part of my answer once again:
Not everything on that list is a SIN...Some things we choose not to do or to do. Not even all that claim to be conservatives agree on that list. I know conservatives that drink wine, go to Disney, watch your tube for hours, observe pagan holidays YET they are conservatives… I know liberals that do not celebrate Christmas, do not drink wine, do not use certain name brand clothing and do not have a TV!
I think we err many times trying to put people into camps…
I personally went on a vacation with one of the most conservative people I know.the kind that doesn´t even take an aspirin (and I deeply respect their great faith) yet on vacation we went to (I don´t even know what it is called) …a little place where they showed a 3 dimensional film and you almost fall out of your chair…I told my dear friend I cannot believe that YOU have brought me here…Yet the same person would not ride a ride at a park because parks are worldly!
I was in the home of what is considered a top camp meeting preacher among conservatives and soon as we got in he went to your tube and showed us films of this or that for an hour or so…he KNEW where to go and told us about these things on your tube…I just looked at Brother Alvear because we could not believe what we were witnessing from this preacher…
I am not on here to gossip but I am on here to say it is hard to say or draw a line what is and what is not…there are so many opinions, many that lead others to live a certain lifestyle and they turn around and live another…
However that doesn’t mean we cannot have absolutes for there are some old things that just can’t fit into the kingdom.
We all must ask ourselves this: Do my beliefs agree with those of primitive Christianity, or have they been accommodated to the society around me?
I will mention a few things here. We humans make many things a sin. For example internet is not a sin for me. I do church work, book tickets, use the dictionaries (online) Bibles, reference resources, help my church kids with their homework and promote missions...no for me it is not a sin...I work long hours in the office but I am not addicted to internet. I need it for what I do...sometimes I even play a game of checkers on the net...rare but I do to relax at times...
In our long lists of do´s and don´ts we leave out what is convenient and what we like...
When the Bible says gold for example we do not use jewelry when it says expensive clothes we debate what is expensive because so many want expensive clothes name brand purses and shoes and drive for hundreds of miles to buy name brands at some outlet.
We preach simplicity and build million dollar churches to impress (?) people...no use in saying we do it for God because he was not impressed by the temple of his day. We build mansions for ourselves, drive big cars, eat at expensive restaurants and call ourselves conservative...We spend thousands of dollars on vacations and stand up in our churches and conferences and call ourselves conservative...NO, we would not be conservative in the eyes of the first Christians.
We want the best things in life...and pat ourselves on the back and say look how conservative I am...
We are far removed from the early church that was an example of real conservatives...
Church councils have been followed blindly by many while most conservatives agree with Jesus name baptism as a must and we are quick to recite baptism was change d in 325 AD at the council of Nicea we forget other things that the first Christians practiced were changed at so called church councils.
By adopting the trappings of paganism, many have reverted to an ancient past…impressing the creature and worshipping the creature instead of the Creator.
Often, our being "not of this world" exists in theory more than in practice. I speak as a missionary that has visited thousands of churches in my life time. To the early Christian, being different meant more than a teary-eyed testimony but it meant they chose of their own free will to be a martyr…
I think of Origen who lost his father to persecution when he was a teenager, and he himself eventually died from torture and imprisonment at the hands of the Romans. Yet, with unshakable confidence he told the Romans, “Eventually, every form of worship will be destroyed except the religion of Christ, which alone will stand. In fact, it will one day triumph, for its teachings take hold of men's minds more and more each day.”
As we get closer to the end we will all become more and more conservative. We will learn more about real Christian love
James 1:27
27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
James 2:14-16
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
1 John 3:17
17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
Matthew 25:34-45
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
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