everyone has their doubts; it's a part of what makes us human. we question, we think, we study, we analyze.... so here is the big question: what are your doubts about god? join in the discussion. leave a comment. there is no wrong answer. we just want your story, your experience, your thoughts.
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I've was raised in a family where it was just a given that God exists, but here is what I don't get: If God exists why doesn't he make it more obvious? I mean there are people all over the world like hindus and buddists that I guess he just doesn't care enough to let into his little club. It seems to me that if God was really out there he would make himself a little more obvious...
I am a Christian and all, but things really suck in life sometimes and I wonder why God let's all this crap happen. I believe in Him but I am not sure what kinda God He is.
What can we expect to ever understand about a supernatural being?
How would we be able to know that a supernatural being had intervened in our world?
And if God does actually exist, how would we know that he is a good God and not a demon or a 'clockmaker'?
We can't know any of these things, can we?
As a terminally ill child, I never doubted God. At 14, I lost one of the most important people in my life to a car accident, I prayed and begged God not to take him but I never had doubt. At 19, I was in a nearly fatal car accident, I started to wonder why me? At 26, I was married and 8 months later my husband was burned in an accident and it was touch and go, still God was there. At 28, I had my first son, who was on a monitor for 6 months and had surgery at 8 weeks old. I never questioned God, I was thankful everything turned out fine. On my 30th birthday I was admitted to the hospital, I had a miscarriage at 16 weeks. Now I was a little mad at God, but I didn't doubt him. At 31, I had my second son, a perfect baby. Four months later, my oldest son died in an accident. Okay God, now I'm mad. A year later, I found out that my youngest son was going blind and there is nothing anyone can do. Come on God how much more can I take. Through it all I really never doubted him, I know he's there. Life sometimes stinks, but it's how you deal with it that matters. God is watching us and gives us what we need, you just have to be open to it. It can be a random act of kindness, a long lost friend looking you up, a smile from a stranger, when the daffodils bloom, or the one that always cheers me up the laughter of a child, especially mine.
I have so many questions. I just don't understand. I was raised to believe and I guess I do. It's just I don't understand. How could Mary have gotten pregnant without having sex? How could Jesus rise from the dead? What proof is there that there's a heaven? What proof is there that everything that's in the bible happened? When I found out as a little kid that there wasn't an Easter Bunny, I thought, "At least it's not Santa Claus." Then I found out there wasn't a Santa Claus and thought maybe God would be next. I'm afraid I believe in God because I believed in Santa so I could still get presents. If there is a hell, I don't want to go there. But I still don't understand.
I have always believed in GOD, but wonder why bad things happen to good people?
"It is as impossible for man to demonstrate the existence of God as it would be for even Sherlock Holmes to demonstrate the existence of Arthur Conan Doyle." -Frederick Buechner
I've never doubted in God's existence. I've doubted in His character. I've doubted in His reasoning behind things that happen. I've doubted in His love. I've doubted in His people and myself. I can't convince someone God exists, all I can say is that I know in my spirit and soul that He does. I can do my best to have faith and trust in Him as I walk through this world as a sinner among sinners.
In response to the comment laced with "I don't understand...", let's remember God is God and we are human, therefore, we aren't going to understand all about God and get all of our 'whys' answered in such a manner as to understand God fully since we be mere human. That's where faith comes in, we believe in God, though we cannot fully understand it all. If I can fully understand God then I am like God, and trust me if that's true I wouldn't believe in me cause I am just a human.
I have friends who tell me that man created God for himself. Why? Because we are scared, because we are lonely, because we want to be loved and don't feel loved. They tell me that God, to them, does not make sense. People come into the world and sometimes live very tragic lives or die tragic deaths. They tell me that Jesus was delusional with his "Messiah Syndrome". That is what they tell me. Me? I think there is definitely a force that runs it all. I don't know if it has arms or legs. I think it is much bigger and more intelligent and artistic than anyone can possibly comprehend. It's kind of like a flea pondering humanity, or the dog it lives on. I think there are built ins, like free will and eternity, and it's just to big to think about. In quantum physics, we have just learned that particles behave according to how they are observed. WOW. Jesus? I want to believe what he believed. I want to believe LIKE he believed. If the stories are true, he was awesome. I think frequencies have something to do with all this and I think love may be the highest frequency there is, since it is hard to hang onto here on this planet that feels so solid underfoot but is really a huge mass of atoms and particles that behave according to thought. One of the most incredible things I can associate with this is the phrase from Jesus himself, "IT IS DONE UNTO YOU......ACCORDING TO YOUR BELIEF." We may not have a lot to lose by believing, but we may have quite a bit to lose by not believing. Faith...that's a hard word for me, sometimes. I substitute the word TRUST. Trust I can underestand. Trust I can handle. I can trust God. Anybody can pretty much handle my life better than I have.
October 2007 we're here in a new city (Charlotte). We, again, have no friends. No family. No church home. No barings. The only difference in this move and the move to Memphis is... I have my bag of overflowing faith in God. He is with us and we won't start off the way we did back then! NO WAY! God had a different plan.
Brian is slowing drifting from me. He's traveling more than he's home. He barely talks to me. He never touches me. He's up all night "working". I'm up early with the kids. I find out he is seeing someone else. I find out he's seen other women as well. I am soo broken! What is God doing to me?! I was so faithful to Him. What did I do wrong? Is He mad at me? What does He want me to learn from this?
I feel like I was yanked out of my spiritual home to see if I could stand on my own. A friend of mine told me, "maybe God moved you so far away so it could just be you and Him.. alone." I prayed. I prayed. I prayed. I read my Bible looking for answers to no avail. I was pushed into the arms of another man by my anger, resentment, and downright need to feel loved and wanted. Is it an excuse? Brian did it that means I should and could as well?! No. I started thinking "is my faith the real deal? Or was I riding on the coats of my friends?" I mean, was it all an act to fit in? Surely, no, but.....why couldn't my faith keep me strong through my marital problems?
Brian and I decided we'd stay together and work through this,but as the details of his infidelity haunt me... I started drinking heavily. I started making myself throw up. I hated myself so much that I couldn't stand to look at myself in the mirror. Brian didn't want me and I couldn't understand it. I finally left. A friend of mine in TX told me this, "..sometimes people use their religion or faith to keep themselves in bad situations longer than then they need to." That hit me and I started thinking that I should have left him a LONG time ago with the way I'm being treated! I doubted God's plan for me. I doubted the man he picked for me to marry.
I couldn't put together biblical reason for a divorce. I love Brian. I know deep in his heart loves me. I know God chose THIS MARRIAGE. So, yes I DID use my faith to keep me in a bad situation. I used my faith to keep me in this marriage, that i feel, God is going to bless in the long run.
He is building us up again and it's all for His Glory.
I am a christian and have been one all my life but why does good let bad things happen. Perfectly good people just die and God does nothing about. I would like to know why God would lets this happen to people.
It is easy to doubt God when so many awful things happen to us - and we are good people. I can really identify with the 4th person who commented. This person bravely aired a laundry list of hurts felt throughout her life. I have a list of my own, although I am not brave enough to share it publically - even if the post is signed "anonymous". When "hit" after "hit" comes our way, it is very very difficult to conceive there is a God who loves us in control of everything. Why does he allow it?
I feel pretty certain that God exists. I think my doubts lay with Jesus and Christianity. How can we know for sure that he wasn't just a devout, educated and faithful Jewish man that saw a corrupt religious and political structure and decided to do something about it? Was he really the son of God or was he merely trying to fulfill the prophecies in the old testament. It was a very troublesome time back then and there was much unrest in the land. Was Jesus just a radical who saw things that needed to be changed; a church that needed to repent? We know both he and John the Baptist were very well versed in the scriptures. Could he have been just a man who took it upon himself to fulfill the prophecies of the old testament?? He definitely changed the entire world with what he has done. No one can deny that. How can we, today, know that he was/is the son of God? How do we know we're right???
I think message that was taught by Jesus is very important and really applies to our lives. I wish that I could find truth and peace in my soul. I don't want to doubt anymore, I want to be free like many other Christians. Sometimes I think I question and analyze things way too much.
-Chris
I find myself often doubting God's reasoning rather than his existance. I know He is there. I've experienced it in my own live and through the lives of others, but when things happen that just rock me I can't help but wonder "where are you God, and what are you thinking?". For example, I just found out that some of my most faithful and unwavering Christian friends recently had to endure their third miscarriage after suffering the loss of thier 1st child only months after his birth. Through out their pain they have never shown anger or doubt towards God. They try to make US feel ok with the situation. Why do things like this happen? I find myself asking "Why are they neccessary?". I know we say some things are not for us to understand, but I sure wish I had a direct email to God. I'd have a lot of questions for him.
-A
I have a tendency to doubt that God has my best interest in mind. I know he exists, and I know that Jesus is His Son. There is too much proof when assembled together to believe otherwise, providing you are willing to listen to the proof available. There is plenty of evidence in archeology, there is evidence in historical accounts, scientific theory, probability, etc. and etc. What I find difficult is to believe that God actually takes the time to care about all the details of my life.
God had doubts about us, too. So, he send his son to die for us, so we can have life more abundantly. What is your definition of abundantly. We all have made choices in our life good or bad.
Sometimes, the Lord puts us through tests to find out if we really love him. But, God made the biggest sacrifice of all sending his son to die for you. So, sometimes we suffer and we hurt. I can not imagine hanging on a cross to die and living in hell for 3 days for me. But, he did. I believe and I am so thankful that he did it for me.
I would like to coment on pain, suffering, and victimization. What if we only see a little part of the picture? What if time only exists here? What if our greatest joy comes later in knowing we were loved and cared for all along. What if God feels our pain, too? I had a baby. He's all grown up now, but when he was a tiny baby, he had injections to prevent very debilitating diseases from happening to him. At the time, those shots hurt him ! He cried like everything. And guess what? I had to hold him while they did it to him. I will never forget the shocked look in his eyes the first time, right before he screamed. He didn't know two things: 1. My own face mirrored his pain, because I couldn't make him understand what was happening. I could only hold him, cradle him, love him, and try to make him forget and trus me again. 2. I was ultimately SAVING him. I know it surely did not feel like that to him. How could I explain that his joy would be far sweeter as he grew up, married his love, and watched his own babies grow up under his tender, loving, and sometimes disciplinary care. Maybe God is like that. Maybe he's like nothing we know, simply because we have no database now to understand a world so enveloping and complicated. But maybe, just maybe, God does exist, and maybe, ultimately, he loves us more than we know.
I definitely believe in God, but I often have doubts. The thing I fear the most is the concept of eternity. Do you really want to exist forever? Why I am I so fearful of this concept? Did God create the entire universe and if so why did he create all the other planets and all the extra space? Where did God come from? How was he created? How did he exist before creation? Are there other godlike beings taht control other adjoining universes?
I have the same questions: If God IS love and IS powerful, why does he allow the world to suffer, and why does he share us with other "gods?" Failure to find answers drove me away from the God of my Sunday School experience, to a place where I only focused on "me."
But life brought me back to those questions, so I tried God again, and a funny thing happened: He asked ME to be part of the answer. I confess that trying to help others makes me feel better about the world and about myself. It feels like that Holy Spirit part of God is growing inside of me when I'm willing to help others, and the things I don't understand aren't so overwhelming. I still don't have all the answers, but for now I'll pursue them by building upon this spirit thing within me, and by hanging out with others on the same journey. Thanks.
God IS obvious. Romans 1:18-20 tells us that God's existence is obvious, and it's only out of an intentional and deliberate ignorance that anyone doesn't see God revealed in creation. For example, it's logically impossible for everything to have existed forever - yet all things which begin to exist need a cause for the beginning of their existence. So what is the cause for the beginning of everything existing? It requires an uncaused cause, which, by definition, is what God is. Creation is contingent upon the existence of a necessary being, and there can only be one necessary being...that's what God is.
How can I not doubt when I try to do all the right things, help people, give to people etc and get the fuzzy end of the lillipop at every bend in the road? why do some people have it good, while some struggle the whole way?
I don't doubt God, but I wonder why he gets quiet. Why sometimes it feels like prayer is talking to a wall...if we take the initiative to talk to God, should he talk back? If we take the initiative to read the bible, shouldn't we hear his voice in it? I don't think it's just me...
I know that life is tough and full of hardships. Many times we do doubt God but I also know that He never leaves. God has always been there for me when I needed Him. It may not of been at the exact moment I wanted but time after time He was standing right beside me. I don't believe He becomes distant but we do. He puts us through the fire to refine us and sometimes to bring us back to His open arms. I have my doubts but continualy in Scripture it says have faith! Our thoughts are not God's and we just have to have faith in Him. He loves us, I know He does and He just wants what's best for us. Just like an earlier comment said, we may not be able to see why we are going through a certain pain but in the long run it was all for the best. We just have to believe in God and rest in His everlasting grace and love.
We all have doubt. We all wonder why bad things happen to good people, and why so many times it seems that very bad people thrive and prosper their entire lives. I once heard a speaker say that maybe because of God's grace and undying love for all people, good and bad, perhaps He sometimes has those individuals who choose not to believe in Him on a much longer leash than those who do. The speaker went on to say that maybe this is because God knows ,for those individuals, the brief time they will have on this earth will be the best it will ever be for them. For believers and followers of Christ,on the other hand, all the pain of what is endured on this earth will be replaced and erased by an eternity of happiness and peace beyond anything we could imagine. This is what sustains me when I am faced with trials, fear, sadness, pain or doubt.
If Gd didn't create people to be homosoxexual, why are there so many people who live that life style? And for the matter why has their been animals that have shown homosexual traits as well?
When we die, does God let us into heaven right away or we in a "waiting room" waiting for Jesus to come back? I never did understand that.
I often wonder if God exists and wants to have a relationship with us then why does he feel so distant sometimes. Why is it that sometimes I can so clearly feel his presence and other times he feels so far away that its like he doesn't even exist.
I work as a therapist on an inpatient psychiatric unit and every day I am confronted with reasons to question God. In my normal day it is not uncommon to work with someone who has drank away their life or lost everything to drugs. People who no longer recognize their loved ones because of the advancement of Alzheimer’s and are aggressive and no longer safe to those who want nothing but to protect them. My days are spent with people who have tried to harm others in a psychotic state and have served time in prison for their crimes. Quite often I work with people who believe they are a deity and ask that you pray to them.
Every day I face the “fringe” that we discussed on Sunday and everyday I do my best to remember to love the people I work with as God would love them.
Do I doubt God? I could after working with someone drank an entire bottle of shampoo to escape life, or when treating a mother who drank cleaning fluid mixed with coke to escape the pressures of her marriage and children while making dinner. I’ll admit that doubt creeps in on occasion and that there are times in my life where I have been overwhelmed with the atrocities that we continue to suffer from one another and at our own hands. In the end, my belief in God is what allows me to continue to care for those on the edge of our society and those have lost their own way in life. Without faith I myself would feel as lost as those who wander through my doors everyday.
Why would a God let a baby be born only to suffer to death. Not just die but hurt his whole little life? Evil people live to adulthood but innocent children suffer to death? A loving God would not let this happen! I want to believe so bad but can't in a God that does this.
Candice
Great video! Those questions are many that I have!
"I've never doubted in God's existence. I've doubted in His character. I've doubted in His reasoning behind things that happen. I've doubted in His love. I've doubted in His people and myself."
"I find myself often doubting God's reasoning rather than his existence. I know He is there. I've experienced it in my own live and through the lives of others, but when things happen that just rock me I can't help but wonder 'Where are you, God, and what are you thinking?' I know we say some things are not for us to understand, but I sure wish I had a direct email to God. I'd have a lot of questions for him."
"I have a tendency to doubt that God has my best interest in mind. What I find difficult is to believe that God actually takes the time to care about all the details of my life."
These ring so true with me. I've never doubted God's existence. I've doubted his reasoning and his methods. I've been mad at him and mad at the church when something I was doing that I felt was his call backfired on me and caused me more hurt than I knew possible and made me spiral downward so far that I spent years refusing to acknowledge him. Even when I saw the good that eventually came from everything that happened, I was still mad. I'd spent my entire life believing and doing everything I thought he wanted me to do...wasn't there any other way that he could have accomplished the things in my life that were brought about by those awful events that sent me spiraling? Something less traumatic? Something that wouldn't have caused me to hate him for years? Sometimes I feel that I still hold a grudge against him for those things. I still don't trust him like I should. I'm just not ready to be that open, that transparent with him again.
"The thing I fear the most is the concept of eternity. Do you really want to exist forever? Why I am I so fearful of this concept?"
This also rings true for me. Whenever I think of Heaven and eternity, I think of the movie The Matrix...how the matrix was originally created perfect and the people couldn't handle that. They were bored, restless, and it just didn't work out in the end. I can't help but wonder if heaven will be like that. Every time I read or hear the descriptions, vague though they may be, that's what I think of and the idea scares me. I don't want to go to hell but if that's what heaven is going to be like, I don't want to go there, either...if I could pick and choose pieces of religions to believe, I think I'd probably choose to believe in reincarnation. I don't want to die and not exist anymore, but I don't want to exist in an eternity where you spend all day and night singing and worshipping God or visiting with neighbors or whatever and nothing else ever HAPPENS. I don't know if that makes any sense or not and I'm sure some would think it sounds selfish or ridiculous but I hate being bored and I like a challenge. What's challenging about hanging out doing nothing but singing and blabbing all day...? If everything is perfect, then there's no one to help anymore. There's no purpose other than "worshipping God"...and I just don't think that's enough for me. I need more.
Please do not be confused because God does exist and He lives!
As Easter is here there is a no better reminder of why we celebrate Easter! He had a horrifying crucifixion. He carried His cross only to be nailed to it.
He did it all for us. But then He arose! It is the resurrection of God's Son! In Luke 24:6 says it clearly:
He is not here; He has risen!
"The Passion of the Christ" is an
eye opener to see what Jesus did for us.
Stand strong my friend and ask God to help you every step of the way-
and HE WILL!! We know from our own experiences!
George and Deb/
Pembroke Pines,Florida
If we truly have a God, what does he stand for? Why doesn't he help the helpless kids that have been thrown into our society and rejected all their lifes. Because they look ugly? arn't funny? Why doesn't our God help us make decisions instead of us ruining our life with one wrong one? And why does it seem like he is never there for me, even when i need him most?
I know there is a God, never doubted that. I also really appreciate what Jesus brought to the world. The problem I have is with the excusivity of Christianity. I refuse to believe the Dahli Lama is going to hell because he doesn't profess Jesus as his savior. Christianity needs to get relevant. Thanks for the site.
I always beleived in God, but for a few years of my life, I doubted him. I always thought of myself as a "Good" person. I treated people well, always smiled and put others before me. I was married at a young age, and had a baby shortly after. My husband not only refused to work, but he turned to drugs and spent my hard earned money as well. After the second child was born, I had to get three jobs to support us all. We lived in poverty, and I remember wondering every morning why God let me wake up at all. I didn't know what I did to deserve this. When the abuse began, God gave me the strength to leave. He presented me with the opportunity to make better money to provide more for my children. God then introduced a wonderful man to my life who actually made me smile again. He recently married me and became a father for my children. We are now a family, and buying our first home- something I never thought I would have. This was God's plan for me all along. I realize that getting a divorce is clearly not god's way, but I think I took the situation into my own hands, and left god out of my decision to marry the wrong man in the first place. This time around, I prayed and decided to follow God's plan for what he wanted me to do.He came through for me and my family, and I have never beleived more.
From a logical stand point, I find it impossible to compartmentalize my brain to the point where I could believe in something so completely illogical. I understand humanity's fear of death and the unknown, so I get why people feel the need to believe in a higher power/god, I've just gotten past it and accepted that I only have this life to live, so I'd better make the best of it. We are so blessed to be alive and to experience this world, I feel it is doing yourself a disservice to live your life for anyone but yourself, even "god". And to think that your religion is 'the right one' is a bit ridiculous. Eventually, all religions become mythology. Christianity will be no different.
Hi, Todd - the pastor of Next Level Church - weighing in here. I loved the last post about myth - because it was honest and true. Christianity is indeed myth - - but with this twist: it is myth become fact. All of the great myths of human history - especially those about the dying and rising God, anticipate Christianity. (Btw, this was all in C.S. Lewis in the mid 20th century). This is one of the key factors that causes me to be a Christian...that myth has become true in time and space and a Person.
Hi Todd. I really appreciate your post, but could you explain what you are saying a bit further. I don't really understand what you mean by "All of the great myths of human history - especially those about the dying and rising God, anticipate Christianity." From my reading, and I've done a fair bit, I haven't found this. What I have found is that Christianity takes pieces from many earlier religions (wicca/paganism and Egyptian especially) to create its own allegories and mythologies. In fact, Easter comes from a pagan holiday called the Feast of Ishtar, which celebrates the resurrection of the sun (the return of the sun from the south). It's easy to see how that could get misinterpreted/changed to mean son, not sun.
I also don't understand what CS Lewis has to do with god or christianity being true. Yes, his Narnia series is loosely based on the Christian myth, but that doesn't make it real. He is not a prophet, just an author.
Maybe I'm missing/misunderstanding what you are saying. Could you expand on your comments?
Thanks!
I doubt organized religion.
Whether one believes in a god should be a secondary question to whether one should subscribe to a set of beliefs cobbled together by powerful institutions based on books filled with contradictions and led by hypocrites handing out "answers." Spiritual belief should be a personal journey, not just a package one inherits or is pushed into when one is most vulnerable. Do the benefits of condoms outweigh the evils? Is it ever OK to take a life? Should criminals be forgiven? Should one depend on an afterlife, or are there more immediate reasons to try to be a good person? These are the kinds of questions every person should ponder and answer as an individual.
I can probably explain the whole thing including what happens when you die, if there is a God why do bad things happen to good people etc.
In the beginning there was the 'DEAL'
The deal that had to be struck between the Devil and God
God said 'People will roam the earth in my image, live and reproduce'
They will live to about 120 then spend eternity in heaven.
The Devil said 'whats in it for me?"
Seeing that there wasn't much he said 'No Deal'
He said to God 'give me your worst sinners- your child molesters, murders etc. They can hang with me in hell'
God said " no deal. I made them that way. I can't punish them for being like that if I'm partly responsible'
Anyway a deal was struck and it goes like this:
a Pandora type box was presented on earth. When it was opened all the worst of humanity was released. Aids, Cancer, heart disease , plague, war etc
The idea being that how you die isn't controlled by God. You could die a horrible death.
But once you die WE ALL GO TO HEAVEN.
There is 'A Hell' but it's so scary you don't even want to think about it. You do get to see it on Judgement day however.
I understand people searching and desperately hanging on to something, anything in a world of uncertainty and pain. Human existence is lonely and frightening. We have always looked for some sort of belief that will take away the angst of contemplating our impending death. Mankind has always reached for something beyond himself. The problem is that in our world we must share with others, these beliefs create an us and them mindset whereby we can justify any type of cruelty to others because they somehow don't count in the afterlife. If there is evil in our actions, here it is.
Blind belief has allowed us to turn away from the physical reality of the universe and insist the earth is flat, or created in 6 days, or only 6,000 years old. In the same breath we can deny the biological fact of evolution and take a 5th generation antibiotic because penicillin no longer works since the bacteria have evolved around it. We are still willing to harm others who don't share our beliefs. We resent our civil government because it doesn't endorse one religious view and allow prayer in the schools, outlaw abortion, and post the 10 commandments in every village square.
All of these social conflicts revolve around beliefs concerning things which can't be known, only believed. Ask yourself this; If our species were an individual who became violent whenever someone questioned his belief in unknowable things that somehow only he had insight into, wouldn't he likely be locked us as delusional and dangerous? Do religious beliefs make global society safer and more stable? Are religious people more moral and peaceful?, more forgiving?, Do they act with greater love for mankind?
In the absence of a reigning God here on earth, or even a universal peacekeeping mechanism made by our own hands, what should we do to regulate our more violent impulses? How should we proceed to at least make human life a little more humane for everyone?
I appreciate the views from the pragmatic bloggers, for my own scientific perspective is quick to reveal the symbolic and mythical content of "religion." But there are some honest Christian leaders out there who are willing to deal with these objections.
One of them, Brennan Manning, wrote in "The Ragamuffin Gospel" that (paraphased) "'Religion' has done a greater disservice to Jesus Christ than any atheist." It was extremely helpful to me to receive permission to separate religion from my personal relationship with God.
A great read for others trying to reconcile science and "real life" with "God" is "I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist," by Geisler & Turek. The authors present the accepted scientific views of the (overwhelmingly!) organized and consistent universe, then compare cause/effect evidence for and against the existence of God. There is indeed scientific evidence for so many things religion asks us to take for granted. I found that, both rationally and scientifically, there are more "holes" in the atheist arguments than in the God/spiritual ones. So I believe God is the ultimate scientist, but "religion" can still get in the way of my personal relationship with Him.
Thanks for sharing, everyone!
Robofella
I found myself realyzing that I have been in denial if I say I don't doubt God. I have known the Lord for a very long time and through my ups and down in life. I have found that even though I love my Lord my God with a fever pitch love. I also have found that I can get so angry or better yet frustrated with God when I am thinking I hear him and find myself regretting listening to him in the first place. Maybe instead of calling this word doubt maybe we should call it pride. We pride ourselves in being smart we look awfully foolish if we would believe in this fairytale. But, you know I like fairytales when the knight saves the princess in the tower. The Lord saved me out of my tower and though I have doubt about him. He still loves me.
Glad to respond and thanks for the intelligent question.
I cited Lewis because I think he got this better than anyone - the idea of "Myth Become Fact".
He meant (and I mean) that we find many of the elements in Christianity in other mythologies even many centuries before the coming of Christ. The difference is that these mythologies are not rooted in history and do not make claims of historicity. Christianity rises and falls on its historicity.
So, Lewis' point is that Christianity is a myth (in the sense that it is an overarching narrative that seeks to explain reality) like every other myth, with this key difference: it claims to be true in space and time.
There is a wonderful story Lewis relates about a time when he was still an atheist and a young Oxford don sitting in the common room of Magdalen College having a drink and a smoke and talking to another atheist professor, who was saying "Rum thing. All this business about a dying and rising God. Rum thing. It almost seems to have happened once!".
I have 3 wonderful children. I have raised them since the day I conceived by myself and my family's help. Their fathers wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. To be honest my 7 year olds father was to sorry to even pay 65 dollars a month child support. When my youngest who is now 9 months old was born, I suffered post partum depression. I went to the doc to get help. He doubled my depression medication on me which in turn made everything worse. I was also having a hard time finding work and trying to work for the problems I had from the tubal I received after my daughter was born. Then I find out that the father, or should I say the sperm donor, who wanted me to murder her when I found out I was pregnant had filed for custody. I was very upset trying to figure out ways to pay the legal expenses. Well, anyway, I went to the dr and was telling him about everything going on. He completely put my words out of context. The father of my newborn was able to gain emergency custody because the er physician failed to comply with the privacy act. Then my 7 year old's sperm donor done the same thing with her and my 9 year old son who is no relation to him. The judge in Hawkins County Juvenile Court wouldn't even let me speak. This was on November 1, 2007. The judge wouldn't even let me have visitation. I went out of the courtroom crying as any mother that loved their kids would do. After I was almost in my car, they came and arrested me for crying and put me in jail for contempt of court. I regained custody December 13, 2007. From that day until March 20, 2008 I hadn't heard from him not once. His momm called me but he said he didn't how to get a hold of me. On March 20th, they uprooted my kids once again. My oldest 2 went kicking and screaming and the whole court house even the judge was laughing about it. The judge couldn't look at my kids because he knew it was wrong. That was suppose to be the hearing on the case. Even my attorny said there was some injustice. I was by no means given a chance to defend myself.. IF THERE IS A GOD THEN HOW COULD HE LET THIS HAPPEN??? HOW COULD A CONVICTED DRUG FELON ON HOUSE ARREST WHO HADN'T HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH HIS SON IN 8 YEARS UNTIL I SPENT MY WEEKENDS TAKING MY SON TO HIS HOUSE AND HAVING TO STAY THERE WITH HIM BECAUSE HE DIDN'T KNOW THEM AND WAS SCARED GET EVERY OTHER WEEKEND NON SUPERVISED WHEN HE SET BACK AND LET HIS WIFE BEAT AND CUSS THEIR OTHER 2 KIDS???? THE SPERM DONOR OF MY 7 YR OLD GOT CUSTODY OF THE OLDEST 2 AND HE BEATS THEM WHEN HIS WIFE'S SON DOES SOMETHING TO THEM??? YET, I'VE DONE NOTHING TO MY KIDS AND GET EVERY OTHER SATURDAY SUPERVISED VISITATION AT THE MALL?? WHERE IS GOD NOW WHEN HIS MOST PRECIOUS GIFTS NEED HIM THE MOST?? HIDING THAT'S WHERE. IF THERE IS EVEN A GOD CAUSE RIGHT NOW EVEN MY KIDS DON'T BELIEVE. MY 9 YR OLD BIT THE 7 YR OLD'S FATHER TILL HE BROUGHT BLOOD AND FOUGHT 5 COPS. NOW YOU TELL ME THE BAD PARENT??? GOD SURE AS CRAP DON'T KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!NOT TO MENTION I HAVE ONLY 5 DAYS LEFT TO COME UP WITH 2500 DOLLARS TO FILE AN APPEAL TO GET IT IN FRONT OF ANOTHER JUDGE TO TREY TO GET THEM BACK. I BET HE DON'T GET IT FOR ME!! Go look at us on here.
Amanda again... Go check me and the kids out at www.myspace.com/beingme6869
I truly believe in God and pray constantly. I try to live a Christian life, but I have sinned badly at times and constantly have to ask for forgiveness. I am not a bad person, but I am very disappointed in myself and thank godness (not a misspelling) for Jesus; otherwise, I would not have a chance to get to heaven. But like all believers, I have things that bother me. What really bothers me is how God can create billions of human beings over time and based on how hard it is to get to heaven (yes, all you have to do is accept the gift by believing in Jesus and that he died for our sins and his resurrection proved that he had power over death; but you have to really try and live what Jesus taught too or you are lying that you truly believe - it is not a free ride though it would seem when the one man on the cross next to Jesus who was a very bad sinner and murderer said "Remember me Jesus when you go to Heaven", and Jesus promised that he would see the man in heaven - talk about a free ride at the last minute! That alone gives me great hope. But back to the thing (among many) that bothers me. It would seem most of those billions of human beings created over the centuries will not make it to heaven (and what about the billions who never heard of God or died before Christ even walked the earth? Do they get a second chance?). For such a loving God, why would he create so many people who will end up suffering for eternity? They would be better off not to have been created. I know, it is not God condemning them, they condemn themselves by choosing not to believe and are evil and sinful. But there are many, many GOOD people that may not go to church, or may say they believe, but are seldom church goers (I know, just going to Church does not make you a true Christian). Yet these people I am talking about (we all know some) are honest, loving, help others, are trustworthy spouses, etc. - they live the life that Jesus teaches - it seems totally unfair they might not go to heaven because they had doubts or did not believe, yet they are great human beings - why would they go to hell with the worst dregs of evil human society - the murderers, hate mongers, racists, demons, mass murderers, etc. How can that be justified? I just wonder what other believers think - I'm asking questions that probably no one can truly answer so I have to depend on faith. In fact that is exactly what I do. I believe God is infinitely more loving than I could ever be, so somehow he will not allow those who are TRULY good people suffer for eternity with the real evil people of the world. I want to believe he gives the good people another chance when they die somehow; like maybe when you die, you of course go before God and are judged somewhere along the line; God says you were OVERALL a good person in life (not perfect of course, but other than Jesus, who was?), but you never truly believed in me; now you know I am real; will you accept me now? I would hope of course that a good person would certainly see at that point there is indeed a real God and enthusiastically say "YES!, I believe"! Then God says welcome to heaven. At least that is what I would like to believe, but how can anyone know what God will do? I just can't see a good and loving God creating people who are on their own decide to be good people only to spend eternity in Hell with the evil ones. I'm not Catholic, but their belief in "Purgatory" sounds appealing to me for those good people who have not been purified enough to enter heaven. I hope they are right.
And one other question. Why do you think God let Satan survive to harass mankind into hell if he can? It blows my mind to think an immortal angel created by God is so stupid to somehow become evil, takes on God (who says immortals had brains?) who throws him out of heaven, and then is allowed to temp all human beings to sin. How can mortal human beings possibly have a chance against an immortal devil - for example the Bible gives many examples of human beings taken over by demons who are immortal. How can a weak mortal human being have any chance against that? Are all sins due to Satan tempting us? He did temp Eve to get to Adam with the apple from the tree of knowledge and the rest is a terrible history of mankind suffering for centuries and who knows how many will go to hell? Why would God allow the devil to even exist after all the evil he has done (and continues to do for who knows how much longer)? Good luck answering these questions. I have a bunch more, so you proably hope I won't ask any more! God bless you all. Rowlac
Your polling tells the whole story. Seventy-five percent of your viewers are delusional and claim to know things they cannot possibly know.
What we do know is that man (Homo sapiens) has been on the planet earth approximately 200,000 years. Are we then to believe that this celestial omnipotent, omniscient, benevolent dictator idly watched the human race suffer the horrible maladies of prehistory for 198,000 years before revealing himself through a human sacrifice in first century Palestine? God works in mysterious ways is not an answer!
This is just one of many impossible propositions you have to accept in order to believe in the God of Abraham. It is such a waste to wrap your life around such a terrible, unsupportable myth
god does not exist, and u all know it deep down
I know bad things happen in this world and we all go through them. If we didn't how would we become what God wants us to be. It's through these trials we forget about ourselves and focus on God and the needs of others. I have experienced some great losses in my life and I am grateful to God that I am who I am today because of those experiences. Sure there have been times when I have doubted, but I still have FAITH in a loving God. Without faith what do we have?
Okay, this is where my curiosity peeks. The area where Jesus lived was under heavy Roman dominion, a civilization with some of the greatest minds and scribes of that time including Aulus Persus, Plutarch, Seneca, Valerius Maximus, and others who lived in and around that area at the time. So, considering that Jesus performed so many of his miracles (i.e. heal the sick, make the blind see, etc), why is he never mentioned by anyone in the old texts, AT ALL? Why is there no non-Biblical reference to this great man? Only four historians are typically referenced to justify Jesus Christs historical existence; Plinai the Younger, Satonius, and Tasitus are the first three, but they only speak of Christ in a few sentences, and never mention anyone named Jesus. Just a person called Christ, which is not a name, but a title meaning 'The Anointed'. The fourth source is Josephus, and that source has been proven to be a forgery for hundreds of years.
Also, to point out the fact that he never truly existed, he is also a direct plagiarization of the Egyptian Sun God Horus. Inscribed 3500 years ago, 15 centuries before Christianity, on the walls at the temple of Luxor in Egypt are images of the annunciation, the miracle conception, the birth, and the adoration of Horus. Noah's arc? A direct rip-off of the Epic of Gilgamesh, also a Pre-Christian tale of The Great Flood. Moses, and him being put into a reed basket and sent down a river to avoid infanticide? Rip-off of the story of Sargon. Moses, the Law Giver, spoken to by God on a mountain to give people his laws? Rip-off of the story of Manou (Indian), among others. Funny thing is, the Ten Commandments are taken outright from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Look into it. These stories aren't exactly original. In fact, the story of Jesus and his birth, and all that he did? It is a story that has been told, and retold, and retold again, in many cultures, referring to over thirty Gods. In fact, this is the list:
Horus (Egypt)
Attis (Greek)
Krishna (Indian)
Dionysus (Greek)
Mithra (Persian)
(Sunday was the Sacred day of Worship for Mithra)
Chrishna (Hindostan)
Budha Sakia (India)
Zulis, or Zhule, as well as Osiris and Orus (Egypt)
Odin (Scandinavia)
Crite (Chaldea)
Zoroaster (Persia)
Baul and Taut "The only Begotten God" (Pheonecia)
Indra (Tibet)
Bali (Afghanistan)
Jao (Nepal)
Wittoba (Bilongonese)
Thammuz (Syria)
Atys (Phrygia)
Xamolxis (Thrace)
Zoar (Bonzes)
Adad (Assyria)
Deva Tat and Sammonocadam (Siam)
Alcides (Thebes)
Mikado (Sintoos)
Thor (Gauls)
Hesus or Eros (Druid)
Quexalcote (Mexico)
Prmoetheus (Caucasus)
So, do I need to make my point any more clear? This Christianity, and it's outdated doctrines, fatalistic views, and desire to quash mankind's humanity, is all a contradictory story that's been stolen from other people, and people use it as an excuse to condemn others, their beliefs, sexual orientation, or whatever they disagree with, stating that it is 'Against God' or 'Blasphemous', and hide behind their religion with enough of a self-righteous air to make you sick.
This whole thing is just a big knock-off of someone elses idea, based around a fictious character, giving power to people who haven't any idea what their 'God' really wants.
It's all a lie.
If you want me to back my facts, or want me to clarify, or even fill in a few gaps and enlighten you further, send me a message at yahoo.
jaredpsychomonkey@yahoo.com
I'll help you lost sheep find the truth, and it isn't here.
Why does it seem that religion has done more to destroy people's lives than to uplift them? Why do most religions only seem to instill intolerance and closed-mindedness?
Will religious fundamentalism eventually lead to the end of the world? Is it America's role to destroy Islam, as some church leaders have proselytized? Is it Islam that we are against, or just fundamentalist nuts? Or possibly our own intolerance and fear? Is it right or just to fight misguided religious fundamentalism with our own self-righteous religious fundamentalism?
Will cooler heads someday prevail? Can we build societies based on understanding shared humanity?
Does science really turn us away from God and the truth?
Is it a sad irony is that when you die you will probably never get to see how wrong you were or that you cared way too much about things that never really mattered? Is it disheartening to thing that you might not ever get to see, at the end of your life, how wrong it was to support those who kill others to make you feel comfortable and provide you with convenience and material wealth? Will 'believers' get the chance to see how they ruined everything for people who really care about this planet and everyone on board?
Is it you who are spiritually vapid?
Do you ever feel soulless?
I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. I believe that He is the only way. My life has showed me that there is no doubt that God has a plan. When I was 18 i miscarried at 3 months along with a man i loved. I was distraught. I was depressed and suicidal. I was so angry at god for taking my baby away a baby i was already in love with. One year later I married my high school sweetheart, the true love of my life and became pregnant 3 months later. It was not until the 5 or 6 month i let myself love and believe in the fact i could be a mom. A few weeks before my due date I was looking through a keepsake box and came across my id bracelet from my miscarriage. My miscarriage happened on my current baby's due date. I cried and thanked god for his choice. My daughter is 2 and we are happier than ever because of Him.
My doubt is not about God. My doubts and concerns stem from organized religions. Why does it make me less of a person when I dont show up every sunday but live my life in a Christian manner. I honor my husband. I teach my daughter about God and i live a faithful life. I am a good person. But until I find a church to belong to I am deemed as less than worthy than those that do go to church. Are we not all worshiping the same God? Are we not all on the same journey to eternal life? I feel as though I am a leper in the community of church goers. Is this enough to condemn my soul to hell because I didnot have a seat in a pew every sunday? And will the drunkard on saturday night who conforms on sunday get my spot next to my Lord? Will the adulterer and molesters see eternal life before me because they served on their church council? The Way The Truth and The Light or is it now The Way, The Reserved Pew and The Label of a Church?
Imagine winning the lottery and becoming excessively rich. Wouldn't you still want friends, but (in a way) go into hiding? You would reveal yourself to some, but hide from others.
God has promised to give us free will. That includes giving us a choice in believing Him. If His existence were obvious, we would have no choice but to believe.
On the other hand, there is an abundance of evidence. The law of science says "matter and energy can neither be created nor destroyed". Science is admitting that it has no explanation for all the universe being here. Pretty good evidence for a creation, if you ask me.
God even allowed His own Son to be tortured and killed. Does that mean He is mean? I think not. There is another explanation.
When an athlete goes thru training, he is imposing on himself quite a bit of hardship and pain. So do those who diet, or quit smoking. We expect parents to impose some hardships on their children. Nowadays, we expect government to impose hardships on us concerning seat belts, speed limits, smoking, immunizations, avoiding murder, going to school etc. Each of those supposedly is good for us, but might be difficult for us to do on our own. Why then is it a surprise that God would impose difficulties on us too?
Our lives are not really about how much fun and wealth we can accumulate before we die.
It is correct to assert that Christians are imperfect. All humans are imperfect and make mistakes. However, even A championship basketball team can win with weak members on the team, and can win if the opponent scores points.
Dont judge Christianity by judging Chritians. Due to human imperfections, not all Christians see things the same way, but neither does everyone see a sports event the same way. The disparity of views does not change the truth of what happened. To see what the Christian message is all about, read the New testament and not the imperfect persons who struggle to understand and follow it. The book of Matthew will give you a really good start.
By the way. If there is no God, then why should a person adhere to any kind of morality ? If there is no God, then arent humans just mechanical things like lawnmowers and computers? If there is no God, then why is it wrong to kill ? If there is no God, who could say that Nazis were wrong ?
first off let me say that I believe firmly in God and His Son Jesus Christ. I am just unclear on some doctrine, specifically marriage. I know the word says be ye not unequally yoked. But what if you are? Can you leave your verbally abusive alcoholic spouse and not be considered and alduterer if you date someone else an eventually marry them?
"The only difference between Gods and Demons is who claimed the titel God first."
I believe my friend The Voice of Indifference said that...Who is to say he is wrong? Last time I checked, the only thing verifying Gods existence is a two thousand plus year old book and a massive following of fanatics. But hey...He can't be all bad, right?
" I was standing in line at the Mall, when all of a sudden a guy stepped in front of me, cutting in line. I told him 'Hey man, move it!' and he said 'Screw you!'. So, I reached up with my hands to choke him to death when I saw hanging from my wrist my 'What would Jesus do?' bracelet...So, I set him on fire and sent him to Hell instead. "
^_^
Hi Everyone,
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"nekko" has a strong point...what is god really how do we know he is not a part of the past in every culture how do we actually know we are what religion we say we are...if you ask me the whole thing is extremely and totally fake...i have a few catholic friends and all there stories are very different...as years pass the story of god changes and we never know who really to believe...yes you may be a priest so we should trust you right? wrong you had to get your info from somewhere? how do you know that some weirdo in the early 00's god bored and decided to create a false lord...if god really existed then why would we have all these other religions if your was the right one don't you think every one would follow it? somehow i don't think any religion is the right one...i actually think every religion is the wrong one...because in every religion you find you''l find something wrong with their concept on how everything came to be.
buddist-use peace and tranquility but in the world so far i see none of that wars still rage on and illegal acts still happen
Christians pray to the "almighty" god yet i see no change in anything i see no better life the poor are still poor the hungry are still hungry and the unfulfilled are still unfulfilled
Judaism insists on a notion of monotheism, the idea that there is one God. also jesus was (even though he could make miracles)not gods son but human just like any other. though they are accomplishing nothing by arguing with Christians on how the existence of jesus was like. exactly how will they prove their statement
the Greeks had many gods and had many explanations of how thing evolved and worked the only problem was that what if something about their stories changed as years passed..the story of Demeter and Persephone tells how seasons chance but what happens if winter last longer or summer changes to winter and winter changes to summer what happens then.
as nekko said if you have any questions you can contact him/her if you have a contradiction against my arguments you can contact me here↓
rinrin1@gmail.com.
i will not take any comment you have offensively unless it doesn't contradict my arguments
Since the beginning mankind has looked up to the stars are realized that there is something much bigger than himself. Many of us today see the universe as evidence of a creator. Why would not the same thoughts have occurred in ages past ? If you believe that a creator put this universe together - even if it came with a big bang - it is easy to also believe that the Creator got his message out the way He wanted. It seems wrong that only persons educated in history or persons who can understand complicated reasoning can come to believe in the Creator. Must the rest of us trust the conclusions drawn by such people ? It think not. Humans have a conscience - the ability to detect between right and wrong. That conscience is something that everyone has, separates us from animals, and provides further evidence evidence of a Creator. Cruelty to others is contrary to the message that conscience gives. Enemies of the Creator want to twist the message of conscience into self gain. By proposing that there is no Creator is to propose that you can do what you want at everyone else's expense.
They say that in difficult times (such as in times of war and hardship) that people turn to God. If God wanted friends why would He not create difficult times so that He could find them ? If people turned to Him in good times, would He not delay the bad times ? According to the Christian message, acts of charity and kindness to any person is one given to the Creator.
Thanks to the therapist and to Anonymous who "put others before me" for their posts.
-Blov
What I don't understand is how everyone bases their faith on a man made book, aka The Bible. In my opinion this book was created as a way to keep people in line. If you are good, you go to heaven and be with God. If you are bad, you go to hell to be with the Devil. It just amazes me that with all we know about the world and science how people continue to believe in a book that was written by man. People were ignorant back then and didn't have science to explain what seemed to be the unexplainable. Shouldn't we know better by now? If I came to you and said I was pregnant yet never had sex...would you believe me? Why not? Everyone believed Mary.
I would personally liek to applaud the posting of the Anonymous commenter from the first of April because, with all do respect, he's right. The whole Christian culture centers around a wholly man-made book, and, as I've said before, it is not the book of God. It is in fact an astrotheologicakl literary hybrid, based on the twelve signs of the zodiac, and the placement of the sun in accordance with the constellations. So, why are people blowing this whole thing up into a fictitious piece of melodrama? Though the basis for Christianity is indeed good (Good will toward man and the like), the fact is it is not based on fact. True, honest fact. And when people look at something, believe it to be true on "faith" alone and nothing else, what are we but blind chidlren afraid to leave our mothers apron strings? If we followed the same principles of this religion into real life, we would have to answer every spam message fro mthe internet, pay every mechanic that $900 because he says something is out of alignment (even if you just went in for an oil change), give money to every homeless person yo usee who says he hasn't eaten in days and needs to feed his family. Why? Because all fo these things would be based on "faith" as well. So, why do we not abandon these archaic beliefs in exchange for truth, hm? Solid, factual evidence? No one knows how the world was created. Science and religion both have good ideas. Religion says God made the world? How? It doesn't say. When? It doesn't say, though every Christian I know says it's 13,000 years old, or younger. How long will this last? Until God sends the Four Riders of the Apocalypse, during this century. Why? That's a toughy...just take it on faith.
Science? How was it made? Durin gthe creation of the universe, matter was interspersed throughout the galaxy. When it pieces began colliding and compacting, they began to grow larger, creatin ga gravitational force that pulled more particals towards them, making them larger. When they became large enough, they condensed and exploded into stars. With huge gravitational fields, these stars pulled larger chunks of matter near to them, but not close enough to drag them into the star. These chunks of matter soon became planets, and matter such as ice, nitrogen, and other material that was in the matter helped create life on the planet.
When was it made? Science has determined, through layering of the earths crust and carbon-dating (both relatively accurate, to within a thousand year, more or less) that our planet is approximately four point five billion years old, long enough for the superheated surface to cool, and bacteria to grow into sentient life, dozens of times over.
How long will the world last? Science has hypothesized that more than likely our world will, if we ourselves do not destroy it, last until our star, called Sol, goes supernova and engulfs the first five planets in our solar system before condensing into a white dwarf. This is judged to be in more than three billion years, so you needn't sweat right now.
Why was the world created? Chance, and the right conditions put us into the making. But are we that special? No. In fact, in our own galaxy, NASA has already located over twenty planets with similar characteristics of our own. Though reaching them is out of the question, the fact remains that they are there and habitable. So, what makes our world special? Does God condemn the beings of another planet to Hell for not knowing of his existence? Does it matter if they do not believe in a Hell to begin with?
All very good questions, I'd say. Anyone care to answer them?
I maintain that the best part about religion is that it looks down upon people who create their own belief system. society follows suit. The person creating their own idealogical belief system is called crazy, neurotic, and any number of things. But, if people start following this new beliefs system created by one man, it is called a cult and many attempts are made to disband the new religion.
Can anybody answer me why?
Is not every religion that started out originally a new idea? I mean, Moses wasn't the first one to be spoken to by a God on a mountain you know, so who is to say that he is the last? I worship Keth, the God of Luck, and, in my opinion unsurprisingly, my luck has gotten better. I made up this God, but if he is real in my heart, then does that not make the God real? I am quite sure that when man first hobbled his way out of caves he wasn't too concerned about any spiritual entities watching out for him...Just living. But then someone, somewhere, probably said something to this effect, "I want to believe in something..."
And so, he created a God for himself. His God helped him explain things like why the plants grow, why child birth is what it is, and why we have seasons, among many other hard to explain things. Later, people started believing that what this man, the man who said "I'll make a God", is speaking the truth, and so they believed him as well. He gained followers, and he gave them answers.
Time rolls by, slowly but relentlessly, and now the Christian nation has grown tremendously, and everyone believes the words of one man...
Who is to say if he was right? In my heart, my God is real, so does that not make him as real as your God? It is, in a fundamental way, the same thing. The only difference is I have no church, no hell, and my God is younger than yours. Oh, and I don't have two billion people agreeing with me...but can't that change?
Can I not make my own Gods, start my church, and give people the comfort and answers they need to live happily, just as Christians do? Would that really be a bad thing, and does it really condone sending me to Hell?
I should note that the common perception of Christian faith that I've seen on this board is not the sort found in Scripture. In fact, this perception is based entirely on a circular argument. In effect, what you are saying is that you can't believe anything on faith because faith is the wishful belief in something that is irrational. By implying your definition of faith (an entirely arbitrary one at that) in your premise, you are begging the question.
To the person who had a miscarriage, then later had a baby whose due date was the same as the miscarriage: I really appreciate your story as an example of using the memory of a trajedy to reflect on how much better your life is or can become. I believe that the more grateful we are for our lot in life, the happier we can be. But I don't see how your story is evidence of a divine plan working in your life. If god wrote a plan for your miscarriage and birth, is he also responsible for writing the plans of children who die of starvation before they can experience any happiness in their lives, or of women who are raped and killed in war-torn areas of the world, or any of the other lives that are crushed daily without any chance to change their lives of the lives of others with the benefit of their adverse experiences?
I just escaped from a horrible relationship that sidetracked my schooling and completely bankrupted me. I have since graduated, built up a savings and entered a new, wonderful relationship. In light of human suffering as a whole, I find it hard to believe god pointed at me and chose to make my life better while letting billions of others continue to suffer and die.
To the person questioning why anyone would want to be a good person without believing in a god: If you study social animals, you'll find that cooperation is key to success, and there are examples of kindness in such animals, even between species. As a member of a social species, I believe that it is in my best interests to serve society's best interests; if I do what is best for everyone, I'll improve my own situation. That means I have an evolutionary perogative to help others by volunteering my time, donating money and using as few resources and creating as little waste as possible. Whether I believe in a god doesn't have to factor into the logical need to be compassionate and empathetic.
And as an endnote, I must say it's fairly heartbreaking to be considered a bad person when the judgement is based solely on one's religion or lack thereof, especially when it is a close family member doing the judgement. Just because I don't believe in hell doesn't make it OK to
Personally, I find it hard to believe that God would intervene to make anyone's life better, let alone one person among many. History is rife with examples of man failing to live up to any ethical standard, which thereby further evidences his inherent sinfulness. Why should God do anything for us? He would be perfectly just in damning us all to hell.
Besides, God is not necessarily in the business of making anyone's life "better". The Old and New Testaments contain numerous examples of saints whose lives were bleak, at least by our standards (e.g. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Job, most of the major and minor prophets, all of the apostles - including Paul). Even Christ himself was repudiated by his own people and killed in a rather slow and painful way.
IS not every religion based on Faith? the miracles, the stories, everything about them take place in a time and place that we have nto seen frist-hand. Thusly, the facts can so easily be skewed, it's unnerving. All things are taken on faith, if you think about it. When you watch the news and they say "Oil prices are sky rocketing", then you nod your head and say "Oil prices are sky rocketing". For all you know, oil could be falling drastically in price. Of course, there are laws covering falsified information being spread on the News, but not about religion...
Nekko, let me preface this by saying that I do enjoy your posts. You challenge my thinking and you are a prolific and delightful writer and an educated person. I have studied comparative religions for many years and you are absolutely correct with the strings of myth that run from each culture to the common ground. I would like to respond to the quest for proof of God. There are a lot of things in this world that just don’t have an explanation that we understand. And that, my friend, is where faith comes in. The substance of faith is ethereal, and it ebbs and flows like running water. Use the concept of math. Math exists. It supports our cultures. It is a fundamental source of our economic society. It makes the universe more understandable. There are many evolving layers of math. Some of them are a mystery to me. Some have not yet been discovered. Nevertheless, math supports our universe and it is there, whether we understand its concepts or whether we don’t. It is up to us as to how deep we go with it. The more we know, the more fascinating it becomes. The same is true of the concept of God. At a base level, I can say “What an artist!” The whole universe is beautiful. We see, we touch, we hear, we smell and we taste. Intelligence is absolutely involved in why things work. It’s just too planned to be an accident. Someone I knew once used the anagram of GOD as Good Orderly Direction. Whatever your concept, whatever your path, and whether or not you believe in a hereafter, GOD does exist, it’s just up to us how deep into the "godness" we go. So go in peace and love, my brother, my sister. Learn these things from the only one that can teach it to you. Don't be afraid of education, but open up to something that is far more advanced than you or I will ever be. And the magic and fascination and love that you will find…well, it might just be miraculous.
Happiness keeps You Sweet,
Trials keep You Strong,
Sorrows keep You Human,
Failures keeps You Humble,
Success keeps You Growing,
But Only
God keeps You Going
NAMASTE
Namaste, I can understand your opinion, but that does not prove anything to the contrary of what I said. The fact is, faith is just that. Faith. By the same standard, if I walked up to you and stated, bluntly, "I am God, I have created the world and all therein, and shaped the universe you see today...have faith in me" then you would have to believe me. That is faith. Now, common sense would argue otherwise, but that is what it is. Faith versus common sense. Common sense says that there are many unexplainable things in this world, and the next, but that does mean that it occurs through any of the Gods work. Faith says you can say "God did it" and that is that. You used math as an example, a creation of man. Intelligent man, yes, and a creation that is so superbly accurate that it helps us determine things such as the age of our planet and the distance between us and the nearest star. But it is MAN'S doing. Now, I will not argue that the universe is beautiful. It is the most perfectly imperfect thing in creation, and it works so spectacularly well we can only stand in awe of it. That is the truth. On a smaller scale, our planet, and all of the teeming life upon it's surface (and underneath it as well, if you so please), is beautiful as well. There are many, many wondrous things to see, touch, smell, taste, and listen to. But all of these things, beautiful though they may be, does not prove that God exists, nor does it explain why so many other cultures were so distinctly plagiarized in order for these beliefs to form.
I am not religious, but I am a spiritual person. I believe there are Gods, but I refuse to believe that there is one, singular, all knowing 'Christian' being that started all of this from nothing. The Christian beliefs, in my opinion, are moot, because they stemmed from the beliefs and ideas of others until it eclipsed them and labeled them as wrong. A good example for that would be when the Christians were rounding up the pagans and forcing them to build the Christian churches. Paganism, and earth worship, came well before Christianity. Yet, their ideas (Easter and Christmas both) were taken from them and moved into the calendar, with Christians naming Christmas as "The Day of Christs birth" (though it is in fact a pagan celebration of the winter solstice) and Easters "Resurrection of Christ" (though, this too, was a celebration, this one of the Spring Equinox, and the return of life to the frozen world), overlapping these days of Miracles over pagan days in order to force people to forget that these were originally pagan ideas and beliefs. It was early brainwashing, and it worked.
So, who, if I am to have faith at all, should I believe in? The people who stole the ideas of others, prosecuted them, killed them off, and denounced their religion as blasphemy, heresy, and the work of a devil that they created...or the people who tilled the land and praised the sun for granting them a bountiful crop, and mother earth for giving them the rain?
I would say that my faith, unregrettably, must remain with the latter.
I have to agree with Nekko, but for a slightly different reason. I do not believe in a religion that bases its faith off of really nothing more then intimidation. I mean honestly, "believe in god or you'll go to hell" That sounds very egotystical.
I follow the Goddess Tiamat. Believing in her has actually helped me through life, kept me safe, given me guidence wehn I was lost. If it were not for her, and her followers, I would have commited suicide long ago.
There seems to be so much confusion of who God is.
There is only one true God.
Believing in God is not about a religion. It is about a relationship with God through prayer and reading The Bible.
The NIV Bible is a very easy Bible to understand. Find some Christians maybe at your work place for a clearer understanding. God does not want you to be confused nor to have doubt in Him. Sometimes bad things happen to Christian folks. There is no understanding of why these short comings happen. But they do and we need to trust God and ask Him to help us get through tough times. I hope this had touched someone today in a special way.
Jesus Christ died for you and me!
Science and Christianity have something very important in common. Both wish to reveal the "truth". People on a jury can have many differing views of the facts delivered to them, but there is only one truth concernining guilt or innocence. A person can truly be innocent even if jurors believe his guilt. In such a case, their belief is in error.
Science does not (yet) start at the beginning when it offers an explanation to the beginning of the universe. Science starts from a point where already massive amounts of nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, carbon (and other elements) are positioning themselves for a big-bang. To say that massive amounts of material have always existed is a pretty big leap of faith. Many of us find it easier to believe that it was created. There are many Christians who acknowledge that the universe may be much older than 13,000 years old. Creation could have appeared as an evolution over a lengthy period of time.
To want aid for the suffering and poor, what does science say about that ? Science offers evolution which leads to the elimination of the weak - the suffering and poor. If that is unacceptable to you, then your beliefs are not limited to science. Where does your concern come from? Likewise science has no explanation for beauty. Does that mean beauty does not exist?
Haven't there been people who have presented themselves to others as religious or good, only to use that image for their own personal gain? Do the actions of persons like that make the goal of being religious or good as unworthy? No, it just indicates that there is a way to take advantage of it.
We are right to question the various religions and beliefs. Anyone can walk into a cave or to the top of a mountain (or into a closet for that matter) and walk out with a new religion. What makes Christianity different is that someone walked into an execution performed by the authorities of executions, was killed, and then was walking around again if 3 days. Plus the whole thing was experienced by many witnesses. That is not easily done.
i don't doubt G_d; i doubt people! G_d has never ever hurt me or let me down, but people all my life have really let me down.From abandonment issues, to all kinds of behaviour that has not been loving, supportive, or kind hearted; people have really let me down in my life. But G_d has never hurt me! From the day i was 17 years old, I was hungry to know G_d, so despertly hungry to be in His presence where I found peace, love, and acceptance.And i always loved to read about Him and His plan for His Creation. I would read that book about Him so much that i even carried that book about Him everywhere, and i read, and read,about Him every chance i got. And my mind became transformed from being brainwashed by the negative G_d hater's in this world, to a higher level of thinking. The book said that His ways are higher than our way's;and i thought, 'WOW'; this makes more sence to me than any other way of living that i had tried. I loved everything that i could learn about Him. I've always loved and greatly appreciated G_d's Creation! From fiery red's ,orange's and pink sunsets and sunrises; to puppies, horses, and all sorts of cool animal's that are exotic; and so many beautiful places on this earth to see and experience! To think how G_d has Created this Earth to function in perfect harmony is so greatly amazing to me,i am in awe of all the beauty i've seen. G_d has never let me down, not ever. People have hurt me so often! People have hurt me deeply at different times in my life. I've chosen to forgive those who have hurt me. Ignorance can be brutal. The book says "My people perish for lack of knowledge"; and really it is mostly ignorance in people that has hurt me mostly. People don't stop to understand; they can be judgemental; and very hard hearted,maybe due to the actions of other's who have hurt them. I run to G_d whenever i am hurt by people. He is my high tower of protection, my provider,in Him i can trust like no human being. He is real and really awesome, i have learned so much from Him. i feel so loved by Him. Yeshua, promised Messiah; is my Saviour; and i love Him more every day!!!!! He has made Himself very obvious in my life! I feel so satisfied with my relationship with G_d.
I have my doubts in god. I believe in him and that belief was reinforced when a couple of years ago me and my sister lived through a 75 mph freeway accident. What I want to know is why I work and I work 7 days a week to barely make ends meet. I always tell the truth and I treat everyone with respect. I live my life in the best way I can but I always get pushed down. I start to get ahead even a little and something terrible happens and I can barely afford food and rent again for a long long time. Why is it that someone who lives well and works hard and is going to school to improve himself cannot get ahead no matter what he does, when all I have to do is lie cheat and manipulate to get everything I want. I'm so close to just giving in and doing what I need to do to not worry about money.
The question is why does God let bad things happen. The answer is God gave human beings a thing called "free-will". We choose to do right or wrong. When bad things happen, it is not God's fault. How you respond is up to you. If you know there is a God, or even if you think there might be you will do the right thing. That is God working. See, it has been my experience that in life you will be faced with many chances to follow God's path he has laid out for you. You have the choice to follow that path or to follow your own. Almost all the times I refused to follow God's words and tried it on my own, life got harder and harder. I would hit a road block in what I thought was the way I wanted my life to be and I would blame God for letting it happen. My choices led me to the very depths of despair and hopelessness. I began not to believe in Him at all. The more I cursed God and refused Him, the worse my life got. One night I had planned to just end it all. Sitting in a drunken stuppor staring at a bottle of pills with the tv on, a program came on and a man started preaching. I couldn't find the remote, so I stared at the man on the tv. He looked out and said "God never promised you it would be easy to walk his path. He never said I will do you harm if you don't follow me. He said 'I love you'. The wages of sin is death and I am everlasting life" It wasn't like a light dawning and I fell to the floor in repentance, but it got me thinking. I didn't take those pills. I went to sleep. The next day, I couldn't stop thinking about what that preacher said. I took a good long at my life and my choices and realized that every time it was I, not God, that had taken the wrong fork in a crossroads of my life. I decided I would try it God's way, if he existed, and see what would happen. I had nothing else to lose. I can't name you any miracles or proof of His existance, but by choosing to follow His teachings and looking for the subtle signs He arranges, my life has improved a thousandfold. God is that still small voice in your head that never leads you wrong.
Wishing peace to Anonymous of April 12 and offering another person's opinion.
Real wealth is not measured by numbers in the bank account. If you have integrity, you have wealth. If you are one of the "givers" and not one of the "takers", you have wealth. Many of the 12 apostles were not financially wealthy. The New testament contains many stories where the poor and struggling are shown favorably. When you are 100 years old and look back on your life, it is better if you see integrity and goodness rather than monetary wealth.
I don't suppose I have anything really new to say here. If my faith struggle were a battle of two armies, it would be a never ending war, with both sides pouring it on, day after day, and so much blood on the field you could swim in it. I think a lot about the trials of Job and what kind of Father would allow a son to suffer so horribly in the name of a wager (not to mention his family!!). I can accept a "clockmaker" God, but one who intervenes in such a capricious way scares the hell out of me. And I see such stark differences in the Old Testament and New Testament God that I am hard pressed to believe in the infallibility of the bible. And no one seems to have satisfactory answers to any of the really hard questions, which must mean that we're all fundamentally, mystified by the true nature of God -- most of all the professional preacher types, whose vision is so blurred by the needs of the institution, or worse, their own greed and guile. I continue to search but hold out little hope that I will ever come to terms with my faith. In the meantime, I have three little girls who are looking to me for answers, for certainty and stability. And so I put on the best show I can, and strain daily against the yoke of my own doubt and sense of guilt and hypocrisy. I sound pretty miserable, but see me on the street and I'll flash you a big old smile and a hardy 'hey there, how are you?' . What kind of con artist does that make me?
I just dont understand why you have to believe in him or you will go to hell. Thats like saying; "buy this or I will kill you"
I also think if you are going o put so much faith in something, then it should give back to you...or at the very least prove its existence. If god wants everyone to believe in him, why not appear to us and prove it beyond all doubt, then everyone would believe.
Hello Dornhal.
I have thought about your question for several days - about wanting a proof for existence. There is no answer I can see, but only a theory. Perhaps the creator is just like us in many ways.
The best friends you can have are those who freely choose to be your friends - especially those who choose to befriend you when it is a difficult choice. If his existence were proven, then what choice would we really have ?
i doubt that a website that says there is no right answer can lead people to THE right answer. God has manifested Himself and made Himself clear through creation and ultimately, Jesus Christ - His exact and perfectly expressed image. Does this discussion lead people to the Way, the Truth and the Life or is it simply letting people vent their thoughts and feelings with little compulsion toward a diligent effort in finding these answers in Christ? I recognize the pain, doubt, and the need for unconditional acceptance in our world. I myself have doubts, pain and a skepticism of many things "christian". But i pray that the Holy Spirit would bring this discussion to resolution in a genuine faith in the person, life, and work of Jesus Christ.
I have a hard time understanding how anyone can doubt GOD exists. "If he brings you to it he will guide you through it". I have not lived a charmed life but I have lived a blessed life. For every bad thing that has happened to me I have become stronger because of it. We all have our different beliefs and interpretations about the bible. We question why God would let bad things happen? Why do we ourselves succomb to the evils of the world? Believing in a higher power (God) in my case keeps hope alive for better days to come. I will never stop praying, giving thanks for the gifts in my life or believing the ones I have loved and lost are in a better place. I visit the cemetary every week. I pray for forgivness of my weeknesses and the strength to become a better person. Turning your back on god is easy. It means you, like so many others do not want to be accountable for the wrong you have done. You can not blame god for the bad things that happen. Bad things happen to good people. It is human nature. When I was seven a man that raped and killed an 89 year old woman attempted to abduct my friend and I at knife point. We barely escaped. I like to think that God was watching over us. The woman who was murderd..Her family and I like to think that God welcomed her in heaven with open arms. God performs miracles everyday. Most people are just wrapped up in thier own little worlds to take notice. He was there for me when I was 21 and an arsonist burned my house down. He saved my fathers life. Turn off your radios. your TV, your telephone...take a walk in nature..do nothing but breathe in...close your eyes.....and listen.....
God does not keep others out of his little club(another little quote I read). He is allowing them to choose a higher power to believe in. We are one Nation under GOD. Too many have shut him out. Please open your hearts....don't take life for granted. Believe in something greater than yourselves...
He exists and he smiles on you every day. Turning your back on God is like turning your back on life. Without him in it there is only darkness.
It was not easy for me to get in a real relationship with God, but once I did, the joy and peace I wondered about was abundantly clear. It is not easy to change the thinking mode from me to others. Compassion and love conquers much! Just think about what Jesus went through for each of us and think about if you could go through the same with a forgiving heart! It took me a long time to actually release and surrender myself totally to God,and now I have found that His word is absolutely true. The key is learning and practicing the Word (Bible) and applying it to your everyday life. The Bible is full of accounts of ordinary people doing extrodinary things. I Hope and pray for increasing knowledge and understanding of God's Word and it's application in your everyday life.
I feel compelled to add my voice to this dialogue in response to some of the things I have read here.
I'd like to first clarify that I love Jesus for his incredible teachings and because he tried to bring more love into this world. He did, in fact, die for all of us.
But I'd like to add: Martin Luther King Jr. also died for all of us. Here is another great man who spent his life trying to bring love into our petty, hate-ridden world and paid the ultimate price for doing so. Ghandi is another example of an individual who suffered because of his revolutionary love.
Some will find me despicable for comparing these three, but to one who doesn't accept the Biblical caricature of god, they naturally fall into the same category: great people who changed the world for the better. If there is a god at work here, I think it may be the powerful concept of love, because this is what truly shapes a better world.
I don't know if god exists, but I know I am afraid of the god I find in the Bible. In a previous post, someone wrote, "When bad things happen, it's not God's fault." But the Bible holds that God is all-knowing and all-powerful. If this being created the earth and gave humankind free will, as the Bible claims, then he has knowingly set up a world where humans cause each other endless suffering, not to mention the suffering humans cause animals and vice versa; the suffering animals cause other animals; and the suffering caused by viruses, natural disasters, etc. Anything bad that exists in this world can only exist by god's will in this scenario. A being who would intentionally create the framework for suffering on this scale is too horrible a thought for me to bear, and I cannot believe that the same god who would flood the world to destroy humans he found deficient (along with every innocent animal and plant) also spawned Jesus.
Earth is not "in harmony," as I've heard many claim -- it is a nearly indechiperable mix of pain and beauty, life and death. We are still living in chaos. Although nature appears to follow certain rules, chance is the defining factor in any of her systems. To those who are fascinated by life enough to study its workings, there is an elegantly simple rule to our world's profusion of life: Organisms will always reproduce more offspring than their environment can support; those individuals who, by chance, have traits that give them an advantage will have the best opportuninty to survive long enough to add to the next generation (that is, reproduce). This amazing sentence explains so much more to me than the Bible ever did. Science may also be able to explain our concept of beauty (for example, color vision and an affinity for certain colors were advantagous traits to our fruit-foraging forebears, which could account for our appreciation of colorful flowers, sunsets, etc.) and our desire to help one another (social animals enjoy survival benefits like safety in numbers, communal child care, etc.)
But even though experimentation and reasoned logic can explain a great deal, we may never have the data or the mental capacity to understand certain phenomena.
With or without a god, I feel I have only this one short life to do as much good as possible while I try to understand my world as much as possible. And the ideal I cherish above all else, even god, is love. Like Jesus said, even if you have the faith to move mountains, you are nothing without love.
Tech, I'm a Catholic. Baptized, Confirmed, the whole nine yards. This was my Grandparents doing. While growing up, my mother didn't really know what was what. She's now a born again Christian. I have no issues with those who are religious, but I just don't understand. I'm a homosexual 20 year-old. You can understand my doubt.. I don't fully understand why someone who supposedly created me, can hate what he created. I understand that he's supposed to 'work in mysterious ways'.. but.. why hate? Isn't he supposed to be forgiving? Why should I feel guilty for who I am and even WANT his forgiveness? I read somewhere that he apparently doesn't create us homosexuals. That we are some, demonic manifestation thing of moral sin. Awesome. What about the cold blooded killers of the world? The ones who were born without a conscience? The school bullies? The drunk drivers who end up killing innocent people? A step brother who inappropriately touches a 4 year old girl? Free will and all. That's his excuse. 'Awesome!' I say.. except, the types of people I mentioned enjoy what they do. They get a kick out of it. That's emotional. That's tied to who they are. Didn't he also create them? Why can he forgive Charlie Manson, but isn't willing to say 'It's OK son, this is who you're supposed to be.'? I guess I wont really ever know till my final day here, will I?
I have never doubted the existence of God. What I do doubt and don't understand is why he loves me and wants a relationship with me. We all are screw ups. But God came to die for us. It is an amazing thing that rocks my soul every day. But... Why? Why create such a messed up race? Why love them when they are insignificant?
It's hard to always believe in god, when times get hard, it seems like god is no where to be found, but when things are good, it seems like he is walking right beside us, its like when we are hurting the most, he wants us to fend for ourselves, but those times are the times when we would like god to come in and show us the way..its not that I doubt god, I believe that there is a god and I believe in the whole christianity thing, but sometimes I doubt that he is always there for us, watching us and helping us.
I was radically saved and fell in love with God, and will never doubt his existence, my experiance in the past and the change in my heart has made me unable to not believe in Him. I never had been raised in a church and never knew how it was supposed to work or what was right or proper.
However, I was saved at fifteen, and when joined the youth group was manipulated by the youth pastor to think it was ok to be in a relationship with him and he isolated me from all my family and friends and even out of going to school. I was vulnerable and had just weeks earlier been removed from a physical, emotional, verbal and sexually abusive environment. After using me, and then being found out, the church put him on a suspension but told everyone else that he chose to take a sabbatical. After which he decided to tell me he still loved me but then dumped me and got engaged less than a week after he dumped me and married not even three months after being engaged. He is to resume his position as youth pastor at the same church and now that I am 19, have lost my best friend, who attends the church(I left it) and anyone at the church who knows what happened like the leadership tells me that it was my fault and daily I have to tell myself that what happened to me wasn't my fault.
So the church I trusted more than anything, ended up betraying me and over half the things that the pastor preached were contradicted by this, because the youth pastor that did this to me was his own son.
Now that my old youth pastor who hardly deserves the title is married with children and a ministry, all the things he ever wanted, and I've lost my church, my best friend, almost all of my high school years, my faith and trust in God's goodness and his people and on some days my sanity
So I wonder how the people who use God's name but hide their flaws and mistakes and those of their family can become so blessed while for the past four years of my life, I've been entrapped in cycles of poor mental health, and have lost nearly all my friends.
I was radically saved and fell in love with God, and will never doubt his existence, my experiance in the past and the change in my heart has made me unable to not believe in Him. I never had been raised in a church and never knew how it was supposed to work or what was right or proper.
However, I was saved at fifteen, and when joined the youth group was manipulated by the youth pastor to think it was ok to be in a relationship with him and he isolated me from all my family and friends and even out of going to school. I was vulnerable and had just weeks earlier been removed from a physical, emotional, verbal and sexually abusive environment. After using me, and then being found out, the church put him on a suspension but told everyone else that he chose to take a sabbatical. After which he decided to tell me he still loved me but then dumped me and got engaged less than a week after he dumped me and married not even three months after being engaged. He is to resume his position as youth pastor at the same church and now that I am 19, have lost my best friend, who attends the church(I left it) and anyone at the church who knows what happened like the leadership tells me that it was my fault and daily I have to tell myself that what happened to me wasn't my fault.
So the church I trusted more than anything, ended up betraying me and over half the things that the pastor preached were contradicted by this, because the youth pastor that did this to me was his own son.
Now that my old youth pastor who hardly deserves the title is married with children and a ministry, all the things he ever wanted, and I've lost my church, my best friend, almost all of my high school years, my faith and trust in God's goodness and his people and on some days my sanity
So I wonder how the people who use God's name but hide their flaws and mistakes and those of their family can become so blessed while for the past four years of my life, I've been entrapped in cycles of poor mental health, and have lost nearly all my friends.
How can you tell if you are truly a born-again Christian or not? Scripture says to examine yourself, but I thought salvation was based in Christ alone? The moment you have to do *anything* at all, that's synergism... so why do evangelists say you must repent and trust in Jesus to be saved? Surely it's the other way around?
I am a beleiver-- I have been for quite a while, but i never really beleived. Three years later, my best friend died. Cancer had taken her away. I was angry at God. He created her-- she did such amazing things.I was shocked on that saturday, I diddn't know why he had taken her away from this world, she had done good! She was my freind, my family's friend, and we all loved her. She was my Pastor's wife.(I had been at another church)
Later on in life I started to beleive that she was with god in heaven, a better place, yet I was still greiving. Years passed. I was introduced to Next Level Church, and I was home. I loved the teaching, loved the people, and thought I was with God.
Later then, I felt a pressure to do things, I had not been keeping up with S.O.A.P., and I was rising as a leader. I was happy for all the attention, my past child life a small reason for that too. I never really beleived. I never really was a TRUE one, at least.
And then-- Bigstuf camps was introduced to me by NLC. I was questioning the whole "god is REAL" thing, and decided to go.
I paid my way into it, loans by my parents and friends helped me much to get the whole 400$ paid off.
Then, July 6th, I went. It was a blast. The music was great, the people were awesome, and I had new friends. Later in the week, after listening to a message, I began to realize how real and amazing God is, I felt true praise, true worship when the music came.
I now beleive in the Lord with all of my heart, not just for showing how good I look if I beleive, not being a fake, and really feeling.
Now I have a problem. I have all my faith and trust in God- Now I need to show it. I need to jump back from the bad I have been doing. I am not worried about going off the path? *that's my doubt* Heck, I am! All these temptations around me are HUE. But I know that with the Lord I will acheive and be with the Almighty when I pass.
I do not doubt that there is a supreme being, but I am skeptical about any mere man suh as Jesus, Quexalcote or anyone of said fame. I question where was God BEFORE he decided to create anything. He wasnt in heaven because he hadnt created it, he wasnt on earth for the same reason. So where was he. This earth has been in existance for multiple million years, so why wait until some ten thousand years ago to make it known. The catholic church once made it a mortal sin too eat meat on friday. In about 1960 it was ruled by the catholic church to be a sin to eat meat on good friday, what happened to those who died having eaten meat on friday before it was ruled no sin to eat meat on any friday but good friday. So, I feel I am here on earth as a part of the master being but where did it come from.
After getting a more 'worldly' perspective in college, it's tough to come to terms with God's sovereignty & exclusivity.
And I'm pretty sensitive to the criticism of others and their arguments against his existence.
A lot of it seems close minded, you know? Sure a lot makes sense from a Christian viewpoint, but do I really believe that all who don't call on Jesus' name will burn? Can I blame them (when I'm struggling so much myself)?
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