Posted on 12/31/2006 8:14:19 AM PST by ladyL
I agree.
Great post, I am going to forward this to people and of course giving you credit as an author.....It sure has generated some interesting commentary and discussions.
You shall know a tree by the fruit it bears.
butt
Baptist Ping
The problem is that the broad brush paints rather broadly, and attempts to condemn to hell plenty of Christians.
Saying you're a Christian doesn't make you one.
Any one who ends up in hell, was not a Christian.
When you ask forgiveness for your sins, you are cleansed by the blood Jesus shed on the cross, but if you Willfully keep committing the sin and have no intention to stop committing the sin, you are a fake.
His sermon today was also about 3 men. Two of them were the same. The third was his FIL.
I told him I was glad the third wasn't James Brown.
You can argue about this, as we can already see, but it's a good post, IMHO. Thanks.
I sincerely hope that James Brown turned his life around - and that can happen at the time of death, even for someone who led a dissolute life. I say this as someone who mis-spent much of my life, used drugs and alcohol, and probably broke every commandment. I also used to enjoy James Brown's music!
But everyone who takes their spiritual life and the messages of God seriously should never think: "I'm saved, so it's okay if I sin". On the contrary, we should examine our own lives very carefully, and continually pull out the weeds. It's a lifelong process, there are always more weeds. We should be sorry for our failures, never thinking that it's okay, I'm already saved, so my actions don't matter.
I also hope that James had a death bed conversion as well as I prayed God's mercy on Sadam Hussein. I agree with you that "being saved" involves a process, a lifestyle which unfortunately Brown didn't exhibit.
When you ask forgiveness for your sins, you are cleansed by the blood Jesus shed on the cross, but if you Willfully keep committing the sin and have no intention to stop committing the sin, you are a fake.
True also. But we know the following: The man had at least some interest in Christianity i.e. he wasn't muslim, a professed atheist, etc. The man had big problems. We have know idea how he spent the last few years of his life. Additoinally, addressing the post as a whole, it is certainly not the case that a liking for rock and roll is sin. Of course, there are people who do accept Christ be relapse in and out of drug and alcohol addiction as well.
I agree with you 100%, which is also why I dont accept saying about someone: Well, he liked rock music, drugs, and alcohol, therefore we can assume he is going to hell.
The following is from Wikipedia: In December 2004 Brown was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which was successfully treated with surgery. He appeared at Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push, the final Live 8 concert, on July 6, 2005, where he did a duet with British pop star Will Young on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag." He also did a duet with another British pop star, Joss Stone, a week earlier on the UK chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. Before his death, he was scheduled to perform a duet with singer Annie Lennox on the song "Vengeance" on her new album Venus, scheduled for release in early 2007. In 2006, Brown continued his "Seven Decades Of Funk World Tour", to be his last, performing all over the world. His latest shows were still greeted with positive reviews. One of his final concert performances was at the Irish Oxegen festival in Punchestown in 2006 to a record crowd of 80,000.
You have no idea what Brown did with the last two years of his life, spirtually or otherwise (neither do I). I hope that when you die someone isn't around to say "Well, one time she did such and such, and a true Christian wouldn't do that, and besides, we haven't heard from her in two years so for all we know she rejected Chrsit".
Thanks for the interesting essay, I'll probably ping one of my lists to it later. (Gotta run, now.)
The potential for deathbed repentance and surrender to God is always a possibility, and to be fervently hoped for. That's just one reason why doctor assisted (or non-doctor assisted) suicide is so terrible.
Another factor is that it's not so easy to undo or reverse the entire course of one's focus and habits at the time of death. On the other hand, if one is already in the habit of turning to God not only in times of trouble but daily, then it is natural to do so in the extremity of approaching death.
Are you saying Proverbs was written/inspired by Satan? That's kind of an odd thing to imply.
Rodney,
I have tried to reply to your post but I keep deleting what I have written because I am getting that you are digging me about something you are not being forth right about. In other words, what is really bugging you about what I wrote.
Let's just drop it... While your post was well written, I simply think you are being way too judgemental. It's no big deal... not worth going back and forth on... have a good new year.
That was a wonderful post.
No Christians are going to hell, but there are plenty of those who CLAIM to be Christians who will be there. Jesus stated that only those who DO God's will make it.
Matt 7:14-23 "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
"You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
"So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
"A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
"Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
"So then, you will know them by their fruits.
"Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
"Many will say to Me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
"And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
No, but the drugs and alcohol are. His admitted sleeping around and fathering illegitimate child/children are more problems for him when he stands/stood in front of God in Judgment.
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