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)
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)
You know what? I really wish I had come upon this thread when I was 12...I could have been totally different. I hate to barge in your conversation, but I just want to tell you why I'm not Christian. Please don't take this as a cop-out or me trying to blame things on other people. I'm afraid that I had the misfortune of meeting the worst Christians and they completely ruined it for me. I just can't get over the fear that I might turn out like them. It's not that I don't want to believe..I want to feel what you obviously do, Cottons, that feeling of knowing without a shadow of a doubt that He is real...or that anything is real...I want to feel that, but sometimes I wonder if I can. Maybe at this point in my life I can't, but I hope that I grow out of this, if it is only a phase. I hope you understood what I meant there...sometimes the English language fails to describe some of the things I feel.
i know what you're saying hempress... that's one of the biggest concerns in my church is the congregation's witness (how they act out of church, when those who aren't saved can see them)... i guess all i can really say is don't let a few bad apples spoil it for you. you obviously know that they were poor Christians, and that there are good ones out there... don't look to people to find your answers though, look to God and the Bible. they're the only absolute things out there that offer absolute truth... it's never too late to find God the way that you long to... to kind of give you some encouragement i'll tell you a bit about my history regarding religion, etc... when i was young and first was able to understand the concepts of God, i had never really believed in Him. i believed totally in science and evolution. i was an athiest from as far back as i can remember until i turned 15... i hated everything that had to do with church or God (i went to catholic church occassionally with my grandma when i was really young). when i was 15 i discovered the 'wonderful' world of the occult... and boy did i fit in well. i had powers after a few months that had taken other practicioners years to acheive. not to brag or anything, but i was doing things that usually took 5 years of practicing to develope the powers to do. i was calling the corners, invoking the "gods", doing out of body experiences, moving things with my mind (standing up thick markers on a table and without touching them, i'd knock 'em over 1 by 1), false healings, glamour spells (i could change my eye color on demand)... i even changed the weather at one point. a friend of mine tricked me into going to church with her and to top it off, the pastor was bad mouthing paganism... lol, boy did he ever hear it from me when he was done. we started talking, and i asked questions that completely baffled him (i forget specifically what i asked now... but they were some good Q's)... anywayz, i kept coming back because i liked to argue with people about religion... especially if it meant me disproving Christianity. i also met some cool people who didn't judge me (something new for me)... so i kinda liked coming. after a couple months of coming i decided i did infact believe in Jesus and all that... but i never really accepted it into my heart. i thought i was saved, but in reality i wasn't. i struggled through the next 3 years praying empty prayers... these were the hardest years of my life. i was driven to the brink of wanting to kill myself several times, and attempted it once. i was always doubting my salvation, which the pastors couldn't figure out why. it was like a roller coaster. i lived from one church service to the next, and inbetween each service my life was a mess... a huge lie. i eventually started going to a new church when i turned 19. one that actually preaches the word of God. one that didn't fill your mind with false doctrine, and one where you could actually see the sincerety in the people's eyes. you could tell there was something different about these people. they did more than just preach it, they actually lived it. anywayz, i went to summer camp... at camp i realized i wasn't really saved and got really upset. i talked with a few of my friends down there and then went into my cabin after the evening service. everyone else was getting stuff from the snack bars or talking before lights out, so i had the cabin to myself... i finally broke down before God. i poured out my heart to him, bawling my eyes out asking him to save me, apologizing for living a lie for so long, and asking him for that peace that i never felt before... i told him that i wasn't going to stop praying until my prayers were answered. i passed out still praying and crying, and when i woke up i felt this comfort and peace like i've never felt before. it was like God was there telling me "it's alright" i turned into my Bible and came across some verses in Psalms that reads: "I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16:8-11. this was kind of a reassurance to me... so you see... it's never too late. i know we have different circumstances, but it's never too late for anyone. you could be on your death bed and still beable to find God the way i have. sorry this was so long... but i really feel like it needed to be said... i hope i can be of some help for you on your journey... anything you need or questions you need answered, don't hesitate to ask
I think maybe that's my problem...I think deep down I don't want to let God into my heart...that's just something that has to come on its own..I can't force it.
you can't make your heart accept something it doesn't want to... i tried for over 3 years and it didn't work. i had to ask God to soften my heart... i'm lucky i didn't die during those 3 years... woulda been quite a shock when God said "depart, i know you not" after me thinking i was saved and all... if you don't mind, i'll keep you in prayer... maybe you'll have a change of heart, lol. if ya do i posted a little while back on how to get saved... but that's if you're heart accepts it. best of wishes to you
thanks Cottons BTW you know what I think is really funny? How people have to ask permission to pray for you. I can't believe that some people are such jerks that you have to ask..I mean, why would you not want someone to pray for you? The worst that will happen is nothing....sorry, I just always find that funny, and a little sad
the reason i say "if it's alright with you" is because i don't really wanna offend the person... if they say no i'll pray for 'em anyway, but i just won't tell 'em about it LOL
Ok everybody is justified to believe what they want, I've choosen to not believe Christian, Muslim, Krishna or anyother type of god. If you believe that stuff then fine. I don't like the tone and attitude of any religion, the way they (priests or whatever they've called) assume and you're an lost lamb wich should be directed in the right direction surely there are people that can't controll they're life etc. But I'm not one of them, and most people do have a brain. Christianity etc. is so two faced thing and has been ever since it became the most popular religion in the wolrd (well most wide spread at least) popes and priest have been corrupted by the pover they have, TV priests. "jesus love you" T-shirts, pieces from the tomb of jesus, etc. money money money. Greed etc. I don't like it, I can't stand reading the bible I've tried but I just can't help but bursting in laughter every time I cross the book of Abraham. it's just too damn serious, all religious stuff I mean. I'm not saying that life should be all happy happy joy joy but it shouldn't be all god fearing bible reading strct rule stuff either. I'm not a religious person and may have argued with you people un-necessary, I'm sorry for that.
they way you talk about Christianity really shows that you don't know much about it. roughly 24% of the world is some form of Christian or another (protestant or catholic)... most of these people just say they're Christian because that's how they were raised. they don't really believe the Bible, etc. so in actuality the percentage of true believers is much smaller... two faced? how is it two faced? the corruption occurs mainly in the catholic church, but there is some in the protestant churches as well. that's why you have to find a good church. like the one i go to for example. they're not all about greed. the money they get goes to the ministry. it helps repair the busses that go out around the towns and pick up kids who can't get a ride... it goes to help repair things that have broken in the church... it DOESN'T go to help buy the pastor a beamer (or whatever). and dude... just because someone believes something doesn't mean they can't control their lives, or that they don't have a brain. just because you haven't seen the proof doesn't mean it's not true. i, personally, have seen pleanty of evidence which shows me i made the right decision. but anywayz, God's there whether you believe in Him or not. it's your decision man... only one who can make it is you. just don't be so close-minded about things.