Is BrotherDThomas really a Christian?

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Mopac
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@ludofl3x
You bring a legitimate point about Christians not really debating eachother around here.

We have one thing in common. We preach Christ.

Let me explain through an interaction between Jesus and one of his disciples...

"And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.

But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.
For he that is not against us is on our part.
For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward."

Even if someone is preaching Christ for the wrong reasons, St Paul gives us an e ample of the right attitude when he wrote...

"Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice."


So what? We all preach Christ. In a great way, we are on the same team.

What do I do in particular? I introduce you to his mother. 

You want to learn real Christianity? Go where Christ's mother is. The Orthodox Catholic Church.















Stephen
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@Mopac

Which one of you is the true Christian, though?

ErrnlVW doesn't identify as a Christian. He seems pretty new age to me personally.


That is not entirely true . He has as recently as two days ago confirmed that he is a Christian and in no uncertain terms. post 14



Alec
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I think Brother D Thomas is a true Christian, which is very hard to do.  The bible has various references of being loyal to God at the expense of the support of your fellow man.  Since yall don't like him for being extreme, it makes me think he's doing God's will, especially if the common person disagrees with him when he cites the bible.
Mopac
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@Alec
The scripture says, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake."

Simply being disliked is not an indication of righteousness.


ethang5
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@Alec
Since yall don't like him for being extreme,
Is that why we don't like him, or is that why you think we don't like him?

...it makes me think he's doing God's will,
Does this logic also extend to Sulimani? Hitler? Bin Laden?
Mopac
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@Stephen
Yet he has "other" listed as his religion on his profile.





ludofl3x
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@Mopac
You bring a legitimate point about Christians not really debating eachother around here.

We have one thing in common. We preach Christ.

So is that the most important bit? In other words, who cares what denomination you are, you all go to heaven, is that what you believe? If so, then what's the point of your church and your hyping it? If not, then why aren't you more vociferously pursuing the low hanging fruit, the ones who already believe largely what you do (Jesus), in order to save them from your loving lord roasting them in a lava bath for all eternity? 

Seriously, it's a good thing atheists are here, who would you be talking to? EtrnlView and his planetary take on all things interdimensional, I suppose.
Mopac
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I don't think BrotherDThomas being extreme has anything to do with it.

I think it has more to do with the fact that his intent appears to be subversive.

Also, it doesn't appear he recognizes anyone as a Christian but himself.


I could go around saying that Christians who are not with the church are not real Christians. Some people even believe this, for sure! But if this was the case, we would not honor baptisms done in the proper trinitarian way by the heterodox churches. In acknowledging that a heterodox baptism is made orthodox on someone's chrismation into the church, we acknowledge that the grace of God is still present outside the visible church.

The visible church? It's over there, it is The Orthodox Catholic Church. Now that you see where the church is, know that I can't really tell you where it isn't. 

Who am I to say the old man in the baptist/methodist/etc. church wasn't a real Christian? He works out his own salvation with fear and trembling, is charitable to all, takes care of the poor, and is humble. That man is more of an orthodox Christian than someone who is in the true church who has no love for anyone other than himself.

God knows what we have to work with. Sincere faith and charity from a pure heart, that is true religion. Jesus Christ is Lord and savior whether or not you understand how this works. Whether or not you even know His name.

Really, that's some good news.

But if you are an idolater and a lover of the self, the good news for you is that there is still time to repent before it is too late.


 
Mopac
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@ludofl3x
No one else is telling you where to go if you want to learn more.

I am.


Everyone else is at best is handing you a bible and/or telling you to figure it out yourself.

I am directing people to the apostolic church.



But also, see above post
Mopac
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If I were to say anything addressed to the Christians of this forum, it would be walk in a manner worthy of your vocation.
Mopac
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In a very real way, the church is the incarnation of Christ itself, clothed in the flesh of the Theotokos.
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@ethang5
Since yall don't like him for being extreme,
Is that why we don't like him,

"WE"!!!?  I suggest that you speak for yourself and not the whole forum.  I have nothing against the Brother, whereas you have an axe to grind with anyone who doesn't agree with you or who refuses to sycophantically pander to you with an outstretched tongue .

Stephen
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@ludofl3x
why aren't you more vociferously pursuing the low hanging fruit, the ones who already believe largely what you do (Jesus), in order to save them from your loving lord roasting them in a lava bath for all eternity? 


I can feel a parable coming on, can you? ludofl3x 

ludofl3x
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@Mopac
You realize every single denomination of CHristianity, and religion in general, is making the exact same pitch, right? "Only we have the answers!" said all the scientologists you don't think are correct. The other thing you all have in common is your organizations want money, which is strange because if it's a very real incarnation of Jesus (who turned into buildings??), he shouldn't need any money from anyone. Why would any church ever close, if not because it was forsaken by god for some reason?

THe simplest answer is they're just buildings, buildings with a shrinking financial base due to a bad revenue model that's out of touch with their local market needs or wants. 
Stephen
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@Mopac
I don't think BrotherDThomas being extreme has anything to do with it.

Would you consider the Brother to be a "lost sheep", Mopac?
ludofl3x
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@Stephen
I feel another impression of what he thinks sounds deep and smart and is actually in no way any answer to the very simple question, why don't the Christians here try and debate one another into their specific denominations, because it should be easy. Like why doesn't PGA2.0 try to convert Mopac, or Dr Franklin try to make Ethang5 come around to his way of thinking? 
Stephen
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@ludofl3x
 why don't the Christians here try and debate one another .........


Because they would bore each other silly, maybe ?

And

Just recently I had two different and conflicting answers  from Christians on a thread of mine. But when one realized the other was also a Christian, their answers and opinions quickly merged into a -  ' well yes, it could mean that too ' . type of conversation; neither wanted to be shown to be wrong while not actaully conceding anything or as little ground as possible.  So this meant after two clear and distinct answers, I ended up with two different answers from both these Christians who only a few posts before were in direct opposition with strong extremely opposing views. 



Mopac
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@ludofl3x
All I can say is come and see for yourself. 

Mopac
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@ludofl3x
I welcome any Christian to dispute me about my claims of The Orthodox Catholic Church being the true church.

We have been around since the beginning. No protestant church can claim this. 


ludofl3x
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@Mopac
We have been around since the beginning. No protestant church can claim this. 

How does that make you right? 

And why don't you engage your fellow Christians?
Mopac
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@Stephen
True debate is about finding the truth, not making oneself out to be right.

So when you see Christians saying to eachother, "yes it could be that too", this is not necessarily a bad thing.

Mopac
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@ludofl3x
A protestant church can't claim to be Apostolic church if it does not have valid Apostolic succession.


Apostolic succession is ONE of the marks of the true church.

Stephen
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@Mopac
True debate is about finding the truth, not making oneself out to be right.

And is all Brother Tom is doing is giving his version of that truth and not being received too well for his efforts,

  "What is truth" ? asked Pilate

                                                   "The myth of Christ has served us well" . said  Pope Leo X

Mopac
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@Stephen
I'm sorry, but I don't believe that.

And Pope Leo X is a fine example of what kicked off the reformation in the west if he ever said such a thing. Given that the Rome had been in schism from the church for some 500 years by the time he said this, his opinion carries no weight. He was after all, the head of a schismatic church.

Mopac
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Pope Leo X was the guy who started the whole buying indulgences thing, which actually did trigger Martin Luther to nail his famous 95 theses.

Naturally, such a practice is offensive even to us orthodox.


Mopac
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And why don't you engage your fellow Christians?

I mostly do, just not as much on this forum.

In the real world.

My posts are available for everyone here to read. Certainly I say enough to act as a witness to the church for them as well.

Hey, if any one wants to debate me, I am here.




ethang5
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@Stephen
"WE"!!!?  I suggest that you speak for yourself and not the whole forum.
I didn't speak for anyone genius. Alec said Ya'll, which caused me to ask him what I did. It was a question about what he said, not a comment saying we did not like Dee Dee. Reading comprehension is a beyatch huh?

I have nothing against the Brother, whereas you have an axe to grind with anyone who doesn't agree with you or who refuses to sycophantically pander to you with an outstretched tongue .
Yeah, you and Dee Dee are regular angels compared to mean ol Ethan.

Here is something you said once,

As far as I am concerned he is trying to give his interpretation, without evidence.
Giving interpretation without evidence is what you do, and when you're asked for evidence, you get angry and act like the person is asking you to sycophantically pander to them with an outstretched tongue.

This is a debate site. You make a claim or state a belief, and people agree or challenge your claim. You then offer logic for your claim and it is discussed. But stating a claim, and offering no evidence for it, and then saying you don't care if anyone disagrees, is counterproductive for this site. Are you here to debate or preach? We have church for preaching.

Debate your points, don't just assert them and then get vulgar if we refuse to accept them on faith. Have some evidence. An intellectual challenge is not an insult.
ethang5
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@ludofl3x
Like why doesn't PGA2.0 try to convert Mopac, or Dr Franklin try to make Ethang5 come around to his way of thinking? 
Many reasons, but a main one is that the militant atheists would never let us.

Every post by a theist here is immediately attacked by an atheist. Every convo between theists is sniped at from the sidelines by disgruntled atheists.

Their only purpose being here seems to be to attack, condemn, and mock.

The original idea of a religion board was so that people who were interested in the topic (theist and non) could discuss it. But now it has degraded into bitter, compulsive anti-theists who reside on the religion board, essentially making the same provocative posts over and over, forcing every topic to change  into a "Does God exist? question regardless of the threads original topic.

Etrnl has some very interesting ideas, and I'd love to hear more of mopac's church beliefs, or have PGA expound on Christian history, but we'd immediately have morons yelling "Fight! Fight!" from the wings.

Virtually every discussion on the religion board is derailed by troll-like behavior. The new mod team has improved this with the removal of Hari and Disgusted, but more work needs to be done.

But anyway. That is why.
Stephen
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@ethang5
Here is something you said once,

As far as I am concerned he is trying to give his interpretation, without evidence.
That' s correct.  I wrote that  on ANOTHER THREAD just recently (see details below)   And YOU yet AGAIN!!!!  have  purposely cross threaded topic which is against the forum rules that you continually seem to be able to break with impunity.

Added: 01.23.20 08:12AM 
--> @SirAnonymous

ethang5
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@Stephen
Hey genius, the cross thread contamination edict is not that comments you made elsewhere cannot be mentioned.

If you said that you object to people giving interpretations without evidence, and then do that in another thread, I bring up your comment, not the topic of the thread your comment is in. You cannot win me by making up fake offenses.

Do you remember this hypo?

Just recently I had two different and conflicting answers  from Christians on a thread of mine. 
You wrote that  on ANOTHER THREAD just recently. And YOU yet AGAIN!!!!  have  purposely cross threaded topic which is against the forum rules that you continually break while accusing others of doing so.

Do you see why your constant reporting is taken with a grain of salt?

Contamination is about topics shemp, not about comments.

Now, how can you be against interpretations without evidence when you yourself do that often, and then reply that you don't care?