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I don't mind answering, but I'd like to know why you are so curious? Is it due to sincere interest, or looking for a way to poke holes in my Faith? Sorry if I read you wrong, but many on this forum love to make fun of Christians, and I have learned to trust God and not to trust man.
I've always wondered about this ... how does one trust God?
Oh, and most of us aren't making fun of Christians though we might make fun of some of Christianity's beliefs and tradition.
They're two separate things even though I know many believers internalize their religion to such an extent that their beliefs and their gods become interchangeable with the person.
How can one trust God unless he is actively telling you what to do?
There is not a common ground for us to come together on. I am speaking of matters of the heart, and you are speaking from what you know intellectually. People that have not experienced a personal relationshop with God thru Jesus are not capable of understanding these matters. That is not meant to be a put down. Spiritual matters cannot be discerned thru intellect. I used to make fun of people who said they were "saved", and was very cynical and skeptical of them. Due to my lifes experiences and experiencing God in amazing ways, I now believe Him without a doubt.
No offense intended, but I don't believe there are "ex-Christians". One who has been "Born Again" has Gods Holy Spirit in their heart. He does not and cannot leave us by His own nature. Ten years after my conversion, I became very angry with God, and tried to tun my back on Him. I could not do so, because wherever I was, He was there- in my heart. He is faithful even when I'm not. He has done so many miracles in my life, that I could never doubt His existence on a personal level. Thru my "falling away" period of four years, I learned that He loves me beyond what I can ever comprehend, and also to stop trying to figure Him out- I'm simply not capable!
No offense intended, but I don't believe there are "ex-Christians". One who has been "Born Again" has Gods Holy Spirit in their heart. He does not and cannot leave us by His own nature. Ten years after my conversion, I became very angry with God, and tried to tun my back on Him. I could not do so, because wherever I was, He was there- in my heart. He is faithful even when I'm not. He has done so many miracles in my life, that I could never doubt His existence on a personal level. Thru my "falling away" period of four years, I learned that He loves me beyond what I can ever comprehend, and also to stop trying to figure Him out- I'm simply not capable!
No offense taken. You don't know me or my experience, so you cannot know that I was a Christian who believed it all with all my heart for decades ... and now I'm not. I understand that you feel you are making an accurate judgment about my experience based on your own. You've judged incorrectly, but unless you experience it yourself, you probably can't accept that.
It seems one difference between our experiences is that I did not "turn my back on God", and I certainly was not and am not angry with God, though I admit to having been rather miffed for a while at having been indoctrinated with and deceived by some of the more harmful Christian dogma for so long.
I'm happy for you that your experiences led you to a belief in God's love for you. From some of your posts elsewhere, however, it would appear you may think that God's love is conditional and only for those who believe certain things. That does not compute, from my perspective, and to believe such a thing creates an unnecessary divide.
All that aside, I do not understand why it matters whether you believe I am an ex-Christian or not in regards to you seeming to be hesitant to respond directly to my posts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pleroo
May I ask, what has been validated for you, specifically, and how?
What are the things that you now believe about God without a doubt, and what led you to that conclusion? You mentioned desperate circumstances - how did that play a role? Did you experience a change in your circumstances, perhaps, or a change within yourself as a result of looking for God? And do you think you can explain what you mean by having looked with your "heart" rather than your intellect?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pleroo
As I read your posts, I suspect that it's not Christian dogma that was confirmed for you (that's obviously something that's an intellectual "belief"), but rather God's love for you. So, I'm curious to see if that is, indeed, the case. I'm completely uninterested in dogma and find some of the dogma of Christianity particularly damaging. But, I'm always curious when people say they have experienced God at a "heart" level. I'm personally unsure if it is actually God one is experiencing, or their own psychological arsenal, or something else but, to me, what one labels it is less important than the fact that one has experienced it. And I'm always interested in hearing different perspectives on what people's experiences of it have been.
Based on what you've said, though, it seems that you are agreeing that it's not the Christian dogma that was confirmed for you, but rather God's love for you. I hope you will be so "rooted and established in that love that you will have the power to know how long, wide, deep and high God's love is and that it surpasses even your current knowledge" and will come to see that no one could be excluded from such a love. May we all be filled with the fullness of that love.
People that have not experienced a personal relationshop with God thru Jesus are not capable of understanding these matters.
That may be true
Quote:
Originally Posted by bryan85
No offense intended, but I don't believe there are "ex-Christians".
On the other hand, a devout Christian is "not capable of understanding" how wonderful it is for some people to realize this god-stuff is a bunch of malarkey. They are now free of the idea of being judged by some oppressive imaginary spirit, and they can finally live their lives exactly as they please. They feel like a weight has been lifted off their shoulders.
On the other hand, a devout Christian is "not capable of understanding" how wonderful it is for some people to realize this god-stuff is a bunch of malarkey. They are now free of the idea of being judged by some oppressive imaginary spirit, and they can finally live their lives exactly as they please. They feel like a weight has been lifted off their shoulders.
I'll be honest- I have no desire to understand. However, more power to you.
Very foolish to trust people, much less those you don't know.
So it would be foolish to trust you. Thanks for letting us know.
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. But, thank you both for trusting my sincerity.
