The last few discussions have been awesome and for some, possibly tedious.  Some people I know have also relayed to me the thought that it seems a little divisive also.  Hence the last post for explanation.

This week will be simpler, I think.  But it will possibly provide opportunity for a lot of discussion, I hope.  I do not want a bunch of cut and paste biblical proof texting on this though.  We all have bibles and I am sure we know most of the scripture that tell us how we are to be saved.  Here goes.

What do you believe a real Christian looks like?

What are the beliefs that you think must be necessary for someone to really be a Christian?

Do you think there is any room for your thoughts to be wrong?

Please share your thoughts and not what your denomination or favorite theologian says.  Thanks for participating.

Love you all

I was going to make the discussion today a simple one without much controversy.  I decided instead to see what some of you think about what evidently is pretty controversial.  At least what I have been reading so far suggests it will be.

It has to do with violence and death.  I am interested in your views about a couple of things along these lines.  First, I have read a lot of comments from a lot of evangelicals about guns and self defense.  Second, I also read a lot recently about the torture issue.  Third, and last for now, I found some commentary about the death penalty that got very divisive among a group of evangelicals.  All of the views that I have read were mostly from Christians, with a few unbelievers chiming in on a few sites.  I just want to know what you think.

Do you think we should own guns for self defense?

Would you shoot someone?

Do you believe torture is ever justified?

Do you believe we should condone the death penalty?

Can you justify your beliefs with scripture?

Thanks in advance for your participation.

Love you all

There has recently been a lot of discussion generated by my questions about the creation account.  It has been fascinating and frustrating at the same time.  Some find these things to be an unnecessary discussion and some see it as part of the mission.  Personally, I just like to read the evidence that others have for their views.  I don’t believe any of my main readers are experts in some of these things and I know I am not.

We can all learn something and we definitely need to know why we believe what we do.  These discussions are not just to argue.  They are to help all of us think.  God gave us a brain and unfortunately very few seem to use it for the advancement of the Kingdom.  Instead we seem to trust whatever persons views already line up with our own.  I want to invite all to discuss the issue today.  And I would especially like to hear form any who have a Background or training in these areas.

The last heavy discussions lead to some comments about the age of the earth.

How old do you think the earth is?

What evidence do you have for your answer?

How are you able to justify your dismissal of the other side?

And once again, does it really matter in the light of God’s grace and mercy in the reconciliation of mankind to Himself?

I also love the increase in commentary so if you are tired of reading and discussing these things, comment on some of the other posts that have largely went ignored.

Love you all

I have been engrossed with the studies I have been doing about Kingdom advancement, the role of the Church as the people of God, small group and house church movements, the mission our Lord left with us, the way the early church worked out this mission and grew so quickly, and finally the thought that the very way we do church, and where, might actually be hindering the mission.  We have many indicators of this in the fact that even with all of our modern methods, educational institutions, bible translations galore, freedom of worship, comfortable gathering places, and institutional governance, the Church is still not growing in the greatest “Christian nation” on earth.

I was reading on another site a discussion about how the church building might be actually contributing to the fact that we are not very capable in being the Church.  I agree with this to a large degree.  But the conversation led to someone making the statement that without large institutional churches, missionary work and missions trips would not get done.  The talks led to the idea that missions trips might not actually be as Kingdom advancing as some of us think.

The actual way most mission’s trips go, it seems, is that a group from a church will use a substantial sum to reach and stay in some faraway place to work and supposedly minister to the local people.  But the question was raised about whether that money, what it actually takes to go and stay a week or two, would actually go further if it was just sent and used by the locals to get the needs met.  Considering the fact that the money would do a lot more in those local economies, this seems to make a lot of sense.

What do you think?

Has our self-centeredness even entered into the work of missions?

Are mission’s trips actually more about those that go than the ones that are there?

If we started sending the money used to make those trips say, through a missionary, wouldn’t it actually do more good than a couple of weeks of labor?

Couldn’t smaller house churches do just as much with less if this was the way it was handled?

Missions and missionaries are needed.  I am talking about those local groups from a church that spend quite a bit just to get someplace.  Any thoughts?

Love you all