Thursday, June 19, 2008

Is God's Church Temporary or Eternal?

1Peter 1:20-25 (HCSB)
20 He was destinedi before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the times for you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
22 By obedience to the truth,j having purified yourselvesk for sincere love of the brothers, love one another earnestly from a purea heart, 23 since you have been born again—not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For
All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory like a flower of the grass.
The grass withers, and the flower drops off,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.
And this is the word that was preached as the gospel to you.

Q: Is Jesus Church Temporary or Eternal? What about yours? Is yours a purely fleshly body with no eternal component?

Q: what are safe ways to react after you been devalued even by “Christian” neighbors?
Safe Council:

Recall: God is the only way to fill that void. God created us, and God desires to be in relationship with us. God gives us identity, God gives us purpose, and God gives us love.

Recall: follow the two greatest commandments, to love God, and to love others as we love ourselves, we have to have a healthy self-esteem. We can't love if we don't feel loved. This is a difficult time for someone leaving a dangerous church.

Recall: Go go to God and seek his forgiveness, seek cleansing of body, mind, and spirit, and be made whole again. Thank God for his goodness and grace. Then to your friends to seek advice and encouragement.

Recall: God called his creation of humanity, not ok or good; he called his creation of humanity very good. Humanity is the pinnacle of his work, and God in creating us didn't create junk!

Recall: Everyone in this world is important to God our creator, every person is of sacred worth, every person is worth praying for, every person is worth loving and caring for, and every person is worth saving. So give yourself permission to be the unique person God created you to be. Do the things God's grace allows you to do. Don't march around in vicious circles of fear, self-doubt, and hopelessness. Stop marching and start flying with Christ. Allow God to raise you up to new heights of assurance so that you can be more than you can be.

Recall: when our whole support group gives up on us, our friends ignore us, consider a safe turn away from self and sin toward the person of Jesus Christ, where else are you going to turn?

Recall: it is when we are the very weakest that suddenly Satan will find attractive people, gangs, cults, or other people whose purpose is to take advantage of vulnerable people. Attractive angry atheists are all around us.

Warning From People Once Caught in Cults: affiliating with marginal groups or people, actually causes more hurt, abuse, and their feeling of self-worth diminishes even more. Many choose to become life long enemies of the cross after they were badly treated in church. Counter-cult ministries call these types of groups the unpaid revenue of ugly Christianity. It’s never a problem unless someone from your own family gets trapped in a cult who treated them better than their church.

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