I have added myself to follow your blog. You are more than welcome to visit my blog and become a follower as well.I checked out his blog and found a critical error on page 1. Ain't is always the way?
My first question is easy. Why in the world is this man reading me? While it is certainly true that I'm a Christian, I'm not a particularly good Christian nor am I anything close to the noteworthy or popular Christian man. I'm not likely to show up at a political rally disguised as a Christian protest. I don't blockade abortion clinics, nor do I advocate doing so. I'm not big on saving people from themselves and are more apt to say so and have everyone know that I'm a caustic, curmudgeonly sort rather than remain quiet and have them wonder. The services I attend do not involve amplified music, altar calls, break dancing, snake handling, transmuting wine into blood or jabbering away in tongues that no one can understand. So why me?
Having a dull moment during a temporary bout of sobriety, I pointed my trusty browser at AccordingToTheBook and spent a pleasant ten minutes reading. Here's what I discovered.
On page one, right up front covnitkepr1 lists his chosen steps for anyone desiring to be born again to be born again. Well and good, because it saves the barbaric heathen from having to read the entire Bible cover to cover and then having to ask a local minister - which, by the way, happens a whole lot more often than either Christians or Heathens would like to admit. One problem with this is that covnitkepr1 is less than perfectly correct. See how diplomatic I'm being? This is the influence of Ephesians 4:14-16; speak the truth in love.
So here is what appears and here's what I found:
- Believe the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) that Jesus died for your sin, was buried, and has risen from the grave. (Mark 16:16) (Romans 10: 9-10)
- Confess that Jesus is the Son of God.(Acts 8:37) (Romans10:9-10)
- Repent of the sin in your life.(Luke 13:3) (Acts 2:38)
- Be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of your sin. (Acts 2:38) (Mark 16:16) (1 Peter 3:2-10) (Acts 22:16)
- Be faithful until death. (Matthew 10:22) (Revelation 2:10)
Luke 23:39-43
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us." 40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." 42 Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." 43 And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."
The reason this is so important is that if you have one foot on the banana peel and one foot in the grave and you feel your purchase slip, you might still have time to yell for help. And, should you do so, help will be forthcoming - baptism or no, good works or none, sins and all. Not that I'm advocating anyone wait until the last minute. I'm just saying that you don't have to be baptized to be saved. And I'm sticking to it.
Just why this misguided zealot would pull my IP address out of the hat is beyond me. And No, I'm not following him.
8 comments:
I agree totally which you.
Bravo!
Amen, brother! (yes, pun is intended)
That guy doesn't want to hear my religious rant.
Thanks to all of you. Now he'll probably stop following me around and my stats will plummet. Oh well...
Older School makes a good point. It's very likely (almost a certainty) that this individual does not want to hear any questions or controversy. He wants to preach to the choir, and it better be a white upper middle class choir. This is the easiest work any minister can get. If he were really and truly serious about spreading the Word amongst the Pagan horde, he'd seek out people like Older School and listen to what they had to say.
And if he were really, really serious he'd head off to Africa or some country whose name ends with 'stan' and start preaching there. Men who do that make noise when they walk.
He somehow found me too long ago. Probably got your blog from my blog's followers list. Sorry about that.
Thankfully, our ever merciful Lord loves all His children.
There's a fellow who stands on a corner near where I live. He's dressed in a suit and tie with an open Bible in his hands. He stands there preaching to the wind, the passing traffic, and the few pedestrians who cautiously give him wide berth as the pass by him on the sidewalk. I don't know if he's preaching God's love or damnation. I am fairly certain that he and I (and many others) will be enjoying the many mansions and whatever wonders the Lord has in store for those who love Him.
On the one hand a agree with you, on the other, not so much.
I agree with your theology. Paul told the jailer that all he needs to be saved is to believe. Not a whole list of things.
The part I don't agree with is your comment regarding where you think he wants to preach. Everyone needs to be saved. Even upper middle class white people. As dastardly as they may be.
So, there's room for everyone in the body of Christ. Not everyone is a toe or a finger. There's diversity. If there's one person out there who is saved because of the message that he's sending, then it's all worth it.
I don't blog, so I'm sorry I can't help you with your stats. But you are in my favorites, if that's any consolation. :)
No worries, Stephanie. He's harmless and I think he's just trying to increase his traffic.
Thanks for reading, Ross. That's a nice point about Paul and the jailer - I'd read it one way or another, but didn't associate it with salvation until you pointed it out.
I don't know if he's preaching God's love or damnation.
Neither do I, and I don't think he knows either. If you take my comments about where he's preaching with a grain of Hunter S. Thompson it's likely they'll make more sense to you.
Thanks for reading and for your kind words.
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