Hi David,
This might be a longish post, because I thought I'd try to be "efficient" and respond to the four from you in this one.
I was just talking with Steve Covin about the subject you mentioned of communicating with people who are still wandering around outside the care of the Good Shepherd. I asked his opinion on it, and would be interested in yours (or that of anyone reading) too. It seems to me, from the words and reactions of many people to communicating about spiritual matters that a little bit of God's Word goes a long way. It is potent medicine. And, to say it another way, it seems that if they are given very much at once, they tend to act as if they have had an overdose - more than their spiritual systems can handle at once, so to speak.
An analogy comes to mind of the problem of administering water to someone who has been dying of thirst. If they are given too much water at once, it can be harmful, until they get re-hydrated sufficiently. A series of small drinks (a doctor in the house to comment on this?) is what I've heard is safer and more helpful than one big drink, while helping them recover from near death by dehydration. There should be some valid parallels to that and the Water of the Word, don't you think?
(I never took anything you said to imply that I don't believe in using the Word of God to minister to people.)
The Mormon doctrine is just one of many. "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." 1Cor13:12
There are people in our little community church who are from between 15 and 20 or more different religious backgrounds, including Mormon and Catholic. Those who are seeking, find, and I think we need to prayerfully consider how to communicate to each of them without putting them on the unprofitable (to them) defensive. Those who are seeking the truth, will find it. With some people, it seems, we are to function as little more than roadsigns with a message that is helpful, yet brief enough that they can read it while they speed on by.
My wife's name is Diane, and your prayers are welcome. Her hearing problem is something that qualifies to be mourned about, but contrary Christians that we are, we all find it a source of mirth, also. We have so many more misunderstandings to laugh about.
You "want to be able to recognize her" - I guess you are referring to when we all get to heaven, though you may be referring to looking for her name signed to messages here on SI. She is not on SI yet. When we all get to the hereafter, we will have new names, according to Revelation 2:17, but the Bible also says we will be known completely (maybe you can find the reference for that, my memory of it is too vague to know where to start looking) - so we won't need name tags.
The Bible says we will have "the mind of Christ" so I assume also that it means we will have total, gracious access to the vast memory and information resources of God himself.
On your comments about Genesis 3 and "didn't the serpent(beast) actually show up in the garden?" - yes, that is the location he is first mentioned appearing at, in Genesis. Other books, such as Isaiah and Ezekiel, speak of what transpired concerning that character, who took upon himself the form of a snake in the garden, before the earth as we know it was created. Steve Covin and I were talking about that a little bit, too.
Your point is well taken on the two JG's. Maybe they are the same. I don't know what he/they are trying to accomplish, but communication with them doesn't seem to be very productive for anyone involved, in my experience thus far.
Proverbs 12:15-20
John |
