Left with questions

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shawntc

Senior Member
May 7, 2010
729
11
0
#41
Darwindiva, if your main intent is to just ask questions, but you're not really seeking Christ, then there's only so much we can do for you. Nonetheless, there's nothing taboo about asking questions. Some of us have taken the time to read up and learn about various topics. I personally can't provide good answers for questions about social issues. My main interests are more along the topics of God's existence, historicity and resurrection of Jesus, reliability of the Bible, and so on. Perhaps others can cover topics I'm not well suited for.
 
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darwindiva

Guest
#42

I understand your answer...... I just don't understand your motives. I believe you mean what you say in this last paragraph. I just don't believe you're an atheist. Don't take that as an insult because it wasn't meant to be. You do believe in something..... I sense it. In order to believe against God, you must believe in His reality.

James 2:19 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well:
the devils also believe, and tremble.
My motives are simple, as I have said them over and over and over. I'm into the psychology of religion. All religion. I have conversations going with many religious people. Why is it so hard to believe that i'm an athiest? What am I saying that's making you think I believe in supernatural things? What exactly are you sensing about me? I don't believe against god, I don't believe in the supernatural at all. I don't believe in souls or spirits. I don't know how much more clear I have to be here. I don't want to argue about this. I don't "secretly" have a desire to be saved. I don't believe jesus ever existed. When I ask questions about god i'm looking for the human answer and I don't really believe that there is a spiritual one. Hence why everyone has a different answer. I'm repeating myself over and over at this point. It's exhausting. If anyone wants to talk farther contact me at [email protected]
 

Stuey

Senior Member
Aug 17, 2009
892
4
18
#43
Just on the point of believing Jesus never existed...

All serious secular historians believe that Jesus existed - you won't find a professor of ancient history or classics who believes that he didn't.

As for the other stuff about him, well, secular historians tend to agree to a bunch of core things but after that it's debatable.

:)
 
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Trax

Guest
#44
This is the attitude that I didn't want to run into here. Whether I "knew" god is irrelevant to what i'm saying.
You claimed to be a "devout" Christian most of your life, so knowing God is VERY relevant.
A child doesn't walk out of the house and claim his/her parents were a figment of his/her
imagination. You are not a rare case. Many spend a large portion of their life, going to church,
reading the Bible, and never ever know God, and are still as lost as the day they first walked into
the church. They played religion thinking it will make them a better person. It wont. No religion
or philosophy will make you a better person. Pick any card out of the deck and call it the card
of the day. Call it the right card, or your favorite card. Attach any significant feeling or outlook,
or philosophy to that card you want. It will still be just a card and there are 51 more cards to play
with, when you get bored with the first one. That deck of cards will never do anything for you
but waste your time and energy. You want to look at religions from a philosophical point of veiw?
You seem to be educated, so open your eyes and see it for what it is. You are just playing cards.
When you're holding a 3 of Hinduism, 6 of Islam, 7 of Wicca, 10 of New Age, and Jack of Mormonism,
how you going to play it, when the house is stacked against you? The house will let you win a few,
but in the end, the house always wins and you end up with nothing but random facts and formed opinions stored in your brain. No promises, no guarantees, nothing but worn out cards.

Now, lets talk about me. I got the promises. I got the guarantee and I'm not wasting my time
playing with cards. I'm developing a relationship. I'm doing something you failed to do, when you
were a devout Christian, that is, cultivate a relationship with the Lord God. That is why I say,
"you probably never knew God." Once you have the Holy Spirit and are changed from within, and
know God, you can't walk away and say God doesn't exists, because you would know. It appears
when you were a "christian most of your life,", you were just playing the card of the day.
 
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Trax

Guest
#45
Again, it was not an overnight thing. I always loved jesus since I was very very young. I loved church and the bible. I was never rebellious. I wanted to please god. Some of you are implying that I couldn't have really been a true christian if I can go from devoting my whole life to god to saying that he isn't even real. I do understand how ridiculous that seems but it was not a sudden thing. In the years that my faith began to slip and life had taken a "job" turn for me, I stayed fervent in my faith for a long time. I cried out and prayed many many many nights. I tried everything I could. And after so long I began to doubt and lose hope that god would help me. Christians were treating me like I had surely done something to deserve god's wrath. They did not care that I spent every moment I could praying and focusing on god. They only saw the aftermath. I can see how it can be so easy to judge but I ask that you please don't. It's been a long journey for me but i'm happy with where it led me.
Got a question. Did you grow up in Roman Catholicism?

Everyone has problems. To stop believing in God is not going to stop the problems. Atheist face the
same problems as everyone else. But let me tell this one truth to you, before I stop in here.
If you really knew God and got truly saved, the Lord will not let you walk away for long. He will
give you a grace period to get your act together, before He brings you back. He won't bring you
back kicking and screaming, but you will come back. I can tell you from experience, its far better,
FAR BETTER! to go back during the grace period rather than for Him to bring you back. He knows
how to purge the dross and get your attention. If, on the other hand, you never were saved, there
is no need of "bring you back" since you didn't belong to start.
 
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Kefa52

Guest
#46
Darwindeva I will say it again in the Love Of Christ that it is great to have you here.

It is the very nature of God that he weeps that you have been hurt, and won't come back.

1 Samuel 2:8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the garbage pile. He seats them with noblemen and gives them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; He has set the world on them.

Job 5:11 He sets the lowly on high,and mourners are lifted to safety.

Psalm 12:5 "Because of the oppression of the afflicted and the groaning of the poor,I will now rise up," says the Lord."I will put the one who longs for it in a safe place."

Psalm 72:4 May he vindicate the afflicted among the people,help the poor,and crush the oppressor.

Psalm 138:6 Though the Lord is exalted,He takes note of the humble;but He knows the haughty from a distance.

You are here now. Asking questions. I don't know the answers. I will tell you I do believe you are being called back. Forget all of this mess and strife. Forgive yourself and jump back into Gods waiting arms.

May God bless you,Kefa 52

I posted this on another thread.
In Christ there is nothing I can do to make You love me more, and nothing I can do to make you love me less.
Your presence and approval are all I need for everlasting joy.
As you have been to me, so I will be to others."As I pray, I will measure Your compassion by the cross and Your power by the resurrection".
Psalm 35:10 My very bones will say,"Lord, who is like You, rescuing the poor from one too strong for him,the poor or the needy from one who robs him?
 
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darwindiva

Guest
#47
You claimed to be a "devout" Christian most of your life, so knowing God is VERY relevant.
A child doesn't walk out of the house and claim his/her parents were a figment of his/her
imagination. You are not a rare case. Many spend a large portion of their life, going to church,
reading the Bible, and never ever know God, and are still as lost as the day they first walked into
the church. They played religion thinking it will make them a better person. It wont. No religion
or philosophy will make you a better person. Pick any card out of the deck and call it the card
of the day. Call it the right card, or your favorite card. Attach any significant feeling or outlook,
or philosophy to that card you want. It will still be just a card and there are 51 more cards to play
with, when you get bored with the first one. That deck of cards will never do anything for you
but waste your time and energy. You want to look at religions from a philosophical point of veiw?
You seem to be educated, so open your eyes and see it for what it is. You are just playing cards.
When you're holding a 3 of Hinduism, 6 of Islam, 7 of Wicca, 10 of New Age, and Jack of Mormonism,
how you going to play it, when the house is stacked against you? The house will let you win a few,
but in the end, the house always wins and you end up with nothing but random facts and formed opinions stored in your brain. No promises, no guarantees, nothing but worn out cards.

Now, lets talk about me. I got the promises. I got the guarantee and I'm not wasting my time
playing with cards. I'm developing a relationship. I'm doing something you failed to do, when you're
were a devout Christian, that is, cultivate a relationship with the Lord God. That is why I say,
"you probably never knew God." Once you have the Holy Spirit and are changed from within, and
know God, you can't walk away and say God doesn't exists, because you would know. It appears
when you were a "christian most of your life,", you were just playing the card of the day.
Yes, let's talk about you. You found your purpose in life and you're living the way that you think you should be. Now let's talk about me. I'm doing the same. I'm going to repeat myself here but you seem to be missing my point. Whether or not you think I had a relationship with god or not is irrelevant to me. I am where I am in my life. I don't have enough energy to worry if i'm living the right way according to someone else anymore. I'm living the way I think I should be according to the purpose that I have found for my life. We are very different. Everyone is different. Your attitude would push me far away if we were to speak in person. I wish more people understood that the way you act is how we see your god.
 
K

Kefa52

Guest
#48
Take a look at my post just before your last one.
 
Nov 26, 2012
3,095
1,050
113
#49
I appreciate your facination with "religion". I too am a fellow seeker. Constantly I am deep in thought with things I wish to know. Like you I ask many questions hoping to find answers that complete the big picture. Your curiosity will not offend me. I am comfortable that all the research I have done in my many years is complete and true. I too was once an atheist, believing that Christians were simple minded sheep. It wasn't a big epiphany that led me to God, more importantly Christianity it was exhaustive research. Once you take in all the scientific facts, there is no evolution. Starting from there you need to conclude if I was created who was the Creator, and why. Prophecy is another definitive concluding argument. In order for one to be recognized as a prophet, he needed to be 100% accurate. If not he was killed. So by proving himself with more current prophecies, his ones down the road would gain validity so they recorded them. Christ fulfilled dozens of prophecies just by his birth (time, location, lineage). Once I concluded that Jesus was the Messiah, I figured I better find out what He said. There is no contradiction in Him. You often hear people who are professing love that they would die for. Jesus didn't just say it, He did it. Anyway, once I concluded my research, I knew I wasn't done so I prayed and trusted Him and believed and accepted His gift. From there He didn't owe me a thing. Now it is me in His debt. I have experienced at least one real miracle and several coincidences. My wife and I were having some problems with family chaos. One night the arguing was bad and she was working on something very important on our computer. She was working on it all day and didn't save any of it. When we were done our "disagreement" she went back to the computer but it was frozen. I was upstairs asking God to help us find what was really important in life because we weren't getting it. My wife called me to help her in a panic because her paper was due the next day. She decided she was going to have to reboot the computer and hope it was still there. When our home screen came back up God had answered my question. We had a new background that had not been there before. It was a picture of our four kids smiling at Easter. It was in our photo file but never our wallpaper. It struck us both between the eyes. We soon got our priorities straightened. Her paper was fine as well, but the biggest thing I got out of that was God is listening. So I don't believe for no reason. I hope your search is as fruitful as mine was because in the end there is only one truth, and His name is Jesus.
 
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darwindiva

Guest
#50
I'm glad you found christianity. It sounds like you really love it. Personally, it isn't for me. I have my own truth and my own way of doing things.
 
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darwindiva

Guest
#51
Not going to lie guys, having to say the same thing over and over is getting exhausting. How -----edited----- do you close a thread?
 
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Kefa52

Guest
#52
Will be praying for you.
 
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kenisyes

Guest
#53
Not going to lie guys, having to say the same thing over and over is getting exhausting. How ----edited----do you close a thread?
You've already explained it. Just stop coming. [I think there is some kind of link at the bottom of the page, but I'm not sure.]
 
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darwindiva

Guest
#54
Is there a way to close this thread?
 
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darwindiva

Guest
#56

I understand your answer...... I just don't understand your motives. I believe you mean what you say in this last paragraph. I just don't believe you're an atheist. Don't take that as an insult because it wasn't meant to be. You do believe in something..... I sense it. In order to believe against God, you must believe in His reality.

James 2:19 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well:
the devils also believe, and tremble.
Is it that you don't believe that i'm an atheist or that you don't want to believe i'm an atheist. I'm not hiding behind atheism. I have nothing to gain by doing so. If I believed something I would say it. I don't believe IN anything. We live, we die. That is how I see it. Your views may be different and that is fine for YOUR life but not for mine. I've also accepted the fact that if god is real then I still don't want to follow him. So god being real wouldn't change me. I denounced christianity before becoming an atheist. Meaning I didn't want to be a christian but I still believed that the christian god was real at that time. Trying to believe in something supernatural now would feel silly and unnatural for me.
 
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Trax

Guest
#57
Yes, let's talk about you. You found your purpose in life and you're living the way that you think you should be. Now let's talk about me. I'm doing the same. I'm going to repeat myself here but you seem to be missing my point. Whether or not you think I had a relationship with god or not is irrelevant to me. I am where I am in my life. I don't have enough energy to worry if i'm living the right way according to someone else anymore. I'm living the way I think I should be according to the purpose that I have found for my life. We are very different. Everyone is different. Your attitude would push me far away if we were to speak in person. I wish more people understood that the way you act is how we see your god.
Incorrect. I didn't write the Bible. I didn't make the laws. I just have wisdom enough to know what
is required. You are still playing with a deack of cards that wont benefit you anyway, shape or form.
You will still have to stand before my Lord, regardless of what you think or believe. That is the
difference between me and you. I "know", while you "don't know." You are trying to find spiritual
answers in a physical world. GOOD LUCK, because you wont find what you seek.
 
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darwindiva

Guest
#58
Incorrect. I didn't write the Bible. I didn't make the laws. I just have wisdom enough to know what
is required. You are still playing with a deack of cards that wont benefit you anyway, shape or form.
You will still have to stand before my Lord, regardless of what you think or believe. That is the
difference between me and you. I "know", while you "don't know." You are trying to find spiritual
answers in a physical world. GOOD LUCK, because you wont find what you seek.
OOooooh goodness. This is why I want to close this thread. I don't need to "know" and I don't need luck. The questions I asked were not for spiritual purposes. I'm studying the mind and how it works and since I was very religious at one time, i'm interested in what makes some of our brains lean towards spirituality. I have my own experiences being religious documented and I wanted to get others too. That is all. I'm not here to be saved. Some people in this thread did email me and we had good conversations. I find everyone has slightly different answers and it's very interesting.

Now let me make something clear to you. Your bible is not my bible. Your laws are not my laws. My "deck of cards" that i'm playing with that won't benefit me? It's called my life. I will do with it what I please. Your way of life is not mine. I know your type. When someone of a different religion is around you you act as if your skin is crawling and you make a scene. Every way of life is amazing. If your life is a religious one (no matter the religion) then that is beautiful. If your life is focused on science and logic, then that is beautiful as well. You should try accepting people and loving them as christ would instead of using scare tactics to get them to be more like you.
 
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darwindiva

Guest
#59
And for all of you who have emailed me, thank you. Most of you guys are so beautiful and christ like. You kindly answered my questions and radiated love and patience. The world needs more people like you guys.
 

GOD_IS_LOVE

Senior Member
Mar 16, 2009
306
4
18
#60
However, my prayer was only for him to show me that he was with me in my struggle.
Remember that the essential key in Christianity is faith? You say you prayed and God didn't show you He was with you. How would you have expected for that to happen? Faith is a spiritual thing, and it comes before proof. Maybe if you had just trusted God was with you, even through the valley of the shadow of death, instead of asking for a proof of that... Trusting in His promises is what makes them become real in our lives.
You have to realize that for a non christian, especially one who isn't familiar with the bible and has never been a christian before, the story is a horror story.
It's a horror world we live in...
You're trying to show them that god will push you to your breaking point just to see what you're made of.
He knows what we're made of. We need to learn what we're made of.