Any Church Goers?

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[quote]Jewbacca wrote:

[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:

[quote]Jewbacca wrote:

[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:
Am I correct in my perception after all then and it is just a choice whether or not to fall in line? A choice to fear an abusive god and bow to his whims so he doesn’t punish you in the life he forced upon you?[/quote]

Did your mother slap your hand when you tried to touch a hot stove? Did she do this to satisfy a whim?[/quote]
My mother didn’t create the laws of nature and then set me up for negative consequences.[/quote]

“Punishment” (or consequences of bad acts, if you want) is an expression of G-d’s mercy, an opportunity for a soul to rid itself of doing wrong things, and so to improve.

All of creation exists to hone each soul in to a fitting companion and friend of G-d.

I understand, you don’t want to be his friend.

You want, instead, to go on sex tours where the whores act whorelike, but the actual economic transaction is hidden so you can pretend to be a stud and feel better about yourself. I am sure this will turn out great for you.[/quote]
I can be a stud at the bar tonight. I want a vending machine, as cap said, for hassle free carnal delight. And I think its bullshit I should feel guilty for an urge I was born with. I guess I was hoping to discover some compelling info. But it seems you’re right, I don’t like god very much. Jesus would hypothetically be more my bag anyways but thanks, I’m sure I’ll have a blast.

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[quote]krazykoukides wrote:

[quote]Ler012 wrote:

You dont need any reason to start asking Christ to be a part of your life. Let me rephrase, we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior not because of any specific instance but because we know that submitting ourselves to Him is the only way to salvation and He is the only One that can handle our burdens. Thats the beauty of God’s grace. He let his only son, Christ, die on the cross of our sins…everyone of us. This includes those who don’t believe. Now, in your specific case this may be a great place to start asking more questions about faith, opening yourself up to church and when you feel ready (which could be now, as only you will know) ask Christ to come into your life and accept him as your Lord and Savior.

I was personally didnt become a Christian until I was 18. If you want to know my personal testimony PM me but to wrap it up believing can only come from within. God gives us the gift of free-will to believe what we choose but we when open our hearts he finds a way in.[/quote]

Thanks for your response - this was what I was looking for. I’ll definitely pm you sometime because I am most interested in the personal reasons as to why somebody became a Christian/believer - especially one like yourself who was not born a Christian.

If anybody else is willing to share - don’t be shy. [/quote]

Yea, feel free to get at me anytime. Its a journey and it takes different paths for different people. For myself this included a time where I knew God existed but did not feel connected with Him, I didnt “feel” like He was a tangible part of my life. But through many things; church, becoming more associated with believers, exploring my own faith/prayer, He finds a way to speak to you. So keep on asking questions and dont be afraid to get plugged into a community. As I said earlier on this topic, it doesnt hurt to try multiple churches or groups; finding yourself among a group of believers who you feel comfortable with can take time.

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[quote]Ler012 wrote:

[quote]krazykoukides wrote:

[quote]Ler012 wrote:

You dont need any reason to start asking Christ to be a part of your life. Let me rephrase, we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior not because of any specific instance but because we know that submitting ourselves to Him is the only way to salvation and He is the only One that can handle our burdens. Thats the beauty of God’s grace. He let his only son, Christ, die on the cross of our sins…everyone of us. This includes those who don’t believe. Now, in your specific case this may be a great place to start asking more questions about faith, opening yourself up to church and when you feel ready (which could be now, as only you will know) ask Christ to come into your life and accept him as your Lord and Savior.

I was personally didnt become a Christian until I was 18. If you want to know my personal testimony PM me but to wrap it up believing can only come from within. God gives us the gift of free-will to believe what we choose but we when open our hearts he finds a way in.[/quote]

Thanks for your response - this was what I was looking for. I’ll definitely pm you sometime because I am most interested in the personal reasons as to why somebody became a Christian/believer - especially one like yourself who was not born a Christian.

If anybody else is willing to share - don’t be shy. [/quote]

Yea, feel free to get at me anytime. Its a journey and it takes different paths for different people. For myself this included a time where I knew God existed but did not feel connected with Him, I didnt “feel” like He was a tangible part of my life. But through many things; church, becoming more associated with believers, exploring my own faith/prayer, He finds a way to speak to you. So keep on asking questions and dont be afraid to get plugged into a community. As I said earlier on this topic, it doesnt hurt to try multiple churches or groups; finding yourself among a group of believers who you feel comfortable with can take time.[/quote]

: )

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[quote]Jewbacca wrote:

[quote]Tex Ag wrote:

[quote]Jewbacca wrote:

[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:
Am I correct in my perception after all then and it is just a choice whether or not to fall in line? A choice to fear an abusive god and bow to his whims so he doesn’t punish you in the life he forced upon you?[/quote]

Did your mother slap your hand when you tried to touch a hot stove? Did she do this to satisfy a whim?[/quote]

What about the argument that G-d is sinless but also created sin? Not sure if that concerns you but I remember having a conversation about it with my philosophy professor and he said as a Christian the going idea is that the thought about sin for so short of a time it did not count.

That seems stupid and contrived.

I was thinking about that in relation to this thread and your example above, for me, drew on that issue.

Do you think the “sin conundrum” could be better settled in that G-d thought about possible behaviors (whatever really) and put some in the Good pile and put some in the Bad pile and called them “Sin”? At least for me, his thoughts were not sins, as they were not yet named sin (the idea that you cannot break a law if the law does not exist).

Is this even an issue in the Jewish community?

Wondered this for years, now seemed as good of time to ask others.[/quote]

Sounds kind of dualist, to me.

G-d didn’t want robots to be His friends. He wants people who He can love and love Him.

You can chose to participate in that love, or not. “Not” is against G-d’s will, and thus “sin.”

Me, I chose to participate. HG has hardened his heart against G-d and chosen not to participate. That’s his business.[/quote]

It is indeed and we can’t judge him for what he does or doesn’t believe anymore than he can judge you and I.

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but we humans invented love and those feelings, before that we were as basic as a cat or dog. why don’t they get the same feelings we get? why don’t they get to talk and explore the world why just us?

the bibble says to forgive people, the church says to always forgive, why wont god forgive a woman for eating an apple?

you can say he wanted friends and we walked out of some garden being smart and talking, but go back to africa where the original humans have been found who didn’t speak or anything. Why do we all have diffren’t languages we all suppose to be the same? why our dna so far apart? why can some races get diseases and such that others can’t? why we not all the same colour? herp derp we all evolved diffren’t.

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@Jewbacca - You would’ve a great drinking buddy and person to discuss Apologetics with in some other life time.

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Why did anyone have to die for humanity to be forgiven? Why is God still an asshole for letting so much evil occur? Why are you so stupid

Also girls, doesn’t the New Testament tell women to shut up when men are discussing things that matter? Don’t you know your place?

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[quote]Tex Ag wrote:

I know. You asked a big question and it was my way of suggesting to sit back and think on it some more.[/quote]

Oh, for sure. It is a giant question but I proposed it that way on purpose. I was trying to incite some discussion but I think I just came off as a young crack pot. lol :slight_smile: