Food for Thought

[Okcbornandbred]

Hey OkcTalk members. I was catching up with some old threads and was very disturbed to see many people using the Bible and its verses as fuel to the fires in their debates with other members. I will not go into arguments or debates about the issue, but I will just leave you with some verses that might make you want to take some time to evaluate yourself and the way you live your life before you use verse to prove yourselves “right”. Take time to read all the scripture and use it in your life instead of trying to “fix” others with it. We must all remember we are sinners and that we must trust in the Lord’s forgiveness and love. I will leave you with many verses but I think the first verse says it best, but the others are very interesting to read and I think we will find that we all sin greatly in ways we might not have even know. I didn’t explain the verses as I think they are self explanatory and also I feel I am in no position to decipher God’s word. Let your hearts do that for themselves.

Luke 6:37
37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

2 Tim 2:23
23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

1 Thessalonians 5:22 (New King James Version)
22 Abstain from every form of evil.

Matthew 5:28
28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Deut 22:22
22 “If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.

Proverbs 27:4
4 Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent,
But who is able to stand before jealousy?

1 Cor 12:20
20 For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults;

Matt 5:22
22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause[b] shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire

Titus 3:9
9 But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless. 10 Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.

Romans 1:29
29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality,[c] wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving,[d] unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

Isaiah 13:11
11 “ I will punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will halt the arrogance of the proud,
And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

1 Tim 6:20
20 O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge— 21 by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith.
Grace be with you. Amen.

Romans 14:4
4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

1 Tim 2:8
8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; 9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing,

1 Peter 3:8
8 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous;[a] 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

1 Tim 3:6
6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.

2 Peter 2:18
18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped[d] from those who live in error.

Proverbs 29:20
20 Do you see a man hasty in his words?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

1 Peter 3:3
3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— 4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

1 Tim 5:13
13 And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.

Romans 3:9
9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.
10 As it is written:


“ There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”[b]
13 “ Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;[c]

“ The poison of asps is under their lips”;[d]
14 “ Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”[e]
15 “ Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known.”[f]
18 “ There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[g]

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

2 Tim 3:1
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

Proverbs 20:1
1 Wine is a mocker,
Strong drink is a brawler,
And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

Romans 13:8
8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,”[a] “You shall not covet,”[b] and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[c] 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 13:13
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy

Titus 2:9
9 Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back,

Romans 12:20
20 Therefore



“ If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”[b]


21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

1 Tim 1:4
4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.

Galatians 5:6
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

Proverbs 12 :23
23 A prudent man conceals knowledge,
But the heart of fools proclaims foolishness.

Luke 17:4
4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you,[b] saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

Proverbs 15:17
17 Better is a dinner of herbs[c] where love is,
Than a fatted calf with hatred.

Matthew 15:7
7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8 ‘ These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And[e]honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”[f]

2 Thes 3:10
10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.

Matt 5:42
42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

James 2:5
5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?

1 Cor 3:16
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

Lev 19:26
26 ‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying. 27 You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the LORD.

Phil 2:3
3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Luke 3:14
14 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”
So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”

Ro 14:21-IT IS GOOD NEITHER TO EAT FLESH, NOR TO DRINK WINE, NOR ANY THING WHEREBY THY BROTHER STUMBLETH, OR IS OFFENDED, OR IS MADE WEAK.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 & 1 Corinthians 7:1-2
"Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."

[Curt]

Thank you for putting this together.

[Patrick]

At the same time, you have to remember that the whole purpose of this forum isn't necessarily to judge other people, but instead to debate issues. I think a lot of the discussion that goes on here is simply part of typical debate. It's only judgemental if you take it personally, or someone makes a personal slam against another member of this forum, which, by the way, is a violation of this site's TOS.

[Okcbornandbred]

Not really sure what that was in response to Patrick possibly the first verse. Like I said previously, I just think before we start picking and choosing verses to use to our advantages we should take a look at the message as a whole and choose our words a little more wisely. And I think anytime you use verse to try to prove someone that they are an abomination that they will take it personally. Yet many overlook the verses where what is considered the "norm" today back in biblical times people were put to death for. I just think if the Bible is going to be used it should be used in the way that God asked us to spread his word and that is by leading people to the word and letting it speak to their hearts, not by us trying to interpret it into what it should mean. The word will move each man and woman in the way God chooses and we are just to lead people to the verses not to try to condemn or debate the message for God will show the truth in his own way.

2 Tim 2:
23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,

[Shaggy]

Not really sure what that was in response to Patrick possibly the first verse. Like I said previously, I just think before we start picking and choosing verses to use to our advantages we should take a look at the message as a whole and choose our words a little more wisely. And I think anytime you use verse to try to prove someone that they are an abomination that they will take it personally. Yet many overlook the verses where what is considered the "norm" today back in biblical times people were put to death for. I just think if the Bible is going to be used it should be used in the way that God asked us to spread his word and that is by leading people to the word and letting it speak to their hearts, not by us trying to interpret it into what it should mean. The word will move each man and woman in the way God chooses and we are just to lead people to the verses not to try to condemn or debate the message for God will show the truth in his own way.

2 Tim 2:
23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,

Everyone interprets scriptures in a different way, however, when something is written plainly, in black and white, there is no doubt what it is saying. Nobody is here to judge anyone, they are simply pointing out how others try to justify their sins.

[Patrick]

Okcbornandbred, I think it's interesting that in your last post above you're using a verse to prove your point. Isn't that what you're preaching against?

[GrandMaMa]

Okcbornandbred32169]Hey OkcTalk members. I was catching up with some old threads and was very disturbed to see many people using the Bible and its verses as fuel to the fires in their debates with other members. "[/SIZE]

I find this particular quote interesting and am justly impressed with the time and energy and the obvious sincerity that was involved in it's production. What I don't now nor every will understand is why people who want to make a general point, use any Holy Book as their reference. I have always understood that to make a valid point, one would be better served to use a generally "accepted" reference to begin with, otherwise, every point made based on that reference would be moot. More often than not, we tend to think that what we deem as a "non disputable reference means nothing to someone to whom we are trying to make a point. Maybe this is something that we all need to remember in the future when attempting to make a secular point using a religious reference.]

[NE Oasis]

I find this particular quote interesting and am justly impressed with the time and energy and the obvious sincerity that was involved in it's production. What I don't now nor every will understand is why people who want to make a general point, use any Holy Book as their reference. I have always understood that to make a valid point, one would be better served to use a generally "accepted" reference to begin with, otherwise, every point made based on that reference would be moot. More often than not, we tend to think that what we deem as a "non disputable reference means nothing to someone to whom we are trying to make a point. Maybe this is something that we all need to remember in the future when attempting to make a secular point using a religious reference.]

I agree when using a Holy Book. However, if the Holy Book of choice is the Bible , no matter what translation or demonination (some differences in Catholic and Protestant concerning included books), that book has been in use for nearly 2000 years and very well vetted since the 17th century by hundreds of scholars. I believe that to be a strong case for "general" acceptance as opposed to something such as the New England Journal of Medicine or Washington Post, two examples that have had to publish frequent retractions in recent years.

[GrandMaMa]

You just made my point! When you use terms such as :THE Bible (which implies that there is only one version that holds any validity or that it is infallible, etc) There are MANY HOLY BOOKS that contain valid principles, but I think that anyone that calls any HOLY BOOK, THE HOLY BOOK, lacks the objectivity required to contribute to anything other than a collection of personal opinions....after all, in my humble opinion, that is what all holy books are anyway, a collection of opinions penned by those guided by their own personal agendas. That last statement was not meant to inflame, it is just my honest opinion.

I agree when using a Holy Book. However, if the Holy Book of choice is the Bible , no matter what translation or demonination (some differences in Catholic and Protestant concerning included books), that book has been in use for nearly 2000 years and very well vetted since the 17th century by hundreds of scholars. I believe that to be a strong case for "general" acceptance as opposed to something such as the New England Journal of Medicine or Washington Post, two examples that have had to publish frequent retractions in recent years.

[Cake Lady]

I really dig bornandbred's point here and I think he/she puts it very poignantly. We are limited by our human understanding to the Word of God and all too easily use it for our own gain in expressing our opinions. It's a healthy and beautiful thing to be an American and have those rights and use them for debate, but maybe we take them for granted sometimes, too. We all walk our own spiritual walks and learn as we go- the word is alive and means something different to us in speaking to our hearts. I think we need to be careful when we express things we try to in righteousness because it is not our authority. There's a lot of wrongful righteousness and hypocrisy in this world and people wait for that as if to discredit God through our shortcomings, but really, we all fall short of that and He is the one to set our eyes on for the truth of it all.

[CMSturgeon]

There is nothing about food here...

[Keith]

Hey GrandMaMa and CMSturgeon, it's good to see you on the forum. You both ROCK!!

[CMSturgeon]

Keith has a Xanga. He does not rock. hah.

[Keith]

Keith has a Xanga. He does not rock. hah.

I don't have time for a myspace, so I just blog on my xanga.LOL