quote:

ORIGINAL: kingdust

quote:

ORIGINAL: Brachah

kingdust, ur opinions are well-noted!

Thank you, but the Chinese word for righteousness, lamb over me, is not my opinion; it is of Chinese.
I wonder where your ancestor got that idea.

Also, Christian righteousness acquired by putting faith in Jesus, not by doing the right things God commanded to do, is not of my opinion.

If any is my opinion, it is my use of 'lamb over me' metaphor to depict a core Christian faith.

One thing I am not sure if it is mine or not is my claim of 'I am not Gnosist'.

Believing is one thing, but to be exactly it is another.

Who else can tell me who I am really?

quote:

I thought I confessed a Christian faith but was taken as ‘Gnosis’!
What would you do to take off some name you don’t want to be called?

quote:


Just google the phrase "useful idiots" on any news page tonight and you'll see why we think the release of the Evangelical Manifesto will prove to be a hurtful experience in the Body of Christ. That's the phrase the document actually uses! Surely the drafters must have realized that would be the sound bite most likely pulled from their document when they crafted it.

In fact, as I read the document through, and then read their invitation to sign it, I had the feeling I was being asked to make a choice. Almost everything in the document's early pages reflects my own personal beliefs, and even the frustrations and behaviors they disdain in the later pages are opinions I've often held.

Which is precisely why this Manifesto is not good for the Body of Christ: It makes you feel like you have to choose sides!

To be fair, they do attempt to mask the unflattering terms as self-descriptive, but the men and women whose names are attached to the bottom of this document have seldom if ever been guilty of the behaviors they condemn, so the shots fired across others' bows remain just that: Shots fired across others' bows.

quote:



Unapologetically committed to the truths of Scripture, the document (I can’t even bring myself to use the word “manifesto”; it bears such a hugely negative connotation) clearly and wonderfully defines what it means to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth.

More to the point, while many of the signers of the Manifesto are household names inside the Evangelical bubble, most of them will be names that are unfamiliar to the body of Christ at large. While they term themselves leaders in the Evangelical movement, their leadership is largely behind the scenes. Because of this, we think we’re positioned to communicate who the signers of this Manifesto are; to affirm to Christians who may not know them that they are men and women of unquestionable character and spiritual depth; while seeking to explain in lay terms just what dangers rest in the Manifesto’s later pages, especially.

While we think parts of the Manifesto, and most of the way it was organized and released, are harmful to the church at large, we don’t believe most of the drafters intended to be harmful or even hurtful. It’s our hope to comment on their action while still affirming their marvelous contributions to the faith of so many.

We do so with humility and without animosity; but we do so convinced this effort must be altered to avoid the kind of in-fighting which historically plagues denominations.

We’re fully aware this may be too narrow a slicing of our rationale; that we may well find ourselves in need of repentance. We’re also aware of the deep emotions on both sides of the issue of how Christians should engage their culture, especially the political areas of that culture...

quote:

ORIGINAL: RJR_fan
God and I talked about you on my way home from work today, and I owe you an apology for jumping to conclusions and unfairly tarring you with a big brush.

Thank God, His people tend to be better than their theology.

ANYHOW: I do pray that our God's favor will rest upon your house, and that you are disposed to be gracious to one very offensive, and obnoxious, know-it-all, me.

quote:

I hope you didn't tell God the bad I did.

quote:

ORIGINAL: RJR_fan
No, actually, I was invoking God's blessings upon your house. People can disagree with each other theologically on minor points, while esteeming each other highly as trophies of God's grace.