Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

[kite]

Re: Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

Is RevTodd a racist from Georgia too? He seems like a racist kind of guy so far

Call a guy a wop and your labeled racist, youRe such a grease ball.

[angryoldman]

Re: Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

Call a guy a wop and your labeled racist, youRe such a grease ball.

My bad. I lost my head for a minute there. I thought I heard RevTodd mention he goes to gay bars and beats fags up on Friday nights. Maybe I just misread it.

[SpyWizard]

Re: Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

Thanks Rev..

Best bible i ever read... the Chronological bible.. I studied under many Greek and Latin scholars, but i do appreciate your testimony.

Some will Plant, some will Nurture some will Harvest, we all have different gifts.

Here is a question i put to many "Christians" it's 2006, somewhere in the world, a man is born and raised, taught his families beliefs, lives to an age of 32 and dies.

How is he judged?? will he go to heaven?? will he be cast into the lake of fire in the final judgment??






































Before anyone jumps here.. typically from a Evangelical Christian, they always respond with "he will be judged and cast into hell"... my response is " Are you God??, who are you to judge a man's heart?? to with hold the mercy of God?? "

Point being, only he who is wronged can give, or with hold forgiveness, thus judgement..

Thoughts??

[kite]

Re: Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

Here is a question i put to many "Christians" it's 2006, somewhere in the world, a man is born and raised, taught his families beliefs, lives to an age of 32 and dies.

How is he judged?? will he go to heaven?? will he be cast into the lake of fire in the final judgment??
Before anyone jumps here.. typically from a Evangelical Christian, they always respond with "he will be judged and cast into hell"... my response is " Are you God??, who are you to judge a man's heart?? to with hold the mercy of God?? "

Point being, only he who is wronged can give, or with hold forgiveness, thus judgement..

Thoughts??

I believe in God's infinite Mercy.

[kite]

Re: Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

Actually, I not only believe in His infinite Mercy, I'm counting on it.

[SpyWizard]

Re: Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

werd..

[angryoldman]

Re: Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

HEY HEY HEY..... QUIT HIJACKING MY THREAD HERE. I'm still awaiting RevTodds response. Let's not get him off in 20 different directions. Start your own damn thread for that.

[SpyWizard]

Re: Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

I think angry needs a "nerve pill" as my grandma used to call them..

[T-Man007]

Re: Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

That's all? If you measured a 144, you should be be making $175,000 a year creating computer programs to make appraisals easier. Not doing appraisals themselves.

LOL!

First off, there are already several companies with appraisal software and those dudes don't make crap. Just the people who own the companies. Second, no investor (in their right mind) is going to loan money on a home without someone seeing the home. Would you? If you had millions and millions of dollars, would you loan it to people against their homes based off of what a computer tells you? Of course not. Computers can't calculate things like condition, views, location or even school disctrict. You may have two identical homes within 1/4 mile of each other but one is in one school district and the other is in another one and the difference in price for the same home could be $20,000. No computer is going to know how to determine these types of crucial things that have a huge impact on the fair market value of a home. Hell, there are two states in this country that have made it completely illegal for lenders to even consider a value generated by a computer. The bottom line, there will always be appraisers. And besides, I'm too much of an extrovert to be a cubical guy. Now phukin way!

[RevTodd]

Re: Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

I appreciate your answer and your honesty. Yes, I was asking if you were offended by an unschooled person giving their interpretation of the scriptures. I'm sure in your schooling and training you've been instructed that the Bible can be deciphered in many ways. Does it bother you when people read a verse or a passage in the Bible, and say "My way is the only way to see this passage. What you see in the passage and decipher is wrong!!!!"
I'm sure you've studied old testament as well, and read that Exodus 21:7 you may sell your sister into slavery.
Exodus 35:2, if you work on Sundays, you should be put to death. Etc.... These are things that are printed in the Bible, and yet people still argue, "Well, that's not what the Lord meant...."
I guess what I'm asking is, why do people only see what they want to see in the Bible, and can sometimes be so stubborn to different interpretations? I see some of these people here in the Religious forums, and it just boggles my mind at some of the comments. So far, in every post of yours I've read, I've seen no attacks or flaming. Just honest answers to the fact. Again, I appreciate that. Especially since Religion is made to be such a taboo subject in todays society.

The reasons this becomes an issue are myriad, but our post-modern mindset has really amplified this in recent decades. People have embraced the notion that there is no real truth (out there, that is true ‘in itself’), that everything is relative, and what matters only matters to the extent that it matters to YOU. Tragically this postmodern mindset has thoroughly infiltrated much of modern Christianity.

So let me say first that there IS a true and correct meaning for any and every text of the Bible. I say this for at least two reasons… First, it is only logical – based on the premise that the Bible is God’s communication to man – that God would express himself in a clear and understandable manner, especially when it comes to foundational issues of salvation, etc. How could a just God communicate cryptically and ambiguously, and then hold men accountable for not understanding what he meant? God is very articulate and I think he can get his point across clearly, if we will just open our eyes/ears and shut our mouths.

Second, I believe each text of scripture has an inherent, objective meaning because… well… it says it does…

“And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God* spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Pet 1:19-21)

So, since scripture does have OBJECTIVE meaning (in other words, it means what it means, whether somebody likes it, understands it, or agrees with it or not), it is entirely possible that one person’s interpretation of a passage could be RIGHT, while anyone who disagreed would be WRONG. It is also entirely possible that the same two hypothetical people COULD BOTH BE WRONG. What they BOTH cannot be is RIGHT (assuming their opinions are adverse and not complementary to one another).

This is why I have always disliked Bible study groups where the methodology is to poll each member, asking what a given passage “means to you.” Frankly, I don’t care what it means to ‘you.’ I also don’t care what it means to ME. What I want to know is WHAT IT MEANS… PERIOD! Then once the meaning of the text is discovered, the truth or concept that emerges can then (and ONLY then) be APPLIED SUBJECTIVELY to each person’s individual life and situation.

So let’s boil this down…

1) The Bible has INHERENT meaning.
2) When looking at a text, we strive to find that meaning, OBJECTIVELY
3) Once we arrive at that objective meaning, we apply the truth we’ve discovered SUBJECTIVELY, that is, to our own particular situation.

Now, with that said… There are passages that are easier to interpret than others. This, I suppose, is where people like me earn our keep. That does not mean the harder passages don’t have an objective meaning, but it may be more difficult to determine. Usually the difficulties have to do with historical, social, cultural, linguistic, or other contextual issues that have to be addressed in the exegetical process (process by which the inherent meaning of a text is mined and discovered) and the hermeneutical process (process by which we synthesize and integrate the ‘parts’ we discovered via exegesis into a unified ‘whole,’ i.e., interpretation). Because of these difficulties, good, honest and responsible interpreters can disagree.

However none of this bears on the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. Almost all denominational groups agree on the very clear basics of the Christian faith, embodied in many of the ancient creeds, such as the Apostles’ Creed.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
*The word "catholic" (small ‘c’) refers not to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

However…

Unfortunately your statement is true about people at times seeing what they want to see in the scriptures. This is called ‘eisegesis,’ which means to read your meaning INTO the text. As I said above, the proper process is ‘exegesis,’ which means to withdraw the meaning out from the text. Part of solving this issue is simply getting people to realize they are doing it, and training them how to avoid it. Believers also become better at this as they mature in the faith and grow closer to Christ in their spiritual walk. These are things we strive to do in the faith community as we come together to build one another up in the faith.

Don’t know if I’ve answered your question or not, but hopefully this helps.

[RevTodd]

Re: Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

My bad. I lost my head for a minute there. I thought I heard RevTodd mention he goes to gay bars and beats fags up on Friday nights. Maybe I just misread it.

That's actually my Wednesday night routine... right after prayer meeting!

[RevTodd]

Re: Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

LOL!

First off, there are already several companies with appraisal software and those dudes don't make crap. Just the people who own the companies. Second, no investor (in their right mind) is going to loan money on a home without someone seeing the home. Would you? If you had millions and millions of dollars, would you loan it to people against their homes based off of what a computer tells you? Of course not. Computers can't calculate things like condition, views, location or even school disctrict. You may have two identical homes within 1/4 mile of each other but one is in one school district and the other is in another one and the difference in price for the same home could be $20,000. No computer is going to know how to determine these types of crucial things that have a huge impact on the fair market value of a home. Hell, there are two states in this country that have made it completely illegal for lenders to even consider a value generated by a computer. The bottom line, there will always be appraisers. And besides, I'm too much of an extrovert to be a cubical guy. Now phukin way!

So T... You appraise houses? How do you like it? Can you make good money doing that? Just curious.

[SpyWizard]

Re: Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

Good explanation Revt

I like the story of the Prodigal l son..

I know that i have been all 3 men in my life time..

each time the word is read, i find myself in a different role.

at one time i am the good and faithful son
at another time in my life i am the wayward son
and of late, i am the father, desperate and joyful to have what was lost returned to him.

and i have been the good son, angry and resentful..



When will the website be up and running??

thanks

[RevTodd]

Re: Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

Good explanation Revt

I like the story of the Prodigal l son..

I know that i have been all 3 men in my life time..

each time the word is read, i find myself in a different role.

at one time i am the good and faithful son
at another time in my life i am the wayward son
and of late, i am the father, desperate and joyful to have what was lost returned to him.

and i have been the good son, angry and resentful..



When will the website be up and running??

thanks

Our hosting company is having issues right now. Not quite sure why. I just found out today that it was down. Hopefully it gets fixed soon... We also have a forum on our site everyone is welcome to visit.

[DragonRider]

Re: Are there any Priests, Pastors, or ordained ministers in here?

Your answers and your understanding are truly amazing.