God?

[NittanyBuc 757]

quote:

Originally posted by FENDI:

quote:

Originally posted by Its just zo:

I bet if some of us said a little prayer for the magic on sunday it would increase our chances of winning by alot=) what u think? (non believers)

haha I actually prayed for us to win Game 6.

lol, i prayed for the series, so we're half way there already!

[TheREALBrooksThompson 157]

I never got into organized Christianity because I generally dislike anything that restricts absolute freedom. I don't like being told what to think, whether I happen to agree with it or not.

 

I like a lot of the things Jesus taught, and I think the bible contains many ideas that can be very helpful. But I also think the religion as a whole was long ago hijacked into something that seems to me to be going against what Jesus's message was. I like Osprey's approach much better. To me, religion is deeply personal and should stay that way.

 

I did a lot of reading many years ago about Buddhism, because the central message (getting rid of all personal anguish, allowing your mind to be open and free) appealed to me. I didn't necessarily want to be Buddhist, I just wanted to learn more about the teachings. But even that has segments where it gets away from what it's supposed to be teaching. Islam seems to have gone the same way, albeit to a much more extreme extent.

 

Along the same lines, a lot of the people I know who call themselves atheists are really more anti-theist. There doesn't seem to be much room for freedom of thought in that arena either.

 

To answer the original question, I voted no. I view the notion of a god being responsible for the creation of the universe in the same way I view any other theory on the origin of the universe. No one knows for sure, and it's quite possible that no one will ever know for sure. I can't say definitively that there is no god, but I also can't say definitively that there is. Just like I can't believe fully in the big bang, or any of the myriad origin theories that have come out of string theory. So if I can't say for sure which of these things actually occurred, I can't believe in one over another. I simply don't know.

 

This is kind of going into rambling territory, but I've never understood why there seems to be innate conflict between creationism and evolution. Like you have to believe in one or the other and never both. I think they have nothing to do with one another, and that god could have created the universe which allowed evolution to take place. There doesn't need to be a conflict there, just as there doesn't need to be a conflict between different belief systems. To each his own.

[TheREALBrooksThompson 157]

quote:

Originally posted by Its just zo:

quote:

Originally posted by Its just zo:

Im interested in diffrent opinions. Pay particular attention to the people who dont believe..

 

You'll notice something they all have in common..

 

And what might that be?

[NameLess Scrub 6]

quote:

Originally posted by MagicNoles:

I pretty much gave up on trying to discuss this topic when someone actually said believing in a GOD is not faith, the burden is on those that do not believe to prove it doesn't and compared it to the theory of relativity. That is a joke and i lol'ed out loud at that.

 

 

Can you please quote somebody who says believing in God is not faith?

 

Believing is faith. By definition it is, and that's what he expects according to the Bible.

 

Other arguments are used as support. Maybe you have heard scientific and philosofical arguments and thought the people arguing that actually thought you don't need faith to believe in God, but usually these arguments are used as I said, support and a help for those who don't believe.

[NameLess Scrub 6]

I'll try to add something here. If you have some interest in knowing the truth, I suggest you don't judge religions or Christianity based on priests that **** kids, for example. I'm not Catholic but I don't judge Catholicism based on that. Raping kids is not part of the Catholic system.

 

Evaluate beliefs based on what they simply are, and use people to judge it when they're actually living it. For Christianity, study the Bible and stuff. I can tell right now about a pastor whose behavior I disapprove, first hand, he offended my family, but that has nothing to do with the fact that I'm a born again Christian. That's just him not knowing what he's doing. He has no impact in my belief that I need to share my Christian life with other born again Christians. It hurts, but it wasn't God who did that.

 

 

Another thing, do not make beliefs of whatever comes up to your mind at any given point in your history. That's not good considering the human kind has lived for so long and so many things have happened.

 

And avoid taking stuff as a lie just because it happened long time ago and you can arbitrarily deny it in 2009.

 

I'm usually a rational guy, hard to believe maybe, but I just find God bigger than my rational thoughts.

 

 

Finally, I'm very thankful that Jesus came to earth to die for us. He suffered in his own body just so we can have peace with God. I'm very thankful he resurrected, and his disciples totally testified about that by putting their lives on the line to death because they saw him die and live again. I'm very thankful I have a guide in the Bible and I hope to see everybody saved.

[FENDI 4]

Let me share my story on why I believe in only one true God.

 

When I was a child, I have routinely abandoned God. My mom was like the stronghold of our family when it comes to Christianity. She encourages us to go to church. While me, my siblings and dad was too lazy to go to church every Sunday. I was once a lost sheep back then, my parents even considered taking me to a different school because I was with the "in" group of our batch and we usually did the naughty stuffs. But God never left me after all the things that I have been through. He always made His presence felt.

 

One of the reasons that I believe that there is a God is because back in 1998, an epidemic, called Dengue fever, caught our country dumbfounded and I was one of those who got sick because of it. Its pretty much like cancer because it had 4 stages. Now its 5 btw. But the severity of that illness was too ridiculous because every second counted for that, because you could die in a blink of an eye.

 

It was Saturday, I remember the day because we had bible studies for our house helpers back then, when I suddenly fell ill and dizzy. It was terrible, and considering that I'm like an energy ball, I think, it was really terrible. My temperature was playing around 39-40 degree Celsius, and it never dropped back to the normal temperature even after I took in some medicine. All I did was sleep that day. Barely even had the strength to walk. So early Sunday morning, around 3am. I threw up. I threw up what appeared to be like a reddish substance. We shrugged it of at first because we thought it was just something I ate.

 

Around 7am, I threw up again, I told my parents that I think they should rush me to the hospital instead.

 

We were waiting for the doctor to arrive [since we had a family doctor], but when I fell asleep thinking that I was ok, my dad saw my feet and arms turning dark. I'm fair-skinned btw, so it was really visible. It was then that he made the scene just to get some doctor to attend to me because there wasn't really any time left to waste seeing how my feet and hand turned dark.

 

Unbeknownst to us, I already had a stage 3 Dengue fever. Having a dengue fever causes your platelet to drop, so the doctors needed to see how many platelets I have left by take a blood sample. Unfortunately they had a tough time looking for the vein because, like I said, my arms were turning dark already. So they had to cut it open. I remember that I was even hallucinating after it.

 

Long story short, I was at the hospital for 4 weeks. 1 week at the Intensive Care Unit. All the patients that shared the same room with me, died because of the same illness.

 

I prayed to only one God, we even had church pastors coming in to pray for me. And those prayers were answered.

 

I even encountered a problem lately when it was just too much of a burden when it came to a point that I was already shouting "Why, God why?" alone in the car. Later that night I happen to have read a verse, accidentally, written in Job 32:8 that says "But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding." After reading that passage, boy, it send shivers down to my spine. I felt the Lord was talking to me.

 

Accidental? Wait, the same problem, I never really thought I could move on with it easily. As it basically bothered me for 2 weeks and was already affecting my well-being because I was hardly able to sleep. When I was doing my daily devotion, I happen to have read the book of Ephesians. After realizing that I was reading the same chapter I have already read way back, I looked for the chapter I was supposed to read for the past few days. And it was Philippians 3. Again the Lord spoke to me through my daily devotion when He lead me to, Philippians 3:13-14 saying "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

 

Now, I have dedicated most of my Friday, yes, during my summer, serving as an usher for a youth fellowship.

 

What I find intriguing here is the fact that, I was tasked to lead a small group at the start of 2009. And I was asking myself, what can I teach this highschool students if I am not aware of the Bible, and basically relying on spoon-fed knowledge by church pastors every Sunday. So I decided to continue my daily devotion, which I had unfortunately abandoned for like 3 months.

 

I don't plan to offend anyone for writing this, btw, because I know that our opinions may differ. But this is just my story, and the reason why I believe in only Him alone. I just thought it would be nice to share about why I believe in God, just like what most of you have posted.

[FENDI 4]

quote:

Finally, I'm very thankful that Jesus came to earth to die for us. He suffered in his own body just so we can have peace with God. I'm very thankful he resurrected, and his disciples totally testified about that by putting their lives on the line to death because they saw him die and live again. I'm very thankful I have a guide in the Bible and I hope to see everybody saved.

Amen.

 

BTW, I think this is a good video of Jesus' coming here to save us.

[NameLess Scrub 6]

quote:

Originally posted by Osprey23:

Organized religion is flawed, and it all started with the Catholic Church IMO, not to offend any Catholics because I am a Christian myself.

 

True Christianity is a RELATIONSHIP with Christ, not an organized set of beliefs. True Christianity, IMHO, does not judge you on how many times you go to church, mass, how much you donate, but on your relationship with God.

 

Talking to God, bringing him into your life and asking his help in decision making, asking him for strength and guidance, these are all more important than attending a service once a week where you pretend to listen while continually checking your watch to see if you can catch kick off of the Fins game at 1.

 

I know I am not perfect, and I never will be, but the good part about being a Christian is that I will always have someone to talk to and to look to for guidance to help me live a better life.

 

If I die and there's nothing after that, then so be it, I lived my life for the betterment of my fellow man, but if there is a Heaven........... It's gonna be one HELL of a party.

 

More like a Heaven of a party lol.

 

I need to add, people who believe Christianity is a relationship with God, believe this relationship is based on what Jesus did for us at the cross and by resurrecting.

 

They also believe in everything Jesus said, and believe as a consequence in that Christians share a lot in their lives, working together and caring for each other. That is a congregation, as shown in the Bible, available for us to read thanks God.

 

That's why I'm a member of a Christian church. I go as many, but not for many of the reasons others go, and I'll not go away because something I didn't like happens. I say this because we need to understand why Christians are not supposed to be lone wolves. It has a purpose that is good and thought by God, as shown by Jesus. Because God is revealed through Jesus for us to belive.

[NameLess Scrub 6]

quote:

Originally posted by FENDI:

quote:

Originally posted by Lewis4thewin:

first of all i don't mean to come off as a pompous atheist ******* as i hate those people and i think they give atheists a bad name.

 

Im not religious because the bible is ridiculous and when my family went to church other people seemed to believe it literally and that was a huge turn off.

 

I always hated going but it was a family thing so i just shut up and participated. My family went to church until it didn't become worth it anymore. For reasons that I wont get into because lets face it, no one really wants to hear about other peoples problems, my family went through a rough time and needed emotional support and the church didn't want to provide it because we didn't give our usual $30 to the collection thing.

 

So we stopped going to church. I dont think anyone in my family really believed that heavily in religion so it didnt make a difference.

 

That ended my experience with religion.

 

Now I don't believe in God because I tend to view the world rationally. Everything in the world obeys set laws. One can understand the purpose of making up a 'heaven' as a way to deal with depression, anxiety, and apathy when facing death. One can understand the purpose of making up a 'hell' as a way to threaten people into behaving. These examples also apply to the rest of the rules in the Torah and New Testament.

 

Im tired of writing so I'll just respond to the next person.

Ridiculous. What church is this?

 

Agree. Btw, some people do care another people's problems. Just saying.

[NameLess Scrub 6]

quote:

Originally posted by FENDI:

Let me share my story on why I believe in only one true God.

 

When I was a child, I have routinely abandoned God. My mom was like the stronghold of our family when it comes to Christianity. She encourages us to go to church. While me, my siblings and dad was too lazy to go to church every Sunday. I was once a lost sheep back then, my parents even considered taking me to a different school because I was with the "in" group of our batch and we usually did the naughty stuffs. But God never left me after all the things that I have been through. He always made His presence felt.

 

One of the reasons that I believe that there is a God is because back in 1998, an epidemic, called Dengue fever, caught our country dumbfounded and I was one of those who got sick because of it. Its pretty much like cancer because it had 4 stages. Now its 5 btw. But the severity of that illness was too ridiculous because every second counted for that, because you could die in a blink of an eye.

 

It was Saturday, I remember the day because we had bible studies for our house helpers back then, when I suddenly fell ill and dizzy. It was terrible, and considering that I'm like an energy ball, I think, it was really terrible. My temperature was playing around 39-40 degree Celsius, and it never dropped back to the normal temperature even after I took in some medicine. All I did was sleep that day. Barely even had the strength to walk. So early Sunday morning, around 3am. I threw up. I threw up what appeared to be like a reddish substance. We shrugged it of at first because we thought it was just something I ate.

 

Around 7am, I threw up again, I told my parents that I think they should rush me to the hospital instead.

 

We were waiting for the doctor to arrive [since we had a family doctor], but when I fell asleep thinking that I was ok, my dad saw my feet and arms turning dark. I'm fair-skinned btw, so it was really visible. It was then that he made the scene just to get some doctor to attend to me because there wasn't really any time left to waste seeing how my feet and hand turned dark.

 

Unbeknownst to us, I already had a stage 3 Dengue fever. Having a dengue fever causes your platelet to drop, so the doctors needed to see how many platelets I have left by take a blood sample. Unfortunately they had a tough time looking for the vein because, like I said, my arms were turning dark already. So they had to cut it open. I remember that I was even hallucinating after it.

 

Long story short, I was at the hospital for 4 weeks. 1 week at the Intensive Care Unit. All the patients that shared the same room with me, died because of the same illness.

 

I prayed to only one God, we even had church pastors coming in to pray for me. And those prayers were answered.

 

I even encountered a problem lately when it was just too much of a burden when it came to a point that I was already shouting "Why, God why?" alone in the car. Later that night I happen to have read a verse, accidentally, written in Job 32:8 that says "But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding." After reading that passage, boy, it send shivers down to my spine. I felt the Lord was talking to me.

 

Accidental? Wait, the same problem, I never really thought I could move on with it easily. As it basically bothered me for 2 weeks and was already affecting my well-being because I was hardly able to sleep. When I was doing my daily devotion, I happen to have read the book of Ephesians. After realizing that I was reading the same chapter I have already read way back, I looked for the chapter I was supposed to read for the past few days. And it was Philippians 3. Again the Lord spoke to me through my daily devotion when He lead me to, Philippians 3:13-14 saying "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

 

Now, I have dedicated most of my Friday, yes, during my summer, serving as an usher for a youth fellowship.

 

What I find intriguing here is the fact that, I was tasked to lead a small group at the start of 2009. And I was asking myself, what can I teach this highschool students if I am not aware of the Bible, and basically relying on spoon-fed knowledge by church pastors every Sunday. So I decided to continue my daily devotion, which I had unfortunately abandoned for like 3 months.

 

I don't plan to offend anyone for writing this, btw, because I know that our opinions may differ. But this is just my story, and the reason why I believe in only Him alone. I just thought it would be nice to share about why I believe in God, just like what most of you have posted.

 

Thanks for sharing. Great story.

[ironarrow 0]

quote:

Originally posted by Freex:

quote:

Originally posted by MagicNoles:

I pretty much gave up on trying to discuss this topic when someone actually said believing in a GOD is not faith, the burden is on those that do not believe to prove it doesn't and compared it to the theory of relativity. That is a joke and i lol'ed out loud at that.

 

 

Can you please quote somebody who says believing in God is not faith?

 

Believing is faith. By definition it is, and that's what he expects according to the Bible.

 

Other arguments are used as support. Maybe you have heard scientific and philosofical arguments and thought the people arguing that actually thought you don't need faith to believe in God, but usually these arguments are used as I said, support and a help for those who don't believe.

 

That clever guy meant to quote me. lol,

 

but I actually didn't say that. I meant Believing in God is faith only as much as not believing in God.

 

I said Atheism or Theism are both faith and no side actually has presented universally accepted evidences.

 

Again he Laughs his a.ss off to me saying Theory of Relativity is only a theory. lol. He can laugh as hard as he wants. This doesn't change the facts.

 

Theory of relativity is a theory, just like the theory of Evolution, the theory of Big Bang,and like the theory of God. The thing they have in common is "not one of them is a scientifically proven" fact and future discoveries can prove anything either way. The reason these things stand and we talk about them is because they are not disproved.

 

We are discussing them and they are called "theory" because they are not a fact like 2x2=4

 

Even 2x2=4 maybe a wrong statement if we can manage to realise that the dimensions we see may only be a small part of what actually is out there and rules of modern physics maybe too far from explaining the rules of those other dimensions.

[JRam027 26]

I would think it would be pretty depressing not having a God to believe in.