I think you have the 1 John 5 thing out of context. The death he speaks of is final, spiritual death. Many Bible scholars agree that he is speaking of the "unpardonable sin" which is "quenching the spirit" which in essence is not believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who died for our sin, rose from the dead, and sits at God's Right Hand (John 3:18, Jesus' words) The Good News Bible puts 1 John 5:17 this way, "All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which does not lead to death." The sin that does not lead to death is the sin for which Christ atones, which is ALL sin; we just have to come to Him for the gift of that atonement. We must have and show and live Grace. Jesus did. We are His body. If Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing, why do we think we should act differently?
Art, I think that's a Jesus answer! And you're right on the testing. We worked in a small inner-city mission in Charleston, WV where every move someone made was like, "Okay, you love me. But do you love me now? How 'bout now? What if I do this? Or this?" Our Senior Pastor once said, " I go into every situation sure that I'm about to be tested or taken advantage of. But I still go in the Love of Christ."
Rules without Love and Grace is LAW. Jesus came to fulfill the LAW and show Grace and Mercy.
Been a while, but we're still here. Hope you all met God today!
I hear you, Brother. Sometimes when I do talk to my wife, I can see the fear in her eyes, even when I know it's not near that big.
I used to have a good friend/mentor/Pastor who asked just about everyday. Man, I miss him!
BTW- anyone else still singing "Trading My Sorrows"? I stopped that one because it got depressing to watch and lead. You know, like the words ought to be " I'm keeping my sorrows, holding on to my shame..."
Oh, yeah! Without a doubt! People really grab on to those words. Its fun to watch!
What's really scary is that as the one planning worship, we are inundated by new songs all the time! I wish I could do mostly new every week!
Yeah, we only use that one when the church seems on a down slope. But otherwise, it was a good run!
Oh, come on!! Its only been in the CCLI Top Ten since Jesus ascended! Are you sure? (note: had to clean desk from all the dripping sarcasm, sorry!)
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Ruckus