WHY AT MY AGE DO I CHOOSE TO SERVE GOD
In an age when Christianity is mocked, I choose to serve God. Christianity may be what your peers may scoff at, as you face the ultimate decision in whether you will join in or stand firm. Today, I choose to serve God, simply because I have the choice. As a teen, I can either accept the path that the world already set for teens, or I can dare to be different.
You see, I don't want to fit in to society's mold of what I, as a teenager should be. The world expects us teens to be intoxicated, worldly, and sensual. The world says "there is no hope" but God's word says that there is hope, love, and life in Him.
I choose to live up to God's standards, not to conform to society, not to allow myself to be placed in a mold that I don't belong in. You see, the world offers today. But God offers eternity. I chose a future and eternity with God so that I can pray David's prayer in saying Psalms 27:4-5- " One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple."
Here Psalms 27 is offering a life that is on fire and full of passion for God. A life worth living. The world is seeking for such a life with meaning in all the wrong places. But I am here to tell you that Jesus is the only answer. As a teen, I choose to seek God in his temple early, like David, so that I can give him my life at its best. While it is fresh and budding. So that I can say 1 Timothy 4:7 : " I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 1 Timothy 6:12 says: " Fight the good fight of faith. take hold of the eternal life to which you were called."
We must fight the good fight of faith as teens to reach our generation I choose to serve God because I refuse to sit idly by and witness the destruction of our generation. I choose to fight a holy war when activists seek to remove God from our schools, when truth is deemed relative and unknowable. It is necessary for us, the emerging generation of young Americans to stand for what is right and reclaim the values that have made our nation so great. Choose to serve God so that you may live life at a higher standard, a lifestyle based not on conveniance but on character, not on what is easy, but on what is excellent, not on popularity but on principle, not on what is tempting but on what is true. So dare to be different. The world offers the easy and broad path, but God offers the narrow path for those few who are willing to stand for Him.According to Ron Luce's book Battle Cry To Save A Generation, studies estimate that in the next generation, only 4% of Americans will be Christians. However, I believe that as Christians, we can change those statistics. The best things are worth fighting for. Choose to serve God in order to protect the heritage of our forefathers and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and generations to come. So today, the question for you today is this: Will you tell the other 94% about their choice? Who will you stand for?
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Hey! I am also a teenage christian! I really enjoyed reading this post of yours!
just. laugh.
Thank you for the compliment slurpfry! I am glad that you enjoyed the blog.
What about the 2% after you tell another 94%?
By whose standards will only 4% percent be Christians? Ron Luce's standards? Seeing as most Americans are Christians I find this to be unbeleivable.
Anyway, who says that Christians are right? You may think you have proof of God's existance. I suspect that you just have proof of your parents's love for each other and their family. This has nothing to do with god, I assure you. How do you really know that your god is real? Why your God? Why not some other compassionate deity who doesn't care if you beleive in him or her or it? Even if your god exists then why ar Christians right? Why not Jews? Why not Muslims?
As for god not leaving or forsaking, what about all the people who don't make it through bad times? Why should god not forsake your parents, but forsake others, many of whom are Christian?
I do think that most non-Christians are aware of the fact that they can be Christans if they beleived in the Christian mythology. They just don't beleive.
I'm an atheist. I'm not an athiest because I want to be cool or fit it. (Which would be a really stupid thing to do seeing as most people beleive in some sort of deity and many of those people discriminate against athiests) I'm an athiest because I don't beleive in a deity. People who aren't Christian aren't Christian because they don't beleive in Christian theology.
I agree with everything you said. Except I'm not an atheist.
And you know, there's evidence that this generation is becoming MORE religious than the previous generation, so I don't think the number of Christians will drop to a mere 4% in the next one.
~C
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yeah, I got the 4% statistics from Acquire the fire. I don't know how legit that source is.
Well, I think that it is becomming cool to be spitual now, that's my issue. That and the missing 2%.
"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything."
Friedrich Nietzsche
"Why your God? Why not some other compassionate deity who doesn't care if you beleive in him or her or it? Even if your god exists then why ar Christians right? Why not Jews?"
Some feble attempt to talk about truth in an uncertain world.
Some saying that seeing is believing...that is not true, seeing is knowing, believing without seeing is faith.
Some other diety is not known or is dead.
Jews are right about God the only diffrence between them and christians is they do not have the faith or the forgiveness. Basically, long story short, Christians use Jesus as the sacrifice and lamb's blood for forgiveness were as Jewish people would still be making grain and live sacrifices for sin forgiveness.
To recognize good and bad and want to correct oneself is a hard thing to admit when when the 'bad' is so much fun and socially acceptable.
all truths are easy to understand once discovered; the point is to discover them ~galileo
Apparently you think that Jews don't understand forgiveness or compassion. This is rediculous and moronic. You also seem to think that being Jewish is bad. This is a very good argument for the horrible problems with religions.
Your post does not answer any of the questions that I opposed. You assert that pagan Gods don't exist. You assert that the Christian God exists and that Jesus died for our sins. Then you say that you don't know any of this you have faith in it. Wow. What an amazingly convincing argument.
I am an athiest. I don't beleive in God. I also have a very strong sense of right and wrong. The two have no direct connection. The connection is that religion can make people beleive that it is good to do what would otherwise be bad, if it weren't for the fact that it is being done to the infidel.
I am not sure how that is apparent I simple state that there is a diffrence and said nothing about compasion or forgiveness. They do not actively sacrifice as there bible and traditions seem to indicate. I also never say that they are bad, only that they are like pre-Christ God beleivers
I actually do not refer to myself in the post since i beleive most religion is hooky tradtion made for political or whatever suppressive gain one can find 'bad'. I also never say pagan gods do not exsist i say more or less other 'saviors' have either died or are no making them selves known were as christians beleive in something they beleive is living and that no one can ever know
Very true about strong beleifs can make a person do crazy things that applies to anyone or beleif system (or lack there of)
Learn to read and guess you will get your self all riled for nothing K
all truths are easy to understand once discovered; the point is to discover them ~galileo
"Jews are right about God the only diffrence between them and christians is they do not have the faith or the forgiveness. Basically, long story short, Christians use Jesus as the sacrifice and lamb's blood for forgiveness were as Jewish people would still be making grain and live sacrifices for sin forgiveness."
This statement could be easily constured as incredibly anti-semetic.
I think I understand what you're saying. If I am right, your statement was talking more about how widespread the Judeo-Christian God is in society.
However, I was just pointing out that it is a bit concieted to assume that you (generally speaking) have the correct beleif, especially when based on such nothing evidence.
"Learn to read and guess you will get your self all riled for nothing K"
That's a bit cheeky. Especially if you were to actually read back over your posts, which for all intensive purposes read like pidgeon English.
I particularly love this gem right here:
"the good and bad thing was state without any christian or God mentioningness"
_____________________________________________________________
I am the people my mother warned me about.
Who are you talking about?Oh, never mind. I see who it is. yeah, well maybe they are disabled. Thats not nice to make fun of people just cuz they can't type. People with broken wrists can't type very well
I thought you left Progressive U for good because you could no longer figure out how to comment and actually contribute to the topics at hand. Welcome back I suppose.
"The deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty."
all truths are easy to understand once discovered; the point is to discover them ~galileo
the good and bad thing was state without any christian or God mentioningness
all truths are easy to understand once discovered; the point is to discover them ~galileo
Just the fact that you say you have a very strong sense of right and wrong proves to me that in fact there is a God because he is the one who put that sense in you. You did not design it and install it inside of you. Animals don't have it. So how can the evolution theory suggest that you got this strong sense of right and wrong by accident? If you say that your parents taught you this, then where did they get it? Therefore, its proof that there is an intelligent design who created not only your body but your consciensness. And if you want scientific proof, here it is. The idea that we simply materialized out of nothing is a logical and scientific impossibility. The first law of thermodynamics tells us matter can neither be created nor destroyed by natural causes, like the big bang. For the strict evolutionist, this is an insurmountable dilemma. If only natural causes are involved, how did nothing turn to something? And then how did that something turn into something personal, with intelligence, morality, personality, and spirituality? By chance? Impossible. Absolutely, scientifically, intellectually, and logically impossible.
> The idea that we simply materialized out of nothing is a logical
> and scientific impossibility. The first law of thermodynamics tells
> us matter can neither be created nor destroyed by natural causes,
> like the big bang.
Actually, that isn't what the first law of thermodynamics says at all. What it does say is that...
The change in the internal energy of a closed thermodynamic system is equal to the sum of the amount of heat energy supplied to the system and the work done on the system.
Many creationists misconstrue the First Law to suggest the Big Bang is not possible, but what they overlook is that the potential energy of a gravatational field is a "negative" form of energy. And, since negative and positve values tend to cancel each other out, the First Law offers no real obstacle to the Big Bang model.
But even beyone this, quantum physics has been offering us a great deal of evidence to suggest that spacetime may not in fact even be a closed system to begin with.
percivale
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"Vi Veri Vniversum Vivus Vici." ~ V.
can u translate that please? Into english? I don't get it.
...and with the admission that I my expertise in physics is that of an interested amateur, the first Law of Rhermodynamics only applies to energy in a "closed" system. If you imagine the universe as a giant glass jar, putting the lid on the jar "closes" the system of the jar. Once the lid is on, nothing can get in, and nothing can get out. Conservation of energy means that if you add up all the "energy" in the jar, the result will be the sum of the heat in the jar plus the "work" that occurs as the "stuff" in the jar moves around. But, theoretical physics suggests the universe is more like the same jar, but with tiny "holes" poked into the lid (like a black hole, for example). Thus, the overall universe isn't subject to the First Law of Themodynamics in the way that you suggest.
Like I said, I'm not a professional physicist, and I am sure that there is someone here who could offer you a better and more technically precise explanation, but in very broad and general terms, the First Law just doesn't work the way that you think.
perci
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"Vi Veri Vniversum Vivus Vici." ~ V.
Just the fact that you say you have a very strong sense of right and wrong proves to me that in fact there is a GOd because he is the one who put that sense in you. You did not design it and install it inside of you. Animals don't have it. So how can the evolution theory suggest that you got this strong sense of right and wrong by accident? If you say that your parents taught you this, then where did they get it? Therefore, its proof that there is an intelligent design who created not only your body but your consciensness. And if you want scientific proof, here it is. The idea that we simply materialized out of nothing is a logical and scientific impossibility. The first law of thermodynamics tells us matter can neither be created nor destroyed by natural causes, like the big bang. For the strict evolutionist, this is an insurmountable dilemma. If only natural causes are involved, how did nothing turn to something? And then how did that something turn into something personal, with intelligence, morality, personality, and spirituality? By chance? Impossible. Absolutely, scientifically, intellectually, and logically impossible.
Evolution isn't chance. We didn't materialize out of nothing. There is no reason, however, why god has to be the first cause. I'm not a scientist, so I can't really explain it, however, there are those on this site (DB, for example) who have a much better understanding of it than I do.
I do however understand how evolution is capable of proucing morality. If we evolved as pack animals, a need to watch out for our own would be quite useful and morals would be an offshoot of that. It's common sence, really. However, I would advise reading up on it or finding someone here who can do a better ob of scietific explanation.
okay. So you say that evolution isn't chance. You materialized out of something.By theory, its a speck, to say it unscientifically. Now let me ask you. Where did that speck come from? The universe? So where did the universe come from? Another speck? This is a never ending circle. You need more faith to believe that evolution is real than to believe in God. And you say that there is no reason why God is the first choice, if not evolution. Well, do you have a better alternative to evolution and how a human being with a complex system was formed? How can a speck produce not only morals, but a complex DNA? We are giving chance too much credit. Keep an eye out for any of my future posts. I will be posting creation evidence and faulty evidence in evolution.
And here is something that your schools never told you. Darwin, who created the theory of evolution, later admitted in a composition that he wrote later in life that after further studying the theory of evolution and comparing it to the creation theory, that his evolution theory is wrong and made no sense. Go ahead, ask jeeves. Google it. Whatever.
And here is another thought. Lets say that there is a chance that you are right and I am wrong. BUT there is also a chance that I am right, and you are wrong. What happens if you are right? Well, when we die we turn into worm food. Thats the worst case scenario. BUT, if I am right, there are two very real places: heaven and hell. Whats the worst case scenario if you don't believe in God? Hell. So, as far as I understand, christianity is the only religion, or at least one of the few that has a choice of heaven or hell. Logically, wouldn't you want to be on the safe side? Because you don't know where you are going to be after life.
One of the atheists wrote earlier on why God can't be compassionate. I am assuming that they think God is not compassionate just because there is a hell. Let me clarify this for all the readers who may be wondering the same thing. God does not want us to go to hell. When he created Adam and Eve and they sinned, he had no choice but to kick them out of the garden of eden. They were the first who sinned which brought on all the pain and suffering in the world. It wasn't God's plan. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Because we have all sinned, we can't go to heaven with God because his holiness and perfection is so great, that we wouldn't survive in his presence. Stay with me. But, God so loved the world that he sent his only son, who
never sinned and was blameless in every way, to die for everyone. He took your sins on the cross, so that when you accept Jesus as your lord and savior, you can come to Christ through him. Jesus washed all your sins away on the cross. Your past and future sins. All you have to do is come to Him, and only through Christ do you have access to God. God no longer sees your sins in his presence. You can come to him and know him for the real God that he is. God is compassionate, thats why he sent his son. So that he can be with you.
Some of you may say, "But I am a pretty good person. I haven't murdered or committed adultery. I deserve to go to heaven." You can't go to heaven by earning your way there. God is a just God. If you have ever lied, or cheated, or stolen, or lusted in your heart, by the Bible's definition, you are a sinner. God would cease to be God if he was unjust. He can't let one sinner in because he was a little better than the other sinner. There would be no justice then! If one person only committed adultery once and the other committed it 4 times, God can't let the person who did it once get into heaven because he was an all around better person. There is no justice in that. He is compassionate. That is why he gives everyone a chance to ask for forgiveness and start a fresh new life with him.
Just something to consider.
1- Very easy answer to your question about the speck. As I said, I'm not a scietist. Here it is- If everything has to come from something else, where does God come from? If he comes from nowhere, why can't I?
2- Evolution has nothing to do with the creation of the Universe. I do beleive that Evolution makes sense in explaining where the different species came from. It makes a lot more sense than some superpowerful being immune to the laws of logic creating us.
3- Your safe side argument, commonly known as Pascal's Wager is moronic. If I'm wrong and I pretended to beleif to avoid Hell, wouldn't God know I was only pretending to beleive in him to avoid punishment? I can't choose to beleive in God. I don't. AND, if I'M right, then I've wasted my life serving an imaginary bully.
4- I don't beleive god isn't compassionate. I beleive he doesn't exist. The Christian faith portrays him as being uncompassionate by him sending people to hell for having the audacity to do things like allow a natural love of the same sex to express itself or not beleiving in him.
5- Darwin did not convert to Christianity. He did not say that evolution was wrong. That is a rumor spread by a nun. Even if it was true, than what of it. The thing about science is that people don't take things on faith. They examine it. Evolution has held up to those examinations.
6"Some of you may say, "But I am a pretty good person. I haven't murdered or committed adultery. I deserve to go to heaven." You can't go to heaven by earning your way there. God is a just God. If you have ever lied, or cheated, or stolen, or lusted in your heart, by the Bible's definition, you are a sinner. God would cease to be God if he was unjust. He can't let one sinner in because he was a little better than the other sinner. There would be no justice then! If one person only committed adultery once and the other committed it 4 times, God can't let the person who did it once get into heaven because he was an all around better person. There is no justice in that. He is compassionate. That is why he gives everyone a chance to ask for forgiveness and start a fresh new life with him."
I see. God obviously has some severe problems. He needs people to beleive in him, even though he won't prove his existance. If they don't he'll send them to hell because they didn't repent for their sins by asking me. They may have repented in other ways, but they didn't ak me. Nice guy.
I hate that argument. I think it's ignorant, presumptuous and naive.
How does the christian faith portray him as incompassionate? Again, you have no evidence. No examples. Don't let your experiences with other christians, define all christians in general.
My Pascals Wager was an example. I was trying to show the logical side to it, so you may look into the christian faith that you are so against. Yes, of course God would know you were faking it to avoid punishment. But the example proves that life after death is too precious to dismiss, and then go to hell for simply because you denied logic's reasoning.
Once again, you have given me no scientific proof to contradict the base of science, the first law of thermodynamics.
You are God's creation, how can the creation question the creator and ask where God came from? He is, was, and always will be whether you admit it or not. Our minds are smaller than God's and we can't comprehend it.
...is that it is an exercise in decision theory, and not a model that can be used to determine the actual truth value of the question of "god's" existence. Even Pascal recognized this. A fact that many people ignore (or are ignorant of) is that Pascal never actually published or supported the Wager. It is taken from a posthumusly published notebook known as the Pensees that contained thoughts.
There is no actual evidence that would suggest that Pascal would have endorsed this thought exercise as a valid solution to the question of supernatural rewards and punishments, and in fact such a position would have been diametrically opposed to the position which Pascal did publically espouse, which was that reason could not be used to support the idea of genuine religious faith, because he believed that faith to be a pure gift from "god."
In any case, Pascal's Wager is useless in actually answering the question of supernatural existences, becuase it does not provide us with any manner by which to test the truth-value of its various propositions. The Wager merely notes that in the absense of evidence, one is risking less if one assumes that "god" is real, and actually rewards belief. This assumption, however, is the failure of the Wager. A valid, logical argument can only be sound if it is based on a premise that is known to be true. That is not the case with the Wager, and any conclusion that you attempt to draw from it is logically unsound.
percivale
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"Vi Veri Vniversum Vivus Vici." ~ V.
You don't consider being sent to Hell because you don't beleive in something uncompassionate? This also has nothing to do with the character of christians.
Pascal's wager is not logical. If that's the best you can do, logic wise, then you have problems with that.
I am not contradicting thermodynamics. I don't see why I want to.
I did provide an example of how evolution could account for morals. Further more, as I have said, I an mot a scientist. I'm not good at explaining scietific theory. I don't see that god is a logical answer because I don't fully understand something.
I see. God is, was, and always will be. Why can't that apply to the Universe. Removing your god frm the laws of logic does not make him immune to it. Your desire to do so can only mean that someone realizes how weak the logic defending god is.
I question the creator because their is no evidence for the existance of a creator. Like I said, give me real, hard, solid evidence and I'll beleive.
There is no hard solid evidence to any of this (which ever veiw) and that is why it is all theories and speculation. If there were, then it would be a fact and therefore unargueable.
all truths are easy to understand once discovered; the point is to discover them ~galileo
There is evidence to support my beleifs in the truth of evolution. There is logical evidence that hurts the arguments for god. I am not asking for proof. I am saying that I would change my mind if I was provided with sufficient evidence.
Matthew 16:4 says that it is a faithless generation that asks for a miraculous sign. If God proved himself to you right now, would you believe him? You would still doubt on whether or not it is him, and if there is another God. And if God did show himself to everyone in the world, that wouldn't be his will. he gave you a free will to choose who you want to serve. If he proved to everyone, then he would be taking away your freedom of choice to believe in him or not. He is a gentleman. He is not going to force christianity upon you. Its your choice. If you make your choice, then why call God a bully? He gives everyone a fair chance.
Would a gentlemen throw me into a jail cell for not agreeing with him? I don't think so. Only a dictator would do that.
If god revealed himself, I could choose to not beleive in him. I would just be stupid to do so. I said it before and I'll say it again. My mind is changeable. Just give me a good reason to change it.
A gentleman would not be a gentleman if he let criminals escape judgement and a punishment. Whether you agree with him or not, the fact that you broke the 10 commandments, or the law, requires punishment whether you know about it or not, just like in todays' society. But he offers you an attorney who will acquitt you. Whether you take him or not is your choice.
I try to give a good life. If there is a god and he punishes me because, despite my good work, I don't believe in him, this is not very gentlemanly. This is a very Orwellian concept. Reminds me of 1984. I don't think that I would call the party members in that book gentlemen.
"Every man makes a god of his own desire."
-Virgil
But you don't understand the concept. If anyone in America tries to live a good life but breaks a law, you will be punished. God is not punishing you because you don't believe in him. You have it all wrong. If anything, it is because you have no one to acquitt you for breaking the law. NO one is perfect we have all at one point lied, maybe stolen something, and more. Its the same as on earth. Its not because you don't believe in him, its because no one can acquitt you. And because you don't want an attorney( Jesus) to get rid of all claims, you must pay the price. Simple logic.
If I commit some wrong there are several Earthly ways I may be punished. If it is a crime, the government may take legal action against me. If not, I could repent in other ways. Regret, trying to make up for it and the like.
"Every man makes a god of his own desire."
-Virgil
What if you keep repeating the crime over and over again? The judge will see that serious action needs to be taken. A person with a DUI may get some slack the first time, but after a lifetime of doing it, don't expect the same judgement. Same with us. We are human. We will keep lying, even though we try not to, becuase it is in our nature. We can't help it. We can't guarantee that we won't relapse again. What would the judge think if we did the same crime over and over again? Thats why God give us a chance on earth.
That has nothing to do with beleiving in god. I am capable of commiting a crime once and repenting for it (in a non-religious sence) without beleiving in god.
"Every man makes a god of his own desire."
-Virgil
The bible was written by men, men are fallable, therefore, the bible is fallable.
Nicholas Aden
Self-Promotion
I'm going to add my own thoughts to this discussion, though probably without benefit.
You need more faith to believe that evolution is real than to believe in God.
Then you know nothing about evolution. There is PLENTY of evidence saying that evolution has occurred. I'm sure percivale or DB could provide you PLENTY of evidence to suggest evolution does happen. And if you don't believe that, just take a look at E.coli in labs now. Evolves ALL THE TIME. Thus, you need more faith to believe in God, whose only evidence comes from personal accounts. I believe in God, and I acknowledge that.
How can a speck produce not only morals, but a complex DNA?
Step by step. You start with a bunch of atoms. Those atoms form molecules. Those molecules interact with each other and eventually form a single-celled organism. That single-celled organism grows, and probably engulfs a few more single-celled organisms. They grow specific to the organism, and the organism divides more and more. The cells in the colony become more and more specialized to help the colony, and a multi-celled organism is formed. It grows and develops more and more until it can live in separate climates. The climates change the organism so it is no longer like its cousins. And so on down the line until you get to where we are today.
Darwin, who created the theory of evolution, later admitted in a composition that he wrote later in life that after further studying the theory of evolution and comparing it to the creation theory, that his evolution theory is wrong and made no sense.
Darwin, who started out as a Christian, eventually denied God. Or Christianity, at least. I can pull out his autobiography and look up the exact page in my book that he says this on, and reasons through it as well.
Because we have all sinned, we can't go to heaven with God because his holiness and perfection is so great, that we wouldn't survive in his presence.
Alright... I'm following you so far.
Jesus washed all your sins away on the cross. Your past and future sins. All you have to do is come to Him, and only through Christ do you have access to God.
This is where I lose you. If God was compassionate, why would he want us to believe that he demanded a human sacrifice in exchange for our sins? Why can't a person who feels extreme remorse (and asks for forgiveness, and repents), even if they are NOT Christians, be granted that forgiveness and be cleansed for their sins?
You can't go to heaven by earning your way there. God is a just God.
Why on earth not? A person who is remorseful and seeks forgiveness, even if it is not through God, should be allowed to enter Heaven? THAT would mean that God is a just God, not saying 'You have to believe I sacrificed my son for you in order to get up here... if you don't, I don't care how much good you did, you're still a horrible, horrible person that deserves to burn for all eternity.'
If one person only committed adultery once and the other committed it 4 times, God can't let the person who did it once get into heaven because he was an all around better person. There is no justice in that.
There's sure as hell no justice if God lets the person that has committed adultery 4 times into heaven just because the person repented right before he died, and the person that committed it once regretted it, and did his best to correct his mistake through the rest of his life. The person who committed it once probably has done a whole lot more to repent his one mistake than the person who did it again and again, and only repented in the face of death.
That is why he gives everyone a chance to ask for forgiveness and start a fresh new life with him.
But... that's not true. There are plenty of people in the world that have absolutely no access to Christianity. If Christianity is, in fact, the correct way to live, those people aren't given the chance to accept that Jesus died for their sins, because they've never heard of Jesus.
Some things to consider.
~C
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Now I will reply to your replies.
But... that's not true. There are plenty of people in the world that have absolutely no access to Christianity. If Christianity is, in fact, the correct way to live, those people aren't given the chance to accept that Jesus died for their sins, because they've never heard of Jesus.
God is a just God. If you research the Bible, you will find that it says that those who never heard of him will not be judged the same way you will. YOU will be judged and convicted by your conscience because you heard the word, and you heard of Jesus but you chose to ignore him and reject him. God will not send a person to hell who has never heard of him. You guys, seriously. Instead of bombarding me with "what if" questions and silly comments, look in the Bible before you judge God by your standards of who he is. Find out for yourself. Seek and you will find. If you don't, its because you are comfortable with your idea of who God is and don't want to know.
There's sure as hell no justice if God lets the person that has committed adultery 4 times into heaven just because the person repented right before he died, and the person that committed it once regretted it, and did his best to correct his mistake through the rest of his life. The person who committed it once probably has done a whole lot more to repent his one mistake than the person who did it again and again, and only repented in the face of death.
Once again, the Bible says that if you knowingly committed a sin over and over again and repented just to not go to hell but you don't mean it, surely don't you think that the person who repented remorsefully will stand a better chance? And also, haven't you guys heard of the theory that there are different levels of hell? An all around good person won't be in the same place in hell as Hitler, for example.But they won't get access to heaven because they rejected Christ. You also keep saying that if a person is remorseful and repents. Repents to who? God? Isn't that what christianity is all about? Repenting? Now if he repented and never heard of God before, God will credit that to him as salvation because he didn't have the option of rejecting christ like you do.
But if the person knows God but isn't christian, yet still repents to another God, you ask why he can't be cleansed. All other gods are false. Jesus is the only way. You can argue all you want about but if you do I have one question for you...
When you die, do you know EXACTLY what will happen to you? Are you afraid of death? You may be confident now, but when you are dying and your time on earth is up, will you be consoled and know for sure that you will be worm food? That you will have 70 virgins? That you go to heaven or hell?
For those of you who ask evidence that God exists: First give me evidence that wind exists. If I can't see it, I won't believe it.
You can doubt all you want, but until then
"I will leave you with my card with my phone number on it, and you can call me the day you are going to die...and we can talk about eternity then."
"That's right. You don't know the day you are going to die, do you?"
*sighs* I should have left the stubborn comment I originally had there in.
Once again, the Bible says that if you knowingly committed a sin over and over again and repented just to not go to hell but you don't mean it, surely don't you think that the person who repented remorsefully will stand a better chance?
Who says that the person doesn't mean their repentance in face of death? Many people 'find' God on their deathbeds. And I believe there's a parable (couldn't for the life of me tell you where) that says something like... A man hired a few workers at dawn to do work in his field for... let's say $20. He hires a few more workers at noon with the same agreement. Finally, he hires a few more workers just before sunset, and gives them the same $20 at the end of the day. Same concept as 'accepting' Christ... the man who committed adultery 4 times through his life could easily repent, and MEAN it, right before he dies. But the man who doesn't accept Christ, according to you, but does repent throughout his life after that one instance won't be 'saved'. That's the problem I have.
Repents to who? God? Isn't that what christianity is all about? Repenting? [...] But if the person knows God but isn't christian, yet still repents to another God, you ask why he can't be cleansed. All other gods are false. Jesus is the only way.
Who says it's NOT the same God? Christians worship the same exact God as Jews do, Jews just don't believe that Jesus was the son of God. Muslims also worship that same God, they just also don't believe Jesus was the son of God, and think the Jews had it all wrong when they wrote down the text. It is the EXACT SAME GOD. Unless, of course, Christians really believe that God suddenly turned all nice, and thus isn't eternal. Then perhaps we're talking about two different Gods.
And also, haven't you guys heard of the theory that there are different levels of hell?
I'm not Catholic. I don't believe in the different circles of hell.
When you die, do you know EXACTLY what will happen to you?
No, I don't. Neither do you. You can believe all you want, but you don't KNOW exactly what will happen to you. That's what makes religion all about faith.
Are you afraid of death?
I'm afraid of dying now, yes, but not because of my own fate. I've affected many people's lives, and I'm content with that, even if I could affect thousands more with each year I'm on Earth. I'm afraid of dying now because it will cause so much hurt to those that truly love me. I'm afraid of dying now because my boyfriend has already had to deal with 2 deaths this summer, and he could very well have to deal with another in the next year.
You may be confident now, but when you are dying and your time on earth is up, will you be consoled and know for sure that you will be worm food? That you will have 70 virgins? That you go to heaven or hell?
I KNOW my body will be worm food. All you have to do to prove that is to open up a casket. What happens to my soul, however, is another matter. I hope that even with all my flaws, I will be cleansed and live out my eternal life with God and all the other men and women who have lived good lives.
I'm curious... have you read the last Harry Potter book?
First give me evidence that wind exists. If I can't see it, I won't believe it.
Wind is a horrible example. You put it in the right conditions, and you can see wind just fine. Some emotion like Love or Hate would prove your point better.
~C
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Basically, long story short, Christians use Jesus as the sacrifice and lamb's blood for forgiveness were as Jewish people would still be making grain and live sacrifices for sin forgiveness.
And yet... How many Jewish people are there in the world today? How many do YOU know that make sacrifices for forgiveness? I know a fair number of Jews, and NONE of them do.
~C
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I know many Jewish people and even the orthodox do not sacrifine anymore...you right and I think that was my point I only brought them up from what was said in the other post
all truths are easy to understand once discovered; the point is to discover them ~galileo
I don't want to get into this stupid discussion, so I'll just say two words:
Yom Kippur.
Google it.
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If I had had more time I would have written less. -- Thomas Jefferson
RachelSetzer.com
why do you think its stupid? Are you atheist? Does anyone else think this is stupid? I find it quite interesting.
I think the 'stupid' was reffering to whether or not Jews sacrifice. Why can't an athiest find this conversation interesting. I do.
I'm a Jewish qualified-non-dualist. That is, I don't believe in good and evil, but I do acknowledge that there are some aspects of this plane of existence that require a certain amount of duality in order for the entities therein to continue to believe the illusion.
No. I am not an atheist.
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If I had had more time I would have written less. -- Thomas Jefferson
RachelSetzer.com
I'd have to say, after reading this far down, that yes, this is a stupid discussion. In fact Rachel's comment made me sigh with relief. The stupidity demonstrated by some Christians in these kinds of arguments makes getting involved feel like beating a child. My eyes hurt from rolling them and my face hurts from making retard faces at the monitor.
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I am the people my mother warned me about.
So if your eyes hurt from rolling them, why don't you stop? You'd be amazed at the tremendous relief you will feel if its bothering you that bad. Or better yet, just stop reading this post. Obviously you can't take it.
Resist the urge to roll your eyes.
You said: "To recognize good and bad and want to correct oneself is a hard thing to admit when when the 'bad' is so much fun and socially acceptable."
Yes, its true. But that doesn't mean that life gets boring when you become religious. It is still just as fine-just more rationale and less self centered.
My question is, since Jesus came why are Jews not following their previous traditions? They stopped sacrificing animals, and offerings, etc.
The orthodox Jews do. Modern orthodox is a little more lenient, and reform is even more lenient. But many of the laws set forth aren't applicable outside of the theological state of Israel (which doesn't exist), the land of Israel (and so wouldn't apply to Jews in America), or outside of the Temple (so they can't do it, because the Temple was destroyed shortly after Jesus died).
~C
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That reminded me:
"From a telephone sampling of more than 2,000 households, university researchers found that Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in “sharing their vision of American society.” Atheists are also the minority group most Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry."
http://www.ur.umn.edu/FMPro?-db=releases&-lay=web&-format=umnnewsrelease...
Just an Interesting Factoid :)
`lacey
There are no beautiful surfaces without terrible depth...
The site you give has a connection problem.
It's showing up on my computer :/
Hmm, if it still doesn't work you can google "Atheists identified as America’s most distrusted minority, according to new U of M study" If you want that should work :)
`lacey
There are no beautiful surfaces without terrible depth...
I got connected. Thanks. Very interesting article.
There seems to be a concept that atheists are generally selfish bastards incapable of feeling sympathy for others or facilitating social peace. I believe that most atheists are more rational than the average person and no more likely than any other person to commit murder, rape, and other forms of criminal activity that impede other people's rights. This lack of reliance on any higher power for accountability may sound scary, but I sometimes find the concept of people needing to have a higher power to account for their own actions even scarier.
What exactly does U of M stand for, out of curiosity?
LOL...
At first when I read that, I was thinking "bunk" and I was already to say how wrong and completely biased and ask for a more credible source -
But hell, then again, that means I, as a Pagan, am no longer the most ditrusted!
Yay!
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
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About time
? :)
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Fallon
"It is never too late to give up your prejudices." Henry David Thoreau
"In case of dissension, never dare to judge till you've heard the other side." Euripides
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I;m confused. Who are you referring to?
MignonChang, I agree that atheists are the most rationale. I mean you have to be completely rational to be atheist, otherwise faith will get in the way.
The person that posted the link saying that atheists were at the bottom of the pond... people don't want their children to marry one, etc.
~C
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I think that it largely has to do with how little people know about atheism. They learned tolerance towards other religions but they don't know how to deal with atheism.
It seems to me that your claim that many christians discriminate against atheists comes from a personal experience. I would like to say that just because some god-believing people may have acted in an ungodly way, doesn't mean that everyone is that way. That would be discriminating against all christians, for example, just because one of them did something to hurt you. But that is why we need a God. We are all human. Even religious people mess up, and we repent of our sins and do our best to become better people.
You claim that being atheist is daring to be more different than being christian. yet christians have been persecuted for hundreds of years for their belief in God! Think about it. Do you really think that people would die for a God that wasn't real to them? That they didn't know? From what I can tell, you are wavering in your atheist beliefs. So if you want to prove to yourself once and for all whether there really is a god, I suggest you study that which you so strongly oppose. The Bible says "seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened". So dare to seek, and determine once and for all what you truly believe in.
What I meant by saying that you should dare to be different is this: you should stand firm in your faith, and not go along the path that the world expects teens to follow. Not to be worldly, intoxicated, and sensuous. Many people believe that the teen years are when many people loose their faith because as they go out on their own, they lose sight of their belief in God. Believing in God in itself is daring to be different and to act different. You say that many people in American are christians but just because they claim that God is there doesn't mean that they are leading a christian life. Titus 1:16 says "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him." Dare to be different by not just claiming a belief in God, but by living it.
People have fought and died for other gods than yours and if your god is correct, then their's are not.
I never suggested that all religious people discriminate against athiests. My best friend is a Modern Orthodox Jew. Although relious people don't neccisarily discriminate against athiests, religions do.
Yes Christians were prosecuted when they first showed up. The prosecution doesn't exist now where Christians are dominant.
Most people consider themselves to be Christians. Most people probably beleive that they live by the word of God. Who are you to judge whetheror not they do.
And I said