Zone1 What is the reason for your hope?

[Meriweather]

I somewhat agree with this. Jesus Christ is the reason for my hope, but I do believe that you can believe in the message Jesus taught and not believe in Jesus. However, as to have hope to have eternal life with Him, probably won't look good unless they repent.

Jesus is the Word of God, so definitely one can believe in the message. Believing in the Word is believing in God. The question that remains is if one believes in the message, and Jesus said he is one with the Father, and "I am", why draw back at this point?

 

[iamwhatiseem]

1 Peter 3:15: Always be ready to give a reason, an explanation, for your hope.

What is your hope/expectation? What is the reason for it?

The bubble of existence my wife and I have created for ourselves.
We have a loving, fun and comfortable home that we made in a world that has gone mad.

 

[Meriweather]

That G-d may drive and guide me from the Eastern Bloc country in which I live. And/or someone will actually understand and care about the reality that the persecution of some ultimately means grave conseqences for all.

One of the most awesome teachings of Jesus is that he rose above the political. He emphasized he was not the Messiah/anointed who would be a political leader. He was anointed/Messiah to bring glad tidings.

His message was to remain in Kingdom living despite the political turmoil or the societal turmoil going on around the community. These things would always be, but he taught how to live a fulfilling life in the midst of it all anyway.

Remember his simile about yeast? The yeast of peace and love one brings to their own individual surroundings grows outward into the world. In fact, beware of letting the yeast of the world and its hypocrisy enter your place in the kingdom.

 

[Meriweather]

The bubble of existence my wife and I have created for ourselves.
We have a loving, fun and comfortable home that we made in a world that has gone mad.

And that is what Jesus promoted, a teaching I've always been in awe of because along with love, goodness, and fun, it also brings peace.

 

[JohnDB]

And that is what Jesus promoted, a teaching I've always been in awe of because along with love, goodness, and fun, it also brings peace.

"I have not come to bring peace but a sword. From now on it will be son against father and daughter against her mother. A man's family will be his enemy"
~Jesus

Matthew 10:34-39

 

[Meriweather]

Most people try to "be good" or enact what they perceive to be good for themselves or their community. Even the current terrorists in the group of Hamas believes they are doing something good by killing civilian children and women.
But as the whole world rallies against them and declares that their genocide is good for the world...a person has to question their idea of "good".
I don't know a person alive who makes themselves the villain in their own narrative. Everyone believes that they are a good person with no real qualifications other than what they think or feel. Everyone is "right" but only in their own mind.

Excellent point. I heard this point about Hamas and their analogy of Israel and why it was right for them to behead babies, to even rip them out of the womb. A snake, they say, cannot change what it is. The children of a snake is also a snake.

Notice how they had to dehumanize a portion of the human race before they could commit atrocities. To see what we do as "right" seems to go hand-in-hand with deceiving our very selves to believe a lie.

 

[Meriweather]

"I have not come to bring peace but a sword. From now on it will be son against father and daughter against her mother. A man's family will be his enemy"
~Jesus

He also said, "My peace I leave you, my peace I give to you." There are more verses about Jesus talking about peace. With your verse, Jesus was also giving us a heads up that not all would accept or want this peace, this way of living, so it's not always going to be a walk in the park.

 

[Meriweather]

There is constant conflict precisely because we cannot agree on how to move forward.

This may be a point where education fails students. Too many of our issues today are based on subjective feelings rather than objective truths. The transgender issue is a perfect example. Subjective: I feel like the opposite sex. Objective: Chromosomes determine our sex.

Even when we say, let's base our decisions on objective truths, there is still going to be disagreement, but even so, far less chaos than when everyone puts subjective feelings ahead of objective truths.

 

[Meriweather]

That good comes from bad.

Reason and experience.

I agree, while noting that good also comes from good. (For the moment we'll set aside the proverb that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.)

 

[JohnDB]

He also said, "My peace I leave you, my peace I give to you." There are more verses about Jesus talking about peace. With your verse, Jesus was also giving us a heads up that not all would accept or want this peace, this way of living, so it's not always going to be a walk in the park.

You'll have to forgive my proclivities of teasing people I like....and I know a lot of scripture as well.
But the passage in Matthew is Jesus talking about the current attitudes of the people in the world including Israel. That people are evil even when they think they are good. And this is actually a quote from an Old Testament prophecy explaining it more in detail. (Check your concordance for a more precise reference)

I'm afraid that we are seeing an exact same situation today. Especially when there are wars, riots, and generally mayhem everywhere from governments to average citizens in our streets. The lawlessness is getting to be extreme. I'm way outside any of the cities so I am safe...but I have a TON of friends that I am concerned about.

 

[Meriweather]

But the passage in Matthew is Jesus talking about the current attitudes of the people in the world including Israel. That people are evil even when they think they are good. And this is actually a quote from an Old Testament prophecy explaining it more in detail. (Check your concordance for a more precise reference)

The one that immediately comes to mind is the one from Isaiah where some of the things people think are good are actually filthy rags. I think of that one a lot.

 

[JohnDB]

The one that immediately comes to mind is the one from Isaiah where some of the things people think are good are actually filthy rags. I think of that one a lot.

Currently and historically,
I'm a bit concerned about the amount of "hate farming" going on. Everyone is sowing seeds of hate and outrage against others.
There's always been some of it going on since written language and rumor mills were created. But today the sheer volume of it is destroying us.

If we look obtusely at the book of the Gospel of John....the religious leadership was divided on the Theological argument of "Who Sinned? " (which parallels the Calvinism/Arminian debate) and as they argued, the obvious miracle that signified that God was among them went ignored and God himself was ignored.

The hate farming they had sewn over their thoughts on God was producing so much fruit that they could not even see the obvious truth that God, himself was among them.

 

[Meriweather]

Currently and historically,
I'm a bit concerned about the amount of "hate farming" going on. Everyone is sowing seeds of hate and outrage against others.
There's always been some of it going on since written language and rumor mills were created. But today the sheer volume of it is destroying us.

If we look obtusely at the book of the Gospel of John....the religious leadership was divided on the Theological argument of "Who Sinned? " (which parallels the Calvinism/Arminian debate) and as they argued, the obvious miracle that signified that God was among them went ignored and God himself was ignored.

Is it possible there is an answer to this question....

How can I be a person of unity?

We are all so fond of our own opinions.

 

[ding]

I agree, while noting that good also comes from good. (For the moment we'll set aside the proverb that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.)

Fair enough. But it's important to remember that when we become satisfied there is a risk of becoming proud and I think you know where that could lead.

 

[JohnDB]

Is it possible there is an answer to this question....

How can I be a person of unity?

We are all so fond of our own opinions.

I've been looking for an answer to that question myself.
And if you find it...don't keep it to yourself. God Himself would love to have that answer.
I played a flute and you wouldn't dance,
I sang a dirge and you wouldn't cry....
Jesus was saying that (another prophecy reference) which demonstrated that He (God) couldn't get people to really listen to what He was teaching.
Even Judas, who really knew that Jesus was the son of God, never really understood the whole of the messages Jesus was preaching or what God was really interested in.

And BTW....I'm stealing your expression of a snake giving birth to a snake concept. Where I know extremely well that God can pull a rose out of a pile of manure...its still abnormal for a dove to be born of a snake.

 

[Meriweather]

And BTW....I'm stealing your expression of a snake giving birth to a snake concept.

Remember, I heard it somewhere myself...I just can't remember where. But it gave me an inkling of understanding what it takes to behead a baby. The fact that we can dehumanize others so easily is heartbreaking. We've been watching that be done here in America with people so easily throwing the terms "racist", "white supremacist", etc. at one another.

Ironically, it is the same people who insist we cannot call anyone an "illegal" immigrant who so easily call everyone else racist, bigots, etc--often without cause.

 

[ding]

How can I be a person of unity?

Is that even important? I think God loves diversity. Especially diversity of thought because that's what leads to truth being discovered.

 

[Meriweather]

Is that even important? I think God loves diversity. Especially diversity of thought because that's what leads to truth being discovered.

We might be on different trains of thought.

Let's begin with where we agree. Yes, God loves diversity. Diverse thoughts, diverse ideas, diversity in problem solving. To have such a discussion everyone has to be open to the ideas of others and how one can help make that idea/s work. I see this at work when we get together because we want to help a particularly difficult student. We are open, we are wiling to give almost everything a try. That is unity.

When I stated a I want to be a person of unity, one way I am a person of unity is I try the ideas of others and report back with the results. However, when I made that statement I was thinking of more difficult issues. Here are a few:

• In our country how can I stop the dehumanization we see? People flinging the words racists, bigots, white supremacy around like confetti
• How can we stop babies, children, mothers from being beheaded and burned
• How can we stop our political parties from insulting each other
• How can we end the mutilation of teen genitalia

I think of it as the stonewall problem, and ironically enough, it is one I am trying to work out in a thread in this religion forum before I even attempt to enter into a discussion: Racism in the White Church. How do you think this would work? This country thrives on diversity, so we should welcome diversity, including Racism, in White Churches.

 

[ding]

We might be on different trains of thought.

Let's begin with where we agree. Yes, God loves diversity. Diverse thoughts, diverse ideas, diversity in problem solving. To have such a discussion everyone has to be open to the ideas of others and how one can help make that idea/s work. I see this at work when we get together because we want to help a particularly difficult student. We are open, we are wiling to give almost everything a try. That is unity.

When I stated a I want to be a person of unity, one way I am a person of unity is I try the ideas of others and report back with the results. However, when I made that statement I was thinking of more difficult issues. Here are a few:

• In our country how can I stop the dehumanization we see? People flinging the words racists, bigots, white supremacy around like confetti
• How can we stop babies, children, mothers from being beheaded and burned
• How can we stop our political parties from insulting each other
• How can we end the mutilation of teen genitalia

I think of it as the stonewall problem, and ironically enough, it is one I am trying to work out in a thread in this religion forum before I even attempt to enter into a discussion: Racism in the White Church. How do you think this would work? This country thrives on diversity, so we should welcome diversity, including Racism, in White Churches.

That's part of it sure. I was also referring to the not so pretty side of diversity too... the conflicts. They serve a purpose. Man must gain knowledge of good and evil. What better way than differences or diversity of thought.

 

[whutTHEYsay]

Protection from all anxiety, as we wait in joyful hope, for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ...

little secret: it’s the “we” not the “Jesus” doing something there.