tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769727944915511936.post6082898100976677645..comments2023-10-11T07:41:49.758-07:00Comments on Lightwaveseeker: Encountering Jesus Part 2Daniel Wilcoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05178375087492786696noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769727944915511936.post-12744050288293582992009-09-27T13:26:15.871-07:002009-09-27T13:26:15.871-07:00Hello again Ken,
Thanks for the update. Portugal-...Hello again Ken,<br /><br />Thanks for the update. Portugal--wow. I didn't know anyone read me outside of the U.S.<br /><br />As for Baptist, I know 'em. My father was a Baptist pastor. And I still value much in the Baptist faith tradition. Especially that is where I first met and accepted Christ as my savior.<br /><br />DanielDaniel Wilcoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05178375087492786696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769727944915511936.post-74219263990956206722009-09-20T16:13:37.617-07:002009-09-20T16:13:37.617-07:00Hi Dan,
Thanks for the kind response to my respon...Hi Dan,<br /><br />Thanks for the kind response to my response. I now respond in kind.<br /><br />I am an affiliate member of Ohio Yearly Meeting as I live in Portugal. I attend a Baptist church run by dispensationalist, fundamentalist missionaries, where I have learned a great deal about faith and scripture. I have also learned a great deal about how square pegs are pounded into round holes to make a scriptural belief system work. Anyway, they tolerate my heresies (while correcting me), so I tolerate theirs (while correcting them).kennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769727944915511936.post-42515400217593027692009-09-18T09:04:47.707-07:002009-09-18T09:04:47.707-07:00Hello responders:-)
Hystery,
Yeah, you got a very...Hello responders:-)<br /><br />Hystery,<br />Yeah, you got a very early start in realizing the Spirit of Truth must be the touchstone of interpreting Scripture, not vice versa.<br /><br />I had to spend a lifetime suffering through and shedding incorrect/damaging methods of Bible study.<br /><br />On the other hand, my grounding in Scripture often protected me from bad peer influences and relative social standards. For instance, the people all around me who wanted me to go to Vietnam to kill, were nice people dedicated to love, equality, etc.; they just limited their ethics of goodness to those of their own nation and kin.<br /><br />It was the shocking, extreme words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount that opened my eyes. <br />So sometimes we do need the Bible to pierce our present understanding even if we think we are right, good, and kind.<br />Hope your week is going better.<br /><br />Hi Ken,<br />Thanks for the inspirational, very lucid response. Maybe I should have just posted your comment for my next post:-)<br /><br />Where do you worship? I don't think I have met you online.<br /><br />Hi Kristy,<br />I agree. The Bible brings out the doubter in me too. But also the person of faith who so wants to bring good to others.<br /><br />Keep seeking:-) <br />Thanks for stopping by.<br /><br />In the light of God,<br /><br />Daniel WilcoxDaniel Wilcoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05178375087492786696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769727944915511936.post-56409370822519041622009-09-17T05:04:12.520-07:002009-09-17T05:04:12.520-07:00When I read the Bible, I am a doubter. I encounter...When I read the Bible, I am a doubter. I encounter troubling and even seemingly petty things as I read. But I agree that the interpreters of the Bible who make it all "come out okay" are troubling, too. It makes me feel that one can just say anything one likes and believe it, which, as my husband points out, leaves room for mean-spirited and evil concepts as well as benevolent ones.<br /><br />I find Hystery's comment interesting that "That which expands my understanding of and ability to live a life of love and peace is sacred. That which does not is merely of academic interest." Because I need things in my life to help me live a life of love. I really do need as much assistance as I can get!Kristy Powershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10894813104134810960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769727944915511936.post-18159415080382080192009-09-15T03:43:08.907-07:002009-09-15T03:43:08.907-07:00I also believe the overriding message of the New T...I also believe the overriding message of the New Testament is that 'God is love.' With this in mind:<br />The old testament states that <br />'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.' First, 'fear' in this context is more like 'awe' and reverence; the fear a child has for a loving parent. In an outburst of anger I use the Lord's name in vain and fearing the Lord I cringe, then ask forgiveness, and get it. This may be an immature faith, and not the completion of wisdom, but it is a beginning. I believe Jesus spoke to a lot of 'beginners.'<br /><br />As to the fear of hell, if you believe hell to be a state of being rather than a literal place, it makes sense that Jesus would want us to find inner peace by returning to God and escape inner torment resulting from separation from God. If I tell someone they'd better stop drinking and driving or they'll die I'm not threatening them, I'm warning them, for their sake.<br />As to hating the family, Jesus says, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength.' If I put my family first and God second, I'm worshipping my family. I'm then pitting my family against other families, especially in tough economies. We create enemies, etc. For us to 'hate' our family, even ourselves, means to put God first. Naturally, as God is love, by loving God first and foremost, we will then love our family, our neighbours, our enemies... This love, of course, is 'agape' rather than that love that 'even the tax collectors' have.<br /><br />Your Friend in Christ,<br /><br />KenKen Schroedernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769727944915511936.post-30026505769344609742009-09-14T06:35:42.280-07:002009-09-14T06:35:42.280-07:00Daniel,
You mention how your background informed ...Daniel,<br /><br />You mention how your background informed and informs your biblical reading. I am always interested by what we bring to the words we read. I see that my training in bible study from the perspective of the historical critical method informed by liberation theory informs me greatly. I was never taught to read the bible as a source of authority. Anything in the bible that fell short of uncompromising love, equality, compassion, mercy, and kindness was dismissed as irrelevant. The disagreements in the text do not trouble me because I see the bible as an anthology written by conflicting religious, cultural and personal perspectives over vast stretched of time. I can't expect such a collection of writings to be consistent.<br /><br /> That which expands my understanding of and ability to live a life of love and peace is sacred. That which does not is merely of academic interest.Hysteryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02044678910937934731noreply@blogger.com