Mad Dawg, my conscience prohibits me from responding to all your contentions on the Lord's Day but I will leave some Scripture upon which we can all ponder.
Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don't have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn't yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.You wouldn't think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you'd be asking for what you have no right to. You're spoiled children, each wanting your own way.
You're cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn't care? The proverb has it that "he's a fiercely jealous lover." And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you'll find. It's common knowledge that "God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble."
So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet.
Don't bad-mouth each other, friends. It's God's Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk. You're supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it. God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others?
I would say there's plenty in it for everyone involved. I think someone saying that they have intentionally inflicted -- and mean to continue to inflict -- discomfort and emotional pain on their equals in age and so forth in order to administer the ecclesiastical equivalent of a paternal beating is probably more a worshipper at the altar of Mars than that of our Lord.
I just don't get it. We have this:
***pluck our beards*** Ya, but you like it because it gives you a martyr complex.
Then we find that if the put-down is addressed to each of us, it' s not personal, so it is amended to:
Ok. Sorry.And still James advises (in the very fun and interesting Eugene Petereson translation/paraphrase):Don't bad-mouth each other, friends.“Ya’ll”
So saying that each of us has a martyr complex, or wants one, is not bad-mouthing?
I get off the clinical high horse and in very little time I get a poser like this one. I repeat, I don't get it.
And I'd guess that if it's too bad to say on Sunday, it's probably not going to be good enough to say on any other day.
Don't bad-mouth each other, friends. It's God's Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk. You're supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it. God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others?
AMEN!