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A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 

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Religion and Character – 17 September 2006
By Mary T. Hoffman

To me, the word “religion” is synonymous with “institutionalized beliefs.” Therefore, to my way of thinking, one’s religion has little to do with one’s character or whether, or not, one is “saved.”

Perhaps an individual’s rigid adherence to a doctrine, which doesn’t follow the loving, compassionate, and peacemaking teachings of Jesus for the whole of creation, can impede maturing in faith in God and have the opposite effect to the sought after state of “salvation.”

Blind adherence to dogma imposed by humans claiming to have special knowledge of God can have serious negative spiritual consequences, unless it is truly based on Jesus’ teachings that seek to bring God’s will to earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)

Doesn’t it make sense that the life of a person who is truly “born again and indwelt by the Holy Spirit” would exhibit the “fruit of the Spirit” as listed in Galatians 5: 22 and 23?

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Galatians continues with –

24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

~ New American Standard Bible

How can truly kind and gentle people take pleasure in – or condone, or excuse – the killing of any of God’s creatures? The simple answer is: they can’t.

Go on to: New England Aster – 18 September 2006
Return to: Mark of the Beast – 16 September 2006
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