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Supersoul, God destroyed Sodom because no righteous people were there. He wiped it of the face of the map. I don't care if you don't believe it.
How do you know God destroyed Sodom, and not the consequences of their harmful behavior?
God is like a "love and logic" parent... God loves us and wants what's best for us, but is not going to prevent us from the priceless lessons we can only learn from falling - otherwise we'd never learn to walk or run.
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To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.
God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.
To me, this is not in harmony with what Jesus taught, and common sense (my own experience) so I do not believe it.
If you are determined to believe it, even if you are presented with axiomatic truth to the contrary, I cannot change that, but I hope you will realize that belief is powerful - for good or bad.
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Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Christ=annointed one
Jesus's last name is not Christ, but Christ is a consciousness that he developed & encouraged us to follow him and develop.
Such consciousness is about true freedom - based on considering truth wherever it is found, and not having other gods before God... even the god of people who wrote books thousands of years ago, that many worship as if they are their god.
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2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
The acceptable year of the lord is now - that's all there is.
Did God tell Moses, "I will be that I will be"?
Or did God tell Moses, "I AM THAT I AM"?
You cannot feel anything yesterday or tomorrow, you can only feel NOW - the current moment.
That is why Jesus said how "this generation shall not pass before all these things shall be fulfilled."
It is also why he said, "The kingdom (realm/experience) of God is (not was or will be, but IS) within you."
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3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Sounds hopeful!
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8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
We cannot help but judge... because we think - & much of our thinking is based on group-thought.
Group thought tends to include insanity, thus it is often unrighteous judgment.
To judge righteously, is the kind of judgement God loves - since God is righteous, or so I believe.
God wants judgement to be based on truth - which is considering multiple perspectives, and the fact that any sin any human being can commit, is in the human nature potential of us all & that none of us are without sin & thus we cannot cast a condemning stone without hypocricy. That is not to say we shouldn't think & discern between which truths are most healthy & godly, though. Intelligence = "to choose" "between."
Be civil, no personal attacks, flaming, or insults. We may attack ideas (politely) but we do not attack the speaker of the idea. ...If you disagree with something, say so, but explain WHY.
As well, it needs to be pointed out that anyone of any religious persuasion or belief system is welcome to post threads on these forums.
Could you provide the source you used that say's "It is estimated that up to 80% of mental illness, is rooted in misunderstandings of Judaic or Christian doctrine." My wife works in Mental Health and I think she would find this very interesting.
Yes, it is interesting.
It was in a book I borrowed from my mom.
It's called, "Glimpses Beyond Death's Door."
One other study I read, though I don't remember the source...
Was to determine what, if any influence religious involvement had on healing.
Of 3 groups, the 2 that did worst were those who were not involved at all, & those who were extremely involved. The group that did best were those who were moderately involved religiously.
I believe that the "middle way" - of taking the spirit of things instead of the letter of the law, is the "narrow path that few there be find" mentioned in scriptures.
20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: 21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. 23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.
Matthew 11
What is the day of judgement? What could clearly be worse than what happened to Sodom?
In your post here ^^^, Capernaum had been exalted to heaven.
So perhaps heaven isn't a place with roads paved with gold, after all!
Hell, likewise, isn't what we have been taught.
The "day of judgment," therefore, is certainly not what we have been taught. In fact, in Ezek. 16, we read that God will restore Sodom. Just think...
As the great preacher Alistair Begg would say....."that's a total dog's breakfast".
Yes...we will be punished for our sin. Yes--there is a day of judgment coming.
You can either face it yourself, or you can trust in Christ and let him stand in between you and a wrathful God.
I used to believe as you did, Vizio.
I was brought up and taught to.
I also experienced a lot of anxiety and depression directly related to such cognitive distortions.
Granted, cognitive distortions are not soley rooted in misinterpretations of religious doctrine, some are & I see no benefit from continuing on with it or going along with the herd in perpetuating dysfunction.
It is healthier for me to see God as love, and as my Creator, who created me & everyone else purposefully to be imperfect.
The one thing imperfection hates the most is imperfection.
Why would God want to hurt me?
Why would God want to engage in human sacrifice and therby encourage us to use a scapegoat instead of doing the work to take respons-ability for what we can?
Since we are intended to be sinful/imperfect - it is not truly evil.
True evil is the effort to make another pay for our sins.
IE: The 2 thieves crucified on each side of Jesus are symbolic representations of how we can handle things.
One thief mockingly, asked Jesus why, if he were the son of God, didn't he do something to save them.
The other thief rebuked him and said, "we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." -Luke 23
Other parables, Jesus also taught how important it is to humbly realize we ourselves are imperfect, & not try to shift the blame to others.
So many people loved Jesus... until they realized he wasn't going to save them as they wanted.
Then the herd turned on him & had him crucified.
Spirituality is not an outside job - but inside...
When asked when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus responded, "The kingdom (realm/experience) of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." -Luke 17:20-21
I hope & pray we all will find the narrow way... it's not easy, because it's full of paradox...
Continue believing in a Savior - I have no doubt we have many types of saviors (our mothers for one). And if it works to believe in a single simplified personification of spirituality - without any dysfunction - then more power to you! But hopefully, you (& all of us) will be able to navigate our way in finding truth and faith that is most functional - based on both reason and spirit.
Last edited by SuperSoul; 01-01-2013 at 02:02 PM..
Who were the people that Jesus was directing these comments at ?
11:1 After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.
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