Tudór:

Look at the way these soldiers of christ are fighting one another. Its quite a shame. . .

you'd think they would practice the agape love they talk about in church.

what a bunch of frauds.

bawomolo:

you'd think they would practice the agape love they talk about in church.

what a bunch of frauds.

SORRY your post = Meaningless

2 Corinthians 4:2-4:
2 We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this.
3 If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. 4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

The question arises how come most people or "churches" don't know or preach the true gospel of christ the answer is highlighted in the above passage and that is becos satan as blinded their eyes to it. Instead they see such things as prosperity, divine health, miracles, signs and wonders. Even though there is nothing wrong with this preaching it is a distortion of the true gospel. If as far back as the time of Paul[almost 2,000 years ago] people have already been trying to distort the gospel you can imagine how much damage as been done in 2,000 years a lot of this distortion has actually been indoctrinated and intituitionalized into the church fabric and through dogmatism it has been re-inforced and becos the clergy does not allow the laity to ask questions people just have to accept it like that. People don't even know the difference between church traditions instituited by men and the true will of God.

Matthew 15:9:
9 Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’”

The above passage makes it clear that men have been in the business of distorting God's word even at the time christ was here on earth with us the more reason why we ought to be more discerning and actually strive to know his true gospel.

i wish i can meet you in person, your mind set is very unbiased , rational and objective. Tell me is it possible we ever meet?

Galatians 5:22-23:

  22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

A lot of christians claim to be "born again" even thogh the scriptures hardly ever described believers this way[ it is a pentecostal manta] the term generally refers to those who have accepted Jesus christ as their lord and saviour and by so doing have accepted to keep his commandments the greatest of which is love. They also claim to have the holy spirit within them but the above passage explains what fruits the spirit produces namely: love,joy,peace,patience,goodness,faithfulness,gentleness and self control. To all my "spirit filled" born again brethen, how many of these fruits do you possess? Just answer the question to yourself  and pray about it. To be a true beliver is not just mantra but it must be seen in our lives and in our works. The attack i have received from so called christian brethren on this forum leaves a lot to be desired.

seyenko:

i wish i can meet you in person, your mind set is very unbiased , rational and objective. Tell me is it possible we ever meet?

Certainly i believe we would meet in due course.

The purpose of this thread is to provoke believers to study the word more so: 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Ephesians 4:14:

Any casual observer even an atheist would tell you today that there is a lot of distortion in christiandom but it wasn't always so neither was it designed to be that way. Man becos of his wickedness and the greed in his heart as allowed himself to be used by satan to distort the gospel in the passage above apostle Paul encourages christians to mature in faith through knowledge and understanding of the true gospel so they wouldn't be tossed up and down by false teachers who up till this day are still very prevalent.

Have you are wondered why societies like Illuminati came to being, it was because of the distortion of the truth by the religious people. While they could not explain certain things, they are quick claim it is satanic or heresy, then they burn you at stake. I used to tell a gal friend in the past that diseases like epilepsy, sleep paralysis and other unexplainable neurological illnesses have nothing to do with demonic possession which was what the church was preaching but science came to prove the religious ones wrong. Imagine what having sickle cell anemia or having multiple births or birth defect was like in those days of the dark ages when the church even claimed that the earth is flat and it is at the center of the universe, but we know it is all falsehood today thanks to break through in scientific knowledge. If only they can remove their religion cap for once and look at issues objectively without bias. The distortion of the gospel and the truth is still going on up till today, i times i wonder if the average educated Nigerian is not an educated illiterate. The white man once said ' if you want to hide something from a black man, put it in a book'. The average Nigerian is too lazy to read the bible, instead they rely on the lies their charlatan pastors tells them on the pulpit as a fact, when the bible position is very clear but they are too lazy to make any effort in knowing the truth, or when they even know the truth , they prefer being with the crowd. Having crowd mentality and never standing on fact but fallacy.

I sense an open curtailment of enlightenment via naked hostilities from these folks who appear at best to be fake Christians. Jesus Christ instructed us to seek the truth and Kunle seems to be opening up the discorse so instead of presenting our opinion, some are about to jump off a cliff, do Jerry curled folks need constant medication? Why in the world would a real Christian changed the original parts God gave them?

Let's concentrate on studying the truth and leave the demented to fend for themselves if that is what they wanted, every idiot has a right to remain stupid if the refuse to seek knowledge.

Hmmm,  What a thread indeed!! Well, just felt i should drop something here. First of all i wanna appreciate the owner of this thread for his desire and passion for something like this and also to everyone that have contributed one way or the other. Having read all that was posted, i will just like to make it plain for whosoever have ear to hear and understand what the Lord is saying this hour, particularly this hour of the night when tick and gross darkness in coming upon the earth and people in it. If i were to be in the position of what each one of you has posted here, i will have take note of some important things that of eternal values. Let me list it out in summary, 1. The restoration of the True and sincere Love among christian. 2. Studying to show yourself approve as a workman that need not to be afraid of anything. 3. Judging what you hear by the word of God (scripture). And to cap it all HEARING GOD! though that was not included but thats the basis for all i aforementioned. It is high time christian begin to seek out the ancient Truth that was once deliver to the saint. I may not talk more on this but i believe that what kunle has written should propel you and i to some questions within ourselves rather than naming anything either wrong or heresy. Infact, it should cause you as a person to seek the Lord concerning it. The problem has always been that christian if not dealt with by the Lord are very quick in judging or naming things (even if it's the next move of God) heresy and demonic. So, my dear fellow nigerian, its time to seek the Lord and know Him experientially and personally not by just what you are taught by your pastor or 'GOS' but by what He(the Lord) has taught you in your closet while you are there alone with Him waiting, praying, seeking and listen to what He has to say to you and suprising things is that such time never exist if they are, they are quickly turned into activities. And i think the way to glory is by seeking, waiting, studying, praying and listen to what God has to say you in your closet.
May the Lord help us.

@ogajim
Thanx for your observation. Those who claim to be believers are the very ones showing resentment for the truth about the gosple of christ. But this is not new in human behaviour it was the pharisees who were supposed to be serving God that showed Jesus so much resentment to the point of killing him. The human heart is not only evil but it is very wicked and selfish, it would take only the unmeritted grace of God for any human to be truly redeemed. I had thought this thread would be an open forum in whivh we christians can share what we believe to be the true gospel of christ and his purpose on this earth. Ironically love is a central point in his gospel but some people who claim to be "christians" on this forum have demonstrated so much hate yet they claim they keep his commadments. Judgement day is truly going to be very interesting.

@wackhack
Thanx or your contributions. That is what this thread should be about and that is us all contributing and discoursing the true gospel of christ based on scriptures so we can all collectively have a better understanding of what christianity should be. It is also meant to provoke us all to study our bibles better and have a better understanding of the word so we can develop into mature christians and not just be tossed up and down by every man who claims he is of God.

Interesting thread.
@kunle.My guy,Jesus(or Yeshua the man) never gave "commandments" on anything as you put it.He was an awakened(enlightened) TEACHER who gave teachings about the true nature of our existence and who we truly are(atleast he tried to).
Saying that he gave commandments only paints him as an overbearing,egoic tyrant who enjoyed imposing his will on others just because he knows what others do not.Is that the way you see Jesus?Because if that is the way you do,then you're no different from the other christians that you are criticizing.
Yeshua,the itinerant wandering preacher, was a CHRIST,a BUDDHA,which means he was EGOLESS,and egoless beings don't give commandments.They only try to teach the fundermental truth that every human can identify with,free of any religious ideologies or dogma.

Dear Kunle,
I like what I see, you have taken up the "cross" as they say and you are really trying hard to model the christian religion after what it is supposed to be about which is love. My question to you today is this, a huge chunk of  the the bible contains many words that are not even attributed to Jesus, for instance the letters from Paul. What method do you employ in differentiating the ones that would have come from Jesus and those that are just mere tradition.
Thanks.

@Jagunlabi
Jesus did give a commandment albeit being for our own benefit and you would find it in: John 13:34-35:
34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”




@chrisbenegor
While i hate to admit it i do agree with you that there are some inconsistences in the bible but i don't allow that to deter my faith as my faith is in christ jesus and not the bible itself. I see the bible as a tool and a guide to show me the scriptures and with a discerning mind i can determine what is true from what is not. Any thing i read that contradicts the true gospel of christ as i have been trying to expantiate on this thread to me is not of God. I view such as the opinions/feelings of the men who wrote the books that make up the bible.Some of the books also have translation errors whilst some were deliberately manipulated.The presentation of the bible as infallible to us i believe as created more problems for christianity and also assited in pushing some people to atheism. Understanding the difference between faith in Christ Jesus and faith in the bible which is merely a book is the key to realizing our true faith and understanding his will better. Here is how we are advised in the bible to determine the truth in scriptures;
1 Thessalonians 5:20-21:
20 Do not despise inspired messages. 21 Put all things to test: keep what is good.

You can see from the above that we are not advised to accept all scripture[bible] we are to put it to test to determine if it is of God before we accept it and that is why i have no qualms about not accepting everything that was included in the bible becos it was compiled by mere men without any evidence or even record of divine inspiration in the process of it's compilation. This as made christianity much clearer to me and freed me of dogmatism in the instuitionalized aspect of the religion

KunleOshob:

@chrisbenegor
While i hate to admit it i do agree with you that there are some inconsistences in the bible but i don't allow that to deter my faith as my faith is in christ jesus and not the bible itself. I see the bible as a tool and a guide to show me the scriptures and with a discerning mind i can determine what is true from what is not. Any thing i read that contradicts the true gospel of christ as i have been trying to expantiate on this thread to me is not of God. I view such as the opinions/feelings of the men who wrote the books that make up the bible.Some of the books also have translation errors whilst some were deliberately manipulated.The presentation of the bible as infallible to us i believe as created more problems for christianity and also assited in pushing some people to atheism. Understanding the difference between faith in Christ Jesus and faith in the bible which is merely a book is the key to realizing our true faith and understanding his will better. Here is how we are advised in the bible to determine the truth in scriptures;
1 Thessalonians 5:20-21:
20 Do not despise inspired messages. 21 Put all things to test: keep what is good.

You can see from the above that we are not advised to accept all scripture[bible] we are to put it to test to determine if it is of God before we accept it and that is why i have no qualms about not accepting everything that was included in the bible becos it was compiled by mere men without any evidence or even record of divine inspiration in the process of it's compilation. This as made christianity much clearer to me and freed me of dogmatism in the instuitionalized aspect of the religion

I once again applaud your response, I often wonder at how christians manage to duct tape parts of the bible that clearly show a difference in ideology. All the best in your quest.
Cheers.

How are we sure that that was Yeshua being quoted?The fact is that we will never know because the bible is the most edited book in history.I will take this text with a pinch of salt.I see Yeshua as a very awakened human being,and such a person will never give such a commandment.Why?Because commanding people to love one another is the most ridiculous thing to ask anybody, because love cannot be commanded.An awakened being like Yeshua should know that,least of all.
It is so out of character of an awakened and enlightened spiritual teacher that the text has to have been fudged.
No,i do not believe Yeshau said that line.The church of rome most probably did.

KunleOshob:

@Jagunlabi
Jesus did give a commandment albeit being for our own benefit and you would find it in: John 13:34-35:
34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

jagunlabi:

How are we sure that that was Yeshua being quoted?The fact is that we will never know because the bible is the most edited book in history.I will take this text with a pinch of salt.I see Yeshua as a very awakened human being,and such a person will never give such a commandment.Why?Because commanding people to love one another is the most ridiculous thing to ask anybody, because love cannot be commanded.An awakened being like Yeshua should know that,least of all.
It is so out of character of an awakened and enlightened spiritual teacher that the text has to have been fudged.
No,i do not believe Yeshau said that line.The church of rome most probably did.

Whilst it is written in the form of a commandment it still conforms with the spirit of christ and definitely NOT the church of rome that does not practise or advocate this love. It might come in the form of a commandment which sounds difficult or impossible but truly it is definitely devine becos it is not in human nature to love one and other. The truth is that the early christian church practicalized this commandment by being good to themselves and others [acts 4:32-35] i believe this is what God expects of us christians.

Chrisbenogor:

I once again applaud your response, I often wonder at how christians manage to duct tape parts of the bible that clearly show a difference in ideology. All the best in your quest.
Cheers.

Thanx for your response, i would once again like to encourage you to re approach the new testament with an open mind and truly try to understand what the gospel of christ is all about devoid of church dogmatism, it promises to be truly revealing.

I feel like posting some things in this forum and i wouldn't mind if you are challenge by it or probably you get hurt, for truth must be spoken. Well, we all know how to type and post well. We have the capacity of locating where error was or is. We even see beyond our reasonable mind what other cannot see. Infact, we are very judgemental in our words and ways. Not only that, we are all full of strength and most important we are sure of ourselves when it comes to debating issues even life issues. Above all, this show to us that there is a driving force behind everything we do.
   But our problem is this "WE HAVE NOT BEEN DEALT WITH NEITHER HAVE WE KNOW THE WAY TO THE CROSS. ALL WE GATHER ALONG THE WAY ARE JUST HEAD KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT LIFE IN IT.  Yea, we may complain and talk about things that are wrong with todays CHRISTIANITY but we are not very conversant at providing the SOLUTION to them.   
  DON'T FORGET, THE CORRUPTION YOU SEE OUTSIDE AND CONDEM OR SPOKE AGAINST ARE ALSO INSIDE OF YOU WAITING FOR THE SAVIOUR TO JUDGE.
   Having gone through the christian's forum in this site, what i've always been seeing has been the PROBLEM of todays church but never have i see a SOLUTION. To be candid, what Youth can see are the problem but it take an AGED man( A man that have followed God and has been dealt with in all his ways) to see the SOLUTION. Youth are full of strength but its of no use when they are not dealt it.
  If i may ask, how many of You here has been dealt with by the Lord forget about the bible here and be realistic?. Has the Lord shown you the Corruption inside of you at anytime?. How many of His rod have you bear in the process of disobeying Him? Do you at all hear His voice? Or Has He ever spoken to you personally? Do you have experiential knowledge of Whom Christ is- i mean knowing Him as the Lord over you not as saviour? To what extense have you dealt with your Adamic nature? How many time have you cried to the Lord for the CORRUPTION INSIDE OF YOU?
   Let me stop there, don't forget YOUR STRENGTH AND KNOWLEDGE IS OF NO USE IF ALL AFOREMENTION ARE NOT THERE IN YOUR LIFE. So, brothers and sisters why don't we deal with our lives first before considering other. REMEMBER THIS '' CHRIST WILL NEVER COMPROMISE HIS CHURCH FOR ANYTHING'' NOT EVEN FOR YOU AS A CHRISTIAN. YEA, SHE MAY APPEAR AS HARLOT OR UNHOLY BUT DON'T FORGET THAT THAT IS WHAT HE DIED FOR. IN HIS OWN EYES HIS BRIDE IS HOLY BUT HOW DO YOU SEE HER?, GOD'S WORD ARE NOT MEANT TO BE DEBATE ON OR ARGUE ABOUT, NO, HE DOESN'T MAKE YOU A JUDGE OF HIS WORD. Let HIM ALONE JUDGE. To this end, let everyone of us as Youth be wise. "'THE STRENGTH OF AN HORSE IS AN ABOMINATION UNTO THE LORD"'

I have a very nice article on Christianity for the free minded here, check out this topic : https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-292472.0.html#msg4136097

jagunlabi:

How are we sure that that was Yeshua being quoted?The fact is that we will never know because the bible is the most edited book in history.I will take this text with a pinch of salt.[b]I see Yeshua as a very awakened human being,and such a person will never give such a commandment.[/b]Why?Because commanding people to love one another is the most ridiculous thing to ask anybody, because love cannot be commanded.[b]An awakened being like Yeshua should know that,least of all.[/b]It is so out of character of an awakened and enlightened spiritual teacher that the text has to have been fudged.
No,i do not believe Yeshau said that line.The church of rome most probably did.

The highlighted above is the mistake you are making, Yeshua was not just an "awakened" human being like buddha but he is divinity the son of the most high who has all the authority of heaven and earth placed in him and thereby worthy of giving commandments. However by his humble nature which he adopted here on earth [to give an example to us] he was not one to throw his weight around an give vain commandments.

I am sorry but the mistake is yours.You still think that the creator is a physical being who has a son.This form is what has been created for your mind by the very same church that you are trying to get away from.You still see the creator as a being(maybe an extraterrestrial who has a son called Jesus).You will never fully understand the whole picture if you keep holding on to this image that has been created in your mind.
Yeshua was a man like you and i,and he was part of the creator as much as you and i are right now.The only difference is that he was fully awakened(having achieved the christ consciousness or the buddha nature) and we have not,atleast not yet.
We are all droplets of the same ocean,Yeshua and the rest of us.What is exactly the point in trying to create a special status for Yeshua if not to use it to decieve people?There is no humility in trying to create special divinity status no matter how you dice it.To me,Yeshua was fully a man and never ever claimed to be devine enough to be worshipped.
Sorry,the error is on your part.

KunleOshob:

The highlighted above is the mistake you are making, Yeshua was not just an "awakened" human being like buddha but he is divinity the son of the most high who has all the authority of heaven and earth placed in him and thereby worthy of giving commandments. However by his humble nature which he adopted here on earth [to give an example to us] he was not one to throw his weight around an give vain commandments.

Again you have not addressed the core issue here.How can you commandeer people to love?How does that work?Is it a surprise that religion has helped to create a very dysfunctional global society?You wonder why there is no love and it says in the scriptural texts that to love is something that could be commandeered by whomever.
It just does not work that way.Commandments to love your fellow human being never works even if it was issued by the socalled son of god,Jesus.That does not add any value or power to the act of loving your fellow man.This is the weakness in religious teachings that preache that mankind should love one another just because somebody who lived a couple of thousands of years ago, who was deemed divine, said so.We've all seen that this has and never will work.
Mankind need to be made to understand the profound fundermental reasons why love is important,and not because it was a commandment.
Why do we need to love our neighbours like ourselves?Because our neighbours are US,at the deepest fundermental level.When you hurt your neighbour you hurt yourself.Whatever you do to your fellow man you do to yourself, because he/she is you and you are he/she. We only seem different in the physical world,on the level of form.At the deepest level of formlessness,you and i are one, of the same BEING,AWARENESS,CONSCIOUSNESS,SOUL,SPIRIT,or whatever other term you might like to label it with.These are all just mere words,afterall.
This is a spiritual and profound truth that no pastor,bishop or pope will ever tell you.

KunleOshob:

Whilst it is written in the form of a commandment it still conforms with the spirit of christ and definitely NOT the church of rome that does not practise or advocate this love. It might come in the form of a commandment which sounds difficult or impossible but truly it is definitely devine becos it is not in human nature to love one and other. The truth is that the early christian church practicalized this commandment by being good to themselves and others [acts 4:32-35] i believe this is what God expects of us christians.

jagunlabi:


It just does not work that way.Commandments to love your fellow human being never works even if it was issued by the socalled son of god,Jesus.That does not add any value or power to the act of loving your fellow man.This is the weakness in religious teachings that preache that mankind should love one another just because somebody who lived a couple of thousands of years ago, who was deemed divine, said so.We've all seen that this has and never will work.
Mankind need to be made to understand the profound fundermental reasons why love is important,and not because it was a commandment.
Why do we need to love our neighbours like ourselves?Because our neighbours are US,at the deepest fundermental level.When you hurt your neighbour you hurt yourself.Whatever you do to your fellow man you do to yourself, because he/she is you and you are he/she. We only seem different in the physical world,on the level of form.At the deepest level of formlessness,you and i are one, of the same BEING,AWARENESS,CONSCIOUSNESS,SOUL,SPIRIT,or whatever other term you might like to label it with.These are all just mere words,afterall.
This is a spiritual and profound truth that no pastor,bishop or pope will ever tell you.

Jesus was mostly about example and not commandments. The highlighted part of ur post almost makes it sound like that is a bad thing. He never claimed to be the literal "Son of God" or God in the flesh.  What Jesus did was try to show the truths that u describe in ur post to Jewish peasants of his time, and they lived in a different world from the one we live in now.

When u say "Mankind need to be made to understand the profound fundamental reasons why love is important and not because it was a commandment" , and then criticize Jesus, who tried to do just that, it doesn't add up to me.

I was not criticizing him,but the gospel writers.If you read my ealier posts you would have seen where iwrote that it is out of character for a being of light,an awakened being like Yeshua to be issuing commandments about love.But,accoding to the gospels,that was he did,which i doubt very very much.

Krayola:

When u say "Mankind need to be made to understand the profound fundermental reasons why love is important and not because it was a commandment" , and then criticize Jesus, who tried to do just that, it doesn't add up to me.

jagunlabi:

I am sorry but the mistake is yours.You still think that the creator is a physical being who has a son.

I never claimed the creator is a physical being who has a son, the bible makes it clear that God is spirit and he can manifest himself in a physical form. You already agree that we as humans are a manifestation of God so i would assume that you know that it shouldn't be too difficult for God to manifest his son in a physical form if we mere humans can be manifested in the flesh.

There you go again with the God and his son thingy.You still make the creator seem like a man and his son.
Why should the formless have a "son"?Only physical beings have "sons" and "daughters" because they can have physical families.
We are all God's children.There is no "special" child of God.We are all special in our own way.Every single one of us.Jesus(Yeshua) was just one of many sons that have come and gone,and will continue to come and go as physical manifestations forever.
Jesus holds no special status as far as i am concerned,apart from the fact that he was an enlightened teacher in his time.

KunleOshob:

so i would assume that you know that it shouldn't be too difficult for God to manifest his son in a physical form if we mere humans can be manifested in the flesh.

jagunlabi:

I was not criticizing him,but the gospel writers.If you read my ealier posts you would have seen where iwrote that it is out of character for a being of light,an awakened being like Yeshua to be issuing commandments about love.But,accoding to the gospels,that was he did,which i doubt very very much.

ok.  You had me confused for a second.

The thing with the gospels is that people usually fail to realize that they were each written for a specific purpose, or if i can say, to "push an agenda". Read literally, they give very little insight into who Jesus really was.

The Gospels are like ancient Greek or Roman biographies (rich, in some cases, in over-elaboration and myth), which describe the lives and deeds of great individuals; philosophers, emperors, generals and writers, as examples to follow. They are not modern biographies. They have no interest in the early years of Jesus' life, his education (he obviously had some, formal or not), or physical appearance; they are not concerned with his personality or the motivations behind his deeds. They were only interested in presenting their interpretations of the religious significance of Jesus of Nazareth. They chose to include in their writings the events and teachings from the life of Jesus that supported their understanding of him (and in several cases, improvised, a lot). The Gospel writers were not just collectors of stories of Jesus; rather they were creative theologians. They took the information they had about Jesus and edited it in various ways to communicate their own understandings of who Jesus was. For this reason, the Gospels should be viewed as theologically interpreted history. They present the story of Jesus filtered through the faith of the early church.

The term "Son of God" was really started as an attempt to link Jesus to the line of David.

There were several early christian traditions that started after the death of Jesus. The virginal conception and Bethlehem birth are unique to the one that was available to the writers of Matthew and Luke for their infancy stories. They were not elements of all the early Christian traditions. For example, in John 7: 41-42, where people are arguing whether Jesus is or is not the Davidic  Messiah or Christ.

' Others said, "This is the Messiah." But some asked, 'Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?"

There is no indication from any of the Gospels outside of Matthew and Luke of a Bethlehem birth of Jesus. And for the Gospel of John, which is the most forceful in claiming Jesus is the son of God, or even, God (God's word), to leave that out, goes further to show that the information simply was not available to the writers, even decades after the other gospels had been written. For Matthew and Luke, therefore, who were more familiar with Jewish faith, the confession of faith that lies  beneath them - that Jesus was the Son of God and that he was the Davidic Messiah- shaped their stories in ways that it didn't the others. They were "convinced" that Jesus was the Davidic Messiah and their narratives were shaped accordingly.

Hopefully that ^^ makes some sense to you.haha Not sure if i said it right, but I hope u get where i'm comin from

Hi Kunle,

Please note that this is not in anyway an attempt to engage you. I only need this for information and clarity.

What are your views on the 'RAPTURE'?

sharp man:

Hi Kunle,

Please note that this is not in anyway an attempt to engage you. I only need this for information and clarity.

What are your views on the 'RAPTURE'?

Well i believe the rapture is one of the most mis-understood issues in pentecostal theology, whilst rapture in itself is not mentioned in the bible the concept of rapture is gotten from 1 thessalonians 4: 16-17 which says : 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.
You can see from the above that it never said believers would be taken up to heaven it only said believers would meet up with Jesus in the clouds/air. This might just be a way of welcoming his arrival cause another bible passage revelation 21: 2-3 which says 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
   3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.
   indicates that when Jesus returns with God they would come and live on earth with us. When the above two scriptures are compared and contrasted, you would agree with me that he concept of rapture is grossly mis-understood by the pentescostal movament that professes it.

Thanks Kunle.

I would appreciate comments from others.

Please note that i need this for information and i want scriptural backings with explanations.

Thanks.

@KunleOshob:

Matthew 4:17:

17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

Was matthew the author of this verse, or somebody else who accorded it to him? Lets assume he was the author, we shall have two problems to solve;
1). Did Matthew knew Jesus well enough prior to "the beginning of his preaching", for him to write this verse as if he knew the exact time he started preaching, or did Jesus tell him this afterall?

2). Was Matthew the first recruit/disciple before Jesus was swampped by the 12 who surrounded him constantly, hence he was able to tell Matthew before then, when exactly he started his preaching and what led to it?

If one of these situations did not happen, or if there is no proof that Jesus sat Matthew down or another person who told Matthew this time lime of Jesus "starting his preaching", we hardly can believe the accounts of Matthew about the life of Jesus christ of the Bible!