Featured Are You A Pharisee?

I'm more than happy and grateful to submit to correction from those in my church or mature Christians I know. Unfortunately, though, online, "correction" usually means, "I don't like what you said and I think you should agree with me".

 

Where do these central points you are attempting to make come from?

 

Totally dysfunctional operating system.

Control , control & more control.....
Lindsey Graham.....Dont do it again TED!

After practicing that for a few years the RINO, A Pharisee, A Alcoholic, A VP of Sales etc., doesnt know any other way to live do they..... the dysfunction becomes so manifest. "This is how its going to be & nothing new is going to happen."

The conservative personality usually wants to shame & blame somebody & the liberal says no one should ever be blamed (except perhaps the conservatives!)

This is DYSFUNCTIONAL BEHAVIOR & it invades many who walk the face of the planet today.

And people become enslaved to this behavior & they feed off the emotionalism of others who in time become codependents. Ive seen this happen among Pastors, Fathers & Mothers, Alcoholics & Drug Addicts, Drug Pushers & Business Owners, Politicians...... anywhere the control factor takes over. Hopefully along the way the codependent makes a break with this unhealthy process..... but it really is the devils major way to mess up this earth. Sometimes I think he is succeeding.

 

From the 'Experiencing God' devotional (Oct 22) of course:

http://books.google.com/books?id=tH...”? When you do not have a teachable"&f=false

 

Shame on you for plagiarizing this info and even after being asked about its source you still acted like it was your work.

 

Thanks for pointing this out.

 

basically, a modern day pharisee aree ones thatwould hold their understand if theology and doctrines are ONLY correct ones, and that what we see as being preferences/convictions are hard truths to them!

 

Good point, but their problem was that they were 'too blind" to see that trait!

 

Oh The Blackaby family.... OK, got it! NEXT!

 

Wasnt Paul one though?

 

All Pharisees weren't pharisaical; consider Nicodemus and possibly Joseph of Arimathea.

 

Thats my point....we often use "Pharisee" as a pejorative when it should not be used.

 

I saw no plagiarism on your part. Heavens sakes, we have one on here who uses a Sproul quote in his signature, and no credit is given.

I can only speculate that we are to suppose he came up with it himself. :wavey:

 

yes...I agree.

 

Yep. The Pharisees were people who were very concerned about living righteously. We would do well to have their zeal. Some of Jesus' best disciples were formerly Pharisees.

What we are to avoid is the error of the Pharisees which was to think that the keeping of the Law was through effort. That failed immediately, so they took to practices and disciplines in order to keep the Law externally, apparently hoping that the change would occur internally as well. That is extremely common today. Most of us have gone through a Pharisee phase - if we aren't stuck in one right now!

Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees that they need to focus on keeping the Law internally, and that's a matter of leaning on God's grace, using both internal and external disciplines to break the habitual patterns of sin and refocus our hearts and minds on the ways of the Kingdom of God. We have to become a disciple of Jesus in order to experience transformation. We cannot do it on our own. We desperately need the empowering of the Spirit and the guidance of Jesus. Fortunately, if we make an effort in that direction, we will certainly get Divine assistance and will see the changes come into our lives, but internally and externally.