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To: ReformationFan
“It is well and good for the preacher to base his sermon on the Bible, but he better get to something relevant pretty quickly, or we start mentally to check out.” That stunningly clear sentence reflects one of the most amazing, tragic, and lamentable characteristics of contemporary Christianity: an impatience with the Word of God.

An impatience with the Word of God? Or a lack of the flow of Grace because of what Bible versus are being selected and for what reasons?

IF, when Jesus said in Matthew 22:35-40 and Mark 12:28-34, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind", and "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" are the commandments upon which "hang the whole of the Law," He actually MEANT it,
AND
When Jesus said in John 13:34-35, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another," He actually meant THAT too,
THEN,
Perhaps, just perhaps, He was teaching us HOW to teach - not just what to teach.

In fact, maybe He was also giving a Special Dispensation, so that His power would flow maximally through the teachings IF they were taught in this manner.

In which case, the darkness of this age would not be able to prevail over His teachings, and people would not get bored hearing them, and would not get angry hearing them, and would not turn away from Him, and turn, instead, towards Islam and progressive communism and late-term abortion and drugs and self-hatred.

For as Jesus also said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Which means if people were sharing Jesus' teachings in the proper way, with "gentleness and a humble heart," that "easy yoke," that "rest," is what those hearing those teachings would experience. Instead however, people arrogantly teach damnation, against Jesus' instructions, and drive people away - and straight into the hells that have plagued the world to this day.

17 posted on 10/21/2013 8:58:08 PM PDT by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
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To: Talisker
Which means if people were sharing Jesus' teachings in the proper way, with "gentleness and a humble heart," that "easy yoke," that "rest," is what those hearing those teachings would experience. Instead however, people arrogantly teach damnation, against Jesus' instructions, and drive people away - and straight into the hells that have plagued the world to this day.

And yet some of the greatest, Holy-Spirit driven Revivals were started by men who dared preached about Heaven AND Hell and our just deserts if we did not Repent and Believe the Gospel.

Men like Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, John and Charles Wesley and many of those that followed in their foot steps.

They did not tailor their message so as to not offend, but spoke the truth plainly and convincingly, and as a result, God the Holy Spirit blessed their efforts with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of born-again converts to Christianity, not just those who had "Accepted" Jesus, but those who had truly repented and received the Spirit of the Love of God in their hearts crying "Abba Father"....
28 posted on 10/21/2013 9:44:57 PM PDT by SoConPubbie (Mitt and Obama: They're the same poison, just a different potency)
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