Comments for Jesus Shaped Spirituality

Comment on Gospel of Mark Study #13: The Bridegroom and the New Wine by Patricia Backora

Patricia Backora — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:34:32 +0000

Except in times of national sin or danger, NOT ONCE did God ever order any religious fast except the Jews’ annual Day of Atonement. Other fast days were added by COMMANDMENT OF MEN, not God. It was the self-righteous PHARISEES who insisted that their twice-weekly fasting was God’s requirement for living a holy life (Luke 18:12). But they had no Scriptural authority to justify the extra burdens they laded upon men (Matt.23:4). In contrast to his ascetic cousin John the Baptist, . Jesus came eating and drinking, and drew criticism for it (Luke 7:34).Christians who keep regular religious fasts are following the Pharisees in this, not Jesus. Only ONE prolonged time without eating is attributed to Christ: His forty-day abstinence in the Wilderness, when He had the power to live off the Word of God (Matt.4:1-4). Scripture says that AFTER those days were finished He hungered Fasting is not mentioned in Scripture before Moses, Giver of the Law. Religious fasting is not attributed to such righteous men as Abel, Noah, Enoch, and Abraham, Isaac or Jacob. While Moses was up on Mt. Sinai he neither ate nor drank for forty days and forty nights. When he came down with the tablets of the Law, Moses broke the stone tablets because he was mad at the Israelites for worshipping the Golden Calf. Moses went back up the mountain for forty more days and nights, for a grand total of 80 days without food or drink (Deut.9:9; 18)! Moses had to have been supernaturally sustained by God, because no one can live more than a few days without water. Moses, who fasted for nearly three months, was strong enough to walk back down that rugged mountain! Obviously, Moses did not abstain from food to “mortify his flesh” as is taught today. None of Christ’s apostles command fasting or teach on its merits in their epistles to the New Testament churches. Fasting has its roots in Judaism. It was not commanded to Gentile Christians in the first church council of Acts 15.

Comment on The Jesus Disconnect (5): The Processes of Discipleship by Heidi

Heidi — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:11:37 +0000

Michael! Did I miss your last and final post?? I have been awaiting it.

Comment on Verses: I Corinthians 2:6-8 and Plan B by whozis

whozis — Sat, 30 May 2009 03:52:39 +0000

But, then, Jesus gave His fellow Jews only the sign of Jonah.

Comment on Gospel of Mark Study #11: The Forgiveness of Sins by Heather

Heather — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:53:38 +0000

I’m really confused. So do you think that men have the authority to forgive sins of other men? I know we should forgive others for what they have done to us but can one man forgive a sin not related to him?

Comment on Searching For A Community of Strugglers by willoh

willoh — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:43:57 +0000

I have dwelt within the camps that separate mankind into two groups, sinners and Saints. At the end of a prayer the leader says,”And all the Saints said”, and a rousing “Amen!”
is heard. While the theological denotations used here may well be correct, the connotation in our society is that a Saint has “arrived” while a sinner yet struggles. This dichotomy resulted in my inability to find a church home, as I struggle, and I believe Paul and the Apostles struggled also, and my definition of a Saint, is one who loves God enough to struggle to love his Neighbor.
Until God put me in a new church plant, I never fit in to a church for long. Love of scripture and belief in the ministry of the Holy Spirit seemed at odds with each other. Fundamentalism or Pentecostalism were at odds in this manner, and mainstream denominations just weren’t as excited or invigorated about Salvation and sharing the Gospel enough.
So now I am a part of a group that struggles, we are addicts, alcoholics, sinners of the most vile. Couples who live together worship with us,and some of those couples are marrying now! We all struggle and no one judges. I know it won’t last, but it is to be savored while it does.
My prayer for you is for you to find what I was given, an opportunity to worship out of the box.

Comment on Searching For A Community of Strugglers by Neal Taylor

Neal Taylor — Sat, 16 May 2009 08:07:46 +0000

I too, am struggling and identified with this! God Bless!

Comment on Searching For A Community of Strugglers by Trisha Wilkerson

Trisha Wilkerson — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:18:23 +0000

good stuff. thank you.

Comment on Jesus: The Glory of the Christian Journey by willoh

willoh — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:44:07 +0000

I need to thank you for the invaluable service you render to me. I did not grow up SBC, your experiences give me a window to a world foreign to me. Here in the northeast of Pa. the oldest SBC church was started 30 years ago. Some of the extra biblical cultural distinctives never really caught on up here. I can’t say the SBC churches here were liberal to any degree, but newer made them more flexible. I left Church of Christ, well I was tossed out, I never fit in independent baptist churches and landed in the SBC after quite a journey.
I do not envy you. I don’t think I would have survived in the camp as you describe it. Wandering alone through the desert makes one depend on God, it is biblical.

Comment on Jesus: The Glory of the Christian Journey by Ben

Ben — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:54:14 +0000

I wanted to thank you for this. I feel now as if I am in an “evangelical wilderness,” not really lining up with the traditions with which I’ve grown up and learned, but, being a core leader in our (my wife and I) church, apprehensive to venture into other churches and traditions. There are, though, a precious few with whom we can be totally open and honest about what we believe/don’t believe anymore. To borrow from MLK, my church is not my beloved community, merely my chosen community. These few people are my beloved community. They are in this evangelical wilderness with me. It is always refreshing to read and hear of others who have traversed the wilderness more than I and can impart wisdom and hope to the likes of myself.
Thank you, iMonk

Comment on Finding Jesus At A.A. by Phil

Phil — Mon, 04 May 2009 06:45:14 +0000

Yeah, AA is beautiful. Your accepted for you there. You don’t have to hold to any beliefs or agendas, and no one on average judges you cause we’ve all been there. How can you judge someone else when you know full well that you used to be just like them. I was able to really find God there and it is something I never thought was possibe. I was raised religious all my childhood until I got into drugs and alcohol, and all I ever had was beliefs. Now that I have had the experience, its all different. All I know is that it is more present in AA then most churches I have ever been to. Its kind of sad. I do attend church again, and a small bible study, but it is so much different. People are as sincere or real.