Hot answers tagged christian-living
24
There are many times in the Bible we as Christians are called to give to the poor such as "If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:17-18 NIV
So, while it is said that ...
16
In 1 Corinthians Paul writes
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All
things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. (1
Cor 6:12 ESV)
“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things
are lawful,” but not all things build up. (1 Cor 10:23 ESV)
There is no law against ...
15
It really depends on the policy. The general idea--helping those in need when they cannot help themselves--is certainly compatible with the Gospel. But a lot of welfare programs go beyond simply helping people. By the way they're implemented, they cause recipients to grow dependent on welfare and have a greater incentive to continue participating in the ...
14
The closest would be the model prayer given in Matthew chapter 6 as part of the Sermon on the Mount. This prayer is understood by most to be an example, or model, rather than something to be repeated verbatim.
So, no, there are no specific mandatory prayers given in scripture, other than that we are to pray — and to pray without ceasing. Mandatory ...
14
Sin is not merely defined by one person encroaching on another person's rights. Pride, greed, envy, bitterness, and many other such things are sins, but they do not encroach on anyone else's rights. So, then, why are these considered sins by God? It seems the key point is that each of them is a departure from the righteousness of God.
In the case of two ...
13
No, you're not a hypocrite, for two reasons:
The Bible instructs us to be charitable (James, chapter 2, verses 14-17 says that if faith "does not lead to action, it is in itself a lifeless thing" and Proverbs, chapter 11, verses 24-25 says that "A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed"). But it does not say that it ...
12
These people are likely thinking of verses like these:
John 15:18-20 (NIV)
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember ...
12
No.
Actually yes it is of course quite possible, but if someone is asking this question at all, it is likely that there is some other issue. Fellowship and the community of saints is such a basic part of the Christian faith that someone who wants to avoid that part on purpose has probably not understood the purpose of church at all and may not have the kind ...
11
First of all, this is definitely something that should be left to God. A great example is in Jude:
Jude 1:9 (NLT)
9 But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses’ body.)
Satan is ...
11
No, the Bible does not support the concept of 'balance between two extremes'. What the Bible supports is walking in God's ways, which means operating within boundaries in some areas, and being as extreme as you can be in other areas. In some cases operating within God's boundaries looks like 'balancing between two extremes', but that is not an accurate ...
10
There are many kinds of curses, and Christians are certainly affected by some.
The first curse against any humans is found in Genesis 3:17:
To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will ...
10
This is opinion only, but I'll throw my two cents in. I'm also not going to add in supporting Bible verses as I'll stick to commonly accepted, cross-denominational concepts that any Christian should be familiar with. (If comments ask for verses, I will come back and edit them in.)
Most of the self-help books that I've read personally are, in retrospect, ...
8
Well, I suggest you read A Defense of Rash Vows by G.K. Chesterton for more enlightement.
Modern sages offer to the lover, with an ill-flavoured grin, the largest liberties and the fullest irresponsibility; but they do not respect him as the old Church respected him; they do not write his oath upon the heavens, as the record of his highest moment. They ...
8
First off, "boys" is a very unfortunate translation here, as the original word properly means "youths" (teens/young men, not children.) And a group of over 40 youths coming out to confront a single man with angry words is a lot more than simple "jeering". Imagine the scene! His life was most likely in danger. (Remember when Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael ...
8
The idea of a God that set things in motion but does not, and has not intervened since is a concept central to Deism.
The view has a long history, and has had a few supporters, but is not by any means the predominant view within Christianity. Deists also reject the notion of divine revelation, including Scripture. It's not necessarily a Christian concept, ...
7
Christians throughout history have differing interpretations of how the faithful should approach civil governments. I would point you toward a seminal work addressing this topic called Christ and Culture by H. R. Niebuhr.
One position (Christ against culture), advocated by those like Mennonites, argues for total withdraw from the political sphere. Another ...
7
Sure, we may read them. (1 Corinthians 10:23)
But really, why read a productivity self-help book when The Ultimate Productivity blog says it all? And which is a better use of time: reading self-help books on becoming a better person, or actually helping the needy like the Bible tells us to? (James 1:27)
Self-help was suggested to Jesus in the moment of ...
7
I do not believe that the verses cited mean that it is easy to live a Godly life, and to abstain from sin simply because we're saved. No less than Paul himself, who wrote a good portion of the New Testament struggled against his sin nature. He wrote about it often, but I think that the most raw and honest writing, which dealt directly with his struggle is ...
7
David in Psalm 139:21-22 states:
"Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies."
It is important to remember here that God had set aside a nation for himself and at this time the enemies of David the King of Israel were also the enemies of ...
7
The term you are looking for is 'Deism'. It says there is a God, but doesn't say that he does much. Indeed, Thomas Jefferson in particular, and several of the Foubding Fathers were in fact Deists, leading Benjamin Franklin to the aphorism, "God helps them who help themselves".
1 Peter, by the way, mentions that in the last days, there will come scoffers ...
6
In general, yes, it is allowed. However, I want to point out this verse:
1 Corinthians 10:23 (NIV)
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.
This verse comes right before a passage talking about eating meat sacrificed to idols. In general, this ...
6
I heard a good comment after Osama bin Laden was killed. They were commenting how people were celebrating his death, but he said that as a Christian he didn't feel like he should be happy. He would have rather that bin Laden had become a follower of Christ.
I agreed with him, and believe it applies to this question. As a true follower of Christ, we ...
6
Medically speaking, it's a matter for your doctor to discuss with you.
From a doctrinal perspective, there is no one answer.
Group #1: Some traditions hold that there is no such thing as mental illness at all, and that any depression or other mental illness are the result of sin, or demonic influence.
Group #2: Others will regard the opinions of the ...
6
I have tried to answer this question by showing some Christian teaching on the "extreme sports" of previous centuries, which are pretty extreme by modern standards too.
Jousting was very dangerous and many people were killed and injured; other tournament sports such as the melee also had a high casualty rate. In the twelfth through fourteenth centuries, the ...
5
There are many Christians that wish for the death of particular politicians.
These Christians unfortunately don't understand what Jesus taught about loving others, being willing to die for those that hate you, or following the example of Jesus when he healed the ear of the soldier that was arresting Him.
These Christians are choosing to follow the ...
5
"is it hypocritical to call myself a Christian and not support welfare programs?"
It looks like this question could be read at least two ways - first, should we support the creation of welfare programs (as opposed to finding other, privately-funded ways to help the poor)? second, should we support welfare programs that have been instituted (as opposed to, ...
5
The short answer is "no. it's not fatalism" for most Christians. Most traditions believe and teach that God gave us free will. Without free will, there could be no such things as faith. Without free will, there could be no good or evil. Without free will, there'd have been no reason for Joshua 24:15, for example. We'dsimply be programmed, mindless ...
5
Here are a few verses that might shed some light on the question (sorry, being a new user, I can only give you links for context for the first two due to SPAM protection on stackexchange):
The book of Psalms, Chapter 27, Verse 1
"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"
The ...
5
To answer the question directly, yes, there are Bibles arranged in "chronological order." This book for example, seeks to arrange every passage of the Bible chronologically. That said, I'm not sure that's really the best approach.
Firstly, by cutting and pasting passages from multiple books by multiple authors, one destroys the uniqueness of each book. ...
5
There are tons of ways to answer this question. Here are a few reasons:
First, we're told we should:
Hebrews 10:23-25:
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he
who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one
another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is
the habit of some, but ...
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