Spider-verse Meme

The Bible. Don't just blindly believe whatever your pastor says. If they're not citing scripture, they're very probably lying to you. If they are citing scripture, check the context around it to see if it means what they say and they're not twisting it. You could probably find different pastor's sermons about something, say if you can lose your salvation for example, and they'd say different things about it, and you could see which one has the most scriptural evidence. But always see if what they're saying contradicts the Bible.

Thanks for the comment. I was just reading some bible verses the other day and this one reminded me of the time I was looking into the First Unitarian Universalist Church in San Francisco. Which I am assuming you would have loads of problems with. If you don’t mind me asking, have you been in a situation where a pastor has said something you don’t agree with? Also I feel I should make it clear that I’m not a Christian but I do read the Bible for wisdom and inspiration. The Bible can be difficult to understand due to it’s length, complexity and flowery language but many of the main concepts are clear.

I've had a good many times where I've disagreed with a pastor. I recently switched to a Baptist church because I found out that protestant churches in general have salvation wrong.
Yes, it's quite a lot. What parts do you read specifically?

So, I know many of the Old Testament stories like Noah and Moses. My favorite parts are the gospels because I think Jesus was a cool and smart dude. Recently I had a goal to read the New Testament from start to finish but I only made it through Matthew, Mark and Luke before I got distracted and started reading about Roman history. Sometimes I’ll go on Bible Gateway and read the verse of the day. The most recent thing I read was the first few chapters of Revelation. There is a lot I don’t know. Like what you mean by having salvation wrong.

John's definitely my favorite of the four gospels, so I'd definitely recommend reading that one. The rest of the new testament is good to read too. If you're just looking to read a few and not all of them right now, I'd definitely recommend starting with Romans, Ephesians, and Hebrews.
Also I do need to learn more on Roman history at some point, there's so much.
Just curious, what translation do you use on Bible Gateway?
Oo, Revelation. That one gets to the crazy stuff around chapter 6 I think. I won't recommend you don't read it yet, but you'll probably have no idea what's going on without a lot more biblical knowledge or a good teacher. Not that any of us really know everything that's going on in that book but that's ok XD
Yeah, so the whole thing about the Protestant reformation was that the Catholic church said faith + works for salvation, but Luther was all like "but the Bible says that it's faith alone" and so there was the huge split and whatever. But protestants still basically make it faith + works because they say you can lose your salvation if you're intentionally sinning or not following Jesus hard enough or whatever. The line between saved and unsaved is completely arbitrary at that point of course, and they don't have good scriptural evidence. But (most) Baptists believe that you can't lose your salvation, and there's a lot of scripture for that that I can share if you're interested, but basically it's because Jesus died for our sins once for all and that covered everything, even sins after you're saved.

I agree with the doctrine of eternal security, but I don’t agree with some of the things about the beliefs of the Baptist church. The largest quarrel I have with a majority of Baptists is a lack of teaching if gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is a key part of the church that God had given us all spiritual gifts, whether that be wisdom, discernment, speaking in tounges, or something else entirely. God also still does signs and wonders and healings not possible by man. I am not hyper-charismatic, however. I don’t think that there is currently anyone with the gift of healing or of miracles that is alive and that those are kept in the apostolic age. Another problem I have specifically with the Southern Baptist Convention is a lack of decisive action against Elevation Church. Elevation is very charismatic and their pastor Stephen Furtick has said things near prosperity gospel and other heresies. If I was to go to the SBC convention I would call for Furtick to repent of his heretical teaching and resign as pastor of Elevation Church, excommunicating him from the convention, and would suggest to excommunicate Elevation Church itself if Furtick refuses to resign.

It's not that we don't believe in the Spirit guiding us and giving us wisdom, but like you said, the signs passed away with the Apostles, and it would seem as though tongues is included in that. And every Baptist I know does believe God still heals people today.

I don't really know who Furtick is or what Elevation Church is, I'm Independent Fundamental Baptist so I'm not so well versed in the politics of the southern Baptist convention.

The default is the New International Version. And thank you. Proverbs 27:17

I'd personally recommend the King James. But if that's really not your cup of tea, the NASB or the ESV are decent too. NIV is way too paraphrased from the originals.

King James is a little rough. Gonna stick with ESV.

lol, ok

This "turn their ears away" thing isn't new and isn't "a time will come."

It happens all the time. And we all do it to some degree or another.

So, how do you determine a sound doctrine?

Another way to think of it is Confirmation Bias (I like myside bias). Confirmation Bias, the “myside bias,” is the tendency of people to seek out information that supports something they already believe to be true.

When this happens, people stick with what they believe to be true, double down on it, and then go into ostrich mode- denying any evidence that is contrary to what they BELIEVE to be true.

But how can you combat it? Some "simple" steps (that are actually hard at first) .

1) Allow yourself to be wrong.

This is super important, and the hardest one. I often say out loud that "it's okay for me to be wrong" when I'm having a meeting or a discussion. If you refuse to admit that your initial ideas or beliefs can be wrong, you will never learn anything.

2) Verify Facts

Really really important. Look at the data and facts objectively. Are the sources they come from trustworthy? How can we verify their data? Does the data and the objective facts support your belief or is your belief wrong?

3) Beware of Repetition.

When something is repeated again and again and again, we start to believe that it must be true. Everyone is saying it. How can everyone be wrong? But "everyone" can be very wrong. That classic Nazi'ism of "repeat the lie often enough, and people will start to believe it." is very true.

You will see this in various "cult"-like groups. the leader is always right. You can't question anything. And they isolate you from the rest of society. That way you only hear "the lie" and you're not able to verify facts.

Sound advice, now only if we could only get the politics streams to follow it! 🤣

“This "turn their ears away" thing isn't new”
Who said it had to be new? The New Testament was canonized what, 1700 years ago?
“It happens all the time”
So one could say that the Bible was correct: a time came and now it happens 🤔.
What you say about confirmation bias is very good. I think the verse is about more than confirmation bias. It is also about how the self destructive pleasure seeking part of our brains can hijack the rational part of our brain and cause us to rationalize ideas that maybe aren’t correct. Example: eating this entire batch of brownies on my cheat day won’t hurt my diet because you are allowed to eat anything you want on a cheat day.

"Do not listen to the tounges of fools, if it does not agree with scripture, it is wrong. No matter their rank, no matter their status, if they say something against my words, they are wrong"

Interesting. Where is this quote from?

I can't remember

😂

Yup

Lies cannot stand the test of time, anything built on lies is due to crumble. Truth however remains constant. It's not an ever changing reality that depends on individuals. God is truth and God is eternal so truth is eternal. Now mankind can come to a deeper understanding of truth but it's not a new truth really.

“Lies cannot stand the test of time, anything built on lies is due to crumble” I agree that lies are often exposed eventually, but that may take a lifetime or two. People suffering in the lie may not be alive when the lie is finally exposed.