Fellow Church People

[MartyMuppets]

God wants you to get there too Barry. I can sympathize with you about cussing. I've been through that among all my family hassles and it certainly isn't easy. But since I've been undergoing my counselling with Salvation Army and returning with a vengeance to Scripture study my cussing habit has significantly improved. I am starting to be able to enjoy books and movies etc. that have bad words in them without being affected by them like I did before I had my major down time when living with my relatives but still I feel better for keeping them at a bare minimum. I passed on many of my books to lifeline and other charities or individuals with cuss words because there really were some very good stories in them and others who have no problems with them may get some enjoyment out of them.
I am keeping my collection of Condensed Books from Reader's Digest which I am endeavouring to slowly read through initially once each and keep together in a shelf area. You can see my thoughts about them in the Last Book you Read through thread. They are good for they keep the language on the whole clean. I still will never be perfect but God loves me anyway. He's helped and blessed me immensely so far and I know He'll see me through.

I shall pray for you Barry along with the rest of my forum friends who are seeking after God. I'll especially think of you all as I continue to read through my study Bible.

 

[MartyMuppets]

I recently had quite an experience a couple days ago.
I was walking across one of the big bridges separating the North from the South sections of our city in the afternoon. They're built for traffic but along the sides there are pathways for pedestrians and I ran into a dark-skinned man towards the middle. When he saw me he held out his hands and for a moment I thought he wanted a hand-out. But before I could explain I had nothing to spare he asked me if I knew Jesus calling me brother. Taken slightly aback I said quickly "Yes. I am a Christian." and clasped both his hands in mine.
He went on to say how great Jesus is and praise be to the Lord. He told me he was once a boxer and I said we are all like boxers for Jesus. We fight His battles against His arch enemy Satan and his legion of evil spirits. He agreed saying how King David of Israel was a fighter leading Israel's armies against the wicked heathen nations who were serving other so-called gods. As he was leaving I remarked David was a Man of God and he said so was Moses, who led Isreal out of slavery in Egypt calling down God's plagues upon Pharoah and his slave drivers. I wished him God's blessings as I said good-bye and said some silent prayers for him. You just never know where or when you'll run into a brother or a sister of the faith, do you?

 

[Ziffel]

That's for sure, Marty. As a sign on a previous church I went to used to say near the exit door in the foyer, "You are now entering the mission field".
And the word "box" even appears in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 in some translations when Paul was likened the Christian life to running a race.

I thought I'd post a devotional from Thanksgiving the other day that I really liked by Dr. James Kennedy:


THE CHRISTIAN'S MAGIC WAND
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving…
PSALM 95:2


Have you ever wished for a magic wand that could change all the unpleasantness of life into something good? Wouldn’t you love a way to instantly sweep away all the trivial things that accumulate until they drag you down?
I believe the Lord has offered us something similar to a magic wand. It can change our outlook on the circumstances surrounding us. What is it? Gratitude. When we feel grateful, our perspectives toward things change. We see our circumstances in a new, more positive light. And when we have grateful hearts, we want to express our gratitude outwardly through thanksgiving. This can work in reverse, too. If we give thanks even when we don’t feel very grateful, we often feel our attitudes change in a more grateful direction, just as if we passed a magic wand over ourselves.
Thanksgiving transforms the secular or commonplace into the sacred. When we give thanks to God, suddenly we see God everywhere! We find ourselves living in an enchanted land, a land in the presence of our great Creator and Redeemer. With our spiritual eyes open, we can see that it is God who gives us everything, from our daily bread to the money we need. Our faith grows stronger as we express gratitude. All things become suffused with the divine presence.
And as we recognize God’s blessings, our thankfulness gives us victory over temptation and sin. How can we commit adultery when we are grateful for our spouses? How can we steal when we are grateful for and content with what we have? How can we envy others’ talents and abilities when we feel thankful for the way God has made us? How can we grumble or complain when we’re thankful for God’s blessings?
We should thank God, and we should also show gratitude for the ways others have blessed our lives. Everyone needs the kind of lift that gratitude brings.
What are you grateful for today? Thank God for all the blessings He has given you, and see how it changes your perspective on life. And don’t forget to express thanks to someone who has enhanced your life. I hope that in your thanksgiving you’ll experience joy.

 

[MartyMuppets]

That is excellent Ziffel. So very well to keep such a message in mind.
If we genuinely love God and our fellow human beings while we can't perfectly obey God's commandments there's no way at all we can comfortably live in blatant disobedience to them.

We know we have everything to be thankful for to God for forgiveness of all our faults through Jesus. Hallelujah.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

I couldn't agree more with Ziffel's words

 

[MartyMuppets]

For the record I have just finished studying all 4 Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in my Catholic Access Study Bible. Then I watched two DVDs over Christmas. One is the 1965 classic Gospel movie "The Greatest Story Ever Told" and the other is "The Passion of the Christ".
They are so uplifting to my Christian Spirit I hope to collect more such wholesome Gospel Movies in the future. I shall comment about them individually a bit more here later on.

Anyway now that I've studied the Gospels I've begun to follow them up with the Acts. I studied the first chapter only yesterday and today I intend to study the second. I'll be aiming at one chapter of Acts a day. I feel so much more spiritually refreshed for endeavouring to keep my Scripture meditations as faithfully regular as possible. Praise be to Jesus.

 

[Pork]

I have been in MC for a while now and only just stumbled over this thread. I'm a Christian and go to a presbyterian church. it is a great church but there are certain areas within the church I do not agree with. I was wondering if any of you have heard of the 'Answers in Genesis' organisatoin?

 

[MartyMuppets]

Can't say that I have Pork. What is it all about?

 

[Pork]

Well they are a christian organisation that supports creation in six days.

 

[Pork]

Not by evolution but by the power of God.