Peter,

If I am understanding you correctly, you say there are two wrong things that 'modern' churches teach its people. One you said was:"there is no duty or obligation to do anything for our own salvation." I disagree for the most part. Ephesians 2:8-9 says: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." Think about it, in verse 9 it says: not the as a result of works. That means there is nothing we do to be saved. True, that bible also does say in James 2:26b: "so also faith without works is dead." This isn't saying that if you did do works first, you are not saved. Nor is it saying that for those who are already saved, that if they do not do works faith is not in them. James was written to believers. My understanding is that once a person becomes saved they should desire to do works for the Lord, and that a Christian life of faith without such works is not much of a life at al l(in the sense that  we wouldn't be growing in the Lord, or spreading the gospel and the like). That isn't to say that this means that person has lost their salvation, or was never saved in the first place. I think in a way, saying what I think you did (that there is something we MUST do, or are obligated to do in order to receive salvation), kinda says that Jesus free sacrifice on the cross, and God's GIFT to us of salvation are not enough to get us into heaven. I might be wrong, but that is just the impression I got from what you said about the first wrong thing modern churches teaches people. 

JFG

Jan 25, 2012 -- 6:36PM, Peter_d_roman wrote:

 My / Our / Human Kinds  Savior Brothers Own Life Examples, His  Direct Teachings, and His Single Commandment are all found in every bibles " gospels".

these "Gospel Records" are available in every language human being speak in printed, audio and even braille versions.

yet the majority of today's modern day church communities  teaches its members "there is no duty or obligation to do anything for our own salvation" as per the pharisee saul / other writings and theologies;

or

they require from there members all manor of ritual practices, religious services attendance, and financial contributions as obligations and duties related to there current christian church membership.

as both require blind obedience to there leaderships decrees just at the sanhedrin required of the ALL jew at the dawn of Human Kinds Spiritual Redemption some 2012 years ago.

as " lip service" at best is give to " the duty we followers of The Messiah owe to Our Savior, Brother and Truest Friend as per His Commandment!

in this light i think the next time the following  question is asked of me:

" why do bad things happen to good people?"

im going to say as straight faced as i am able to-

" good people? where do you see any good people haveing  bad things done to them? i see folks getting what they have opened themselves up too- free will is free will- and nothing more."

peace and good and tons o'love

>p

Peter,

I always love reading your posts, you try to remind everyone what Christians should be focused on and are not.

I listened to my preacher say something last night I agree with, he said Americans can change our destiny, but I don't think that we will. 

And why not? Because of that one central command we have forgotten about, that you address in your post.

"I give you a new command, love one another as I have loved you."

His life is the example to follow.

And we do not do it.

We have the words He spoke and we do not heed them.

He said words like "love your enemy," "love God with all of your heart and all of your mind and all of your soul," and "love your neighbor as yourself." And he illustrated how to do all of that by the life He lived, and how He lived His life, and how He died. He showed us everything we need to know, we do not need knowledge of Him from Moses or David or Paul or anyone else. We need Him and His words and His Holy Spirit in us, to lead and guide us, and noone else is needed to do that and nothing else is needed.

Thank you for reminding me of all of this, uplifting and encouraging and challenging words to start my day with.

We, none of us may be able to change the course our nation is on, but we all can respond to our circumstances and our world as Christ leads us to do, to speak truth, to take stands, to speak of Jesus and His words and His love and who He is and what He taught, today and every day of our lives.

We can all of us take this day to consciously commit ourselves to personally live out the teachings of Jesus Christ in our lives, as set forth in the Gospels, today and tomorrow, and every day for the rest of our lives into Eternity.

Sherri

??????

I think you forgot to make your point and start the discussion / debate. Youre allowing us to read your thoughts on a topic, but your not clarifying your topic nor making a point. Your opening remarks and then "what you going to do" have, seemingly, little reference (if any) to one another.

Would you care to add a "point of discussion" into the original writings or is there one?