I agree, a lot of people are losing the point because of the religious comments.

I have no problem with a person being religious, bettering themselves because of finding their true religion or anything, but too many folks have been brow beaten by others trying to convert or save them. A good message is a good message & needs no mention of faith. If you are amongst your fellow members or a group of like minded or open minded people, feel free.

I had to say about how Jesus affects my actions in my life because it was relevant to me personally in my experience. Before I gave my life to Jesus I lived mostly for myself. Honored mostly only myself. When I accepted the Truth of Jesus I became capable of honoring others. Even strangers. That's why I brought it up. My post was more about honor than Jesus. I wasn't trying to convert anyone. lol. But I agree with you to an extent. However my pastor worked in law enforcement and knows the difference in honor and respect. Honoring each other is an action. Honoring each other builds up respect for each other. If I was to say do a simple act of kindness to honor you with; like letting you go before me in a long checkout line when everyone is tired and cranky, that honor is passed from me too you. And you are more likely to Respect me for it. See what I'm saying? :)

See, I studied history & I have learned about honor, from Knights, to Samurai, to soldiers, to normal folk. You chose to bring Jesus into this, because you believe it honors him. I COULD mention my religious views, but it would not change the shape of the conversation. The way your pastor is using honor, is an archiac way of saying respect. You have to understand how language & meanings of words change (for example, the word gay. It meant you are happy when I was a wee ankle biter. It then came to mean people who are homosexual. The next incarnation came from South Park, in that it meant lame. Do you follow my point?). You also need to understand, the book he is quoting from, was translated many times & from many languages and some languages do not have the words we have, so they use context clues to fill in the blanks. We have seperated honor & respect, made them into the 2 things they are now. Can an evil person have honor? Yes, they can. Will that honor be the same as yours? Probably not, not unless you are both under the delusion of being good. Here is another example & this will generate some hate for me. It is the N[b]az[/b]i's. If they had won the war, we would all be the evil ones for trying to stop them. A lot of those people fought for the honor of their country, they rounded up & tortured millions of Jewish people for the crime of belief. They did this for the good of their country. If they had won, then they would be the heroes, not America, not Europe, not France, nor any of the Allied Powers. Not every German person was an evil goose-stepper. Many Germans followed their personal code of honor & worked to save many Jewish people. For today's people, use the term respect, they will understand it. Let me pose a question to you. If Jesus wanted you to get a message of a tidal wave approaching, out to a group of people that he knew were good in their heart, but did not believe in him, would you still run into that village & use his name, knowing that they would reject the message because they thought you were a nut? Thatbis this situation. The power of any true believer shines through them, be they Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Radical Muslim, Radical Christian, Scientologist, or they believe that Foamy is the 1 true Squirrely Lord & Master. If your intention is to spread good, then why let a name, a church or a particular faith ruin the message? The messenger is not important, it is the message. I understand your point & why you brought Jesus up. It was not as a missionary spreading gospel, but as a man who is showing his growth & change and the catalyst for said change. My point is that the message was lost because of a name. The Christian faith has a heavy hand & a past steeped in blood. Does that mean that God & Jesus were down here killing, torturing & ringing people's doorbells with the good word? No, but their names are the ones invoked, so they get the hate (kinda like Deej & Cozmo, for a more modern & lot less holy equivalent).

I'm sorry but it doesn't matter who wins a war. Evil is evil. Even if the evil side wins and tries to claim that it is good, just because it was the winner. And as far as your scenario... I would say and do whatever I feel Jesus and the Holy Spirit wanted me to say and do. If I have to proclaim His name to get them to come, then I will. If I proclaim that I was told by Jesus and they don't listen. It's not on my head if they don't. God and Jesus would know that I did what they wanted me too do. So really... the name of Jesus didn't ruin my message. People's hearts are hard and didn't want to hear it. Everyone uses excuses as to why they don't want to listen. To vindicate themselves and validate why they didn't. But in the end it's just hard hearts with a bunch of excuses. (Like using the case of false believers that did terrible things in the past. You know that not Everybody that calls themselves "Christians" are actually followers of Jesus right? It even says false believers and teachers will come in the Bible.) If I get hated for what I've done; telling some good life advice and mentioning the name of Jesus because it is relevant to me personally, then it's not on my head. It's on theirs. I've done no wrong.

That is the problem, right there. You want others here to change & be better, but on your terms. You are not willing to humble yourself to get a message out. Do you really think God or Jesus are lacking in the self-esteem department? Would Jesus really want you to let a village of good people die, just so his name would be glorified? But oh, hey, I did the job & my heart is clear. No, your heart is just as hard & closed as the hearts you claim are cold & closed hearted. Attitudes like this are why the Christian faith recieves the hate & distrust you have seen on here. You say that not all Christians are Christians, no kidding. You use the name of a man who epitomized humility, good works, love, charity, bravery, friendliness, devotion, judgment free acceptance, then do nothing to honor who he was in life & after death. If they do not listen because I used his name, then to the depths of hell with them, I am clear because I made an attempt that was based in pride & thoughtlessness! That is called being a zealot. Maybe if you rush to your pastor, give him $5,000 & confess that you had a discussion with me, he will be able to help you purchase another packet of salvation & possibly wipe the stain of my words away. Onward Christian Soldiers! I doubt you will ever see my point. You probably think I hate anyone of Christian faith & I am an Atheist or a Radical Muslim or possibly a Satanist. That is ok, it will comfort you to believe that way. I am going to boil my words down to my point & give you the fish, even though you will throw it away & wait for Jesus to feed you. A good message, a good act, a good thought, they do not need a name to be recognized as good, they carry the weight of being good by their end result.

Sorry sir. But that doesn't make any sense. I would do Whatever Jesus wanted me to do. Even if he says Just warn them. It's His will in this situation. I can tell them they are in trouble but I CAN'T MAKE THEM DO ANYTHING. So if I happen to mention Jesus it's up to THEM to believe me or not. Even if I don't I still can't MAKE THEM DO ANYTHING. You are making an argument that doesn't make sense, and you are just trying to argue me into a corner and it won't work. I never said I'd WANT them to die. But I couldn't drag them kicking and screaming either. Kind of common sense. lol

No, I am not tryin to put you in a corner. Simply put, Jesus came to you & told you to save them. He did not say how, he expects you to be capable of doing it. This is a variation on the old joke about the guy in the flood. A neighbor comes by in a 4x4 truck & offers the man a ride. He turns it down & says God will save me. The water rises & he moves to the 2nd floor. A man in a boat comes by & offers him a ride to safety. Yet again the man refuses & says Gpd will save me. The water rises again h now the man is on his roof. A helicopter comes by & offers him a ride to safety. For a 3rd time, the man refuses & says, God will save me. The man is swept away in the flood & dies. He stands before God & asks him, why didn't you save me? God replied with, who do you think sent the 4x4 truck, the boat & the helicopter. Jesus is asking you to save those people, not glorify his name. You honor & glorify his name by doing his bidding & saving the people like he asked. I gave you a variation of that story for a reason. You missed it & chose to believe that it made no sense or I was trying to trap you. I could have told you that is what we were taught by my church to help us recognize the importance of doing the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing, not to buy our way in to Heaven, but that would have defeated the point. You would have placed more value on my words, ie "given the fish" & not have "been taught to fish" by figuring it out for yourself. You have shown me that you will not figure it out. You never asked for clarification on anything I said.

Your question asked if I would use Jesus' name. You made it sound like that was part of what I was supposed to do when running to this village to save these people in this hypothetical circumstance. It wasn't very clear really. lol. Like I said I would do it however Jesus wanted me to do it. With His name or without. Now which is it for real? With or without?

He came to you & asked you to save the villagers. He gave you no instructions beyond that. I told you that the villagers of that village do not believe in him. I asked you if you would still use his name.

Well Jesus probably didn't tell me they didn't believe in Him either by what you are saying. I don't know what I would say until I would be in the moment. But even if I used Jesus' name I wouldn't be at fault in His eyes. Because the Bible says we are to spread His name. Even if it isn't popular with most people. And you never know. This could be a remote village in a far away foreign country that hasn't even heard Jesus' name before. They could be like, "I don't know this Jesus... But I don't wanna die! I shall follow you stranger!" And that could lead to an opportunity for me to tell them of His love. Which sounds like something Jesus would ask me to do if I was in a position to do it. :)

Really? Are you kidding me? I break it down to the simplest form & you still miss my point. Last try. You live on the coast. Your village is named Utopia. You have lived there your whole life & your village worships Christ. The village next to you is surrounded by hills & can not see the coast. They do not believe in Christ, they think he is a wuss because they are of Viking descent. Their village is called Valhalla. They are good people. The believe in Odin. Jesus appears to you & says a tidal wave is coming, I want you to save the people of Valhalla & get them out if harms way. You, having lived next to them & traded with their village, know that using his name will cause them to dig in their heels & not move. Do you still walk in to their village & use his name in an attempt to save them?

Really? Whatever... But anyways... I wouldn't know how I would do it until I was in the moment. Then if the Spirit told me I should still use His name I would do it. Because the Holy Spirit is a guide within us that tells us how to do the Father's will. If the Spirit told me Not tell them right away then I wouldn't tell them until AFTER they were safe. But I Would still tell them that it was because Jesus directed me to save them that they were saved. Even if they laughed in my face. But no matter what stipulations you add I always have Something to go by Spiritually. Because it is not just by my intellect that I live. It is by the Holy Spirit that I received when I accepted Jesus into my heart that I live as well. Not perfect at it by any means. But I do.

I am done. You are a zealot & will not understand basic common sense. Your attitude is why you see all this animosity on here from these people. Your message is lost, you set yourself up for failure from the beginning. Good day, good luck in your life & I hope one day you understand the message I tried to give to you.

Ha ha. Ok. I hope one day you see the message that has be given to You. :) I shall pray for you. :)

No, do not ever pray for me. I do not want any prayer from you to ever reach God or Jesus's ears regarding me. Your attitude has repelled me that much. Do you even understand that I am a Christian? Yet I am telling you not to pray for me.

I already have. :)