but only in expressing his opinion.
Proverbs 18:2
Anyway, he definitely personifies Proverbs 18:2. That's the bad news. And he'll never know it either because he mocks God's Word too much to ever really give it an honest go. It's that darn listening thing again
And there's the rub. I genuinely wish the best for him and the best would be for him to bend the knee to God through Jesus Christ His Son and quit trying to be God. The job's not up for grabs. He's interviewing with himself. And I guess I've got a soft spot for atheists because of the handful of previous ones at Southbrook Church. They were just as stubborn until their lives hit the skids. Enough banging your head at the bottom of the barrel and eventually just about anyone will look up.
Barefoot's just not there yet. And the sad thing is, he's running in the wrong direction.
but in the end it leads to death.
Proverbs 14:12
And I tried to get him to see how silly it is to believe all the incredible wonder and intricacy and diversity of life is impossible without God but I underestimated what Paul said in Romans 1:17-32, "
"The righteous will live by faith."
HOWEVER...(added)
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."
Each time I read this I cringe for those who spend the their lives mocking God. The Lord is patient but they interpret this as Him being unable to do anything, unwilling to, or simply nonexistent.That's when I remember that in addition to a couple thousand regular attenders there will be several hundred more this weekend who have finally come to the end of their humanistic rope. I need to be ready to share the love of Christ with them.
Oh, I'll check in with Larry from time to time--especially at first to see if I keep my perfect record in predicting exactly what he's going to say next. Which, BTW, at this point should be a song and dance about frightening me off with half his cerebrum tied up while the other half circled around back for a rear attack.
AAaaaggghhh...scarey
I'll pray for you, Larry...
You'll laugh...
But I'll keep right on praying.
4 comments:
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."
Is this supposed to be describing atheists?
If so, do you think it an accurate descrition of Albert Einstein?
How about bill gates? He has give around 30 Billion to charity.......actually scratch Bill, windows is quite possibly one of the evilest things in creation.
I have to disagree with the first point on this post (I admit I didn't read much further). It depends on what one wants a "fool" to understand. If one wants a "fool" to understand BS, it isn't that difficult to recognize BS--we don't even have to understand why it's BS, really--and it generally isn't that difficult to explain why something is BS. Yet there comes a point where the "fool" will recognize BS and subsequently reject it.
It sounds as if you expect understanding to include acceptance, but acceptance is not an element of comprehension, no matter how badly you want it to be.
Alas, you seemed to have discovered an anti-intellectual Internet group. Don't feel bad about putting the rock back where it was and move on. If a seed was left behind, God will know what to do with it.
A few years ago I got into a debate with a group like that and one of them was incredibly hostile while another one was hostile only a part of the time and at other times asked questions. Several months after I had stopped going to their sites to debate, that atheist posted a kids' story about how Jesus could walk on water because He was God. She ended her last post with the words "Makes you want to go back to Sunday school, doesn't it?" She posted nothing more and after a year, she deleted her atheist blog.
Of course, only the Holy Spirit can convince people that God exists and loves them. The sad thing is that so many people are fooled that belief in God is antithetical to logic or science. The irony is that He is the source of logic and science.
You're not alone, by the way. Monsieur le Bum didn't like me either. :-) Take care.
-> just responding to your comment regarding "Pagan Christianity" sorry to interrupt your flow here ;) <-
Rob: I purchased the book last week and I am reading it now. I am sure that I will have much more to say on the topic when I am done reading it. But, I am keeping my mind open and my spirit ready to learn on this topic. Even if it means being ready to throw aside my preconceived ideas of just how this thing called "Church" should really be done.
If pastors/teachers ect... are always telling people that God has a plan for their lives (which I wholeheartedly agree with) I think perhaps He might also have a plan for His beloved bride, the church. And I can't help but think no matter what role we as people play in the church, maybe we all in our own way have gone astray from the real intended purpose of why we meet in the first place.
Looking forward to conversing with you further on this topic. Many blessings and thanks for the comment! :)
Elle
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