Author: RJ Walters

I am an Independent thinking, highly functional person who is deaf and has some unique views and challenges in life. Like all of us, I am a person who is composed of all my life experiences and that is what I write about here.
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The Holy Spirit – Part 5 – Baptism and the Holy Spirit (con’t)

RJ Walters

Lets continue with our study of the relationship between the Holy Spirit and baptism. Acts 11:15-17 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?” Here is another one: Acts 19:1-5 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the … Continue reading The Holy Spirit – Part 5 – Baptism and the Holy Spirit (con’t)

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The Holy Spirit – Part 4 – Baptism and the Holy Spirit

RJ Walters

This time we will look at the relationship between the Holy Spirit and Baptism. Are they one and the same? Let’s start with Peter in Samaria. Acts 8:14-19 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the … Continue reading The Holy Spirit – Part 4 – Baptism and the Holy Spirit

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The Holy Spirit – Part 3 – Dramatic Events

RJ Walters

 Let’s look at the book of Acts to try and understand just who the Holy Spirit is and what his purpose is. In our previous study, along with some confusion, we learned that the Holy Spirit is a being who Jesus referred to a “him” is not purely a spiritual presence. Ok, let’s go through some of the references to the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. This time we will look at when the Holy Spirit came in a dramatic fashion Acts 1:4-5 Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have … Continue reading The Holy Spirit – Part 3 – Dramatic Events

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The Holy Spirit – Part 2 Jesus’ words

RJ Walters

The 16th Chapter of the John comes to mind most frequently when we think of Jesus giving us the Holy Spirit. Here it is: John 16:12-15 NIV “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that … Continue reading The Holy Spirit – Part 2 Jesus’ words

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The Holy Spirit – Part 1

RJ Walters

Having just finished up an extensive set of posts on Quakers, the Holy Spirit is on my mind. So I am now going to concentrate on what the Gospels and book of Acts say about the Holy Spirit. This is going to be a seven part post so please bear with me. I find myself tackling tough theological issues lately. I will try to get back to my regular shorter discussions after this one of complete. But no promises. Except for a book by Billy Graham that I read years ago I have not studied any theologians’ views of the … Continue reading The Holy Spirit – Part 1

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If God is Love Where Does Hate Come From?

RJ Walters

My wife and I watched a DVR copy of the recent TV movie entitled “Amish Grace” last night. This is the movie about the man who shot ten girls in an Amish school house a few years back and then took his own life. Six of the girls died. The main theme of the movie was about forgiveness and not letting hate overpower you. The Amish community in Pennsylvania where it happened quickly forgave the man who committed the act and even helped the family of the murderer cope with the tragedy. As I have mentioned in the past the … Continue reading If God is Love Where Does Hate Come From?

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The Bible is like….

RJ Walters

The last post I attempted to report the basic differences between the two major views of the Bible. This time I am going get a little artsy and make a meager attempt to try to compare these views to the concept of the “Bread of Life”. The Literal and Inerrant View see the Bible as a completed loaf of bread coming directly from God. There is nothing to be added and every part is equally nutritious. No crumbs are any more valuable than any other. The bread is already baked and sliced so there is nothing left for them to … Continue reading The Bible is like….

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Biblical Views…

RJ Walters

Given the recent blog discussions between myself and a person who takes the literal inerrant view of the Bible I want to spend a few minutes on that subject. There are basically two views on how to interpret Biblical text: Literal and Inerrant Approach – People who espouse this view believe that absolutely every word in the Bible is written by God through human authors. Therefore everything in the Bible is absolutely and literally true as God is not capable of anything else. To those people, among other things, the earth is around 5,000 years old and was created in … Continue reading Biblical Views…

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Some Say…

RJ Walters

Although the overwhelming majority of comments that come into this blog are words of encouragement some say I am too critical of current church establishments and are therefore actually doing harm to the Body of Christ. In some ways I take pride in those type of comments. They are telling me that I am doing what I intend to do and that is to make people uncomfortable about not paying enough attention to the words of Jesus especially in our daily actions. By my postings it is not my intent to judge any particular person or organization. I thoroughly understand … Continue reading Some Say…

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Institutional Maintenance?

RJ Walters

This is going to be one of my “ranting” posts so be hereby warned! I try not to do them often but….   Some say institutional maintenance has become the prime work of the “church”. As a whole we Christians spend anywhere from 80% to 100% of our collections maintaining our buildings and paying our staff. The rest is either saved for a “rainy day” or dribbled out for other causes. After spending the last month blogging about the Quakers and their focus on simplicity I thought it would be appropriate to apply some lessons learned to other Christian organizations. Quakers … Continue reading Institutional Maintenance?

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It’s in the memo…

RJ Walters

There are a significant portion, perhaps as much at 15%, of the world’s Christians who believe in the concept of Sola Scriptura. That is that the Bible alone is all they need to understand and relate to God and that it is literally and absolutely totally true in every aspect. Although he personally did not believe in biblical inerrancy the ones who currently follow the teaching of Martin Luther are the most prominent in this group. They believe that God put everything he ever wanted us to know in the assembly of documents that were put together under the leadership of … Continue reading It’s in the memo…

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You Might Be a Quaker…

RJ Walters

I thought the last post was going to be the end of this round on Quakers but thanks to eriu49’s comments on my previous post I came across the following at  http://firstfriendswhittier.org I think I can say I agree with every item on this list. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> You Might Be a Quaker if: You think listening is at least as important as talking. You think justice means more than just locking up criminals. You are more interested in being like Christ than in being like Christians. You want to read the Bible but you don’t want to be beaten with it. You think … Continue reading You Might Be a Quaker…

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Quakers and the Sacraments…

RJ Walters

The following is actually a comment attached to my April 5 concluding post on Quakerism.  I think it is important enough to pull it out and include it as a separate post.  Thanks eriu49 for sending it. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I am very interested in your thoughts about Quakerism. I have been attending Meeting since 1995 and find it meets my needs very well. I found a piece that spoke to your question about why Quakers do not perform Baptism, and it makes a lot of sense to me, so I hope you will find something in it. It is from whittierfirstfriend.org: Meaning … Continue reading Quakers and the Sacraments…

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Study of Quakers (Part 12)- Some Personal Thoughts (con’t)

RJ Walters

Ok now on to some of the few things where I feel Quakers beliefs fall a little short .   The core of Quakerism is as solid a foundation as I think I have ever come across in Christianity. But, much of it seems to eroded especially during the period between 1800 and 1900. I’m sure there are many meetings that still stick to the core tenets but there appears to be many that also have drifted to other beliefs. This saddens me. I do lament Quakers apparent marginalizing of some of the words of Jesus. Jesus clearly taught that all … Continue reading Study of Quakers (Part 12)- Some Personal Thoughts (con’t)

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Study of Quakers (Part 11) – Some Personal Thoughts

RJ Walters

After this fairly thorough study of Quakers I am ready to summarize my personal thoughts on Quakers and their beliefs and practices. First of all I must say that I am very much attuned to most Quaker beliefs. I think that Quakers really understand what Christ taught on how to live our lives. Not only do they believe it but they practice it in their daily lives. More so than almost any other Christians. I very much admire them for that. Their testimonies, which to me are really statements for their personal actions truly reflect what I think Jesus had … Continue reading Study of Quakers (Part 11) – Some Personal Thoughts

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Study of Quakers – (Part 10) Some Source Books and other Miscellaneous things

RJ Walters

Before I close out this series with some personal thoughts I wanted to do a quick post here to give you the list of books I have read in order to do these posts. There were also literally hundreds of websites/blogs I visited; too many to mention or name here.   Here is the list of books and their authors and some websites. This is by no means a complete list but I believe it is a good sampling of the topic. Title Author An Introduction to Quakerism Pink Dandelion A Living Faith Wilmer A. Cooper A Quaker Book of Wisdom … Continue reading Study of Quakers – (Part 10) Some Source Books and other Miscellaneous things

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Study of Quakers – (Part 9) The Richmond Conference of 1887

RJ Walters

Quakerism has generally had no creed. George Fox dismissed theologians as “notionists”, and modern Quakers are generally less concerned with theology, and more concerned with acting in accord with the leading of the Spirit than are many other faiths. Quakers have historically expressed a preference for understanding coming from God’s Spirit over the knowledge derived from objective logic or systematic theology. This lack of a single set of authoritative doctrines has resulted in the development of a broad range of doctrines and beliefs among Friends, ranging from fundamentalist Christian to universalist. This in my mind is one of the few … Continue reading Study of Quakers – (Part 9) The Richmond Conference of 1887

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Study of Quakers – (Part 8) The Bible

RJ Walters

I want to open this post with some words from http://www.quakerinfo.org/quakerism/Qreligm.html Quakerism depends on neither the Bible nor on priestly tradition. However, Friends do value the Bible and recognize the “priesthood of all believers. Genuine belief cannot be second hand. Quakers believe that the writers of the Bible were inspired by God but the Bible is not the “Word” of God but instead are words of God. Quakers say that those who make an idol of the Bible, calling it the Word of God, giving the title of our living and present Lord, do miss the mark (John Chapter 1). … Continue reading Study of Quakers – (Part 8) The Bible

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Study of Quakers – (Part 7) Service

RJ Walters

Quakers place a great premium on practicing what they believe. That puts service to others as front and center in their lives. A favorite saying of mine is to “show the Lord’s love in your life”. Quakers definitely live by that motto. Jesus made it abundantly clear that he came to serve and not to be served. He expects each of us to follow his example and Quakers, for the most part, certainly do that. Many Christian denominations, including the one I currently belong, seems to minimize works and living in the world. They seem to prefer concentrating instead on … Continue reading Study of Quakers – (Part 7) Service

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Study of Quakers – (Part 6) Silence, Personal Revelation and Worship

RJ Walters

Silence is a very strong part of most Quaker beliefs. They very much believe in the bible verse “Be still and know that I am God”. Ps 46:10 This belief is at the very foundation of their weekly worship. Many Christians and non-Christians think that Quaker meetings are very strange indeed that Friends sometimes sit silently during their weekly meetings waiting for God to speak to them. Some weeks go by without a word being spoken! Given the propensity for most churches to do numerous readings and hymns, sitting silently is a very foreign concept to them. It is very … Continue reading Study of Quakers – (Part 6) Silence, Personal Revelation and Worship