[George]

Originally Posted by Jeff

I don't believe God "messes" with your mind. By quenching the Holy Spirit you give place to the devil and feed your lusts. God is not the author of confusion or corruption.

"I don't believe God "messes" with your mind."

Believe what you want - It's your "right" ("civil" that is).

First off let's dispense with the heart: Our hearts cannot become "corrupt", since they are by nature already "corrupt".

Ecclesiastes 9:3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

Raise seven children over a period of nearly 40 years and you will know what I am talking about! "Fellowship" with the "brethren" for 50 years and it becomes obvious: There is something terribly wrong with our hearts - everyone's heart, (lost or saved - no exceptions!).

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

With the exception of the Lord Jesus Christ do you know of any men in the Bible that were "exempt" from the above? Have you ever met anybody in your life that is "exempt" from this most basic of truths? Am I exempt? - Are you exempt?


Now on to what I have claimed: You may not like my "choice of words [mess]" - but the "Truth" is God directly blinds men (in both their minds & their hearts) when they reject His revelation (whether it be the testimony of the creation or His Holy words.)

Romans 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Please notice the "progression" (Progress?) of sin: First the lust of the heart (you got that right), since all sin begin in the heart - but where does it lead?

God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; {That's Humanism brother - in all of its pride and earthly "glory").

Now if you don't "think" that isn't "messing" with someone's mind, then what is it? God "messes up" their minds so bad that they become "reprobate"! You may not like it, it may not fit your "concept" of a "loving" God, but there it is! If you want to see an example of what the Scriptures are talking about just go to any college campus in the U.S.A. and talk to the "Professors" or go to practically any any Christian College or Seminary and talk with the Hebrew and Greek Instructors and you will know what God is talking about (brilliant "intellects" - destitute of the "Truth".)

Now here is the "key" to understanding what can happen to a Christian (any Christian - man or woman), if they aren't very careful about these matters, i.e. Humanism and its pernicious influence in today's world:

2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.


NOTE: Paul "feared" that the brethren (Christians i.e saved people) might be "beguiled" by the "serpent" (Satan - the Devil) through his "subtilty" and that their minds should become "corrupted" - just like Eve's was in the Garden of Eden! (My point is: That Humanism is so subtle that most Christians aren't even aware of it, and yet it has been manifesting itself among God's people for some time now. The fact is that a Christian's mind can become "corrupted" and the route that Satan has taken for at least the last four hundred years is through "education" (Schools, Colleges, Universities, Seminaries, etc., etc.). The "leaven" of Humanism then trickles down into every facet of our culture (government, schools K-12, media, family, and churches).

"God is not the author of confusion or corruption."

There you go again brother - putting words in my mouth again! Read what I said - not what you think I "mean". I never said that God is the author of confusion, never, no not once! I never intimated it either.

2 Samuel 24:1 And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.

1Chronicles 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

Now which is it? A Humanist will say - See there's an "error" in the Bible! A real Bible believer will say: I see, sometimes God uses Satan to fulfill his will! God may allow Satan to "mess" with us to accomplish an end (not always a "pleasant" end) that He has in mind.

God allowed sin to enter the Universe (the fall of Lucifer i.e. Satan), but He was not the author of it; He allowed Adam and Eve to sin (the fall in the Garden of Eden, but again He was not responsible for it; over and over again in the Bible God has given people choices, but He is not responsible for their sins - He is not the author of confusion, and what I wrote was not "confusing". You may not "like" it; you may "disagree" with it; and you may "believe" that it's not true, but the onus is on you to prove that I am in error.

Humanism is "confusion" at its worst (just talk to a Psychiatrist or Psychologist if you want to see it in operation - on second thought - don't!)