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Godliness VS Worldliness


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You know that's not what I meant. I think you are focusing on the wrong thing, that's all. And you probably have been told that before. I know people from my past that focused on the wrong things too, and they became 'hater' type of Christians, to where nothing is godly. Life is meant to be lived, not condemned. Where is the joy that the Lord gives us without being able to live? Laughing and humor is part of life for humans, and stick-in-the-mud type christianity sets standards for everyone else and shows no freedom of conscience for others. You sound like the kind of person that would condemn others without even batting an eye, thinking you are more spiritual than most Christians around, just because they waste a little more time than you do. Is there anything you like to do? Do you have children? Are you married? Do you not date your wife? Play with your children? Anything?

You are ungodly in wasting time if you do, according to your previous statements.

If you don't, you are wasting God's time for giving you a family, or children, or a job.

Don't try and preach contention to other brethren and condemn them for their choice of spending time doing life things.

That leads to nothing.

 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

take your stick in the mudd back to Bugs Bumny and see if Bugs will join you for your Bible study...I sure won't

You know that's not what I meant. I think you are focusing on the wrong thing, that's all. And you probably have been told that before. I know people from my past that focused on the wrong things too, and they became 'hater' type of Christians, to where nothing is godly. Life is meant to be lived, not condemned. Where is the joy that the Lord gives us without being able to live? Laughing and humor is part of life for humans, and stick-in-the-mud type christianity sets standards for everyone else and shows no freedom of conscience for others. You sound like the kind of person that would condemn others without even batting an eye, thinking you are more spiritual than most Christians around, just because they waste a little more time than you do. Is there anything you like to do? Do you have children? Are you married? Do you not date your wife? Play with your children? Anything?

You are ungodly in wasting time if you do, according to your previous statements.

If you don't, you are wasting God's time for giving you a family, or children, or a job.

Don't try and preach contention to other brethren and condemn them for their choice of spending time doing life things.

That leads to nothing.

 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

The Bible clearly teaches that time is not to be wasted at all, and you are trying to make excuses for wasting it.  Go talk to Bugs Bunny who you won't feel so insulting toward as you are insulting toward me.

sounds pretty godly and not worldly to me.  Good to hear.

I dedicated my computer to the Lord, so nothing except that which can equip me to better serve Him.  Sometimes I slip and become quite ungodly in competition when I wipe people off the chess board without asking them if they know their sins are forgiven and they are going to heaven, but usually I make the effort to try to get my opponent talking to see if they are or want to be saved from Hell. 

Comfort has a new video out, Evolution VS Faith or something like that....very good stuff as he interviews and witnesses to many average and highly educated atheists....excellent method of sowing seeds for the gospel, trying to win souls.  That stuff fires me up.

Most of the nitpicking on sites like this is wearisome.  Your replies here have been encouraging.

I like learning about some of the conspiracies and watching the signs of the times showing God's judgment coming, and the world government rising as the Anti-Christ waits to take power after the church is raptured.....but only as novelties so I can use the basics of the ideas as tools for trying to tell people the Good News.  I don't get into that stuff too much...a lot of people get way too caught up into that, I know one sister who spends hours week after week trying to figure out exactly what country or group the Anti-Christ will rise from....she is a godly sister, I just think she could do better things with her time than that.

Now we're talking about living holy lives for the Lord, being separate from the world while in the world.  Holiness is a dividing line, and most Christians today have lost sight of it.

I love Chick tracts, and they are endorsed by my Pastor who is strong KJB separatist IFB.....and my Pastor says Chick is a Protestant and not IFB....Chick could have fooled me on that, but I'll take my Pastor's word

Edited by Saintnow
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I'm not going to dispute.  However like I said for me a life lived for God is the best part of my life.  I won't say i don't enjoy other things.  But if I could camp downtown and preach the Gospel and hand out Bible tracts for the rest of my life I would happy.  If your married and have kids.  Kids are a really big deal my opinion.  I mean thats a great gift to raise children.  You want to be the best you can be.  Thats your ideal.  The best God wants.  Hey sometimes you have to relax not get in a hurry and be a little patient with your own soul that's holding you up from that.  Another words be patient with yourself.  Get mad when you lose the car keys in a hurry.  Oh did it again.  lol.  Patience.  For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose. 

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The Grace of God is the expression of His goodness toward the undeserving ,Grace means unmerited favor and can be expressed by the Acrostic Gods riches at Christ's expense,this grace is the basis of our salvation , men who deserve hell obtain heaven.every conversion in Scripture is and example of Gods Grace,man owes his salvation to Grace or undeserved divine favor.we need to remember that we are saved,given the Holy Spirit and allowed to serve God, by His Grace.

 

God bless

 

 

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I had a wise preacher once tell me when I was but a young pup, that if we wanted to avoid everything that the world has crept into, or that the Devil has his hands in, we need to empty our houses, step into the corner of a room, shut the door and sit and stare at the wall, because frankly the devil has gotten his dirty hands into everything. Every grocery store supports some wickedness, some, like Smiths, even being openly owned by false religions, thus, a portion going directly to their church, or to whatever wicked organizations they promote. You cannot escape it anymore. Turn on the computer to Youtube, you're going to get ads with your videos, and some of those things, if not all, are connected to some wickedness. Some of the people who make helpful videos are quite reprobate themselves, (they might even watch Bugs Bunny!)

My point being, we MUST, of necessity live in a wicked world among wicked people, do business with the wicked, and no matter how we try, some of our own hard-earned money WILL go to causes we deem evil. You can't completely escape it. Look at the Amish: they separate themselves into their own little communities, yet they shop at Walmart, which supports the Gay Pride parades. The idea is not to be overcome, not to purposely be a part of these things, while remembering it is to the wicked that we are sent. Jesus sat and ate with sinners, and was castigated for it, yet we know He didn't participate in their wickedness, but used it as an occasion to teach them about His Father and salvation. The goal, is to keep ourselves unaffected and untouched by the sin that surrounds us, to not become caught up in it, to live IN the world, without becoming a PART of the world. As for the Three Stooges, I think some Christians today could learn a lesson on how to dress from them-they dress better than your average Christian today. Though I wouldn't emulate their etiquette and behavior.

As for the OP, concerning grace, grace is simply God's unmerited favor that He gives us unto eternal life; once we are saved, it is that grace that continues to abound in us and keep us until the day of redemption. That's why the Bible says that where sin abounds, grace much more abounds: its not an excuse to sin, as some think, to continue to life worldly and in the flesh, rather it gives us the consolation that is we DO sin, that grace is still at work within us, keeping us saved, keeping that new man unspotted from sin, that we might be presented to the Father without spot or blemish.  grace is God's saving and keeping power in us.

Your right Ukule.  I don't do things deliberately its like walking thru a minefield though.  I bought some chili low and behold I read the company that makes it uses stem cell research to improve the taste of its product.  I really liked that chili to.   The only internet provider available  I need for business of course porn everywhere and on its TV channels.  The grocery store I go to which even covered magazines at the checkout counters at one point doesn't want to get sued so it has a gay policy now.  I can control what I watch though thats a good thing.  I could take it further when I am on the streets some of the women dress like prostitutes especially at concerts.  I guess it was the same for the apostles they encountered some of that.  Pepsi uses stem cell research for taste testing and thats pizza hut which i don't know what I am going to do with that.  Probably won't use it. Lays potato chips too which I buy all the time.  Take it further I shop at some of these stores that import chinese products which they pay their labor nothing I'm not to thrilled about that either.  

Edited by Potatochip
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I think the point Saintnow is making is being missed again. There is a thread a while back called replacement theology that discusses the same concept. You know the concept that satan makes us all miss all day, every day: He that loses his life in this world shall find it. Even the vast majority of IFB miss this concept completely. They get saved, THANK GOD, but then their discipleship is more along the lines of replacing all their past wasted time in what every lost and saved person knows is wickedness with a milder, less wicked versions of the same. OH, and don't forget to pray once a day and read a couple of lines out of your Bible and you will be living for the Lord - HA!. Porno replaced with the family channel or discovery and hollywood with pixar and disney. The exact same amount of personal time is wasted but since it does not SCREAM SATANIC, we think God approves.
Well, pilgrims, He don't approve.

I can only pray to get over this flesh and live it one day. The thing that I will never do is try to justify wasted time with statements like "God gave us this life to enjoy it while we are here" BALONY - I would ask someone to show me anywhere in the Word where Jesus says anything like this, but I already know it is not there.

The example of how believers are to live in is Acts but we still don't get it. They continued steadfastly in prayer and preaching daily. It doesn't mention entertainment outside of the church anywhere. It certainly would if we were allowed to write it though.

So pilgrims, we resemble the first century Christians when work, play, family time is completely centered around prayer, witnessing, serving and worshipping God. Everything else is of the world and is sin by and by. I have know a handful of believers over the years that would have fit in perfectly with the first century church. 99.9% are a hollow shell of those these days.

The same people keep clinging to their delusions of their replaced lives. If it is not of God, it is of the world period.

Live in the world, what choice you got - duh. Live for the world, that is a choice you got daily and most of us fail daily. We spend an hour in prayer and Bible study and 4-5 hours on the world's seemingly harmless entertainment. Sure guy, you are living for the Lord like that - NOT. Quit lying to yourselves.

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I have been having discussions with my wife of late on the life we lead. I married a woman with a farm. 80 acres, mostly sagebrush. We live in a donated single-wide mobile we moved out here, our power is off our solar, run by extension cords off the system, as the previous owner of the trailer had all the power hook-ups removed to recycle. No water, as the ancient pipes need to be replaced. Its not much fun, but livable.  We have a bunch of goats that cost us, just in alfalfa, better than $1200 per month, just about one of my paychecks. Of course, the plan is to get a bunch to auction, but currently all our vehicles are down and we are borrowing a truck until something gets fixed.

In over 30 years, 20 years of her own work, and ten with me, we have never made any sort of real, meaningful advances in our living situation. For quite a while we lived in the church parsonage, and paid rising utility bills, while also maintaining the farm.

On top of it, I work a full-time job and, of course, pastor the church. currently, due to her recent health issues, she is unemployed, and still weak, so I take care of a lot of the farm work. So, can anyone guess how much time I am able to give to the work of the church, not to mention anything else? Not much, between 10 hrs a day at my job, and seeing to the farm, repairing things, etc. We also have four large dogs, two of whom stay locked in a large pen, because, since our fenceline has never been finished due to finances, they roam too far and we can't trust them, so they just eat and poop and are nothing but a liability.

So, all this is really a big moneypit. We get essentially nothing out of it. If we have time and energy, we milk when they girls are in milk, (which of course then means more mouths to feed). Or we can slaughter, except our solar system can't yet handle a refrigerator to keep the meat, so we can't do that. So, my life is the farm, and little else.

The problem is, my wife cannot see it, not at all. She moved to the area years before she was saved, with a goal of being self-sufficient, off-grid. But since she came, she was never able to reach that goal, in 30+ years, not even with both of us working, when we did. And in that time, little progress has been made. And my argument with her in reconsidering her course is, when she got saved, did she ever stop and consider that the farm wasn't God's plan for her? Last night, I asked her, When you came here, unsaved, you wanted the farm, and she said, yeah. So I said, But since then, you were born again-and you have never even considered that, as a believer, this might not be God's plan for you? And she said, No. She just cannot even consider that it isn't. 30 years of abject failure, time and again, to build a farm, to actually BE self-sufficient, she just sees as Satan trying to discourage her. So I always counter, Well, Satan can only do what the Lord allows, so basically, God is the one discouraging you. If God really wanted you to succeed, don't you think He would have allowed it by now? And she gets mad and says I hate her farm and her and why don't I just get a divorce if I hate it so much-(we know how our ladies can be, amiright?) And I end up making no headway.   

The worst part is, I am NOT against a farm, but it just isn't working the way we are doing it, and it is keeping us from really serving the Lord as we should be. I asked her last night if there was some way we could compromise, keeping an aspect of the farm, but maybe having some civilization, as well, and of course, to her that means, dump everything and go live in a city somewhere-its all or nothing with her. And I understand-its a long-time dream for her. But where do you draw the line and say it isn't working this way?  My thought was, sell the goats, (for now), and maintain the chickens, rabbits, and turkeys and ducks, all of which we can eat and they produce eggs, but they don't have a high cost. The money we save on the goat feed, we use to build the fences and maybe buy a tractor. Then, in a year or two, when fences are all in place, we buy a few goats to begin the herd, but now we have fenced areas where they can roam and eat, saving us cost on their feed in the long-run. But no, she can't do that either.

Am I being mean? Unfeeling? I have even seen that her health gets worse and she gets depressed at not being able to care for her animals as she wants to, but to cut back enough to make it possible, is also untenable. Yes, I could just "be the MAN" and take control, but that would not go well, I suspect, especially since she bought the place, and she began it and worked it for 20 years before I came along. I just feel between a rock and a hard place.  And of course, where this fits with the op is, it is seriously interfering with my service to God, in the church and otherwise, because so much time, energy and money is being expended in the farm. She sees it as a potential ministry, should things get really bad, a place believers could come to live, and I get that, but if WE can't have some success in it, how can we help others?

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Well Ukulelemike if it were me i'd consider clearing part of that land and possibly turning part of it into a mobile home park.  There is infrustructure and a lot of other things to consider of course.  Northern California is where you live I guess.  I don't know the area at all just throwing that out there.  That would be interesting with solar you could even make the papers or get a big discount who knows lol.  Were messing with fence all the time posthole digger wire fence and of course posts.  Got a bunch of stuff growing to okra, corn squash.  I wouldn't necessarily consider owning 80 acres a drawback that's jut me though.  All kinds of interesting things commercial use.  Course the taxes on raw land are a drain.  Get something on there bringing in revenue if you can.  Like I say I don't know the area or particulars. 

Edited by Potatochip
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We are in NE California, all dry desert, sagebrush, coyotes and lizards and scorpions. We don't have the infrastructure to put in any money-making ventures like a mobile home park; our little town already has one and they can't fill their tiny park. I have thought about offering a corner to a local cellular company to put up a tower, as we have a clear open shot some 40 miles one way, maybe 20 the other way, and we have a small rise there as well. Mostly, of course, is getting the fencing up so the goats can wander and eat the various brushes we grow which would lower our alfalfa costs. We do have various plants, sagebrush, rabbit brush, bitter brush, desert peach, squaw tea and some others, and the goats love most of them, and they're very nutritious. Taxes aren't an issue due to prop 13, which keeps them from raising taxes on land unless there are upgrades, though none of our things will be considered as such. Also no one knows where we are, or cares right now.

We have a nice garden area, though not growing much right now due to my wife's recent health issues. Also need to clean up the area a bit so we can expand. Going to raise some fences on an unused area to build a turkey enclosure-can't let them roam because the dogs kill them. But I have an area big enough to raise a good dozen birds on, which we will use for eggs and meat. Also expand the rabbit and chicken areas. See, we could live off the birds and rabbits fairly well-we get roughly10-15 eggs each day right now, and are getting another ten young chickens soon-enough to eat eggs till they are coming out of our ears, AND give them away by the 18-pack, two or three per week. So that's sort of a successful ministry. Just those goats break the bank due to the price of alfalfa, as well as rice bran and other supplements for optimal health.

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Edited by Ukulelemike
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We are in NE California, all dry desert, sagebrush, coyotes and lizards and scorpions. We don't have the infrastructure to put in any money-making ventures like a mobile home park; our little town already has one and they can't fill their tiny park. I have thought about offering a corner to a local cellular company to put up a tower, as we have a clear open shot some 40 miles one way, maybe 20 the other way, and we have a small rise there as well. Mostly, of course, is getting the fencing up so the goats can wander and eat the various brushes we grow which would lower our alfalfa costs. We do have various plants, sagebrush, rabbit brush, bitter brush, desert peach, squaw tea and some others, and the goats love most of them, and they're very nutritious. Taxes aren't an issue due to prop 13, which keeps them from raising taxes on land unless there are upgrades, though none of our things will be considered as such. Also no one knows where we are, or cares right now.

We have a nice garden area, though not growing much right now due to my wife's recent health issues. Also need to clean up the area a bit so we can expand. Going to raise some fences on an unused area to build a turkey enclosure-can't let them roam because the dogs kill them. But I have an area big enough to raise a good dozen birds on, which we will use for eggs and meat. Also expand the rabbit and chicken areas. See, we could live off the birds and rabbits fairly well-we get roughly10-15 eggs each day right now, and are getting another ten young chickens soon-enough to eat eggs till they are coming out of our ears, AND give them away by the 18-pack, two or three per week. So that's sort of a successful ministry. Just those goats break the bank due to the price of alfalfa, as well as rice bran and other supplements for optimal health.

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Yea a lot of churches put cell towers on their property.  Road access?  Another words roads near the property.  Looks kind of cool I have never even seen a desert in person.  I guess you could look on the internet for commercial use get it zoned if someone is interested or part of it.  Thats usually what they want first.  Then they can just setup.  If you take the trouble to do that with 80 acres that leaves a few different uses I guess. lol Ukulelemike if that didn't work I'd be out there looking for gold or minerals.   Those chickens are always hard at work we switched over to free range chickens.  

Edited by Potatochip
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Yeah, thought about subdividing it, 20/60, selling the 20 to someone, and using the money to work on our 60, but it costs $5,000.00 just to have someone go on a computer and draw new lines. Of course, they have to come out and do the measurements and mark it all, but still, we'd be lucky to get $5,000 for that space.

We live down roughly 4 miles of dirt, like in the picture, before you get to a paved road. No electrical access, or plumbing, nearer than about 2 miles, making the cost for those almost prohibitive. We live on a well, with all solar, which we are for some reason having issues with. We have a battery bank of ten batteries, all new within a year, but suddenly, after a day of bright sunshine, our batteries aren't holding a charge and the power goes off like an hour after they panels aren't getting sun. Ten batteries should give us lights and TV all night, as well as powering the computers, but it suddenly stopped working right. This is one of my issues: things just keep breaking for some reason. For no good reason, cars, the power system, our fridge, just, boom, nothing. Its a continual rush of repairs and replacements, again, lots of money.

By the way, Potatochip, where do you live that you've never seen a desert in person? I'll have to post more pics-it can actually be quite beautiful, especially in spring if we have had a good wet winter. Lots of wildflowers and such.

These are some of the goats, by the way, on our farm, in a temporarily expanded area. We used electric wire, which has the problem of not working well in a dry environment with goats, because they don't ground out very well, hence, don't get shocked. Works okay if the ground is wet, but that's not often. The structures off in the background are warehouses on the Army depot where I work.

945676_10200491443226725_1220188810_n.jpg

Edited by Ukulelemike
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Yeah, thought about subdividing it, 20/60, selling the 20 to someone, and using the money to work on our 60, but it costs $5,000.00 just to have someone go on a computer and draw new lines. Of course, they have to come out and do the measurements and mark it all, but still, we'd be lucky to get $5,000 for that space.

We live down roughly 4 miles of dirt, like in the picture, before you get to a paved road. No electrical access, or plumbing, nearer than about 2 miles, making the cost for those almost prohibitive. We live on a well, with all solar, which we are for some reason having issues with. We have a battery bank of ten batteries, all new within a year, but suddenly, after a day of bright sunshine, our batteries aren't holding a charge and the power goes off like an hour after they panels aren't getting sun. Ten batteries should give us lights and TV all night, as well as powering the computers, but it suddenly stopped working right. This is one of my issues: things just keep breaking for some reason. For no good reason, cars, the power system, our fridge, just, boom, nothing. Its a continual rush of repairs and replacements, again, lots of money.

Yep it would be out on the internet if it was me investigating everything I could to make that work.  May not be there of course.  I have no idea about the area.  Probably a lot of available land around there.  If I was a very serious farmer I would be in Kansas or Missouri doing that.  Soil is ideal for everything in many parts of those places. Also the rainfall that always seems to be there.  Where I am you can chip away at farming and the soil isn't all that good.  Certain things come in every once and a while.  With the way the weather goes there is no guarantee.   So most people keep it small.   Raising horses is interesting too they do a lot of that around here.  You may have to go somewhere to buy them.  But a lot of people deal in them.  I've been thinking about planting fruit trees I don't know how they would do where you are.  You have well water of course. 

I live in Georgia.  Near Atlanta.  Interesting Army depot.  Usually with military you have a housing demand.  I would guess its a smaller depot.  If it were me I would find out what they need.  We had goats at one point strange looking animal.  lol.  I think about the Bible in reference to goats.  We have electric too off a battery.  I don't know anything about that solar stuff.  I have seen near Vegas and places like that they set up all kinds of solar panels to power places.  I saw that in a movie once.  Big operations too.  Nope never been near a desert and west of the Mississippi only once.  I like flat land I live where there are a lot of hills and more trees than you could imagine in one place GA and AL are like that TN, SC and into northern FL you can't see anything past the road for the trees.  Dense woods.   

Edited by Potatochip
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Mike,

Have you tried any sheep?

Who owns the mineral rights on your property?

 

Good point heartstrings. I think about the desert.  Abraham always comes to mind lol.  I always wondered about that.  Another thing is venison.  I guess they like alfalfa I don't know.  Grocery stores don't have that.  They just started with the bison meat not to long ago.  Could be Bambi.  Could be Esau.  I can't figure out why they don't have it available.  So I don't know lol.  Maybe you need a really high fence.  I can't guess it. 

Edited by Potatochip
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Godliness VS Worldliness, Holiness VS Ungodly or Worldly or Carnal, Obedience VS Grace (heretical form of grace which is not God's grace, but rather fleshly indulgence)..Laying up treasures in Heaven VS Loving the things of the world.....

I wonder how this will go over here.  Most Christians I have encountered are living according to heretical teachings of God's grace which is not God's grace at all.  They excuse themselves for personal indulgences of ungodly things claiming that God's grace makes it ok.

There is nothing holy or Godly about Bugs Bunny, but many Christians love Bugs Bunny and promote him as something good when he is nothing but wicked.  So what do you think?  Heaven forbid that we mention women in pants on stage leading the men as something worldly.

 

Curious. Where does this come into Biblical discussion?

You deem Bugs Bunny as wicked?

Is 'slapstick' style humor wicked?

You could probably pick something a little bit more 'wicked' than that couldn't you?

I don't know of any Christians that focus on Bugs Bunny as being a role model at all. Nor do I find that Christians even mention Bugs Bunny anywhere.

I think false doctrine brings about wickedness in Christians, and that is the result of being 'weak' in spiritual strength, for lack of wisdom from the word of God.

Bugs Bunny, nor any other cartoon character, is not the problem - false teachings affect lives more than any type of entertainment.

You deem Bugs Bunny as godly?  you deem slapstick humor as godly?  I don't recall anything godly about The Three Stooges or Laurel and Hardy, do you?  I think the problem is that most Christians today do not know the difference between Godly and worldly.  Bugs Bunny is nothing but worldly at best, wicked and carnal at worst.  Jesus called his own disciples "evil", and you think Bugs Bunny is better?  Please.....tell me more of your false doctrine in support of Bugs Bunny and slapstick humor.

take your stick in the mudd back to Bugs Bumny and see if Bugs will join you for your Bible study...I sure won't

The Bible clearly teaches that time is not to be wasted at all, and you are trying to make excuses for wasting it.  Go talk to Bugs Bunny who you won't feel so insulting toward as you are insulting toward me.

Help me out here, because I am truly confused about why you're making such a big deal about Bugs Bunny, of all things. Why such a disdain for a set of cartoons and tv shows that have pretty much fallen off the air? Surely there are more important, more influential, and more ungodly things to take issue with right?

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