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@josephw saidWhat’s there to like about an organization which has been lying to people for the last 2,000 years?
What's there to like about an organization that poses as spiritual, but lacks the substance necessary for genuine faith.
mlb62's OP sounds like your ULC. Thought there might be a connection.
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@josephw saidI have no interest in preaching the gospel which biblical Christians typically attribute to their namesake, so why would I bother to get myself ordained as what you are pleased to call "a real minister" ? That is merely a minister in one particular religion, nothing more.
There are "priests" of all sorts, but there are only real ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, i.e. Holy Spirit ordained pastors and teachers.
I'm talking about biblical Christianity. Not organizations developed for ecumenical feel good tax exemption purposes.
But let's not go down that road. You can do whatever you like as long as it's legal. Just don't pretend it has anything to do with the real deal.
"The real deal"? If you think that only one religion is the real deal, then what you worship is religion, not God, and that is a definition of idolatry.
I suggest you review the parable of the centurion who asked Jesus to heal his (the centurion's) servant. Jesus says the most remarkable thing to him: he says that his (the centurion's) faith has healed the servant, not that he (Jesus) has healed him by miracle. Now, one has to ask, in what did the pagan's "faith" consist?
We are safe to assume that the centurion was no Christian himself, since there was no such religion in the world at that time. We are safe to assume that the centurion had no beliefs whatsoever about Jesus being the sacrificial lamb who would die for his, the centurion's, sins and be resurrected, because that doctrine hadn't been invented yet. If even the Apostles did not know or expect such a fate of their lord, then the centurion cannot have known or suspected it either. Nor did the centurion have any beliefs about a virgin birth. Nor did the centurion hold scripture to be inerrant (since the gospels hadn't been written yet), and it is highly unlikely that a pagan Roman soldier would have familiarised himself with the Jewish OT. So all of the Christian dogma in such matters counts for zilch.
Yet Jesus himself says that the pagan's faith has healed the servant. The obvious question is whether adhering to some religion, any religion at all, is the necessary condition of receiving Jesus's blessing. Jesus could simply have turned the centurion away (after all, the centurion was part of a deeply resented occupation army, rather like the Americans in Iraq or Afghanistan until recently), but he didn't. I understand the moral of the parable to be that Jesus won't turn anyone away simply for not adhering to one particular religion (which hadn't been invented yet).
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@moonbus saidObviously the question is, which is the lie?
What’s there to like about an organization which has been lying to people for the last 2,000 years?
And obviously one chooses which to believe.
Obviously, therefore, there exists The truth and The lie.
It is undeniable that both exist. We choose which to believe, even when there are liars on both sides of the aisle.
Seems obvious to me that one must lie to themselves in order to brush aside the eye witness testimony of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to believe The lie that it didn't happen.
One would need blinders on to dismiss the evidence.
And on and on the debate rages. But The truth is forthcoming. It will be undeniable.
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@moonbus saidYour post above is rife with error and misinformation.
I have no interest in preaching the gospel which biblical Christians typically attribute to their namesake, so why would I bother to get myself ordained as what you are pleased to call "a real minister" ? That is merely a minister in one particular religion, nothing more.
"The real deal"? If you think that only one religion is the real deal, then what you worship is ...[text shortened]... urn anyone away simply for not adhering to one particular religion (which hadn't been invented yet).
I won't get bogged down in debate over it all except to say that that is why you misbelieve, which is why you've chosen to believe The lie, even though in your heart you know The truth, but your mind betrays you.
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Blessed is the one who suggested it.
"I suggest you review the parable of the centurion who asked Jesus to heal his (the centurion's) servant. Jesus says the most remarkable thing to him: he says that his (the centurion's) faith has healed the servant, not that he (Jesus) has healed him by miracle. Now, one has to ask, in what did the pagan's "faith" consist?"
The Centurion represents the powerful Roman empire, and the consistency of the Centurion's faith exemplifies the power of faith.
If we further suggest associating it with the mustard seed of Matthew 17:20-21, the power of true faith becomes evident. Jesus tells his disciples that if they have faith as small as a mustard seed, they can command a mountain to move. This statement illustrates the immense power of faith, where nothing is impossible if we put our mind to it, without a doubt.
True faith is the innate and dormant power of the MIND. With true faith, even the size of a mustard seed, the mind can command a mountain to move, and it will move. But if anyone doubts it in any way, it will only move you to imagine the movement.
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@josephw saidAnd with that, Low Effort Joe went to smoke another bong.
Your post above is rife with error and misinformation.
I won't get bogged down in debate over it all except to say that that is why you misbelieve, which is why you've chosen to believe The lie, even though in your heart you know The truth, but your mind betrays you.
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@bigdogg saidVery funny. Years of effort wasted I suppose. Just to be mocked and ridiculed. Closed minds are hard to crack open.
And with that, Low Effort Joe went to smoke another bong.
But it's understandable that people twist and misrepresent the script. Otherwise how else can one produce a contradictory message.
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@josephw saidOther people on a discussion forum can't change us. An exchange of a few minutes can't alter a lifetime of experience walking a path.
Very funny. Years of effort wasted I suppose. Just to be mocked and ridiculed. Closed minds are hard to crack open.
But it's understandable that people twist and misrepresent the script. Otherwise how else can one produce a contradictory message.
So why do we expect to change others?