http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/28/AR2010092803203.html?hpid=topnews
Gots to read about halfway through the story.
Gots to read about halfway through the story.
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Obama gives his Christian testimony
- Thread starter billwald
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Didn't sound like that strong of a testimony to me
I heard this portion on my local Christian radio station this morning.
Living a "lifestyle" on the "precepts that Jesus taught" does not save you or bring you to Jesus. Desiring to live like Jesus and serving your brothers and sisters and living the Golden Rule does not save you. Lots of people live this way and lots of people believe that the precepts that Jesus taught were good. But our lifestyles do not save us and our belief systems and our modeling ourselves after Jesus does not save us.
Looking at Jesus dying for our sins and realizing that you need to serve others does not save you.
President Obama and millions of others who believe by calling themselves Christians because they think Jesus was a great philosopher and had the best ideas on how to live our lives are probably the hardest people of all to reach for Christ.
They already believe that they are heaven-bound based on their copying the lifestyle of Christ.
He desperately needs our prayers.
We need to pray that the stronghold of ignorance of true salvation be bound and that God work a miracle of salvation in him - and his wife and children.
Reading "testimonies" like this are just as painful as reading professions of atheism from others.
As I listened to the radio, I felt a mixture of sadness, grief, anger, and frustration. I prayed for President Obama. He has missed true Christianity by a long shot.
Living a "lifestyle" on the "precepts that Jesus taught" does not save you or bring you to Jesus. Desiring to live like Jesus and serving your brothers and sisters and living the Golden Rule does not save you. Lots of people live this way and lots of people believe that the precepts that Jesus taught were good. But our lifestyles do not save us and our belief systems and our modeling ourselves after Jesus does not save us.
Looking at Jesus dying for our sins and realizing that you need to serve others does not save you.
President Obama and millions of others who believe by calling themselves Christians because they think Jesus was a great philosopher and had the best ideas on how to live our lives are probably the hardest people of all to reach for Christ.
They already believe that they are heaven-bound based on their copying the lifestyle of Christ.
He desperately needs our prayers.
We need to pray that the stronghold of ignorance of true salvation be bound and that God work a miracle of salvation in him - and his wife and children.
Reading "testimonies" like this are just as painful as reading professions of atheism from others.
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Well Obama did say that people treat him like a dog... that may explain how he is treating the American public.
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More:
"I'm also somebody who deeply believes that part of the bedrock strength of this country is that it embraces people of many faiths and of no faith." While the United States "is still predominantly Christian," he said, "we have Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, and . . . their own path to grace is one that we have to revere and respect as much as our own."
So there's more than one way to achieve grace? I can see here that it IS a work for him.
"I'm also somebody who deeply believes that part of the bedrock strength of this country is that it embraces people of many faiths and of no faith." While the United States "is still predominantly Christian," he said, "we have Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, and . . . their own path to grace is one that we have to revere and respect as much as our own."
So there's more than one way to achieve grace? I can see here that it IS a work for him.
Steven2006
New Member
Not the best wording, but not everyone is good at expressing their salvation and grasp for words when doing so. IMHO, there are other things he said that were much more troublesome.
You are absoutely right - there were no script for him to read
Your complaint is that Obama didn't "invite Jesus into his heart" or some other "Christian" jargon? Your combined responses are evidence that Christianity is a gnostic religion in the sense that insiders give secret meanings to words that outsiders can't understand. At least Catholics use dictionary meanings for common words.
Bill, I don't think that anyone here complained that that President Obama needed to "invited Jesus into his heart" or use the correct "jargon."
Jargon doesn't save anyone. It only sells hamburgers and cars. "Inviting Jesus into your heart" isn't a Biblical concept. Someone correct me on that if I am wrong.
President Obama spoke only of incorporating the "precepts of Christ" into his life and living a lifestyle of serving his fellow man. Read the entire book of Galatians. Works do not save you. Achieving social heights of taking care of the needs of others is wonderful, but it is not Christianity. All kinds of people do these things. Buddists, Mormons, Atheists, ...... a lot of these people practice good deeds. Good deeds do not erase the sin nature. No matter how many you practice.
President Obama only spoke of a life's philosophy based on the precepts of the words of Jesus. He never spoke of Jesus as the Word.
A lot of people have great philosophical teachings that we should take take note of: Ghandi, Lewis Carrol, Henry David Thoreau, and more.
Some of the absolute BEST "spiritual" and "philosophical" insights to my own personal life come from Linus in the PEANUTS comic strips. Neither Linus nor his creator, Charles Schultz, can save me from my sins.
Philosophy, as the song goes, is nothing more than "a talk on a cereal box or a walk on a slippery rock". Religion, is nothing more than "a smile on a dog or light in a fog".
This is all that President Obama was talking about - a self-described humanistic religion based on a life's philosophy. That is not Christianity.
This is Christianity.....(Paul explaining salvation using a text from Moses towards the end of Deuteronomy)
Romans 10:5-13 - "Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them." But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' " (that is, to bring Christ down) " or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). (in other words, WE can achieve nothing by working righteousness) But what does it say?
"The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Sounds good--at least to non-Christians and Christians who are weak in their knowledge of scripture. His "Christianity" is like so many other so-called "Christians" who quote words they've heard without any personal knowledge of their meaning.
It reminds me of an old TV movie I saw where a non-Christian wanted to be part a well known Christian singing group--partly because he was attracted to a girl in the group. He fooled her by turning away and not looking her in the face while giving his "testimony". He said all the right words despite not having any personal knowledge of their true meaning. Obama is doing the same thing.
When I was invited to a Baptist church at age 16, they had me on my knees with someone saying "Repeat these words after me." I repeated the words with no idea of what they meant. Then for nearly a year, I went through the act of being a Christian until even I was fooled. It was nearly a year before while reading scripture about how to be saved and the Holy Spirit finally reaching through to me that I realized that I was still lost.
It reminds me of an old TV movie I saw where a non-Christian wanted to be part a well known Christian singing group--partly because he was attracted to a girl in the group. He fooled her by turning away and not looking her in the face while giving his "testimony". He said all the right words despite not having any personal knowledge of their true meaning. Obama is doing the same thing.
When I was invited to a Baptist church at age 16, they had me on my knees with someone saying "Repeat these words after me." I repeated the words with no idea of what they meant. Then for nearly a year, I went through the act of being a Christian until even I was fooled. It was nearly a year before while reading scripture about how to be saved and the Holy Spirit finally reaching through to me that I realized that I was still lost.
I remember seeing that movie - do you remember the name of it?
NaasPreacher (C4K)
Well-Known Member
It sounds like President Obama is a 'Christian' in the exact same sense that President Jefferson was a 'Christian.'
The wording is so close that I almost wonder if he has been reading Jefferson.
Are posters here willing to attach the same epithets to President Jefferson as they do to President Obama?
The wording is so close that I almost wonder if he has been reading Jefferson.
Are posters here willing to attach the same epithets to President Jefferson as they do to President Obama?
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Are you Catholic?
Actually, it's that those religions added to the Bible.
Roger, based only on what I have read about Thomas Jefferson over the years, I have never believed that he was a Christian.
A lot of our Founding Fathers were not Christians even though they "believed" in an impersonal God and thought the Bible was a "good book" full of moral ways to live.
It's not a popular topic with many people who want to believe that ALL of our Founding Fathers were akin to the 12 disciples.
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