humanly possible. you'll continue sinning, but you are not a slave of sin anymore. the Spirit gives gifts, but not everyone will speak in tongues ( I personally dont think it is still possible today..). gifts can be almost everything, sharing, teaching..and many others which I dont remember (cant find the verse in the Bible..) and that is absolutely normal if we dont understand everything (trinity is not simple..), we're talking about God, and we will never undertand everything about Him.
ok thats it, message me if you got questions ("you" being the person who reads it now), and I'll do my best to answer. sorry for all spelling mistakes, english is not my first language. I just hope you uderstood something. ok so bye, God Bless.
posted May 23
Omar Blasgen says:
In the Greek translation of the bible the word we get spirit from is "pneuma" which means "breath" or "wind". The words "inspiration" and "respiration" have the same root (not a coincidence) . When God created Adam he brought him to life with His breath. God breathed Adam's spirit into him. Breath is much more intimate than a "vaporous ghost". Just on a physical level, learning to control ones breath gives them power (not referring to anything spiritual here). For an example take a look at the Chinese breathing exercises of chi-gong.
From the perspective of the trinity, I use the biblical descriptions of God "the father", "the son", and "the holy spirit" from which to draw my analogy.
The only name (of all the names of God in the bible) that God gives himself is "I Am". So we know that God "is"
From John we learn that Jesus is the "Word". We also know that Jesus is the physical manifestation of God. Also From genesis, we learn that God created the physical universe by "speaking" it into existence. I would like to point out (as a side note) that the words of an author are considered to be his children (God the "son").
The Holy Spirit, we know from translating the language it was written in (Greek) is "breath" or "wind".
So if God "is", He spoke the "Word" of creation, truth, and life ("I am the way, the truth, and the life..." John 14:6), And that "Word" was carried on his "Breath" (for without breath there can be no words).
These three aspects of God are one, but yet three different entities in and of themselves.
..........
posted May 26
Adam says:
After some research. Mathew 8:3 is the first time in the bible that it says anyone touched a lepper. The story is repeated in Mark and Luke and all three gospels make a special point of saying Jesus touched him. Perhaps the miracle here is not that Jesus healed the lepper (because God can do that rather easily) but that He touched a lepper. Because no one touched leppers.
posted May 20
Comment replies (1)
Omar Blasgen says:
He also spent time socializing with the mafia (tax collectors) of the time. It makes you wonder why most Christians are afraid to be around "undesirables" and sinners. If we are to be more like Christ, we would spend our time with them. Of course this is to be balanced with time spent in the company of believers.
posted May 20
Rick says:
I wanted to get some ideas on how the rest of you study the scriptures? Any methods or places you like to go?
posted May 8
Comment replies (1)
a life once lost says:
"lectio divina ("divine" or "spritual reading") has helped me. its nto scaning a page and getting useful info, its a meditative approach by which the reader seeks to savor and taste the beauty and truth in every phrase and passage. four steps. 1. to read text, next to meditate, then to rest in the sence of God's nearness, and ultimately, to resolve to govern one's actions in the light of new understanding. its a act of prayer that God can use to manifest his presence to us." I found that definition of lectio divina in a Vintage Spiritual classic publishing of Markings by Dag Hammardkjold, which by the way is a great book to use lectio devina on.
posted May 17
Omar Blasgen says:
I was noticing that the scripture "foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, and the rod of correction will drive it far from him." is seemingly at odds with the scripture "even if you beat a fool half to death, you cannot beat the foolishness out of him". I forget where exactly the first one is located (i wanna say proverbs), but the second can be found in proverbs 27(i believe it is 27, but proverbs for certain). Any theories, insight?
posted Apr 19
Comment replies (7)
The Allen says:
Just because one has some foolishness doesn't make them a fool. So the child isn't necessarily a fool.
posted May 16
Omar Blasgen says:
True. The wording in proverbs 22:15, however states that the "rod" would drive the foolishness far from them. If the rod is used for beating, and if it is bound in their heart, then far from them would be "out". Which contradicts himself (Solomon) when he says even if you beat fools half to death, you still can't beat their foolishness out of them (27:22). He, in the chapter before (26:3) still says that you need to beat the fool....."you have to whip a horse, you have to bridal a donkey, and you have to beat a fool." The point, though, whether or not someone is a fool or just foolishly behaving, the foolishness itself being beat out of them is what i noticed to be at odds. Thank you for your response, sincerely.
posted May 17
Omar Blasgen says:
My personal opinion is that it does not really contradict itself. From a literal focus on the "rod", it does. I think the rod was a metaphor, where the focus is really "discipline" (which has non-violent forms). 26:3 stating that you have to beat a fool illustrates proverbs 20:30, "Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways". 27:22 Allows us to see that it is not worth beating a fool. It will do no good anyway.
What I think is to be learned from all this.....
*discipline corrects foolishness.
*it is most beneficial to apply the discipline when the fool is young.
*fools are dense, stay away from them!
posted May 19
Joe says:
when it says foolishness is bound in the heart of the child i don't think it saying that all children are fools (everyone has some foolishness, else some would be without sin) and Solomon doesn't seem to be calling everyone a fool, so though children have foolishness bound in their hearts they are able to be corrected (by the rod). where as a true "fool" clings to his foolishness.
thats what i got from it anyways
posted May 20
Omar Blasgen says:
Again, as I posted before your first one on the subject, the verses say that the foolishness itself is or can't be driven out of them. the contradiction, by literal translation, has nothing to do with whether they are a fool, or merely acting foolishly.
Of course proverbs 20:11 says: Even children show what they are by what they do; you can tell if they are honest or good. One could deduce that if Solomon would not be afraid to say they are evil as children, I doubt he cared if he stepped on toes to say they were fools. Proverbs 3:27says: ...as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. If foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, so is he.
This is why I think that the word "discipline" is the key word, not "rod".
as it says in proverbs 20:30, "Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways"
I think he is saying that even adult "fools" (or foolishness) can be removed by discipline. The problem lies in the fact that adults are more set in their ways, and it is not so easy. In some cases, it is too late.
posted May 21
Omar Blasgen says:
As far as "everyone has some foolishness, else some would be without sin"....this brings up another topic.
The word sin in the Greek language (the language the new testament of the bible was written in) is hamarto/hamartia which is an archery term meaning "to miss the mark". Connotations can play a huge role in understanding something. The reason I mentioned it is if it is a slight error, and not a 180 degree turn in the opposite direction (as many would have you suppose), then "sinners" are people attempting to do what they think is right. Unfortunately, they don't quite "get it".
I think "sin" has a stigma to it, but it is something as simple as not quite "getting it right". Based on the source word in the Greek, it would be a natural thing to say that "all have sinned". You are correct, everyone does have some foolishness. The discrepancy is not if the person is a fool, but how or if the foolishness can be driven out
posted May 21
Pages: 1 (19 total comments)
.elizabeth. says:
whats your favourite book of the bible?
mine is hosea
posted Aug 2