Book: What on Earth Am I Here For?

[Kristine]

"The Purpose Driven Life" Author: Rick Warren.

 

It's a great book, that tells us our true purpose is to Serve God and by giving yourself to Him you will ultimately be lead to your purpose. I'm only on Chapter 9 of 40, it's a easy to read book, religious for sure as Rick Warren is a Pastor. But I highly recommend it.

[KathyM]

I have that book also. Very inspiring book. I'm a big fan of Rick Warren.

[L1ght]

Belief systems are great. If used correctly they really can have a very positive impact on a persons life no matter what that belief system is based on.

Believing in God requires a suspension of disbelief and logical thinking(like reading a fantastical book or watching a movie). It also requires that a person believe in something that nobody on the planet knows for a fact is real.

Sorry. I can't read it.

Edited September 28, 2013 by L1ght

[pie2]

"The Purpose Driven Life" Author: Rick Warren.

 

It's a great book, that tells us our true purpose is to Serve God and by giving yourself to Him you will ultimately be lead to your purpose. I'm only on Chapter 9 of 40, it's a easy to read book, religious for sure as Rick Warren is a Pastor. But I highly recommend it.

 

Are you part of a religious group yourself?

[happydate]

Belief systems are great. If used correctly they really can have a very positive impact on a persons life no matter what that belief system is based on.

Believing in God requires a suspension of disbelief and logical thinking(like reading a fantastical book or watching a movie). It also requires that a person believe in something that nobody on the planet knows for a fact is real.

Sorry. I can't read it.

 

If believing in God requires a suspension of disbelief, then what does a man who is been dead for 2000 years (Jesus Christ) gets more attention and more respect than anyone of the same living during that period of time? The same with the bible which contains God's laws. No one on earth today has met Jesus Christ in person, but many people had met or seen movie stars, Presidents, Pope etc and yet, people have more faith in a dead person they never seen before. How could I suspend my disbelief on the top of the building that if I jump I will not die? You won't because reality dictates that you will caused by the law of gravity.

 

What you are introducing here is Gray thinking. It is ok to think Jesus Christ and the Lord if it serves your life better, but it is not ok to spread the gospel and make athiest and people who commit pre-marital sex feel uncomfortable because it makes them feel like sinners. You are responding to this because this makes you uncomfortable? And if so why?

[L1ght]

If believing in God requires a suspension of disbelief, then what does a man who is been dead for 2000 years (Jesus Christ) gets more attention and more respect than anyone of the same living during that period of time? The same with the bible which contains God's laws. No one on earth today has met Jesus Christ in person, but many people had met or seen movie stars, Presidents, Pope etc and yet, people have more faith in a dead person they never seen before. How could I suspend my disbelief on the top of the building that if I jump I will not die? You won't because reality dictates that you will caused by the law of gravity.

 

What you are introducing here is Gray thinking. It is ok to think Jesus Christ and the Lord if it serves your life better, but it is not ok to spread the gospel and make athiest and people who commit pre-marital sex feel uncomfortable because it makes them feel like sinners. You are responding to this because this makes you uncomfortable? And if so why?

It requires a suspension of disbelief/(logical thinking) because for starters the story of God/Jesus came from a time when we had no way to prove that the far-fetched biblical events ever happened. I mean think about it.....where is God and Jesus now that everybody on the planet has the internet and cell phone cameras? If anything amazing happened today like the stories in the bible we would be able to prove it straight away. Right? But no. There is no proof of any interaction with higher powers or amazing/incredible/unbelievable/(impossible events) from 2000 years ago at all and logic says that the bible was written by man and was used to give primitive humans something to believe in. The religious belief systems ended up becoming incorporated into governance and control of the masses. That's the only reason religion is still used today....well that and the fact that humans can be so naïve and have the ability to believe in anything as long as a number of other people already believe it.

Believing in God absolutely requires a suspension of disbelief and anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves.

Does this mean That God doesn't exist? No of course it doesn't but the fact is that until we can prove 100% that God exists then its ridiculous to believe that he does.

Nobody on the planet knows. Not one single person knows for sure.

People who say he does exist are lying because they don't actually know that he does. Its that simple.

 

As for movie stars and jumping off buildings? I have no clue what your point was. Uhm.....movie stars are actors and they provide entertainment. Jumping off a building will hurt like hell and will most probably turn our brains into splatter when we hit the pavement.....I don't see what this has to do with the suspension of disbelief in relation to religion.

 

As for God/Jesus serving our lives better? Like I have already said, any Belief system used in a positive way will give a person a more positive way of living. That being said it doesn't mean that believing in God makes it factually real...it just means that a person made the choice to allow themselves to believe it and used that belief in a positive way.

 

Believing is a choice.....Humans have the ability to be able to believe in absolutely anything not matter how ridiculous something is. We can take our minds to a place that makes it seem like something is totally real even though logic tells us it isn't. That's why the act of believing in religion has no credibility IMO because I could choose to believe in a million other things that are just as illogical and tell myself its real when it really isn't.

 

So no. I won't be reading any religious books until God/Jesus give us all a visit and makes a Youtube channel so I can subscribe to them and watch them save the planet on a day to day basis. Lol there is no better time than now if God wanted to show himself. He should do it right now in this modern world where we can all prove that he actually exists if he shows his face.

Edited September 28, 2013 by L1ght

[Kristine]

Yes I am religious, to me there is no doubt of God's existence that is not even debatable. I was raised Catholic and have felt the very strong presence of God in my life. Pray he answers.

 

And don't spread your hatred towards God to me, your agnostic belief whatever you harbor does no belong on this section of the board.

[L1ght]

Yes I am religious, to me there is no doubt of God's existence that is not even debatable. I was raised Catholic and have felt the very strong presence of God in my life. Pray he answers.

 

And don't spread your hatred towards God to me, your agnostic belief whatever you harbor does no belong on this section of the board.

I'll say whatever I like thank you very much and I said nothing of the hateful kind. I just stated my own opinion and how can I hate something I don't know 100% exists? Lol.

You can't say you know he exists because you don't. Non of us do and as long as you keep saying he definitely does I'm just gonna keep completely disagreeing with you and saying that you definitely don't know.

Deal with it.

 

P.S until you admit that its possible for the human mind to believe in anything we want it to no matter how illogical something is then I really can't take you seriously as you are just lying to yourself.

Edited September 28, 2013 by L1ght

[happydate]

It requires a suspension of disbelief/(logical thinking) because for starters the story of God/Jesus came from a time when we had no way to prove that the far-fetched biblical events ever happened. I mean think about it.....where is God and Jesus now that everybody on the planet has the internet and cell phone cameras? If anything amazing happened today like the stories in the bible we would be able to prove it straight away. Right? But no. There is no proof of any interaction with higher powers or amazing/incredible/unbelievable/(impossible events) from 2000 years ago at all and logic says that the bible was written by man and was used to give primitive humans something to believe in. The religious belief systems ended up becoming incorporated into governance and control of the masses. That's the only reason religion is still used today....well that and the fact that humans can be so naïve and have the ability to believe in anything as long as a number of other people already believe it.

Believing in God absolutely requires a suspension of disbelief and anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves.

Does this mean That God doesn't exist? No of course it doesn't but the fact is that until we can prove 100% that God exists then its ridiculous to believe that he does.

Nobody on the planet knows. Not one single person knows for sure.

People who say he does exist are lying because they don't actually know that he does. Its that simple.

 

As for movie stars and jumping off buildings? I have no clue what your point was. Uhm.....movie stars are actors and they provide entertainment. Jumping off a building will hurt like hell and will most probably turn our brains into splatter when we hit the pavement.....I don't see what this has to do with the suspension of disbelief in relation to religion.

 

As for God/Jesus serving our lives better? Like I have already said, any Belief system used in a positive way will give a person a more positive way of living. That being said it doesn't mean that believing in God makes it factually real...it just means that a person made the choice to allow themselves to believe it and used that belief in a positive way.

 

Believing is a choice.....Humans have the ability to be able to believe in absolutely anything not matter how ridiculous something is. We can take our minds to a place that makes it seem like something is totally real even though logic tells us it isn't. That's why the act of believing in religion has no credibility IMO because I could choose to believe in a million other things that are just as illogical and tell myself its real when it really isn't.

 

So no. I won't be reading any religious books until God/Jesus give us all a visit and makes a Youtube channel so I can subscribe to them and watch them save the planet on a day to day basis. Lol there is no better time than now if God wanted to show himself. He should do it right now in this modern world where we can all prove that he actually exists if he shows his face.

 

Is there any solid proof he does not exist?

Edited September 29, 2013 by happydate

[L1ght]

Is there any solid proof he does not exist?

Well if you've been paying attention to what I have written and even by looking at my signature you would see that I have been clearly making the point that the existence of God has never been proven or disproven. So no. There is no proof that God DOES exist and there is no proof that God DOESN'T exist because there is an absence of anything significant relative to our reality to begin with.

Its like me making up a story about an invisible man then someone saying to me "You can't prove this invisible man exists" and then me saying "ah but you can't prove that he doesn't exist"........It is the exact same situation. So to argue that God exists when the question of his existence is sprung from a void where there is no solid proof of him ever existing is quite frankly absurd.

The correct answer for every human on the planet is to say that we honestly don't know because we don't. I don't know if he exists or not and neither does you or anybody else so anyone who says they do know that he does exists is not being honest with themselves and is completely full of sh*t.

Edited September 29, 2013 by L1ght

[Confused19855]

I'm with L1ght on this one. People don't choose their religions, you are catholic because of where you were born and you were indoctrinated into these beliefs. You didn't become catholic because an angel visited you or God spoke to you. If you were born in middle east, you would believe in Allah and Quaran instead of the bible. And if you were born in ancient Greece you would believe in Zeus just as strongly as you believe in Christ.

 

Is there any solid proof he does not exist?

 

Is there solid proof Zeus does not exist?

Edited September 29, 2013 by Confused19855

[KathyM]

Everyone has to decide for themselves what level of "proof" they need in order to believe in God. For some, it is not a matter of proof, but a matter of faith alone. Some people choose to believe based on the eye witness accounts of those who lived during the time of Christ and were His followers, who then reported in detail what transpired. To some, that is believable evidence. To some, they have experienced evidence of God's existence in their own lives, through miracles that they've witnessed or that people they know and trust have witnessed, or answers to prayer. To some, such as mathematicians or some scientists who are believers in God, they may deal more with probabilities of God's existence, and believe because they've come to the conclusion that the probability of God's existence is overwhelming enough to come to the conclusion that God exists. I know one such mathematician personally who has come to this conclusion, and have read of many more who have as well.

 

But for those who have not seen evidence, or choose not to believe those who have, you are entitled to your disbelief, just as the rest of us are entitled to come to the conclusions about God's existence based on our own experiences or those of whom we trust.

[OpenBook]

The correct answer for every human on the planet is to say that we honestly don't know because we don't. I don't know if he exists or not and neither does you or anybody else so anyone who says they do know that he does exists is not being honest with themselves and is completely full of sh*t.

 

And you'll be right there to call them out on it, won't you.

 

My what fun you must be at cocktail parties.

[L1ght]

And you'll be right there to call them out on it, won't you.

 

My what fun you must be at cocktail parties.

A cocktail party that you're not invited to? Lol yes I'm pretty sure I would have a blast if that was the case.

[happydate]

Well if you've been paying attention to what I have written and even by looking at my signature you would see that I have been clearly making the point that the existence of God has never been proven or disproven. So no. There is no proof that God DOES exist and there is no proof that God DOESN'T exist because there is an absence of anything significant relative to our reality to begin with.

Its like me making up a story about an invisible man then someone saying to me "You can't prove this invisible man exists" and then me saying "ah but you can't prove that he doesn't exist"........It is the exact same situation. So to argue that God exists when the question of his existence is sprung from a void where there is no solid proof of him ever existing is quite frankly absurd.

The correct answer for every human on the planet is to say that we honestly don't know because we don't. I don't know if he exists or not and neither does you or anybody else so anyone who says they do know that he does exists is not being honest with themselves and is completely full of sh*t.

 

Very good manipulation technique commonly used by many atheists to voice their ignorance to god using the commonly known GRAY THINKING debate methodology. I wonder why are you here? If you can not prove 100% GOD does not exist and then use mind manipulation Gray Thinking technique to win a debate, then you sir is a great mind manipulator. By the way, the original poster is posting a book that perhaps help some people on a good path.

 

If you are happy, then why all this anger towards us Christians. I hope you're not going to introduce any gray thinking mind trick to explain that happy and anger are 2 of the same emotions.

 

Chill out bud.

[happydate]

I'm with L1ght on this one. People don't choose their religions, you are catholic because of where you were born and you were indoctrinated into these beliefs. You didn't become catholic because an angel visited you or God spoke to you. If you were born in middle east, you would believe in Allah and Quaran instead of the bible. And if you were born in ancient Greece you would believe in Zeus just as strongly as you believe in Christ.

 

 

 

Is there solid proof Zeus does not exist?

 

Does Santa Claus exists? And why celebrate Santa Claus the mythical figure on a Pagan holiday is quite a mystery. So why it is perfectly fine to lie to children that there is a Santa Claus until they get older and yet it is unacceptable to believe or even teach children to believe in God? That is another mystery.

 

Perhaps Santa Claus brings in billions of dollars in revenue for many multi-national companies, sales and jobs but God does not. It's easy to milk money out of a mythical interesting figure, but God seemed to get the most debate.

 

If God can reign in billions of dollars in revenue, do you think he is going to be the most famous and most celebrated figure?

 

In fact, the most celebrated grave in Halifax with the tombstone number 227 with the marking J.Dawson. Before the movie Titanic, this marked grave was not all that well known until the movie Titanic stared Leonardo De Caprio made the box office. With fact and fiction mixed out, this J. Dawson grave was confused with the Jack Dawson character. Suffice to say; even with facts mixing with fiction, it made an unknown figure the most celebrated figure in town and the grave site, frequently visited by the lady fans get the most attention. When I was there visiting, it never ceased to amaze me the movie fans lining up on a tombstone. Why?

Because Hollywood made a good job of making a fictional character and with a little bit of spin, J.Dawson became a celebrity. These people believe the person is real. So is Hollywood to blame?

 

Think about that?

 

Perhaps the disbelief in God is not created by God himself but rather it is with anyone of you who can refuse to believe in him. But if he brings you wealth and fame or somehow stars in the Titanic, it's not all that hard to believe in anything diety if I get a piece of the wealth pie myself or a woman crush. But God himself reward those of us who do believe in him in the Parables of the Talents, where who believe in him will have his talents multiplied and returned. But people mistaken this as being material wealth and fame like Christmas brings to people in "sales" and the mythical physical figure. Rather the gift comes with happiness that what happens in life is what we show our faith to God. God is not a physical figure like Santa Claus; for he is clearly Spiritual.

 

Blessings..

 

Edited September 30, 2013 by happydate

[L1ght]

Very good manipulation technique commonly used by many atheists to voice their ignorance to god using the commonly known GRAY THINKING debate methodology. I wonder why are you here? If you can not prove 100% GOD does not exist and then use mind manipulation Gray Thinking technique to win a debate, then you sir is a great mind manipulator. By the way, the original poster is posting a book that perhaps help some people on a good path.

 

If you are happy, then why all this anger towards us Christians. I hope you're not going to introduce any gray thinking mind trick to explain that happy and anger are 2 of the same emotions.

 

Chill out bud.

 

I don't subscribe to any methodologies and I didn't even know what Gray Thinking was until you just brought it up.....uhm what are you trying to say? That I study methods of debating in order to win a debate? What kind of lame argument is that? Lol I like to use my own mind and to express my own thoughts when I comment in these forums unlike many people here who seem to quote other peoples work endlessly in an effort to bring some sort of weight to their argument.

I'll guarantee you one thing when it comes to my posts in here.....its that you wont find me quoting anybody or bringing up any methodologies in order to win an argument because I'm quite happy relying on my own opinions to get my point across.....unlike you it seems.

Edited September 30, 2013 by L1ght

[L1ght]

Does Santa Claus exists? And why celebrate Santa Claus the mythical figure on a Pagan holiday is quite a mystery. So why it is perfectly fine to lie to children that there is a Santa Claus until they get older and yet it is unacceptable to believe or even teach children to believe in God? That is another mystery.

 

Perhaps Santa Claus brings in billions of dollars in revenue for many multi-national companies, sales and jobs but God does not. It's easy to milk money out of a mythical interesting figure, but God seemed to get the most debate.

 

If God can reign in billions of dollars in revenue, do you think he is going to be the most famous and most celebrated figure?

 

In fact, the most celebrated grave in Halifax with the tombstone number 227 with the marking J.Dawson. Before the movie Titanic, this marked grave was not all that well known until the movie Titanic stared Leonardo De Caprio made the box office. With fact and fiction mixed out, this J. Dawson grave was confused with the Jack Dawson character. Suffice to say; even with facts mixing with fiction, it made an unknown figure the most celebrated figure in town and the grave site, frequently visited by the lady fans get the most attention. When I was there visiting, it never ceased to amaze me the movie fans lining up on a tombstone. Why?

Because Hollywood made a good job of making a fictional character and with a little bit of spin, J.Dawson became a celebrity. These people believe the person is real. So is Hollywood to blame?

 

Think about that?

 

Perhaps the disbelief in God is not created by God himself but rather it is with anyone of you who can refuse to believe in him. But if he brings you wealth and fame or somehow stars in the Titanic, it's not all that hard to believe in anything diety if I get a piece of the wealth pie myself or a woman crush. But God himself reward those of us who do believe in him in the Parables of the Talents, where who believe in him will have his talents multiplied and returned. But people mistaken this as being material wealth and fame like Christmas brings to people in "sales" and the mythical physical figure. Rather the gift comes with happiness that what happens in life is what we show our faith to God. God is not a physical figure like Santa Claus; for he is clearly Spiritual.

 

Blessings..

 

Saying that the connection to God is "clearly spiritual" is not a good enough argument to prove his existence.

It is interesting though how the direction of modern human behaviour has us all plugged into a network of computers linked together around the world on a daily basis. I mean if we are able to plug ourselves into something like this in such a relatively primitive way(primitive in the sense that we are only just beginning to expand neurosciences and complex computer sciences in an effort to fully morph human and artificial intelligence into one) then surely you would think that an advanced life form such as God, Aliens or whatever would be able to build a direct network into the minds of every human on the planet which would at least be able to explain this "clearly spiritual" connection you speak of but until you can prove that this connection exists than you have to admit that you don't know it does exist.

One day humans should be able to link all of our brains together through some kind of advanced network which would then give a little credibility to your theory at least but even when that happens the theory will have no signifficant credibility until the direct link to God has been proven.

Edited September 30, 2013 by L1ght

[pureinheart]

I'm with L1ght on this one. People don't choose their religions, you are catholic because of where you were born and you were indoctrinated into these beliefs. You didn't become catholic because an angel visited you or God spoke to you. If you were born in middle east, you would believe in Allah and Quaran instead of the bible. And if you were born in ancient Greece you would believe in Zeus just as strongly as you believe in Christ.

 

 

 

Is there solid proof Zeus does not exist?

 

I must disagree with you love- we do choose, some at varying ages, but eventually we do choose.

 

I know of many all over the world raised in a particular belief system who have made conversions, and this is on all sides of the fence.

[pureinheart]

Well if you've been paying attention to what I have written and even by looking at my signature you would see that I have been clearly making the point that the existence of God has never been proven or disproven. So no. There is no proof that God DOES exist and there is no proof that God DOESN'T exist because there is an absence of anything significant relative to our reality to begin with.

Its like me making up a story about an invisible man then someone saying to me "You can't prove this invisible man exists" and then me saying "ah but you can't prove that he doesn't exist"........It is the exact same situation. So to argue that God exists when the question of his existence is sprung from a void where there is no solid proof of him ever existing is quite frankly absurd.

The correct answer for every human on the planet is to say that we honestly don't know because we don't. I don't know if he exists or not and neither does you or anybody else so anyone who says they do know that he does exists is not being honest with themselves and is completely full of sh*t.

 

LOL, I'm completely full shyt then because I know that beyond any shadow of any doubt that God/Jesus/Holy Spirit/Bible is more real than the Dallas Cowboys game I'm watching now in which they scored two TD's in the first hour:D

[pureinheart]

....and as real as that freaking amazing play/TD Romo just made ...wooo hoooo! Hell ya!

[pureinheart]

...and about as real as I don't want to hear nothing right now:p

[pureinheart]

prove it then.

 

Disprove me. I'm not going to change your mind, nor you me- so seriously what's the point?

[pureinheart]

you haven't given me anything to disprove. the point is kristine tried to tell an agnostic he wasn't welcome in the religion section. some of us spoke our mind. the religious repeat god exists, but where's the proof? there hasn't been proof he doesn't exist either. it is why i'm agnostic.

 

IMO anyone has a right to post in this section, regardless of being spiritual, or lack thereof...I have yet to understand why one who is not technically spiritual would want to, but that's up to them.

 

To me love, this section is much like the political issues, spins take place all of the time, people typically follow their own way of thinking. I don't like to tell people they're wrong because I understand where they're coming from.

 

I can't prove anything, but my God can...so with that, if you want ask Him- I'm serious...ask Him if He's real and to reveal Himself to you:)

[L1ght]

LOL, I'm completely full shyt then because I know that beyond any shadow of any doubt that God/Jesus/Holy Spirit/Bible is more real than the Dallas Cowboys game I'm watching now in which they scored two TD's in the first hour:D

No you don't know, nobody knows and that's the whole point.

Maybe God is real but you can not say you have seen him in any other place than your mind.....that's not acceptable proof.

 

Shows how many weak minded people there are in the world when they are totally unwilling to accept this and carry on believing blindly anyway....yeah, good luck with that.