Timmy's Religion

[notofworks]

Well, since you asked me to answer as well,....I'll answer in red with two ••'s.

Originally Posted by Dedicated Mind

Timmy has such a big influence on this forum, I was curious to know what Timmy actually believes.

Do you believe in God?
••Absolutely. I've struggled with it, and I investigated. I'm glad I doubted because it ended up greatly increasing my faith. I, like "Oneeyedfatman" greatly struggled with the God that pentecostalism presented me. The "charismatic" God was even worse. But the journey led me to a greatly-desired encounter with God and I've never been the same.

Do you believe the bible is the inspired, infallible word of God?
••I couldn't say, "No", but I struggle with major parts of the bible...the killing, the logic of things like the Ark etc., the Levitical law....The Old Testament can be rough. But I love the New Testament. I leave open the possibility that NT writers may have said uninspired things. There is also a large discussion concerning scribal additions and changes and I leave open the possibility that we don't have the pure form of the bible in it's entirety. That being said, I follow and teach the concepts of the New Testament in their entirety. One of the great attractions of this forum are the thoughts that people like Pelathias and NotForSale offer in these areas.

Do you believe in the oneness of God?
••Oh, of course. There is one God, eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each possessing all the attributes of Deity. There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and these three are one! So of course I believe in the oneness of God! (I said that mostly to tweak you oneness gurus. I really see zero difference between "persons" and "manifestations." Be a "Oneness-arian" or a "Triniatrian"...I really don't care.

Do you believe acts 2:38 is the plan of salvation?
••If anything in or surrounding Acts 2:38 claimed that it was the plan of salvation, I'd be happy to believe it. Instead, I rely on places in the bible that DO claim to be the plan of salvation, and the list is too long, but I'll start with Romans 10, Ephesians 2, Acts 16.......and many, many others.

Do you believe in speaking in tongues?
••As we know it? As being an unintelligible utterance that is mostly memorized repetitions? Probably not. Do I believe things could be said in one language that people could understand that didn't speak that language? Yes. I'm aware of instances like that. Do I believe in a "prayer language" or an "Utterance of exuberant worship"? I'm honestly not sure. Well, I'm sure it's not for me, but for others? I don't know. I lean toward, "No" because I don't see the benefit nor the productivity but I'm greatly aware of how much damage it can do. In our church, it's up to the individual, but it's not something that's practiced openly in our services. We have many every week that are "Unbelievers and/or uninformed" so to do so in their presence would be a violation of scripture.

Are you a one stepper or three stepper?
••I'm a zero-stepper. Jesus took all the steps. I accepted His steps and have been ravaged by His grace, and my only real desire in this life is to see the easy yoke and the light burden of Christ rest upon every single person I ever come in contact with, whether it be my neighbors, on the golf course, at a restaurant, on vacation, on a cruise (I spent a recent cruise talking about the grace of God every night at the dinner table...they asked me), in the mall, at the drive-thru.....outside of my family, it's the only thing in this world that matters to me.

••DedicatedMind, before you want to throw me off the forum, just remember that every time one of the right-wingers on the forum starts the Obama and Pelosi bashing, I'm the first one to come to their defense! You gotta like me for that!!