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I posted to my blog
The other day a guy by the name of George Sodini made headlines when he opened fire in his gym. He had a blog (I…...
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I posted to worthyisthelamb.info
http://worthyisthelamb.info/blog/rss.xml
worthyisthelamb.info
The other day a guy by the name of George Sodini made headlines when he opened fire in his gym. He had a blog (I can’t find the link). There was an entry that sent a chill down my spine:
Tetelestai Church in Pittsburgh, PA – “Be Ye Holy, even as I am holy! Thus saith the lord thy God!”, as pastor Rick Knapp would proclaim. Holy shit, religion is a waste. But this guy teaches (and convinced me) you can commit mass murder then still go to heaven. Ask him. (Phone number removed by Editors) If no answer there, he should still live at (Address removed by Editors). In any case, guilt and fear kept me there 13 long years until Nov 2006. I think his crap did the most damage. Their web site: http://www.tetelestai.org. Source: NY Post <!--break--> The implication is that he killed those people because he believed he would go to heaven anyway. The doctrine of grace he misunderstood and abused is called eternal security that states: our ticket to heaven does not depend on what we do. For by grace are ye saved through faith, not of works.
This guy was messed up. You see people like Mr. Sordini are unfortunately “kept in check” by guilt and fear (as he himself confesses). Take away that guilt and fear and they give themselves over to evil acts.
So what are we to do? Well, the legalist wants to pile on even more guilt and fear to keep people in check. The atheist wants to do away with religion altogether, blaming it as the cause of all man’s problems.
Jesus, however, gives a third way. What way? Him…Jesus. That is, a direct friendship with God. What happens is that as our relationship with Jesus grows, as we come to love Him more, those sins that we struggle with start to become more and more unattractive, until finally we want to give them up. We don’t need guilt and fear to keep us in check because we automatically do things that are decent and good as we let Jesus express Himself through us.
So to say, “Once saved, always saved, so I can do whatever I want” is a gross misunderstanding of the life Jesus offers. Grace teaches us that while we don’t lose our salvation, we are free, not to do evil, but to focus on growing our relationship with Jesus. Instead of one formula for all to follow, salvation becomes an individual and personal relationship with One person.
Oh yeah, this sad story was a wake up call to me. It reminded me that if I ever want to be a pastor, it’s a huge responsibility. I better sure it’s really what I want to do. Any opinions on how you can be sure of your “calling”?
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The other day a guy by the name of George Sodini made headlines when he opened fire in his gym. He had a blog (I can’t find the link). There was an entry that sent a chill down my spine:
Tetelestai Church in Pittsburgh, PA – “Be Ye Holy, even as I am holy! Thus saith the lord thy God!”, as pastor Rick Knapp would proclaim. Holy shit, religion is a waste. But this guy teaches (and convinced me) you can commit mass murder then still go to heaven. Ask him. (Phone number removed by Editors) If no answer there, he should still live at (Address removed by Editors). In any case, guilt and fear kept me there 13 long years until Nov 2006. I think his crap did the most damage. Their web site: http://www.tetelestai.org. Source: NY Post
<!--break-->
The implication is that he killed those people because he believed he would go to heaven anyway. The doctrine of grace he misunderstood and abused is called eternal security that states: our ticket to heaven does not depend on what we do. For by grace are ye saved through faith, not of works.This guy was messed up. You see people like Mr. Sordini are unfortunately “kept in check” by guilt and fear (as he himself confesses). Take away that guilt and fear and they give themselves over to evil acts.
So what are we to do? Well, the legalist wants to pile on even more guilt and fear to keep people in check. The atheist wants to do away with religion altogether, blaming it as the cause of all man’s problems.
Jesus, however, gives a third way. What way? Him…Jesus. That is, a direct friendship with God. What happens is that as our relationship with Jesus grows, as we come to love Him more, those sins that we struggle with start to become more and more unattractive, until finally we want to give them up. We don’t need guilt and fear to keep us in check because we automatically do things that are decent and good as we let Jesus express Himself through us.
So to say, “Once saved, always saved, so I can do whatever I want” is a gross misunderstanding of the life Jesus offers. Grace teaches us that while we don’t lose our salvation, we are free, not to do evil, but to focus on growing our relationship with Jesus. Instead of one formula for all to follow, salvation becomes an individual and personal relationship with One person.
Oh yeah, this sad story was a wake up call to me. It reminded me that if I ever want to be a pastor, it’s a huge responsibility. I better sure it’s really what I want to do. Any opinions on how you can be sure of your “calling”?
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