When do we, as active components of God's creation, have to put a stop to the spread of discord by other active components of God's creation? How do we tell whether someone is a positive or detrimental influence upon God's creation? Does the negativity of some towards God creation help us understand our own negativity and defeat it?
I think that the negativity of others can absolutely influence our own reaction to the world. I don't think it's necessarily a black and white thing like the Law where we should be trying to write everything down as a cosmic list of do's and don'ts, but I certainly think that we can try to enact peace every day and make conscious efforts in our thoughts and actions to bring about the faithfulness of God's kingdom on earth.. and seriously try to do as Jesus did. Not in some gimmicky "What would Jesus do?" bracelet kind of way where I struggle in the face of this world and blindly resort to what God did through Jesus..but to continue reading his awesome parables and hearing the message of the true radicalness of Jesus..healing people and communing with people that the Pharisees wouldn't....turning the world slowly on its head for good? that's awesome.
Positive and negative are aspects of the ONE divine creation. There is no division, no separation. The ONE thing that obstructs progress is prejudicial dogmatic judgement. My take is that all influences, negative or positive, are like the walls of a corridor that we, as blind seekers of truth, use as reference points by which to navigate our way between life and death. Those who adhere to dogma of any kind become attached (fixated) by the illusion of solidity that this one aspect of life we live in now is all that there is or ever will be, and so enter into the karmic cycle of birth, death, rebirth on earth. Those who free their minds of dogma by accepting all of creation as divine, including so-called "negative influences", release themselves from attachment & dogma, and thereby pass on into new realms of existence when their "earth time" is over. Those who fear (for example death, retribution, doing "wrong",damnation), are attached to the life-dogma of the moment, rather than being open to the "all-possible" entirety of creation. Knowing the truth sets you free. Knowing the lie imprisons.
Kharakov according to you, doesnt God put thoughts into our head? So then we should know whether or not it is our responsibility if God speaks to us.
Wow, these are good thought provoking questions, Kharakov... 1) I would say that we're supposed to stop discord when the discord is imposing on the rights of others. Jesus stopped the Pharisees from stoning the adulteress, because they (under the guise of fulfilling the Law) were going to impose on her right to life, because she had sinned. People need to have the right to sin and make mistakes, so long as those mistakes only cause personal loss. That's why I don't think we should prevent homosexuals from getting married, or condemn the pro-choice agenda. That would violate personal choices that have nothing to do with the rest of us. We haven't any right to force others to submit to our will. If G-d (who is all-powerful) doesn't do it, we humans don't have that right either. 2) The second one is harder to answer. I think that when people are violating the rights of others (as stated above), and forcefully cramming their ideas and agenda down the throats of others without an ounce of compassion, those people need to be stopped. That's one for Christians and Non-Christians alike to take heed of... 3) I think that recognizing negativity in the world and other people does help us combat the negativity within ourselves. There are countless times I've seen the way one of my Christian brothers or sisters acts towards sinners of a certain type (homeless guys, addicts, etc.) and felt my stomach turn. It makes me very careful not to be a hypocrite and judge other people whose situations I'm not aware of. We can never be sure what someone else is facing... so it's best to be supportive, and leave it at that sometimes.
Yes, although it is more complicated than just 'putting' a thought in our head, first our 'head' must be prepared to recieve the thought (oftimes with other thoughts that have been placed there (which, if you follow, you were prepared to recieve as well)). This process of preparing and recieving goes back unto our first experience, which is the foundation for all others. God lies sometimes (God prefers the term "jokes" instead of lies as lies implies malicious intent). I think you have to know for yourself whether or not something is something you should take care of. If you take God's jokes seriously, well, the whole world will turn into a joke (apocolypse). Of course, video games are fun...
i dont buy your whole idea of God "joking" around. If there is a higher power it certainly doesnt think, let alone have a sense of humor. where do you base this whole notion of a God who jokes anyhow?
God does do it though, sometimes using humans (such as the pharoah) to impose God's will upon people. In fact, right now, God's will is imposed upon you, whether or not you know it. So, what if this negativity towards the homeless individual is something that they need? Have faith that God does the right thing with those around you as God does the right thing with you.
Interesting questions. Makes me think of the development of classical music in the 20th c. Composers like Schoenberg used the entire twelve note scale to create atonal music - in other words using what was previously thought of or even heard as dischord to create, or reveal, new harmonies. Don't know if this could be applied to life - but maybe at least some of what we percieve as dischord does have a place in a higher harmony which we just don't see most of the time. Perhaps some of the negativity of people towards the creation is actually because they are trying to force their own limited ideas of harmony onto the world, rather than opening their eyes to the harmony that already exists.
Mmmm... I do see your point, but I tend to think differently on this. I think that G-d made use of Pharoah's hardened heart to prove Himself to the Jews. Even though it says that G-d hardened his heart, it doesn't prove that Pharoah would have done otherwise. You know what I mean? Believe me, Kharakov, I don't always act in accordance with His Will. I still have a choice, and frequently make bad ones. (SHH... Please don't tell on me. LOL... ) G-d didn't make me accept Him, I resisted Him for a long, long time. It was my choice in the end. Another friend of mine are in the discussion about free will versus predestination, and this sort of ties into that. I could very well be wrong. I was really just sharing how I felt on the subject. Hope ya'll will forgive me if I end up being wrong. I guess it depends on what you mean by negativity. If I have to share something negative with the gentleman... Um... Well, let's say he has a drinking problem. I don't want to come out pointing my finger and screaming, "DRUNKARDS ARE SINNERS, DESTINED FOR HELL!!!! FOR SHAAAAME!!!!" But if I gently tell him that he might have a problem, let him know that G-d loves him and wants to help him get out of his lifestyle, that would be different. I guess the difference is in the method by which we're doing this. Of course, another thing I think is necessary to add, it's one thing to tell someone what they should do, and quite another to give a viable option to help them do it. In this case, I'd probably try to find another Christian gentleman around the homeless man's age to sponsor him at AA meetings and call one of the Christian shelters to see if I can get him a warm bed. A beautifully thought-provoking statement. I just worry that *I* don't always do the right thing... I make really bad choices sometimes. And it always comes back around to bite me on my ass when I do. LOL.
Romans 9:14-18 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. It appears to be your choice. What you call choice is simply your realisation that one thing is preferable over another due to examination of the evidence that God presented you. It's more like you are a balance that God throws weight on one side or the other to influence the other balances around you, of course, this is way simplified.... way... dude... way... weigh.... way... weigh.. weigh... I guess it's weigh simplified... not way simplified...
See, I always did have a problem with this, because Pharoah's heart was hardened in relation to the plight of his nation's Jewish slaves, not against salvation. At least, that isn't the context of his hard heart in Exodus... Exodus 7: 1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2 You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, 4 he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. 5 And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it." From the above verse, it would seem that Pharoah's heart was hardened by G-d in order to prove His Mightiness to both the Jews and Gentiles. It doesn't seem to mean anything in relation to salvation. But Romans 9 is still a chapter I struggle with, so I could be wrong. *shrugs* LOL! Good comparison. Still makes me wonder why my realization isn't the realization of others. I guess that goes back to that whole predestination thing, which is a hard concept for me... *sigh*
Part of Salvation is knowing God's might and the control that God exercises over you. Faith in God is knowing that God has a plan for you, and sometimes this plan calls for showing people that they are controlled by God so they do not wrongly judge what others have done as against God. The Pharoah's actions 'against' the Jews were part of God's plan, not against it. Another example is Judas's "betrayal" of Christ, which is another essential part of God's plan that people who do not have faith in God condemn Judas for. Another example is Joseph's brothers selling him into slavery to the egyptians- in this example, God caused this to happen so that Joseph would become a lord of Egypt so that he could save his family when famine covered the land (which was another part of God's plan to reveal how God works in ways that are condemnable from an unfaithful perspective). Even the 'terrorist' attacks on the WTC are part of God's plan. Well, eventually God will reveal why God has made you as you are. BLurple.
O I see. You mean that He knew that we would sin, and made provision for us anyway, in spite of ourselves. Right? Or am I totally off? *nods* Very true. Some people might disagree with that last one, but the truth is, Churches were packed that Sunday after the 9/11 attacks. LOL! Yes, yes... I get the picture. :&
