"Strive": 2nd Timothy 2:24

2Ti 2:24  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,

Eight Greek words are translated as "strive". The word translated as "strive" in 2nd Timothy 2:24 is "machomai", Strong's 3164.

"Machomai" means "to fight, to quarrel, dispute".

Strong's definitions are:

1) to fight
1a) of armed combatants, or those who engage in a hand to hand struggle
1b) of those who engage in a war of words, to quarrel, wrangle, dispute
1c) of those who contend at law for property and privileges

Titus 3:2 comes up when searching for 2nd Timothy 2:24's cross-references.

Tit 2:15 ¶  These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
Tit 3:1 ¶  Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
2  To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
3  For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
4  But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,

A few other helpful cross-reference reminders are:

Php 2:3  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Php 2:14 ¶  Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

Jas 1:19 ¶  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Jas 1:20  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Things Hoped For: Hebrews 11:1

A quote from the churches-promoting Departout forum, in reply to the question,

"...what do you make of this verse which closely interrelates hope and faith?
Hbr 11:1 ¶ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

 SEAN: "To be "of the day" is to be saved, so the "hope of salvation" is not about hoping to become "of the day" (saved), obviously. It seems to me, the "hope of salvation" would be the hope of salvation in relation to the hope in Christ's coming and the resurrection of the believers' mortal bodies unto eternal life, when our salvation will be fully manifested on that day."

This is a most interesting observation. The idea that believers hope that just our flesh and bones bodies will be "saved" at Christ's coming, even though our souls are already saved and ready for immediate heaven, because, you know, believers are so immortal.

Another insight from Sean's sermonaudio world:

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for (such as the coming of Christ and resurrection). Those things that we can't see now, but believe will happen someday, by faith. By faith, we believe Christ will come and our mortal bodies will be resurrected unto eternal life one day:"

So in other words, just hope for the mortal body to be resurrected, because the rest of the believer is immortal. It seems to me that any person who is "immortal" in any way at all need not ever hope for anything whatsoever - ever. Why would an immortal believer even give one moment of thought to the matter of a corrupted body of decayed flesh? Who cares, if you are heaven-bound without it?

Funny Churchite Quotes from the Departout.com Slum

J. Brown, Sat., May 26th, 2012:

"Pentecostal chick," yeah - she brought the passion...We've all heard of "make-up sex," passionate and fierce. I wonder if "sudden destruction" sex doesn't follow the same path? grin."

~ End of Church Age/Latest Wisdom From Latter Judgment

Frank, Sun. May 27th, 2012:

"If Tom (or any one else) came to this forum and started making x-rated comments, no one would tolerate it for a second."

~ Hermeneutics/150,000 Die A Day

Baptist guy, yeah - he brought the sleaze.

Quote of the Week

Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself.
It means thinking of yourself less

--  C.S Lewis

The Dysfunctional 'Departout' Church Family

Long-time Departout.com forum member James "Jimmy" Brown bypassed a new thread on the site that accurately highlights his group's very sad state of affairs. JB chose to ignore the discussion in favor of a tired, worn out thread. Many good and worthwhile discussions get brushed aside over at Departout and shifted to the background. Members know how to do that, but this one will be highlighted here. Below is a reply from Departout member Paul, to Lisa's original post, on the current state of Departout.

PAUL: "This site is starting to look more pagan than any atheist site I've seen. The posts are vulgar and crude. Wake up folks! You are supposed to be a witness for the Lord. You are being the exact opposite. WAKE UP. A few days ago a thread started about a young man who took his own life. Expressions of concern and caring were treated as evil speech! Then the civil (or rather uncivil) war started. I can't believe my eyes. Question: Has Lambsfury EVER posted a kind or sympathetic or caring statement of any sort on this site? Hint: Condemning others might have a loving effect but it isn't a loving statement. Question: Why are other people responding in-kind with crude responses? Wake up people, the world is watching. The Googlebots are indexing. People need Christ. He isn't being shown forth here. Question: Does anyone know what an apostate is? It [is] not a stronger word for heretic. Look it up, some time. It isn't OK to label someone apostate because you think their theology is wrong. Look, I really like a good theological debate. My model from childhood is the cartoon with the wolf and the sheepdog who try to outwit each other over the sheep but when lunch time comes around, they sit down together over their food and chat. When the quitting whistle blows, they clock out and wish each other a good evening. Are any of you old enough to have seen that one? By contrast, this site looks like the Hunger Games. Everyone has to die - but one. Wake up, people!" I agree with Paul, except the Departout site was looking mighty pagan to me, right from its inception. Most (not all) Churchites are not very interested in having a "good theological debate" because, on most topics, they know they are not standing on solid ground. So, they keep their focus squarely on Harold Camping and Family Radio in order to give the illusion of unity. In fact, Harold Camping has been the only common ground going for the Churchites, who all belong to different denominations. Now that the Family Radio circus has left town, all the Churchites (including Ken Matto's clan) can do is publicly torment and devour each other and anyone who disagrees with their cherished man-creeds.

Now that we reached the first anniversary of May 21st, the time has come for the absentee slumlord of the group named after one of Harold Camping's teachings to call it a day.

May 21st: 1st Judgment Day Anniversary

I get copied on emails from date setters, but when I reply with a question, I rarely receive an answer. It could be that my emails are blocked, so I'm putting this one out here on the blog, along with an All Points Bulletin for Mr. Dave Mielke of Ontario, Canada. Below is one of the comments I received from Dave yesterday and my reply, which I guess he never received, since he has answered other emails, instead.

DAVE: Yes, I agree. I even still believe that May 21, last year, indeed was Judgement Day.

ME:  You also believe that salvation continues while it is now Judgment Day? So, I guess you're talking about the churches' judgment? Weren't they under judgment already, from 1988, according to the rest of the May 21st teaching? Also, how are men currently giving account for every idle word?

Mt 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

No answer.

After a whole year of Judgment Day, you would think that we would have noticed something out of the ordinary.

More Reformed Discourse

To Churchites Frank, Peterx, Sean, Dr. Ken, Gerry, James "Jimmy" Brown, et al.

Just in case you guys missed it....

In regard to the death of the young follower of Family Radio, your church colleague and host of the "Reformed Discourse" group, Tom Golda, published the following comment on the Departout forum today:

GOLDA:  "Lets hope more stories like this happen, as a witness to all to not get involved with the Family Radio cult!"

I ask you: Did Harold Camping or Chris McCann ever say such a hateful thing?

I think it's high time that you all, along with your absentee Moderator of Departout, dealt with this messy little problem of yours, instead of pretending that it's normal. Maybe it's even time for the L-Man to be banned completely.

The Eternal Tormentor Strikes Again

Tom ("Lambsfury") Golda challenged one of his fellow Churchites who expressed condolences over the death of a young man who was a follower of Harold Camping and Family Radio.

LF:  "And they reality is, 150,000 people die every 24 hours. You have this idea that some "special sensitivity" is supposed to be shown to those identified with "Family Radio...Why are you not showing your fake compassion for all the others?"

Tom seems to want compassion spread around for everyone who ever followed a false gospel. Here is my question for El Furioso:

Why are you not showing your raw hatred for all the others? How come you reserve your venom for a group you once led, instead of, for example, the Catholics who you claim pastored you before Harold Camping took over the job before the late John Calvin took over the job?

As for the young follower of Harold Camping who died, I would suggest that he may very well have had more spiritual integrity than all the members of the two warring families (denominations) he was tied to, put together. And also "Lambsfury".

Churchites: You may like to point at Harold Camping and Chris McCann, but have your own crazy uncle on the loose.

WFME Damage Control? Or More Damage?

What do you do when your radio station is in dire need a big boost? Here is one solution the East Coast's WFME station came up with. Mr. Gunther Von Harringa, one of the main Family Radio teachers who was at the very front of the parade that led the Family Radio audience into the May 21st, 2011 Start of the End hoax can now be heard promoting Charlie Menut's half-hour Saturday morning "Update" program:

"I'm Gunther Von Harringa and you are listening to "Weekend Update'".

Now, if only that was all we had to hear from Gunther over Family Radio's airwaves, it wouldn't be so bad. Unfortunately, Mr. Dry Toast has his own FR time slots (i.e., Saturday at 5 p.m. that officially ends three solid hours of good music programming). I just wonder if anyone at all actually listens to the Messrs. Young Camping and Young and/or New Von Harringa teaching segments. 

What I would like to hear from Gunther is what he now believes about May 21st, 2011 and October 21st, 2011. What exactly happened? Was an error made? Or is there an important time clue that is still hidden? Is Matthew 24:36 still only for "church age" believers? What were all those hours upon hours of teaching that "proved" with a firm guarantee that Saturday, May 21st, 2011 would be the date of the rapture all about? What does he say about his date setting today? That's what I would like to know.

UPDATE:

It looks like I will have to head over to Chris McCann's cult denomination to find out the answers to my questions. McCann posted the following announcement on his Yahoo site:

MCCANN:  Lord willing, E Bible will be holding a Day in the Word at the PACE Union Hall in Linwood, Pa. on June 10th. Speakers will be Gunther Von Harringa & Chris McCann (as of right now). Further details will be announced later.