Friday, February 21, 2020
Hang the Human Traditions and Be Free
The ritual and cost of a burial with all the fancy trappings are not mentioned anywhere in the Bible. These are paganistic rituals based on making sure the body does not degrade. The services now look more like paganistic ancestor worship with all the pictures of their life while people actually speak to the dead person as though they can really hear.
Its a sort of lack of faith to think that God told us we will return to dust but do everything we can to prevent that from happening as though God cannot put us back together. It might even be denying that we will have a new body, why else would we need to preserve the old one.
1 Corinthians 13:3 "And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing."
It is also a lack of understanding that once a person dies they can no longer hear you or see you. They are gone, for the born again believer we celebrate that death because we know they were born again and really are in a better place than here and that we will see them again.
I do not attend the funerals of those who were not born again. God said; "let the dead bury the dead." I cannot bring myself to say: "he is in a better place" to relatives when the life of their loved one demonstrated clearly that they rejected Christ.
Luke 9:59-61
"…59 Then He said to another man, “Follow Me.” The man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 But Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You, however, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61Still another said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first let me bid farewell to my family.”…:
In this passage the man mentioned had a living father, he wanted to wait for his father to die before following Christ. Christ clearly instructed him to leave his father to follow him and allow the unsaved in the family to bury his father.
If we look into the Word of God searcing for truth we find that so very much of what we do as believers in Christ have no basis in the Word of God. Follow the traditions of men if you must, but don't say everyone must do what you do if it is not clearly described in the Word.
Some people say Christ was buried, so our culture puts people in the ground with dirt over them. But this is not how Christ was buried. If we are going to use Him as an example of how to bury someone then we would need to find caves in mountains in which to place the bodies.
God never gave us clear mandates as to how to bury our dead. He left this matter up to personal choice. The sad thing is that many people are offended if we don't do it the way our ancestors have been doing it for hundreds of years as though that fact is proof it is the way it "should" be done.
Born again believers have many choices that are not spelled out in the Word, we have no obligation to be buried the way everyone else says to do it, we can choose for ourselves as led by the Holy Spirit.
It is amazing how simple and stress-free the born again life is when we scrape away all the man-made meaningless traditions that are a burden to us.
I rejoice in the simplicity of the Christian walk. No longer bowing to traditions of men I am at peace with God.
Its a sort of lack of faith to think that God told us we will return to dust but do everything we can to prevent that from happening as though God cannot put us back together. It might even be denying that we will have a new body, why else would we need to preserve the old one.
1 Corinthians 13:3 "And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing."
It is also a lack of understanding that once a person dies they can no longer hear you or see you. They are gone, for the born again believer we celebrate that death because we know they were born again and really are in a better place than here and that we will see them again.
I do not attend the funerals of those who were not born again. God said; "let the dead bury the dead." I cannot bring myself to say: "he is in a better place" to relatives when the life of their loved one demonstrated clearly that they rejected Christ.
Luke 9:59-61
"…59 Then He said to another man, “Follow Me.” The man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 But Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You, however, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61Still another said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first let me bid farewell to my family.”…:
In this passage the man mentioned had a living father, he wanted to wait for his father to die before following Christ. Christ clearly instructed him to leave his father to follow him and allow the unsaved in the family to bury his father.
If we look into the Word of God searcing for truth we find that so very much of what we do as believers in Christ have no basis in the Word of God. Follow the traditions of men if you must, but don't say everyone must do what you do if it is not clearly described in the Word.
Some people say Christ was buried, so our culture puts people in the ground with dirt over them. But this is not how Christ was buried. If we are going to use Him as an example of how to bury someone then we would need to find caves in mountains in which to place the bodies.
God never gave us clear mandates as to how to bury our dead. He left this matter up to personal choice. The sad thing is that many people are offended if we don't do it the way our ancestors have been doing it for hundreds of years as though that fact is proof it is the way it "should" be done.
Born again believers have many choices that are not spelled out in the Word, we have no obligation to be buried the way everyone else says to do it, we can choose for ourselves as led by the Holy Spirit.
It is amazing how simple and stress-free the born again life is when we scrape away all the man-made meaningless traditions that are a burden to us.
I rejoice in the simplicity of the Christian walk. No longer bowing to traditions of men I am at peace with God.
No casket, no cost: Tennesseans go back to 'natural' burial
Foolish Sayings on the Internet
"If you cannot stand my worst day you are not entitled to enjoy my best day."
Have you heard of anything so foolish as this saying?
If anyone says this to you they will not make good friends.
It is an attitude of entitlement, "you must accept me when I am raunchy or you won't get to enjoy the times when I am good.."
Anyone who defends their sinful attitude will probably be sinful a lot, you might never see their "good day" because they justify their bad ones.
Good people are sorry when they have been rude. They love to be kind and loving all the time. It goes to character!!!!
Have you heard of anything so foolish as this saying?
If anyone says this to you they will not make good friends.
It is an attitude of entitlement, "you must accept me when I am raunchy or you won't get to enjoy the times when I am good.."
Anyone who defends their sinful attitude will probably be sinful a lot, you might never see their "good day" because they justify their bad ones.
Good people are sorry when they have been rude. They love to be kind and loving all the time. It goes to character!!!!
Honesty Can Be An Illusion
The narcissist counts himself as honest in their own mind, but it amounts to just their own opinion. These kinds of people excuse rudeness by labeling it "honesty."
A sister in law laughed at a woman's hair one time, the whole room laughed with her and in an attempt to defend her rudeness the others in the room foolishly said; "its good to laugh."
Being someone who thinks deeply the target woman wondered "didn't it matter what we are laughing at or who we are laughing with?"
Can you imagine a house full of narcissists who believe its alright and good to mock someone over their style of hair? If there had been a constant loving relationship with these people the target would have laughed with them, but since the relationships with this family were strained all the time in the past it is safe to say the joke was meant to demean.
No one ever apologized to the target for their rudeness, in fact, they actually thought it was justified in some way. After all, because the target was not in style with them, they were clearly justified in mocking those who don't do things the way the crowd does them. Groupthink and family mobbings are two words that come to mind in these encounters.
Superficiality is paramount to narcissists, the silliest and smallest matters are judged constantly. They spend more time on the insignificant matters than they do on anything important. They love to judge others as bad because it relieves their own conscience, they know they are sinning but refuse to admit it even to themselves.
They have little to no depth to their personality or character. The target's family was full of people like this, it's the reason she drew back to live out her life with kind loving people who never do mean things.
With kind people, we are allowed to be who we are without demeaning. We can express ourselves and still be loved and accepted. When I say "loved and accepted" I do not mean acceptance of sin, but appreciated for those things about us that might be different but are not sin.
Kind people don't do mean things because it is not in their character. When the narcissist is mean, manipulative and demeaning its because it is their basic character.
Romans 12:19
"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
The narcissist loves nothing better for us to respond in kind to their meanness, that is to respond in anger, a sort of revenge for their tactics. God clearly tells us not to become like those who are unruly.
Proverbs 6:16-19
"There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers."
Titus 1:16
"They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work."
Psalm 1:1
"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers."
Proverbs 13:20
"He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."
2 Thessalonians 3:2
"And that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith."
When we respond the way the narcissist hopes we will we have been caught in their trap. When we do not respond to evil against us then we are the ones in control of our responses through the power of the Holy Spirit. God sees it all and will take care of it for us.
James 1:19-20
"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."
Because there is evil in the heart of the narcissist's they wish for us to be evil like them. A sort of perverted "see you do it too" mentality that somehow absolves them from guilt over doing evil because of the angry response of the target.
Do not respond in anger, in fact do not respond at all. Leave the foolishness of the narcissist to be the last thing they see.
Proverbs 26:4-5
"4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Or you will also be like him.
5 Answer a fool as his folly deserves,
That he not be wise in his own eyes."
These verses in Proverbs seem to be contradictory, but they are not. God says not to answer a fool according to their folly, in other words when they speak foolishness to draw us into an argument, ignore it, do not speak about the foolishness that emerged from their lips. Remain on the topic or graciously excuse yourself.
When God said; "answer a fool according to his folly, it appears to mean that the only way to answer a fool is not at all. Their foolishness does not deserve an answer.
The fool might be able to gain some wisdom from our silence. It is an uncomfortable situation for a fool to be ignored, they prefer conflict.
Proverbs 18:6
A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes.
Proverbs 21:24
"Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath."
When we ignore them they see that their tactic did not work and may not use it with us again. It won't stop them from using it with others who are sucked into their nonsense but we can walk away with a clear conscience while leaving it all in God's hands.
The fool senses control over others when they can engage them in an argument even if it is over nothing important. However, they hate the feeling they have when someone will not bow to them by refusing to engage in their nonsense.
The devil (fool) will flee when he sees he has no power over the born again believer.
Proverbs 28:1
"1The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion."
Our confidence in the Lord allows us to be bold without needing to answer everything.
Proverbs 10:14
"14 Wise men store up knowledge,
But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand."
Amos 5:13
"Therefore at such a time the prudent person keeps silent, for it is an evil time."
When we are driven to answer a fool that leads to a fight, then perhaps God has more work in us removing pride.
When we are humble we have no sense that we must make sure the fool gets his beat-down. If we have faith we can believe that God will fight our battles for us.
There are times when we speak the truth and boldly, however, there are also times when the Holy Spirit compels us not to speak or respond in any way.
Bottom Line: Be led by the Holy Spirit and be humble enough to be satisfied not having the last word.
A sister in law laughed at a woman's hair one time, the whole room laughed with her and in an attempt to defend her rudeness the others in the room foolishly said; "its good to laugh."
Being someone who thinks deeply the target woman wondered "didn't it matter what we are laughing at or who we are laughing with?"
Can you imagine a house full of narcissists who believe its alright and good to mock someone over their style of hair? If there had been a constant loving relationship with these people the target would have laughed with them, but since the relationships with this family were strained all the time in the past it is safe to say the joke was meant to demean.
No one ever apologized to the target for their rudeness, in fact, they actually thought it was justified in some way. After all, because the target was not in style with them, they were clearly justified in mocking those who don't do things the way the crowd does them. Groupthink and family mobbings are two words that come to mind in these encounters.
Superficiality is paramount to narcissists, the silliest and smallest matters are judged constantly. They spend more time on the insignificant matters than they do on anything important. They love to judge others as bad because it relieves their own conscience, they know they are sinning but refuse to admit it even to themselves.
They have little to no depth to their personality or character. The target's family was full of people like this, it's the reason she drew back to live out her life with kind loving people who never do mean things.
With kind people, we are allowed to be who we are without demeaning. We can express ourselves and still be loved and accepted. When I say "loved and accepted" I do not mean acceptance of sin, but appreciated for those things about us that might be different but are not sin.
Kind people don't do mean things because it is not in their character. When the narcissist is mean, manipulative and demeaning its because it is their basic character.
Romans 12:19
"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
The narcissist loves nothing better for us to respond in kind to their meanness, that is to respond in anger, a sort of revenge for their tactics. God clearly tells us not to become like those who are unruly.
Proverbs 6:16-19
"There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers."
Titus 1:16
"They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work."
Psalm 1:1
"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers."
Proverbs 13:20
"He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."
2 Thessalonians 3:2
"And that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith."
When we respond the way the narcissist hopes we will we have been caught in their trap. When we do not respond to evil against us then we are the ones in control of our responses through the power of the Holy Spirit. God sees it all and will take care of it for us.
James 1:19-20
"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."
Because there is evil in the heart of the narcissist's they wish for us to be evil like them. A sort of perverted "see you do it too" mentality that somehow absolves them from guilt over doing evil because of the angry response of the target.
Do not respond in anger, in fact do not respond at all. Leave the foolishness of the narcissist to be the last thing they see.
Proverbs 26:4-5
"4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Or you will also be like him.
5 Answer a fool as his folly deserves,
That he not be wise in his own eyes."
These verses in Proverbs seem to be contradictory, but they are not. God says not to answer a fool according to their folly, in other words when they speak foolishness to draw us into an argument, ignore it, do not speak about the foolishness that emerged from their lips. Remain on the topic or graciously excuse yourself.
When God said; "answer a fool according to his folly, it appears to mean that the only way to answer a fool is not at all. Their foolishness does not deserve an answer.
The fool might be able to gain some wisdom from our silence. It is an uncomfortable situation for a fool to be ignored, they prefer conflict.
Proverbs 18:6
A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes.
Proverbs 21:24
"Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath."
When we ignore them they see that their tactic did not work and may not use it with us again. It won't stop them from using it with others who are sucked into their nonsense but we can walk away with a clear conscience while leaving it all in God's hands.
The fool senses control over others when they can engage them in an argument even if it is over nothing important. However, they hate the feeling they have when someone will not bow to them by refusing to engage in their nonsense.
The devil (fool) will flee when he sees he has no power over the born again believer.
Proverbs 28:1
"1The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion."
Our confidence in the Lord allows us to be bold without needing to answer everything.
Proverbs 10:14
"14 Wise men store up knowledge,
But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand."
Amos 5:13
"Therefore at such a time the prudent person keeps silent, for it is an evil time."
When we are driven to answer a fool that leads to a fight, then perhaps God has more work in us removing pride.
When we are humble we have no sense that we must make sure the fool gets his beat-down. If we have faith we can believe that God will fight our battles for us.
There are times when we speak the truth and boldly, however, there are also times when the Holy Spirit compels us not to speak or respond in any way.
Bottom Line: Be led by the Holy Spirit and be humble enough to be satisfied not having the last word.
The Church is not a Hospital
The church was not called to be a hospital, it is Christ Who heals and transforms people. If we preach the gospel and teach the word we can trust the Holy Spirit to work in people. We ought never to be placing bandaids on people that need surgery. Christ is the doctor for that surgery.
No man can heal a sin-sick soul only Christ can do that. We are merely the messengers that bring the truth and Christ is the healer of our bodies and our spirits.
It's not about a "reformation" in people. Reform means to over hall what is already existing. Christ does not do this, He transforms into an entirely new creation, removing the old and replacing it entirely with His Spirit.
Romans 12:1-3 "1Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.…"
2 Corinthians 5:16-18 "…16 So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! 18 ALL THIS IS FROM GOD, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:…"
No man can heal a sin-sick soul only Christ can do that. We are merely the messengers that bring the truth and Christ is the healer of our bodies and our spirits.
It's not about a "reformation" in people. Reform means to over hall what is already existing. Christ does not do this, He transforms into an entirely new creation, removing the old and replacing it entirely with His Spirit.
Romans 12:1-3 "1Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.…"
2 Corinthians 5:16-18 "…16 So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! 18 ALL THIS IS FROM GOD, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:…"
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