armageddon

well, assume for a moment that the Bible is indeed the word of God (for argument's sake)... your own nature is a nature of sin and evil... so anything good goes against this nature. so i'd say that it is better to do good against your nature (Christians know it as the flesh)... because in heaven you'll be rewarded for going against what the world, and living a separated life... you also get more blessings on earth for living this way.

but everyone has the right to choose what they believe and what they don't... God didn't make robots

 

see that donkey..yeah

that one over there...uh huh..that very one...DONT POOP ON IT!

 

can i poop next to it? or under it?... infront of it maybe?

 

I don't understand all this Sin talk, one the other hand people say god is ever foregiving etc. but on the other hand god is represented as this war mongering angry whit male with a beard who seems to be more willing to damn all people in hell than to forgive their "sins" and din't they say that jesus died for all of our sins. and why is it said to be sin when one enjoys his/hers life? isn't life a gift or god? why is it sin to do what you want to do? why is sex refered as sin? why did god plant that one tree in eden that wasn't meant to be touched? and why didn't god told eve about this? I dunno but the whole "good book" thing is wrong to me, I don't understand why people read it over and over again and think they grow somewhat better by living by the book? it's just limitations I think, I'm more happy to do what I want to and not what some one else think I have to do. Sure there are some common rules that everyone should understand, don't hurt each other and don't steal something that isn't your's. And if the people in the world are so righteous and god fearing why are there so much war? why is there starvation? if humansd are gods children is it gods will that people suffer? or is it just another judgement for taking the "sinfull" path? why is something that feels good and does no harm to anyone called a sin? why did god point out that thous shall have no other gods? BLAAAAAAAAH

 

ok, to start off with... you should actually try READING the Bible before you go and assume you know what you're talking about concerning it.

yes, God is ever forgiving of those who want to be forgiven. Jesus died for all of mans sins, but man has a choice as to whether or not to accept that forgiveness. put it this way. God sent his SON into the world to die for a people who continuously rejected Him. now i don't know what you consider love, but would you send you're son to die for someone who didn't deserve it? i think not.

God planted that tree in the garden to give his creation the opportunity to sin. had he not given them the opportunity to choose their path he would have merely created robots who chose him simply because he was the only choice. so you see, he had to create evil in order to give people a choice. and by the way he DID tell them not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. don't believe me read Genesis. it's all right there in black and white.

sex is only referred to as sin if you're cheating on your wife, or you're doing it before marriage. again... READ the bible before you try to argue against it. otherwise you're not going to stand a chance debating people who have.

sin is defined as anything that goes against the word of God. the Bible isn't a book of do's and don'ts. it shows how people should live if they want to live Godly lives. fun is not sin. there are pleanty of ways to have fun without sinning.

i'm not really going to go much more into it. read the Bible, then you can argue against it... until you do you can't really know what you're talking about, and therefor you can't put up much of a debate. not to be mean or disrespectful or anything... it's just that you can't argue against something unless you know the facts. so learn the facts, then give it another shot.

 

actually... you're looking at that all wrong. everyone has the chance to choose. life is given as an opportunity to choose where you want to spend eternity. not following the Bible and all that isn't really what sends you to heaven or hell. it's rejecting Jesus as the messiah that sends you to hell. if you accept him as messiah, believe his shed blood was enough for you to go to heaven, etc. than guess what. you go to heaven.

people create life through sex. God gives the life a spirit. and he doesn't comdemn it to hell... the person condemns him or herself to hell.

and obviously you didn't pay much attention while reading the Bible because you woulda known this... God's will is that all people get saved, and it breaks his heart when people reject him. he made it so easy that anyone can be saved, all they gotta do is accept the gift. but people still refuse.

you're wrong about the Bible not explaining anything. it explains it very well. you just don't understand it.

 

oh... and if you don't take the Bible as the word of God... how come it never once legitimately contradicts itself? in the almost 2,000 years since it's been finished no one has been able to find one (otherwise Christianity would cease to be a religion due to the foundation of their faith being false). now... had those words come from man, there would be contradictions all over the place... even if it was just written by one person... but this book was penned by approximately 40 people over roughly 4,000 years. for there to be no contradictions in the Bible would mean that it has to come from something perfect in order for it to be perfect... and the only perfect thing i can think of is God. yes, man penned it... but the words used came from God.

you don't believe me about the contradictions... prove me wrong. show me a legitimate contradiction in the Bible. anything you find i garauntee i can show you how it's not a contradiction.

example: most people say "eye for and eye" and "turn the other cheek" is a contradiction. but this isn't true. 'eye for and eye' is talking about the law of the land. theivery, murder, etc... 'turn the other cheek' is talking about if someone were to strike you, lie to you, etc. things that weren't punishable by the government at the time.

 

it's all good... i'll gladly pray for you. i wasn't trying to offend or be mean by any of my responses, and i apologize if that's how i came off... i'm just trying to clarify. people have a lot of misconceptions about Christianity and i just try to clear some of 'em up by stating what it's really about, what the Bible really says, etc... you say you've read the Bible before. try reading it again... but don't just read it. really study it. see what it's trying to tell people. mainly in the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). it's not hard to find God the way I have. just accept his free gift of salvation... if ya wanna know how you can do that PM me and i'll show you what the Bible says about it and all.

 

First i'd recommend you know what the Bible says about people, and how to know whether or not their saved. you say you were saved at a younger age. if you truely were you're still saved now. the Bible says that we're 'sealed til the day of redemption' (a paraphrase. i can find the exact verse later if you wish)... which pretty much means that if you truely get saved you're decision is forever, and you go to heaven no matter what when you die... but of course, that's only if you're truely saved.

i'm gonna post some directions/verses that talk about salvation, and how you can know for sure if you're saved or not.

the following is from a tract my church hands out... the verses given are from the KJV (only word for word translation of the original texts):

God wants you to be 100% certain that when you die you will go to heaven. That's why the Bible says, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life" 1 John 5:13.

What must you know from the Bible to be 100% sure?

1.) You are a sinner and don't deserve to go to heaven. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23.

2.) The only way you can pay for your sins is by spending eternity in hell. "For the wages of sin is death." Romans 6:23. "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." Revelation 20:14.

3.) We can't do anything good enough on our own to merit heaven. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us." Titus 3:5.

4.) Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8.

5.) Jesus not only died, but also rose from the dead! "For I delievered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." 1 Corinthians 15:3-4.

6.) Jesus freely offers salvation to you with no strings attached. "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23.

7.) You accept the gift by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, and by confessing Him with your mouth. "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Romans 10:10.

8.) You are 100% certain simply by believing the promise of God. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:13.

i know it's a bit long, but if you take those verses to heart, and you believe in your heart that it's true, then all you gotta do is pray to God and tell him you need His forgiveness, you believe in Jesus as the Savior, etc. and as long as you truely mean it, you'll go to heaven.

As far as what passages to read, i'd recommend any of the 4 gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John)... John's a bit long, but really good. then James, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Hebrews. this should be enough to keep you occupied for a while. basically just go through the new testament first, then go through the old testament. if you read 5 chapters a day (about 20 minutes total reading) you'll finish the entire Bible in a little less than a year.

really study what it says. you'll find that it's not some story riddled with contradictions, and a tyrant for a God; but rather you'll see it for what it is: God showing His love for us time after time. i mean think about it... compared to something perfect even the most righteous person is still as filthy rags. but yet Jesus still died for us. he shed his perfect, sinless blood for sinful, dirty people. if that's not love, i don't know what is.

 

First off I would like to say cottons, I am impressed by your knowledge of this subject. You certainly seem to have more answers about religion than most people I try to talk to about it. Myself, I do not feel that I have experienced enough in my life to know what to believe. I'm not sure I ever will. I went to church for several years, but it never felt right. I mean, I never felt anything inside that would lead me to think that there is a God. There is nothing that I have ever seen or heard about that I thought could not be explained through logic/reasoning and science. I guess the biggest problem that I have with religion is this: It seems to me that religion, any religion, is based entirely around the lives of human beings on this planet in the last few thousand years. Now, when I look up at the sky on a clear night and look out at the rest of the universe, everything on this planet seems pretty meaningless and insignificant. I have heard it said that there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on all the beaches in all the world. I have also heard that if you could take all the time since the "big bang" (according to scientific theory) and compress it into the span of a year, that all of recorded history would fit into the last second of the last day of the year. I can't even begin to imagine it. Now, with this in mind, religion and armageddon and the end of the world, etc, seems to lose all meaning, atleast for myself. I am just happy to be alive in my little corner of space and time. To base my life around a book, written by and about humans, only a relatively few short years ago, would seem to be missing the point somehow, or atleast not stepping back and seeing the big picture. Does this make any sense?

I am a very open minded person and do not mean to step on any toes or anything. Like I said, I do not think I know enough about the world, or even myself, to know what to believe in, and there is a good chance that I never will. (And thats ok with me.) This is an interesting thread and I have enjoyed reading the different oppinions.

 

hey ganjabat, what type of church did you attend? depending on the church, that could help explain why you've never heard or experienced anything that would lead you to believe in God. i personally have seen many things that could only be explained as a miracle from God, and that science or logic couldn't even touch (i posted several of 'em somewhere in this thread).

the big bang theory and evolution are riddled with flaws, unlike the Bible. the Bible is perfect (meaning it's texts contain no legitimate contradictions, etc.)... now most people would agree with me when i say that man can't create something perfect, because he himself has inperfections...

so even if the Bible was edited (which a lot of skeptics say is what happened) to make it perfect, this would actually prove to be impossible. they would have messed up somewhere during the editing and there'd be errors because of our inperfections. now, for something to be perfect, it would have to be created by something perfect... and i can't think of anyone else who fits that description, but God.

now, if you don't believe the Bible contains no flaws or contradictions, be my guest to try to prove it does. if you can congragulations, you just made history. because no one in the nearly 2,000 years since it's been completed has been able to find a single legitimate contradiction in the Bible.

if this isn't enough to at least make you think twice about there being a God and the Bible being correct, than i'm sorry friend, but you're not as open-minded as you claim to be.

like i said in a previous post, i know a lot of people disagree with me preaching Christianity (for whatever reason), but all i ask is that you be respectful in your replies. i'm more than happy to read your opinions, and i show the same respect i ask for (if any of my other posts have come off as being a little mean or whatever i apologize, that was not my intent).

 

I Attended a small Methodist church with my family for about 4 or 5 years, but I have also been to Batist, Catholic, Church of Christ, and non-denominational services with friends on several occasions. The churches all seemed fairly similar to me. There were obvious differences ofcourse, but the same basic ideas.

The things you listed as "miracles", such as the healing of terminally ill cancer patients, could infact be explained by science. Maybe not with mankind's current knowledge, I mean I certainly can't explain it, but I have no doubt that given enough time and resources (maybe even thousands of years), a logical reason could be found. Until it was proven that viruses and bacteria make people sick, people thought it was an "act of God." The world also used to be thought of as the center of the universe. I don't think our lack of knowledge to explain something automatically proves that there is a God. Now, at the same time, yes, it is enough to make me think twice about God and the bible, because it is a possible answer, and I do consider myself an open-minded person. I am not trying to prove that religion is wrong, or that God does not exist, only that there is more than one way to look at things.

As far as the "Big Bang" and other scientific theories, no they are not perfect, they are just theories. But they are constantly being refined when new information comes along. I believe that, given an infinite amount of time, all of these theories could be refined to the point of being perfect. (Kind of like limits in calculus, approaching a number as it goes to infinity) Now, obviously that is not going to happen in our lifetime, and maybe not ever, but it still makes more and more sense as time goes on. It is certainly more believable today than it would have been a few thousand years ago. If you tried telling somebody the big bang theory a few thousand years ago, you probably would have been killed.

Now, I will admit that I have not read much of the bible. I have been exposed to a lot of it through years of church and friends/family, but I have not read it for myself. I plan to, but that doesn't help me now and I realise this. As far as the Bible being flawless, I don't know, I couldn't tell you. But what I have heard in church is enough to make me question things. The simple fact that science points in one direction and religionpoints in another is enough to make me question both sides. But, science, I can see with my own eyes. I can understand it. It makes sense when I look at the world around me. Religion, atleast for myself right now, does not. It envolves me putting my faith in the word of man(which is not flawless). Another thing, if the Bible is truly flawless, then why are there so many different religions that believe so many different things? If I ever was to realize for myself that God did infact exist and that I wanted to serve him, how would I know which denomination to choose? What one sees as correct another sees as damning you to hell.

Ok, if I understand this right, the Bible says that God is loving and all knowing. Am I correct on this? If this is the case then he would know what it would take for me to believe in him. Correct? If so, then why doesn't he show me? Why have I never seen anything that would prove to me that he does exist without a shadow of a doubt? "Miraculous" healings of people are not enough for me, and if he is truly all knowing than he should know and understand that, right? I am not the type of person to blindly follow one direction, when everything else in my life is pointing the other way. Now, I could go to church this Sunday and be baptised and proclaim that I believe in God and want to serve him, but it would not be in my heart. I would not truly believe it, even if I wanted to. If he is what the Bible says he is, and he wants me to believe in him, then will he not show me what it would take for me to believe in him? I am not trying to joke or mock anything here, I am quite serious.

Also, like I said before, what about the rest of the universe? how could something as important as religion deal with only the mankind on this planet? Cottons, I am curious, are there any passages in the Bible that deal with things outside of this world? Why all this time and space if the only thing that matters is us here and now?

Sorry this was so long, I had to get it out. Cottons I appreciate your reply, and I have no problem with you preaching Christianity. If it is truly right, and right for me, then I have no doubt that I will find it. I hope nobody has taken anything I said the wrong way. I am not saying that religion is wrong, and I am not trying to change anyones oppinion, and I certainly do not wish to get into an argument with anyone. I am simply stating my oppinion and trying to figure things out for myself. Thanks.

 

ok... maybe the miraculous healings weren't unexplainable enough... i have another miracle that i'd like to share...

there was a poor family, they ran out of heating oil and had no money to pay for an oil company to come out and fill their tank. it was the middle of winter and they more than likely wouldn't have survived without oil. the called around, but none of the companies were willing to work with them. they reached 1 company that said they'd fill their tank for $500 and that they'd need the money when the guy got there. they had no choice, so they asked the guy to come. the father prayed to God saying that he needed the money for the heat, etc. and that he knew God would provide. so the guy goes down to check his mail after praying. nothing in it but a blank white envelope containing $500.

i dunno man... if that's not something from God, i don't know what is.

to answer your question about why God won't do something for you to prove his existence is quite simple. we're saved through faith in Jesus as the only thing we need to go to heaven. if God were to come down and be like "here i am, i'm real and so is the Bible" you wouldn't need any faith. after taking that first leap of faith, God begins to show Himself to you more and more. the more you show you trust Him, the more he gives you reason to trust in him. does that make sense?

like... when i first got saved i saw the changed lives of people who got saved, but i didn't really have any reason to trust God. i felt a tugging on my heart and decided to get saved. i believed all the Jesus stuff, but that was about it. after i got saved is when God started making himself very real in my life... so now i can say that i've seen too much for me to not believe.

you ask good questions. i like that... you asked if the Bible was true than why are there so many different denominations? well, this might be a long explaination, but it's worth reading. there's a lot of different versions of the Bible today, but only one of them is a word for word translation of the ancient texts. this is the King James Version. the others out there (NIV, NKJV, RSV, etc.) are all interpreted versions. that means the translators took the verses in the ancient texts and put down what they thought the verse meant. the KJV translators took each word, found the closest possible matching english word, and used that. they did the whole Bible that way.

also, the interpreted versions are taken from works by B.F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort. both these men were deeply involved in the occult and hated the Textus Receptus Greek text, from which the King James Version was translated... so they made up their own greek text... which is where the Roman Catholic bible's were translated from. these versions leave out several very important passages that are found in the other versions.

basically if you want to find a good church look for an independent, separated, fundamental baptist church. basically what all that means is they use the KJV (only accurate translation), and they preach what it says in the Bible. they don't make up their own rules and such. if it says it in God's word, that's how they do it. simple as that. they teach you to put your faith, not in the word of man, but rather in the word of God (the Bible) and God himself. they frequently say things like "Lord, you know i'm not perfect, so please speak through me concerning this message" etc. what i'm trying to point out is they know they're not perfect, and they only want to convey the word of God which is perfect.

as far as space and all that's concerned... it isn't infinite. according to the Bible there are limitations, and the heavens lay on the outskirts of space. if you think about God who is truely infinite, than space, no matter how big it is, is still small in comparison. and nothing out there has actually been proven to be millions or billions of years old. Biblically speaking the universe is less than 10,000 years old.

i don't know of any passages concerning space and all that right off the top of my head. i could ask my pastor if he knows of any if you want.

as far as other religions are concerned, i'll use islam for an example. they say that there's one god named allah... and that mohammad was his prophet. now, you wanna know how you can right off the bat disprove islam? their opening statement is a contradiction. mohammad never once in his entire life made a single prophecy. now if he was allah's prophet don't you think he woulda at least made one prophecy?

sorry this was so long, lol... i hope i answered some of your questions though. if you have any more don't hesitate to ask. i love answering people's questions regarding Christianity and such.

 

Thanks for your reply Cottons, that helped answer a couple of questions, but sparked some more. First, this story about about the family who needed the money, I will admit that this is a seemingly "miraculous" event, but still there are other ways that this could have happened besides God hand delivering the money, even if they don't appear obvious or likely at first. Also, what about the thousands of people that don't have $500 checks show up when they need them?

So, why faith? I mean, why doesn't God just come down and say "hey here I am"? Ok, if I was God (and I realise the rediculousness of what I am saying here) then I think I would do everything in my power to show that I am real and to help people believe in me. People would still have the choice of weather to follow me or not.

And it makes sense that once you take that first leap of faith that you would see/notice more and more things that could be attributed to there being a God. That is because your point of view is changed. If you see the world with the mindset that yes, God is real, then ya you could point to anything and say yup God did this. But you could also take this leap of faith in many other directions. You could, for example, say that aliens created the earth and humans, and, under that mindset, point to things and say it was because of the aliens.

And ya, if you get a chance to ask your pastor about passages regarding space, time and other things outside of this planet, I would love to know what he has to say. I realize that space and time are not infinite, but at the same time, I have seen enough to know that we are very small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Why would God be so centered on one little corner of the universe? Why us? And if the universe is only 10,000 years old, why are there so many things that don't match up with that? For example, many of the stars you see in the sky are millions of lightyears away. That means that the light that we see from these stars is really millions of years old. We know this because we have ways of measuring both distance and the speed of light. Why make something look older than it is?

Also, I have never fealt this "tugging on my heart" like you said. And I would have a hard time having faith in something I can't see or understand, without this.

Also, on kind of a separate note, how does drug use play into religion for you? Are there any versus in the bible that deal with that? If I'm not mistaken you have said in other posts that you have tried more than just weed, like acid and other things. You are by far the most religious drug user that I have ever talked to. I'm just curious as to your thoughts on the subject.

Thanks for the clarification on the different denominations and Bibles, I am not to knowledgeable in that area.

 

excellent questions my friend... i'd first like to start off about the drug use issue. i have tried many drugs... lsd, weed, mdma (and whatever else they put in the E pills around here), dxm, pain killers, speed (adderall), alchohol, and shrooms. as far as what the Bible says about this... there is a verse that very clearly is against drug use. it says very plainly "Be sober" i forget the exact verse, but it's in 1 Corinthians i believe (possibly Romans?)... i'm not saying me doing drugs is ok, and i know it's not... i chose to live my life the way i wanted to, and rebel against God... i know full well the consequences i'll face when i have to look God eye to eye when it's my time, and i'll have to feel the disappointment when he asks me why i've done the things i've done... basically i wanted to have my fun before i give it all up for good when i go to college this fall.

as for the money... it just spontaneously appeared... no one knew of their situation (it was kinda sudden to them as well) so it wasn't someone who just walked by and slipped $500 into their mail box.

you asked about the people who don't get the money they need. the Bible says that God will provide everything his childred (those who've trusted in Jesus as their savior) need. it might not be in the way that the person is expecting, but as long as the person is alive, they'll be given what they need to survive.

i see what you mean when you say people can point to anything and say that was God... there's a difference between that and God making himself real to you. it's not something that's really easy to explain. but you also gotta realize that God is in control of EVERYTHING, so in reality, everything that happens is because God allows it to happen. after you take that initial leap of faith and accept Jesus as messiah there's a void in your heart that's filled... there's also an overwhelming sense of peace. you know that no matter what you'll be alright. and trust me on this one, that's real. i went on for years thinking i was saved, but never fealing that peace or having that void filled. i finally truely got saved last summer at camp. when i woke up the next morning it was just like *WOW*. there was no longer any doubt in my mind as to whether or not I was saved.

why faith? because if God just came down and was like "here I am, the Bible's true, etc." it wouldn't leave any doubt and people would feel obligated to follow. oh, and also, God did show the world everything they'd need to see to believe in him... He sent Jesus to die for us. the people back in those times recorded Jesus' miracles, his resurrection, and his preachings. you can find these records in the King James Bible. it's up to you whether or not you want to have faith that they're true, or if you don't... but i tell you this... the evidence of the Bible being flawless is convincing enough for me. that book's perfect, therefore it's creator must be perfect... only thing perfect is God... doesn't take a genius to put 2 and 2 together , lol.

back in old testament times they had to sacrifice a perfect, flawless lamb to atone for their sins. what they'd do was this... the high priest would take the blood of the animal, take it into the holy of holies (where the spirit of God dwelt), and sprinkle it on the mercy seat. this was done to atone for the sins of the whole city... each person had to trust that this would be enough to cleanse them of their sins (they needed faith)... if the high priest hadn't properly cleansed himself before hand he'd die upon entering the holy of holies, because the presence of God was so strong that if there was any inperfection in the priest, the holiness of God would kill him. (they even wore bells so the people could hear if he was still moving or not).

Jesus dying on the cross was the same thing... he was the perfect, flawless lamb. after he died on the cross he went to hell for 3 days to pay the penalties for our sins. he then broke free from hell and was resurrected. after his resurrection, he took his perfect blood up to the mercy seat in heaven. so when someone trusts in this, the blood covers their sins, and God no longer sees a wicked, vile sinner... He sees the perfect blood of Jesus.

i'll talk to the pastor and see if he knows anything about space and time and such... i don't know much about the subject (Biblically speaking), so i can't offer much of an explaination about how long it takes light to reach us and how that applies to the age of the universe, but i'll do my best to find out for you

again, i hope this helps to answer some questions. feel free to ask any that come to mind. i'll be more than happy to answer (or try my best to)

 

excellent questions my friend... i'd first like to start off about the drug use issue. i have tried many drugs... lsd, weed, mdma (and whatever else they put in the E pills around here), dxm, pain killers, speed (adderall), alchohol, and shrooms. as far as what the Bible says about this... there is a verse that very clearly is against drug use. it says very plainly "Be sober" i forget the exact verse, but it's in 1 Corinthians i believe (possibly Romans?)... i'm not saying me doing drugs is ok, and i know it's not... i chose to live my life the way i wanted to, and rebel against God... i know full well the consequences i'll face when i have to look God eye to eye when it's my time, and i'll have to feel the disappointment when he asks me why i've done the things i've done... basically i wanted to have my fun before i give it all up for good when i go to college this fall.

as for the money... it just spontaneously appeared... no one knew of their situation (it was kinda sudden to them as well) so it wasn't someone who just walked by and slipped $500 into their mail box.

you asked about the people who don't get the money they need. the Bible says that God will provide everything his childred (those who've trusted in Jesus as their savior) need. it might not be in the way that the person is expecting, but as long as the person is alive, they'll be given what they need to survive.

i see what you mean when you say people can point to anything and say that was God... there's a difference between that and God making himself real to you. it's not something that's really easy to explain. but you also gotta realize that God is in control of EVERYTHING, so in reality, everything that happens is because God allows it to happen. after you take that initial leap of faith and accept Jesus as messiah there's a void in your heart that's filled... there's also an overwhelming sense of peace. you know that no matter what you'll be alright. and trust me on this one, that's real. i went on for years thinking i was saved, but never fealing that peace or having that void filled. i finally truely got saved last summer at camp. when i woke up the next morning it was just like *WOW*. there was no longer any doubt in my mind as to whether or not I was saved.

why faith? because if God just came down and was like "here I am, the Bible's true, etc." it wouldn't leave any doubt and people would feel obligated to follow. oh, and also, God did show the world everything they'd need to see to believe in him... He sent Jesus to die for us. the people back in those times recorded Jesus' miracles, his resurrection, and his preachings. you can find these records in the King James Bible. it's up to you whether or not you want to have faith that they're true, or if you don't... but i tell you this... the evidence of the Bible being flawless is convincing enough for me. that book's perfect, therefore it's creator must be perfect... only thing perfect is God... doesn't take a genius to put 2 and 2 together , lol.

back in old testament times they had to sacrifice a perfect, flawless lamb to atone for their sins. what they'd do was this... the high priest would take the blood of the animal, take it into the holy of holies (where the spirit of God dwelt), and sprinkle it on the mercy seat. this was done to atone for the sins of the whole city... each person had to trust that this would be enough to cleanse them of their sins (they needed faith)... if the high priest hadn't properly cleansed himself before hand he'd die upon entering the holy of holies, because the presence of God was so strong that if there was any inperfection in the priest, the holiness of God would kill him. (they even wore bells so the people could hear if he was still moving or not).

Jesus dying on the cross was the same thing... he was the perfect, flawless lamb. after he died on the cross he went to hell for 3 days to pay the penalties for our sins. he then broke free from hell and was resurrected. after his resurrection, he took his perfect blood up to the mercy seat in heaven. so when someone trusts in this, the blood covers their sins, and God no longer sees a wicked, vile sinner... He sees the perfect blood of Jesus.

i'll talk to the pastor and see if he knows anything about space and time and such... i don't know much about the subject (Biblically speaking), so i can't offer much of an explaination about how long it takes light to reach us and how that applies to the age of the universe, but i'll do my best to find out for you

again, i hope this helps to answer some questions. feel free to ask any that come to mind. i'll be more than happy to answer (or try my best to)