don't let the words christian disease scare youread below, are some inoculated??

Question

do some people get just enough of the christian germ to be inoculated so they never really catch the disease. If one is only inoculated should they be told left alone to "not grow" which is a sure sign that they were just inoculated.
sorry bout the gross analogy but how else to explain shortly??? An old preacher gave me this analogy 30 years ago and in my walk I see what he was saying, but what to do??

seems to me if a person tinks he is saved and does not grow then perhaps as a church we should try to help them, probably they do not know that He will say I never knew you.

Answer 1

'A little dab will do ya' Christianity? I see your point. But according to Jesus, if we don't do the will of the Father, then he will deny having ever known us....Proving that we have only deceived ourselves. What a waste. Intellectually speaking, I would rather be really excellent at something: either sinner or saint. But I know that there is no turning back for me. I have to go forward regardless of the consequences....it's in my bones. So I guess I have the disease, and it's terminal---I'll always have it. What others choose to do with the 'innoculation' ( opportunity to follow God) is up to them.

Hoping the best for you...

Answer 2

Inoculation, originally Variolation, is a method of purposefully infecting a person with smallpox (Variola) in a controlled manner so as to minimise the severity of the infection and also to induce immunity against further infection. It preceded vaccination and is separate from it, though today the terms inoculation, vaccination and immunisation are used more or less interchangeably and popularly refer to the process of artificially inducing immunity against various infectious diseases. The microorganism used in an inoculation is called the inoculant or inoculum.

Inoculation in the East was historically performed by blowing smallpox crusts into the nostril, but in Britain, Europe and the American Colonies the preferred method was rubbing material from a smallpox pustule from a selected mild case - Variola Minor - into a scratch between the thumb and forefinger. [3] This would generally be performed when an individual was in normal good health, and thus at his peak resistance. The recipient would develop smallpox; however, due to being introduced through the skin rather than the lungs, and possibly because of the inoculated individual's preexisting state of good health, the small inoculum, and the single point of initial infection, the resulting case of smallpox was generally milder than the naturally-occurring form, produced far less facial scarring, and had a far lower mortality rate. As with survivors of the natural disease, the inoculated individual was subsequently immune to re-infection.

Answer 3

Some change religious beliefs and flourish . others only give their religion lip service without really believing in their hearts only their minds.
As the Old testament says in two verses .
do not sow your seeds on infertile soil if you expect an abundant crop.(paraphrase)
if you have the faith of a mustard seed that you will land in fertile soil it will grow.
this was better understood when most of the people were farmers and relied on a abundant crop to survive the harshness of the infertile winter weather.

Answer 4

Some people go to church for years and learn NOTHING.They still back-bite and gossip,and cheat the plate as it goes by,but want a say in everything that goes on.They think of their religion as a free pass to heaven.Jesus talked of those"Who say Lord,didn't we do this and that for you?"to which He says"Depart from me,I never knew you".

Answer 5

I totally do not understand what you are saying.

Answer 6

I will be honest and tell you that this is copied and pasted because it wholly expresses what I desire to say. I know, I know that I should think for myself, but in this forum you don't have much time to type all of your thoughts and get them read.

"SEEDS OF FAITH" A MEDITATION PRESENTED AT CENTRAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH MILWAUKEE, WI ON JULY 11, 1993 BY: FREDERICK R. SURRETT

All plants begin life as a single seed. A tiny, almost insignificant piece of living matter. That, given the proper conditions, can produce a plant whose size is totally out of proportion to the seed that it developed from. For example, take the apple tree. In my hand, I'm holding the seed I took from an apple out of my kitchen. This seed is only about 1/8" long. But it has the potential of developing into a tree maybe twenty feet tall, that during its life time could produce thousands of apples, and countless numbers of new seeds. Each one of those tiny seeds has the potential of developing into a full blown apple tree itself. And so the process repeats itself over and over again. And if conditions were always right, if the soil and the weather were always perfect for growth, the world would be filled with apple trees. But conditions are usually not perfect for this little seed. The soil might be to rocky. Other plants might interfere with its growth. The weather might be to bad, to hot or to dry. All sorts of things can happen that make it impossible for this little seed to grow to its full potential. Let's face it, the odds of any particular seed surviving and growing to maturity are remote. But if this one seed doesn't grow to maturity, it doesn't really matter. Because the tree it came from has thousands of other seeds. Each one of which has the same potential to take root and grow into a full blown tree. And the odds are that one of them will. When we think of seeds, we usually think of plant seeds. But there are other types of seeds. Not tangible seeds, not seeds that grow into a tree or a flower, but intangible seeds. Seeds that begin as an idea, a concept, a philosophy within the mind of an individual. Seeds that can grow and grow and ultimately change the world. For example, Mahatma Gandhi, who developed a philosophy of non-violent protest in an effort to rid his home nation of its british colonial government. This seed he planted, this concept of non-violent protest took hold and spread, until it became a force powerful enough to make one of the strongest military powers in the world at the time give up the rule of what it had considered to be its most important colony. And the influence of Gandhi didn't stop there. The seed he planted spread around the world, influencing people like Martin Luther King Jr., who used it as his main tactic in his efforts to improve civil rights for all minorities in our nation. Not all people accepted his ideas. The seed he planted didn't take root in all who had been exposed to it. But it did in enough people to influence the course of the 20th century. Of course, not all sowers spread seeds that are beneficial. There have been those like Adolph Hitler, Pol Pot of Cambodia, Maximilian Robespierre of revolutionary France who sowed the seeds of hate, of discord, of evil. Those seeds took root too. But the plants they produced were poisonous, and eventually withered and died. But not before doing incredible damage to the world. Fortunately for us, those seeds of evil did not take root in all who heard them, or the plants they produced could have strangled the whole planet. In our gospel reading today, Mat 13:3-9 & 18 - 23, Jesus talks about the sower of the seeds, and the obstacles the seeds face in taking root and developing. Jesus was sitting in a boat, a little way from the shore, and addressing a large crowd. One of the commentaries I read before I prepared this meditation suggested that Jesus may have been feeling a little discouraged. He may have been upset that his messages were not being as well accepted as he had hoped. In verses 3 - 8, Jesus tells how some seeds fall along the path. A trail going through the field that has been walked on so often that it is packed down hard. The seeds just lie on the ground, exposed in the open, where birds can see them and eat them up. Some seeds fall on rocky places. Not ground covered with small stones, but shallow soil on top of solid rock. They begin to take root, but because of the underlaying level or rock, the roots don't grow deep enough to provide enough moisture to sustain the plant. So when the sun comes up, the plants are scorched and wither away, because they weren't rooted firmly enough into the ground. Then there are those seeds that fall among the thorns. Weeds really, that black the suns rays, compete with the newly sprouted plant for nourishment, and eventually kill it. But some seeds, some seeds fall on good soil, where they produces a crop 30, 60, 100 times larger then what was originally planted. In the parable, jesus himself was the sower, planting the best seed of all, the word of God. The good news of salvation to all who accept Jesus as the Messiah. But not everyone who hears the good news immediately accepts it. To some, it's a case of in one ear, out the other. They hear the word, and immediately reject it. These are like the seeds that fall on the path. Some hear the word, and initially accept it with joy, but only superficially. They are shallow, the opportunists who try to latch onto what they perceive is a good thing without having a full understanding of it. But when trouble comes, when faced with persecution because of what they profess to believe, they fall away. These are like the seed that fall on the rocky ground. Then there are some who hear the word and accept it, but become preoccupied with the things of this world. They pursue wealth, material possessions, power. And in the end, these things kill the faith that was there. And then there are those in which the condition is right for the seed to grow. They hear the word, and accept it with sincerity. They don't allow themselves to become so consumed by the things of this world, the worries, and the quest for material gain, that the divine deed of God is allowed to wither and die. Instead, it grows, and produces a bounty of more seeds, completely out of proportion to that which was planted to begin with. We too are sowers of the seed. We have been given a commission to go forth, and make believers of all the nations of the world. And let's face it, it's not an easy job. We live in a society where the open expression of religious views are not really encouraged. And in fact in many cases can set you up for ridicule, and even oppression. And on a deeper level, how many of us really feel adequate to the task. In those secret recesses of our own hearts, how many of us have said "I don't know my bible well enough" or "I'm not a good enough speaker", or "I'm not a good enough christian"? And how many of us, after putting forth our best effort, have become discouraged because we haven't seen the results we wanted from our efforts at evangelizing? Standing before all of you here today, I want to confess that I've been guilty of all these things. I have felt inadequate in both the knowledge and skills that I felt were necessary to be effective in my ministry. And I have felt discouraged, deeply discouraged enough to want to quit in my efforts sometimes, when even after all my best efforts, I have not seen the results I have wanted to achieve. But I've come to realize lately that I'd been wrong in my judgements about myself. And I was wrong for two reasons. One, because I had thought that the only way to spread the word of God was to preach it. And two, because I believed that everyone who hears the word of God would instantly convert. That the truth of the word was so self-evident that any reasonable person would instantly convert on hearing it, and join the Christian faith. To spread the seed of the word of God, one cannot just preach it. You have to act it out. Live it. Show by example what it means to be a Christian. This lesson was really driven home to me during my time as a chaplain at St. Luke's. I saw how my best ministry occurred not when I wiped out my bible and quoted scripture, but when I sat and held the hand of someone who was alone. Who felt abandoned. I saw that by sharing their problems with them, not as a chaplain, but as a friend who was christian, I was able to help strengthen their faith. And in some cases, plant the beginning of the christian faith in someone who had no believe at all. I've seen that same thing demonstrated time and time again here at Central. How many of you are here now, and have had your own faith strengthened, not by the superiority of the preaching at Central (sorry Jim), but by the atmosphere of christian love and care that exists in this congregation. When you were new here, people introduced themselves to you, invited you to stay for the coffee hour, asked you to join choir. That personal interest is one of the things that helps plant the seed of faith. And to see how the people at Central, both individually, and as a congregation, are willing to invest time, labor and money in projects that advance the cause of Christ. To cloth the naked, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless. This shows that we're doing more then just talking the talk. We're putting our faith into practice. And that's the type of thing that plants the seed of faith in people, because it demonstrates what christianity can be like. Jesus in his own ministry did more then just preach the word. He lived the word. He, and his followers, showed what it means to live life the way God wants us to. It was his example that drew many followers to his cause. It was his ultimate example of faith and obedience to God, of allowing himself to be put to death on the cross, that allowed christianity to take root and spread. I don't want to downplay the importance of preaching. Far from it, because it is a vital activity to teach the word of God. But, in my own life, I had put to much emphasis on it. I've grown to see how important acting out ones beliefs can be implanting the seeds of faith in others. It's something I can claim for myself, and that I want to claim for all of you here today. As to being discouraged sometimes, yah, I still do occasionally. But I take comfort in the fact that Jesus himself said that not everyone will accept the faith. That for one reason or another, many people will reject it. But we mustn't give up. No matter how discouraged we get, we must keep spreading the message, we must keep sowing the seeds of faith. Because even though many of the seeds we plant will not grow, some will take root, and grow to maturity. And these seeds will give a bountiful harvest, the size of which we cannot even conceive.