What non-believers struggle with -

@fmf said
I haven't written any "asinine OPs".

Sir, would you mind compiling all of your OPs into a document for the examination of the SF Posting-Review Committee?

@fmf said
I am a non-believer and I don't "struggle" with the immoral behaviour of Christians at all.

You are wrong. I can tell by the tone of your many posts here you are struggling - whether you care to admit it or not.

@fmf said
There are people who might start donating their time to directly help the needy and poor after watching a TV documentary or after walking through a slum in Jakarta.

Or because their non-Christian religious leaders urge them to or their family and neighbours do it.

But, by golly, when it happens in a "Christian" it's down to a supernatural transformation instigated by "the indwelling Holy Spirit" is it?

Good post, fmf. I made a decision to adopt two girls from a slum in Haiti after reading a statistic in a news paper. So there you are, sometimes a totally mundane number spurs someone into action. And no, I don’t think that was my ticket to heaven; it was just the decent thing to do and I had the resources and opportunity to do it.

@mchill said
You are wrong. I can tell by the tone of your many posts here you are struggling - whether you care to admit it or not.

Don't be silly.

-Removed-

Well, that's quite a roll call.

I believe I may have accused you of groping for fish in strange brooks.

Or was it Ghost whom I accused of that?

@fmf said
You must have met many self-identifying Christians who seemed to you not be Christians at all. How do you tell the difference?

I don't worry about the difference; if they are Christians, they have God within them, and through thick and thin, they will desire to remain faithful to Him. If they are not true Christians, they could do all the religious things just like the Pharisees and Scribes did, and turn right around and crucify others, throw them in prison, plot against others, lie, cheat, and steal because they answer no one. Others may start, and the sorrows and joys of this life choke the life out of them, and they walk away. My job is to love them no matter what and share the truth, for Jesus' sake, not theirs.

If you are trying to find what makes one different than the other, the answer isn't us; it's Jesus Christ.

@kellyjay said
I don't worry about the difference; if they are Christians, they have God within them, and through thick and thin, they will desire to remain faithful to Him. If they are not true Christians, they could do all the religious things just like the Pharisees and Scribes did, and turn right around and crucify others, throw them in prison, plot against others, lie, cheat, and stea ...[text shortened]... are trying to find what makes one different than the other, the answer isn't us; it's Jesus Christ.

That is pure church nonsense. The bible says all who do righteousness have God within them..

-Removed-

Peter didn’t have God’s Holy Spirit indwelling him. And Peter, at the time he denied Jesus Christ, wasn’t even a Christian (yet.)

And Romans 8:16 provides (imo) the clearest way for a Christian to know if he or she is saved.

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:”

(Romans 8:16)

-Removed-

I must have done at some point. Well then, I suppose I could accuse you of sloppy record keeping. Would that qualify me to enter your roll of shame-faced accusers?

-Removed-

They didn’t have the Holy Spirit of God in them permanently.

Jesus Christ, after His Resurrection, told His disciples to wait until God’s Holy Spirit endued them with power from on high.

“And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”

(Luke 24:49)

And here is the fulfillment:

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

(Acts 2:1-4)

That doesn’t sound like Jesus Christ’s disciples had God’s Holy Spirit within them when Peter denied knowing Jesus Christ before His crucifixion.