Comments on: Lessons from Travis: The good Christian http://www.ubfriends.org/2014/10/10/lessons-from-travis-the-good-christian/ for friends of University Bible Fellowship Wed, 21 Oct 2015 04:34:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.3.1 By: BrianK http://www.ubfriends.org/2014/10/10/lessons-from-travis-the-good-christian/#comment-15487 Fri, 10 Oct 2014 16:36:18 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=8430#comment-15487 Perhaps so… I do like what one Episcopalian once said, “Comedian and Episcopalian Robin Williams once described the Episcopal faith (and, in a performance in London, specifically the Church of England) as “Catholic Lite – same rituals, half the guilt.”

]]> By: forestsfailyou http://www.ubfriends.org/2014/10/10/lessons-from-travis-the-good-christian/#comment-15486 Fri, 10 Oct 2014 16:12:54 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=8430#comment-15486 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episcopal_Church_(United_States)

This sounds like it’s what you are looking for.

]]> By: BrianK http://www.ubfriends.org/2014/10/10/lessons-from-travis-the-good-christian/#comment-15485 Fri, 10 Oct 2014 15:40:44 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=8430#comment-15485 Yes, forests. For a while I considered “coming home” to the RCC. And even though I agree very much with most of what I hear Catholics say, I cannot return to those who proclaim a “Cyberman gospel”.

The Cyberman gospel goes like this: Upgrade and conform to Church Authority or be deleted forever in hell.

]]> By: forestsfailyou http://www.ubfriends.org/2014/10/10/lessons-from-travis-the-good-christian/#comment-15484 Fri, 10 Oct 2014 15:23:59 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=8430#comment-15484 I suppose for a time a person justified by their works may feel like all is well because they have done their good deeds, but in time this turns back to anxiety or pride.

]]> By: forestsfailyou http://www.ubfriends.org/2014/10/10/lessons-from-travis-the-good-christian/#comment-15483 Fri, 10 Oct 2014 15:10:59 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=8430#comment-15483 Have you been talking to Catholics recently. As much as I respect Catholic tradition and all the work they do for Christ, the idea of mortal sins and salvation by grace not faith is something I can’t deal with. Without those I would certainly be Catholic.

]]> By: BrianK http://www.ubfriends.org/2014/10/10/lessons-from-travis-the-good-christian/#comment-15482 Fri, 10 Oct 2014 14:26:47 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=8430#comment-15482 Yes, the way forests worded this makes perfect sense, and matches what the bible says, namely that salvation comes not from the law but from the promises that preceded the law.

But Ben you may have a point to make… what “pressure” are you thinking about?

]]> By: forestsfailyou http://www.ubfriends.org/2014/10/10/lessons-from-travis-the-good-christian/#comment-15481 Fri, 10 Oct 2014 14:17:05 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=8430#comment-15481 No I meant that. If we think the gospel’s promises are conditioned on our works this makes us constantly anxious that we are not doing enough. It’s also false for if the inheritance depended on the law then it did not depend on the promise given to abraham. At least that is my experience.

]]> By: Ben Toh http://www.ubfriends.org/2014/10/10/lessons-from-travis-the-good-christian/#comment-15479 Fri, 10 Oct 2014 12:12:38 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=8430#comment-15479 Forests, I may have misread or misunderstood you, but didn’t you mean to write “a lot of anxiety and pressure is added (rather than “removed”) when the promises of the gospel are divorced from our efforts alone”?

]]> By: BrianK http://www.ubfriends.org/2014/10/10/lessons-from-travis-the-good-christian/#comment-15478 Fri, 10 Oct 2014 11:33:05 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=8430#comment-15478 Oh and this gem was preached to me first:

“The good news is that with the help of God’s grace and the working of the Holy Spirit, it *is actually possible* to grow in virtue and to stop committing mortal sins altogether. It’s not easy – dying to yourself will never be easy – but that’s what you must do, with God’s help. God be praised, if you die in a state of grace, then you will inherit the kingdom of God. If you die outside of a state of grace, then you will burn alive in Hell for all eternity. That’s the awful truth, but nonetheless a great motivator in begging for God’s help to turn away from sin and grow in sanctity, i.e. in love of God and neighbor.”

I find this to be a classic hamster wheel gospel that is no good news at all.

]]> By: BrianK http://www.ubfriends.org/2014/10/10/lessons-from-travis-the-good-christian/#comment-15477 Fri, 10 Oct 2014 11:30:27 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=8430#comment-15477 Great lessons, thanks for sharing!

Indeed, the promises are key. When we “share the gospel” with others, maybe we should remember those promises?

I had the “gospel” preached to me this week. It went like this:

” Brian, peace of Christ be with you. Your ideas are contrary to the truth revealed by God, lived and taught and explained by Christ’s Church and her Saints over 20+ centuries. I pray in time you will consider forsaking them in order to make a true embrace of Christ and His Church. And why? Because I want to spend eternity in Heaven with you. Now, I am a sinner, but I hope in God’s mercy and by Divine Grace I hope to make it through those pearly gates. I am concerned that your false beliefs are hardening your heart to the graces of repentance and growth in true sanctity, and thus you are on the wide path to everlasting unhappiness. God bless you.”

Apparently I am an unhappy heretic headed to hell. That’s not true, I am a happy heretic headed to hell!

Note to Christians: If your “gospel” sounds more like a drug addict talking to angels, you probably do not understand the gospel Jesus and the Apostles preached.

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