s8nfighter

Let's just assume that the bible is the written word of God and Paul was just writting down what the Holy Spirit told him. If this proves to be true then the seeds sown are not dollars; rather they are the seeds which produce the fruits of the Spirit. I believe that the seeds of which Paul speaks of are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Among these gifts is the gift of giving. The gift of the Holy Spirit (seed) sown in faith, hope, and love produces a fruit. And the fruits of the Holy Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These fruits harvested from the work of our faith sown in love change the desires of the heart. God says that He made only one mistake and that mistake was mankind.. It was the desires of the heart of mankind which gave God regret. No. I believe that God's seeds are that of which I spoke. Certainly the vehicle comes in the form of a dollar sign but that dollar sign withoutlove is just a dollar sign. Darrell

Q1. (2 Corinthians 9:6) Does the Scripture teach that material blessing results from giving generously to God’s work? No. The gospel of Jesus Crhist is not a get rich scheme like some preach it. If it were so then the disciples of Christ who left good paying jobs to follow Christ would have had a better life. Andrew: Crucified. Bartholomew: Beaten then crucified. James son of Alphaeus: Stoned to death. James son of Zebedee: Beheaded. Judas: Stoned. John: Exiled. Matthew: Speared to death. Peter: Crucified upside down. Philip: Crucifed. Simon: Crucified. Thomas: Crucified. Matthias: Crucified. If there remains any doubt; here is what Paul says in Philippians 3: 17Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Why are we so careful to reinterpret this as referring mainly to spiritual blessing? Based on what Christ teaches, I believe that we need to interpret this verse just as it is. "Do not store up treasures on earth." Paul finishes his thought with the reason; "So you will abound in every good work." Resulting in a righteousness which endures forever. If you compared your own actual giving to God’s work to a tithe (10%) of your income, would it look generous? Compared to a tithe. Yes.. Compared to what some have given. No. Those who teach that if you give God will bless you back 30, 60, 100 times has done more harm to the gospel of Christ than Satan himself. I know those who have given much as a last hope and when the end of the month came and they still didn't have rent money and their stomaches we still empty they didn't blame the false preachers they blamed God.

Moses came to a jumping off point in his life, a point where he had to make a choice to stand up for the oppressed. He took a stand against the sever cruelty being done to his people, but doing so in secret shows that he was not fully committed. Moses had many privileges and was living a pretty good life. This brings to mind the answer Jesus gave the rich young ruler when he asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus looked at him and loved him. One thing you lack, he said. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. The LORD revealed to everyone what Moses had done in secret and it forced him to become fully committed. I think God likes fully committed people, don't you? Darrell

The excuses were forms of rejection. Rejection of Christ can be for many reasons. It can be because I believe that I am good enough and don't need to clean up for His invitation. It can be because I don't believe that there is no better life than the one I am enjoying right now and turn my back on eternal life. It can be because that I have examined the cost and decide that the price is too great. Or maybe it is because I have mistaken God's patience for weakness and think I can wait till the last minute and enjoy the things of the world for a bit longer. All and all it is a rejection of what He taught us in the gospels. For a long time I believed that I had to work every Sunday when there was work available and not go to church. Each year I would promise Marie that this is the year that I would no longer work seven days a week but each year led to another work filled week. Then about eight years ago I fulfilled my promise and to my surprise I finished all my work in six days. The builders I painted for began to accept that fact that I just wasn't going to work on Sundays any more and they changed their schedule a little bit. Darrell

Jesus is speaking about two different times here. The first time is now, and now is our calling to enter the Kingdom of God. Now is when Jesus set up His kingdom. Now we are to produce fruit worthy of entering the narrow gate later. Later there is a celebration for those who produce the fruit worthy to be placed on the banquet table. In Matt. 21 Jesus says this, "