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Over the years, I have heard some of the most spiritually effective ministers being dismissed by Evangelicals as New Agers (e. g. Rick Warren and Richard Foster). Yet Rick Warren is a self-professed Southern Baptist and Foster is a devout Evangelical Quaker. What makes this slander particularly odious is the failure to define precisely what "a New Ager" is. True, channeling, western reincarnationism, astrology, and certain occult arts are rightly labelled "New Age." But practitioners of Yoga, meditation, vegetarianism, and radical environmentalism have often also been characterized as New Agers. So what do you understand The expression to mean?

The question is important because 1 in 3 Americans self-identify as "spiritual"...

This is the background of Christ's instruction to Gentiles (through Paul) during the dispensation [age] of grace.

1 Cor 3:10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me [Paul], as a wise masterbuilder, “”I”” have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon...

1 Cor 4:14-16 For I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus “”I”” have begotten you through the gospel. [the Kingdom Gospel? No, the Grace Gospel? Yes.] Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers [of whom? All the apostles? No...] of “”me“”. For this cause have I sent unto...

I have made the statement "Satan wants to make us religious but lost" and I now want to expand this idea.

It is a fact that some of the "Christian Jews" wanted the Gentile Christians to become Jewish by doing the things that the Jews did ""under the law."" This was the big problem that was discussed in Acts 13:1-2, Acts 15:1-20. It was an attempt to get Christians back under the law, which by the way, no one could keep. It was the subject of Acts 21:20-21 as well.

But that did not end the attempts of the Judaizers from continuing their assault on the Gentile believers. Most all of Paul's writings are in response to those that would add the Jewish law requirements to his gospel of the grace of God. Galatians 3:1-10 is just one example....

On another thread @Anthony D'Arienzo brought up a good point when it comes to differing doctrines, and that is the hermenutical principles and methods used in interpreting Scripture.

@Anthony D'Arienzo rejected the "literal" or traditional method as subjecting God to a "dictionary". Instead of using the meaning conveyed by a words grammatical construction and historical context, @Anthony D'Arienzo suggested words in the biblical text have a different meaning - a "biblical meaning".

I need to be forthright and say I am a SBC baptist. As a denomination we have had experience with liberal hermeneutics that colors many of our perceptions to this sort of liberal interpretation.

I hold...

I hope to have a Christian discussion (more than a debate) about various ideas concerning the scope of the Atonement.

I think first I will need to say by the Atonement I mean the entire work of the Cross (regardless of how one believes sins were actually propitiated or expiated).

I hold what has been referred to as the "Classic Calvinistic" position in that I do not think that Christ died only to save the elect but I do believe that Christ died to save only the elect.

In other words, Christ's sacrifice had a general purpose in God's redemptive plan while also having a particular purpose in saving a particular people.

I depart from Classic Calvinism in that I do not believe satisfying divine justice to be the central aspect of the...

I am curious as to what people think of the following scripture...

1Jo 3:8, He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

I wonder if when people say such things as, "I am a sinner saved by grace;" that they realize that they are in effect saying, "I am a child of the devil who is nevertheless going to heaven."

Do the children of God therefore go to hell?

If the above statement (in larger letters) does not bother you, then I just wonder about your moral rectitude as a believer....

Good morning forum! Well I am still studying in Revelation.....it is not a book you can just read through and be done so it is taking me a great deal of time to get even half way....so here is another NEW revelation the Holy Spirit has opened my eyes to see and I put out here for comment....
Revelation 4:5
5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

Seven spirits of God? well....this made me want to study and research what the seven Spirits of God are and this is what I have found so far.
Isaiah 11:1-3
1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his...

This article was written by me and used on Christian debate sites. I believe it to be true based on the scriptures given.

It is believed, by many, that the grace church was started by Peter on the day of Pentecost. But if you look close all that is written in Acts, spoken by Peter, is to get the Jews (Israel) to accept Jesus as their Messiah and king so that He would return and setup the kingdom that was promised in the covenant God made with Abraham. This covenant was not made to the Gentiles.

Even in Acts 8 & 9 where we see Saul being converted it was still time for the Jews to accept Jesus as their king so that He could return and set up the promised kingdom.

Luke 13:6 10
The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree 6 He also spoke this...

The Lord has been putting this subject on my heart lately. I think that this is an important subject and necessary to understand properly for any kind of spiritual maturity.

Now we all indulge our flesh to some degree and at some point if we are walking in our own strength. There are different levels of indulgence of the flesh...some quite innocuous but others quite or very harmful.

Just when we may think we are not indulging our flesh in carnal things, we may then become indulgers of religious judgment on others for THEIR more obvious indulgences. And this is the very worst kind of indulgence we can undertake. How can we judge others for their indulgences as we indulge our own flesh in judging them?

So we are all in the same boat...

What can I say, it's how I feel! Who else feels this way? Or ever Dreams of what the New Earth and Jerusalem will be like. Or am I crazy

I dream about being out of my earthly body (dead), as much as Paul probably did. Don't take me the wrong way, I'm not in mourning . I'm happily excited about this present Earth and the New one to come. To be physically dead is to be in Heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ, our Father, all the Saints who are already there and even Gabriel and the Angels! OHHH, How I fantasize about this all the time. Paul said, Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

But then again, as a human, as a Christian, I want to experience how great, how wide, how deep the love of...