FADE?COPE- please dont close this, i would like to answer this. it seems like the natural progression of the thread anyways. it was a constructive question.
first-
4ng3l1x, i didnt get worked up at all; i answered your question, plain and simple, and i answered it as honestly as i could. how was i worked up?
as for identity,
you raise some interesting questions/thoughts.
first, let me tell you this: there are a lot of answers to a lot questions that are run of the mill, prepackaged answers that have been handed down for generations.
second, the two scriptures are very much true, but always remember the context and the whole of what the book says about something; often times a verse will leave the reader confused because something appears to contradict it at first glance. since you have asked me to stay away from the bible and just for my thoughts, i will give them to you.
1. I dont know what/how you study, what resources you use, etc, but there is always a negative connotation and a seeming lack of clarity in your references. you seem to believe what a lot of people believe, because of what they are taught. there is almost always another half of the story, a corraborating verse in scripture that completes the picture. i myself do not believe in ideas that i believed strongly as recently as the last summer. why? because i really dug into it and sought out my questions, from a biblical level and a pure knowledge level, depeding on the situation.
lets take prosperity, for example. my last church was HUGE on this philosophy, the the "name it, claim it, and it is yours" mentality in regard to everything from parking spaces to a mansion to a wife. i do not necessarily believe much, if any of this myself.......
and even thought they had their little "pet scriptures" that they exploit to get everyone to buy into it, i also found a lot that showed BLATANTLY otherwise, to be true. the problem? people will lock onto the few that allow them to get by, to hold on to whatever theory they need- but they stop looking at the point of benifit to them. does the bible teach principles of prosperity? YES. does it teach them to that extant? ONLY WHEN YOU STRETCH FOR IT AND IGNORE THE OTHER HALF OF IT.
the point here, is that these issues, such as pride, us feeling like we are horrible and worthless, etc., are teachings of a similar veign; when y uoonly get half of it, you are mislead. i personally am not going through guilt or beating myself up.. "oh, i am tempted, whatever shall i do"... i dont beat myself up... i dont know what "brand" of christianity you had, but it doesnt sound like what i have learned from the bible.
at the end of the day, yo umake the best possible choice for yourself; if you feel Christianity opresses you (as it does with many... thats why the bible says "in all your getting, get understanding", and "if any of you lack wisdom, ask and it will be given" but remember, "God does not satisfy the skeptic" so dont ask for wisdom or understanding to prove something "ok, if you are REALLY God, let me see you....." because "God is not tested" (or mocked)
and your miracles..... those follow AFTER you, they do not lie in front of you. that is a major bible teaching in itself. i do not know how legite benny hinn is, but i have had a very real "slain-in-the-spirit" experience (nobody pushes you hard enough on the forhead to make you fly 15 feet back, sorry....i'm not exaggerating that number either...) that i DO question from time to time, because i expected some great miracle to take place and it didnt. Christians are too hell bent on miracles (hence the prosperity movement) and not focused enough on the work that goes with being a believer. your miracles may not even be noticeable to you, now or yet. i dont know. ask God! pray... honestly, thats the only credible thing is prayer. man can and always will tell based on personal feelings and experiences.. but thats why when peter told Jesus he knew who He was, Jesus said "you are blessed, for it is not man, but my Father which has revealed this to you" (ok, so its a paraphrase).... so even on my best day, on any one man's best day, it is still only God that can truly give revelation........
does this in any way explain my position??
you do not have to hold yourselfdown as a believer, you can walk in confidance of who you are in Christ. pride is a seperate entity- (saved by grace through faith and not works, lest any man boast) and is a sin. the world teaches that we should always get what we can when we can. the bible teaches to give in order TO get. the world teaches pride, based on things that God, not man, has control over. how can you be proud of a race that yuo did not choose? a nationality? an accomplishment that God gave you the tools to do? the point is, when we have pride, we glory in ourselves instead of givng that to God.
as far as you pastors telling you there are certain measures of pride, WELL, unless they can prove it biblically, they are full of it. i have had several taht have told me the same thing, but LOGICALLY, by human logic, bu nothing scriptural to back it up. so the question is, where do they get this idea from? if the bible does not support it, how can they teach it? i guess i will have to do a good word study on this then, because that same question has had me puzzled. to my understanding, pride is a sin. no one has shown me a BIBLICAL case for this so-called "Godly pride"...
you know, i perfectly understand your frustrations and questioning, because i am really (it may not seem like it to you, but i am) in the same boat. i question a lot of things with the church, and the bible, and its accuracy, etc.
i still believe because i have found plenty in its favor. but you know something? Jesus said "more blessed is he who has NOT seen me and believed."