The Prodigal

Silk said:
OK - and I'm just a wee bit envious that Ravindran got the first winner in this thread. But I'll keep trying.;)
Click to expand...

I feel pretty safe giving out "winners" where no one is arguing. So free "winners" all around!

If I could, I'd also give a "funny" for "tilts halo to catch the light." I imagined a "ding!" sound as well.
 
Ravindran said:
It really ministered to me.. I pulled back from all arguments.. Not to say I am strong or weak in faith.. The point Holy Spirit put in my heart is, I am no one to pass judgments on opinions on others.. I just have to learn while respecting everyone!!
Click to expand...

Well said. That Romans passage you mentioned has also challenged me over the past year with my approach to other believers. Someone told me that "we have to lose our addiction to being right," which is not to discredit the value of pursuing truth, but is to credit the value of another human being. Thanks for that.
 
I like that phrase "addiction to being right", Roads. All too often, it is easier, from keyboard, to try and rip virtual heads off, which convinces no one. It is better to realize we are all real people and ask questions, as to why the person feels that his/her interpetation is better than another. And when it comes down to it, each person has to decide for themselves. And having to be right, can blind us from learning. And can act to harden defenses.
That is not to say, I don't relish a good debate, or challenges but only when it's in respectful, civil guidlines. We should remember, we are all children of God. Sculpted scripture and typo tantrums, I have no use for.
 
Silk said:
I like that phrase "addiction to being right", Roads. All too often, it is easier, from keyboard, to try and rip virtual heads off, which convinces no one. It is better to realize we are all real people and ask questions, as to why the person feels that his/her interpetation is better than another. And when it comes down to it, each person has to decide for themselves. And having to be right, can blind us from learning. And can act to harden defenses.
That is not to say, I don't relish a good debate, or challenges but only when it's in respectful, civil guidlines. We should remember, we are all children of God. Sculpted scripture and typo tantrums, I have no use for.
Click to expand...

I was going through the original post.. I think the discussion turned away from prodigal son in very few posts :) Prodigal son is a very very very interesting character! :) This is one of my favorite parables... So much truth to discover.. I would love to reignite the discussion on the OP..

Which one would you associate more with? My thought is this.. We all start like the prodigal son.. Unbelieving, denying the Gospel, going in our own ways.. We have a drastic change and the Lord calls us.. While we slowly progress in our spiritual walk, we become like the elder son :) Being proud of what we are! Pride steps into our lives.. We start looking at new believers the same way the elder son was looking at the prodigal son.. As new believers, we experienced what grace is.. Ideally, as we start to know more about the nature of God, we should appreciate grace more.. But deep in our hearts, we start taking grace lightly and start abusing it.. Because we know God is loving and forgiving, we lose the fear of Lord..

What are your thoughts on this?
 
Ravindran said:
I was going through the original post.. I think the discussion turned away from prodigal son in very few posts :) Prodigal son is a very very very interesting character! :) This is one of my favorite parables... So much truth to discover.. I would love to reignite the discussion on the OP..

Which one would you associate more with? My thought is this.. We all start like the prodigal son.. Unbelieving, denying the Gospel, going in our own ways.. We have a drastic change and the Lord calls us.. While we slowly progress in our spiritual walk, we become like the elder son :) Being proud of what we are! Pride steps into our lives.. We start looking at new believers the same way the elder son was looking at the prodigal son.. As new believers, we experienced what grace is.. Ideally, as we start to know more about the nature of God, we should appreciate grace more.. But deep in our hearts, we start taking grace lightly and start abusing it.. Because we know God is loving and forgiving, we lose the fear of Lord..

What are your thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

I had a dream, when I was a kid. I dreamt that I had been bitten by a rabid dog (hush up, peanut gallery) and I was waiting to die. There was a stack of comic books next to me and I woke up wondering if I had enough time to read the comics before I started praying.:) When I was young, it appeared to me that the prodigal son was favored and I could see why the good son was asking "why no fatted calf for me." So, I guess the child me only understood that if you went out and partyied and sinned, you could still return to God - that He still loved me. What I realized later, is the reason for rejoicing. It is very hard to come back, what with pride and all. The disobedient son had to hit bottom to go back up. The good son didn't have to learn the tough lesson - he need only see where profligate ways led by seeing his brother. The very best part of this is the Father's unwavering love for both sons.
 
Silk said:
The very best part of this is the Father's unwavering love for both sons.
Click to expand...

This is what I love about the parable.. The love shown by Father towards both this sons.. When the elder son came complaining, he could have just explained why he is throwing such a big party.. Instead, he puts his arm around the elder son also! That is the beauty of the love shown our Father God.

And I always associate myself with the elder son.. On many occasions I find myself complaining about people weak in faith.. This happens mostly when I watch the Christian shows in TV.. Channels like Daystar, TBN.. I scream like don't they read the Bible! Can't they see this is false teaching.. Then the Lord helped me understand they need prayers.. Not going to the Lord to complain about them and how good I am in understanding his Word!!
 
The real wonder for me was: You cannot lose what you did not earn in the first place. In this world of "you owe me" it is a hard principle to grasp. It is a story of God's Grace.
 
Hi Silk,

Interesting question,

Why do we post, personally I joined looking for Christian friendships, but...., it seems there are a few that just want to play their one stringed guitar and they want everyone to listen to their song, ...as if we hadn't heard it before. Sigh

Blessings,

Gene
 
JustPassingThru said:
Hi Silk,

Interesting question,

Why do we post, personally I joined looking for Christian friendships, but...., it seems there are a few that just want to play their one stringed guitar and they want everyone to listen to their song, ...as if we hadn't heard it before. Sigh

Blessings,

Gene
Click to expand...

I came because I thought God brought me here. It wasn't until later that I knew it was to learn. Who would have thought it could be so hard? (ditto on the sigh). I have made friends tho (smile beam) and I did learn. Major gave me the best advice ever - bring the Holy Spirit with you when you read and write posts! I was slow - it hadn't occurred to me to do that. And I admit I was hazy on what the Holy Spirit was.
It is kinda amazing, that so many of us come here thinking we know everything. Roaring and ready to "preach to the choir" - doing monologues that seldom get read. Never mind posted to. Some just wanna show how much better Christians they are in unchristian ways. As if they don't know I'm God's favoritest daughter :ROFLMAO:
 
Well sis, if you have learned , then it was Father that steered you here, I too have met some neat brothers and sisters, can't wait to see them face to face in Heaven, then there are some others I have met here that I'm certain we will go lookin' for, how sad, ...I hope we find them.

What you say about being Father's favorite daughter, ...it's true, it's true, that's what I have learned about Him, at first I thought He had lots of love, but now I'm learning He is love, being God He can and does have favorites, ...His favorites are all of His children, so when you/me/we think we are His favorite, He loves us more that any one else, it's true, but... that just raises the bar on how much He loves His other kids, so keep on thinking you are the favorite, you are just pulling us along with you, ...God is Love.

The Lord Bless you,

Gene
 
JustPassingThru said:
Well sis, if you have learned , then it was Father that steered you here, I too have met some neat brothers and sisters, can't wait to see them face to face in Heaven, then there are some others I have met here that I'm certain we will go lookin' for, how sad, ...I hope we find them.

What you say about being Father's favorite daughter, ...it's true, it's true, that's what I have learned about Him, at first I thought He had lots of love, but now I'm learning He is love, being God He can and does have favorites, ...His favorites are all of His children, so when you/me/we think we are His favorite, He loves us more that any one else, it's true, but... that just raises the bar on how much He loves His other kids, so keep on thinking you are the favorite, you are just pulling us along with you, ...God is Love.

The Lord Bless you,


Gene
Click to expand...



I was teasing again on that. I know and am glad He loves us all the same. When He seems to have favorites - look at the row they have to hoe!! Job - John the Baptist, Jesus. But I feel loved to the nth degree. Do you suppose that is why we have such a hard time squashing pride? Because we feel so special in His presence?

May He shower His Blessings on all and especially Gene
 
You might be teasing, but I'm serious, God is Love and His Love is unfathomable, it's limitless, all of Eternity won't be long enough for us to understand it let alone experience it

[QUOTEDo you suppose that is why we have such a hard time squashing pride? ][/QUOTE]

As long as we are in this mortal body we will never squash our pride, that fact is fully illustrated in the story of Rebecca's pregnancy, God said there were two nations fighting inside of her, an illustration of our carnal nature fighting with our regenerated spirit inside of us, the struggle or fight won't be over until we die or are raptured.

Blessings,

Gene

.
 
Well (cough) I'm not the humblest sister but I keep trying. I think because of my own sins of pride - I'm (what's the word?) sensitive to it in others. (cheshire smile). I rarely have learned from those who only preach from their pulpits (no offense meant) - I learn more from questions being asked. Some of the people here have great, untwisted knowledge. Jesus, in His Ministry allowed questions as He wandered from thread..oops I meant town to town.
 
Dear Silk, the Biblical definition of humble is to admit our faults, we aren't graded on a scale, everyone is the same, however how much pride is manifested in our walk is dependent on whether we feed the flesh or the spirit, that determines which is the strongest, ...the winner in this spiritual battle so to speak.

I'm a big question asker too, I'm always asking Father, what does this mean, please explain that to me, like you said, Jesus wandered from town to town listening to questions and I read somewhere that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, ..I take from that He likes us asking questions (and what's so neat is He is always there to listen and no question is too trivial for Him).

Praise the Lord,

Gene
 
I try always to post with the Spirit. I have to remember the Spirit when a post ticks me off - I'm liable to go all letters blasting, and usually I regret those posts - knowing I could have worded it better. Questioning is actually less confrontational even if the other poster has a loaded agenda.
 
I read 2 "classic" books, the other day (apparently you cannot get them in e-books, so I had to spend $40 for 2 used paperbacks.) I had never read Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger or To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, thinking well one day, I'd catch up. I watched a PBS documentary on JD Salinger, who only ever wrote the one book (supposedly he will publish new this year). I don't actually know what the big deal is with this book or why it caused 3 people to kill or try to kill - Chapman (Lennon), Hinckley (Reagan) and Bardo (Schaefer). The antihero is Holden Caulfield who liked Jesus but hated His disciples and declares himself (age 17) as an atheist who thinks there is no better job than trying to save children, playing in the rye, from falling off the cliff, accidently. And he doesn't like phonies and feels the world is full of them. No movie here because apparently Salinger shares his hero's feelings about movies and phony Hollywood. I wasn't impressed but maybe I read it when I was too old. A catcher, who himself is falling off the cliff isn't going to be too successful stopping others.

But I was very moved by Mockingbird. I downloaded the movie as well because I didn't remember how well it followed the book. Atticus Finch is a true Christian, doing the best he could to defend innocence, where the law allowed, only to lose the case because the law was not written in people's hearts.
 
Afternoon Silk,

Me too, I've never read those books either, I remember one of my high school buddies always talking about the Catcher in the Rye, but was never motivated to read it, back then I was more into science fiction and believed in UFO's.LOL

Blessings,

Gene
 
Rofl Gene - I loved sci fi too - still do. But Mockingbird, I recommend highly. I got into UFO's and investigations later in life. I saw one in 1997. I had a terrible, terrifying experience with "aliens" and that closed that exploration promptly.
 
I also downloaded/saw the Apostle Peter and the Last Supper. It was better than expected - anyone seen it? It's about Peter in the last 3 days of his life.
I read a terrible story - The Rough Road to Wonderland - a story of a 15 yr. old girl, beaten abused, neglected, prostituted by John Holmes (the porn star). She was eventually found by the Lord, altho she doesn't go into great detail on this last.
It is heartening to find something about God in so movies and books.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top