Introducing... "Pious But Not Religious"

==How do they feed their spiritual thirst? They have become their own spiritual general contractors, pulling information and nourishment from a variety of sources.==

Each going their own way:

(Ecc 12:12) And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

(Mar 5:9) And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

(Mat 7:13) Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

(Joh 10:9) I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

(Joh 14:6) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

(Rev 3:20) Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

(2Ti 3:1) This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

(2Ti 3:2) For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

(2Ti 3:3) Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

(2Ti 3:4) Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

(2Ti 3:5) Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

(2Ti 3:6) For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,

(2Ti 3:7) Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

(2Ti 3:8) Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

(2Ti 3:9) But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.

(2Ti 3:13) But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

(2Pe 3:3) Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

(2Pe 3:4) And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

(2Pe 3:5) For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

(2Pe 3:6) Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

(2Pe 3:7) But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

If the Bible is against it, if there are church folks who are worried about it, it can only be good.

==If the Bible is against it, if there are church folks who are worried about it, it can only be good.==

What's "good"?

reading the Bible says we must also fellowship. t.v. and radio are not particularly interactive.

Many earnest people seek to reconnect with brick-and-mortar houses of worship only to discover that the experience challenges their faith more than nourishes it. The social dynamic at the congregational level is often rife with bewildering varieties of interpersonal dysfunctions ranging from the harmlessly creepy and annoying to the downright disturbing and destructive.

The impulse to cite 20-odd Bible verses as a means of summing up and dismissing a thoughtfully articulated observation that deserves more serious discussion is off-putting to many people. But it is by no means the worst offense one is likely to encounter inside a church.

==The impulse to cite 20-odd Bible verses as a means of summing up and dismissing a thoughtfully articulated observation that deserves more serious discussion is off-putting to many people. ==

You don't have to accept our evidence, and we don't have to accept yours. It's a two-way street, dontcha think?

The fact of the matter is that these and other message boards are nothing but ping-pong games. Somebody hits the ball; the other person hits it back. The person hits it back; the other person hits it back. And so on. Oh, well.

=="By thy fruits I will know you"==

Who said THAT?

Unbowed (A "Jeffersonian" hymn)

Concerning what is sacred, often I'm alone:
Set apart from other men; a sect all my own.
Pious men of good report assume that I've no God
Because the path I've chosen is not the path they trod.

But I have a god—though not the God of most:
No distant king, or vengeful Judge, or angry Lord of Hosts.
The glory of my God is everywhere revealed,
In burning sun, in languid moon, in heaven, sea and field;
In every law which keeps the earth and all things in it bound
The mind of my most gracious God is waiting to be found.

And man—of all God’s creatures—can learn his grand design,
so in the name of nature’s god, I hold this truth divine:

Free each man was born,
And free each man remains
Though he’s beaten and he’s torn,
And weighted down in chains.
In the strength of his convictions
He can stand before the crowd:
His heart beats free
And his head remains unbowed.

For there’s something in a man
That should not be denied—
Though it’s often sacrificed,
And for its sake men have died,
Paying the ultimate price.

Let persecutions come,
Let calumny defame;
The cause of human liberty
Flows onward unrestrained;
Should other voices fail,
I will sing strong and loud:
“My heart beats free!
My head remains unbowed!”

(From the musical play, "First Freedom." )

www.firstfreedomproductions.com

I guess nobody, including the poster who claims it, wants to answer the question, "Who said, 'By thy fruits I will know you'?"