Jump to content

Wmccarthy99

Members
  • Posts

    62
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Posts posted by Wmccarthy99

  1. 5 minutes ago, Brother Stafford said:

    If they were engaging in fornication in another room while I was there working or were being lovey-dovey-kissey-poo in front of me, then I would tell them that I was no longer comfortable working for them and that they should start looking for another contractor.  

    Fortunately it's nothing like that. It's really just a very sad situation, I guess I just feel that I am somehow supporting they're sin.

  2. 38 minutes ago, DaveW said:

    Those two things - is there possibility to bring them closer to the Lord, and are you in danger of searing your conscience? 

    Only you really know these answers.

    My conscience does not always feel right about it, and the only way that I've been able to justify it is by looking at it as a way of bringing them closer to the Lord. 

    I like what you say about seeing if it's worth making the witnessing the primary goal. That is a good idea. I do worry about them, actually I work for a few different people right now that seem to be very backsliden or at the worst nominal Christians, it's becoming a pattern. 

    I will say that because of working for this couple, I had the opportunity to meet the neighbor and do some work for him as well and got to share my faith with him. He's asked me to keep working for him from time to time.

  3. On 9/15/2016 at 8:47 PM, Alan said:

     

    As you are helping a friend of the family, and not a family member, with remodeling work on the house, I would suggest you start stop working for free and charge as a professional for your time and labor.

     

    I'm sorry Alan, I'm not sure where I might have made it seem that I'm not getting paid. They do pay me.

    My issue was whether or not it is right to be working on the house seeing that they are living there together unmarried. I talked to my pastor about it the other day and he said I should keep the job and just pray for the opportunity to be a good witness to them. Another man I go to church with thought maybe I should look for a different job. I was just feeling guilty and wondering if God's word has anything to say about this. I'm probably just taking this whole thing a little far... I have a tendency to do that. 

     

  4. I' am in need of a little good counselling on a situation with my job. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated. 

    I have been remodeling this house for about 4 months or so now. It belongs to my friends mom. Before she bought it I already knew that I'd be working on it. She professes to be a Christian but she lives with a man who she is not married to, who also says he's a Christian. Anyways she bought the house and has moved in with this man, and I have been their main helper on the project. After a couple months I started wondering whether or not God wants me helping these people with their house. The way I see it is I am helping them make their place into a nice cozy place where they can live on in their fornication as long as they want.

    If they did not profess to be Christian's then I probably wouldn't be thinking twice about it other than to witness to them and pray for them. If I was working for them but it was for a professional business that had nothing to do with where they live I probably would not see an issue with it either. Is there any place in God's Word that would tell me it is wrong for me to be helping them with their house?

    The only scripture that comes to mind for me is 1 Cor 5:11but now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one do not eat.

    (One day I talked with the man and asked him if they were ever going to get married, and he said yes. I said that would be great and that that would probably be better in God's eyes. He told me he wasn't concerned about that and that God was not pulling on his heart about it. This same man told me he doesn't go to church because he says there is too many "enforcers" there. As a boss, I've come to respect the man, but his spiritual condition is not looking good.)

     

  5. I Saw God

    I saw God bare his soul one day 
    Where all the earth might see 
    The stark and naked heart of him 
    On lonely Calvary. 

    There was a crimson sky of blood 
    And overhead a storm; 
    When lightning slit the clouds 
    And light engulfed his form. 

    Beyond the storm a rainbow lent 
    A light to every clod, 
    And on that cross mine eyes beheld 
    The naked soul of God. 
  6. The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD. ~ Proverbs 16:1

    I just read this verse this morning, and praise God for it because it comforts me greatly at the moment. I looked up the Matthew Henry Commentary on Biblehub.com and found out that every other bible rendering on the page besides the American King James Bible says that it is up to man to prepare his heart, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. So blessed to own a copy of the King James!

  7. On 8/1/2016 at 8:51 AM, Andersonite said:

    After what felt like hours of convulsing and crying, "NO!" I had a moment of clarity. I got on the floor and told Jesus that I no longer wanted to live the life that I was living and that I wanted Him to be in control of my life. I wanted to live for Him. Now I wasn't yet completely informed on the saved by grace alone idea, but I did realize at that moment that only Jesus could save me and that I could do nothing to save myself, so that might have been it.

    That's some what similar to what happened to me. I was very "unlearned" in the gospel, I just knew very well that I was covered in sin and that Jesus Christ was my only hope and so I called on Him. I don't even remember what I said, but I began to call on Him as Lord that day, and I had an earnest desire to live for Him and not to sin. I had never even heard of "saved by grace through faith", I just knew that he was the Saviour. 

  8. I met a young man about 4 months or so ago in my hometown in California that was hitch hiking to the east coast. I had the opportunity to speak with him about the freedom that Christ offers for sinners, and we exchanged numbers. He got all the way to Pennsylvania in one ride from California! Since then he has texted me and had some questions about God. Just last night he started texting me saying he has a lot of fears and has trust problems. I'm not really sure what he means by this, but I shared the gospel with him and how one receives salvation, and suggested he visit a good church where he can maybe get some help. He ended up telling me he believes that God loves him but he thinks it's a "cold and rough" love. I'm trying to help him but there is only so much I can do over a phone. Please pray that he would just scratch the surface of God's real love for sinners, and that he might find a good church that might be able to help him find this out for himself. His name is Raul.

  9. I was taking my dog on a walk today around the neighborhood, and I saw two old friends of mine having a bar-b-q at one of there houses. I stopped by for a visit and when one of them asked me how I had been I told him I was well " Just working a lot, and going to church." He was very interested that I said that and I got to share the gospel with him and praise God I even had a booklet in my pocket that had the Gospel of John and the book of Romans. It has underlined verses in it and in the back has a  "How to receive Christ" section. I read to him John 3:16,17 and just kind of talked to him about what he already believed and shared with him what the Bible says the gave him the booklet. He was definitely listening to what I said even wanted to come to church with me sometime soon. I'm not sure how this will play out by any means but I just wanted to give God the praise for setting up a divine appointment.

    Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee, do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.  Psalm 75:1

  10. 17 hours ago, No Nicolaitans said:

    Verses 7-8: Cross reference those verses with these verses...in fact, look at how this whole section of Hebrews fits with these verses from 1 Corinthians 3...

     

    17 hours ago, No Nicolaitans said:

    Many of our works will be burned...but those who are saved will still be saved.

    I know it was long, but I hope it possibly helped.

    That definitely helps and totally different from my understanding of it. I could see how it might mean that. It still seems like there is other verses in Hebrews that seem to speak of apostasy. I'm definitely agreeing with you on this whole subject maybe being a little bit too much for me to chew. I guess I thought that since it was scaring me so bad I needed to understand it to overcome the fear, but I'm starting to understand there is no way the Holy Spirit is not doing a work on me with all these "groanings" for Jesus Christ my soul has been having. 

    I might just leave the subject of apostasy and the unpardonable sin alone for now ... It was all that my mind was on for a about a week, and it was a horrible place to be.

     

  11. 1 hour ago, Bangoo james said:

    In the end, if God arranges marriages shouldn't be them perfect? Why is that that these are not?

    Hello Bangoo James and welcome! I hope you find some good advice on this forum.

    I'm not married, but I feel if God really put that special person in your life to marry, then that is a great thing, even though it won't be perfect. I think what's more important is knowing that God is, and that His glory can be shown to the world by your love for Him and each other. How much better could it really get on earth? Maybe having children and grandchildren that also become saved and live holy lives that glorify Jesus' name?

    Proverbs 20:7   "The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him."

    I met a couple from India once that were an arranged marriage, they got to meet each other for 5 minutes once before they got married, It was completely decided by the parents. That's sounds a lot different than your story. 

  12. 3 hours ago, Ronda said:

    Next, we can see that believers are not "kept saved" by their OWN works, but by God Himself.

    This I believe. I recently was shown this truth (Praise God!) through some other members on this forum. The church I used to go to taught that  salvation is entirely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, yet then the pastor would turn right around and say "as long as we keep following him and don't walk away". I thank God and His word that I am not attending that church anymore.

    As for my assumptions on the "unpardonable sin" I definitely don't believe it is something a born again Christian can commit. I first became worried about this after reading about "the man in the cage" from Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. I didn't completely agree with his interpretation of the verse but ever since then I've gone through seasons of intense worry and fear about it. You guys have helped me by encouraging me though and right now I'm a lot better than when I first posted this. I still want to study this topic more though so I can understand it fully. It's like these fear's come from a few selected scriptures (mostly in the book of Hebrews) and rather than just not think about the verses at all and pretend they don't exist, I'd like to discover the true meaning of them so that I might be able to overcome that fear.

    9 hours ago, heartstrings said:

    Witnessing the power of God, being in the very presence, influence and conviction of the Holy Ghost (Jesus was full of the Holy Ghost) these men attributed the presence and power of God to the works of Beelzebub( "Lord of the Flies"),  the most vile and despicable devil. A person may say bad things about Jesus, but when the very Holy Ghost is moving, working, wooing their heart, and they REALIZE it; it's one thing to say "not today, maybe later" but to openly despise and blaspheme His love and righteousness; that is very dangerous.

    I think this is one of the best interpretations of the "unpardonable sin" I've read. I wonder if someone who gets to this point would ever even want to come back to Jesus. There's no mention at all of the Pharisee's changing later, even after the prophesies about Jesus were fulfilled. 

    Sometime I wonder if Judas and Esau are symbolic of people who do reject salvation to the point of never being able to receive it , but afterward regret it and want to come back.

  13. 54 minutes ago, Ronda said:

    What is the ONLY thing that condemns? Unbelief/rejection of Jesus' perfect finished work on the cross/death/burial/resurrection, refusal to believe/accept Jesus alone for salvation.

    Amen.

    I guess I've been reading so much on the subject recently that it's all I've been thinking about. I've been under the assumption that there is some kind of connection between the "unpardonable sin" and the falling away mentioned in Hebrews 6 and I guess came to the conclusion that at one point the Holy Spirit ceases it redemptive working on a persons life. I'm not totally sure that this is true but just a conclusion I've come to. Maybe it takes some kind of vile hatred towards the Spirit that would ever actually bring one to that point.  Still not entirely sure about it. 

     

  14. 32 minutes ago, No Nicolaitans said:

    It got to the point that I thought that I couldn't be saved at all. So, I know what you're going through to an extent.

    Wow, no way to explain what that is like. Thank you. Earlier today and many times this week this has seriously left me afraid to even approach Jesus in prayer and have had temptations I've never experienced in my life before. The fact that I'm even tempted makes me sick to my stomach literally. I backslid pretty bad for a very short while recently and though I came back from it quickly the temptations are like never before. It's like the more hopeless I feel the more intense the temptations are.

     

    32 minutes ago, No Nicolaitans said:

    The answers are in God's word; you just need to find a way to win this battle that has you not wanting to read it. Hey, you don't have to spend hours in it friend...just try 10-15 minutes a day. You'll get there, and know that I'm praying for you.

    Thank you Brother, that means so much to me.

    I actually calmed down and was able to read the end of the gospel of John just a little bit ago. Man, when I went to church yesterday I even got this crazy thought that God didn't want me there contaminating his people and his house, kinda like " A little leaven leaventh the whole lump". 

  15. What is the "Unpardonable Sin". I've always heard that if someone commits this sin, then they're not going to be concerned about it.

    I have been going through a very bad place spiritually recently, it's become hard to read my Bible because I keep thinking I committed this sin. For about 4 years I resisted conviction from the Holy Spirit, and finally after those 4 years I stopped resisting and looked to Jesus for forgiveness and direction. Now after 10 months of reading the Bible and praying daily, I am at this state where I realize I have even some bitterness towards God ( I know it's horrible, but I can't change even though I really want to).  I've read that the unpardonable sin is rejecting the Spirit's conviction enough so that he stops working on you. I have been so worried I have a hard time even reading my bible now and everything seems hopeless. The more hopeless I feel the more bitter I become. There was a time I found so much joy and comfort in reading the word, now I just feel that it is always condemning me. I have all these thoughts that God is threw with me and has cut me off forever, it's terrible. I hate my sin so much and strive as hard as I can to resist, but it's become so hard now that I feel like this. My sin makes me feel horribly sick, I wonder if God has cursed me because for so long I chose sin over Him and now He won't help me escape it. In the past I used to love hearing the name of the Savior, now it either scares me or irritates me. I feel so guilty of this and know it's wrong and want desperately for this to change but it's been getting worse.

    I've gotten to a point where I'm not really repentant about my sin, I'm just so scared and feel miserable and sick of it and completely out of touch with God. I can't even put my faith in Jesus Christ to deliver me from this because every time I try I just get these thoughts that it's impossible.

    I know this is the second time I've put something like this up here but I just really need help. I'm going to a new church and need to speak with my pastor about this on Sunday if he's not to busy.

  16. 3 hours ago, No Nicolaitans said:

     

    13 hours ago, 360watt said:

    I would disagree with No Nicolaitans

    If I was wrong, I apologize. Wmccarthy99 asked if anyone knew anything about LBs...so I gave information that I know about LBs from the LBs I'm familiar with. Since you are a Landmarker, I will defer to you. However, as far as I know, the Bride of Christ and Family of God as guests and/or servants at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb teaching is also a key teaching of Landmark Baptists.

     

    Thanks for all the info everyone. It seems that a good number of the IFB churches in my area are Landmark Baptists. One of the churches is pretty straight forward in their statement of faith saying they believe that only the members of the local independent fundamental baptist church will be the Bride of Christ. I can't say I agree with that.

  17. It's definitely not an Independent Baptist church. My prayer now is that the Lord to help me find a New Testament church that I can grow with and learn from. And I thank the Lord for all the help you guys on this site have given me with all these questions. I myself was even on the fence about my stance on eternal security, but through His word He has settled my heart on this blessed truth.

  18. 1 hour ago, (Omega) said:

     

    Your Pastor will probably tell you that you, as Jesus' sheep, can willfully jump out of His hand; or you can, by your own volition and free will, choose to leave the shepherd.

     

    This is almost exactly what I've heard him say. I've heard a number of others in the church say it as well. 

  • Member Statistics

    6,088
    Total Members
    2,124
    Most Online
    shlomo
    Newest Member
    shlomo
    Joined
×
×
  • Create New...