Friendly Bible Study - participants must agree to Nicene Creed.
- Thread starter Carl Emerson
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It’s okay Carl, I am not ashamed Of anything I had written, but some things were just more personal and I trusted those in the group because I thought it was a closed group. I doubt there is any way of knowing for sure who has the link , but as we were asked not to pass it on it’s not very respectful of anyone to pass it on.
OK Topic 5.
"What is Faith"
Another topic that is commonly misunderstood.
Key verse... Romans 10:17
" faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ...."
Bearing in mind that hearing the Word of Christ is a gift.
... He who has ears to hear - let him hear.... many don't and can't. Only God can open ears.
The 'Word of Christ' is His living Word personally delivered to you by the Holy Spirit.
It is not the Bible. However it may come as you read and reflect on the message.
It is not inspired preaching however it may come to you as you listen and reflect.
It is foremost personal.
It is only possible by the action of the Holy Spirit.
He opens your ears... You hear His Voice personally.
Once you have heard as described there is a choice.
You either embrace it and all that it implies with confidence - or you resist and run the risk of falling into the sin of unbelief. Obedience or disobedience.
With real faith as described, there comes authority - If His Word is fully embraced and He will watch over it to fulfil it.
This is why the faith that is 'tiny' can achieve great things. (think mustard seed)
It is not about you - it is about what He proposes to do.
Regarding authority Jesus wants us all fully convinced about what He has spoken to us personally.
Any doubt and ask again - He wont mind. Ask a few times if you need - eventually you will not be able to ask because you are fully convinced.
At that point you have authority to act on what you have personally heard. Bear in mind however that the outworking is a partnership between You and Him, and determining His timing is critical.
Now why do I think this topic is important - because it is often misunderstood and applied in the flesh.
Folks hear a 'good word' grab onto it and run with it in the flesh.
Jeremiah 23:30. “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the LORD, “who steal My words from each other.
So even a 'good Word' spoken by someone else cannot be personally owned unless the Holy Spirit personally delivers it to you.
If you grab it and hold onto it it is not faith - it is you personally maintaining a mindset of belief in something not given. You may even apply the principle of confessing it over and over - but it is still not faith.
I stress this because it is a common practice and not fruitful.
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen...." Romans 11:1
Moving onto this aspect of faith - real faith when worked out makes the invisible, visible.
Consider Abraham, the Father of all who have faith - he believed that God could create something out of nothing - this is resurrection faith - even if he sacrificed Isaac - he assured Isaac WE will return back down the mountain.
This is resurrection faith - a corpse represents no hope. But God makes something out of nothing - and so it is for all of us - Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven... The unseen becomes real under His rulership.
And this is the test of the real spirit of a person - Believers believe Jesus is raised in the flesh.
This is the faith of Abraham.
Now the world looking on sees you continuing in belief despite the hopelessness - frankly they think you are crazy.
This is the road of faith less walked if you are hearing Him and obeying.
Background reading
As usual please input as we explore this important topic.
"What is Faith"
Another topic that is commonly misunderstood.
Key verse... Romans 10:17
" faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ...."
Bearing in mind that hearing the Word of Christ is a gift.
... He who has ears to hear - let him hear.... many don't and can't. Only God can open ears.
The 'Word of Christ' is His living Word personally delivered to you by the Holy Spirit.
It is not the Bible. However it may come as you read and reflect on the message.
It is not inspired preaching however it may come to you as you listen and reflect.
It is foremost personal.
It is only possible by the action of the Holy Spirit.
He opens your ears... You hear His Voice personally.
Once you have heard as described there is a choice.
You either embrace it and all that it implies with confidence - or you resist and run the risk of falling into the sin of unbelief. Obedience or disobedience.
With real faith as described, there comes authority - If His Word is fully embraced and He will watch over it to fulfil it.
This is why the faith that is 'tiny' can achieve great things. (think mustard seed)
It is not about you - it is about what He proposes to do.
Regarding authority Jesus wants us all fully convinced about what He has spoken to us personally.
Any doubt and ask again - He wont mind. Ask a few times if you need - eventually you will not be able to ask because you are fully convinced.
At that point you have authority to act on what you have personally heard. Bear in mind however that the outworking is a partnership between You and Him, and determining His timing is critical.
Now why do I think this topic is important - because it is often misunderstood and applied in the flesh.
Folks hear a 'good word' grab onto it and run with it in the flesh.
Jeremiah 23:30. “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the LORD, “who steal My words from each other.
So even a 'good Word' spoken by someone else cannot be personally owned unless the Holy Spirit personally delivers it to you.
If you grab it and hold onto it it is not faith - it is you personally maintaining a mindset of belief in something not given. You may even apply the principle of confessing it over and over - but it is still not faith.
I stress this because it is a common practice and not fruitful.
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen...." Romans 11:1
Moving onto this aspect of faith - real faith when worked out makes the invisible, visible.
Consider Abraham, the Father of all who have faith - he believed that God could create something out of nothing - this is resurrection faith - even if he sacrificed Isaac - he assured Isaac WE will return back down the mountain.
This is resurrection faith - a corpse represents no hope. But God makes something out of nothing - and so it is for all of us - Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven... The unseen becomes real under His rulership.
And this is the test of the real spirit of a person - Believers believe Jesus is raised in the flesh.
This is the faith of Abraham.
Now the world looking on sees you continuing in belief despite the hopelessness - frankly they think you are crazy.
This is the road of faith less walked if you are hearing Him and obeying.
Background reading
George Müller
As usual please input as we explore this important topic.
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On the top right of this page you will see a "watch/unwatch" button. If it is on watch, turn it off, then on again. Then tick the receive an email notification. This may work. Otherwise it may be set somehow in your preferences....
When ever someone replies to this thread, it pops up on the main page of the forum, on the right side, under "Latest post". I had not gotten any notifications recently. Tried the "unwatch/watch" suggestion, hopefully it works for me now.
OK got it - that means the posts are not private, so any sensitively personal matters need to be via PM.
It also means that folks can have a look and decide if they want to join.
It also means that folks can have a look and decide if they want to join.
Also my suggestion to read about George Muller was in the context of steadily moving through the 'impossible' holding on to what He heard the Lord say and seeing God provide miraculously.
In a similar way you could check out "Miracles in El Paso" by Fr. Rick Thomas who oversaw a miraculous ministry among the Dump People in Juarez. or watch the video here...
Note: this video was made for the Pope who was encouraging evangelisation of the poor.
I am not RC, nor do I believe the Holy Spirit cares too much about denominationalism. His Sovereign work in this case is undeniable.
In a similar way you could check out "Miracles in El Paso" by Fr. Rick Thomas who oversaw a miraculous ministry among the Dump People in Juarez. or watch the video here...
https://youtu.be/oMnFJBNX83A
Note: this video was made for the Pope who was encouraging evangelisation of the poor.
I am not RC, nor do I believe the Holy Spirit cares too much about denominationalism. His Sovereign work in this case is undeniable.
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ScottA
Well-Known Member
Hi everyone,
I was out of the country when this started, but have not seen anything of it even until now. I haven't read all 20 pages--some great testimonies though--but are there rules specific to this thread?
Interestingly, it has been a day of great testimonies: Father's Day church service was a half dozen fathers from among the congregation giving their testimonies. Everything from a missionary in Africa witnessing a deaf mute young girl hearing for the first time and becoming a bilingual chatterbox after being prayed over; to a father being first married by a Justice of the Peace then years later reading about biblical marriage then calling a family meeting and starting over with our pastor presiding; to a reformed addict firefighter seeing a fellow firefighter at a fire camp with his arm in a sling expecting amputation, asking if he wanted prayer that he might save the arm...to which the fellow said "No." After asking again everyday for a week, the fellow finally said, "Yes", he prayed over him, then the guy took off the sling, started wiggling his fingers and moving the arm--and in a short time his arm was back to 95%!
What's my story? It's a doozy, but I think I'd be repeating myself :)
I was out of the country when this started, but have not seen anything of it even until now. I haven't read all 20 pages--some great testimonies though--but are there rules specific to this thread?
Interestingly, it has been a day of great testimonies: Father's Day church service was a half dozen fathers from among the congregation giving their testimonies. Everything from a missionary in Africa witnessing a deaf mute young girl hearing for the first time and becoming a bilingual chatterbox after being prayed over; to a father being first married by a Justice of the Peace then years later reading about biblical marriage then calling a family meeting and starting over with our pastor presiding; to a reformed addict firefighter seeing a fellow firefighter at a fire camp with his arm in a sling expecting amputation, asking if he wanted prayer that he might save the arm...to which the fellow said "No." After asking again everyday for a week, the fellow finally said, "Yes", he prayed over him, then the guy took off the sling, started wiggling his fingers and moving the arm--and in a short time his arm was back to 95%!
What's my story? It's a doozy, but I think I'd be repeating myself :)
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Welcome Scott - we discuss and learn together without the usual contention.
Only two rules - agree with Nicene Creed and avoid debate on the trinity.
Our latest topic is defining what Faith is and what it is not.
If you want to join, tell us about yourself and your testimony...
I was under the impression it was a private thread - only found out yesterday it wasn’t.
ScottA
Well-Known Member
Okay..
My wife and I live in the Pacific Northwest (US), are a blended family with 6 adult children (mine and her's, but none together), and 15 grand children...so far. My career was mostly retail, but I am also a Scuba Instructor. We had a Dive and Surf shop in Northern California, which our son now owns. I am more or less retired. My wife is an award-winning, nationally acclaimed oil painter and will probably not retire.
I grew up on a 100 acre ranch/farm with wonderful parents, one sister and two brothers. It was like Walton's Mountain (the old TV program), very Norman Rockwell. Then first came love, then came marriage, then kids in the baby carriage. Quite the fairytale. But no God and no Christian upbringing. My father was born into a family belonging to a cult church for a thousand years, with records back to an aid to William the Conqueror. But they pushed too hard on him so he told them to buzz off and broke away. My mom may have had a little bit of Christian influence, but because of my father's experience they made a pact not to influence their children on religion. After that a couple lousy jobs, then my own business; then three consecutive break-ins, which started a whirlwind downward spiral of loosing everything, bankruptcy, divorce, a lost job after inventions and winning company awards, etc., etc. My best was good, but not good enough.
At the age of 33 at the bottom of that downward spiral, I had knocked on every door trying to recover, only to have them all slammed in my face. Just to be thorough, it occurred to me that if there was a God, someone in charge--it was time to have a talk. So one night after getting into bed, I started talking within myself, and said, "God if you are at all real and listening, I need to know what's up, what life is all about, and what my part in it is supposed to be. If it all just ends in failure upon failure--what's it all for? I have come to the end of myself and I know this is where people take their life--but I am not going to do it. If you want my life, take it, you can have it! Otherwise I have just one thing left that has not failed me...and I am going to go live in the woods."
Lo and behold--He answered!
Instantly I was caught up in the spirit. As Paul said, "whether in the body or not, I don't know. God knows." I found myself in the air above the earth looking down at the very spot I had in mind when I said I was going to go live in the woods. Then I was taken before a huge frozen wall of ice at my back and a multitude of people before me like waves upon the ocean as far as I could see, and they began to stir. In desperation I turned to the wall and began beating on it and huge chucks of ice fell and broke at my feet, and a massive door opened up. Through the door was a narrow stairway leading up into the clouds. At the top of the stairway...was my father. Which may sound like the result of childhood father issues--but we had no issues--just the opposite.
Next I found myself about halfway up the stairway. Looking back down, in through the doorway came babies, infants wrapped in little white blankets. I reached out and took the first one, then turned and passed it up to my father who met me with open arms. Then I reached down and did the same over and over and over again...which became mesmerizing like counting sheep. Then suddenly--with a shot--I was back, startled, and hit the ground (my bed) running until I was seated at the foot of my bed in a cold sweat. In awe and bewilderment the thought of what had just occurred went through my mind, "A door was opened to me and I help deliver babies to my father in the sky!" over and over again. Again it became mesmerizing like counting sheep, so I inched my way back up my bed, laid back and fell into a deep sleep. When I awoke, I was refreshed, all my troubles didn't seem to matter anymore. Something was different--I was different, I was changed.
Following are many chapters, many of which I have since revealed here.
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I guess it is private in as much as those who join must comply with entrance rules - so participation is controlled.
The fact that members can see it is needed for those wanting to join.
We can share about sensitive matters by way of a selected group chat in PM if needed when privacy is paramount.
This is a new approach to limit the usual destructive contention that prevails on most threads.
Who in the members of this friendly Bible Study do you think does not adhere to the Nicene Creed ?
ScottA
Well-Known Member
I understand the idea of trying harder to be kind and loving (--which I am all for) as opposed to much of what goes on here. But how do you purpose to deal with the fact that "destructive doctrines" (2 Peter 2:1) and "correction" (2 Timothy 3:16) are a biblical reality of these times?
Hi there,
I am just sharing this instruction with all who have shown interest in our Friendly Bible Study so no one falls through the cracks. :)
@Brakelite @amadeus @Azim @Pearl @Rita @Ritajanice @APAK @MA2444 @faithfulness @GTW27 @Berean @rockytopva @quietthinker @ScottA @marks
Thank you @Carl Emerson I am way behind and missed so much. It wasn't deliberate, I'm just spending less time on the forum.
I have had 7 Years on CF and about 14K posts - I have dealt with all sorts of issues, but part of my confidence is the brilliant support from the Mods.
It was not some bright idea of mine to do this - I was asked and tested the water and it just fell into place.
For the sake of transparency APAK has decided to pull out as he in all honesty does not agree with 'The Creed' - He was a great contributor and will be greatly missed.
Maybe I am introducing topics a little too frequently - I will have to slow down a tad...
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