Old Jerry

I think that is so difficult to forgive those who hurt us because you want to hurt them in the same way. We are to turn that anger of revenge over to God but in our heart we still want to get even with that person. The example of forgiving is that of Jesus Christ. The heart attitude toward people that we have forgiven is that of being kind and compassionate.

I think that some of the “unwholesome talk” that is common among us Christians is that of slandering or gossiping. A lot of times we Christians do some cussing when we are away from the church. The three guidelines that Paul give us to measure the value of what we say is (1 Does it edify the person, 2) It is according to the hearers needs and 3) is it beneficial to the hearer. Slander is gossiping and it does occur among Christians. I don’t know how common it is because when I hear some I either walk away or I try to correct the person doing. That seems to correct the situation and it prevents them from doing it around me. I don’t know how you prevent it.

The reason that God gave us the emotion of anger is so that we could overcome those things that are unjust otherwise those things would take over our life. We can keep from sinning when we are angry be keeping control of our anger, like holding our tongue and not saying then when we are at the heat of anger. We should be able to address it in a civil matter after the initial burn is done. Anger in itself is not a sin. It helps us to overcome things that are sinful.

I would describe the secular, non-Christian mindset of our age as one that if it feels ok then it ok to do it. They are under the belief that there are no absolutes and if they are a Christian they don’t need to go to church. We are tempted to conform to its values because that is what is happening and we don’t see that it is hurting them. It is that feel good feeling.

The main thing that is wrong with the model of the minister or pastor being the main worker in the Church is that it is only one person. We need the whole congregation to get involved so that they can talk to others about Jesus and about their witness. It hinders people in the congregation by them just being by-standards. They are not involved and they are in church only for entertainment. It hurts the community by them not being able to here the word of God and maybe being able to accept Jesus as their savior. The purpose of the pastors and teachers is to equip us so that we can go out and witness to those who are lost.

A person can have the spiritual gift of pastor or teacher without having an official position in the church. Some of those people operate in the background and are always teaching others and are comforting others. They are that ones that keep the church going. They are the ones that bring love into the church. If the church has a “senior pastor” that doesn’t have the spiritual gift of a pastor then somebody has to pick up the slack. There is always somebody with that gift in the church and that doesn’t mean he has to be the senior pastor. It is God who gives us these gifts.

I don’t know how we can stir up the gift of evangelism among the members of the congregation. Maybe if we were more enthusiastic about the gospel them we would want everybody else to know about Him. One of the earmarks of a person with this gift is that he is willing to speak to anybody about his beliefs. But in our society it is frowned upon to talk to somebody that is not part of us to discuss what Christ is doing for us.

If there are apostles today I think the function that they might have would be to make sure that the word of Jesus spread through-out the nation. They would be responsible to care for a certain group churches. We might detect false apostles by what they are saying and doing. If they are not preaching the good news then they are false.

God is the one that gives us our spiritual gifts but I believe that our natural talents are related to our spiritual gifts. He gave us both so that we could be the best that we could be in Him. I have never tried to separate the difference between the natural God-given talents and the spiritual gifts because I have always thought of them being the same.

I think that we should expend as much energy on Christian unity as it takes to keep us united. The “bond of peace” is that keeps us together. That us what will unite us because there is peace and everybody can get along. The way that we can strike at peace when we are intent on argument and dissension is to state our position and listen to the others then be willing to agree to disagree.

I think that patience and humility are so important to preserving unity because we are all different and we all annoy somebody at sometime. If we have patience and humility then we will be able to keep united in the church. If we have the right doctrine but have a since of arrogance toward those who disagree with us then some will see Jesus as divider rather than somebody that units us. The way that we can be both “gentle” and to “fight the good fight of faith” is to discuss the difference that we might have. If we keep it civil and show them in the bible the differences of our opinions then we both gain and learn more about Jesus.

The standard for our behavior is that we are to live a life worthy of our calling. God has called us to be followers of Jesus. Therefore we are to live lives that are worthy of that calling and be unified in the church.

We do try to bring glory to God but I don’t know if that is the very most important function of the church. I think that if would raise this to the top priority then things would change. I think that the difference in my life if I would make that my top priority in my life that things would change for the better.

The meaning of being “filled with the Spirit” is that we are doing the things that God wants us to be doing. We are studying the bible and talking to Him daily if not continuously. This type of being lead by the Spirit is a continual reality. This is the same thing as being “filled with all the fullness of God”.

I think that the kind of things that prevent us from comprehending the far riches of Christ’s love is that are human and we don’t understand how much He loves us. Our mind is set on the material thing not the spiritual things. I think that they way that we would live our lives if we did comprehend, know and experience this love that we would be a more acceptable person. We wouldn’t see the differences in other people and mentally reject them because of this difference.

I think that being strengthened by the Spirit and Christ dwelling in my heart is saying two different things. The Spirit is attached to my soul where Christ was at one time a fully human and fully God but one time He was a person. So I can connect with Him better where the Spirit was sent to me by Jesus when He died on the cross.

Ephesians 3:12 teaches us that we can approach God with freedom and confidence. If we try to pray without these qualities then we aren’t sure that He is really God or maybe we don’t believe that Jesus died for our sins and that He is standing at the right hand of God.

Paul is careful to be humble about his call and apostleship because he knows that it wasn’t what he did that got him where he was. He knows that it was Jesus that has protected him and that it was Jesus that saved him. We know that Paul’s example that we didn’t receive Jesus on our own and that it was Jesus that saved us. We can’t do anything like this and we need to be humble in our acceptance of Jesus.

The “mystery” that Paul is talking about is that we are accepted just like the Jews were. We will be joining the in heaven. It was important to Gentile Christians in Paul’s day because the Gentiles didn’t associate with the Jews because they were supposed to be an exclusive group.

The reason that God’s revelation to “his holy apostles and prophets” our authority for faith and practice is because it is God’s word and it was revealed to the apostles and the prophets by God. The danger in minimizing or straying from that revelation is that we would not be worshiping God. We would be worshiping our idea of what God is like and how a person perceived what God would be doing. The danger of denying that God reveals himself to us and to the church today is that when we went to church would not be hearing the word of God. The preacher would be just spouting off about what he thinks.

The significance that the congregation in the church I attend has made to be “a dwelling place for God in the Spirit” is we are always welcoming anybody that want to attend. We get together and discuss what the bible means to us and we study it every week. I think the thing that hinders that from being fully experienced is not accepting people as they are and loving them and making them feel at home.

The meaning of having “access to the Father” is that we can go to him at anytime. He is available to us when ever and where ever we want to talk to him. We do not have to go through a priest to talk to him. The way that the Holy Spirit facilitates this is to help us when we don’t know what to say. And the way that Jesus enabled this access was that he died on the cross as our perfect sacrifice and is now sitting at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.

The way that Jesus as Messiah “fulfilled” the Mosaic Law is by being sinless and having no blemishes. That was the requirement for the animal sacrifice. Therefore Jesus fulfilled this requirement for all time. The significance of that for the Jewish people was that they were set free from the Law because the law had been fulfilled. And for the Gentiles it meant that they were also included in the covenant of Jesus Christ.

When we are “lost” and out of touch then we can’t witness because we don’t know what God is doing for us. Unless we stay in contact with Christ we can’t see what is being done in our favor. The spiritual condition of a friend or co-worker who doesn’t know Christ is lost. He doesn’t have any hope in the real future. They have a hole in them that won’t fill up because it the whole that God puts in us.

Faith is believing in something that you cannot see. We cannot take credit for having faith. I have never thought about being condemned for lacking faith. I think that we can be condemned for lacking it because I think that we are all given the opportunity to have faith and some people just turn it down. Faith is trusting in something that has not happened.