Posted on 12/18/2013 4:47:00 PM PST by Blue Turtle
Edited on 12/18/2013 5:37:38 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
“Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson has been fired from the reality program following his controversial remarks in GQ magazine regarding homosexuality.
A+E Networks, parent company of A&E, has released the following statement to Variety:
“We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson’s comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty. His personal views in no way reflect those of A+E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community.”
Let sick A&E “champion” the bestiality-lovers!
**If the toughest thing you can think of is hellfire then you do not know squat about heaven.**
If you can’t see hell AND heaven in those quotes FROM Jesus, John the baptist, and Paul, (not from me) then you need to read them again real slow.
Jesus said “escape”. Is there another place besides heaven to escape to?
John said “flee from”. Fleeing from damnation of hell means heading for the only other destination.
Paul said “unworthy of everlasting life”. Where is everlasting life.......oh,yeah.
Those preachers were unafraid to rip the people that claimed a form of godliness. They were ‘tough’ when the situation called for it.
Preaching to the hungry soul is easy. Preaching to those that are proud and/or selfrighteous, can be putting one’s self in harm’s way; that takes toughness. But, that’s what God expects from his FAITHFUL witnesses, and he empowers them to carry out the job before them.
Stephen preached the truth to the ‘religous right’ of his day, rebuking them at the end for their hard heartedness. You know how that ended.
I think Mr Robertson knew he was going to ‘step on some toes’, but, he had to let his yea be yea, and his nay be nay. That’s being true to the Word.
If heaven is nothing more than an escape to you, again you know nothing about the quality of heaven. Any bully can cherry pick Jesus and spout hell fire that was chiefly aimed at obdurate hypocrites (if a prostitute got thus threatened it was not documented); only those who have actually been saved into the joy of heaven's presence through the Holy Spirit on earth can speak of the quality of heaven.
I sincerely pray the Lord (and you) that you will take the trouble to learn the quality of heaven as more than some celestial fire escape. If that is all that heaven was good for, then those who protest Christianity by going to hell might have a point.
Let me fill you in on the secret that many souls are hungry but the church has thrown the food away!
And then they wonder why the hellfire they dish out to the hungry souls gets a bad reaction.
Discretion is the better part of valor.
And one of the foods that the church has thrown away is that which enables the honoring of God in the human body. And not having the food, it can not share it. The lucky soul who gets it, learns it quite by accident, as it were.
Would it be too much to say that all Christians should be “sexy”?
I don’t think it is. I don’t mean in a wanton sense but in a God honoring sense. Maybe the church at large needs some hell fire, by your own logic? Because it’s ignoring this food in its pride?
In fact have YOU shared that food? Or are you due some hell fire, as it were? (Hebrews tell us that hellish experiences await the Christian who is slow to learn.)
The book of Hebrews tells.
Preaching to those that are proud and/or selfrighteous, can be putting one’s self in harm’s way; that takes toughness.
One does not have to go to hell fire arguments at all in order to provoke such reactions from sinners. If you hurt their prides, they kick. Are you willing to be tough enough to forgive the wounds they will deal out to you while you make the word of salvation plain? That tells them that heaven is BETTER than their prides? (Not just better than hell.) Now THAT is the kind of tough that Christ showed on the Cross. ARE YOU MAN ENOUGH TO DO THAT.
And let me fill you in on another secret. ALL sinners are proud. Even you. Does that mean you must therefore be threatened with hell? Well, be careful because as you deal out, so will be dealt to you. God may shove hell in your face in response to some sin of yours because you were unwilling to chuck your own pride out when dealing with someone else’s similar sin.
Now some can be reached without hell fire threats. It is wimpy, and not truly tough, to assume that such threats are needed to conquer all pride... sometimes they are not. The ministries of Christians throughout the bible proves that.
There is a place for the extreme measures, and there is a place to refrain. Knowing where to refrain is a part of being the kind of tough that says no to your own pride when you’d dearly like to shove hell down someone else’s throat before all other avenues are exhausted.
You seem to choose to make this an expansive study of evangelism. I was simply pointing out the fact that Mr Robertson spoke openly of the sinful lifestyles that are condemned in the Word. He stepped on some toes. There are entire chapters in the new testament where ‘toes are stepped’ on (Matt. 23, for example).
But, since you like to widen the discussion, I ask this question: Acts 2:38; is it from heaven, or of men?
I choose it because it is pertinent. Have YOU been sharing the gospel that says more about heaven than that it isn’t hell? I have been. And my faith has been envied. Maybe when you can say the same then we can discuss more.
Think about it. The gospel was given to the gentiles to make the Jews “JEALOUS.” (Exact phrase: provoke them to jealousy.) Now do hellfire preachers make the Jews jealous? Every single solitary time it is a turn off.
**choose it because it is pertinent.**
What you have definitely chosen is to make this discussion about you (”and my faith has been envied”),and me (”WHEN YOU ARE MAN ENOUGH”).
This thread is about a man’s response to questions about ‘lifestyles’ that are clearly sinful in the eyes of God. He answered them in a clear fashion, knowing that some would take offense. Why are they offended....because they seek to legitimize something God condemns. Now, if there were questions in the interview about heaven, and joys of living for God, that’s great (I haven’t read the interview).
The first words of evangelism from both John, and Jesus, found in Matthew:
John: “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Jesus: “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Are those not good introductions to the inquiring soul?
Following your lead, I too will make a ‘you’ and ‘me’ comment: I noticed that YOU didn’t answer this question from ME:
Acts 2:38; is it from heaven, or of men?
Yes, we are players in this story! That is inescapable!
I am still making it about GOD and the way GOD works. You seem to be making it about a beggared private vision of GOD. Which in fact is what the serpent offered in the Garden!
You are offering a red herring which is not pertinent; that is why I do not answer a fool according to his folly.
Repent to what? You offer a contentless heaven.
And yes. I assert that God is currently working better through me than He is through you. There. Go pout in a corner about your pride if you must.
And I would actually dearly love to be shown wrong by your actual actions. Far be it from me to want someone to be blocked from the fullness of heaven or to to be blocked from showing it. Because God who is my closest Friend does not want it.
You just look like a blind guide to date. Heaven isn’t just a word, dude and you are all tied up in word games, even with your oh so clever example. Heaven is the miraculous ever saving, ever loving, ever blessing personal presence of God. Jesus didn’t just yack, dude. Jesus let the way He lived do most of His talking! Now what have YOU done? I write spiritual songs to win souls and edify the faithful. Please feel free to show how you have done more than play word games to please yourself.
**And I would actually dearly love to be shown wrong by your actual actions.**
Well, I have some favorite testamonies, but will use what is probably my oldest, and is about one of my best friends. He was from the inner city of Pittsburgh, and 41 yrs ago, in Aug 72, we were freshmen on a small college football team. We were placed, alphabetically, next to each other at the lockers. He made it apparent to me that he hated whites (meaning, don’t try to be his friend).
So, I didn’t try to be his friend, I just lived the ol’ golden rule. We hardly spoke to each other. After a couple of weeks, he said, “you hate me, admit it”. I responded, “I haven’t got any reason to hate you. Besides, you’re the first black person I’ve ever had a conversation with”. He was speechless for a few minutes, then said, “don’t try to be my friend” (he told me years later that my response just blew his concept of racial hate to pieces). By the end of football season, we were friends.
That thanksgiving, I invited him to come home to our farm, since it was a financial hardship for him to go ‘back to the burgh’ (as he put it). At the time I wasn’t born again, but simply lived by some of God’s guidelines.
After he graduated from college, he taught in grade school a few years. In the meantime, thank God, my wife and I had become born again. He came to visit us, saw the change in me, visited church with us, and left knowing he too wanted to live for God. He soon had a dramatic conversion, and a couple of years later became a prison chaplain. He eventually became head of all the chaplains in the prison system of Ohio.
He likes to tell people that I saved his life. When he trys to tell me that, I respond that God has used several people to save his life, the first of course being Jesus.
Back to the topic of the thread (Mr Robertson’s witness of the Word concerning sinful lifestyles). He answered knowing that some would be offended, but was faithful to God in doing so.
You felt that ‘toughness’ should be a quality found in men witnessing for the Lord. I mentioned some extreme examples from the Word, which certainly required a toughness, knowing the offended could get violent. The witness of the Lord to the woman at the well is a good example of a relaxed, easy, exchange that really doesn’t require a ‘toughness’ (you used that word first).
It would be nice if they all were that way. The woman at the well, and the prostitute, are like many people that know they are not living for God, and want a changed life. As such, they are not offended by the witness that reaches out to help them. The offended are those that feel that they have not sinned, and react negatively when the light of God shines on them.
Does Acts 2:38 offend you?
Why should Acts 2:38 offend me? You want me to say “heaven.” Which if course is the right answer.
What you are not saying is the CONTENT of heaven. Generic “salvation” says virtually nothing.
You fail to point out all the things that are “in the middle.” And some of them could need great patience. It’s real easy for lazy Christians to holler hellfire today (and has been for decades) knowing that the most likely response is a NON violent encounter, and they meantime feel really proud of having done it. That’s the point I am getting at. In fact one biblical invitation to salvation said be saved FROM THIS PERVERSE GENERATION not from hell.
Don’t be afraid to adjust your worldview rather than stubbornly standing up for defending your past. The cross defended your past. The lessons, however, will continue until you die
I hope you were humble enough to firmly disclaim that you, personally, had “saved your friend’s life.” Or had even been the chief witness.
And anyhow, a decent worldly life isn’t all that embracing heaven gets you. If your own thinking is on that level you need to adjust.
We do not know...But it is a probability if it was snuck into that performance contract...Its not too hard to hide the devil in those details...
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