Although I admit that talking about something that happened 2000 (?) years ago is never going to allow for scientific precision, it does not change the miracle that has happened in me since I've accepted Christ, no matter what the argument, what can stand against the fact that I have truly had a miracle happen in my life, and that I truly have a relationship with God? To many of you of course this is unfair, this seems like an effort to disregard the arguments, but it is not, for are not all arguments based on facts? So what stronger fact than this, that Christians have a true change in them, that they are new people, and that they have an joy that even the darkest pits of hell cannot take away, and this as a base for all arguments for Christianity? There are many lost people in the world, and Jesus teaches that Christians should love all people, the lost included, but God loves you so much more than I. He loves you no matter what you've done, no matter what you've been through, no matter what race, no matter what sex, and no matter what age. True there is pain in everyone's life, there are family problems, bad experiences, relationship problems, you name it. God can take away this pain and fill you up with a love that overflows and never stops.
aardappelvreter: I too feel this joy, this happiness. I was a troubled teen, very aggressive and 'lost'. One evening i went to an Eagles concert and that changed my life completely. The music was so unbelievably cool it filled my soul and lifted me up above my problems. Nowadays whenever i get down, depressed or angry i just put an Eagles cd on and all is better. Everyone has something that can sit inside them and give them pleasure and it doesn't have to be physically 'real'. When i hear people say similar things to you it reminds me of meditation and other focused relaxation techniques. None of which are proof of god. If it works for your own relxation and pleasure needs then it's fine and don't let anyone tell you not to believe in it, but that doesn't mean its proof. By the same token i have a way that stops me from 'sinning' aswell. No, it isn't a big invisible guy in the sky my reason is a little more 'down to earth': My daughter. If i sin i lose my daughter. To me that is something worth not sinning for far in advance of worrying theres a place in existence where naughty people burn forever. I don't need to, i have a boat. But i did die and come back to life once. However i think even jesus would have a hard time walking on water now with holes in his feet. No more 'showing off' for him i guess.
Walking On Water Three monks decided to practice meditation together. They sat by the side of a lake and closed their eyes in concentration. Then suddenly, the first one stood up and said, "I forgot my mat." He stepped miraculously onto the water in front of him and walked across the lake to their hut on the other side. When he returned, the second monk stood up and said, "I forgot to put my other underwear to dry." He too walked calmly across the water and returned the same way. The third monk watched the first two carefully in what he decided must be the test of his own abilities. "Is your learning so superior to mine? I too can match any feat you two can perform," he declared loudly and rushed to the water's edge to walk across it. He promptly fell into the deep water. Undeterred, the yogi climbed out of the water and tried again, only to sink into the water. Yet again he climbed out and yet again he tried, each time sinking into the water. This went on for some time as the other two monks watched. After a while, the second monk turned to the first and said, "Do you think we should tell him where the stones are?"
poet Yeah, i know what ya mean. I used to call Paul a pansy just by reading him, ( tho i've never heard that said about him before, 'til now ); but Paul is great - and in the biggest sense. As the saying goes, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone." It matters not, anyway. I am hardly interested in my neighbours backyard, "Keep thy foot from thy neighbours door...". I'm spoiling u! ( Mind ya, i think we've been given a little treat, too. ) Heres another: "Zen equals the velocity of the noble eightfold way." - firingseeds And all praise to YOU, my Lord and Saviour, Jesus OUR Christ. Dharma the cat, cutePlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image! . See! look! I told u so... those stupid, stupid, bloody monks, haha. thanksPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
aardappelvreter Aardappelvreter, that was a beautiful testimony. Thank u for sharing that with us. by the grace of god we go.
snake nice to hear about ya daughter. good on ya - and u know the hand of the lord is always in your life? how u live it is your concern. did u produce this love yourself? did u develop it? did u aquire it? from your folks, perhaps? and where may they have aquired it from? when i was 21, or so, i came to the full realization that i would just grow old and roll over: but then i'm not one for rolling over without a fight. so, i set out to find the meaning to life. i began by reading this old bible a friend gave to me, to prove to me, that there was a real god, a real bible. i started in the old testament, beginning in proverbs. the bible effectively proves itself, as far as i'm concerned; but, maybe, only to those that seek. and its only by reading the bible anyway, that one can prove it to one'self. But don't take my word for it. tell ya what? this beats door to door. had an accident today. yeah, stupid, pranged my car. that really pissed me off. y'know, i wasnt actually driving badly, it was just one error. but i'm not fazed about anything; the joy of the lord's still there. i did sling off about my boss at work today, so maybe it was karma. it was a dumb thing to do, anyway; 'cause i quite like the guy. sometimes, that tongue gets me into trouble. used to love diving for sea-food, when i was young, around the rocks, in sheltered bays. seeya. have a good one. ( aussie slang )
Hey all out there who do not believe Jesus Christ is God, I was wondering what the main reason is that you do not believe in God. Not two or three little details, the main reason, I am interested to hear. Thanks Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I don't believe in fairy tales, therefore I don't believe in god. I would like to know, why you do believe in ridiculous crap like the bible? ZERO MASS
aardappelvreter, God is deceptive, religion (especially christianity) is not uniform anywhere in the world. There is no more to the world that we know than what is in front of us. There is no god in front of us. The idea of God through christianity emphasizes humans as integrally important in the scheme of things, i think we are just a predator currently enjoying favorable conditions. Believe that god loves you, i maintain that if we were exterminated the world would be upset only because it had lost an omnivore.
the non-books - to whom it may concern. ahhh, aardappelvreter, they know not the joy of the lord, do they? they wander in darkness and have no idea where they are going: its universal - " they have ears, and hear not; they have eyes, and see not ". the stripping away of self is the self-deluding part - the surrendering of ego to faith the impossible. fellowshipping in spirit is beyond comprehension to the worldly; nor do they realize the true attainment of the five senses, either; that they are TRULY valueless on their own. joy is a spark that ignites. do they understand that? that without that spark of joy, they return to the "dead" - going thru the motions of life, and never really understanding anything. " the rich man be wise in his own conceit ", same as the fool. and it is to jesus that is the living flower. he is the only book. there are no other books - a book without jesus, is a non-book. hebrews 12:25 thru 29. see that ye refuse not him that speaketh. for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, yet once more i shake not the earth only, but also the heaven. and this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved... footnote to the above: jesus is not created. maybe, just maybe, the bible's too difficult for zeromass to comprehend?
Re: the non-books - to whom it may concern. I can't comprehend the belief in fairy tales, no. I can understand some of the ethical messages it tries to force upon people thoug, the thing is that humanity is much more intelligent today than it was two thousand mother-fucking years ago. We don't need the bible to tell us what to do anymore. So we don't need the mythology of god anymore ZERO MASS
zero it matters not, mass,as long as u love jesus. hey! i denied jesus all my life, but theres no escaping from him, and nowhere to hide; excepting like the ostrich, and burying one's head in the sand.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! ahh, they was fair comments, mass. check out the scripture i left in the allah thread - just posted. cheers
firingseeds, do you think that it is ok to act like jesus did in part but not believe that he was the son of god? There is plenty of reason to act like jesus, common reason would tell us to do that, but there is no reason to believe in god. I am a humanist, and I act like jesus did in the bible, although I do not believe in supernatural forces. ZERO MASS
zeromass well done, zero, he'll always be there for ya. hey! i should be lickin' me wounds, down and out, smacking me car up, and all. but i'm not. stunned, tho. there is real strength in jesus, mass, so if u ever need help, u know where to call. i have nothing else. every problem i have he comes to the rescue and, maybe, he'll deliver me one day - and maybe from myself. one advantage i have is that i don't look on the world thru worldly eyes. praise god. have a good one ( aussie slang )
christian and pagan the story of the christian and the pagan. one day, a brother was driving along and his car broke down. a pagan came to the rescue and fixed the problem. the brother was overjoyed, and, at that moment, loved the pagan so much. what the pagan believed in, or what he did with his time, held little interest to the brother; not only because he had been helped, but that the pagan had kindness of soul as well. god: where is thy brother, abel? cain: am i my brothers keeper? the story of the good samaritan, also.
try coons cheese hey! poets a wine slosh in his spare timePlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image! question: how can u tell a good wine when u have only ever tasted cheap ones? in aussie, a popular cheese is called coon cheese. unfortunately, the aborigines are called coons, and so the cheese-brand does not go down well with them. it's actually a really nice cheese.
Firingseed: I am a pagan right, ergo I do not believe in any of the religions nor of the existence of "god". On the other hand, I value life very highly, putting a bee safely out of the window etc etc; creating a wildlife pond so that nature all round benefits, judging by the results I am wishing I hadn't!!!! (joke). I get a kick out of helping people and "doing favours" - am I more "religious" than the fundamentalist who is willing to kill for his religion on the false belief that he will go to paradise?
- Zero Mass - I would like to know, why you do believe in ridiculous crap like the bible? I believe in God, it is a belief, I think it is hard to prove something 100% when it happened so long ago, but that doesn't make it any less real. Since the fall in the garden of Eden man has had a problem with sin. Sin is doing something that God does not want you to do. All people have sin: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) In the old testament the jews atoned for their sins by sacrificing animals, however this was only temporary, every time they sinned they had to go through that process again. Jesus Christ came as God's plan for salvation, He was the ultimate sacrifice, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) "Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself." (Hebrews 7:27) God is a loving God, but also a just God, so if you have sin in your life, He being a just judge will punish you to hell, for God cannot stand sin. (my own version, as example) [It is as if your father is a judge, and you had stolen 2 million dollars and he is judging your case, your father loves you and doesn't want to give you jailtime, however at the same time, he is a just judge and shouldn't give you an exception. So the right thing to do would be for the judge ( your father ) to send you to prison, however someone walks up the aisle and gives two million dollar check, all you have to do is take it, and you won't go to jail....] Jesus is extending that forgiveness to you, all you have to do is take it and accept. Now the reason I believe is because I had a problem in my life, I realized I had sinned. At the same time I knew that God was perfect. And this was obviously the problem, I realized it and accepted the check that Jesus Christ has "written" for me. I suggest you read the bible Zero Mass and read for yourself Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
