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[JDH]

I just thought I'd post this because it really made me think about morality and our perception of morality.
Its a story of opposites.  My uncle is a pillar of the community.  He goes to church twice a week.  He doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, and doesn't curse. My step-brother, on the other hand, drinks, smokes, and curses like a sailor.  He would not be caught dead in a church.
My grandmother use to live 5 minutes away from my uncle and 2 hours away from our family. During this time, my family saw my grandmother much more than my uncle did. One time my grandmother called my uncle and asked him for a ride to the hospital.  My uncle's response was "Can't you take a cab?"
I helped my grandmother move closer to us after that. This was right before I went into the Air Force.
While I was gone, my step-brother visited my grandmother nearly everyday.  He would buy groceries for her, and do anything she could not do herself.  He also spent time with her just so that she would have someone to talk to. 

Who is the moral man? Who is going to heaven?

[hillsbororiver]

Who is the moral man? Who is going to heaven?

Hi JDH,

I don't know who will be saved now or in the LOF or who for sure will receive few or many stripes but I do know that Jesus spoke and gave warning of the very things you are speaking of;

Mat 23:14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

Mat 23:23  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Mat 23:25  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
 
Luk 20:47  Which devour widows' houses and for a show make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.

Some churches (men & women) make a huge deal out of food, drink, alcohol, tobacco and a small matter of having any real compassion for any outside their sphere of influence, where they will not receive their reward of the "praise of men."

(Mat 6:2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.)

(Joh 12:43  For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.)

Mar 7:13  Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
 
Mar 7:14  And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:

Mar 7:15  There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

This parable sums it up beautifully;


Luke Chapter 10

30And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

 31And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

 32And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

 33But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

 34And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

 35And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

 36Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

 37And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

His Peace and Wisdom to you,

Joe

[JDH]

I wrote this because it was the catalyst that started me down the path of better understanding of God. This happened about 12 years ago. According to the church I was raised in, my step-brother was going to hell and my uncle to heaven. 
This was the start of my journey away from the church and towards God.  It started my questioning of the church's reading of the Bible. In a forum like this, it might be helpful if people ask themselves these questions.  I think the LOF series address the answers well.  It took many years of searching for me to find answers to these questions.  Some answers I found before reading the series, some I found after thinking and praying on what was written in the LOF series. Nonetheless, I would not have even looked, had I not asked the questions in the first place.
JDH