http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/ecumenism-religion/ en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:44:27 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2418294/posts Yesterday "You shall not go out with haste, . . . for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard" —Isaiah 52:12 Security from Yesterday. ". . . God requires an account of what is past" ( Ecclesiastes 3:15 ). At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God’s grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2418294/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:44:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2417564/posts "And Every Virtue We Possess" ". . . All my springs are in you" —Psalm 87:7 Our Lord never "patches up" our natural virtues, that is, our natural traits, qualities, or characteristics. He completely remakes a person on the inside— ". . . put on the new man . . ." ( Ephesians 4:24 ). In other words, see that your natural human life is putting on all that is in keeping with the new life. The life God places within us develops its own new virtues, not the virtues of the seed of Adam, but of Jesus Christ.... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2417564/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:19:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2417502/posts As a Jewish child, I never celebrated Christmas. I found out what I was missing on Christmas Eve, 1973. My high school boyfriend Brian invited me to join his family for their celebration. The event floored me. It wasn't just the illuminated tree, the music, and the pleasure of opening gifts. It was the power of the holiday to transform Brian's ordinary family. Laughing, singing hymns, praying -- they were absolutely radiant. I had never seen them so joyful. And in their presence, I felt joyful, too. That was my one and only Christmas experience, and it never occurred to... The American Thinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2417502/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:53:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2416871/posts Deserter or Disciple? "From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more" —John 6:66 When God, by His Spirit through His Word, gives you a clear vision of His will, you must "walk in the light" of that vision ( 1 John 1:7 ). Even though your mind and soul may be thrilled by it, if you don’t "walk in the light" of it you will sink to a level of bondage never envisioned by our Lord. Mentally disobeying the "heavenly vision" ( Acts 26:19 ) will make you a slave to ideas... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2416871/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:30:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2416179/posts Continuous Conversion ". . . unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" —Matthew 18:3 These words of our Lord refer to our initial conversion, but we should continue to turn to God as children, being continuously converted every day of our lives. If we trust in our own abilities, instead of God’s, we produce consequences for which God will hold us responsible. When God through His sovereignty brings us into new situations, we should immediately make sure that our natural life submits to the spiritual, obeying the... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2416179/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:50:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2415669/posts Where the Battle is Won or Lost "’If you will return, O Israel,’ says the Lord . . ." —Jeremiah 4:1 Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world. The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him. Until I do this, I will lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year, but that will depend on me, not God. However long it takes, I must wrestle... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2415669/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:36:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2415263/posts 'Walk in the Light' "If we walk in the light as He is in the light . . . the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" —1 John 1:7 To mistake freedom from sin only on the conscious level of our lives for complete deliverance from sin by the atonement through the Cross of Christ is a great error. No one fully knows what sin is until he is born again. Sin is what Jesus Christ faced at Calvary. The evidence that I have been delivered from sin is that I know the real... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2415263/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:13:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2415127/posts Which of the 50 states has the most religious population? Since there are many ways to define "religious," there is no single answer to this question. But to give a sense of how the states stack up, the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life used polling data to rank them on four measures: the importance of religion in people's lives, frequency of attendance at worship services, frequency of prayer and absolute certainty of belief in God. Mississippi stands out on all four, and several other Southern states also rank very high on the measures. Pew Forum http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2415127/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:17:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2415029/posts For them, it's wholly unholy By Shahar Ilan Christmas Eve is one of the few occasions when Hasidim refrain from Torah study, do not conduct weddings or go to the mikveh. But they do play chess and work on their bills On Christmas Eve, known in Jewish circles as Nitel Night, the klipot (shells) are in total control. The klipot are parasitical evil forces that attach themselves to the forces of good. According to kabbala (Jewish mysticism), on the night on which "that man" - a Jewish euphemism for Jesus - was born, not even a trace of holiness is... Haaretz http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2415029/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 18:54:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2414892/posts His Birth and Our New Birth " ’Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ’God with us’ " —Matthew 1:23 His Birth in History. ". . . that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God ( Luke 1:35 ). Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He did not emerge out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being the human race can boast of— He... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2414892/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 12:33:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2414377/posts The Hidden Life ". . . your life is hidden with Christ in God" —Colossians 3:3 The Spirit of God testifies to and confirms the simple, but almighty, security of the life that "is hidden with Christ in God." Paul continually brought this out in his New Testament letters. We talk as if living a sanctified life were the most uncertain and insecure thing we could do. Yet it is the most secure thing possible, because it has Almighty God in and behind it. The most dangerous and unsure thing is to try to live without God. For one... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2414377/posts#comment Thu, 24 Dec 2009 11:51:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2413644/posts Sharing in the Atonement " God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . " —Galatians 6:14 The gospel of Jesus Christ always forces a decision of our will. Have I accepted God’s verdict on sin as judged on the Cross of Christ? Do I have even the slightest interest in the death of Jesus? Do I want to be identified with His death— to be completely dead to all interest in sin, worldliness, and self? Do I long to be so closely identified with Jesus that I am of... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2413644/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:56:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2412868/posts The Drawing of the Father "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him . . ." —John 6:44 When God begins to draw me to Himself, the problem of my will comes in immediately. Will I react positively to the truth that God has revealed? Will I come to Him? To discuss or deliberate over spiritual matters when God calls is inappropriate and disrespectful to Him. When God speaks, never discuss it with anyone as if to decide what your response may be (see Galatians 1:15-16 ). Belief is not the result of... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2412868/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:42:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2412128/posts Experience or God’s Revealed Truth? "We have received . . . the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God" —1 Corinthians 2:12 My experience is not what makes redemption real— redemption is reality. Redemption has no real meaning for me until it is worked out through my conscious life. When I am born again, the Spirit of God takes me beyond myself and my experiences, and identifies me with Jesus Christ. If I am left only with my personal experiences, I am left with something not... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2412128/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:27:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2411604/posts The Right Kind of Help "And I, if I am lifted up . . . will draw all peoples to Myself" —John 12:32 Very few of us have any understanding of the reason why Jesus Christ died. If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the Cross of Christ is an absurdity and there is absolutely no need for it. What the world needs is not "a little bit of love," but major surgery.When you find yourself face to face with a person who is spiritually lost, remind yourself of Jesus Christ on the cross. If that person... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2411604/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:52:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2411491/posts ... The Mormons regard themselves as Christians, and Jesus figures prominently on the covers of LDS publications. They believe that after the death of Christ's apostles his church became confused, a period that ended only with the restoration of the Gospel by the presentation of another book of scripture by an angel to LDS founder Joseph Smith. Most Christian theologians, however, disagree, not just because they disbelieve the angel story and the Book of Mormon that resulted, but by pointing to Mormon concepts including the ability of humans to become godlike entities after death. Most perturbed have been conservative Evangelicals... TIME http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2411491/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:27:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2411488/posts The Rise of Mormonism If anyone doubts that the Mormonism is a growing concern, just consider these facts. The Mormon church has grown from 2 million members in 1963 to 9.7 million members today with "stakes" (as they call their congregations) in 160 different countries. In the United States alone there are approximately 5 million people who claim to be Mormons!As we express our deep concerns about the anti-Christian nature of Mormonism, it is important that we recognize that many Mormons are fine people, with high moral values and deep devotion to their family. The sincerity of the Mormon people... Life of the World http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2411488/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:10:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2411487/posts Mormons want you to believe that they are "Christians" and that their church, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints", is just another Christian denomination. Mormons themselves believe that they are Christians and that their church is the only true church. Joseph Smith receiving his vision There is even a move among Mormons to shorten the name of their church to simply "The Church of Jesus Christ."Their founder, Joseph Smith claimed to have been told in a vision regarding the Christian churches that God "forbade me to join with any of them" and "all their creeds were an... Catholic Education Resource Center http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2411487/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:02:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2411066/posts The Focus Of Our Message "I did not come to bring peace but a sword" —Matthew 10:34 Never be sympathetic with a person whose situation causes you to conclude that God is dealing harshly with him. God can be more tender than we can conceive, and every once in a while He gives us the opportunity to deal firmly with someone so that He may be viewed as the tender One. If a person cannot go to God, it is because he has something secret which he does not intend to give up— he may admit his sin, but... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2411066/posts#comment Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:49:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2410995/posts A relatively new spin that I've discovered while browsing Google: this man attempts to argue that Jesus Christ was in fact sent by Satan to deceive man, thus rendering the foundation of all Christianity null and void. The focus seems to be on the original Greek translation of the texts, trying to tie the Gospels to Genesis, the significance of John the Baptist, attempts at equating Jesus with Cain, and the consequences thereof (oddly enough, Chapter 15 of this work argues that John tried to show in his Gospel that Jesus was the seed of the serpent...perhaps I missed out... Authentic Christianity http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2410995/posts#comment Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:19:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2410604/posts The bishops of Kerala-- the home of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church-- have reached an agreement with Syrian Jacobite and Syrian Orthodox leaders to share churches outside Kerala for Sunday Mass and to consider sharing cemeteries and the use of priests at funerals. All four churches trace their origin to the evangelization of St. Thomas the Apostle. Underscoring the agreement’s ramifications beyond India, the Catholic delegation was led by Bishop Brian Farrell, LC, the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity since 2002. Although the sacred liturgy in both the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and... Catholic Culture http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2410604/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:02:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2410303/posts Test of Faithfulness "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . ." —Romans 8:28 It is only a faithful person who truly believes that God sovereignly controls his circumstances. We take our circumstances for granted, saying God is in control, but not really believing it. We act as if the things that happen were completely controlled by people. To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, or object of our faith— the Lord Jesus Christ. God may cause our circumstances to suddenly fall apart, which may... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2410303/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:37:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2409922/posts Twelve years ago, the president of the Gilbert Arizona Stake thought that the Gilbert community would be benefited and community relationships strengthened if his stake and the local parish of the Catholic Church could interact and build a bridge of friendship using an interest common to both, music. The first three years of this relationship saw each congregation prepare separate choral numbers and sing at the other's building. After shedding concerns and apprehensions, the choir directors for the parish and the stake combined their efforts to create a joint choir comprised of both faiths. They chose to prepare numbers to... LDS Church News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2409922/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:37:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2409425/posts Redemption— Creating the Need it Satisfies "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him . . ." —1 Corinthians 2:14 The gospel of God creates the sense of need for the gospel. Is the gospel hidden to those who are servants already? No, Paul said, "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe . . ." ( 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 ). The majority of people think of themselves... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2409425/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:37:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2408595/posts Wrestling Before God "Take up the whole armor of God . . . praying always . . ." —Ephesians 6:13,18 You must learn to wrestle against the things that hinder your communication with God, and wrestle in prayer for other people; but to wrestle with God in prayer is unscriptural. If you ever do wrestle with God, you will be crippled for the rest of your life. If you grab hold of God and wrestle with Him, as Jacob did, simply because He is working in a way that doesn’t meet with your approval, you force Him to put... My Utmost for His Highest (The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers;1992) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2408595/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:33:42 GMT