Why are you so argumentative?
Believe me, I am not trying to be, but just like you I find that when challenged about a belief I have or about something I am doing, I resist. The temptation and instinctive response is to argue, to be contentious. I don't have to be. You and I here together, don't have to be.
As we let God's Holy Word enter us and as I offer my opinions on topics and passages it is likely we are going to disagree, we may even argue and appear to be contentious. But unlike the dictionary definition of contentious, I hope that you and I are not falling into a pattern of argument or arguing just to argue, but that this discussion is more like iron sharpening iron (Proverbs 27:17) where we are building each other up to good works (Ephesians 2:10) in Christ Jesus.
However, in my desire to avoid contentions and arguments I am not going to back away from exposing where we, the church are missing it or where each of us as The Bride of Christ are not acting like a faithful bride awaiting her husband. This means I will need to be honest with you about my own failings or how could I possibly help you to see yours.
My hope is that together we can discover how God wants us to live out our daily lives in the midst of all the influences around us. This is what Jude 3 means for me, we are to actively seek after, fight for, pursue with diligence, that is to contend for the faith. Not me telling you how to live but me contending for my own faith before The Lord and encouraging you to examine the scriptures to determine what God actually says and therefore how you should live before Him.
As we let God's Holy Word enter us and as I offer my opinions on topics and passages it is likely we are going to disagree, we may even argue and appear to be contentious. But unlike the dictionary definition of contentious, I hope that you and I are not falling into a pattern of argument or arguing just to argue, but that this discussion is more like iron sharpening iron (Proverbs 27:17) where we are building each other up to good works (Ephesians 2:10) in Christ Jesus.
However, in my desire to avoid contentions and arguments I am not going to back away from exposing where we, the church are missing it or where each of us as The Bride of Christ are not acting like a faithful bride awaiting her husband. This means I will need to be honest with you about my own failings or how could I possibly help you to see yours.
My hope is that together we can discover how God wants us to live out our daily lives in the midst of all the influences around us. This is what Jude 3 means for me, we are to actively seek after, fight for, pursue with diligence, that is to contend for the faith. Not me telling you how to live but me contending for my own faith before The Lord and encouraging you to examine the scriptures to determine what God actually says and therefore how you should live before Him.
Who is this guy?
My name is Richard Damiano and I have been a Believer since high school, over 25 years now. I have been fortunate to have family who are Believers as well and to have been taught by many good teachers in person, from the radio and from books. The older I get and the more society changes around me the more I want to live a life that is pleasing to God. Many other men are very good at teaching the Bible, I hope to get you to think about what it is saying and evaluate your life against the Word. This is what I try to do, and often fail at, but keep coming back to. By God's grace I am still here and working, hopefully in a manner pleasing to Him.
I am also an electrical engineer, my education and work experience have made me very analytical. One of the areas of my work life that continues to influence my Bible study is troubleshooting, looking at the surface presentation and trying to understand the underlying factors and come up with a solution. Because I have this experience of not always accepting the apparent situation or solution and look into other possible solutions I tend to do the same with the Bible by asking "Is it really saying that?" and "I don't understand this, how is this topic tied to other passages?" You need to know this to understand my perspective which sometimes comes in from left field or the backdoor.
So who am I, a simple Christian who takes the Bible very seriously, is still trying to live a faithful life and wants others to as well.
I am also an electrical engineer, my education and work experience have made me very analytical. One of the areas of my work life that continues to influence my Bible study is troubleshooting, looking at the surface presentation and trying to understand the underlying factors and come up with a solution. Because I have this experience of not always accepting the apparent situation or solution and look into other possible solutions I tend to do the same with the Bible by asking "Is it really saying that?" and "I don't understand this, how is this topic tied to other passages?" You need to know this to understand my perspective which sometimes comes in from left field or the backdoor.
So who am I, a simple Christian who takes the Bible very seriously, is still trying to live a faithful life and wants others to as well.
