Is there really a god?

[sugar-rae]

No, I don't like to fight, I'm just expressing my irritation that you pitty and feel sorry for people who don't believe in what you do, like I said that's very condescending, and you've expressed you feel sorry for them because their ways are not right compared to yours, like you're all that, and my point on criminals was to show you that even you're holy right ways believers are out of line too, nobody is perfect, ms. thang.

 

Oh, OK. Well, whatever.

And that's MRS. Thang.

[sugar-rae]

My point was to show that even bible followers are not perfect, so i don't need someone to feel sorry for me and say i'm living a bad life and will go to hell when there are religious murderers in jail you all think are going to heaven.

 

I will speak for myself, and I am a fence rider - sometimes i have no belief in God, sometimes I do, and sometimes just a little bit.

 

No, we Bible followers aren't perfect. There's only one perfect person and that's Jesus Christ. It doesn't take a Bible scholar to know that.

 

Only Religious murderers in jail and God know if they're really repentant and have changed their hearts when they die and stand before him. Just like it's between you and God when you stand before Him or I when I do.

 

You can feel as if you don't need a prayer said for you just because you "ride the fence".That's your opinion. Sorry it makes you mad.

 

He knows I'm not perfect. We sin everyday. God just wants us to earnestly get up and dust ourselves off and try again.

 

If you don't like what I write, HCG, then stop replying to my posts and concentrate on others in this forum. I will do the same, if you wish.

 

{{{I dare you to move, I dare you to move,

I dare you to lift yourself off of the floor.

I dare you to move, I dare you to move,

Like today never happened, today never happened before.}}}

Switchfoot

[Moose]

Hokey.........

[d'Arthez]

There's only one perfect person and that's Jesus Christ. It doesn't take a Bible scholar to know that.

That is an opinion, and far from fact. You may believe otherwise. I may believe otherwise, but it does not make it true by virtue of that.

 

You can feel as if you don't need a prayer said for you just because you "ride the fence".That's your opinion. Sorry it makes you mad.

As I stated earlier, in quite a few branches of Christianity, it does not affect your destiny (Heaven or Hell), whether or not you pray, or practice your belief. HCG might already (depending on the exact form of Christianity that would be true) be doomed or pre-destined to go to Heaven. And nothing she can do to alter her fate.

 

God just wants us to earnestly get up and dust ourselves off and try again.

Is this not already idolatry? Usig God's name in fain. As human beings we cannot comprehend the plans of God (according to believers). But then it is also pointless, and against God to attribute plans to him, as these reflect our own limited understanding, and not true knowledge of Him.

You can come up with a 1001 quotes from the Bible, but still the quotes will be a reflection of your understanding of God, and not of God's plans.

[sugar-rae]

That is an opinion, and far from fact. You may believe otherwise. I may believe otherwise, but it does not make it true by virtue of that.

 

Sorry but I go by the Bible, that's been around for centuries upon centuries. It tells me to go thru Jesus Christ, to get to My God.

 

 

As I stated earlier, in quite a few branches of Christianity, it does not affect your destiny (Heaven or Hell), whether or not you pray, or practice your belief. HCG might already (depending on the exact form of Christianity that would be true) be doomed or pre-destined to go to Heaven. And nothing she can do to alter her fate.

I don't know what planet you've been living on, but if you live the way it says in the Bible, I'd say you got a pretty good chance of going to Heaven.

 

 

Is this not already idolatry? Usig God's name in fain. As human beings we cannot comprehend the plans of God (according to believers). But then it is also pointless, and against God to attribute plans to him, as these reflect our own limited understanding, and not true knowledge of Him.

You can come up with a 1001 quotes from the Bible, but still the quotes will be a reflection of your understanding of God, and not of God's plans.

 

I don't believe I used God's name in vain. I'm sorry you feel that way.I love to quote scripture because it makes me feel good and lifts my heart to just spread His word. That's my job, that's what I do.

And my understanding of my Savior, well, I understand He loves me. He died for me. That tells me He's THE most perfect person. My Christianity proclaims it from the rooftops.

Well, I'm spending the weekend fellowshiping with my family, whom Jesus blessed me with!

Have a great weekend ALL!

[sugar-rae]

That is an opinion, and far from fact. You may believe otherwise. I may believe otherwise, but it does not make it true by virtue of that.

 

Sorry but I go by the Bible, that's been around for centuries upon centuries. It tells me to go thru Jesus Christ, to get to My God.

 

 

As I stated earlier, in quite a few branches of Christianity, it does not affect your destiny (Heaven or Hell), whether or not you pray, or practice your belief. HCG might already (depending on the exact form of Christianity that would be true) be doomed or pre-destined to go to Heaven. And nothing she can do to alter her fate.

I don't know what planet you've been living on, but if you live the way it says in the Bible, I'd say you got a pretty good chance of going to Heaven.

 

 

Is this not already idolatry? Usig God's name in fain. As human beings we cannot comprehend the plans of God (according to believers). But then it is also pointless, and against God to attribute plans to him, as these reflect our own limited understanding, and not true knowledge of Him.

You can come up with a 1001 quotes from the Bible, but still the quotes will be a reflection of your understanding of God, and not of God's plans.

 

I don't believe I used God's name in vain. I'm sorry you feel that way.I love to quote scripture because it makes me feel good and lifts my heart to just spread His word. That's my job, that's what I do.

And my understanding of my Savior, well, I understand He loves me. He died for me. That tells me He's THE most perfect person. My Christianity proclaims it from the rooftops.

Well, I'm spending the weekend fellowshiping with my family, whom Jesus blessed me with!

Have a great weekend ALL!

[d'Arthez]

Sorry but I go by the Bible, that's been around for centuries upon centuries. It tells me to go thru Jesus Christ, to get to My God

Yes. And that is opinion. Not infallible truth.

 

I don't know what planet you've been living on, but if you live the way it says in the Bible, I'd say you got a pretty good chance of going to Heaven.

No, and that is assuming that Heaven indeed does exist, which is of course not a given. That is according to your beliefs. A Calvinist probably does not agree at all with you.

[Toni_no12002]

I think its impossible to live how the bible says.Theres so many things you cant do.Everyone commits sins.Its impossible not to some times.If god does exist i think hes asking a lot of people.

Why does he give us free will then tell us what to do.People wrote the bible anyway,so they mught have got it wrong.

 

There's only one perfect person and that's Jesus Christ. It doesn't take a Bible scholar to know that.

 

If he was a human i dont think even he could have been perfect.No ones perfect.

[HokeyReligions]

Oh please everyone -- don't get 'truth' mixed up with 'fact' they are two different things!

 

 

The fact is that no one can prove or disprove to another the existence of any God.

 

The fact is that there are those who believe and those who don't.

 

The truth is that many people believe in God and Jesus and accept His/Their existence as fact. They have the proof they need to believe.

 

I can accept God as a truth without believing in Him because the fact is that other's believe in Him. I can accept Allah as truth too. I don't accept that a Divine being exists though.

 

I could choose to be offended by someone praying for me, but really -- what difference does it make to me? It makes a difference to the person who is praying and since I don't control anyone else -- what difference does it make? Even if someone does think that they are better than me (not directing this at anyone here) that is up to that person. There will always be people who think they are better than me for one reason or another. MY only choice is whether to be angered or offended about it.

 

I do get a bit short-tempered when someone is extremely self-righteous (and I've run into more than a few "Sunday Christians" who have behaved in such a manner toward me) but if its not hurting me or influencing those around me to treat me in a negative way, then what difference does it make to me? I'm not going to 'put them in their place' because that is not up to me. If a person believes in God and believes they are doing Gods work and that God will judge them then let God judge them.

 

I never got the impression that anyone here was being self-rightous about God -- merely expressing their own faith and praying for others is part of that.

[HotCaliGirl]

Sugar, I think our difference is that whereas I'm open to different possibilities, not insisting that what I think is right (since there is no evidence to support what anybody believes in, just theories and "faith"), you say "this is this, that is that and if you don't agree, then i feel sorry for you and you are going to hell."

 

At first that attitude was offensive, but through these posts I have learned that that's just another way of believing and to not get offended, despite what I think of it. I know that there are so many different religions and beliefs that if everyone said "my way or else you're going to hell" there would be chaos, but we don't live in a perfect world and some people don't think "I respect others views" but "my view is the only truth and everybody else is wrong." It's so offensive that it lacks etiquette and is impropper to offend others so terribly, but I've learned not to expect much from others, or else life would be nothing more than disappointment.

 

Hokey - that was a great post - I have a bible believing friend who has recently been emailing her resume to me to help revise, i emailed the Jesus resume thing to her and she loved it!

[ButtonPusher]

An interesting quote....

Two ideas are psycologically deep-rooted in man: self-protection and self-preservation. For self-protection man has created God, on whom he depends for his own protection, safety and security, just as a child depends on its parent. For self-preservation man has conceived the idea of an immortal Soul or Atman, which will live eternally. In his ignorance, weakness, fear, and desire, man needs these two things to console himself. Hence he clings to them deeply and fanatically.

One thing that this thread does prove is that discussions such as this will never answer the intial question. There have always been people that have blindy believed in a god, which historically has been the majority of society, and others that have searched for deeper answers. Even in this thread these groups have distinguished themselves. Undoubtedly this is the way that the world will continue.

[Apex]

Why does he give us free will then tell us what to do.

Let's revise that to "Why does he give us free will then tell us what we should do"

[Apex]

Yes. There is no "the church."

And you cannot say that the Catholic Church for instance, insists on doing everything in the Euro-centrized way in Africa either. You have a lot of "pagan" elements that are mixed with Christian teachings, in the spreading of Christianity to rural Africa.

I don’t care if there are “pagan” elements as long as those elements don’t conflict with the core teachings.

There is no dance, prayer, or religious rite that will get a person into heaven.

There are in fact a number of "Christian" groups who are dead certain that non-believers (including Christians of other persuasions) will go to hell. As no one can belong to two churches logically speaking' date=' everyone on this planet is at least thought of by some people to go to hell. Guaranteed. Can you imagine that non-believers develop an attitude of "whatever" as a result?[/quote']No Church can get you or anyone into heaven or hell. I believe God works with people at an individual level.

Another interesting matter is the whole concept of pre-destination' date=' in the teachings of Calvin. Yes, not even belief or non-belief in God can alter one's faith. So why bother?[/quote']I don’t care. All of those arguments have been made so look them up.

 

This talk about going to heaven boils to God’s decision.

[Toni_no12002]

Because i choose to not believe in god if there really is one does that mean i wouldnt go to heaven?

[Apex]

Because i choose to not believe in god if there really is one does that mean i wouldnt go to heaven?

I think choosing not to believe is the same as rejection.

 

I can imagine a woman walking up to me and saying “I reject you so why don’t you give me what you have to offer?”

That raises two questions. Who does she think she is, and who does she think I am?

 

How would you react if someone were to approach you and say the same thing?

[Toni_no12002]

I get the point but isnt god supposed to be nice to everyone.I find it all hard to believe sometimes.Anyway if there is a god he must understand doesnt he?

[HotCaliGirl]

Because i choose to not believe in god if there really is one does that mean i wouldnt go to heaven?

Don't let people scare you into believing that. People use fear as a control tactic, like scaring people about terrorism as an excuse to fight unrelated wars since fear is a powerful tool and what's scarier than the thought that if you don't believe in certain things people preach to control the masses, then you will be punished by not going to "heaven"...don't be afraid to think things through and come to your own conclusions and believe in what YOU want to believe in and not what other people tell you. Nobody knows if god exists and nobody knows if heaven exists and everyone wants the answers you are looking for, the secret is to come up with your own becuase your own answers are just as good as other people's opinions that they try to convince you are the truth, when they are all theories, stories and thoughts.

[HotCaliGirl]

I get the point but isnt god supposed to be nice to everyone.I find it all hard to believe sometimes.Anyway if there is a god he must understand doesnt he?

yes, if there was a god, he'd hate all the churches for using him as a scare tactic to pursue the church agenda, control people and of course profit off of him,

[FWIW]

Because i choose to not believe in god if there really is one does that mean i wouldnt go to heaven?

 

Why would you worry about not getting into heaven if you don't believe in the first place?

[jamesbondgirl]

While God may or may not exist, I think it is important to put your faith into your own WILL. By that, I mean, whether God exists or not, you've lost your Gpa, your Nana is sick and life at times can be very cruel and painful.

 

Sadly, it is all part of it. Happiness and sadness. The WONDERFUL part is that you have FREE WILL. You can make the best out of every moment of life despite a God or not.

 

I hope that you can find purpose and love in every part of every event, good or bad, there is always Love.

 

From my perspective, there is certainly a GOD but he/she doesn't do things necessarily, the main thing he/she did was create you and give you free will for good or bad, you can choose.

 

I believe you can bring your own desires to yourself. Be careful what you think! Lastly learning and growing always requires change, Change is always in motion. Change can be sad or it can be joyous. Live your life as you want it to be, you make that decision, God watches over you and wants you to learn, as I believe ONE DAY after this life, our responsibilities will be greater than we ever imagined this life to be.

 

Much love to you in your time of need!

[quankanne]

I get the point but isnt god supposed to be nice to everyone.I find it all hard to believe sometimes.Anyway if there is a god he must understand doesnt he?

 

I believe he does. I say he loves you no matter how often you reject or ridicule or belittle him, because he's got a vested interest in y'alls relationship. Therefore, he's the unwavering one ~ we humans are the ones who are putting limitations on him because our ability to describe or understand what he is about is limited.

 

would you go to heaven if you didn't believe? Or live your life following that innate desire to love your fellow man and do right by him? Only he can answer that, but if you chose place your belief in what you have in earthly terms, I cannot see why it is important to worry about where your soul goes after you've died

[Toni_no12002]

I was thinking about something a bit ago.The bible says that where the first beings on earth doesnt it?So what about dinosaurs etc.Its been proven that they existed.

[ButtonPusher]

The bible says that where the first beings on earth doesnt it?So what about dinosaurs etc.Its been proven that they existed.

Ok my bible knowledge is a little rusty but I don't recall ever reading this fact.

 

Has it really been proven that dinosaurs existed? Wow, I thought those big lizards in jurassic park were a figment of spielbergs imagination. You mean there were actually giant lizards around? So all those bones found in the ground for so many years weren't a hoax?

[sugar-rae]

Yes. And that is opinion. Not infallible truth.

 

Ok, well, whatever.

No, and that is assuming that Heaven indeed does exist, which is of course not a given. That is according to your beliefs. A Calvinist probably does not agree at all with you.

 

Well that's also your opinion. I believe what I believe, which I know to be true, unlike you. Have a nice day!

[sugar-rae]

Sugar, I think our difference is that whereas I'm open to different possibilities, not insisting that what I think is right (since there is no evidence to support what anybody believes in, just theories and "faith"), you say "this is this, that is that and if you don't agree, then i feel sorry for you and you are going to hell."

 

At first that attitude was offensive, but through these posts I have learned that that's just another way of believing and to not get offended, despite what I think of it. I know that there are so many different religions and beliefs that if everyone said "my way or else you're going to hell" there would be chaos, but we don't live in a perfect world and some people don't think "I respect others views" but "my view is the only truth and everybody else is wrong." It's so offensive that it lacks etiquette and is impropper to offend others so terribly, but I've learned not to expect much from others, or else life would be nothing more than disappointment.

 

Hokey - that was a great post - I have a bible believing friend who has recently been emailing her resume to me to help revise, i emailed the Jesus resume thing to her and she loved it!

 

Well, I have absolutely nothing against you. You have a free choice, just as I do. My religion does state reprecushions (sp. right?) to not believeing, that's all I'm saying, just as yours says whatever you say.

 

I don't feel I've acted like I'm better than anyone here. That would be really disrespectful to God's will, in my belief.

 

besides, HCG, if i was offended by you, I wouldn't offer prayer for you. I'm not perfect.