NotDrJeff

@NotDrJeff@vlemmy.net

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

NotDrJeff,

Out of the loop. What are the issues at lemmy.world and lemmy.ml. Why are there so many (seemingly) instances blocking/being blocked?

A Simple Reason Why the Gospels Are History | Testify (youtu.be)

The idea is often endorsed that the gospels are mythical or legendary traditions which developed many years and miles from the stories they report. Or that the four gospels are only a few among many other gospels that were rejected for no good reason. This video gives a starting place for showing these views are not compatible...

Samson's riddle

I was reading through the story of Samson in the book of Judges and his riddle is one of the greatest pictures of the gospel in the Old Testament. Judg 14:14: “And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.” Like the...

NotDrJeff,

I appreciate this parallel and thank you for sharing.

I am curious is there’s another aspect that is important here. Samson seems to be a Nazarite. And Nazarites had prohibitions around dead carcasses. Samson has to get very very close to a dead carcass to get the honey. Any thoughts on the significance of this?

NotDrJeff, (edited )

I’m sad that this is the perception of many people. And I’m heartbroken that it is in fact a reality in many places. If I may offer a defense though…

What you’ve described is one caricature that does not accurately reflect all Christians, or IMHO even all conservative Bible-bashing fundamentalist evangelicals. I will use my own experience as a counter-example.

I am a member of a small congregation of about 50 people. We have a collection box for everyone to contribute, but we make an effort not to compel this of anyone. The box sits at the back, and is not passed around. Most people don’t use it anyway as, since COVID, we have suggested making anonymous gifts through a digital third party service. We are not a charity and we do not claim any kind of tax rebate for money given the church. No one person is given sole responsibility for these accounts or for the money in the box. Every year, we have an annual report of income and expenses. These are professionally audited and are made available for any member to see. We do not have any full time staff. The work of the church is the voluntary work of the members. We are a family and we serve one another. Our elders are no exception, though we are not opposed to having a full time minister if we felt the need. Apart from the running costs of our building, the money is given to activities, causes and people that we collectively care about. We will give gifts to guest speakers who come to us. They will have to declare their income and pay their tax accordingly. We may also give this money to missionaries or charitable causes. Those missionaries will be responsible for their own tax arrangements also. The church has no assets apart from, obviously, the building. The money we put together each year is the money we will spend that year, give or take.

On politics, this is very controversial. I’m not American and I realise Christians there may have a different perspective. But for us, while we certainly maintain views that would be considered politically right wing, these are on a few specific issues to do with our faith, and do not extend to an endorsement of right wing politics in general. We take grievance with the bad behaviour and corruption that exists within politics and will call it out (though we would avoiding naming names in our meetings) whatever side it comes from. We generally avoid voting, although this is left to the convictions of individual member, and we respectfully disagree at times.

As for being “greedy people pretending to follow God”. It is not only a criticism to throw at certain politicians, but a challenge to each and every Christian. We hope that this would never be the impression of someone who knew us personally. We confess our deep rooted flaws (this is a basic tenet of our faith), and we strive to live better, like our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Many blessings,

NotDrJeff,

I’m mostly using a pc desktop browser (chrome). Don’t appear to have any spell checking.

NotDrJeff,

Thanks! I did not know this before. But I’ve definitely had spell checking on other websites, so presumably this can be integrated on the server side? I’ll get me one of those extensions.

NotDrJeff,

That’s a Fair point. If I may offer a defense on Sproul’s behalf though. This is a short clip from a longer lecture, so maybe more context would add clarity? Also, his target audience here is believers - i.e. those who have come to trust in God. He is encouraging them to grow in their knowledge of the faith as the writers of scripture do. A different audience might respond in a way that was not intended. Is the preacher ultimately able to control and be responsible for people’s response to their message anyway?

Just a thought I wanted to add as well. While questioning/doubting God shows a lack of faith, I think the Lord is compassionate to such failure and very patient with it. He uses it as an opportunity to grow. I’m thinking of the example of Habbakkuk who questioned God and the Lord graciously answered. Job also. Perhaps most of all, we see the Lord’s disciples asking many questions. Sometimes, he has to rebuke them for their lack of faith, spiritual ignornance, and pride. But he is very patient in his teaching them.

What does the Bible say about being righteous before God?

“The righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift,...

NotDrJeff,

Yes, I agree. Counting denominations is hard for that very reason. I don’t think the 45000 number is reached by counting all independent churches though… the number would surely be much higher. In the video I linked, it’s pointed out that the same study that gives the 45000 number also says that there are only 300 “major ecclesiastical traditions”, which is much more believable. But even this number obscures the significant agreements in doctrine and practice across many groups.

NotDrJeff,

yes, getting the same issue on local/all pages

"Subscribe" and "Block" are only text, not buttons

It seems that on any community I go to (whether local or on another federated instance) the “Subscribe” and “Block” buttons appear as plain text, not as buttons/links. So that I can’t subscribe to any more communities. Occasionally, “Block” will appear as a button, but “Subscribe” pretty much never does....

NotDrJeff,

I’ve had the same issue today. Also came across one where the block button was correct, but the subscribe was just text.

NotDrJeff,

Yeah, looks like lemmy has some room to develop. I still can’t subscribe even through the searhc page. Will try again later.

NotDrJeff,

yeah, just saw this being asked on our instance support page, so here’s hoping.

NotDrJeff,

I left it for a few days and then it worked again for me. Haven’t tried it recently.

NotDrJeff,

Nice. Same as in not-reformed, or same as in PB?

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