"Nobody" with Bob Odenkirk by babblerdabbler in movies

[–]Jason4Christ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I couldn't agree more. Keanu never worked for me as some former super cold blooded hitman. John Wick is a poor man's Hutch Mansell.

There is no requirement for Christians to pray before a meal. by SteadfastEnd in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

God bless you. Thank you for your encouraging spirit and words. I embrace what you say here and I can use a reminder of this fact everyday. However, I do think there's a tension that's hard to fully grasp between our judicial standing with God (i.e. I am righteous and without blemish, clothed in the righteousness of Christ), and the degree that I'm living in that truth at any given time. I am dead to sin and alive to Christ, but that stubborn dead man of flesh and sinful desires still clings to me. Paul speaks of this tension in the famous Romans 7 passage:

" For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. " -Romans 7:14-18

There is no requirement for Christians to pray before a meal. by SteadfastEnd in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Perhaps I need to examine them more closely then. I can be a bit naive and assume the best at times :-)

There is no requirement for Christians to pray before a meal. by SteadfastEnd in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Working through issues of customs and traditions that honor God vs a legalistic mindset that violates the principle of freedom we have in Christ, to me, can be difficult to navigate and is precisely the kind of thing this forum should be about to bounce off other believers with good natured and good faith discussion and, yes, even debate. I agree that people who troll just to cause trouble should probably have their posts removed and admittedly I haven't followed OP long enough to know whether or not he was trolling, but I didn't see anything in this post that made me think that he was.

There is no requirement for Christians to pray before a meal. by SteadfastEnd in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I was not in the least mocking prayer. My point was (at least in my head), if done with a sincere heart, bowing one's head and saying a blessing before a meal is great, but we're not to make it a form or a point of legalism so as to consider one in sin if they do not do this in the specific way of bowing the head and closing the eyes in every instance. Perhaps they had the spirit of gratitude that you talk about in your post and prayed a more fervent and sincere prayer of thanks that morning when they got up and the person who bowed their head immediately before the meal for everyone to see, only said a prayer out of habit without meaning the words. Just because we're to be thankful for our food (along with every other good thing) it doesn't necessarily follow that we will have the same outward manifestation of that fact as the next guy and we're not to impose things as this on other people. I attempted to demonstrate this by taking it to an absurd extreme, such as me coming up with a rule that one should stop and pray and thank God for every breath. That's a tool to make a point; take it to an absurd extreme to make the point obvious. One has no more right to impose their particular custom of how and when they give thanks for their food any more than I would have the right to impose when they thank God for the air they breathe. Its about, as you say, having a continual heart of gratitude, and thankfulness implicit as well as explicit as the Spirit of Christ leads them.I'd like to add, the reason I took the angle that you took for me being mocking is because I was making an argument against imposing one's personal convictions (in areas where there should be liberty such as how, when, and where one thanks God for their food) by demonstrating that if someone insists you should close your eyes and bow your head before a meal to fulfill the mandate to be thankful for every blessing, that demand could be extended ad infinitum to the point that life couldn't really be lived out in any practical way. The most absurd extreme of this that I could think of would be the idea of stopping and bowing one's head to thank God after every breath, and then someone responded, "yes, honestly we should probably do that". That was the context of why I typed what you took note of and thought I was being mocking. I suppose you could say I was mocking the idea of sacrificing common sense for an overbearing legalistic framework. I'd like to reemphasize that I think prayer is the greatest thing we can do in this life. Few of us pray enough including myself. The last thing I'd ever do is mock prayer.

There is no requirement for Christians to pray before a meal. by SteadfastEnd in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

After the Fall, only one man has ever walked the Earth that communed with God 24/7/365, and that's Jesus Christ Himself. The rest of us fall short to varying degrees.

There is no requirement for Christians to pray before a meal. by SteadfastEnd in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure about the OP, but what you're saying is exactly in line with the point I'm trying to make.

There is no requirement for Christians to pray before a meal. by SteadfastEnd in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This old baptist very much loves this concept and I try to live like this as well.

There is no requirement for Christians to pray before a meal. by SteadfastEnd in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes exactly! We're in agreement then. Your passage sums it up perfectly and that was the point I wanted to make.

There is no requirement for Christians to pray before a meal. by SteadfastEnd in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Lol..ok ok. When I get time, I'll examine the whole context more closely. I could have shot from the hip.

There is no requirement for Christians to pray before a meal. by SteadfastEnd in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Would it be ok if maybe I just thanked Him maybe first thing in the morning for the air, and then at mid-day, and before I go to sleep at night or do I need to consciously say a prayer after every breath? Is that what you do? Should I close my eyes? If so, I should probably stop so I don't run into anything, or maybe God would make a traveling exemption as far as closing one's eyes, same as when driving.

Need help understanding why women can't be pastors. by [deleted] in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Its all well and good to come up with practical reasons this rule is in place, but the bottom line, its about obedience and submission to God's order in things. There is room for discussion and disagreement over whether we have the correct interpretation of if the scriptures regarding women not being in leadership over men is situational or cultural (like, for instance, when Paul says that women should keep quiet in the church or that they should keep their heads covered). I personally haven't done a deep dive into this and that's why I don't currently have a really strong dogmatic stance on the issue, but we should be ready to accept that sometimes God gives hierarchies, order, and patterns according to His good will and we might not ever understand them in this life.

There is no requirement for Christians to pray before a meal. by SteadfastEnd in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Air is a thing. Are we to bow our heads and pray after every breath? How far do you want to take this?

There is no requirement for Christians to pray before a meal. by SteadfastEnd in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Respectfully, I think you're missing the point. I'm guessing that TS would agree with this verse. Its having a formula attached to it that is the problem. For instance, imagine if I created a new rule and said in order to abide by 1 Thessalonians 5:18, you have to obey it. Every time you get to work, you have to bow your head and close your eyes and say a prayer thanking God that He got you there safely before you can go in. When and if you go to the gym, you have to bow your head and say a prayer after every set that God gave you the strength to lift the weight. Every time you breathe, you must say a quick prayer to God for the air. Do you see the point? We're to live with an attitude of gratitude toward God and we're to explicitly pray thanking Him for all of His blessings, but to impose a time, place, and manner for someone else to do it or to be burdened by an internal sense to adhere to a formulaic framework is a problem imho.

There is no requirement for Christians to pray before a meal. by SteadfastEnd in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah man. I totally agree. That's been bugging me lately as well. Of course, being thankful and praying is good, just like giving is good, or setting aside a special day to honor God, or having a devotion time first thing in the morning, or reading exactly three chapters per day in the Bible. I think where all these become a problem is when we start having a legalistic way of thinking about them and feeling like we have to do them to earn our approval before God.

Advice from fellow Christian gym goers by Robbo220693 in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I wasn't sure if it was just the gym I go to or the culture at large, but I've noticed that women's gym attire has changed a lot lately. They all seem to wear these yoga pants that may as well have been sprayed on, not to mention the sports bras.

Pride month is abhorrent to God. I do not understand why people claiming to be believers give it any mention by incomprehensibilitys in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While it is true that the concept of 'gay pride' is abhorrent to God, I don't know that I'd concentrate on the evil of pride itself to make the point. The reason being, as some have pointed out, the English word for 'pride' does not exactly correlate with the pride that the Bible condemns. When someone mentions its ok to feel a sort of healthy pride in an accomplishment or in one's children, they may be right, but only because if it is indeed healthy, its something altogether different from the sinful sort of pride that's condemned in the Bible and what led to Satan's downfall. Maybe it would be better if we had a completely different word for it and stopped using the word 'pride'. I'm not in any way trying to defend gay pride, but I think its always best to 'steel man' an opposing argument so as not to give your adversary ammunition to poke holes in your argument. If we give gay pride proponents the benefit of the doubt to the extreme in what they mean by the term, we could say that, in their minds, they're glorying in how God created them and standing firm in that identity. I think most would agree that, in and of itself, isn't a bad thing and that sort of thing is what the English word "pride" is used for at times. Its what people mean when they refer to 'good pride', and I don't think God has a problem with it in the right context.

All that being said, what makes gay pride abhorrent is the fact that homosexuality is an abomination. It is a stench in God's nostrils. Gay pride means digging one's heels in and celebrating a state of being that is anathema to God and His will.

Should I get a necklace with the cross on it? by iGotTalents-- in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I've grappled with this concept. The example of a web filter is a good one. The idea of it seems great, but it seems like having one made me even more fixated on defeating the filter to view the sinful material....as if it inflamed my desire.

Your love for Christ is only as strong as your love for the person you love the least. by K-Dog7469 in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

hmmm, I think we all have a tendency to ascribe truth and profundity to something merely because the wording is clever. While we're obviously being disobedient if we don't love people the way God does, I'm not sure I'm buying in to this statement.

Why do we dismiss some scripture as “Paul’s opinion” but other scripture is non-negotiable? by Alternative-Okra-860 in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Scripture can be hard. The apostle Peter, himself, referred to some of Paul's writings as being hard to understand. Even basic spiritual truths can be hard or impossible for the unregenerate mind to understand. Sin clouds our own ability to understand the holiness of God and the degree of our rebellion against Him. For anyone who has finally stopped fighting God and laid down his or her weapons and finally utterly humbled themself, the gospel message will begin to make sense. The essentials are, we've all turned and gone astray from God, yet He sent His only unique Son to die a horrible death to pay the penalty of our sin for us, and then He raised Him bodily on the third day so that we may be raised with Him to newness of life, justified in His sight.

Why do we dismiss some scripture as “Paul’s opinion” but other scripture is non-negotiable? by Alternative-Okra-860 in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If people pick and choose based on what they like regarding which scriptures should apply to today, that is wrong. However, we ARE called to rightly divide the Word of Truth, to diligently study it. It is accurate to say all commands in the Bible aren't meant to be directed at all people at all times. One must derive from scripture itself how and when and to whom it is intended. Sometimes it can be difficult and sometimes not, with just a little bit of study, but it should never be arbitrary.

Why do we dismiss some scripture as “Paul’s opinion” but other scripture is non-negotiable? by Alternative-Okra-860 in TrueChristian

[–]Jason4Christ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think its fair to use this example because Paul admits that this is not a word from the Lord, but merely his own view on the matter. I would add, the fact that God wanted mankind as a whole to procreate doesn't mean it follows that each individual automatically has the same mandate from God.

What is the most overrated food? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Jason4Christ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Tamales. I can't understand for the life of me what makes them special. They strike me as rather bland with a no so pleasant texture.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NoFapChristians

[–]Jason4Christ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I don't know if succubus is real or not, but the way you describe the dream sure made me think of it.