God is All Knowing So Why Does it Matter?

[Sister Alvear]

I posted then erased it...

[rgcraig]

Originally Posted by Sister Alvear

I posted then erased it...

Lol -- I bet I know what you were going to say!

[Sister Alvear]

I bet you do too!

[Esther]

Originally Posted by MissBrattified

It matters for the same reason that it matters whether or not you can go to the theater. Someone PLEASEEEEE explain to me why folks have a conviction against public theaters, but not against having a theater in their living rooms!!!!

I have heard some say it is because all kinds of movies are run in the theater leaving a spirit you wouldn't want to be in contact with.

What you bring home is hopefully censored.

[jimmyrrs]

Originally Posted by rgcraig

What's the difference?

A minister watches DVD movies with his family and is open about it.

A minister watches DVD movies with his family and is closed about it.

Just because minister "A" is open about it, why does that make him worse than minister "B" that does the same thing, but doesn't talk about it?

At the risk of and being a , I see nothing wrong with a UPCI minister watching a DVD in the open about it or closed about it.
What I do have a PROBLEM with is when the minister signs a paper and tells a lie about having a TV in their home on which to watch the DVD's, the news or anything else.
If you have a true monitor great. If you use your computer to watch a DVD on, great. If you use your I Phone to watch TV on, great. UPCI will not come out against these item like they did TV years ago. It is a can of worms and they understand that now. They stress the need to be responsible with how you use these NEW ITEMS. But yet TV is still a no, no.
To many men of God preached to many people into hell for having a TV and it would be devastating for the org to go back and say there was a mistake made. A lot of things can send a person to hell, including allowing this issue to become bitter in ones heart.
Calling a TV a Monitor just to skirt the rules, sham on them.
It would be better for the org to remove the question from their application.

[rgcraig]

Originally Posted by jimmyrrs

At the risk of and being a , I see nothing wrong with a UPCI minister watching a DVD in the open about it or closed about it.
What I do have a PROBLEM with is when the minister signs a paper and tells a lie about having a TV in their home on which to watch the DVD's, the news or anything else.
If you have a true monitor great. If you use your computer to watch a DVD on, great. If you use your I Phone to watch TV on, great. UPCI will not come out against these item like they did TV years ago. It is a can of worms and they understand that now. They stress the need to be responsible with how you use these NEW ITEMS. But yet TV is still a no, no.
To many men of God preached to many people into hell for having a TV and it would be devastating for the org to go back and say there was a mistake made. A lot of things can send a person to hell, including allowing this issue to become bitter in ones heart.
Calling a TV a Monitor just to skirt the rules, sham on them.
It would be better for the org to remove the question from their application.

I agree.

[He's My Friend]

Originally Posted by HeavenlyOne

......................................

I hope not. The UPC is raising a generation of Pharisees...people who think that what they look like and how loud they pray is what makes them holy...and the kids are buying it.

God help us.

Not coming against you H One, but I do not think so.

The UPC is not raising my children, nor did they raise the generation before mine, and on and on.

It is up to us as parents to raise our children as God requires.
I do not leave it up to the pastor or youth leader to tell my children about the basics or the more deep things in the word.

We cannot blame an organization on what people are becoming.

[Michlow]

Originally Posted by HeavenlyOne

God judges from our inside.

We judge one another from our outside.

I developed a theory awhile back, that this tendency that we have to judge people, on what is at best superficial evidence is a result of the curse of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We someone came to believe that not only do we know what's right for us (which is a topic for another day), but we believe that we know what's best, or right for everyone else in the world.

Thus, I have come to believe that only God is capable of truly making an accurate judgment. Only He has all the necessary facts, only He knows a persons thoughts, motivations, experiences, and what lies in the deepest depths of their heart.

Upon realizing that I decided that I needed to stop worrying about what everyone else was doing, and concentrate on my own walk with God.

From my personal experience I feel that is one area where people can get off track. God may speak to them of an issue, and they may abstain from something due to personal conviction, but they cannot separate their own walk with God, with the rest of mankind. (i.e. if God tells them, He must mean it for all).

[StMark]

Originally Posted by HeavenlyOne

You are right, Mark. But it's what I see. My kids are in this, and I'm trying very hard to make sure they don't buy into what they are being sold.

I'm raising them to live according to what the Bible teaches, not what an organization teaches.

Obeying an org doesn't save us. Obeying the Bible, does.

The Pharisees weren't self-righteous because of what they wore or how they prayed. It was their belief that what they wore and how they prayed is what made them better than everyone else that was wrong.

Jesus never rebuked them for having nice, long robes and praying in public. He rebuked them for their belief that those things made them holier than everyone else.

I think that's telling. Very telling.

The UPC preaches "holiness standards", mirroring the beliefs of the Pharisees. Is it wrong to teach women to dress more modest or teaching people to pray? No. But it is wrong to teach them that by doing those things, they are 'holiness'. Jesus rebukes such teaching.

Joy,

Let's ask ourselves this. What are the fruits of the churches that have left all the rules, no guidelines, just do as you please, and compare it to the churches that have maintained some disciplines.
Are they drawing closer to the Lord? Are they more spiritual than our pioneers? What does people who we KNOW that really have had a TRUE walk with God have to say about everyone becoming a law unto themselves such as Nona Freeman, TW Barnes, Billy Cole, and others who we know walked the talk.
I'm not focusing on JUST do's and don'ts. I realize that there will ALWAYS be those who just keeps laws on the outside and not have those laws written in their hearts, but I do think that everyone who walked close to God had an obedient spirit

[HeavenlyOne]

Originally Posted by He's My Friend

Not coming against you H One, but I do not think so.

The UPC is not raising my children, nor did they raise the generation before mine, and on and on.

It is up to us as parents to raise our children as God requires.
I do not leave it up to the pastor or youth leader to tell my children about the basics or the more deep things in the word.

We cannot blame an organization on what people are becoming.

My friend, MySpace and Facebook is full of blogs of young girls who speak about the power in their hair and such like. My son is educating young people at his UPC church about how their dress doesn't make them holy. So far, he's outnumbered.

Since my mom believed the UPC and it's tenets, then yes, they raised me because she allowed it. I was raised with a lot of young people who's parents did the same.

But I'm with you in that I personally am not allowing the UPC to raise my kids. I raise them with Biblical beliefs. If they come home with something the church teaches, I tell them to go to the Bible and see if the Bible agrees.