Luke 6:36-38
37 “[i]Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.[/i] 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
John 7:23-25
23 Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? 24 [i]Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.[/i]"
Proverbs 6:31-33
31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house. 32 But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself. 33 Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away;
[quote]stellar_horizon wrote:
With all the discussions on judging, I figured this would open a few eyes to the genuine Christian definition. The impression provided here by some members seems as if humans are prohibited from criticizing or condoning certain behaviors because judging anything for that matter is wrong. But this is a grave misconception.
2 Chronicles 19
1 When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem, 2 Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD ? Because of this, the wrath of the LORD is upon you. 3 There is, however, some good in you, for you have rid the land of the Asherah poles and have set your heart on seeking God.”
Jehoshaphat Appoints Judges
4 Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers. 5 He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah. 6 He told them, “[i]Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. 7 Now let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.[/i]”
8 In Jerusalem also, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites, priests and heads of Israelite families to administer the law of the LORD and to settle disputes. And they lived in Jerusalem. 9 He gave them these orders: "You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the LORD. 10 [i]In every case that comes before you from your fellow countrymen who live in the cities - whether bloodshed or other concerns of the law, commands, decrees or ordinances - you are to warn them not to sin against the LORD; otherwise his wrath will come on you and your brothers[/i]. Do this, and you will not sin.
11 “Amariah the chief priest will be over you in any matter concerning the LORD, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the tribe of Judah, will be over you in any matter concerning the king, and the Levites will serve as officials before you. Act with courage, and may the LORD be with those who do well.”
[/quote]
Wow, looks like he told them to follow the way of the Lord. Leaving them in ther autonomy and wisdom to determine what that was. Rather than giving specific instructions of what they should or should not be doing.
Matthew 5:21-22 21
"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
John 8:14-16
14 Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15 [i]You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me[/i].
Acts 15:19
19 "[i]It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.[/i]
Forlife, I am sure that you are in your kids’ lives. Just not married to their mother, right? Surely much healthier and better for them then the pretense and mockery of a marriage. That is my opinion. But MY opinion doesn’t matter. Neither does Zeb’s. I am not there. Neither is Zeb. What matters is that YOU are following your conscience and doing what you think is best for all given your situation. It is hardly like God has provided you a roadmap, instructing you to stay in a false and loveless marriage.
Romans 12:2-4
2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is?his good, pleasing and perfect will.
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,
1 Corinthians 2:14-16
14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 [i]The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:[/i]
16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Stellar,
We have people known as “judges” in todays society too. Perhaps you have heard of the judiciary?
I think the most salient one to the discussion was (excuse the paraphrasing):
How much condemnation and judging would you imagine was going on in this very thread with respect to gay behavior? Too much I’d guess.
1 Corinthians 5:2-4
2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? 3 Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. [i]And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.[/i] 4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,
[quote]Professor X wrote:
mazilla wrote:
this is not going ANYWHERE.
True. Goodnight everybody and happy weekend.[/quote]
WOW, do my eye’s decieve me. x agreed with me. wooohooo. my weekend just got a little better. i am gonna go eat now, thanks x. 
1 Corinthians 7:24-26
24 Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.
25 [i]Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.[/i] 26 Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are.
1 Corinthians 11:30-32
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
1 Peter 4:16
16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
Wow - I’ll try to backtrack and read all these neat posts when I have time, but it seems like we’ve traveled this ground before. The result was as follows:
The opponents of the gay lifestyle strung together effective arguments that showed how destructive and dangerous gay activity is. They won the debate.
The liberals and homosexuals got emotional, angry, verbally profane. They were unable to prove their point, and their frustration was evident. They lost the debate.
Along the way, lots of people pretended to know what the Bible says about homosexual behaviour, but it was obvious that these people had no idea what the Bible tells us. Many of these people claimed to be Christians, but they are about as close to Christianity as a Muslim or an athiest.
We should all ask ourselves this question - If something is dangerous, why to we fight so hard to justify it? The answer is usually that we want to justify our own actions or the actions of our friends & family. If we really cared about people, we would all have the courage to do what is right. It is a pity we are such a fallen country.
The book of hank 14:7
behold not the phallus of thy fellow man, unless thyself be of the house of lance, or stephen. hold not a hairy back in thine arms, nor a sword of reproduction in thy mouth. unless ye be known as faabulous. behold the largest of breast and thy fruits shall come. rest not upon the large pecs of thomas, but on the supple skin of a hot chick. go forth and spread the legs of women. in hanks name we pray. amen.
now let us drink from the holy can of brew.
p.s. lance and stephen were the gayest names i could think of at the time. in fact they are still the gayest names i can think of.
pps. i don’t hate gay people. they are usually very nice.not to be stereotypical.
[quote]vroom wrote:
How much condemnation and judging would you imagine was going on in this very thread with respect to gay behavior? Too much I’d guess.
[/quote]
If God told you not to eat beef, and you disobeyed His command and ate beef, then you went contrary to His command. Now, if you ate beef because you were on the verge of starvation that’s one thing, but if you ate beef because you were tempted by a juicy hamburger that’s another. God alone can judge the cicumstances by which you disobeyed His command.
This is a light example but take murder or killing another human being for instance. If someone kills as a soldier in battle who must fulfill duties to their country or by accident (car crash) versus killing because they wanted to or because they needed pocket change, that’s a totally different ball game. Ultimately, God will judge everyone for their actions. In essence, how hard did everyone try to remain pure and abstain from sin?
If someone wants to have unlimited sex because they’re unmarried and see that as an excuse to sin, they’re fooling themselves. Jesus Christ, Saint Paul, and the Apostles clearly warn people against sinning. If a man sins against God’s commandments, he needs to judge himself and work out a plan to not fall into the same sin(s) again. There are things that are wrong and there are things that are right according to God’s standards. Some people here seem to be putting up a smoke screen about this truth though.
I can’t condemn anyone, as I know what the true meaning of judgment is, but at the same time, I condemn certain acts because I know that God has specified that they are contrary to His commands. I can’t judge anyone in this sense, but I can tell them, Hey dude, you’re living contrary to God’s moral code. That’s not hate, that’s not judging. People here have this concept wildly confused.
[quote]terribleivan wrote:
Wow - I’ll try to backtrack and read all these neat posts when I have time, but it seems like we’ve traveled this ground before. The result was as follows:
The opponents of the gay lifestyle strung together effective arguments that showed how destructive and dangerous gay activity is. They won the debate.
The liberals and homosexuals got emotional, angry, verbally profane. They were unable to prove their point, and their frustration was evident. They lost the debate.
Along the way, lots of people pretended to know what the Bible says about homosexual behaviour, but it was obvious that these people had no idea what the Bible tells us. Many of these people claimed to be Christians, but they are about as close to Christianity as a Muslim or an athiest.
We should all ask ourselves this question - If something is dangerous, why to we fight so hard to justify it? The answer is usually that we want to justify our own actions or the actions of our friends & family. If we really cared about people, we would all have the courage to do what is right. It is a pity we are such a fallen country.
[/quote]
Interesting synopsis of the events…