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What is Contemplative Christianity?

Yoshua

Well-Known Member
Patently untrue.
Your Christianity’s understanding has no obedience, and submission to God’s will. By Yoshua

Sure, it is true. How can you submit to Christ when you adhere and embraced Hindus, yoga, mantra, Buddhism etc…….?
Submission is loyal to God and not compromising; Submission must be solid loyalty as in solid theology. I may have a lot of friends in different faith, helping and show them love of Christ, but never I compromised with my fellowship and intimacy with Christ with other religion/belief.
Theology is always fragile, in a sense.
That is your theology. Not a solid theology. If the foundation of Christianity came from Jesus Christ, the theology that adheres to it is not fragile.
Hold on there, Cochise! I never claimed to deny the Incarnation. Never.
No. It doesn't. The article is wrong.

Panentheist think God is finite and not infinite. God works in cooperation with the world in order to achieve greater perfection in his nature, thus, believe the world is God's body. How can you accept incarnation if the universe is God and God is changing?

Panentheism
Panentheism, literally "all-in-God-ism", "affirms that although God and the world are ontologically distinct [i.e., not the same] and God transcends the world, the world is 'in' God ontologically." ^ [1]^ This is not to be confused with pantheism, which understands God to be the world. For most panentheists, God is intimately connected to the world and yet remains greater than the world. In this view, events and changes in the universe affect and change God, and he is therefore a temporal being. As the universe grows, God learns as he increases in knowledge and being.

Panentheism has been associated with process theology and aspects of open theism, including theologians such as Paul Tillich, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jurgen Moltmann, Robert Jenson, and possibly Karl Rahner.theopedia

Panentheism, (also known as Monistic Monotheism), is the belief, similar to Pantheism, that the physical universe is joined to God, but stressing that God is greater than (rather than equivalent to) the universe. Thus, the one God is synonymous with the material universe and interpenetrates every part of nature (as in Pantheism), but timelessly extends beyond as well. The universe is part of God, but not all of God.

The Neoplatonism of Plotinus (in which the world itself is a God) is to some extent panentheistic with polytheistic tendencies, and philosophical treatises have been written on it in the context of Hinduism for millennia (notably in the "Bhagavad Gita" and the "Shri Rudram"). Many North American and South American Native religions are panentheistic in nature, and some elements of panentheism arise in Hasidic Judaism and Kabbalah, some Sufi orders of Islam, and Eastern and Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christianity.

However, the word "panentheism" (which can be translated as "all in God") was not coined until 1828, by the German philosopher Karl Christian Friedrich Krause (1781–1832), in an attempt to reconcile Monotheism and Pantheism, and this conception of God influenced New England Transcendentalists such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, and was popularized by Charles Hartshorne (1897 - 2000) in his development of process theology in the 20th Century, and has also been adopted by proponents of various New Thought beliefs.www.philosophybasics.com
Immaterial. Ur is in the East, just as is India.
Is it because they are in the East, Christianity is rooted with Hinduism? There is no indication in the Scripture, not even a hint that Hindus was performed or practiced since the time of Abraham.:shrug:
We're not talking about specific, cultural or religious teachings. We're talking about the mystical flavor of both.
That’s what I’m pointing at. You are just saying like the word “meditation” in different faiths. There is a meditation for Hindus and for Christian, but they don’t have the same principles and God. Therefore, attached the flavor of Hindus is not a sufficient evidence to link it with Jesus’ Christianity.:rolleyes:
The bible is, apparently, your life. Lose your idolatry of it, and you will save your life.
Wow. Did I idolize the Bible? Did God ever include idolatry of Scriptures? Never. God even told us to meditate day and night and continued until the time of Jesus and Paul.
Love. Period.
Because your gospel is different, can you try to tell me what is the gospel?By Yoshua

Incomplete, and unclear. This is the gospel:

1 Cor. 15:1-4
1. Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
2. by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
3. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4. and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

And ancient and mysticism.
That is man initiated to mysticism, and not God initiated.
I'm not "against what Jesus said." Jesus' way is the way of love. Can you prove that it's not?
Way of love? That is New Age. The love of God is innate to Him. No doubt about that.
He is the way to the Father, the mediator and the only name which salvation can be found.
"Obey" isn't in there. "Believing" means to take into oneself and to make part of oneself. It's not just an intellectual, academic agreement. He who believes in love believes in God, because God is love.
Don’t over-emphasized about the word “love,” we both know that God is love. It is better that you meditate on this Scripture. Don’t forget the v.9, why there is love and what is that love.

God Is Love
7. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
10. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Preaching the gospel is more about action than words.
Then it is included. This should be the primary goal. How can you preach without action? It is the Holy Spirit who leads you to action. Reading the Scriptures is an action; we act the right thing that is in accordance with the will of God.

Thanks
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Hi Windwalker,

It may seem the same in response, but not totally the same. The praying of Peter is not the same as you do to your prayer.
How do you know? Tell me how Peter was praying. Show me the scripture that describes what he was doing.

You did not adhere to meditation in Scripture, and have a different approach to Christian spirituality application. The outer part may seem identical, but the inner part (content) is not the same.

Thanks
The inner part is the same as the Christian experience. But it's not for you. You have no inner part.
 

Yoshua

Well-Known Member
And willful ignorance comes from.... drumroll..... fear.
Prov. 9:10
10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

The fear is wisdom & understanding, it is not the fear of anything, but understand what is for God and what is not for God. Knowing His will, and not trusting in our own will.

Prov. 3:5-6
5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6. In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.

So, if you are saying that we are ignorant, it is not. The Scripture say it is understanding. Having the fear of the Lord is submission to His word--as to His will. He is to be followed--as what God want for us, God-initiated--as God initiated His word in the Scriptures, not man-initiated what we like, and entice to do something because we experienced it due to feeling good, or supernatural/mysticism. This is the meaning of FEAR.

Thanks
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Fear of the Lord means reverence, not paranoia, not phobia. Willful ignorance is caused by phobia. You're a horrible apologist.
 

Yoshua

Well-Known Member
"Believe in God and in the 'fact' that Jesus died to save you from your sins, or spend an eternity in hell" isn't fear?? I grew up and have spent most of my adult life in the bible belt. I've lived close to a lot of fundies, and not one person among them has ever fostered anything but the tightest systems of dos and don'ts. you either believe like them and act like them, or they see you as condemned.
Hi Sojourner,

Believing in Jesus Christ is obeying, thus by obeying is a commitment. This is the same as your commitment with your wife at the stage of marriage. You become loyal to your wife same as with your kids. Why not for God?

Spending eternity in hell is true, that is the truth. The Scripture mentioned about hell. There is no such thing as you don't commit and surrendered your life to Jesus partially, and seek yourself any spirituality that will make you feel good and full of mysticism. This is not what Jesus is saying.

James 4:7
7. Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Ps. 40 :8
8. I delight to do Thy will, O my God;
Thy Law is within my heart."

Matt. 12:50
50. "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother."

If Jesus does the will of Hid Father, He submitted to His will. What is the reason why we could 'nt submit to His will.

John 7:17-18
17. "If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.
18. "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Heb. 13:21
21. equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Scripture is speaking about the will to man surrendered to God. Not a hint of doing your own will. Never.
I remember when I was in my college years, I have a background in mind about theology and bible due to my Christian high School. I kept hiding myself to surrender my life to Christ because I have a fear-- that when I (totally) gave up my life to Him, I would'nt do things that is prohibited by God. The vices and wordly things that can be offered to man. Until I came to the point that I have to stop my hiding (in 3 years), and totally surrendered my life to Him. That is submission and commitment. That is a total commitment and obedience and not a lukewarm belief in God that compromised God's obedience.

The Fear that you are mentioning is the fear of not (total) surrendering life to God. God said to all who fear,

Isa. 41:10
10. `Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'

Thanks
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Where will you read and hear Jesus’ words? Meditating?
Sure. There too. I can also hear them in the breeze on a cool day. I can read them in the rays of the sunset across a still lake. I smell them in the scent of the lilies of the field. Everything is scripture. But only to those who have ears to hear, eyes to see, and an opened heart to receive.

How will you know what will you meditate?
How will I know what I will meditate? This question makes no sense.

Where will you get your source to meditate?
That's easy. Spirit.

Still, if a spiritual man claimed he is following Christianity, why he will ignore and disbelieve the infallibility of the Scriptures?
Because it's a BS doctrine invented in the last 100 years. I disbelieve a lot of stuff that is not a requirement of Christianity. If you judge a man by his beliefs, and God judges the truth in the heart of man, you are not in agreement with God.

Jesus said “Seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness” and not “Seek ye first His kingdom in a mystical awareness/mystical way, and His righteousness.”

Thanks
Yes it is. It means exactly that.
 

Yoshua

Well-Known Member
Yet, all we hear is, "You can't dance, go to the movies, drink, smoke, or have premarital sex. Or be homosexual, or you're going to hell." That sounds a lot like a list of dos and don'ts to me.
If that will be your standard, then you may allowing your flesh to trigger in sinning. The notion that you got from other believers is a cult-like claiming Christians. Who say that you cannot dance, sing, and go to movies? You're mistaken about this one. Now, about the smoking, our body is God's temple and we should take care of our body and offer it to God as a living sacrifice.
Rom. 12:1
1. I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

For drinking, it depends on how you drink. You drink as a drunkard is not advisable. You drink occasionally because of social gathering or something, I don't think it is a bad one. But drinking as you vices is not advisable, it may affect your health.

For pre-marital sex, I believed this is not allowed by God. How can you testify as the follower of Christ if you're a pre-marital sex advocator?

For homo-sexuality, I believed once a person surrendered His life to God as to control his life by any means. He will be accountable to God and guided by the Holy Spirit. This is the relationship between God and the homo-sexual person. I know a homo-sexual who is a Christian. We don't judge them and I believed that God is fair.

Thanks
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Of course, I know those Gnostic gospels.
Only a few of the Nag Hammadi are actually Gnostic. Many are from the Wisdom schools.

Why concentrate with the Gospel of Thomas, if there is no narrative about the life of Jesus and his teachings?
Why should that matter??? Are Paul's epistles narratives? No. :) Goodness me. You don't know much about these, apparently. You do realize that there was no narrative Gospels in the first 40 years of the Christian movement? How, oh how did they manage? :)

Who will you think you will prioritize? :shrug:Anything that Jesus said or what Thomas is saying?
You miss the point, of course. The fact is these were used by Christians in their communities, but some later editor decided to chop them up and spit them out. So much for "preserving God's word". Your Bible is the work of editors. It's not "infallible".

Of course, we focus on Christ’s teachings. Some of these Gnostic gospels are contrary to who Jesus was.
You are quite uneducated about these things.

I just wondering why take effort to focus and concentrate in the Gnostics and mystical rather than Jesus teaching’s? Is the Holy Spirit pointing you to concentrate on these things rather than the teaching’s of Jesus in the New Testament?
I don't know why I bother to respond, since you don't follow the point of my arguments. Either you have trouble understanding the line of reasoning and the arguments I present, or you skim over them as a you race to just repeat your mindless mantras. I'm not sure which.
 

Yoshua

Well-Known Member
Your whole statement about truth claims is just as true for fundamentalists as you claim it is for Emergents. The difference is that Emergents tend to take an objective, more fact-oriented approach to the texts, while most fundamentalists throw around words like "infallible," "God's words," "absolute," etc., which are more subjectively-based. What you don't like is that Emergents and post-modern liberals don't share your emotional view of the texts, which can cloud the reality of what the texts are.

It's really sad that you pit Evangelicals against Emergents, creating this false dichotomy, without realizing that there is such an animal as an Evangelical Emergent. In fact, the Emergent Movement began in the Evangelical church as a backlash against rampant emotionalism, judgment, and exclusivism. As I said, the post is too full of holes to be called an argument. Better to call it a screen, keeping out bugs of truth that otherwise bother you and bite you in the butt.
We don't put an excuse to other evangelicals who embraced emergent. Is this prophesied by Jesus? Isn't it. That there will be false prophets, and false teachings; strange doctrine that is not of Jesus teachings. The relationship is the basis of our doctrine and not by name of the who you are in the denomination or your title.

What we are trying to unfold here is the emergent practice and not who's who. :)

Thanks
 

Yoshua

Well-Known Member
To say one is "rooted and grounded" in the Bible, meaning the words of others, does not in any way translate into you being rooted and grounded in Christ! You are relying on the experience of others, and telling yourself it will all be taken care of one day for you, and just trusting in those words to find some solace and consolation, a temporary relief of fears and anxieties. And there may be some positive experience that comes through positive beliefs, but it is not the same as opening the door and stepping through to a mystical experience of Spirit - not emotionalism, but the experience of Peace itself, the Being of God, which opens one's own being into living and being rooted and grounded in Spirit itself. One is trusting in hope, the other resting in Spirit. Once that occurs, then how you see and understand the Bible becomes something entirely different. Your source of Authority, is the Spirit. A true spirituality is one that is lived, not just imagined and hoped for. And that is the difference between merely "believing", and the mystical experience. The mystical experience is a lived reality; One beyond the escapisms of a mere emotionalism, or a mere "beliefism".
How can you trust the Spirit of God without knowing what is the Spirit of God? Everyone can claim that his/her source of Authority is the Spirit, but this is by mouth only and not by the will of God.

How can you contradict the word of Jesus that His words will not pass away. Jesus gave value to His word. Now, if someone who claimed he is following Jesus in some way as the Spirit, Jesus should not emphasized that His word will not pass away. This is absolutely the test.

Mark 13:31
31. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

It is just by asking oneself if he obeyed and submit to God's teaching. If God can make mystical things in front of our eyes, the it is by God, and not by man. Why seek for mystical if Jesus did not told us to seek Him in mystical way?

Thanks
 

Yoshua

Well-Known Member
Paul wasn't talking about the scriptures. He was talking about the message of the gospel. Remember: there was no bible when Paul wrote to Thessalonica. There was no NT. There were no gospels. There were only the various Hebrew scrolls.

As I posted earlier, it is not a reason of not having a NT or no gospels as you commented, the mere fact that Paul is addressing His defense to Agrippa is already about the gospel whether it is not yet written or about to be written. The good news is we have the gospel, the words of Jesus & Paul handed down to us to read and meditate it as our guide to righteousness.

What is the difference if the underground chinese in China memorized the Scriptures without the physical Bible in their hands? Will you accused them being a fundamentalist or rather rejoice that they have the word of God in their heart and mind? Which of the two?:)

Thanks
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
How can you trust the Spirit of God without knowing what is the Spirit of God?
You're right, you can't. You can claim it all you want, but if you have no knowledge of it yourself, it's worthless theology, worthless apologetics.

How can you contradict the word of Jesus that His words will not pass away. Jesus gave value to His word.
Yes, but it's you who says it's the Protestant Bible. Not Jesus. :)

Now, if someone who claimed he is following Jesus in some way as the Spirit, Jesus should not emphasized that His word will not pass away. This is absolutely the test.
No it's not. It's your test to fit you thin theologies.

It is just by asking oneself if he obeyed and submit to God's teaching. If God can make mystical things in front of our eyes, the it is by God, and not by man. Why seek for mystical if Jesus did not told us to seek Him in mystical way?

Thanks
I think you have a problem. You don't listen to others, or you just can't comprehend what they are saying. One of those two, either of which are a problem.
 

Yoshua

Well-Known Member
Well... you're wrong. Let me ask you this: Upon what, in your fundamentalist church, does God's authority rest? From where is it propagated? How is it displayed? How do you think the Emergents "reject" that authority?
Do we need to cite it one by one about the emergent church?

Why need to defend the emergent church rejecting the authority? they realistically rejecting the authority of God's word. They compromised with the word of God like Mclaren, Brian. Emergent practitioner allowed to absorb and adhere the doctrine of other religious groups. What do you think the impact of being a follower of Christ? Can they claimed they are the follower of Christ despite they practice Buddhism and Hindu thoughts and principles. Oh my. Where is the truth that Jesus hardly confessed to us? :shrug:

You cannot serve two Masters. You must choose who you will be submitted for? Jesus or not Jesus?o_O

Yet there are some who practice like the evangelicals but still compromised in their views about the gospel and the Scripture. They are anti-infallibility of the Scriptures and ride-on already into ecumenical movement.

How do you preach the good news about Christ if you adhere to other religion's doctrine and beliefs. It is like a soldier who turned back/deny his own country that he is serving, thus, serving in another country. Where is now the nationalism here? The same with a follower of Christ (as emergent) who turned his back away from Jesus Christ. Where is the loyalty, commitment and spiritual submission here?

Thanks
 

Yoshua

Well-Known Member
"Trashing?" Really?! Srrsly?! "Love God, Love neighbor as self. Lift the downtrodden, include the outcast, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, show hospitality to all, help transform lives through love." That's "trashing the gospel," eh?

You don't have any idea what you're talking about. Typically, you've cabbage onto some bozo who wrote a book once and calls himself an "authority" and you blindly believe everything he says, even though he's patently WRONG. Everything you've said thus far about Emergents is WRONG. You don't like 'em because you perceive that they're different from you, and you can't stand differences. So sad.
The physical outworking such as helping, clothing the naked, helping to transform the lives of others are the things that is called "good works." For those who is a follower of Christ, good works comes out naturally as Christ workmanship.
Eph. 2:8-10
8. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9. not as a result of works, that no one should boast.
10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The gospel that you know is love ,so It is not surprising to know how you reacted with your comment. The gospel that Paul have said is the gospel of Christ. That is the GOSPEL.
1 Cor. 15:1-4
1. Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
2. by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
3. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4. and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Therefore, your reaction and comment proved that your gospel is not the same gospel that the Scripture preaching. Emergent have their own theory and doctrine. This is how we can explain what is emergent theology and what is not emergent theology. Crystal clear.;)

Thanks
 

Yoshua

Well-Known Member
That's all?

You do know that when the author of John wrote the 1st chapter, he was thinking of the Bible that Evangelical churches would be using? "In the beginning was the Bible, and the Bible was with God, and the Bible was God.... and the Bible became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld it's pages."

View attachment 10904

Come on. Windwalker, it is not us that you are insulting. We don't wrote the Scripture in the Bible. You just displayed your ignorance with the word. You and Sojourner used Scriptures in your posted message, and now you are eating it in front of your face.

It is better to look at Atheist who at least don't believe in anything than the emergent and mystical practitioner who lambasted their own action by displaying such ignorance in what you're doing. on that picture.

The book that you posted in your face are the scriptures that you quoted before, it's inside that book. You're mistaken on what you did.o_O

How about the Bible/books of Buddhist and Muslim, would you think your picture will do the same thing? answer me.

Thanks
 

Yoshua

Well-Known Member
People misuse the bible all the time to accomplish their own authoritarian means "in the name of God." Hitler used it to commit violence against the Jews. Slavers used it to commit violence against blacks. Politicians used it to commit violence against First Nations people. Imperialist Christians used it to commit violence against all kinds of native peoples.
Absolutely true. Same with your friend Windwalker who displayed the picture of a book attached to man's face. Well, I don't know who is that man? How did he get that picture?:rolleyes:

Thanks
 

Yoshua

Well-Known Member
Will you support this with a source of authority? Did Paul ever say, "I am writing scripture?" Did he ever say, "You have the scriptures I wrote for you", to any of the churches? No?
2 Tim. 3:16
16. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
17. that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

What Paul said in 2 Tim. 3:16 proves that he uttered & wrote is the Scripture. What makes Paul's word not the Scripture?

Rom. 3:4
4. Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: "That You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged.''

John 17:17
17. "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth.

Ps. 119:142
142. Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And Thy law is truth.

Thanks
 

Yoshua

Well-Known Member
Here's the reality of it for others like those in this emergent movement (which through this thread I have become quite interested in as they sound quite mature in their faith from what I've read so far). We don't assume even our own voices and thoughts and ideas are Absolute. We reject the whole notion of absolute truth being something anyone, including ourselves, can know or lay claim to! We don't reject the Bible as Absolute Authority, and then turn around and find another to replace it with! This is the core problem in your understanding how others do not all think as you do. Just because you can't fathom how someone can think without having absolute authorities to put their faith in to help them live their lives, does not mean it is not possible for others to do. I guarantee it is possible. I live this way.
We don't reject the Bible as Absolute Authority, and then turn around and find another to replace it with! by Windwalker

How true is this? Windwalker. After those comments against the word of God and your finale display of picture "book attached to man's face"?

It is not a matter of believing of the word of God, it is how you treat the word of God. Some claimed they are bible-based, but they followed the Scripture literally and unsound to the point of compromising already the teaching's of Christ. It is so easy to say and claimed anything by the word of mouth, but the application is the test.

Thanks
 

Yoshua

Well-Known Member
Yet you publicly disparage Emergents for not being Christian, and you publicly defame contemplative practices as "wrong."
The word Christian means the follower or representative of Christ. When we say a "follower, " he follows the teachings of Jesus Christ. This is the same with Muslim, Buddhist and Hindus. One example is the Muslim, could you say a Muslim believe in the incarnation of Jesus Christ? No. Can you say that they are holding the Holy Bible as their inspired word of Allah/Mohamed? Certainly not.

But how come for Christianity, the emergent and contemplative practitioner tend to degrade the word of God as the necessity in the "as needed" fashion. They agree to embraced others faith in exchange for Christianity. Why I don't hear Muslim, Buddhist and Hindus compromised their faith?

Is this an abuse in freedom in Christ or they don't know what is freedom in Christ? Do Jesus was pleased when Peter denied Him three times? how about those disciples who are gone during the captivity of Jesus by the authorities?

Did Jesus wants a loyal follower or a Judas who will betray Him?
Luke 9:23
23. Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Denying Himself goal is for Jesus and not for Buddha. This is the word personally from Jesus. Others can deny Himself superficially and not carrying his cross DAILY. They don't want to carry that cross because they are afraid to commit and surrender themselves to Christ. We all know that this commitment is not easy to do. You will be hated by your family first because of Christ. This is the test of obedience whatever it takes, still, Jesus hands is open to all who will submit to him.

Matt. 10:37-38
37. "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
38. "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

Phil. 2:12
12. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

Eph. 6:5-6
5. Servants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ;
6. not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,

Thanks
 
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