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| What If We Don't Preach About Sin? |
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What will be the results if we don't preach about sin?
1.Wake Up Call on Judgment Day-Many will have a wake up call on the day of Judgment because they thought they were saved but aren't.
7:21 "Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 7:22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 7:23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'
The Bible says many. So there are many who think they are saved and they clearly are not.
2.Lukewarm People- Lukewarm people will be spewed out his mouth. Being spewed out of his mouth is judgment. Read the first 3 chapters of Revelation and the message to the 7 churches. It's says be faithful and pure.
3:16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.
So why do we see so many lukewarm so called believers. They get drunk, they lie, they steal, they sleep around?
5:19 Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, 5:21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
This is the results of not preaching about sin. The Apostle Paul speaking to Christians in Galatians warned them that those people who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do you or your Pastor warn believers that if they live in sin they will not inherit the kingdom of God?
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I do warn the people against the sin and exhort them to repent of their sins.
Job Anbalagan |
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stu |
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December 18, 2007 at 5:46am |
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| often we avoid the issue in order to reach people! often we are wrong! we can cause more harm by avoiding hell and damnation than if we preach it!!!!!!! its there and its truth and needs to be proclaimed. Stu. |
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My pastor OFTEN preaches about sin and the consequences. He has often said "If I hurt your feelings, I'm sorry, but this is TRUTH". AMEN
If we tiptoe around the truth just to bring people into church - what is the point??? |
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| I think we need to be warn about sin everyday.Just like we need The Lord Always and FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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| Well, all my life I called myself "Christian" and did all the wrong stuff. Believe me, it had nothing to do with lack of sin preaching. I had my dad constantly reminding me...and then both parents telling me as an adult I was going to hell if I didn't repent.....and that did not get me saved. Ppl pointing out my sin would not get me saved. It took someone expressing God's love for me, and my value in His eyes before I even wanted to serve Him. Many ppl are walking around with an incorrect distorted view of who God is. Yes, God is a God of wrath, but firstly He is a God of love...that is what He is; love. I am not a pussy footer arounder when it comes to sin, I just know how it won me over to know God's love for me. I believed hell was real, and even that didn't get me saved. So what works for one, may not work for another. |
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| P.S. I am in no ways saying don't preach sin. It needs to be addressed, and not catering to itching ears...I tend to be on the more legalistic side myself, so believe me, when I say that I am all for that....but it won't work on everyone.....like me before I got saved....I went to a service with Dad because he guilted me into it long ago, and they were preaching pretty bluntly. and the guy in back of me started in on me, and I was all, "So I am going to hell!" I wanted to tell him to do just that....and I remained unsaved til I found out that God wasn't beating me over the head with a stick all the time. |
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Deb |
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December 18, 2007 at 11:30am |
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| I have found that people who don't know Christ, have a hardened shell around them. Some people, like Lara said, won't listen to you if you do preach at them about sin. Some people will only listen after God has opened their eyes. That is what happened to me. I knew I was sinning, but I didn't care. Not until I hit rock bottom in depression and was considering ending my life. Then God finally got through to me, and I changed my ways. But it takes a broken spirit to get to that point... |
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| Deb, and is it fair to say that it was God's love, not His judgment, that made you come to Him? |
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Lara-When you say it was God's love explain.... God's love was demonstrated on the cross... he had to go to the cross for sinners... So what do you mean by not preaching on sin, but leave that aside and preach on love and share some word sister to back up ya point? thanks.
5:8 But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
1:15 The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the foremost of sinners;
John 3:16 was written to a humble man who came to Lord saying, we know you a man sent from God...
Then how about my question, do you warn Christians like Paul that if they live in sin they will not inherit the kingdom? |
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Yes, we should warn the people to repent.
I try to warn them. Our churches are so full of adultery and other sins, yet we keep pointing the finger at those outside the church. The church should look at itself.
Cheryl |
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Yes. The only reason we need a saviour is to save us from our sin(s) ,and the curse that fell on mankind when Adam sinned ! So far, the only cure I have found in the Bible is righteousness. Not self-righteousness, but the kind God offers through accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour. See.......... 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
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Gene |
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December 19, 2007 at 8:08am |
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Anybody who even remotely considers themselves to be Christian has heard the message, "You're a sinner. You need a Savior. Jesus Christ is that savior. He is the Son of God. He came to Earth, born of the virgin Mary. He died on the cross for your sins and mine. He rose again, and he will come again in glory."
But hearing that message is not what saves anybody. Salvation is about the transformation of the human heart.....the soul. When we are saved we experience the benefits not just in the afterlife, but also in the here and the now.
People want to feel loved. But many grow up never knowing that God wants to love them. Many grow up with the view that God is any angry God, so it never occurs to them to look to God for love. They never ask God to show them His love so that they can experience His love.
Even born again believers need a once-in-a-while reminder that we are sinners and in need of a savior. But the focus needs to be on the Love of God. There are a 1000 and one ways to convey that message. Go read Gen 2:4+ and see if you can find any trace of God's expression of love. It's there if you look for it. But you have to know to look for it.
Telling a person a 1000 times a year that they are a sinner is like beating someone with a 2x4 over and over again. Telling someone a 1000 times a year that the God of all creation loves them as an individual helps to transform people and helps them seek out Jesus Christ, and creates in them a desire to spread the gospel to those around them.
And that would be the real point of preaching.
Gene |
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Gene-
I haven't said to tell a person a 1000 times anything. Will you show me in scripture where we are told to tell people that God loves them? Again, we don't need human wisdom. thanks. |
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Gene |
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December 19, 2007 at 8:23am |
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| Well, if God doesn't love us as individuals, and we if we don't love Him, what would be the point of being with Him? |
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Gene-
My point is the biblical gospel message always ties love to the cross. Even this scripture was when Jesus was speaking to a humble Nicodemus. Notice how love is attached to the cross. Do you see anyone in the New Testament preaching that God loves them?
3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
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Gene |
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December 19, 2007 at 8:47am |
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True, but the Gospel message didn't leave it on the cross. The events at the cross are the fullest example of God's love, but the cross is not the only example. Scripture shows other examples of God's love for us. And Paul told us that God loves us, as did other authors. Both the Old and New Testaments proclaim God's love for us. |
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| Gene- First let me say I appreciate the discussion. Remember the New Testament is written to Christians. So my question is when talking to the lost, sinners, can show me where the message of love is preached apart from preaching the cross? |
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Jeff
I do not find many people that really like the message of stopping sin: not on our own power of course. It is only by the power of the Holy Ghost, and the work of that power that we can be free from sin. I attend a church that preaches that you do not have to live in sin any longer. It is not about any works of righteousness that we have done... only by the power of the Holy Ghost!! As the scriputre speaks, ":You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" Jesus Christ has come to bless us in TURNING everyone of us from our sin.
Jeremiah |
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Gene |
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December 20, 2007 at 7:04am |
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The concordance I've built to reference topics doesn't address love because it's never been an issue...until now.
I think I'd start with: 1COR 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. [NIV]
We Christians talk a lot about being saved by faith and all that, but love is missing then it's kind of an empty faith.
1JN 4:13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. [NIV]
There's plenty more, but that should be enough for a lengthy discussion
Gene. |
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Gene-
These are great scriptures and obviously love is the motive and attitude of everything we do as Christians. Just talking to them about eternity is an act of love that most christians struggle with. I'm talking about the message not the motive or attitude. However, you still have not answered my question above.
| When talking to the lost, sinners, can show me where the message of love is preached apart from preaching the cross? |  |
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Gene |
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December 20, 2007 at 8:13am |
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| I thought I just did. |
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| Who was the 1 John and Corinthians written to? Christians or the lost? I don't see anywhere in the scriptures you provided where the lost are being told of God's love apart from the cross. I don't see anything conversation or admonishment with the lost. Again, I agree we should be loving and speak the truth in love, but I don't think you think the message of love as part of the gospel is anywhere in the new testament outside of the cross. Bless you. |
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Gene |
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December 20, 2007 at 10:34am |
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| OK. |
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Gene |
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December 20, 2007 at 10:47am |
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| So just out of curiosity here, what do you tell the lost? |
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Gene-
First I normally ask some questions to find out where they are at. Then based upon their answers I share with them what they need to know. Gene-as I have shared with thousands one to one on the streets and doorsteps of America over the years, I have found that many people think they will go to heaven because they are good or at least not that bad. They compare themselves to others like Charles Manson and say I'm better than him. Or they believe that God is a lovey dovey God who will just accepted them or forgive them blanketly. I have found most are proud and self righteous. You can go to my website www.citytaker.com and check out my tools and teachings to effectively share the biblical gospel with the lost. Bless you. |
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| What I mean is I thought I could never measure up; that God was like my earthly dad, and legalistic, distant and unloving. I 'knew' the word, so far as the Scriptures, but it didn't make me realize that God is a loving God. I already knew I was a sinner, Jeff. I needed to know that God loved me uncondtionally. I don't need word to back that up; this is me I am talking about and my experience. And it took just one person to take the time to tell me all the potential God saw in me and how He wasn't beating me over the head with a stick....and that brought me to repentance: "His kindness leads us to repentance." So being told I am a sinner and going to hell and off the mark...I was told that continually, and it didn't soften my heart; rather it hardened it. I wanted no part of a wrathful unloving God whom I could never please. |
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| Lara-I am glad you love Jesus and are committed to Him first of all. You knew you were a sinner already. That's my point. You knew you were guilty but without explaining the cross and resurrection that you feel condemned. God is kind enough to give us opportunity to repent and He showed his amazing love for you that while you were a sinner(me too) He died for us! That is not a damning, condemning God, but an extravagent loving Father who has paid a price for you you couldn't pay for yourself. One some acknowledges their sin, guilty, and deserving of jugdment that is the good news. |
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Gene - telling people the 'modern message' of "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life" just won't cut it. Why? Many people think that they are FINE without God and Christ - and they won't respond to that sort of thing. People live in Hollywood, in big houses and cars without a care in the world or a need or a desire - how are you going to convince them they need God? Their God-less plan is working well for them - after all, they're better off than most of those "Christians", and, hey - they're pretty good folks (they'll say). So, what do you do? Wait for them to 'bottom out"? Hit a snag? It might not ever happen, and they will continue their earthly life without salvation, and when they die, then they will go to Hell. God loves us, and he does want to have us with Him for eternity. But we haven't earned it. We don't deserve it. We need His grace to make it! We can't get there on our own. The fact that ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALLEN SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD means we all need salvation. What do you try to do? Convince someone by telling them something like this?: They're missing out on some great love of someone they don't know, who died for sins they don't think they committed to save them from something they don't believe will happen to them"? That's a good way of ensuring that you'll only reach those that have hit rock bottom or are looking for a 'self-help' program. To paraphrase Ray Comfort - imagine this worldly scenario: "Hey buddy - you should really be grateful to me!" "Why's that?" "I just paid that fine for you?" "What fine?" "The fine you incurred for committing that crime." "What crime? You're a whacko. I'm not a criminal!" "Yes you are! But don't worry, I took care of it for you. We have great plans for you!" To tell someone about Jesus' sacrifce for us without telling someone what was at stake (earned damnation in Hell), why it was earned (our sin nature) and how Christ defeated that (dying on the cross and rising from dead, defeating death) will not only confuse someone - it just won't make sense - you haven't shown them why it was needed - it will also offend - the whole "hey, don't call me a criminal - I'm a good person". You have to show guilt of trangression of God's law to make the CROSS make sense! |
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Gene |
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December 21, 2007 at 1:26pm |
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Jeff,
For I long time I after I had acknowledged my sin, knew that I was guilty, and deserving of judgment, the fact that Christ had died on the cross for my sin was just that...a fact.
"Uh...OK...thank you very much....I appreciate that....Have a nice day...." was kind of my response.
It was only when I learned that God loved me that things changed. And it wasn't in just being told, it was in being shown. It was in experiencing the love of God that things changed.
People have to know to look to God for love.
If you've ever felt the love of God in your life, why not tell the lost about it? Peter tells us to be able to give account for the basis of our faith. Yes, that means provide scriptural references as needed, but it also means just tell people how God has worked in your life. Tell them how you felt loved by God.
Do you really need a statement in scripture to let you know to do that?
Gene
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Gene - It's very true that you need to realize the amount of LOVE that was involved with Christ dying on the cross for us - it was the most LOVING thing ever done. But you CANNOT go up to someone unsaved and tell them "God loves you, but you must repent of your sin and accept Jesus' as your savior if you want to get to heaven". I mean - you can - but you're not gonna get through to someone who is doing JUST FINE living life without God. If I may, let me make an analogy for you: I LOVE sushi. Really dig the stuff. I have a friend that absolutely ABHORs the idea of sushi...can not even fathom how someone could eat that sort of thing. I can talk to him 24/7/365 about how much I love sushi and how good it is and how much he'd like it if he'd just give it a chance. He's not gonna try it. He has NO REASON to. My testimony of LOVING sushi is NOT GOING TO MATTER ONE BIT TO HIS DECISION. Now, you could argue that me, being a friend, knowing other things he likes might sway him to "give it a shot". But it doesn't mean he will. And, if I keep going on an on about how much I love sushi - he might get annoyed and we might not be able to talk about it at all anymore. What does he have to gain with trying sushi? Well, it could expand his palate to a new taste or food group he'd enjoy, but he's got lots of other dishes he like - that he enjoys, that keep him going...he's not MISSING anything in his mind. See where I am going here? Someone who has a good life - a GREAT life doesn't have a need for God. Think that sounds crazy? It's not - there are millions of people out their living life without God who aren't in the throes of a painful existence...heck, to them, God would cramp their style. There's got to be a compelling reason for them to seek God...and sorry, but the love of someone they don't think they need (much like the need for a new food they don't really need in their repetoire) ain't gonna cut it. |
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Gene |
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December 21, 2007 at 2:41pm |
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Growing,
I agree with you. As I mentioned several posts ago, even believers need a reminder of why we need a Savior and why He died on the cross. Yes, the lost have to hear everything you and Jeff are saying. But the lost also have to know that God is a loving God.
Most people, somehow, grow up hearing that God is an angry God while attending church or from parents who long ago stopped attending church. The point I'm trying to make is that the message of love also needs to come through.
Gene |
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| Gene, God's kindness brought us both to repentance. The ones that need to be convinced they are sinners are usually the self righteous, that live quite "morally" without God....or those who have a religion already. You know what, guys? Different strokes for different folks. Once we are saved, we do need to walk in that. Out of love. I know what you are saying, Gene. You aren't a 'grace, grace, grace, love, love' wishy washy person, you just know that the Gospel had to be presented that Jesus loved you otherwise you'd have never been brought to repentance. |
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Gene |
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December 22, 2007 at 5:19pm |
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Lara, different strokes is very true. You and I came to Christ through Love. I know some who came to Christ through art. Others came through music. Others through witnessing God's work in the world.
Fundamentally, God comes to meet us where we are as individuals. And because we are all in different places, God reaches us in different ways.
Gene |
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Patty |
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December 25, 2007 at 11:54am |
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| Jeff, What is Sin and what is Righteousness? |
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| Patty-sounds like you are trying to get to a point so what's on your heart? |
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I was reading this post. I came to Christ because I was a sinner ( through Adam's sin) That I couldnt save myself by works. I needed a redemer through the death & resurection of Christ. Were called to love people through Christ, but we must tell why Jesus died for us.If you dont give the real Christ then Jesus can be subjective In Acts how did the apostles preach Christ to people, the lost the San H. I dont think they won over people by love only.
Phil |
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Laura |
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January 01, 2008 at 8:15am |
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Gene - I cannot agree with you more... I think what you said was so on point.. you wrote: " And it wasn't in just being told, it was in being shown." Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." When we allow God's Grace and Love in us to flow outward.. when we are showing, modeling, representing Christ-like behaviors and living out of our faith... people ask. I think a major error is trying to put the 'sin-cart' before the 'transformation-horse' so to speak. Laura |
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Laura-thanks for your comment and I agree with should show and demonstrate Jesus to people but we must tell, share, and proclaim to them the gospel as well. I don't believe as you read above that people can be changed or transformed before salvation, but that we must preach and explain what sin is and why Jesus had to die for them. They need to hear the gospel and somebody needs to preach or share with them. Hope that helps!
10:14 But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? 10:15 And how can men preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!"
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| I think people do what they want to do. If they consider someone is trying to "rain on their parade" they don't want to even think about it much less read about it. I've noticed it can be amazing what people seem to want to read and respond to on the various blogs--even if it's not about a specific sin. Like I said, people usually do what THEY want to do and resent another opinion or what the Bible does say about it. |
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