Letting children decide for themselves

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JJ50 said:
There is nothing just about the idea someone as bad as Hitler, for instance, could make a deathbed conversion and go to heaven, whilst an atheist who has spent their life doing good goes to hell. That is a crazy dogma.

I know a lot of 'born again' Christians some are decent people, but some are holy on Sunday but you wouldn't trust them any further than you could throw them, if that far. I remember a church elder at the pentecostal (Elim) church I attended as a kid telling when I was a teenager exactly what he would like to do with my mother in his hay loft! The pastor of the church used to drive me back home from the weekly youth meetings; he would stoke my thigh as he drove along, telling me how beautiful my mother was! Believing in the 'once saved, always saved' nonsense is very convenient indeed!:mad:
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Problem is, salvation has NOTHING to do with our goodness but everything to do with the Sinless One who gave His perfect life unto death so that we guilty ones may be freely forgiven and receive eternal Life which is found only in Jesus.
 
crossnote said:
Problem is, salvation has NOTHING to do with our goodness but everything to do with the Sinless One who gave His perfect life unto death so that we guilty ones may be freely forgiven and receive eternal Life which is found only in Jesus.
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Which makes it a totally crazy dogma!:mad:
 
Children need to begin to learn about the Lord at a very young age. Mine decided in their early teens they wanted nothing to do with it, but it was also because of how abusive their dad was and how they were forced to dress a certain way just to go to church, they were not Christ-like in their dad's eyes if they did one thing wrong, etc. They had a lot of teaching from me (I stayed home with them for 9 years) and I just prayed much for them. They are now all serving the Lord and spend time with Him daily. I'm sure it does not always go that well, I was very blessed in that way. But I do believe I would have been wrong to push them because of their experience with their dad. But I prayed about it first of course.
 
Believing in Jesus wasn't a happy time for me, I was relieved when I lost my faith.
 
JJ50 said:
Why I was a kid I had a worrying problem which kept me awake at night for a couple of years. I couldn't share it with my parents, so as I was then a Christian I decided to share it with Jesus instead. I never had the slightest indication he was listening, so I came to the conclusion in the end that either he didn't care, or more likely died 2000 years ago, and the resurrection story was a total myth!
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Why couldn't you share it with your parents if I may ask?
 
JJ50 said:
As my husband, and I had the 'born again' dogma unpleasantly drummed into us from birth, until we gave our 'hearts to Jesus' (I managed to hold out until I was eleven!) we decided to let our own children decide for themselves about religion.

By the time we married when I was 19 and my husband 22, we had lost our faith, no longer believing it to have any credibility. However, we felt it wrong to influence our children in this matter. Our three daughters are Christians, the eldest an Anglican Priest, they are not Biblical literalists though, thank goodness.

Do others let their children decide for themselves?
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Hello JJ50,

The TRUTH is that everyone must decide for themselves to accept or reject God and Christ, no matter their age.

I have a question for you.

When Gandalf stated, "You have to equip your children with the truth because there are so many false doctrines in the world today that they could be misled so easily. You can never successfully force your children into religion but you can always try to guide them in a Godley manner and by setting the example from an early age," and you responded, "There is no evidence Christianity is anymore 'true' than any other religion on this planet, they are all very human creations, imo," why did you assume he was speaking of Christianity?
 
Jeff_56 said:
"Evidence that Demands a Verdict" VOL I AND II

provides all the evidence anyone has ever asked for or many times more than is needed.

true, most people when asked do not have the 'evidence' that some other skeptiks SEEKETH.

so? the evidence is still there, has been all along. just have to keep seeking, or die.
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Yep,love that book.I had it and loaned it to someone and never got it back.:( Think it is an old book but it is a great book for those honestly seeking but I think the OP has made up their mind.
 
Interestingly OP let's her kids believe (or not believe) whatever they want,
but STILL tries try to impose her atheist ideas upon US.

Go and happily DON'T believe in God somewhere else
kthnxbye
 
With the escalating intensity in this discourse, I was almost certain I was perusing the Bible Discussion Forum. :rolleyes:

To respond to the original post: I have no children, but currently feel that I would be open to them deciding for themselves if I had any. My hope is that I would lead them with what I desire to lead them to without imposing, or banging it into their heads.
 
I think that a good blend of choice and discipline are a good idea. When I was young, my parents made me to go church Sunday morning, evening, and Wednesday night. I wasn't forced into the choir or extra stuff, but they let me decide if there were any extra curriculars over time. There were times my sister and I didn't go because of family outings, tummy aches, ect, and my father (despite him probably wanting to) didn't push the matter but let us have some freedom to choose. And when I was older, I decided I wanted to go to church not because my parents made me but because I wanted a personal relationship with Jesus. My sisterand I have sort of parted ways over time, but God is still in my life. That doesn't mean to say mom and dad don't try to be an active witness in our own lives, but they don't try to ram it don her throat you know?
 
hmm...of course we don't decide for our children.
no one decides eternal destiny for anyone else...

faith in Jesus is a gift...you either receive it or you don't. :)
 
I certainly raised my 4 children to be Christians. They went to Sunday school and we read the Bible every night together as a family. We did a lot of other things besides church with the kids, from hockey and baseball to camping, music lessons and singing in choirs (non church!) "How shall they hear without a preacher?" In other words, they get so much junk and nonsense from the world, from the media, the least we can do as parents is to walk with our children on their journey to know Christ.

My kids made up their own minds in the end. Some are serving God, some have some kind of deist notion stuck in their heads.

I have prayed for the salvation of my children, their spouses and grandchildren since before they were born. Since my father rejected God, (he came from a strict Christian home!) and yet my prayers brought him back to the Lord at age 82, only 5 months before he died, I have no doubt God will save my children. I have a good relationship with all of them, and they are joy in my life. Especially the grandchildren!

I am sorry you have such a negative outlook on having a relationship with Jesus Christ and the Bible. You might want to read "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel, who goes into the archeological, scientific, historical and other areas to show the truth of the Bible.

I once was lost, just like you, OP! But God saved me in spite of myself, and I have been 34 years a Christian, and it just gets better every day. I am a pastor, and God has just been so gracious to me, and given me such hope and purpose in life.
 
[SUP]4 [/SUP]“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[SUP]5 [/SUP]You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. [SUP]6 [/SUP]And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. [SUP]7 [/SUP]You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (Deut 6:4-7 /NIV)


... and with YOUR CHILDREN I'm sure Moses not only means your OWN children, but all the ones that have been entrusted to our care.
 
Reborn said:
This makes me sad.
Sorry to hear that.
:(
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Religion spoilt what should have been an idyllic childhood. Since I lost my faith I have managed very well without it. I still read my NIV Bible to see if I am missing anything, but the more I read it the more it re-enforces my lack of belief.
 
JJ50 said:
If any of these are true, which I very much doubt, the flood was an act of pure evil, imo. Getting a young girl pregnant and then having her son killed in a ghastly manner are an example. If a deity exists I hope it is nothing like the one portrayed in the Bible, which appears to be more wicked than any human ever!
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Well I see no one has addressed this and I know it wont make a difference in your decision but I have to say it.IF there is a God,a Supreme being He would have to be completely just and unbiased.He would judge evil.And since he created us he would have the right to take a life that was filled with evil.With the flood,that was personal choice.Think of Hitler,did he deserve to live? Or should he have been punished for his evil? What he did was his choice,he was free to choose right but did not.Therefore a just God would punish evil.That is what happened with the flood.People had a choice.They did evil they paid the price for it.
As to the second point,sons grow up and die in ghastly ways all the time.Soldiers,police,firemen all are in harms way and many die on the job leaving behind grieving parents.Jesus told his mother "I've come to do my fathers work".I think Mary understood,at least somewhat,that she had a spiritual job to do.In fact our lives here are only temporary anyway.We're just passing through.I hope in time you will reconsider,do more research and understand God better.
 
kaylagrl said:
Well I see no one has addressed this and I know it wont make a difference in your decision but I have to say it.IF there is a God,a Supreme being He would have to be completely just and unbiased.He would judge evil.And since he created us he would have the right to take a life that was filled with evil.With the flood,that was personal choice.Think of Hitler,did he deserve to live? Or should he have been punished for his evil? What he did was his choice,he was free to choose right but did not.Therefore a just God would punish evil.That is what happened with the flood.People had a choice.They did evil they paid the price for it.
As to the second point,sons grow up and die in ghastly ways all the time.Soldiers,police,firemen all are in harms way and many die on the job leaving behind grieving parents.Jesus told his mother "I've come to do my fathers work".I think Mary understood,at least somewhat,that she had a spiritual job to do.In fact our lives here are only temporary anyway.We're just passing through.I hope in time you will reconsider,do more research and understand God better.
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The more I have researched the topic the more it re-enforces my lack of faith.
 
I don't think it was religion that so much spoiled it for you but the "application" of it. I know for me, I got to see all the ways not to do it so I could do it better. Maybe you're looking at it all wrong and it's time for you to step up and apply it like it is meant to be applied.
 
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