ECT The core of the argument between Christians and MAD.

[Arsenios]

I thought you were a monk.

The avatar is a Russian monk who lived through the atheists in the Ukraine named Kristiansen, who is written about in a wonderful book called "Everyday Saints"... The stunts he and his fellow monastics pulled on the ever meddling apparatchiks of the Communist Party are totally funny, and heart-wrenching when one remembers that all one had to do was to be anonymously accused to receive the slow death by starvation and cold sentence of slave labor in the Gulags...

These guys were the original Ferris Buehlers in a life and death hostile environment without any arms at all...

I am not a monk - Yet... Perhaps will never get to be one... I will be asking my Metropolitan soon... to not let me die without Monastic Tonsure...

So into my 70s now I work full time and own my business and make too much money and manage to give a fair amount of it away in the Church... We are building a new Chapel and the project eats dollars... Plus a lot of other needs arise... We are small and growing as a prayer community, with too many children and their parents... So I have plenty to do here, and especially now during the increased services of the Great Fast of Lent... We do a second weekly Liturgy on Wednesdays now, Presanctified, and our normal two a day services are extended in penitential prayers...

If you had told me in my 20s and 30s as an atheist that I would be ending my days in this kind of a prayer-filled liturgical God-centered Life in Christ, I would have died laughing after I bloodied your nose! [Just a figure of speech!]

Labors and prayer, that is my life, and the giving of alms, and repentance, and a Joy that is without limits, day and night, week in and week out, year after year, unending... I had no idea, in my previous life, how good life could be, and it only gets better day by day... I suffer insufferable Joy... In any kind of afflictions, it matters not a whit... That is what this Faith disciples... Unending Joy amidst sorrows... When sorrow no longer matters, Joy is all that is left...

And my day job takes me on calls all over the place, so I can't always sit around on the boards...

So now you have the short answer - I had missed your post, this board moves so fast... Thanks to GM I found it...

Arsenios

 

[Arsenios]

Peter did not preach the gospel of Christ.
Peter did not preach that Christ died for our sins!
It's not there...

Here is what Peter is recorded as preaching:

Act 10:43
To Him give all the prophets witness...
That through His Name
Whosoever believeth in Him
Shall receive remission of sins.

Are you really saying that this is not the Gospel of Christ?

Arsenios

 

[Arsenios]

Icon-kissing weirdbeard. No light in him.

God bless you my friend...

Will you pray for me?

Arsenios

 

[Arsenios]

You're NOT a member of the "Body of Christ" if you can't even
give a testimony? So why should we listen to you?

NEXT!

A.

 

[Arsenios]

I'll be back for your answer of the hope that's in you?

I HOPE SO...

And I must say, I have not heard ANY personal disclosures by MADmen and MADwomen here...

Y'all KNOW BETTER...

DONTCHA?

NEXT!

Arsenios

 

[patrick jane]

God bless you my friend...

Will you pray for me?

Arsenios

[QUTE=Arsenios;4236141 -O [YELLOW]

I had no idea, in my previous life, how good life could be, and it only gets better day by day... I suffer insufferable Joy..

PJ Apologizes -
I've been Praying for Your Previous Life by mistake. I will make the adjustment. pray tell, how many Lives have you lived ? - atrol:

 

[patrick jane]

JK Arsenios. I know you were talking about a 'previous' lifestyle, i hope. if not, watch that soap opera "One Life To Live" - be Blessed !

 

[Arsenios]

The reasons for Paul going up to Jerusalem:


Paul went up by revelation; meaning he was told to go. He was told to go to "communicate unto them that gospel" (notice it does not say your made up "one gospel", but "that gospel") that he preached among the Gentiles and that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.

Clearly the difference in the Gospels that you are perceiving is that of circumcision - Paul was establishing Churches and getting people baptized into Christ without first circumcising them... THAT is why God sent him to Jerusalem, to get the Church's blessing for doing so, which is what the "Right Hand of Communion" means... He received the blessing from the "men of repute" [Kephas, Iakobos, and and Ioanne]... To make Christians without circumcision... And "false brethren" made trouble for him and Barnabus there...

Those issues that arose there would not be fully resolved until the Council at Jerusalem, where Paul prevailed with the support of the three "Pillars"...

Do you agree with me so far?

Those "men of reputation" (as they say)/those who "seemed to be somewhat" added nothing to Paul, but contrariwise, Paul added to them for it was THEN when they saw/ it was THEN that they perceived the grace that was given unto Paul and not a moment before!

Paul refers to the three as pillars, and these are not the "seemed to be someshat"s who were the troublemakers... You have the three pillars conflated with the troublemakers...

Believe the KJB!

I believe the Majority Text of which the KJB is a VERSION...

If you want to be a Sola, ya gotsta learn Greek!

But the following is a pretty good translation, as is the KJV... Far better than most in its wake...

Galatians 2:1 Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.

Galatians 2:2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.

Galatians 2:3 But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:

Galatians 2:4 And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:

Galatians 2:5 To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

Galatians 2:6 But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me:

Galatians 2:7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;

Galatians 2:8 (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles

Galatians 2:9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

What you seem to be ignoring is Paul's OWN account of WHY he went to Jerusalem to speak PRIVATELY with the three Pillars of the Faith. He presented his work, the Gospel he had been preaching to the Gentiles, not requiring circumcision, to them for their approval... And some made trouble for him... And he GOT the approval, because the Pillars saw the Grace that was IN him... The Gospel of Christ is filled with this Grace, so they RECOGNIZED it in Paul... The text in no way states that Paul GAVE it to them - It says that they PERCEIVED it WITHIN him... These are PILLARS in Paul's own words, my friend... They are filled with Apostolic Grace... THAT is WHY they can RECOGNIZE it in another Apostle, which Paul was...

Arsenios

 

[Arsenios]

[QUTE=Arsenios;4236141 -O [YELLOW]

I had no idea, in my previous life, how good life could be, and it only gets better day by day... I suffer insufferable Joy..

PJ Apologizes -
I've been Praying for Your Previous Life by mistake. I will make the adjustment. pray tell, how many Lives have you lived ? - atrol:

Before and After...

Before, I had no two 5 year periods the same - I was a changeling person on a mission of self-cure...

I failed and came to the end at 36...

I gave up and was tested...

I met God...

And filled with a Joy that sees the world inside out, upside down, and backwards, which I have never lost...

20 years later, I became a Christian, Baptized into the Orthodox Faith of Christ...

That is where God led me, after scandalizing me by telling me He is the Christian God... A shocking revelation to someone who did NOT like Christians...

So here I am with the Christians I detested the most... You MADists... Go figure! Confirming all I had judged so long ago, and feeling so helpless to do anything for you... Just the way it is - And I wish it weren't...

I feel much as I imagine Paul felt for the Jews he could not convert...

Yet I cannot imagine life any better than it is right now...

And each and every day, it only gets better and better...

And has been doing so ever since God came and healed my broken soul...

There you have it...

God bless you...

Arsenios

 

[Arsenios]

JK Arsenios. I know you were talking about a 'previous' lifestyle, i hope. if not, watch that soap opera "One Life To Live" - be Blessed !

I do not have a TV...

I do have a "back in the day" remembrance...

Who is JK Arsenios?

A.

 

[patrick jane]

I do not have a TV...

I do have a "back in the day" remembrance...

Who is JK Arsenios?

A.

sorry, Just Kidding - JK - that's my slogan. i'm a funny guy. i'm here to amuse you ? (Joe Pesci) - I Admonish . . i mean admire, a Pure, Clean Life of Prayer and Fasting. Truly Ministering to the Truly Poor, Needy, Widows, Children and the Sick. Preaching Christ and The Gospel Given(Dispensed) To Paul The Apostle Of the Gentiles and hence, ALL. - atrol:

 

[patrick jane]

[QUTE=Arsenios;4236141 -O [YELLOW]

Before and After...

Before, I had no two 5 year periods the same - I was a changeling person on a mission of self-cure...

I failed and came to the end at 36...

I gave up and was tested...

I met God...

And filled with a Joy that sees the world inside out, upside down, and backwards, which I have never lost...

20 years later, I became a Christian, Baptized into the Orthodox Faith of Christ...

That is where God led me, after scandalizing me by telling me He is the Christian God... A shocking revelation to someone who did NOT like Christians...

So here I am with the Christians I detested the most... You MADists... Go figure! Confirming all I had judged so long ago, and feeling so helpless to do anything for you... Just the way it is - And I wish it weren't...

I feel much as I imagine Paul felt for the Jews he could not convert...

Yet I cannot imagine life any better than it is right now...

And each and every day, it only gets better and better...

And has been doing so ever since God came and healed my broken soul...

There you have it...

God bless you...

Arsenios

can i move in with you ? - atrol:

 

[Lazy afternoon]

This settles all argument.

Act 15:7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
Act 15:8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
Act 15:9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

LA

 

[Grosnick Marowbe]

I do not have a TV...

I do have a "back in the day" remembrance...

Who is JK Arsenios?

A.

Move out of your cave and get one.

 

[Grosnick Marowbe]

Posters like ArSINios have no testimony on how they became a
Christian or if they are even a True Believer, to date? He and his
ilk, don't have a clue on how to answer someone who asks; "How
do I become a child of God?" According to ArSINios, he'd just say;
"Baptism and Next?" Pity the person who's looking for real answers
to that, most important question.

Guys like ArSINios don't have any idea what it means
to be a member of the Body of Christ or how to explain
"Paul's Gospel?" Yet, they continue to preach their 'dribble!'

 

[Lazy afternoon]

Posters like ArSINios have no testimony on how they became a
Christian or if they are even a True Believer, to date? He and his
ilk, don't have a clue on how to answer someone who asks; "How
do I become a child of God?" According to ArSINios, he'd just say;
"Baptism and Next?" Pity the person who's looking for real answers
to that, most important question.

Guys like ArSINios don't have any idea what it means
to be a member of the Body of Christ or how to explain
"Paul's Gospel?" Yet, they continue to preach their 'dribble!'

Grosnick,

Your invented body of Christ is not even in Christ's Kingdom of God, according to you, and you call God a liar who had this written---



Act 15:7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
Act 15:8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
Act 15:9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

LA

 

[heir]

Here is what Peter is recorded as preaching:

Act 10:43
To Him give all the prophets witness...
That through His Name
Whosoever believeth in Him
Shall receive remission of sins.

Are you really saying that this is not the Gospel of Christ?

Arsenios

This is the gospel of Christ:

1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

1 Corinthians 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

1 Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:


And when one trusts the Lord after hearing and believing it, they are saved and sealed unto the day of redemption!


Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Ephesians 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.


And it's by grace we are saved through faith;...


Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.


What do you want with remission of sins, when we've been forgiven all trespasses?


Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

 

[heir]

You say this, but you only accept some of the books of Paul as speaking to you directly. That's what bothers everyone.

I believe all of the Bible. As a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, I study to shew thyself approved unto God, rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

 

[musterion]

I suffer, you see, from an abundance of Love... And that abundance causes me, even against my will, to call even them that hate and despise me, even these, to call them Brother...

I am your friend, and I pray that some day you will become my friend as well... That is how God desires us to be - Brothers and friends of one accord, united in one Love, in one Gospel of Jesus Christ...

Arsenios

Pretend I'm do not know Christ (you may in fact believe I don't...all the better).

I come to you under conviction for my sin and I ask you point blank: what must I do to be saved?

Be blunt, spare no detail, leave nothing out.

 

[Arsenios]

Posters like ArSINios have no testimony on how they became a
Christian or if they are even a True Believer, to date? He and his
ilk, don't have a clue on how to answer someone who asks; "How
do I become a child of God?" According to ArSINios, he'd just say;
"Baptism and Next?" Pity the person who's looking for real answers
to that, most important question.

Guys like ArSINios don't have any idea what it means
to be a member of the Body of Christ or how to explain
"Paul's Gospel?" Yet, they continue to preach their 'dribble!'

NEXT!



A