Charity

Gold idea Rocky. There's another step if one wishes to use it. That's where you share a suggestion that you think might be helpful such as, "It would help if you/we could..." It's just a way of expressing what one needs. The key is to ask respectfully instead of insisting such action must happen which would then hint back to "it's all your fault so you need to fix it".

I know from experience what it's like to deal with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. The recommended treatment for me has been the use of both medication and therapy although an either/or option can work as well for others. It's all very individualized. Medication is for chemical imbalances in the brain and therapy deals with the thoughts and feelings in the mind. I find having knowledge of how our brains work is helpful as well. A lot of progress has been made in the area of neuroplasticity which is the brain's ability to change, reorganize, or grow neural networks. Terms that help to define it are having a "growth mindset" and "rewiring the brain" so habitual behaviors can be changed. This is a website that explains it in more detail. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-brain-plasticity-2794886 Then there's the spiritual side of healing which is the most powerful of all but only if you have sound doctrine. Unsound doctrine can make matters worse because on top of everything you're already going through, you can't understand why you're not really getting better even though you're doing everything twi tells you to like doing retemories and applying the law of believing (as mentioned above) and I'll add having a "renewed mind." I found that my symptoms "improved" but eventually came to realize that spiritually I was merely standing on sand instead of a rock (you know what happens when the wind and rain beat on each) . So like OldSkool and penguin2, I too am working out my salvation because doing so can improve mental health. My main issue is learning how to stop trusting in my own works to bring about deliverance but to instead trust God to do the healing because of His faithfulness in keeping His promises. My goal is have a greater understanding of the verses below which speak of God, Christ, spirit, the mind, power, strength and trust. Knowing how all these work together would be life changing (Bravo God! ). Ephesians 1:18-19 I pray that the eyes of your heart (mind) may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe (trust). Ephesians 3:16-17 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being (mind), 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Looking forward to learning more from this thread (thanks OldSkool for starting it)!

Boy you are devious. Did you not read points 2 & 3? Did I mention anything about "seeking Jesus" being emphasized. It was quite the opposite.

1. You're locked into the pfal perspective. (no point therefore in replying to vp's errant "church of the bride" teaching) 2. You complain there's not enough variety in the points of view being posted on GSC. (and you seem to have a strong dislike for the ones here who do post their opinions) 3. You feel you are being victimized here. So why are you here if not for the reasons Skyrider laid out in his post yesterday? Why don't you find somewhere else to post where it would be more satisfying to you?

And yet here you are 20 years later.

For me no for three reasons: 1. After taking the pfal class, I don't remember hearing the phrase, the Absent Christ, often enough for me to notice he was absent. 2. I was too busy noticing what twi was telling me I needed to believe and do. 3. I felt I was a good believer because I did most of the things I was told I needed to do. The only reason I didn't go into the Corps when I wanted to was because I was too nervous about asking people to sponsor me. So basically the only longing in my mind was to carry out #3. Now for people like Mike who opening talk about the Absent Christ, they don't seem to miss him because they have the word and the ministry of reconciliation to replace the absent Christ. (see #2).

What future are you talking about? Is this after Christ comes to gather the church together to meet him in the air? If so, why would Christ be disciplining them and giving them a chance to repent - wouldn't it be too late for them by this time? His invitation to sup with them and they with him is totally dependent on them hearing his voice and opening the door. Would that be something he would offer the church in Laodicea after the gathering together? I think his invitation is an incentive for them to repent before he comes to gather them. I didn't mention the context for Rev 3:20 before because I wanted to keep the post short. But here it is now. 14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 **I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ** "I counsel you" is in the present indicative active - The fact that it is the present tense means it is happening now. The indicative is a mood of assertion or presentation of certainty (a fact). The active voice occurs when the action is being performed by the subject (who is Christ). I don't see anything futuristic about these verses.

I think people who have a relationship with Christ - the ones who know him and not just about him - would have no interest in staying long or at all if they were approached by someone in twi. Since they would already be experiencing Christ's love, they wouldn't be so susceptible to all the "love bombing." And if they were in the habit of checking with Christ before making decisions, I doubt very much that Christ would give them the go ahead to hang out with this group. So they were the safe ones. That leaves people who either don't know Christ at all or if they do, didn't have Christ dwelling in their hearts in which case I think it would be difficult for him to warn them away from twi. Instead, they could easily be attracted to what twi offered and once hooked, remain for a long time. I was one of those people. The off-putting part was that I did think God had led me to twi because I was messed up and was seeking His help. But then again, because of my Catholic upbringing, all I knew about God was how guilty I felt around Him all the time. That's where the love bombing and twi's definition of standing righteous before God sucked me in big time.

What's so sad is that you can't see that the real Jesus wants to have this lovy-dovy, chatty relationship with you. It's true - it's even in the Bible! Remember that Starbucks scene with Jesus you brought up on this thread or a different one. I found this website titled Why “Christ Lives in Me” is Good News which actually has it. The article begins like this: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Gal. 2:20). For Paul to say, “Christ lives in me” is a marvelous statement of what it means to be a Christian. The Son of God can move in as the honored guest in your soul. Think about how the Bible puts this: “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20). If you have the idea that Christian faith is about believing in Christ from a distance, think again. Christ says, “I am knocking on the door of your heart. I want to come in. I want to settle into a booth with you, and for the two of us to share breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. That’s the relationship I want with you. And that is why I stand at the door and knock.” Only I would think of a cozier place for this than Starbucks. I read or heard somewhere that eating together in that culture took on a more intimate meaning. Other posters might know more about this. So what do you say Mike? https://openthebible.org/article/christ-lives-in-me-is-good-news/

What's this "cloak" about - I've heard it mentioned a few times.

Thanks T-Bone, Your list shows how it's hard to take what Mike says seriously especially when it's in response to posts where scriptures are actually given.

A huge Amen to that children. Little baby (amen) in the manger (amen) king Jesus (amen amen amen) At the temple (amen) there they found him (amen) Teachin' the elders (amen amen amen amen) Poor Lazerus (amen) didn't bear it (amen) up a walkin' (amen amen amen) Yeah amen amen amen amen amen amen Lord Jesus (amen) up in heaven (amen) who'll be returnin' (amen amen amen) Amen amen amen amen amen amen Shout it children (amen) let me hear you (amen) hallelujah (amen amen amen) Sing it children (amen) sing amen (amen) amen one more time amen amen amen

Nice try Mike, but there have been so many posts since November of last year when I came to GSC that have explained such things to you. I only reply to your posts to brighten up the darkness you bring with your obvious animosity towards Christ.

What others do should not be your basis for truth (so don't point them out as if they are going to prove anything). The Scriptures are Mike and you have been shown many which you ignore and/or minimize because they don't agree with vp.

Mike, the following verses are to prove how wrong you are in your statements which I've marked in red above. First, look at John 13:13. John 13:13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. They are all in the book of Acts except for the first one which concerns Paul's prayer to Jesus Christ. 2 Cor 12:7b Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Acts 1: 23 So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen Acts 6:5b They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. Acts 7: 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed (called upon), “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” These 2 verses show how Stephen’s prayer expresses a communion with the Lord that neither hatred nor stones nor the imminence of death can interrupt. Acts 8:15,17 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. I stopped here but there are more and I think you get the message since they are all from Scripture. The rest of your post is what you think.

Of course Jesus prayed to the Father - he wasn't going to pray to himself! Have you ever noticed the context of Jesus’ prayer to God? It was one example out of three where Jesus is teaching the difference between people doing righteous acts so they can be seen of men to get their praise and doing them in secret BEFORE THE FATHER who will reward them in heaven. 5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “This, then, is how you should pray: “’Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, The context is the correct way of doing righteous acts before the Father. You cannot use the Lord's prayer to prove what can and cannot be done in our relationship with his son and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mike, It was God's plan to use the example of a body to show Christ's relationship with us - Christ is the head and you are a member. Why did God do this? What did He want to teach us about Christ? Question: When your hand accidentally touches a hot flying pan, why do you jerk your hand away? Answer: When we feel pain, such as when we touch a hot stove, sensory receptors in our skin send a message via nerve fibers (A-delta fibers and C fibers) to the spinal cord and brain stem and then onto the brain where the sensation of pain is registered, the information is processed and the pain is perceived. Once the brain has received and interpreted the pain message, it coordinates an appropriate response. The brain can send a signal back to the spinal cord and nerves to increase or decrease the severity of pain. For example, the brain can signal the release of natural painkillers known as endorphins. It's how a body works! https://mydr.com.au/pain/pain-and-how-you-sense-it/ https://www.nva.org/learnpatient/how-we-feel-pain/

I may be stating the obvious here but since Mike is sharing this article to teach us all what Christ is doing up there in the heavenlies, I want to point out the following: In the sentence above, the article is trying to tie our reconciling the world to God through Christ with Christ reconciling us every time we need it. The author may be using verse 20 to support this idea but since the idea is wrong, it doesn’t need any verse to support it. Christ is not reconciling us back to God every time we need it because we have been reconciled to God through Christ once and for all when we were saved. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in (union with Christ), the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: (which is) 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. Looking at verses 17-18, Paul is talking about the believers having the new creation and having been reconciled by God to himself. So the end of verse 20 cannot be addressing Christians. “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” is the appeal God wants the world to hear and accept through us as Christ’s ambassadors. This appeal also includes the truth in verse 21. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Easy as falling off a log .

This is all knowledge that's been taught for decades. It's good knowledge, but having 2-way communications between the Head (Christ) and his members (us) as a human body does and the book of Acts reveals, is not included. I guess it's not one of the things Jesus Christ is doing up there.

To those interested, here is a website https://thewaymagazine.com/the-daysman/ showing an article about the daysman posted on May 27, 2020 by the Way. At the bottom of the article, it says ,"This is a reprint from the March/April 2009 issue of The Way Magazine." It's very similar to the article Mike posted including the Job and 1 Timothy verses but adds a couple extra verses as well. This one however gives credit to how Bishop Pillai explains the daysman in his book, "Light through an Eastern Window" where the other one didn't.

Just a couple more thoughts about this article. 1. IMO, the banquet analogy in the first two paragraphs, though overplayed, made some good points about the accomplishments Jesus. 2. The third paragraph makes the statement about the great mystery, “It is this course that you and I partake of today — a completely new food made available by the ascension and exalted position of our advocate and mediator, Jesus Christ.” This seems to tie in with the “Old Testament and Gospels are for our learning but the Epistles are written to us” doctrine.

Hi Raf, I read the answer OldSkool gave later on in this thread to your question in the above post. When I went back to check my post to you on page 77, I saw I had omitted this question in my list of things you had said about the Bible. Your question was very much on topic and I should have included it in the list. This was not fair of me to have done this and I apologize.

When referring to 1 John 2:1-2, the article says, "The office that the ascended Christ fulfills in this case is again dealing with forgiveness and reconciliation of the sinner and God similar to that of the daysman." However, there is no mention of reconciliation in this verse. We were reconciled to God when we were born again. This verse is about Jesus Christ being our advocate for the sins believers commit after being reconciled to God. The article also says, "Jesus Christ not only brings the sinner and God back together in a tender, loving, heart manner; but this reconciliation is legally sound." This sentence implies that the “tender, loving” relationship between sinner and God broke off because of the sin and that Jesus Christ, our advocate, was able to bring it back to us. Yet Romans 8:35-37 says that nothing will separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is the believer who sins who is being brought back to God and his never-ending love through our advocate Jesus Christ. The differences are subtle but I feel they leave the wrong image in our minds concerning our relationship with God. Verse 9 of this same chapter also adds, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

The whole part of the article beginning with 1 Timothy 2:5 is inaccurate. You cannot relate both the daysman analogy and this verse to a believer breaking fellowship with God. First, 1 Timothy 2:5 is quoted. Next, the title of this part of the article is “He is Our Mediator.” Then comes the analogy of the daysman. Immediately after ending this analogy, the next sentence connects it to our relationship with God by using the word “this.” Quote: “This is tremendously revealing when applied to Jesus Christ, as he can personally relate to every situation that would cause a believer to break fellowship with God.” A few sentences later as well as in the last paragraph, it reverts back to “man” and men” which was included in the 1 Timothy verse. Quote: That is why calling Jesus Christ a daysman, a mediator, between sinful man and God is so meaningful. Quote: “This relationship of daysman emphasizes the tenderness, the concern and the love involved between God, Jesus Christ and men.” Note: Men - not the believer is the context of 1 Timothy 2:5 is below. 1 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. I believe that the truth of this verse (which appears at the beginning of this piece of the article) is being used out of context to support the inaccurate teaching that Jesus Christ is our mediator. He is our Lord and Savior and our Redeemer.

This last paragraph looks promising. No way to know how it will be explained until the next installment is revealed. Fingers crossed.