Good word Kathy. Interesting to learn that the Pharisees were martyred for their faith. They definitely had zeal for God then, didn't they? Scary to think that I could be just like them.

As far as confronting others about their sin, I think most of us go to both extremes, but rarely get it just right. We either hit them hard with scriptural admonitions, playing into the Christian stereotypes, OR we ignore, rationalize, or otherwise downplay our brothers'/sisters' sin, leaving it totally unconfronted, b/c we are afraid of confrontation. (I believe the latter occurs far more frequently than the former.) I agree that the best approach is taken in love, and perhaps is relational as well. I much prefer modelling the appropriate lifestyle to advocating it verbally.

As far as counselling depressed persons, man that is hard! You make some good points about this too. I think most of us have been there, but perhaps we're so glad to be the counselor rather than the one counselled that we forget how it feels and approach it all wrong. Of course, the worst thing to say just might be "Just give it to the Lord". That line was used once to terrible effect on a family member of mine who had been in professional counselling for years for depression issues. For goodness sakes, we've got to be careful!

Thanks for another great one!
~mike

I love this post.  In Romans it says to weep with those who weep (12:15).  In Galations it says to restore a sinner gently.  Jesus never told anyone to "read your Bible and pray."  I kind of wish preaching would change a person, though: I preach at myself all the time.

I think the Pharisees forgot about this principle: To get God's results, you have to rely on God's involvement.

I love the serenity prayer, it has a lot to say about a good attitude towards others and myself:

I think this principle is a good application of this verse:

Ok,
I was trying to think what I could say that was insightful and, well ok , self-aggrandising . Then I thought a little bit more about what you said...and well.....thank you!

Thank you, Patrick!

Dennis, lol - love you, brother!

Mujer, ¡gracias mi hermana!  Si necesitas escuchadora, escríbeme, y yo escucharé y oraré.  ¡Dios te bendiga!

Had another thought on all this from Romans 13:8:

Rom 13:8 (NASB) Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

How often have I acted like I owed nothing buy my advice?

Another thought: did you know recovery groups like Alcoholics Anonymous ban giving advice?  People in recovery groups are there to support each other as each person works on themselves by God's direction.

I had a good little saying come to mind, so it might be from God.

Right on Sister!

This was great.  I actually had a situation like this, this week with someone I've been witnessing to.  The love and compassion you show others in their time of need makes a good opportunity to express what God's love has done in your own life.

Hmmm, well once again it looks like I have some disagreements with this post. First, with the mentioned author's points:

I read an interesting article yesterday entitled Pharisees Ancient and Modern.  The author points out the following observations about the Pharisees:

They knew their Bibles.

(According to Jesus they did NOT know the scriptures...e.g., "ye error because you know not the scriptures..."

They were moral.

Again, not according to Jesus... he said they strained at gnats and swallowed camels, that they  ignored the weightier parts of the law, etc.

Many were martyred for their faith.

Really, can the author give one example? Curious!

 They attended church regularly.

(or the synagogue) 

They were evangelical/orthodox.

Were they orthodox? REally?

They were evangelistic. 

Again, really? Did they spread good news of salvation? Really?

Now, Kathy states the following: 

So why do the Pharisees get such a bad rap?  I submit 2 reasons:  1)  They were legalistic, holding the words of the law as their highest authority; 

I agree here they were legalistic but NOT because they took the words of the law as their highest authority but rather they took their own additions and interpretations of the law as the highest authority. And why call it a bad rap? They deserve the rap they got, do they not? 

2)  They used the Scripture to keep everyone else in line.

Again, no, they used faulty interpretation of scripture and legalism in the truest since to do it. The law and scripture ARE spiritual.  

Not to be cantankerous but I would say that, in fact, Biblical guidance is the only type of guidance that "works". 

I am just wondering if everyone that is posting to this blog are from the same church and area or from different churches?  I, myself am from Becker, MN.  The church that I go to doesn't have anyone signed up yet.  My sister who lives in Omaha told me about this site, so I decided to check it out.

jenmama4, I am in NC and have never physically met any of the other posters of this particular blog, although some have become good friends here on MyChurch!  They are from all across the U.S. from CA and OR to FL and VA and all in between, and 2 are even from outside the U.S.!  I'm glad your sister told you about MyChurch!  It's a great site for meeting and fellowshipping with Christian brothers and sisters from all over!  You can see where we are from, what we church we attend, etc. by clicking on our photos.  If you know of others in your church who enjoy the internet, invite them to join you here!  In March I was the first at my church to discover the site, and now there are 11.  We're glad you're here and look forward to getting to know you better! 

I haven't added to this post yet, Hooray!

First of all, Kathy I love this post, and I agree with you! You've raised some really good points to think about.

Second, I'm from O'Fallon, MO next to St. Louis, but my church is full of people on mychurch, we have a ridiculous number of people on here compared to some!

3rd, jen, I am glad you gave your problems to god. It seems that a lot of people try to fix things on their own first, you're not alone in that! I personally have a problem of thinking that I can fix things on my own, and I only call god in once things are so bad that I can't handle it anymore.

Finally, I have a question for recon. I agree that the Pharisees seem hypocrical, but I think they tried to get others to join their faith. Otherwise, how would they have so many followers? And for the most part, it was my inpression that the Pharisees tried to follow the commandments and such. I agree that in their less than happy recieval of Jesus they probably missed a few things, but they didn't try to be immoral.