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B
The Bible says to trust and obey. With anything or anyone else people need to have a reason for trusting. And although Christians may say they don't have a reason, that's not true Christian faith. Blind faith is not the way the Bible describes. 1 Peter 3:15 NIV "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect"
I need good reasons not to believe in another religion, such as, say, Islam. I mean how much do you know about Islam? I think you might be surprised to know how similar it is to Christianity.
I need good reasons not to believe in another religion, such as, say, Islam. I mean how much do you know about Islam? I think you might be surprised to know how similar it is to Christianity.
B
100% commitment huh? Are you blameless? Didn't think so. Plus, who says I was ever a Christian to begin with; Christian theologians don't agree on what makes someone a Christian. Also the Bible seems to contradict itself there. Because it also says "My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand."John 10:29
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B
I never thought that God was devoid of reason, or that He would expect us to drop our intelligence to honor Him. That's a ridiculous notion to me. Don't get me wrong. I believe in God very much, but the Bible says that I will find God if I search, seek and knock. (Matthew 7:7) Not only that but it says And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6) And another name for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. (John 16:13) What does that mean to you? I don't know, but what it meant to me was that to find God I have to search as hard as I can for the truth--for God Himself. Because the very Spirits of God are literally knowledge, wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, and the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:2)
K
I don't know how to begin to explain why God in the Bible is different from the god in the Quran, or in any other religion. I can say that the Christian faith is based on Christ, to begin with. I can say that the Bible has a NT, which declares a new covenant - salvation by faith, not works. I could say that marriage is an analogy of Christ and the Church (his Bride), something that I haven't found in other religions, like Islam, where women are inferior.
One is the most convincent evidence for me though is that people die for this faith. People die for Allah too of course....but their purpose is not the same as a Christian martyr. Have you heard about missions in persecuted countries? about Christian persecution? That's RAW Christianity, that's the real deal! I've read books written by people who were tortured by communists, muslims, hindues, or other oppresors and never ever raised a finger to take revenge. I've read about Christians not knowing the Bible, only knowing that Christ died and rose again, willing to lay down their lifes for the gospel. I've read about Communist officers in Romania who were raised as atheists and placed in high positions of authority, repenting and giving their lifes to Jesus after killing and torturing hundreds of Christians- to later being put in prison by their own Communist comrades.
I haven't heard of these testimonies from a muslim, or a hindu, or a buddhist. I've never heard of someone embracing Allah, or Buddha, or whatever, after years of being brainwashed with communism or atheism. And I'm sure there are cases where it has happened....but it seems that people have a special willingness to embrace Christ. And I'm sure it is because it makes perfect sense to our need for Him - even if we don't realize.
One is the most convincent evidence for me though is that people die for this faith. People die for Allah too of course....but their purpose is not the same as a Christian martyr. Have you heard about missions in persecuted countries? about Christian persecution? That's RAW Christianity, that's the real deal! I've read books written by people who were tortured by communists, muslims, hindues, or other oppresors and never ever raised a finger to take revenge. I've read about Christians not knowing the Bible, only knowing that Christ died and rose again, willing to lay down their lifes for the gospel. I've read about Communist officers in Romania who were raised as atheists and placed in high positions of authority, repenting and giving their lifes to Jesus after killing and torturing hundreds of Christians- to later being put in prison by their own Communist comrades.
I haven't heard of these testimonies from a muslim, or a hindu, or a buddhist. I've never heard of someone embracing Allah, or Buddha, or whatever, after years of being brainwashed with communism or atheism. And I'm sure there are cases where it has happened....but it seems that people have a special willingness to embrace Christ. And I'm sure it is because it makes perfect sense to our need for Him - even if we don't realize.
K
If God wanted all of us to go to heaven we'd be there, but no, there appears to be some sort of filtering process sending some poor people to hell and others to heaven! So if you were to set up a way of picking the good from the bad ( Completely a form of control anyways if you ask me but this isn't about my opinion) than is there really any other way of doing it? You can't make such a presence that everyone believes and has faith, so you test people, you stay low enough that only the truly "worthy" are admitted.
And hey if it ends up going sour than get some revenge, the bible supports it!
“Happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us – he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.” (Psalm 137:9)
And hey if it ends up going sour than get some revenge, the bible supports it!
“Happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us – he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.” (Psalm 137:9)
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B
God hides Himself out of His choosing. Why? The Bible doesn't say. But it seems advantageous to the faith to leave that explanation out. Because one can only think it would be to test the worthy from the unworthy as you say.
I'm not swayed by people dying for a cause. I know full well people do. So do people over kool aid, and suicide, for the cause of making the world a better place or some crap like that. (there's no other way to say it) You havn't heard of those experiences because your in america.
I'm not swayed by people dying for a cause. I know full well people do. So do people over kool aid, and suicide, for the cause of making the world a better place or some crap like that. (there's no other way to say it) You havn't heard of those experiences because your in america.
J
I trust God for many reasons. Some of them have been mentioned. While my trust isn't completely based in emotion, I do have experience an feelings to back it up. Faith is not blind. There may be an aspect to it that requires you to believe without proof, but God is always faithful
to prove Himself to us even if He doesn't have to.
to prove Himself to us even if He doesn't have to.
M
Brandon, you have a lot of legitmate questions,
Have you tried asking God and talking to him as a friend and asking him the same way you're asking us?
Or when you speak to him is the attitude expecting of him?
I hear what ur sayin man, theres times I sat in silence and waited, went out by a river expecting to feel his presence
Got up early and went out on the porch to watch the sunrise and spend some time with him hoping for some conversation back
When I went to the river that morning, A Golden eagle flew over my head 50 Feet above me and circled then perched in a tree.
Very Majestic
I thought nothing of it, actually until now, but Ive never seen a Golden eagle up close in the wild, and never hang around just for me.
When I watched the sunrise come up over the mountains illuminating the day with the transition from black and white unfolding into color
I become thankful for all the little things so many of us may take for granted, to even live in a house
To even have such a view
And then realizing God created all that we value and cherish.
Have you ever noticed how the more a person yells at you the less responsive your ears seem to be?
A long time ago I notice that when I stopped talking to him as if expecting him to answer my prayers
as If I was the boss or interrogator of him of why certain times of my life felt bad
and instead
respect him and ask him for advice
and just talk to him like he was one of my buddies, and ask him questions or thank him for the blessings I know since we have nothing which wasnt given to us.
I noticed him start responding.
Also have you ever had someone ask you for advice, and youve offered it to them, and they dont listen and do something else anyway
Did you feel like, well why ask me then
We can make God feel that way too if we dont follow his advice when we ask him without questioning him.
God Bless brother, he hears ya, he's just waiting for you to come to him without expecting
God doesnt owe us
We owe him
Know what I mean
Have you tried asking God and talking to him as a friend and asking him the same way you're asking us?
Or when you speak to him is the attitude expecting of him?
I hear what ur sayin man, theres times I sat in silence and waited, went out by a river expecting to feel his presence
Got up early and went out on the porch to watch the sunrise and spend some time with him hoping for some conversation back
When I went to the river that morning, A Golden eagle flew over my head 50 Feet above me and circled then perched in a tree.
Very Majestic
I thought nothing of it, actually until now, but Ive never seen a Golden eagle up close in the wild, and never hang around just for me.
When I watched the sunrise come up over the mountains illuminating the day with the transition from black and white unfolding into color
I become thankful for all the little things so many of us may take for granted, to even live in a house
To even have such a view
And then realizing God created all that we value and cherish.
Have you ever noticed how the more a person yells at you the less responsive your ears seem to be?
A long time ago I notice that when I stopped talking to him as if expecting him to answer my prayers
as If I was the boss or interrogator of him of why certain times of my life felt bad
and instead
respect him and ask him for advice
and just talk to him like he was one of my buddies, and ask him questions or thank him for the blessings I know since we have nothing which wasnt given to us.
I noticed him start responding.
Also have you ever had someone ask you for advice, and youve offered it to them, and they dont listen and do something else anyway
Did you feel like, well why ask me then
We can make God feel that way too if we dont follow his advice when we ask him without questioning him.
God Bless brother, he hears ya, he's just waiting for you to come to him without expecting
God doesnt owe us
We owe him
Know what I mean
K
I'm not swayed by people dying for a cause. I know full well people do. So do people over kool aid, and suicide, for the cause of making the world a better place or some crap like that. (there's no other way to say it) You havn't heard of those experiences because your in america.
[/QUOTE]
You missed the whole point of my post....I'm sure a lot of people lay down their lives for a cup of kool aid. It's totally the same thing
Reason is not the enemy of faith. Even in Christianity, there is apologetics which gives reasons to believe in Jesus Christ and the Bible. Also, people saying that they will not believe in God unless they can see him, is a form of smokescreen. Moses never saw God, he saw a reflection. If someone saw God physically, they would die. God is holy, we are not based on our sinful nature. As for trust being earned, God died on the cross for our sins and cleansed us of all our unrighteousness. No one who is a Christian, deserves to go to heaven but God died in our place so that he gave us this free of charge. We cannot earn it but it came at a price. Jesus died for us so that we would know him. There are many things in this world that we cannot just see with our eyes, in fact we need tools to see many things. For example, to see bacteria and amoebas we need some type of microscope, to see the whole solar system and others we need a telescope. In a similar way, through reading the Bible we realize that we are sinful creatures and through it we see our many faults and weaknesses. When we see ourselves, we realize that we need Christ and that through we can be given the gift of eternal life. I still have questions about God, but don't let the questions trip you, you just might get them answered by the Bible, other Christians, and even God himself All we need to do is take the step of faith and see what happens. Thank you and God bless.
T
God sees the end from the beginning. Am i blameless? Yes I am. He is seeing the end.
He sees the glorified body that will never fall to sin or corruption, and He works with me now.
One thing the unsaved fail to take into account is the one thing they can not be at current
existance, that is be spiritual. They deal only with the physical and base their conclusions
on limited data. They have enough given to tell how they can be saved, but refuse. Without
the spiritual connection to God, they just wont get it. An unsaved person can get a PhD in theology and be so far from the truth. There is a vast amount of insight and wisdom
that only comes when a person is spiritually connected to God. This isn't the workings of a
great imagination because the unsaved can arrive at the same thoughts. Deep spiritual wisdom
and insight can only be given by God to those who are spiritually connected to Him. Yet the
unsaved claim to want to know the truth, they refuse to see what only God can show them.
He sees the glorified body that will never fall to sin or corruption, and He works with me now.
One thing the unsaved fail to take into account is the one thing they can not be at current
existance, that is be spiritual. They deal only with the physical and base their conclusions
on limited data. They have enough given to tell how they can be saved, but refuse. Without
the spiritual connection to God, they just wont get it. An unsaved person can get a PhD in theology and be so far from the truth. There is a vast amount of insight and wisdom
that only comes when a person is spiritually connected to God. This isn't the workings of a
great imagination because the unsaved can arrive at the same thoughts. Deep spiritual wisdom
and insight can only be given by God to those who are spiritually connected to Him. Yet the
unsaved claim to want to know the truth, they refuse to see what only God can show them.