BiblePinpoint

I've been feeling something in my own heart lately and I suspect many of you are feeling it too. Life has a way of hardening us, especially these crazy times. I've become more cynical, quicker to dismiss people, and slower to love the way I would like to. When I look around, I see the same thing happening everywhere. Society is growing colder and harsher by the day. People are becoming heartless. Jesus warned us this would happen. He said that because lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold (Matthew 24:12). The Bible also describes the last days as a time when people will be "heartless" and "not loving good" (2 Timothy 3:3-4). We're watching that unfold right now. For quite a while now there's a counterfeit version of "love" being promoted that actually affirms and tolerates sin. That's not the love of Jesus. True love "does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth" (1 Corinthians 13:6). Jesus showed us perfect love, and He always called people to repentance and holiness. If you've fallen for that deception, I say this with love: repent. Turn back to the real Jesus. For the rest of us, we still have a real battle. We cannot afford to let our hearts grow cold in the days ahead. We need to actively fight for soft, tender hearts that love God and love people deeply. So I'm asking honestly, brothers and sisters: What are you doing right now to keep your heart soft and to grow in genuine love for one another? How can we help each other to avoid this trap that is being set up? I'd really like to hear your thoughts ❤️✝️

From what I've seen from Calvinism I might agree. God can reveal Himself to anyone He wishes, we have no clue who is ultimately going to be saved, it's not our business really I think. Like the parable with the workers that get the same pay even though some had been working longer, it was the master that decided and everyone got what they were promised. Other than what is written I don't think we have any good indication on what criteria God uses, assuming everyone will be fine I think is wrong. Jesus preached about sin and hell a lot. These self-help accounts are totally secular there's no referrals to Jesus what so ever.

A different Jesus is a very narrow lane. I'm gonna be honest with you, I think Calvinism is a different Jesus. I want you to be careful. Let me explain what I mean about. There are numerous people, and I mean a lot of people. I'll name three of them right off the bat. The roman centurion, the woman at the well, and the good samaritan. Samaritans were considered unclean half breeds, so the woman at the well and the good samaritan were doctrinally, suspect people in that time. And the roman centurion was a pagan. The good samarit was the guy that jesus used to tell peter who understood, who his neighbor was. And the romans and jurian had more faith than jesus had seen in all of israel, and he was a pagan. So I don't think that we can just arbitrarily believe anything we want to. But I think sincere people that get it wrong aren't excluded from being able to have saving faith. So the attacks that I see are completely not biblical. We just need to stop that behavior. I think the argument where people say "you're good as you are, and you don't need to change" has never preached anywhere by anyone. People that have huge amounts of guilt and condemnation in their lives need to hear "come as you are to Jesus." No one has to change to come to God. And it's not our responsibility to make them change after they do come to God. That's God's responsibility. People desire to walk with God. Once a person gets born again, it's our responsibility to love them, not to tell them how to live. Frankly, we need to just shut up and leave them alone and let them manage their walk with God, and be wonderful examples of faith and love to those people.

Followed a "positivity" account recently in order to reply things with a Biblical perspective. A lot of the content has Christian undertones so it's perfect, can help people realize where truth comes from. But a lot also feels like pure deception or delusion, I'll need to restrain myself not to go Biblical on there 😂

@anchoredsoul0 @I_Rhy_ 🤔😥

@I_Rhy_ Because they’re gay.

Why does it seem they always go for boys...

@JesusSavesUs777 Everyone says yes, I think the question is more like what compromises your would accept

Would you still follow Jesus Christ even if it was illegal?

@Clearpath__ Amen

@Austin_Mathew_ I would send them to my church because I know it works. I don't think we have every doctrine nailed down perfectly but it's full of people on fire for the Lord.

Which CHURCH has the correct theological doctrine? Where would you send someone who knew nothing about Jesus?

First of all thank you for taking the time. I kind of hope that the branches can come to more of an agreement, I doubt Jesus wants His bride divided. Maybe that could be the result of more access to tools for studying the word. But I don't subscribe to this idea that it doesn't matter what your theology is, Paul was clear about warning about people preaching a "different Jesus", and both him and Jesus warned about people who are going to preach another gospel. This father first hermeneutic sounds like it makes a lot of sense, I've never heard about it before, I'll think about what it actually means in practice. But I would probably say that you are being hasty to say that we are trying to judge anyone, as you say that's God's role not ours. That's not the intent at all, we want to point out things that the Bible clearly teaches against, I don't see how that is judgement. If I tell someone that they might not want to bang their head against a wall then that's not judgement imo. What about an example. Some message reads "You are good as you are, you don't need to change". Sounds great to most people but consider someone that is living in deep depression or other issues how will they take a message like that? Isn't what they need to hear that God loves them and that He has a great plan for them? Not, stay depressed, stay bound. Should we stop preaching the gospel to people who are seeking something? That's a clear violation of the command Jesus gave us to reach everyone with the gospel.

I do believe during the reformation protestants were trying. But you kind of have to understand what tools they were working with and what their baseline was. Let me give you an example. Luther decided that penance and suffering weren't the way to god because he found the scripture that said, "We're saved hy grace, through faith and not of works lest any man should boast." And luther is held up as an amazing patriarch. But luther was a catholic who wanted to stay catholic. And luther never stopped believing in transubstantiation. Believing that the holy mass actually turned the bread and wine into the physical blood and body of Jesus. John Calvin was a catholic who decided based on other reformation era ideas. But he advocated that people should be tortured punished and killed ror heresy. Those guys had very limited access to study tools. Compared to us to day, and they were opting from a really abstract baseline of theology that they were standing on the shoulders of weird doctrine to come up with their conclusions. So they can't be trusted. When I stand before God to give an account, i'm going to be alone. I'm not going to be able to say john calvin said, or martin luther said. I have to know my harvesting the truth from God's word. You have more study tools, more original language tools, more commentary, more translations, than all of the patriarchs combined and you have them on your phone. I'm sure you're a sharp person. And I know you're sincere. I want you to use one hermeneutic. I coined the name of this. It's called the Father-First Hermeneutic. Hermeneutic is simply a word that describes how you interpret the word of God. There are lots and lots of em. For example the reformers use systematic theology. Which if you really want to get in trouble, use that one. But what the father first hermeneutic does is when you read something in the bible, that god, does you have to look at it through the lens of a father first. Yes, he was a judge. Yes, he poured out his wrath. But he did it all in the context of being a father first. For example, the whole new testament, from Genesis to Malachi only had one theme. Only one. Sure, there's lots of rabbit holes, but they all point to 1 thing. The Old Testament only exists to show that God was preserving the Messianic Seed so that mankind could be reconciled to Himself. Even when He poured out His wrath, it was because He was a Father and He was protecting the Messianic Seed to preserve the innocent. He reserves his wrath for the wicked. I'm not wicked. I will never, ever, ever ever worry about His wrath.....ever. Most of the people you know, in your life are not wicked. And it's not your place to judge them, even if they are wick. It's your place to have mercy on them and pray that God doesn't hold that against them. It's not our responsibility to separate the wheat from the tares. We're supposed to treat everybody, the saved & the lost as if they are Brothers in Christ. Paul, the apostle even calls us ministers of reconciliation. We have to let God decide their eternity. Too many christians are quick to decide who's going to heaven, and who's going to hell. That's very scary to me. I just want to know Jesus. And I just want to be Jesus in the earth.

@LeeFoo9 Thank God, I absolutely love the word ❤️🙏🏻

His Living Word and Love will endure forever. And we get to be a part of it! Hallelujah!

@PositivitySaid God wants to pull you out of whatever keeps you stuck or in bounds. He has a plan to flourish us, not just to let us stay as we are ❤️🌱

@EnKristenSnubbe @RealShahriqKhan I wonder if they are even more well tilled than lukewarm Christians

@RealShahriqKhan So true! Muslims should be the number one mission field! The heart of the average Muslim is so much more well tilled soil than that of the average Atheist, to play on a very famous parable our Lord gave!

70% of American church and mission funds should be spent on bringing American Muslims to Christ. No more “awareness” or “I’m ringing the bell” trash either. Real systematic evangelism efforts. This needs to happen now.

@Clearpath__ Didn't think that far but that could very well be. It would almost be cruel for God to not give us that ability when seen from that perspective, but He did. Also in that sense evil is dependent on good for it's own "flourishing"?

@BiblePinpoint Wait, this is a profound realization. Evil cannot "suffer long" because it always gives in to its own vices. As believers we are equipped with endurance and long suffering specifically so we can outlast it. 🤯

Riddle me this: If God doesn't exist, who benefits? Put it in perspective: If the judge doesn't exist, is corrupt, or is compromised, who benefits? Your guess is as good as mine.

@anchoredsoul0 Yeah, it's absolute genius. I think you can write a whole book on just the first verse

@BiblePinpoint Exactly. It uses repetitive patterns and memorable phrasing like “and God saw that it was good”, a style that served to help people remember and retell it accurately. It is absolute genius.

Genesis is literal history.

@bikerbutter A slice of God's creation. Cool aquarium btw 😎👍🏻

Last night I was looking in my aquarium, watching an astrea snail eat some seaweed when I noticed a tiny astorina sea star dining on that which has grown on the snail's shell. It occurred to me at that moment as it does so many times when I behold his magnificence, just how Magnificent and Awe inspiring God actually is!! There are countless miniscule life forms just in my aquarium. I can't even imagine how many are in the entire ocean. God knows. God knows each individual snail and sea star and everything else in the ocean and exactly what they are doing. God is Amazing!! Just wanted to share these thoughts. God bless you all.

@Clearpath__ Yeah, I think so. Maybe that's why we are equipped with long-suffering, to outlast evil 🤔😋

@BiblePinpoint True. Evil might win in the short term, but in the end it'll also destroy itself.

You should thank them really. Luke 6:22–23 [22] “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! [23] Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. (ESV)

Well it’s finally happening. I’m deleting my account because of the hate I get on this app, I hope this makes you guys happy because that’s what others exist for! To agree with you and make you happy even if it doesn’t align with scripture right? You guys won 🥇

@Elohim_Gadol We just can't know the day or the hour

Patiently waiting for that trumpet 📯

Well don't you think we need to look at what scripture says when it comes to what constitutes heresy and so on? Ofc we need to do it in a gentle way, but not even Jesus was nice when it came to people teaching others wrongly. Didn't protestants try to get back closer to the early church to undo accumulated traditions? Wasn't that the whole point and isn't that what you are arguing for as well? I'm just a little confused, are you saying that we need to take the log out of our own eyes?

My friend, there's this very tough task. Jesus did it. Paul did it. It was ministering to the body without condemning them. As a Christ Follower for 53 years, (I'm 70) with all of the tools we have, I have come to learn that much of how tradition presents the Good News, is anything but. We get so much wrong. But when it comes to trying to convey those truths, there's a centuries old spirit that deems any questioning of tradition, or any contrary perspective to be heresy, apostacy, etc. Even basics about salvation, the meaning of sin, what holiness is, are really questionable. Forget the schism that Calvinism and the reformation have created. Once you see them, you can't unsee them. That's why they killed Jesus, that's why they killed the Apostles. That's why Islam kills infidels. There's an intolerance for anything or any question to the traditions that are the way many Christians gain their identity. That unwillingness to hear 1st century definitions stifles the church from returning to 1st Century culture. Mention ideas of of the main stream, and be labeled a heretic, etc. I'm all in. I've seen behind the vail of tradition and it's awesome.

@Clearpath__ By the grace of God 🙏🏻

@BiblePinpoint Always on point. 🎯

Christianity is the only religion where taking an L for God just means you elevate. The ultimate cheat code. 2 Corinthians 12:10

@french_tho37809 @Austin_Mathew_ How so?

@BiblePinpoint @Austin_Mathew_ Great. IMHO with all of the positive reasons to proclaim the Good News, it's wasted energy.

I like to think of it like gardening. I'm responsible for the choices I make in the garden: what I plant, how I care for it, whether I show up and do the work. If I slack off or make careless decisions and the garden fails, that's on me. I own it. At the same time, even my best effort depends on a lot I didn't create: the soil, the sun, the rain. Those are provided by the larger world I live in. I see God as the ultimate source behind that provision, so when things go well I thank Him for making success possible, not just pat myself on the back. But here's the honest part: even when I do everything right, I prepare well, I work hard, I make thoughtful choices, the garden can still have a bad season. Drought, pests, or conditions I couldn't control can ruin it. In those cases it's usually not my moral fault. Life just has real risks and limits. Christians believe we live in a world that isn't yet the way it was meant to be, there's frustration and unpredictability built into it. God gives the framework that makes growth possible at all, but He doesn't guarantee risk-free success every time we do our part well. So I can still take responsibility for how I respond, learn what I can, and see God's sustaining role in whatever good remains or comes out of it, even if the specific harvest I wanted didn't happen. It keeps me from either taking all the credit when things work or falling into despair when they don't despite my best effort.