Acts 17:11 "Now the Bereans were of more noble character..., for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (v. 12 Therefore many of them believed;) 'Be Like The Bereans'."
The above verses will shed light on two distinguishing character encouraged by the Apostle that they even endorse for Christians to imitate....The Berean response to the message of God was that of "great eagerness". The writer of Acts called it a Nobel Character.
This goes out not just for Christians but for other faith too. If you found my blog saying some extreme ideas that you have never heard of, and that is perhaps you had been brainwashed or had acquired knowledge of God from wrong sources. And then maybe I am the one who is making false statement. Therefore, the Berean attitude should be applied. In fact, in almost any situations, whenever we hear information either religious or not related to faith, we should react in like manner. Weigh all the issues, matters and data being presented and make comparison which teaching was and is back-up with truth.
Brainwashing I believed can happen to people only because they are not inquiring on sources. I didn't say right sources but plainly sources. Here's a parallel: if things doesn't work will you keep repeating the same mistake? It's understandable to make mistake twice but more than that, one should better pause and re-think. When there are contradicting statement coming from a single source this is already subjected to investigation.
A preacher coming from God must never contradict the word of God, not even once.
I am a member of Jesus is Lord Church for many years now...learn most of my Christian living thru this church, and I believe it is the Lord's guidance that I am being led to this church. (One of these days, hopefully I be able to write why I am on this Church)...BUT there are some traditions JIL follow which I do not agree with, like Celebrating Christmas and Holy Week (see Christmas without Jesus). In general, aside from that, our Pastor's teaching are mostly scriptural and back-up with truths. Those to me are minor errors because of ignorance and I think will not lead to my destruction, so I remain,...in fact, I simply don't attend Christmas service. Contrary to other denomination most especially Catholics whose teaching and practices are total reversal of what the Bible says. That to me is not Christianity anymore and the opposite of that is Anti-Christian.
Leadership of JIL should look into some traditions we have adopted from previous faith because one day God will require that He be worship in spirit and in "truth". I do not blame most of our church leaders for these mistakes but this is a matter of great importance, if we want to escape the tribulation ahead. JIL may be is worshipping God in Spirit but not in all the "truth".
In these end time where false doctrine became more rampant, a Christian should be well equip with knowledge both secular and Biblical. I mean we knew for a fact that December 25 can not be and impossible to be Jesus birthdate, so why celebrate on something that is not the "truth". I believe if I can discuss this matter to Bro. Eddie, I know he will understand being knowledgeable in the scripture. We should not compromise our faith. We should not bow down to idols. JIL church don't celebrate St. Valentines day but they still consider February as love month. God was so clear that we should not adopt pagan worship and practices in honoring the true God.
Leadership of JIL should look into some traditions we have adopted from previous faith because one day God will require that He be worship in spirit and in "truth". I do not blame most of our church leaders for these mistakes but this is a matter of great importance, if we want to escape the tribulation ahead. JIL may be is worshipping God in Spirit but not in all the "truth".
In these end time where false doctrine became more rampant, a Christian should be well equip with knowledge both secular and Biblical. I mean we knew for a fact that December 25 can not be and impossible to be Jesus birthdate, so why celebrate on something that is not the "truth". I believe if I can discuss this matter to Bro. Eddie, I know he will understand being knowledgeable in the scripture. We should not compromise our faith. We should not bow down to idols. JIL church don't celebrate St. Valentines day but they still consider February as love month. God was so clear that we should not adopt pagan worship and practices in honoring the true God.
Deut. 12:29-32 The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, 30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” 31 You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
32 See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.
Now returning to our topic...being like the Bereans. Something that I have adopted to my self is that I never stop learning...I continually read the word of God...and read other sources so there will be balance and to avoid bias decisions and conclusion. We are talking here of God, our own soul is at stake here so we should be very extra careful in following just any person who claims to be a prophet from God.
32 See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.
Now returning to our topic...being like the Bereans. Something that I have adopted to my self is that I never stop learning...I continually read the word of God...and read other sources so there will be balance and to avoid bias decisions and conclusion. We are talking here of God, our own soul is at stake here so we should be very extra careful in following just any person who claims to be a prophet from God.
To say another religion is wrong without first understanding them are stagnant and judgmental. Therefore, I even study the beliefs of Atheist, agnostics and Islams. Hereby I will give you some links where you can further your understanding and straighten your faith. The following sites does not necessarily hold something I value but these are good references:
There are literally thousands upon thousands of sites you can visit just use your search engine. Reading the Bible means getting the most out of it. Reading requires comprehension and the sad truth is to most of us we can't easily decipher what it was trying to say. That is why we need the help of Preacher and evangelist. More importantly and first of all, We also need the guidance and leading of the Holy Spirit.
WATCH AND PRAY
WATCH AND PRAY
In our generation where it is more difficult to distinguish the truth because of the rampant exchanges of information and misinformation via THE Internet, we must counter the possible brainwashing with loads of information's. Seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
"Seek" is an active verb. Seeking means actively doing a search and thus it means lots of work. God does not want us to be idle. When that was mention 2,000 years ago by Jesus it does not end the seeking phase there nor after we have received Jesus as our savior, nor after we have been forgiven from our sins. Remember during the night before Jesus was betrayed? He brought with him Peter, James and John:
37And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?
38Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
I want you to focus on the word "watch"...It is very vital that we don't take that word for granted. Jesus did not say "just pray" to resist temptation...But also included to watch. We knew that prayers can conquer almost anything. It is our best weapon against our enemies but prayer alone does not do the trick all the time. We also need to watch. In what context thus this word mean? Did Jesus say this to keep watch on him while he pray because at any moment he will be arrested? No. The advise was given for believers and not for his own protection.
What do you do when you watch a movie? You sink-in with the flow of the storyline or you'll missed the point. If someone is with you, you at times ask the other person for part you didn't hear clearly or an episode you have not seen.
I am stressing the importance of discernment, like the Bereans recommendable characteristic because we now live in the time of great trials. The recent activity of our planet is not normal anymore. The current events are unlike before where we only hear these terrible times but Now we are experiencing it personally. The crisis is not regional or isolated cases but it is now happening on global level. Even develop countries are not spared from this plague.
Keep Alert!!!
Mark 14:37-38 (King James Version)
37And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?
38Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
I want you to focus on the word "watch"...It is very vital that we don't take that word for granted. Jesus did not say "just pray" to resist temptation...But also included to watch. We knew that prayers can conquer almost anything. It is our best weapon against our enemies but prayer alone does not do the trick all the time. We also need to watch. In what context thus this word mean? Did Jesus say this to keep watch on him while he pray because at any moment he will be arrested? No. The advise was given for believers and not for his own protection.
What do you do when you watch a movie? You sink-in with the flow of the storyline or you'll missed the point. If someone is with you, you at times ask the other person for part you didn't hear clearly or an episode you have not seen.
I am stressing the importance of discernment, like the Bereans recommendable characteristic because we now live in the time of great trials. The recent activity of our planet is not normal anymore. The current events are unlike before where we only hear these terrible times but Now we are experiencing it personally. The crisis is not regional or isolated cases but it is now happening on global level. Even develop countries are not spared from this plague.
Keep Alert!!!
Acts 17:11 "Now the Bereans were of more noble character..., for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (v. 12 Therefore many of them believed;) 'Be Like The Bereans'."
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