Perhaps that church should show the "disgruntled" person the same reports you were able to see. I believe I would be disgruntled as well, if I I have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the church, gave above and beyond...for a decade....and then get the run around when asking the church about the budget for the latest endeavor this church was taking on. I saw the financial documents, and if that is what you were saying was stellar, and above and beyond...then, I am not sure what to say. Because, I could see where there were several loop holes. In order to catch a thief, you have to think like one. Learned that years ago.
There is no one who does not sin, but there should be a marked difference in the deliberateness of sin when one has received the free gift of life in Christ. Sin will be less frequent, and there will be genuine sorrow and repentance when it happens.
1)"Lord, speak to me that I may speak In living echoes of Thy tone: As Thou hast sought, so let me seek Thy erring children, lost and lone. 2)O lead me, Lord, that I may lead The wandering and the wavering feet; O feed me, Lord, that I may feed Thy hungering ones with manna sweet. 3) O strengthen me, that while I stand Firm on the Rock and strong in Thee, I may stretch out a loving hand To wrestlers with the troubled sea. 4)O teach me, Lord, that I may teach The precious things Thou dost impart; And wing my words, that they may reach The hidden depths of many a heart. 5)O fill me with Thy fullness, Lord, Until my very heart o'erflow In kindling thought and glowing word Thy love to tell, Thy praise to show. 6)O fill me with Thy Presence, Lord, Until my very heart o'er flow In kindling thought and glowing word Thy love to tell, Thy praise to show. 7)O use me, Lord, use even me Just as Thou wilt, and when, and where; Until Thy Blessed Face I see, Thy Rest, Thy Joy, Thy Kabod share!" AMEN (hymn, YT)
On OSAS, I have a friend whose brother was Saved at 8 yrs old. As a 55 yr old man he is addicted to meth, supports himself with auto theft. She insists he is saved because he was there when he went forward. The worst thing about this, his son as a teenager followed in his dad's footsteps and is now in jail for auto theft. Are these two men saved?
Both Dr. Brown and Joseph Prince, of which I like and listen to both teachers, teach as though the new testament is grace , and the old testament is everyone was under the law. Like Dr. Brown just said in this video, in the new covenant we have forgiveness of sins, as if in the old covenant people people did not have the forgiveness of sins. Its sounds distorted. There was the grace of God in the old testament too. There is many scripture in the old that say so. The sacrifice of the lambs were for the remission of sin. Deuteronomy says - If my people will turn from their wicked ways, then I will forgive their sin, and heal their land.
Under the Law of Moses sins were forgiven based on the faith of the person in God, not based on the sacrifices that were brought by the priest. Those sacrifices themselves could NOT forgive sins, but rather they were an image of the ultimate Sacrifice that actually forgives sins, and that is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. So, the sins of those under the Law were forgiven by faith in the Sacrifice of Christ that was going to come later on. It was His sacrifice that actually forgave their sins, not the animal sacrifices brought under the Old Covenant that was replaced with the New. The verses below confirm all this: For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come- In the volume of the book it is written of Me- To do Your will, O God.’ ” Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:1-17
