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I see, could I ask...do you think that they are caused by or allowed, perhaps, by God Himself? That He should step in ? Is that why your faith is 'tried'?
The response above was not directed at me, but I'd like to give my own answer to that.
They may not be "caused"..or "allowed" to happen by your God...but He does (does He not?) have the power to stop it????
Why doesn't he??
Why do all the [rewards] for believing in Him come ( we'll never know, dead people can't talk)only after you're dead?
What about those people who've never known {god}...will they also go on to better things when they're dead as well....or is Gods prerequisite that you MUST believe...you MUST have blind faith...or you're not worthy?
I find it strange that people choose to believe in something that supposedly will only happen AFTER they're long dead.
Perhaps it makes death easier for them..less fearful....maybe even their life.
Yes, there is one verse when God says " oh you all of little faith",when the apostles doubted his abilities...but ultimately he DID go on to perform the actual miracle or supernatural act, this tells me, he had no problem showing off his abilities if he thought it may make them believe in him or what he was trying to teach them.
The situation we are in today, would be like in the days of Jesus time, the apostles running around and trying to make everyone believe some guy that existed 2000 yrs earlier...was a God!! Heck, they didnt believe it when it was done right in front of them...why would they be expected to believe it happened 1000s of years ago? LOL!
.....
They may not be "caused"..or "allowed" to happen by your God...but He does (does He not?) have the power to stop it????
Why doesn't he??
My take: The Creator is like a Landlord, ha...you rent a place, sure he owns it...but he is not allowed to just drop by..or walk around and do any work there... I used to rent so I know this...he can only come over if you ask him.
It may sound silly, but its all I got!
Well, the other thing I could say is, we aren't puppets...the premise of His Creation ...
just sayin...could be or is like rolling out the dice....see what happens...
If someone then blames "Him" for giving them life and a mind and consciousness, free will...along with
everything else on this physical plane..well, that's their way of dealing with it.
That is not my way...my way is to wonder and seek further understanding into this whole entire situation!!
I have and I am extremely satisfied in what I found out!
Funny, ur name is purehuman....it is when I go beyond thinking that that is all that I am that I
expand my knowledge. (I am a meditator...like 45 yrs...often 6 hrs at a time...I find ans to queries are found inside..
the intellect is so limited to figure out things!)
When i say 'found inside'...I mean in utter stillness of thoughts...things pop into your mind...sudden insights into
Creation Itself...and the One called God.
I do find many Christians have a "blind faith"...it gives a good feeling...it uplifts the mind when
there are big stuggles...it works for them.
Personanlly , I believe..."Seeing is believing".
I see no reason to believe in something you have not seen or even maybe tested, until you have
seen it for your self....I'm sure many here get tired of me saying that.
I don't believe people just wake up one morning and decide "that's it i'm done with this". It is something that's had a lot of prior thought put into it. My journey out of bible fundamentalism did not happen overnight, it began even without being aware of it.
I don't believe people just wake up one morning and decide "that's it i'm done with this". It is something that's had a lot of prior thought put into it. My journey out of bible fundamentalism
did not happen overnight, it began even without being aware of it.
That's funny...Feb 2010...I rem the exact moment...all I learned (most ....a lot) about Christianity was changed forever!
I was able to discern what was true and not true in the Bilbe...like I was given a meter inside me.
This is between you and me, pcamps...
It's like their faith was based on wet sand or something...and missed, My thoughts are not your thoughts.
If I had a ministry this would be a big topic....
God does things we don't understand; there is a bigger picture.
There are times I absolutely hate God or what God seems to do. Every time I walk into a severe developmental program and see people .living with tragic problems like this CP or other mental and physical impairments all I can is cry....both for them and for my anger at God.
Though I refuse to accept that as God's will, and I still hate God for allowing this my faith is always there.
Kind of like knowing my parents and hating them for some of their decisions...I ship love them.
My take: The Creator is like a Landlord, ha...you rent a place, sure he owns it...but he is not allowed to just drop by..or walk around and do any work there... I used to rent so I know this...he can only come over if you ask him.
It may sound silly, but its all I got!
Well, the other thing I could say is, we aren't puppets...the premise of His Creation ...
just sayin...could be or is like rolling out the dice....see what happens...
If someone then blames "Him" for giving them life and a mind and consciousness, free will...along with
everything else on this physical plane..well, that's their way of dealing with it.
That is not my way...my way is to wonder and seek further understanding into this whole entire situation!!
I have and I am extremely satisfied in what I found out!
Funny, ur name is purehuman....it is when I go beyond thinking that that is all that I am that I
expand my knowledge. (I am a meditator...like 45 yrs...often 6 hrs at a time...I find ans to queries are found inside..
the intellect is so limited to figure out things!)
When i say 'found inside'...I mean in utter stillness of thoughts...things pop into your mind...sudden insights into
Creation Itself...and the One called God.
I do find many Christians have a "blind faith"...it gives a good feeling...it uplifts the mind when
there are big stuggles...it works for them.
Personanlly , I believe..."Seeing is believing".
I see no reason to believe in something you have not seen or even maybe tested, until you have
seen it for your self....I'm sure many here get tired of me saying that.
Yep, thats one my biggest hurdles with Christianity...even the people that lived and walked with Jesus had trouble with faith (believing he was who he claims to be)...
So it doesnt make sense that people living 1000s of years later should be expected to have the same or greater faith.
I also find it interesting, even when the apostles didnt believe, Jesus went out of his way to show them 'something more' something greater....so they WOULD believe, why should people today not expect the same thing of Jesus? Why does he not like to show his hand in the modern world like he did in those days?
Jesus could very easily come down to earth and start performing miracles in public...it would probably convince some people to believe in him or at least prove to them that its all real (he is real), if he didnt have a problem doing it for the apostles, why not for people that came later?
Because they don't believe and follow Him. Sure they think they do but in reality they follow Paul.
"Faith" by itself is generally used to describe one's sincere belief in something or someone. It is often shattered when one's expectations are not met - because it depends on one's own sincerity and beliefs, not on God and Christ's faithfulness.
True faith in God and Jesus Christ does not depend on one's understanding or expectations, but, on God and Christ's revealed, unchanging nature, character and promises. It says, "Regardless of what happens to me or those around me, I know that God is always faithful and that my life is eternally secure in Jesus Christ."
It's sad when people spout things like, "I used to be a Christian, but, not any more." It's sad because they typically think "being a Christian" is about going to church or following the precepts of a particular religion or depending on the behavior of other professing Christians. Their 'faith' fails because they have trusting in something other than the faithfulness of God and Christ ... and the personal relationship God offers through Jesus Christ.
When one truly becomes a Christ follower, one is born-again as a new creature in God's indwelling Holy Spirit. Their beliefs may grow and change (or ... they may even remain 'baby Christians'). But, once one has been born-again, one can no more be 'un-reborn', than a natural person can render themselves 'unborn' because their life is not what they hoped it would be. For a true Christian to say, "I'm no longer a Christian," is like a natural man saying, "I'm no longer a person."
Last edited by jghorton; 10-13-2018 at 10:49 AM..
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