OLAADEGBU:


You have not answered the question, sir.

Yes I did.
Let me try again..
If Jesus and the woman were westerners living today in a western society, then Jesus was indeed rude.
In some Nigerian cultures, that would also be rude, while in some this would be acceptable and even considered endearing depending on the age of Jesus

So, except you fully understand the Jewish culture of that time, and the relationship between Jesus and his mum, you really can't say it is so and so.

...always remember this: context is everything

OLAADEGBU:
Was Jesus being rude to Mary when He referred to her as "woman"? Why didn't Jesus show more respect to His mother in John 2:4?

Cultural and personal perception of rudeness differs.

Kids. I'll help you understand what she is saying.
The guy in white is her brother, while the guy touching her bum is her husband

OLAADEGBU:


Yes. What is above all things there?

First, It is my understanding that that verse was written by John, and not Paul hence my confusion.

Next,
"above all things" seem to suggest "my earnest desire"

Using only english translations of the bible and not the original language texts
prosper suggests material/physical growth
Now, taking all three wishes together
he was saying to Gaius, that its his wish/hope (not prayer)
that Gaius grows materially(including financially) and spiritually while sustaining good health

OLAADEGBU:


Am referring to his wish 'above all things'. What do you think that wish was?

I am confused. It;s not this you're referring to right?
"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth"

OLAADEGBU:


But what was Paul's wish for believers above all that?

]

Paul had many wishes for you and I. Which one are you referring to?

And by the way, if we are not to stray too far from the OP which is this "Is the Word of Faith movement biblical? Is it God's will for all Christians to be physically healthy and financially prosperous?"

....then the answer is quite simple, albeit contextual.

It's Gods' will that we dominate our environment.
the tool for domination is not set in stone.

A man washed unto an island would have no need for money. What he would require is good health, smart brains, hope, other people loking for him, perseverance, faith etc

OLAADEGBU:


What do you think is above the 'tools' used in dominating your environment?

it includes but not limited to wealth, heath, love, wisdom, war, treachery, understanding, knowledge, banter, smiles, laughter, pro-creation, .....you name it

tartar9:
israel will be destroyed! Insha Allah

little terrorist
does the thoughts make you Hot

OLAADEGBU:


All of the above.

you know stuff about stats?
for example, say a country has 20 non-christians and 5 christians
if 2 christians divorce, and 5 non-christians divorce
then the rate of divorce for christians is higher

you aware of this?

OLAADEGBU:

Uhmm

very soon, a conspiracy theorist will say that OLAADEGBU means
On Line Annihilating and Aiding Destruction of God's Blessed Unity

OLAADEGBU:


Google is your friend.

which of the googles?
is it for worlwide stats, american stats, nigerian stats, historical stats or village stats?

OLAADEGBU:


Dominion does not mean oppression, does it?

nope.
Back to the discuss. Wealth and health are only some tools in dominating your environment. Your inquiry can be likened to asking this sort of question. "is it God,s will that every one lives?" It's what is done with life that matters. Not life itself

OLAADEGBU:
If God is not the author of confusion, what about the Tower of Babel?

Yep, God is the best selling author of "Confusion" in one land,
and in another land is the best selling author of another chronicle called "Our Faith".

OLAADEGBU:
Is the Word of Faith movement biblical? Is it God's will for all Christians to be physically healthy and financially prosperous?

It is God's will that ALL humans dominate their environment. '
This is what is clearly stated in the opening chapter of Genesis
I doubt an unhealthy person is capable of dominating his environment
and in many parts of the modern world, it would be quite a task (although possible) to dominate ones environment without some financial muscle

OLAADEGBU:
Is the divorce rate among Christians truly the same as among non-Christians? Do Christians get divorced just as often as non-Christians?

Have you got any credible stats to share?

vooks:
Every believer should read this book cover to cover at least thrice.
http://www.reveal.org/development/Churches_that_Abuse.pdf

Cc: Winsomex,Joagbaje,Gombs,MutleyLaff,Ayoku777,Esere826,MrPresident1,Goshen360,Shdemidemi,Scholar8200,an2elect

thanks.
the case studies contained in this book are interesting

OLAADEGBU:
What does the Bible say about the prosperity gospel? Is it God's Will for all Christians to be financially prosperous?

The Bible says little or nothing abut prosperity gospel or poverty gospel
However, the old testament is quite replete on stories of people who's God's blessing on them was financially measurable
The new testament on the other hand tends to narrate stories of people who God's blessing on them made them loose much financially.

So, is it God's will that all Christians be financially prosperous?
Is it God's will that we be financially bankrupt?
Is it God's will that we trim our beards?
Is it God's will that we pee in toilets instead of on the streets?

The answer to this is simple as the creation story. It is VOID i.e nothing

A prosperity or poverty gospel does not exist from God
However, if we choose to be prosperous, then nothing in this world or underneath it can stop us
Our choice, and the blessings from God to go ahead with it is what we usually package as prosperity gospel

OLAADEGBU:

Why did Jesus fast for 40 days?


Some ideas

1) With regards to symbolism which I am no fan of
- Moses spent 40 years in Midian away from the lush pleasantness of Egypt unknowingly preparing for his task
-Moses spent 40 days up the Sinai neither eating nor drinking while receiving the 'law' on stone
-The journey of the israelites from Egypt took them 40 years in the wilderness

Perhaps Jesus in his own 40 days had the oppurtunity to meditatively write a newer law thereby fulfilling what was written
"This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts"

2) this is what I believe happened
The spirit drove Jesus to the wilderness under harsh conditions to wean him away from his comfort zone and give him a new sense of direction
Humans tend to continue doing what they've been doing until something catastrophic happens to change their direction of action
much like the earth will always rotate around the sun except an asteroid knocks it off to another galaxy

Towards the end of his meditative fast, he was burning with desire for what his goal was, plus he was very hungry
So Satan came with the 3 things that Jesus desired - miracle Food for his immediate needs; jewish public acceptance laced with miracles; and the world based on service.

author=90love post=39285908 I've dated my husband for 5years but only traditionally married for 5 months. .... .

kpele o

My suggestion is this,

Right now, you are pregnant. This is the period that almost anything you do will be forgiven by ALL and attributed to hormonal challenges.
...perhaps na pregnancy hormone they even cause wetin dey happen sef

So why not use this excusable oppurtunity to affect your desired drastic and permanent changes in the whole affair.

.....Shaekspere puts it this way "All the world's a stage,. and all the men and women merely players"

H

OLAADEGBU:
Why did Jesus fast during the 40 days of temptation?

I though the temptation was at the near end of his 40 days fasting??

Gracelilian:
For a very long time now,i have being praying for a particular prayer request,yet .....
Dost that mean i dont know how to pray or what?
I need a help.

ask the HOLy Spirit for a word about your prayer. He,ll give it to you. When you receive the word, I really don't know how you should use it. Soome suggest you then continuously confess it, others suggest you simply beelieve it

OLAADEGBU:
Why is following Christ so difficult? Why are there so many obstacles to following Christ? Why do we often find following Jesus to be hard? Isn't the Gospel supposed to be simple?

Following anyone is much easier than leading anyone
Perhaps, folks are actually trying to lead Jesus (while thinking that they are following), hence they find it difficult and encounter obstacles

Jesus says he is the good shepherd
in order words he is meant to do the leading, and clearing of obstacles on our behalf
The psalmist, also uses flowery words to describe how the Lord shepherds his own
and consequently, they do not want, nor fear while even their tables are laid in the midst of voracious enemies

And YES, the good news is 'simple'
that is why it is called good in the first place
what can be easier than continuously hearing delightful things about oneself from the source of all things

OLAADEGBU:
There is a passage in Acts 2 which some have used to support ‪Communism. Is it a valid reading? Which leads to the question of the OP: "Does the Bible support Communism"? Was the early church, as recorded in the Acts of Apostles communist?

The first church under Peter showed many signs of what we today call communism

The bible neither supports nor castigates communism
neither does the bible support or castigate capitalism

just as the bible does not support or castigate cutting one's hair

However, some early 'american' protestant Christians felt that communism was of the devil as it deprived them of property ownership
and they correctly (in my opinion) suspected that it played down hardwork and its attendant reward. This they also felt was anti-christian

This tradition has generally lingered on in present day American Protestantism
they tend to now see and weave tales of communism as the tool the anti-Christ will use in bringing all people under his control, neither being able to buy nor sell without his government's approval
They are also very watchful of Europe which has remnants of communism in the form of socialism, and point out that the anti-Christ will flourish from there and ride on the back of a powerful EU which will also gradually become fascist and turn its guns against Israel


.....because of such future permutations, communism tends to be frowned upon by American protestant Christian leaders. And yes, the big shot capitalist are happy to sing along

mbulela:
This whole ministerial merry-go-round is the final nail on the coffin of this government.
We need to go home and sleep.
We did well kicking GEJ out ,as i am a firm believer that failure should never be rewarded (and GEJ failed in summary).
Same response seems to be waiting for PMB.
What was the point of wasting four bloody months to end up appointing non-technocrats?
PMB has spent the past 16 years trying to be president. Now he is president, he seems bereft of a clear cut idea of what to do with power.
Even the fight against corruption is so hazy and unclear.
The secrecy in governance seems to be a means of covering planlessness.

At least, we can be sure that the Buhari government will not give ministers a pat on the back for being corrupt.
Hopefully this should minimize corruption in Nigeria post Buhari regime

We might need to seek another leader for national economic resurrection after PMB takes a bow

OLAADEGBU:


Are you saying air doesn't conform to the shape of a cup?

I actually saw that coming, but hoped you'd miss it. I was tired, so I wasnt keen on couching my words with more explanatory characters. Lesson: Allow wriggle room in your statements when engaged in debates with those that are .....ehmmm, ehmmmm

If your mindset doesn't conform to the Word of God then automatically they do not conform with the mind of Christ, why then would I be interested in that kind of information?

..good start
at least the first step is to know and acknowledge that mental wiring does affect the way one processes, disparages, concludes and disperses of information.
I mean, I wrote stuff which you couldn't process due to your 'christ-mind' and so you quickly concluded that it must 'devil stuff' or some other definition, ...i don forget the big words wen u dey call sef.

the next step
would then be to try to ascertain if indeed your present mental wiring is the best that God can come up with

OLAADEGBU:


I still didn't get your understanding on what Paul meant. Thanks anyway for your response.

fair enough
but then, why did you not get it?
This is why I think you did not get it:
Anything that gets into a glass cup has to conform to the shape of the cup. The cup is not able to store anything such as air that does not conform to this principle.

..you've probably wired yourself to accept and process information only in certain ways. If the process does not follow your brain map, your brain quickly tries to give it a label that would bring your brain to rest. Hence you penchant for attaching simple labels such as right vs wrong and fence sitting and political correctness etc

...its the wineskin darn it!
interpretation: work on your mindset, and you'd be amazed on the new kind of information that will flow through it and be retained

OLAADEGBU:
..

uhmmmmm
point 1 -some people like to label everything as sin sha
point 2 -Writings about the initial church seems to suggest that it had a communist-like underpinning -i.e properties were sold and brought to the feet of the apostles for distribution. Maybe that's were the claimed persistent affinity to communism comes from

point 3 -For everything, there is a season. There is a season to meet with the oppressed, and another to meet with the oppressors. Remember that the early church was relieved from its burden of persecution only when rulers began to interact with church heads and and then they started buying into the gospel.

point 4 -I think it is an american thing to associate communism with aethism, while associating capitalism with godliness. Interestingly, capitalism is fuelled by greed, and many times has atheists at the top of its pyramid, with those at its bottom neccesarily being religious because they have no other place to turn to. In contrast, communism seems to be fueled by people who would rather take their destinies in their hand rather than wait for the invisible hand of God to make things right. People under such systems are looked after by the state, and so naturally tend to have less need to be reliant on God

OLAADEGBU:


The question was: "Do Christians need to avoid offending anyone?" and you are still prevaricating. What about giving a laconic response?

can you recall this

my view

OLAADEGBU:

Do Christians need to avoid offending anyone? What does Paul mean when he says to "give no offence in anything"? Explain .

Nope
You don't need to avoid offending anyone completely, however its a great virtue not be an aggressor.
Rather seek to make peace for as much as you can bear.
Let it be said of you: "I know Olaa as a level headed man. for him to have done this to you, you must have messed up really bad."
rather than:
"ah, na Olaa naw. the guy na troublesome person"

I can even help to segregate then map your questions to the relevant answers by using colour codes if its easier to grasp that way sef

OLAADEGBU:


If that suits you then why not? Are you saying you don't really know?

Why can't you make up your mind and stop prevaricating?

No you have not chosen your path as you are still perching on the wall. If Jesus and His apostles kept using your so called 'tact' do you think they would have died for their faith?

Olaas
Why not use the diary section of NL
It allows you to air your views and yours only

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The bible contains snapshots of events in history, not the whole story
so, trying to force your interpretation on the personalities mentioned in the bible can be fraught with error.

Now try to read this very carefully spending time to think about it:

At this moment, I could rightly get fed up with you (like a number of folks do) and then rebuke you tersely calling you a traducer, Pharisee or something else who puts weight on people that Christ has not given.
Now, imagine a writer mentions my rebuke of you and also mentions many more times that I rebuked others like you after a similar circumstance
does that make me someone that offends or happily offends people?

Would it be reasonable for an intelligent reader to pick up a 100 page book that can be read in 3 hours about my entire life and then draw conclusions with 100% certainty about who esere826 is, even to the extent of saying other views are wrong? ...hell NO

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I have my views alright, however, it is what it is....views
I was not around when Jesus was, neither were you
It would be the height of simplistic reasoning (which thankfully I am not capable of) to put Jesus in a box of "he either was one given to causing offence" vs "he wasn't given to causing offence".
Clearly the bible writers record both attributes.

..And this is why I usually try to stir your questions into smaller, reasonable and more accurate bits which I consider the right way to ask questions of this nature, not in setting traps like they used to do for Jesus.

For example, if you asked:
Did Jesus offend anyone? the answer is a simple Yes, because it is on record
However, a question such as was Jesus offensive? This cannot be answered with a quick yes or No.. an intelligent person in an intelligent conversation would first ask you to define offensive. then you might be asked to break it down into its components for each bit to be answered with a Yes or No

xxxxxxxxxxxxx
surely, it can't be so difficult to understand all of what I've written

OLAADEGBU:


Will you then say Jesus was a pacifist?

I don't think you chose the correct word there^^

I guess what you meant was something like this: "did christ always try to avoid offending others?"
Well, I really don't know. Evidence exists for, and in contrary to this.

On the one hand it is said of him. "A bruised reed he will not break.."
yet we are also told of how zeal for the house will consume him. He then goes ahead with a whip to chase out 'money merchants' from the temple.


Life is full of all sorts, all fulfilling different God-given purposes. As vile as vultures are, they help rid the land of carcass.
So also are those who agress whether they be justified or not.

I have chosen my path
...to most times approach conversations with as much tact as possible while keeping my eyes on the ball.
the Holy Spirit has never complained about this to me

my view

OLAADEGBU:

Do Christians need to avoid offending anyone? What does Paul mean when he says to "give no offence in anything"? Explain.

Nope
You don't need to avoid offending anyone completely, however its a great virtue not be an aggressor.
Rather seek to make peace for as much as you can bear.
Let it be said of you: "I know Olaa as a level headed man. for him to have done this to you, you must have messed up really bad."
rather than:
"ah, na Olaa naw. the guy na troublesome person"

I'm enjoying these threads Jiggaz