Showing posts with label Christian life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian life. Show all posts

Friday, May 21, 2021

Something to Study On: Age of Deceit

 There is an interesting series of videos from the Koinonia House YouTube channel called "The Age of Deceit". While watching Part 6, my brain was so flooded with questions that I had to slow down the playback speed so I could take notes.

Here is the video:


Here are some of the questions and thoughts that I noted and will be studying:

  • How then should churches be set up?
  • Jesus had the first "mega-church" when he was teaching thousands. He didn't need anything to "entertain" the people; he simply spoke.
  • I need to check out that World Christian Encyclopedia (which I'd never heard of before now).
  • Perhaps one of the things that "turn off" some seeking people from Christianity is the way we have complicated things with churches and worship.
  • Is it Nicolaitan then to have Bishops and a variety of clergy - or anything other than the teachers/preachers?
I keep a notebook of questions and thoughts like these because my memory is so poor. When I am doing Bible Study, my notebook helps remind me of things I wanted to know more about. It's been a very helpful habit.

This video series is another one of the reminders that we need to always be discerning and prayerful about everything.

I just wanted to share this with you.

Peace
--Free

Saturday, May 1, 2021

A Tip on Discernment

 I picked up a little tip from watching a series of videos from a certain YouTube channel. This channel owner reviews different churches, pastors, and movements that way I review products on FreeBeingFree. 

The channel is called BEZELT3 and this is from his About section:

The gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ is just that. It's an announcement of something that happened in history. It's that Jesus lived a perfect life and died a substitutionary death on behalf of sinners. He rose from the dead bodily and now, ascended to heaven, sits at the Father's right hand victorious over sin and death. Because of this fact everyone who trusts in this announcement will be saved from the coming wrath of God on the last day - That's the gospel and it is outside of you. If you would like to contact me you can email me at bzel333@gmail.com

I'm going to write to ask what the BEZELT3 means.

He approaches everything with slices of humor but stark biblical truths. I have not agreed with everything he has to say, but his content is thought-provoking and always laid out next to the Bible as the main source.  (Totally at random, here is one of his videos.)

As I said, I agree with almost everything he has said in the videos I've watched. I am in total agreement so far with his critiques of prosperity preachers and the boy-band-type mega-church presentations. One of the main points he stands on is how the gospel is to be presented and how those presenting the gospel do so. 

Discernment is vital in Christian life. I love the definition that Got Questions gives for discernment. Here is a portion from their  page (my emphasis):

The word discern and its derivatives are translations of the Greek word anakrino in the New Testament. It means “to distinguish, to separate out by diligent search, to examine.” Discernment is the ability to properly discriminate or make determinations. It is related to wisdom. The Word of God itself is said to discern the thoughts and intentions of one’s heart (Hebrews 4:12).

Without discernment, it's easy for us Christians to fall prey to false teachings and false teachers. 

I am always eager to delve deeper into Bible study and I have struggled in the area of discernment. I sometimes when listening to various preachers and teachers. 

After watching some of the BezelT3 videos, I was reflecting on a Bible passage he had mentioned when discussing a popular preacher. Something Bezel had said more than once kept nagging at me. That's when I realized something and made this note for myself:

If the focus of a message is not the Gospel, watch out.

If the focus is more on mortal well-being than the eternal soul, watch out.

That's it. It's like a little cheat sheet for Christians.

I have listened to many preachers and teachers who have messages on things that are very interesting to me and my present life: my health, my money (or lack of), my emotions and stress; my bad relationships; regrets about my youth; what the government is doing; social justice and injustice...

It's so tempting to want to hear about how we can make this life more comfortable. And I'm not saying there is anything wrong with getting help with finances or health. But there are many places I can turn to for all that. For the Gospel and for learning how to live my Christian life - that is what the preachers and Bible teachers are for.

Also, churches are not for my entertainment. 

I recalled something that I might have mentioned here before about a friend of mine. I was attending a church where the pastor focused on the Bible. Every sermon was a continuation of a study. We did a walk through Acts and Romans. We did a study of marriage and a study of the single life and a study on prayer, and so on. Every study was done using Scripture. Each week, on the way into the church, we picked up a pamphlet outlining the verses we'd be dealing with that day and we could pause to drop offerings or tithes into baskets at the back.  A little group would lead us in a short song of praise before the pastor began the teaching. Afterward, there would be some general announcements and closing prayer before there was an offer made for anyone who needed specific prayer. Some people would remain behind for coffee and snacks. After church, I'd take my pamphlet home and spend some time reviewing it and going back over the verses in the Bible. I attended that church for a couple of years before I moved away and I always think back on it as Life Application Bible 101. 

Not long after my sister passed away and I had decided to move away, I was spending a lot of time with one of her friends so I invited her to church with me. 

At that time, we were in the middle of a study of Daniel and my friend was impressed. She was making notes on her pamphlet and in her Bible and really engaged for the 45-minute service. I thought for sure that she would want to return for more in the coming weeks. I was stunned when she said that, while she had enjoyed the study, she would never go back.

Her reason was that the church didn't have any "good" music or enough "happening". Her church was "exciting" and "jumping" with music and "praise". There was a lot of before and after socializing. In my church, she felt over-dressed and out of place.


I grew up in a church like the one my friend attended. "Holy Roller" churches have a lot of music and emotional "energy". People get dressed to the nines, with their hair, nails, and makeup done up. You can hear the music from the parking lot. The services are maybe 20% sermon and 80% music, "shouting" and random people speaking in tongues. It was, in my opinion, like a Sunday morning nightclub, minus the hard liquor and cigarettes.

The pastor at most of these "Holy Roller" churches doesn't preach, they perform. It's almost an art form that is handed down through generations. When I was a young girl, I had friends who could mimic these preachers by holding one hand to an ear and hollering in a cadence. 

"You better look to the Lord-uh, I say looook to the Lord! You ain't hearing me. I say LOOOOOK to the Lord-uh!!"

While the pastor hollered and pranced across the platform, the organist would hit certain notes to get people clapping. At some point, someone - the pastor or a congregant - would get overcome with the "Holy Ghost" and just have to start shout-dancing (this was called "getting happy") until everyone else got worked up. Pretty soon, the entire building would be literally thumping with music and shouting. This could go on for  (and I am not exaggerating) hours.


This music video is what most Holy Roller churches looked like when I was young.




There were nights we didn't leave church until after 11 o'clock. 

So, yeah. As a child, I loved the music. I went up for altar call many times. But I didn't become saved for many years and I only started reading and studying the Bible as an adult. I grew up "church" but didn't come to the Lord through the music or the shouting or the other Holy Roller rituals. 

Discernment is so important.

Peace
--Free

Friday, June 28, 2019

Resources for the Learning Christian

Here are some suggested resources for anyone interested in Bible study and apologetics. I am not personally endorsing sites in particular; I provide these links as springboards to information focused on the Christian faith. I've worked on this off an on for a while and will be updating it as often as I can. Please, share and enjoy.


Apologetics & Tough Questions 



For Nerds (Sci & Tech & Gaming interests)

(By the way, the Wikipedia listing of Christians in the science arena is rather incomplete)

Social Media People, Accounts, and Stuff

Bibles and Bible Study Tools

     **Bibles & Translations**
     **Online Bibles**
     **Bibles for your phone & tablet
Blue Letter Bible


Communities and forums

Miscellaneous and random
You can also search out podcasts that deal with Christian issues. I have the iTunes app on my computer but use the Podcast Addict app on my phone. Most of the above-listed resources have phone apps. Just search the Android or iPhone apps stores. 

I have provided these links for you to peruse but you're responsible for what you do with them. I will warn you to scan everything before downloading files and programs. 


Peace
--Free


** Jewish and Orthodox Jewish Bibles (OJB) are called "Messianic" Bibles and sometimes labeled as Hebrew Names Versions (HNV).



 NOTE that I can not personally endorse all information provided in these links. It's best to check sources to see if they fit your own statement of faith. As always, be prayerful and Spirit-led when ingesting ideas and information from any source.)

Thursday, September 3, 2009

I don't feel no ways tired,
I've come too far from where I started from.
Nobody told me that the road would be easy,
I don't believe He brought me this far to leave me.

That's always been one of my favorite gospel songs. "I Don't Feel Noways Tired," sung by James Cleveland.

But there are times when I do feel tired. Weary. There is such an atmosphere of sin in this world that there are days when I feel I am struggling for spiritual breath.

Still, I know God is with us. Even in my weariness there is proof of God. He told us that these times would be. We know from the Bible that people would be proud and cruel and stubborn. So, I am listening to these words from the song:



Peace
--Free

Friday, August 21, 2009

Support Berean Call

This is a request for you all to please support the brothers and sisters over at Berean Call.

You should sign up for their newsletters. There is so much information, encouragement and fellowship to be taking part in. I recieved my latest newsletter this morning and was just heartbroken at what is happening to Christians put to suffering because of their faith & faithfulness. Here is an excerpt:


In June, North Korean's beastly communist dictatorship executed a 33 year old Christian woman for distributing Bibles, while also imprisoning her 3 little children, husband and parents, in conditions undoubtedly ghastly.

Several weeks ago, mobs involving hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of enraged radical Islamists destroyed several Christian villages in Pakistan, responding to incendiary rumors about Christians supposedly desecrating the Koran. Hundreds of homes were destroyed, and at least 14 Christians were murdered, including three Christian women and a child who were burned alive as the radicals torched houses and shops.

So, go over and check out the site. You can also follow Berean Call on Twitter.

We are living (for now) in a time when some of us can freely support the faith. Let's do all we can. The time is already here where some Christians are having to put their lives on the line for their beliefs. The least WE "free and safe" Christians can do is give our support, including spreading the word and rallying around the ministries that are out there.

Be blessed & be a blessing.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. -1 Thess. 5:11

Peace
--Free




Thursday, July 16, 2009

Power of Words/Temper (Topical Bible)

My husband and I tend to have one weakness in our relationship: We are headstrong, so we argue. A lot. Constantly it seems. Since we started praying together every morning and evening, we seem to be under attack from the Enemy. Before, it would at least take one of us being in a less than ideal mood to start an argument. Lately, it doesn't take but one word to start us up.

Today, we had another argument over - as usual - something minor, petty. I prayed about it and, of course, went to the Bible to seek some answers. I used a topical search that I found at Open Bible. I looked up "power of words" (because I felt that my husband had said some hurtful things, and I KNOW I said some). I also looked up "temper"(as in Tim's temper).

Wow.

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Whoa...

I had to stop and really shake myself. In Bible study last night, we briefly touched on the subject of "words have power," and those verses brought it right to the front door of my own heart.

I called Tim and read through some of the verses right then. It stopped him too. I think we both felt the way we should when God chastises us: convicted and in need of repentance. Tonight we are planning to pray about how we use our words and how the Enemy uses our temper against us and others.

Mainly, I wanted to do this post to alert you all to the existence of this search site. My own Bible does not have a very extended concordance, so a topical search this thorough is going to be really helpful to my study of the Word. I hope it is a blessing to you all as well.

An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. Prov. 18:15

Peace
--Free