***Suffer not a *what?* to live? Kill for Christ???***

***[To make matter worse, at least on a personal level, the most common version of the bible (KJ) seems to rather directly call for my speedy extermination. Limited being that I am, I take this personally. I have a stake (no pun intended) in understanding bible faith]***

well actually the word is ´whisperer´, and it dealt with incantations of enchantment. The horror of having your free will taken away is the reason for the severity.
´Don´t let a mind-controlling asshole remain alive.´

And enchantment is the modifying of another´s will.

Anything that abridges free will is a no-no.

Yeah, someone points a will-destroying beam at me, I´m going to shoot him.

Free will got the world into this mess, and the exercise of free will is going to get us out of it.

***[#7 I´m interested in what that reconciliation might be. Is there any room for interpretaation with such a directly worded statement? Are there things within the Bible that you pass over, deeming them to be more related to an older lifestyle? How does it work? I´d like to see more understanding Christians.]***

And point #7 of Crum´s is the crux of the matter.
Put it this way; the rules and operating principles of forming and firing a clay bowl, are different from the rules and uses when you´re cooking with one. Rules of formation get you eventually to the rules of use.

We´re past the crude formation stages and into the glazing and polishing. The old rules have done their work, and have done what they meant to accomplish -- which was to preserve a certain bloodline and faith system from which the messiah came. And to wean a group of people away from the world system.
Step by step processes that encompass thousands of years, include time periods when life´s a bitch.
The rules aren´t gone, they´ve just done what they were supposed to do. I suppose if you wanted to start the messiah process all over again, you´d go back to them, but that´s just foolishness.
There are some rules that are timeless and universal (love God and love one another -- [which doesn´t mean don´t ask God questions, or tolerate deliberate stupidity in humans]); and there are other rules that are ´age dependent´. For example; the rules, and reasons for them, that you give to your three year old child, are different from the ones you give your teenager. What´s unchanging is the underlying motivation for them. It´s not that the 3 year old´s rules are obsolete for 3 year olds -- it just that now that you have a teenager, new rules supersede the old. The outcome of having a decent adult is what all the rules exist to produce. Focus on the development of the adult-to-be rather than on the structure of the rules.

Just as it was difficult for someone back then to grasp the purpose of the harshness of those laws; it´s just as difficult to grasp the purpose of the law of grace in our time period.

No christian expects to follow the early formation rules of the church -- ´He instructed them to take nothing on their journeys but a staff, no food, no wallet, no money, to wear sandals and to carry no spare tunic.´ Those rules of the time had their purpose, and that purpose was fulfilled.

I´m concerned with the treatment of others now -- their ultimate destination is a business between them and God.
The injunction and obligation that God puts upon me is to not leave others in the dark.
If I tell and illuminate the Story, I´ve done all that´s required. If I treat others as I want to be treated, I´ve lived the Story. My life should be the example that does the requirement of spreading the Gospel. I´m not to ´save´ them. If God wants, He does.

This religion for the sake of perpetuation of the religion, is the real poison you see in christianity.

If you follow the basics -- love God and love one another; why should I worry about Jesus being the only way? I apply it to myself, let others either apply to themselves or not; it´s their business and God´s business. Let Him deal with the individual as He pleases; the fact that they don´t subscribe the world system of ´eat or be eaten´, was one of the major things He tried to get across.
When I was an unbeliever, I also thought the exclusivity was unfair, because I measured it from a human point of view. But understanding God´s point of view explains the reason for the exclusivity. But you won´t grasp God´s point of view until He dwells in you, to give you the mind of Christ.

Remember, this is a process, and some christians are stuck on page one; and they´ll deal with the world just like they did before they believed.

Sad, but there probably are very few complete christians around; you probably wouldn´t notice them, because they are the ones who make your life less of a hassle, they tend to be quietly invisible.

I follow what I know of what Christ taught, as best I can. I don´t subscribe to the white acculturation that has overwhelmed it like barnacles on an old hull. I certainly don´t care if another christian recognizes me as such, I mean our focus should be on giving an alternative to the world system, and it´s to those becoming unsatisfied with the world, that we should be giving a viable alternative by example. Remember, except for the Hebrew converts, in the early days, all were pagan and had no holy book to smash others over the head with. It took only a little while before Man hijacked Jesus´ teachings and started missing the point. So AC, I guess I´m no kind of christian like you know. But I´m not worried about it, I have the tools I was given, and am the way I was designed to be. If I have rough edges, they´re my own, and not christianity. But if I even have a modicum of wisdom, it´s from God. That´s my christianity, the bad is me, the good is God. Simple. The only thing I can´t resist fighting is willful stupidity (and stupidity is determinedly not wanting to be aware), no matter what side of a religious fence you sit on. Some things just aren´t worth commenting on, because they are so off in left field to me (like greggus or rockrenolds); but some are downright dangerous, and want to be so, and those are the ones I feel compelled to answer. Sorry, can´t help it, it´s like a compulsion to say ´the emperor has no clothes´. There are predators out there, and would like nothing better to pour sweet words over your soul, and net you into a cult, enslaving your free will. Follow no human. Learn from them, but the story should be reduced to your relationship with God. If that relationship puts you in an ugly place with others, then ask yourself tough questions. I won´t tolerate truly evil people, users, psychic vampires, rapists, etc., but don´t mistake being firm with evil-doers, with license to bash everyone who disagrees with the slightest punctuation of your beliefs. So there are some that would cause me serious pause to lay my life down for, but I´d do it just the same, because that´s how God transformed me. No matter how much I would argue or disagree with them. AC, I don´t get that feeling from you; and if I don´t, I wonder if God does from you either.

But I always find myself not honest enough. Or not compassionate enough. etc.

I don't beat myself up about it, but at times I really feel pangs that I don't connect with someone else's sufferings. Sometimes I do, but not often enough. The same with being honest.

I'm not compairing myself with any standard, at least not compairing to anyone else. But in my own mind, I know when I rationalize lying as 'saving someone's feelings', or 'being expedient', or 'providing social lubricant', or whatever.

All I know is that I feel a lack in reaching being whatever my 'ideal' is. It's nothing that's deliniated in anything written or said, it's more like that feeling of not being what I know I should be somewhere inside. An uncomfortableness with myself at times, trying to convince myself 'that isn't like me, I don't get mad that easily...' or 'that doesn't sound like me, I'm not that crude...', etc.

It's like I have a built-in tuning rod, and I may not be able to put my finger on what's wrong, but I sure can tell when I'm not 'in tune' to where I should be.