The film examines the rise of social media and the damage it causes society. It features interviews with Tristan Harris, a former Google design ethicist who quit Google and founded The Center for Humane Technology.
Our youngest son told us that after he watched The Social Dilemma, he did away with all his social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
In essence, the documentary's premise is that hatred, division, and the extreme polarization in our politics and culture are due to one fundamental problem. Tristan Harris states the problem succinctly:
"You look around and it seems as if the world is going crazy. Is this normal? Have we all fallen under some kind of spell? I want people to understand that the problem happening in social media doesn’t have a name, but it has to do with one source, with one fundamental problem.Scientists, venture capitalists, tech industry leaders, and others agreed with Tristan's belief that America's fundamental problem is the inability to know and agree on the truth.
If we don’t agree on what is true, or that there is such a thing as truth, our country is toast. This is the problem beneath other problems because if we can’t agree on what’s true, then we can’t navigate out of any of our problems.”
Cathy O'Neil, Ph.D., a data scientist and author of Weapons of Math Destruction, echoes what Tristan Harris believes about America's trouble with the truth.
“People talk about Artificial Intelligence as if it will know truth. AI is not going to solve the problem of fake news. Google doesn’t have the option of saying 'Is this conspiracy? Is this truth?' Because they don’t know what truth is."Roger McNamee, a Facebook venture capitalist in Silicon Valley summarizes America's problems well:
Jesus said, "I am the truth." (John 14:6). Standing on trial before a powerful Roman governor named Pilate, Jesus had the courage to say:“We need to have some shared understanding of truth. Otherwise, we aren’t a country.”
"The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
The God of this world is the God of truth.
Francis Bacon and His Masterpiece Book "Of Truth"
Bacon dealt with truth scientifically. He believed truth to be objective and quantifiable, with its source the Creator God. Bacon explained in his classic work Of Truth three main reasons human beings do not want to admit or agree that there is an objective truth that has its source in the God of truth.
Reason #1: Acquiring the truth is hard work.
When someone speaks of "my truth" or "your truth" or "their truth," then truth has become subjected to someone's feelings or way of thinking. Bacon vigorously argued that real truth comes from God, is objective and independent of human feelings, and must be discovered through hard work. To know God's Word, said Bacon, is to learn the who, what, when, and where facts of the Bible was written. The truth, like any precious object, can be discovered. But uncovering the truth requires hard work, and Bacon says people don't like to work hard for anything, especially God's truth. To read the Bible involves the study of ancient history, geography, languages, and a host of other disciplines. The reason there is no agreement on truth in America is that Americans would rather enjoy playing video games than endeavor in virtuous gains. Our delight in sports often poisons our devotion to Scriptures. Americans don't like to work for anything, especially the truth.
Reason #2: Blurring the truth is haughty wickedness.
God's truth as to how we ought to live and behave is discoverable, but the enemies of truth constantly say to us, "Has God REALLY said ...?" Francis Bacon calls God's truth "the bright sun at noonday," and writes that humans don't like what they see of themselves in a mirror illuminated by the noon-day sun. All of us look better, said Bacon, when we dim the lights. The word "sin" means "rebellion." There used to be a shared value of truth in America that adultery was immoral, homosexuality was opposed to God's standards, sexual immorality was something to be shunned and not celebrated. The 10 Commandments were viewed as God's commandments with a requirement for our compliance and not God's suggestions with a request for our consideration. But rather than see clearly what God has sad and condemn ourselves as rebels to God, we turn the lights down so that we don't have to see ourselves as we really are. America has blurred the truth.
Reason #3: Contravening the truth is the human way.
Francis Bacon says a strong motivating factor for human beings living contrary to the truth by outright contravening a direct command of the Creator, is because human beings in general believe that God's truth constricts their freedoms. "I want to do what I want to do, regardless of what God says." Freedom, it is said - real human freedom - means "throwing off the constrictions that come with the truth." Bacon says that the human being does not understand that the only real freedom that anyone will ever experience in this life is when he or she discovers God's truth, accepts His truth without varnishing or dimming it, and then lives it. Like a well-designed train that stays on its tracks, a human being submissive to the will of God moves forward with power and purpose. When one goes off the tracks, there is a crash and burn. Truth means freedom.
"For you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (John 8:32).
The social dilemma in America is indeed a lack of agreement and/or acceptance of the truth that comes from God.
24 comments:
"humilitas est veritas"
(Thomas Aquinas)
Wade,
I believe there’s FOUR things wrong with what Bacon said.
1. “People don’t like to work hard for anything.”
I believe it’s hard work for Wade to have over seven million pageviews, but he likes doing it.
I’ve picked cotton and bailed hay that was hard work, but I liked doing it to make money.
2. “Americans would rather enjoy playing video games than endeavor in virtuous gains.”
He should have said, ‘Some Americans’. I’m sure there are others besides me that’s never played a video game.
3. “Americans don’t like to work for anything.”
He just switched the word “People” to “Americans”.
4. “There used to be a shared value of truth in America that adultery was immoral, homosexuality was opposed to God’s standards, sexual immorality was something to be shunned and not celebrated.”
Christians still do!
Hello
The church has lost its way and become irrelevant because of the many “Christian conspiracy type" theories that can be found within its boundaries of influence that explain away the relevance of the scriptures themselves.
The different Bible Prophecies theories means that we have lost sight of God working in this world. Ask Christians if they can see the 9/11 event outlined in the scriptures, and many will deny that it can be found at all within the scriptures. I happen to disagree.
Many Christians believe that God promised Abraham land in the Abrahamic Covenant, whereas Abraham was asked to walk within God's "earth" that He, God, would show him
Many Christians believe that the giving of the Promised Land, as defined in Genesis 15 was a forever promise whereas it was for a finite period of time where the end point of its occupation by Israel, was at the vanishing point of the prophetic promise and beyond our ability to comprehend. God certainly warned the nation of Israel that they would kicked out of the Promised Land because of their continual idolatrous worship, even though He gave them a period of 490 years to repent of their idolatrous sins, but which they held onto and where severely dealt with and scattered to the four corners of the earth.
Many Christians cannot comprehend the time of the Gentiles trampling God’s Sanctuary and His earthly hosts, still has a way to go before God will Judge the Gentile Kings and their nations after which all of Israel will be saved. This can be found in the scriptures.
Many Christians cannot perceive that the 7th Bowl Judgement has already been fulfilled, because they believe that the prophecies in the Book of Revelations have been recorded in chronological order, and that the Greek word "seismos" is describing turmoil within the bounded areas of the earth, whether the whole or a part, rather than an “earthquake” which is how the scholars charged with the English translations have deemed it’s meaning.
If the "Churches" cannot agree on the fundamentals of God's Salvation Plan for all of mankind, what relevance does it have for those on the outside looking in.
Shalom
Wade, Great article!!
Check your links. The ones I checked took me to blogger.com
Carl
Tom,
I’m probably one of those “many Christians” you’re referring to on many points.
I think you, being a Jew makes, you believe you’re different than Christians that are not Jews.
Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Rex Ray you can assume any conspiracy theory that you like to believe, concerning my cultural heritage.
I on the other hand would not admit "that I was possibly one of those "many Christians" you are referring to on many points."
I was not deliberately making any reference to you personally, but I am not surprised that you have responded by put down my "character" by posting that I am, in your mind/understanding, a Jew, without proof to back up your published lie, in the comment above.
Rex, I have no problems with you having the understanding of the Scriptures that you hold, because of the era that you have lived through. I too have lived through much of the same era as you, but I have been able to keep an open mind on how the Hebrew and Greek source texts should be paraphrased differently from how the scholars have paraphrased the source texts, which bears little resemblance to the contextual message that is found in the source language texts.
Let me give you an example. Ezekiel 34:13 seems to suggest that God will bring the Israelites back to the land of Canaan, but i would suggest that this verse can be paraphrased very differently which tells another story to the one which we both learned in past years.
This is how the NKJV paraphrases the Hebrew Text: -
“And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country.”
And this is how I would paraphrase the same Hebrew text
“And I will find them among the peoples and gather them to myself in those countries, and will bring them into their own fertile soil; I will feed/teach them on the religion of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the earth where I find them.”
My paraphrase gives a different understanding of what God intends to do in our near future when He will redeem all of Israel, that is Israel and that He intends them to remain in the countries where they have been scattered.
If we have confusion among us “Christians” concerning God’s future Salvation for the Nations of the Earth, then why would the people listen to our squabbles.
Shalom
Carl,
Thank you, I will!
"Francis Bacon says a strong motivating factor for human beings living contrary to the truth by outright contravening a direct command of the Creator, is because human beings in general believe that God's truth constricts their freedoms."
That is so true. Heard a pastor mention in his sermon recently, "How could anyone walk away from the treasure of eternal life offered by the redemptive act of Christ's crucifixion?" That is confounding until you consider the truth of the Francis Bacon statement. All of us seem to be bent on controlling our own lives although the consequences always result in disappointment and brokenness.
All other religions offer redemption through the obedient performance of "acts" of righteousness as defined by the parameters of their teachings. The individual maintains control of what they will do or not do. They sense that they continue to be in control. Christ, on the other hand, said, "You've got to give up control to me." We've seen so many walk away because they refused to surrender, not realize that in doing so they are actually submitting control to Lord Satan and his schemes.
Tom, seems that you are contradicting yourself in proposing that you have the answers in contrast to all of us others who hold to views like the Promised Land being eternal, or at least, lasting through the Millennium. Seems like you might be caught up in your own "Christian conspiracy theory". Although, I don't know that I would refer to it as being "Christian conspiracy theories" but rather it being an individual's conclusion based upon their own research and conclusions based upon Biblical clues that may not offer specific, clear, answers.
You mention, "The different Bible Prophecies theories means that we have lost sight of God working in this world."
Not necessarily. God maintains a "mystery" perspective regarding many details of His plans. He sometimes even "blinds" those searching for the truth to accommodate His own purpose and timing of the unfolding of His providential plan or sometimes to escalate the glory due Him.
God gives us clues and gems of truth but often does not unveil the entirety of His intentions by keeping it cloaked in symbolism and various options of how it may actually unfold. As the angel (? "man in linen") explained to Daniel in 12:8 when Daniel said, "And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, 'O my Lord, what [shall be] the end of these [things]?' And he said, 'Go thy way, Daniel: for the words [are] closed up and sealed till the time of the end.'"
Things like whether believers will be present in The Great Tribulation, will King Jesus establish His global reign on earth simultaneously with the Rapture, will this planet be vaporized following the Millennium or just razed to its surface by fire and a New Kingdom built upon the existing planet, are cloaked in mystery. Yet obviously, our Father gives us enough information to suggest that He wants us to wrestle with the various scenarios, study His Word, pray, and seek the conclusion that best provides us the peace and confidence that we are on the right path to His truth.
So you see, some truths are not yet revealed no matter how we strive to discern it. I suspect anyone's credibility on such cloaked matters when they say they have been given the "correct" truth in contrast to others who are earnest scholars and Godly followers holding different conclusions and thus considered to be "wrong".
Tom,
You said, “The Hebrew and Greek source texts should be paraphrased differently from how the scholars have paraphrased the source texts, which bears little resemblance to the contextual message that is found in the source language texts.”
Do you know what the word PARAPHASE means?
Dictionary: “Paraphrase is using different words to achieve greater clarity.”
Tom, that means the Bible is not paraphrased.
You mentioned the NKJV of Ezekiel 34:13: “…I will feed them on the mountains of Israel…”
You said, “I would paraphrase the same Hebrew Text: “…I will feed/teach them on the religion of Israel…”
Your words make me wonder if you think Israel doesn’t need to abide by John 3:16.
I have always seen something of great value in Christ's words found in the beautiful chapter 11 of the Matthean Gospel of Our Lord, these:
25 . . . . " I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight.
27 All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.
28 Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
is it possible that the very young and unlearned who are capable of awe and wonder about the world around them can find more of 'truth' in the humility of their young hearts which have not yet been overwhelmed by pride and ego?
can we learn something from this chapter of the Holy Gospel of St. Matthew that helps us understand that 'truth' can only be had completely in that place where the absence of the sin of pride has allowed room in a person's soul for the Holy Spirit of God to come and dwell, and that this offers 'peace' to the person's soul?
'Humility' is not something very popular in the theological world, as is today, no. But I don't think it is much understood as necessary . . . a pre-requisite that allows grace to enter ?
There is another verse, this time from St. Paul found in 2 Cor. 11:31
that helps to explain the need for humility before the Lord, this:
"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."
If humility is the door through which grace comes into a person's life, then the words of Christ "learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart" may offer our best chance as human persons to come to know 'The Truth'. Even the Holy Spirit points always to Christ.
'Humility' is a word taken from 'humus' the soil, the earth from which God formed Adam and breathed into him the breath of life. To come down to who we are in the Presence of the One who gives life, that is our greatest chance of understanding 'truth'. Like the words of the poet, G.K. Chesterton:
"After one moment when I bowed my head
And the whole world turned over and came upright,
And I came out where the old road shone white.
I walked the ways and heard what all men said,
Forests of tongues, like autumn leaves unshed,
Being not unlovable but strange and light;
Old riddles and new creeds, not in despite
But softly, as men smile about the dead
The sages have a hundred maps to give
That trace their crawling cosmos like a tree,
They rattle reason out through many a sieve
That stores the sand and lets the gold go free:
And all these things are less than dust to me
Because my name is Lazarus and I live."
There is some wisdom in acknowledging our dependency on Christ as 'The Revealer of God'.
'si comprehendus, non est Deus'
this advice was written by Augustine whose own massive attempts to comprehend that which is beyond all understanding is legendary
as the Eastern Christians say: 'let us attend' :)
CHRISTIANE,
Well, old friend, I don’t know what translation your Scripture references came from because I couldn’t find them in mine. Besides that, what’s your comment about? Does it have anything to do with what Tom has said?
Hey REX RAY,
well, let's see
I usually use 'biblehub' as a reference when looking up a Scripture and then pick from there, soooooo . . . .
This one is from KJV:
"25 . . . . " I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight.
27 All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.
28 Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." (from St. Matthew chapter 11)
and THIS ONE is from biblehub page for 2 Cor. 11:3 (OOPS, YOU ARE RIGHT, I GAVE THE WRONG VERSE IN MY FIRST COMMENT AS 11:31) My bad. Thanks for catching that REX RAY :
""But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."
(the correct reference is 2 Corinthians 11:3, thanks to REX RAY) :)
As to what it's about, I seem to have failed in my mission of trying to explain our need to for humility before God in order to comprehend Jesus Christ as the Giver of Life, and the Revealer of God, and 'The Truth'.
So I'll try music instead, that our best vision of 'truth' IS CHRIST,
this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihJAJA4ibEs&list=RDihJAJA4ibEs&start_radio=1&t=18&t=18
Hey REX RAY,
my comment did not refer at all to Tom's comment
because I come from a different background, I can't understand enough about Tom's comment to do it justice,
what do you think about his comment(s)?
Actually, I thought dialogue between Tom and Mr. Kuter had to do with 'endtimes' talk which is Greek to me. If I could speak about the future of 'the Church', it might be more along these lines:
"“The future of the church is in cages with children. The future of the church is profiled and choked and left dead on the street. The future of the church is hiding under a desk and in a nightclub bathroom as bullets fly. The future of the church is with a Black, transgender woman mocked and shot in the heart. The future of the church is in the belly of a whale stuffed with plastic garbage and lying lifeless like the body of a dead migrant child washed up on the shores of the Rio Grande. If the church is not in these places of crucifixion, the church is not with Jesus, and if the church is not with Jesus, we are lost and have no future”" (Author: Heidi Neumark)
so I'm not able to get on the same wave-length as 'end times' when I think the Church has a mission still and yet has a ways to go in this broken world to bring Christ's healing. But I did read the comments, yes. Just didn't understand.
Rex,
You wrote
“Tom,
You said, “The Hebrew and Greek source texts should be paraphrased differently from how the scholars have paraphrased the source texts, which bears little resemblance to the contextual message that is found in the source language texts.”
Do you know what the word PARAPHASE means?
Dictionary: “Paraphrase is using different words to achieve greater clarity.”
Tom, that means the Bible is not paraphrased.”
Now if what you have written is true, then why are you not reading the “Bible” in the original language? Our English translated Bibles are all an English paraphrase but the question that I am still pondering is: - “Have the translators conveyed the same message content as is found in the source texts from which the translations have been derived?” I would suggest to you that their paraphrase of the Hebrew text in this one verse example does not convey the same message content.
You then went on to write the following: -
“You mentioned the NKJV of Ezekiel 34:13: “…I will feed them on the mountains of Israel…”
You said, “I would paraphrase the same Hebrew Text: “…I will feed/teach them on the religion of Israel…”
Your words make me wonder if you think Israel doesn’t need to abide by John 3:16.
Rex, it seems to me that you do not know who Israel is in this Ezekiel verse.
Did not Jesus say, “that on this rock I will build my Church?” In Daniel 2 does it not say:
Dan 2:34-35, 44: - 34 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image . . . . the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. . . . 44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which . . . shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
Is not John 3:16 a small sliver of the foundational stone/rock that will come down out of heaven in our near future when God will establish His permanent kingdom here on the earth?
Is not the name, “Israel,” interchangeable with the name, “Christ” within the scriptures?
Do the traditional English translations miss the metaphorical imagery of the previously referenced verse?
Rex, this question is for you to ponder on to see if it is true.
As of yet, I have not resolved all of the questions that I have concerning the Traditional translators’ English paraphrasing of the source Hebrew and Greek texts. The forced traditions of the translators make it difficult to find all the answers.
Shalom
While I'm in agreement that we should try to arrive at the meaning of any given scripture and/or passage, from my studies I have learned that there are several aspects to consider.
We need to recognize hyperbole, metaphors, irony, similes, etc. as well as taking the scripture in context and considering to whom the passage was directed.
Also, I have discovered that there are a total of 2,163 versions of the Bible and a total of 1,477 languages. You can find that information here:
https://www.bible.com/versions
If that's true, there's bound to be some differences in how any given passage is understood but hopefully interaction between believers will result in the overall truth that's conveyed.
Tom,
You said: “Is not “Israel”, interchangeable with the name, “Christ” within the scriptures?
The Bible answers that question:
“He [Jesus] came to his own people, and even they rejected him…” (John 1:11 NLT)
“Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.” (Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34 NLT)
Tom, it was the leaders of Israel that put Jesus on a cross.
You asked: “Is not John 3:16 a small sliver of the foundational stone/rock that will come down our of heaven in our near future when God will establish His permanent kingdom here on the earth?”
CHRISTIANE, you asked what I thought about Tom’s comments.
I believe his knowledge of Scripture is just enough to be dangerous.
Rex
You are right, Christianity is dangerous, we can all lose our lives because of our beliefs. However, we have not shared fully our respective understanding and knowledge of the scriptures via this blog comment section, for you to be able to make the blanket statement about my knowledge of the scriptures. I also share the same concerns about you based on the limited information that you have shared in this blog comment section over the time that I have been a reader.
Sadly, the reformation fathers, treated the Jewish community just as badly as the Catholic Church. They hunted them down and chased them out of their towns and brought false charges against them. They even killed them on a whim because the Jews were responsible for nailing Jesus to the cross. But I have heard stirring sermons on the topic that because of my sins, I too helped to nail Christ to the cross. I was told that I was no better than the Jewish population of Jesus' day.
Now, perhaps I was being a little rash when I said that Israel's and Jesus,/Christ's names where interchangeable as this is not always the case in the scriptures, however it is true that the Scripture occasionally refers to Christ as Israel. In the Ezekiel 34:13 verse, the translation of “In the land of Israel” is not a good, word for word, translation, where the Root word that the translators have translated as the word “land” has the meaning of “soil,” and if we remember the parable of the Sower, there comes a time in the parable where the seed is scattered onto fertile soil, where it can take root in and grow and produce heavy heads of seed, 30, 50 and even 100 fold. An interesting concept is that the Sower, i.e. Christ/God, has caused the scattering of the Jews among nations to be the nourishment for the people of the nations to lead/show, them the pathway to Zion.
Previously I had suggested that the Rock/Stone that comes down from heaven becomes the highest mountain in all of the world, where the word “mountain” is a metaphor for the word, “religion” and God has undertaken to teach the redeemed descendants of Abraham on the “religion” of “Israel,” i.e. Christ.
When Israel is redeemed, God will make like new again the same covenant of a Kingdom of Priests, a Holy Nation and His Possession among the Nations that He had previously make at Mt Sinai, but which the nation also rejected at that time.
Jesus also told the people around Him on the way up to Jerusalem the timing of when the nation of Israel will begin seeking the Lord. He told the crowd that the leaders of the nation will send a delegation after Satan to say that the People of Israel no longer wants Satan to be a king over them, when Satan Goes away for a time into the Bottomless Pit, claim that he was going away to get a kingdom. In another Parable, He also told the people that the attempted rebuilding of the temple will be the final trigger for the nations to laugh at and make fun of the Nation of Israel and to come up against the city one last time to trample the area of God’s sanctuary and God’s earthly Hosts, i.e. Israel.
Rex, this is what God is presently allowing to happen so that the Nations can be judged in our near future for their wickedness towards the sanctuary and the Hosts, to earmark them for their future punishment.
Rex, when this happens there will be great turmoil in the whole earth and being one of God’s Saints will be dangerous for us, both physically and Spiritually. You can believe what I have posted is either “True” or “False,” that decision is only yours to make for you personally, just as it will be for every other person on the earth.
What I am suggesting is going to happen. It is either true or false and only time will verify that. However I have witnessed the signs as have other people and I understand that the above will happen in our near future, within the next 30 or so years as the nations are presently being draw to go up against Jerusalem.
May God’s people know His peace and be secure in their relationship with Him.
Shalom
Tom,
Correct me if I’m wrong in believing you are a Jew.
That is show over and over by your statements. The last one is about the parable of the Sower in your saying: “Christ/God has caused the scattering of the Jews among nations to be the nourishment for the people of the nations to lead/show, them the pathway to Zion.”
“A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered in across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it. Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants. Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as he had planted!” (Luke 8:5-8 NLT)
Years ago, this parable was explained to me in a different way that applies to us today. The seed is the word of God. The soil is our minds. When God’s word is expressed, but we’re thinking about other things, or don’t believe it, we become bad soil at that time.
Jesus ended his parable: “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
Tom, do your ears understand Jesus was NOT talking about “Christ/God has caused the scattering of the Jews among nations to be the nourishment for the people…”
Rex,
And from your comment I perceive that you are somewhat anti Jewish, which has been the "Church's" teaching for many years.
As for having understanding of the Parable of the Sower, as you say, you are repeating what you have been taught, which tells me that you have accepted what you have been taught without checking out the validity of the merchandise being sold to you.
That is why the Church for many people has become irrelevant in todays world.
In the Parable of the Manis and Talents, my reverend uncle taught that the man who goes away was Christ, instead of Satan and we had to be Good servants like in these two parable and bring in much more cash for our master for when "He" returns, but I ask you, "What need has Christ got to have servants to be oppressing the people by robing them of their hard earned cash?" I have heard it taught in many churches this untruth.
If we are worthy to be called Christ's disciples, then we should be lifting the burdens from off of the people around us and not adding our imposed burden onto them. We are to feed the widows and the orphans good food to nourish them, not stave them of God's truth. We are to cloth them when they are naked before us such that they have coverings to protect them from the cold hearts of others.
What do I see of the church today? They rely on handouts from the secular governments to pay them to house, feed and clothe the poor in their midst, in line with the changing policies of the respective political party in government to not feed them spiritually at all.
Rex which one of the three reasons in Wade’s blog, have you not done? What hardship have you had to endure for Christ? What haughty wickedness have you not displayed up to this present time during your lifetime? What truth have you not contravened in your own strength?
Pointing the finger at others is easy to do, but it leaves us exposed to being judged more harshly in the long run.
Forcing people to do things your way when you do not know any better is not good for the people and yourself, it is like the blind leading the blind.
I wonder why God said that He would train up the remanent of Israel to become His Kingdom of Priest, His Holy Nation and His Possession among the nations where He finds them scattered among the Nations during the Millennium Age?
Why is it that the Church believes that all the Israelites should occupy the Land of Canaan at this present time? Is it for the benefit of the Israelites, or for the Church and possibly even God?
Rex we all have so much more to learn as we renew our minds to be perfected into the image of Christ.
Shalom
PS: - Why is it that I read and hear that many “Christians” believe that they will not be around during the Millennium Age “tribulations” because they will be raptured away to be out of harm’s way. This witness is powerful with respect to the condition of their respective hearts and their desire to be God’s witnesses here on the earth during the times when they are most needed.
Tom,
You said, “…you are somewhat anti-Jewish, which has been the “Church’s” teaching for many years.”
WHAT! DO YOU HAVE A CHIP ON YOUR SHOULDER? I’ve never heard the “Church” teach that in my life, and I’ve been to Israel five times.
Jesus died for the Jews and the whole world.
Why do you bring up the Parable of the Sower again? Do you believe that parable ensures Jews (you) are going to heaven?
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NLT)
Tom, if you have believed in Jesus, I’ll meet you in heaven someday. I’ll probably get their first since I’m 88.
Rex,
While ever you keep claiming that I am a Jew, you become irrelevant to interact with, since I am not Jewish.
Rex you may want to save people, but your method of wanting me to jump through your hoop(s) is not helping in the slightest.
You are questioning my understanding of God's Truth, and stating that my understanding "is dangerous," and as such we therefore have no shared understanding of what is God's truth and that this can only lead to a degenerating conversation which is what is also happening in the world at present where there are differing POV. Look at how many independent churches there are, worldwide, which all hold to and expanding breath of theological miss understandings
The basis of Wade's blog is that people need to have a shared understanding as to what is the truth of the matter, for them to interact peacefully with each other.
I may seem like a pup to you because of the years between our respective ages, but that is also a blessing because it forces us both to consider the other person's point of view and for us to inquire where we are unclear as to what is being said.
Have you considered that if I am causing you to react because of the way I may express my POV, that perhaps you should take the time to understand why you are reacting to what I have said and whether or not you should consider re-evaluating what I have been saying.
Shalom
Tom,
So you’re not Jewish. I thought you were because:
1.You say goodbye with the Jewish “Shalom”.
2. You implied the parable of the Sower was the Jews would be scattered among nations to lead/show them the pathway to Zion.
3. You didn’t know what John 3:16 means by saying: “Is not John 3:16 a small sliver of the foundational stone/rock that will come down out of heaven in our near future when God will establish His permanent kingdom here on the earth?”
Tom, the only “hoop” I wand you to jump through is John 3:16.
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