Replies

I thought it was rather fitting.

God is interested in the best. Sometimes the good can be the enemy of the best--particularly when it's driven to seed by selfishness, turf wars, ego needs to win, vain-glory etc.

169 posted on 11/21/2006 8:11:43 PM PST by Quix (LET GOD ARISE AND HIS ENEMIES BE SCATTERED. LET ISRAEL CALL ON GOD AS THEIRS! & ISLAM FLUSH ITSELF)

As I noted, it was via another beloved FREEPER who . . . is a dear brother . . . but sometimes prefers to . . . lay lower than he knows I tend to. LOL.

170 posted on 11/21/2006 8:12:39 PM PST by Quix (LET GOD ARISE AND HIS ENEMIES BE SCATTERED. LET ISRAEL CALL ON GOD AS THEIRS! & ISLAM FLUSH ITSELF)

I particularly like this paragraph:

Agendas in the Church
We always claim it's about "truth" or "what's right" or "false teachers," but it usually isn't. If it's about "truth" then why do we always feel so dirty after the inevitable church split? And why are so many Christians destroyed by it? Because it's not about truth, but about power and agendas and winning.

171 posted on 11/21/2006 8:15:46 PM PST by Quix (LET GOD ARISE AND HIS ENEMIES BE SCATTERED. LET ISRAEL CALL ON GOD AS THEIRS! & ISLAM FLUSH ITSELF)

And:

It was the religious professionals, those degreed hardliners who had a rigid agenda and who replaced spiritual relationship with legal correctness.

172 posted on 11/21/2006 8:17:42 PM PST by Quix (LET GOD ARISE AND HIS ENEMIES BE SCATTERED. LET ISRAEL CALL ON GOD AS THEIRS! & ISLAM FLUSH ITSELF)

These devout, religious people were so enslaved to an agenda - even one found in the Old Testament - that it destroyed them.
= = =

YUP YUP.

173 posted on 11/21/2006 8:19:02 PM PST by Quix (LET GOD ARISE AND HIS ENEMIES BE SCATTERED. LET ISRAEL CALL ON GOD AS THEIRS! & ISLAM FLUSH ITSELF)

And:

Some are more concerned about protecting the purity of their agenda than about reaching people.

174 posted on 11/21/2006 8:20:57 PM PST by Quix (LET GOD ARISE AND HIS ENEMIES BE SCATTERED. LET ISRAEL CALL ON GOD AS THEIRS! & ISLAM FLUSH ITSELF)

Tooooooooo true:

By their twisted logic, the Pharisees had painted themselves into a corner. Jesus didn't share their agenda, so he couldn't be from God. If he's not from God, he must be from Satan. Therefore, if he's from Satan, his works (even if obviously good) must be from Satan. And if his works come from Satan, he must be destroyed.

That's why we can destroy each other in the name of religion and still feel justified. That's why Paul warned the legalistic Galatians, "If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other" (Galatians 5:15).

175 posted on 11/21/2006 8:22:33 PM PST by Quix (LET GOD ARISE AND HIS ENEMIES BE SCATTERED. LET ISRAEL CALL ON GOD AS THEIRS! & ISLAM FLUSH ITSELF)

I've certainly found this to be true time and time again:

This kind of polarization by the teachers of the law and Pharisees was why Jesus said, "You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are" (Matthew 23:15).

The newly-polarized sons of an agenda tend to be much more inflexible than even the aged masters who spawned them. So be on your guard.

176 posted on 11/21/2006 8:23:39 PM PST by Quix (LET GOD ARISE AND HIS ENEMIES BE SCATTERED. LET ISRAEL CALL ON GOD AS THEIRS! & ISLAM FLUSH ITSELF)