Comments on: A Shining Salty City On A Stand

by: Monkey Girl

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:31:42 +0000

amen to that! i especially liked the line (and we quote) “Our calling as Christians is not only to shine our light brightly, but most importantly, to do so in such a way and in such an arena that we cannot be ignored.”

That right there means a lot to me and is very important.
God bless you guys!

by: Stephanie

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:43:20 +0000

Concerning the point made about being a ligth that cannot be ignored, I am troubled. I completely believe that truth and accept it whole-heartedly. My youth pastor always told s we must affirm what scripture affirms and deny what scripture denies.
There are two verses, though, that have gotten me divided.
Matthew 5:16
“In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 6:1
“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

Where’s the balance?

by: Daphne

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:03:49 +0000

I recently was thinking on the very same thing and came to a few conclusions. Obviously, we do not want to lose our ’saltiness’ however I feel that just having ’saltiness’ is not enough. What is the point of being a Christian if we do not spread send our grains out into our neighborhoods, towns, states, countries, and world? I feel that it is not enough to simply give money to missionaries (as good an act as that is). Afterall, if that is all that we do, how many in our neighborhood would be saved?

by: Heather

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:16:41 +0000

I believe that, as many others have said, that we need to use both a mixture of subtle and bol changes. But it does not lie with us to work out which to use. It lies with us to listen to God, and to do as he says. Things will always turn out far better if we let God make the decisions for us.

by: Elisa

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:21:59 +0000

To Nicole,
Regarding your yeast question:
Yeast is used as an analogy for sin in the Bible. Although your wine & yeast analogy could be good in today’s society, in Bible times, wine was a common drink; the Jews drank wine at many, if not all of their feasts. Although I cannot find where there is a parable/story in the Bible about a woman who is making unleavened bread and has to clean her whole house from top to bottom, in every nook and cranny, to rid the house of the yeast she had used in making leavened bread. I
n Matthew 16, Jesus tells his disciples to “Be on Your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” A couple of verses later, after they figure out that Jesus is not talking about bread, the disciples realize that “he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

by: Amy

Tue, 06 May 2008 21:27:09 +0000

We always need to shine for God and to LOVE with a open heart, some times it’s hard to do but thats what we can work on. We can all shine for God in our own way. we just need to put a little faith in him.

by: Shaelyn

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:24:51 +0000

OOPS I submited my comment before finishing. You need both. We can’t take the world by force on our own, God has to be there, without Him, we are nothing. He is the power. The battle is his, and the Victorie is ours, but if the owner of the battle isn’t there, we’re gonna’ lose BAD.

by: Shaelyn

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:22:19 +0000

In response to David at the top: you can’t get anything done by sitting around, and no battle was ever won by running away, or appeasing the opposition. We have to fight for whats right, no matter what, because it is not just about us, but the people around us, and the people that will come after us, but we also have to use caution, if we offend people, we’re not going to change their minds, be AS WISE AS SERPENTS and GENTLE AS LAMBS.

by: ME

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:09:39 +0000

My response to David (way up at the top) is that some things have to be fought outright and by storm- like abortion and homosexuality. other things can only be changed by our actions and small choices we make each day such as not lying about your age, or praying for your friends when their in need

by: Nicole

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:59:07 +0000

I wondered what being the “salt of the earth” really meant. Now it totally adds up. I think I thought it meant to be good, but I couldn’t connect that with what salt meant to me, personally, as a simple seasoning.

Does anyone know the symbolism of the “yeast” of the Pharisees? Like, why yeast? I know that yeast is used in making wine alcoholic . . . does that have any connection? I didn’t know if it’s like the yeast (lies, or religious lies, specifically), when added to something pure and good for us, like wine (or truth), creates something dangerous that will lead us into wrong? This may sound like grasping at straws. Oh well.

And regarding violence; I recently read a quote by a Christian author that went something like, “As Christians, we are to be a witness through our own suffering, not by causing suffering of others.”
I think this is very true to illustrate why we must be non-violent — even when we are persecuted and even attacked. I believe that we should be passionate for God — His Truth and His “House” — just as Jesus was, but I also believe that we are to be purely Righteous in our anger and our zeal, and fully directed and ruled by Him. Also, I believe that what He guides us to do and all that we should do will never, ever go against His Commandments (such as, not to murder in heart or deed).
In my belief, all Justice done to my adversaries must be done only and fully by God’s Hand alone, not involving me, or it is not His Will that “justice” come to them as of yet in the first place.
By the approach of being meek (not weak or cowardly or compromising) in our approach, and allowing Him to accomplish the rest, I believe that it will be proven that we do not stand alone (alone, as in, without God).

Our job is to shine His Light through us with passion and zeal — in other words, to surrender and allow Him to live and speak and act through us Life and Light. It’s His job to put us on a stand and allow us to be an example to the world (some of us can try all we want to gain a platform — and I’m not discouraging that — but unless it’s God’s Will it won’t happen). I think this article is right in that we should not resist the platform that He gives us, but rather that we should shine in such a way from that very platform so that the light cannot be mistaken or ignored as being His Light (so people walking by aren’t going, “Is that a reflection of the moon? Did I leave the refrigerator door open? Am I the only one who sees that?).

But then again, all it comes down to is the focus of our hearts — is it God or performing/trying to be “good”? Everything we do and all that we are stems from how our heart is before God. If it’s right before God, then no, we shouldn’t try to hide it — we should allow Him to shine it to challenge others to surpass us in seeking Him and knowing Him and loving Him. If it’s not right before God, then there’ll be no hiding it eventually anyway (look at all the people who failed throughout history that God allowed platforms so that we could learn from them, too, so as to be challenged to not become like them) so in that case we better get our act together if we call ourselves Christians, I think.