This was sent to me. I can't find where it is posted here. I think it might be somewhere else because it's talking about this forum.. It is good though, to be reminded of this no matter what you believe about all of this. No matter whos side we are on, because we all need to be on Jesus' side. If we follow Jesus, we need to show people that by acting like Jesus. I think we can all know that this is the right thing to do, and to try and remember even when we get mad, or don't like what somebody else says or does. That is really the most important time to remember this, and to ask Jesus to help us because that is the time it is easiest to forget and say things without thinking or praying about it first.
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By their fruits you will know them"
Sun Jul 25, 2010
There has been much said about the character of 3ABN's attackers, and we know that the only thing we take from this earth to heaven is, our character. We also know that God requires that that character be a reflection of Him and we know that "God is love."
In the New Testament Christ explained the Ten Commandments in the simplest terms: The first part gives us a definition of the visual expression of our love for God. The second part gives us a definition of the visual expression of our love for our fellow man. Christ said, the law is explained simply, Love God with all your heart, love your fellow man exactly the way you desire to be loved. The latter of those admonitions can only be accomplished if we truly love the maker and His Father the way the former admonition defines.
The way we treat others tells the world what we think of God. There have been actions on both sides of this ledger that have shown the world that even those who profess to be followers of God, are filled with the spirit of sin - selfishness. This post, is one (if not, the) most egregious example of this behavior.
Robert Jude Pickle posting at AdventTalk wrote:
I suggest that Duane, Roger, Greg, Alex, Brad, and the rest take the press release at face value and contact Samantha and offer to share their testimonies. Whether or not there is time in the program to share their testimonies, they certainly could mingle with the folks who came and talk with them. If news reporters show up, they could talk with them.
It probably isn't too late to get T-shirts made up for the occasion. You guys would know better than me what to put on them if such an idea is appropriate. ("I Survived Pastoral Abuse" on one side, and Tommy's mug shot behind bars on the other?)
RJP has justified his actions over time by claiming he is "called by God" to publicly expose the sins of his brothers in the Christian faith. He has defended his actions in such a way that he ranks sin on his own, self-designed scale of "wrongness." His sins are not as egregious as others or they justify his claim that he is "exposing sin." But, we know that Christ said, if you want to know how much a Christian loves their God you will see it in two ways: How they love God and How they love their fellow human beings. There are no qualifications, in either category. God doesn't say, "Only love those that are as good or better than you are." In the New Testament it is defined even more clearly, "Even as you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto Me."
If Christ stands in our steed in the courts of heaven and God sees only His atoning blood when He looks at each one of us, how can we do any less? In the post above by RJP, has he remembered his own fallen, sinful nature and remembered that he is unworthy to stand in his own defense in the heavenly court when he treats a Christian brother this way? Does RJP have a hidden desire to stand "pro-se" before the God of the Universe? It doesn't matter if Tommy Shelton is guilty as accused, not for one second. Any sin Tommy has committed is no different than any sin Robert Jude Pickle has committed. Sin is selfishness, every single iteration of sin is an act of selfishness and none is worse than any other.
It is clear that the personal degradation that RJP suggests be heaped on Tommy is contrary to the Biblical principle of, "Love God paramount, and love each other exactly as you desire to be loved." Does RJP want the Heavenly Father to love him the way he is loving Tommy? Or the way he is loving Danny, or even Linda, who he claims to defend? Is that the type of love that we experience from our Creator? Would you continue to be a Christian if you thought, for one minute, that God treated people the way RJP treats people? Would you want to align yourself with a God who "loved" you the way RJP is loving his fellow man?
I know what his argument would be, that he exposing sin, he is defending the name of God. Is he? Is this the God you read about in Scripture? In the 8th chapter of John we see how Christ would answer those questions. A women whose sins others had deemed "worse" than their own had been accosted, manhandled, and forced to stand before Christ. Proudly the Pharisees announced her sins before all the onlookers and Jesus. Their desire was not to help restore this woman the image of her Maker - it was to trap Christ and embarrass Him. It was a blatant attempt to cast the Savior as malcontent, as a liar, as a fraud. It was an act of selfishness on the part of those professed faithful believers in God. They wanted blood, the woman's blood, because in it they would be able to justify their own transgressions and the way in which they had misled the faithful. They would also claim the woman's blood was on Jesus' hands; and that His acknowledgment gave them the right to continue to lead the faithful astray.
Jesus, silently, bent down and wrote in the sand. One can argue that the Scriptures don't tell us what was written in the sand - but the reality of the situation is obvious when He stands up and says, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." (The Message Bible). The above direct quote from RJP indicates that he would have wound up and delivered his stone. Is that the Christianity you want to espouse? Not me. I am glad that my Savior loves sinners and will stand with them hand-in-hand as they struggle to step out of their sinful nature and be remade in His image. The truth is, I don't love RJP the way I should. I find his methods disgusting and vile. I find his hatred of other people to violate everything I read in scripture . . . and in the end, I get on my knees and ask the One Being who knows how to love someone like that to help me love them the same way.
Duane, Roger, Greg, Alex, I ask you, "Is this the type of Christianity, the RJP type, the one you want to espouse?" Or, do you want to exhibit the same love the Savior did when he told the woman accused, "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you? [ ] Neither do I. Go your way. From now on, don't sin." Maybe the Christ at the well would be a better example than the incitation from RJP? Jesus did not expose the woman's sins to anyone, in front of anyone, did not embarrass her, did not seek to ridicule or marginalize her. Instead he filled her life with purpose and meaning. Jesus left her knowing that, even though her life had not been a mirror of the Savior - it could be, if she walked with Him. Do you see yourselves better than Tommy? If you followed the suggestions of RJP you would be placing yourself in the shoes of the Deceiver, who seeks to present us to the world and God as worthless, undeserving of God's love. Do you want that role or do you want to share the love that God graciously affords you, the grace that God provides you - though you don't deserve it?"
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Topic: BREAKING NEWS - Tommy Shelton pleads guilty, faces possible prison time (Read 81762 times)
