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JimfromOhio

I am happlily married with 5 kids. I am an accoutant and worked in an accounting field for over 25 years. I like to make a habit of writing down whenever I have deep thoughts about God (so I won't forget). I really into Reformed Theology that is connected to Presbyterian Church in America.

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Location: Columbus, Ohio, United States

I enjoy having deep thoughts about God and put down what I actually think about (so I won't forget).

Monday, February 27, 2006

Christianity

Christianity is NOT limited to Catholic or any other "denominations". Christians are follower of Jesus Christ rather than followers of Church's Doctrines. Reforming period that God guided cleared that up over the years.

Christ and Church

Focus on "CHRIST" rather than "CHURCH". Church is offering prayers, giving to the poor, celebrating religious holy days, singing in the choir, helping the poor, making amends for past wrongs, something that was practiced by the Pharisees, those legalism-loving, conservative, separatistic, spiritual leaders. They hated Christ not only because He broke their traditions in order to help people (Matthew 15:1-9) but because He saw through their religion to their hearts. I am a Christian simply because I have accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. As a disciple, my Christian faith should be inward, not outward because the Bible teaches that faith is of the spirit and not of the flesh. Christ dwells in my heart, and "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27) is the burning core of the Christian faith. I am a member of a local Church and get deeply involved in the participation of a local assembly (Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians. 12:25-31; 14:12, 26; Hebrews 10:24-25; I Tim. 3:14-15) for Worship, Fellowship, Edification and Great Commission.

Reformers.... God

God have the power sustaining and guiding human destiny. God is always making provisions for our future according to His will by providing and guiding for His glory. Therefore, God is unaffected by His creatures' opinions simply because we are His creatures and He is our Creator. Wisdom sees everything in focus and be able to trust God no matter what happens. All God's acts are done in perfect wisdom for His own glory. History revealed that Reformers have produced great things for Christ. God is not limited to any denominations or human religion leaders.

Christian Entertainment

In the age of technology, Christianity have gone into itchy ears mode. Paul described these people as having "itching ears" (2 Timothy 4:3). During Paul's days, Christians did not like sound doctrine, but they were Christians. They called themselves Christians, but their ears were itchy. Christians love entertainment more than actually worshipping God and they often will not endure sound doctrine. Itching ears means people want something else beside the sound docrine and holiness worship. Paul would rebuke today's Christians as He did in his day. Instead of the Spirit of God in the center or our hearts, we now have glamor, as artificial as pleasant to our eyes and ears. Showbusiness is often refer to as fiction and who can tell the difference today? Are we in Faith and Fiction? We are in the superficial age that have been incorporated into the structure of popular Christianity rather than true Christianity. The methods used by various so called "spiritual leaders" to promote Christianity, by means of which they gain some kind of success but which are themselves basically deceiving. In my research, many of these "TV Preachers" have their own ethic problems and lack of financial accountibility. Many of them even refused to reveal their financial records for Christian Auditors as non-Christians do with their non-profit organizations. If non-profit organizations want the public trust so that they can receive donations, they open their financial books. If they don't, there's no donation. Christian leaders should have HIGHER standards than non-Christians and MANY TV preachers do not have that kind of standards. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. — 2 Timothy 4:3 Let's look at it from a different perspective. Are TV Preachers/Mega Churches who includes entertainment practice IDOLATRY? Is entertainment another form of idolatry to make our Christianity enough to endure without feeling bored? Are we bored because we are having trouble setting our hearts focus on GOD alone? The tendency toward excessive stimulation is seen everywhere. Entertainment that once satisfied people now excites nothing more enjoyable than boredom. Are Christians are under the control of "the carnal mind" away from God-Centered to Self-Centered Worshipping? The Holy Spirit is OUR source of entertainment, not the other way around. Are we Spirit-filled or are we entertainment-filled? The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. Wrong ideas about how we glorify God are only the fountain from which the polluted waters of idolatry flow; ideas/images are themselves idolatrous. The idolater simply imagines things about God and acts as if they were true. We have glorified God with our own understanding and in our own images, but without a bright and conscious confirmation of God's presence through the Holy Spirit because a Christian's worship can be very deadly and dull in the eyes of God when He looks in our hearts. God grows weary of our worship when our hearts and minds are not in tune with Him! "God is trying to interest us in a glorious tomorrow and we are settling for an inglorious today. We are bogged down in local interests and have lost sight of eternal purposes." A.W. Tozer