posted August 12, 2012 06:52 PM            

http://www.amazon.com/The-Second-Coming-Christ-Resurrection/dp/0876125577/ref=pd_ bxgy_b_img_b

In this unprecedented masterwork of inspiration, Paramahansa Yogananda takes the reader on a profoundly enriching journey through the four Gospels. Verse by verse, he illumines the universal path to oneness with God taught by Jesus to his immediate disciples but obscured through centuries of misinterpretation: "how to become like Christ, how to resurrect the Eternal Christ within one's self".
This landmark work transcends divisive sectarianism to reveal a unifying harmony underlying all true religions. A groundbreaking synthesis of East and West, it imparts the life-transforming realization that each of us can experience for ourselves the promised Second Coming - awakening of the all-fulfilling Divine Consciousness latent within our souls.

posted August 12, 2012 07:25 PM            

@ami
i do not believe jews believe in the holy trinity. that is one of the ESSENTIAL differences with christianity.

you can call yourself a scholar if you like, but you will have to PROVE that one before i believe it.

posted August 12, 2012 07:27 PM            

Yes, the Bible is open to all who call on God. Seek and ye shall find.

Well, Paul's agenda may have been applicable to that day but his words are Scripture and always will stand. The Promises of God can never be broken or the sky would fall as the molecules of the Universe are held together by God's promises. This is in Psalms.

God will never be done with Israel( the Jews) as He made promises to them( us). There are a multitude of promises to Israel that were not abrogated by Jesus' coming.

He came to fufill the Law. Many churches have Replacement Theology, which you most likely have. It says God is done with Israel and the Church is the New Israel.

This is a false doctrine and goes against the whole fabric of the Bible.

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posted August 12, 2012 07:30 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by katatonic:
thanks t, i love his understandings...funny how an indian holy man is closer to christ's teachings than many christians.

i do not believe jews believe in the holy trinity. that is one of the ESSENTIAL differences with christianity.

you can call yourself a scholar if you like, but you will have to PROVE that one before i believe it.

i think probably juni is closer to the truth, this was altered to make the bible more closely fit the needs of the nicene council.

---

Jews that do not have Jesus do not believe in the Trinity but it is there in the OT. The Jewish people's eyes are blinded in this Age of Grace. They are blinded as a nation. That Romans passage says that. HOWEVER, every individual Jew can call on Jesus, as I did. However, there is a national blindness.

There is a remnant of believing Jews. That is what Ezekial's Dry Bones is about. It is the Jews coming to belief in Jesus.

The present age is the Age of Grace. The Gentiles will come in to salvation, now. After this age, God will turn his attention back to the Jews and ALL Israel will be saved.

God never gave up on the Jews. There is a partial blindness in this Age of Grace. The Jews cannot see Jesus, as a nation

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posted August 12, 2012 07:36 PM            

Pauls "agenda" is what created the doctrine so it matters very much

Never heard of replacement theology.

posted August 12, 2012 07:40 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by juniperb:
Then you are a follower of the Pauline Doctrine?

Pauls "agenda" is what created the doctrine so it matters very much

Never heard of replacement theology.

---

I believe all Scripture. Yes.
Replacement Theology is God is done with Israel. The Jews had their chance and they blew it. God is done with them. The new Israel is the Church.

This can never happen as all God's promises stand for all time.

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posted August 12, 2012 07:40 PM            

the OT and NT have been assimilated by the CHURCH. in other words, the powers that were went back into it and rearranged much to make it look like the catholic church was the CHOSEN religion, or as they called it in the heyday, the ONE TRUE RELIGION.

i have no patience for establishing FAVOURITISM UNDER GOD. we are all part of god. give me yogananda anyday over the self-righteous, separative pious peters.

posted August 12, 2012 07:45 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by katatonic:
if you are talking to me you are far off base. my connection to god is personal, not laid down by scholars. and i don't call hair-splitting scholarship either.

the OT and NT have been assimilated by the CHURCH. in other words, the powers that were went back into it and rearranged much to make it look like the catholic church was the CHOSEN religion, or as they called it in the heyday, the ONE TRUE RELIGION.

i have no patience for establishing FAVOURITISM UNDER GOD. we are all part of god. give me yogananda anyday over the self-righteous, separative pious peters.

---

Well, if you want to talk the Bible, that is one thing. If you want to talk yoga, that is another.

I only talk the pure Bible. I don't deal in yoga etc

The Jews are God's Chosen People. He can do what He wants and He chose Abrahm, a Gentile, and made him a Jew. However, it is not that swift to be chosen, so you should think of that before you get jealous

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posted August 12, 2012 07:47 PM            

It is much easier not to be a Jew, quite frankly.

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posted August 12, 2012 07:56 PM            

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posted August 12, 2012 07:57 PM            

as i mentioned, i am half jewish. the other half catholic. i know where i come from, and i know why BOTH my parents LEFT organized religion. i have studied both these religions and others for myself. but the cultural imprint was still in both of them and their relatives still adhered to their faiths, so i have a lifelong exposure to both.

i have also witnessed firsthand the weapon of ostracization used by holier-than-thou strict religionists on both sides.

whatever your religion, it is the love in your heart that makes the difference, not which book you read or what language it is written in.

i don't need to belong to a club to feel superior. so, don't worry, no danger of jealousy here!

posted August 12, 2012 08:01 PM            

the title of this thread is

GOD IS LOVE

yogananda understood that firsthand...

the title of this thread is NOT

THE BIBLE IS GOD
GOD IS THE BIBLE
THERE IS ONLY ONE PATH TO GOD

am i correct?

posted August 12, 2012 08:08 PM            

The only book which is Divine, to me, is the Bible.

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posted August 12, 2012 08:14 PM            

GOD IS LOVE

the title of this thread is NOT

THE BIBLE IS GOD
GOD IS THE BIBLE
THERE IS ONLY ONE PATH TO GOD

am i correct?

posted August 12, 2012 08:32 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by katatonic:
sorry but i find your definition of divine extremely narrow.

---

Yes, the road to everlasting life is narrow. Few shall find it. The road to destruction is broad. Many will find it.
It is how it is. I don;t want it to be the case, but the Bible is true and accurate, always.

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posted August 12, 2012 11:30 PM            

the whole point of jesus' teaching IMO was that the path is NOT narrow, and ANYONE can walk it. love and faith, not superstitious rituals, pave the way.

i realize that a lot of prayer and ritual do help one get into the state of consciousness that makes it easier to commune with god. however most of the jewish food laws were more about staying healthy in a climate prone to spoiling food, and little to do with pleasing some "jealous god". what is loving about jealousy? why is god depicted as an egomaniac?

i agree with the title of this thread. nuff said. one needs to be able to see through appearances, yes. the rest is all method.

posted August 13, 2012 12:32 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by katatonic:
the title of this thread is

GOD IS LOVE

the title of this thread is NOT

THE BIBLE IS GOD
GOD IS THE BIBLE
THERE IS ONLY ONE PATH TO GOD

am i correct?

---

Yes, I find the thread title very misleading ... but then again, from the OP's pov the title can ONLY refer to the Born Again Biblical interp of what the title could mean ...

So altogether not surprising.

I find that the attempt to define God's Love through Born Again beliefs (espoused in this thread) is very, very restrictive and limiting.

The road to communing with God for the purpose of building greater intimacy with Him can only be considered narrow for example when one considers that a certain spiritual discipline (regardless of religion) should to be followed in order to consistently try and "stay on the right track."

But the fact remains that the number of "roads" leading to an understanding of God's Love are many. Meaning there are many different ways to reach God.

I find that ultimately all religions are merely basic tools to be used to increase our understanding of God. By that I mean that religion provides a basic framework of understanding spiritual principles, etc.

But, as with any subject, one needs to, at some point, move beyond the books, scriptures, and the framework if one hopes to acquire a deeper insight into Truth.

This essentially involves personal experiences of a very individual and personal journey ... a journey and experience that can be as singularly unique as the seeker himself.

So it is completely pointless to use a cookie-cutter approach to define every seeker's path by saying that there's only "one" way.

posted August 13, 2012 02:06 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by katatonic:
as jesus said, if your faith is the size of a mustard seed;

the whole point of jesus' teaching IMO was that the path is NOT narrow, and ANYONE can walk it. love and faith, not superstitious rituals, pave the way.

i realize that a lot of prayer and ritual do help one get into the state of consciousness that makes it easier to commune with god. however most of the jewish food laws were more about staying healthy in a climate prone to spoiling food, and little to do with pleasing some "jealous god". what is loving about jealousy? why is god depicted as an egomaniac?

i agree with the title of this thread. nuff said. one needs to be able to see through appearances, yes. the rest is all method.

all this is not to quarrel with your faith. but to address human blindness as regards god and individual religions...

---

You are taking the mustard seed verse out of context. That is what you are doing, Kat. You do not see the whole context of the Bible, where nothing contradicts itself, EVER.
The mustard seed refers to people who are already saved and have the Holy Spirit inside them.
God gives people faith. Everything is a gift of God, even the faith to believe in Him, even the faith to get saved in the first place.
So, after you are saved and you want to access one of God's Promises, you just need a mustard seed of faith to do so.

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posted August 13, 2012 02:25 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by katatonic:
as jesus said, if your faith is the size of a mustard seed;

the whole point of jesus' teaching IMO was that the path is NOT narrow, and ANYONE can walk it. love and faith, not superstitious rituals, pave the way.

i realize that a lot of prayer and ritual do help one get into the state of consciousness that makes it easier to commune with god. however most of the jewish food laws were more about staying healthy in a climate prone to spoiling food, and little to do with pleasing some "jealous god". what is loving about jealousy? why is god depicted as an egomaniac?

i agree with the title of this thread. nuff said. one needs to be able to see through appearances, yes. the rest is all method.

all this is not to quarrel with your faith. but to address human blindness as regards god and individual religions...

---

Again, you are taking the "road is narrow" out of context.

Jesus said the road to everlastng life is narrow i.e few would do it Gods Way which is to accept Jesus. The road to destruction i.e Hell as one needs Jesus' salvation to avoid Hell, is broad.

One can see that very few people are Born Again. Hence, this statement is true.

When I hear people's comments on here, very few people know the Bible in context. It is a rather simple to understand book when one gets to the major themes which do not change from the first word to the last.

The Bible was meant to be understood by the average man, not the scholar. However, it is like Astrology in that it does take study. Many people are too lazy to study anything.

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posted August 13, 2012 07:42 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by juniperb:
I agree. A threads title has a way of meandering over time but....

yes, the title and opening statement is precisely a "specific" Christian view and paves the way for questioning and presentation of opposing views.

make sense ?

---

I'm just really annoyed by bickering want that to stop. I would prefer that people be civil and stick to the topics, rather than talk about things that happened on other forums and make not-so-nice comments to each other.

This isn't GU. I don't want it to be GU. GU, tons of disrespect, hate, mud-slinging, very highly unpleasant forum where people have no manners or respect and follow no rules of etiquette, and only one point of view is really allowed: people who dissent get attacked viciously and there's just so much tension and bad air. I don't want that tone here. That kind of tone honestly disgusts me and makes me very uncomfortable.

I prefer civilized, decent, and proper ways of expressing disagreement.

"Diversities", to me, is meant to be welcoming. I'd rather have a "safe place" feel to this sub-forum than a free-for-all warzone feel like GU has. Probably my least-favorite forum in all of LL is GU.

I just want people to get along and be respectful. They don't have to like each other, but just stop with the tension and bad air.

Maybe it's just me being a typical Libra, but I want disagreements to be peaceful and amicable, not like GU.

Then again, I'm outnumbered, so it doesn't really matter.

posted August 13, 2012 07:46 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Linda Jones:
Yes, I find the thread title very misleading ... but then again, from the OP's pov the title can ONLY refer to the Born Again Biblical interp of what the title could mean ...

So altogether not surprising.

I find that the attempt to define God's Love through Born Again beliefs (espoused in this thread) is very, very restrictive and limiting.

The road to communing with God for the purpose of building greater intimacy with Him can only be considered narrow for example when one considers that a certain spiritual discipline (regardless of religion) should to be followed in order to consistently try and "stay on the right track."

But the fact remains that the number of "roads" leading to an understanding of God's Love are many. Meaning there are many different ways to reach God.

I find that ultimately all religions are merely basic tools to be used to increase our understanding of God. By that I mean that religion provides a basic framework of understanding spiritual principles, etc.

But, as with any subject, one needs to, at some point, move beyond the books, scriptures, and the framework if one hopes to acquire a deeper insight into Truth.

This essentially involves personal experiences of a very individual and personal journey ... a journey and experience that can be as singularly unique as the seeker himself.

So it is completely pointless to use a cookie-cutter approach to define every seeker's path by saying that there's only "one" way.

---

I agree with you so much.

I don't want to be rude or offensive, so that's all that I will say. Suffice to say that it frustrates me when any one group claims to have authority on a religion.

posted August 13, 2012 08:03 AM            

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posted August 13, 2012 08:20 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ami Anne:
RP
Every Mod has to learn when to "hold em and when to fold em". Being a Mod will help you, immensely, in life. You will screw up and you will do things well. If you are like me, you will screw up a lot and little by little, get more of a sense of when you should jump in and when you should walk away.
Randall is always there to help. He allows people to grow. That is why being a Mod is a tremendous opportunity. You can work out your own personality in the context of a community. You can learn when to sing your own song, when to let others sing theirs and when to shut up

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Well, I'm afraid of having that opportunity taken away from me if I'm seen as not doing my job. I'm afraid of not being seen as doing a good enough job.

It honestly depresses me when people bicker and fight because even when I strongly disagree with people's views, there are other things that I like about those people in most cases. I've often wished that they could just see the good each other and, while not ignore the bad, not focus on it.

Maybe it's partly due to me being a sensitive Cancer moon (plus four other water placements). I am sensitive and feel things intensely.

It is hard for me to know when to say something and when to let things go. On the one hand, I want to allow discussion and exchanges of ideas. I want to be as permissive as possible without going overboard and having a free-for-all. On other hand, though, I don't want things to go too far or for people to get nasty. I don't want to be a policewoman, but, at the same time, I also want a warm, inviting feel to this space. I want to have balance and harmony (there I go being a Libra again). Rules of etiquette help a lot, to me, in creating a safe space. Having a few limits and boundaries gives everyone the freedom to speak safely and comfortably. However, where to set them? That's where it is more complicated.

I also think that different mods have different ideas about where to draw the line, and that too adds to the complications.