NEEDED: everyones theories, beliefs, facts on the bible...post here

I have two ministers in my family. I was brought up in the Nazareen Church. I went to catholic schools, in which jewish kids made up over half the student body. I had church and religon shoved down my throat for years. Then I started to ask questions when i was about 16.

Since then my idea of both god and religon has changed. I do think that there is something more powerful out there. I do not subscribe to the beliefs of any particular religon as a whole.

Here is a list of some of the questions:

Why does god need my money? A being that is all powerful has no need for money.

What happens to the rest of us that are not amoung the 144,000 selected souls to get into heaven?

What did Jesus do between the ages of 13 and 30?

If Jewish people are the chosen people of God, does that mean they get a "free pass" to do as they please?

If the bible is the inspired written word of God, why didn't God just write it?

The old testement demands obedience or god will kill you. The new testement says that God loves you and if you sin you can repent and all is forgiven. Why is God bi-polar?

Why did God command Abraham to kill his son, and then at the last second say stop don't do it? If God knows all, then why test someones faith? God should already know how far someone would go for one's faith.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. When? For the last ten thousand years any human or animal that was meek was taken complete advantage of by the "bold and decisive".

Thou shall not covet thy neighbors possesions. Why? Coveting someone else's porsche or ski lodge in colorado is what makes me strive to do better in my life, so i can one day have those things.

Thou shall not kill. Why? In the old testement God ordered lots folks to be killed.



I think that organized religon is more about control and money then the worship of a supreme being, but that is just my opinion and I've been told by many that I'm going to hell.

Originally posted by assassini


Thou shall not kill. Why? In the old testement God ordered lots folks to be killed.



I think that organized religon is more about control and money then the worship of a supreme being, but that is just my opinion and I've been told by many that I'm going to hell.
:

To the first part of your post, to me, those weren't commandments by God. They were excuses those people used to make themselves feel better about what they did.

To the second part, churchgoers say that anytime you start questioning THEIR beliefs.

Originally posted by Norio Hayakawa

Originally posted by SevenThunders
reply to post by Norio Hayakawa

 

So now the Khazars who converted to Judaism are evil?

www.khazaria.com...

[edit on 31-10-2007 by SevenThunders]

I never implied that Ashkenazim are evil. I was simply saying that as a pro-Semitic person (but not an anti-Ashkenazim person), Semitic Jews are the ones who should righly claim Israel as their homeland. If one looks at the State of Israel, Semitic Jews do not have control of their land. The Lord Jesus Christ was a Semitic Jew, not an Ashkenazi.
However, as a Christian, my belief is that ultimately, both the Semitic Jews as well as Ashkenazim Jews ("Khazarian" Jews), as well as the whole world, will recognize the Lordship of Jesus Christ from Israel upon the Millenial Reign.

My point is that genetics reveal that the Ashkenazim have the same Jewish ancestors as the Sephardim. Thus the promises to the descendents of Abraham apply equally to both. You point out there is some inherent racism in Israel. That's the story of the world. There probably isn't a country in the entire world that does not have some form of racism or elitism in play. We'll have to wait until the return of the Lord to get a level playing field. You can't use this as an excuse to condemn the state of Israel.

Originally posted by assassini
I have two ministers in my family. I was brought up in the Nazareen Church. I went to catholic schools, in which jewish kids made up over half the student body. I had church and religion shoved down my throat for years. Then I started to ask questions when i was about 16.

Since then my idea of both god and religion has changed. I do think that there is something more powerful out there. I do not subscribe to the beliefs of any particular religon as a whole.

Here is a list of some of the questions:

Why does god need my money? A being that is all powerful has no need for money.

God doesn't need your money. Did God ever ask you for money?

What happens to the rest of us that are not among the 144,000 selected souls to get into heaven?

If you accepted Christ as your Savior, you go to Heaven. If not, you don't go to Heaven (you go to Hell). If you never heard the Gospel, were born deaf and dumb or autistic, died before reaching adulthood, etc. - we don't know what happens to you! Anyway, that's none of your business - it's God's business.

What did Jesus do between the ages of 13 and 30?

Whatever He did is not important for you to know.

If Jewish people are the chosen people of God, does that mean they get a "free pass" to do as they please?

NO! They can't keep away from that Golden Calf - so God is gonna MELT them. SEE! Ezekiel 22:20

If the bible is the inspired written word of God, why didn't God just write it?

He wrote the 10 Commandments. He thought that was enough. Do you have any idea how much time it takes to run the entire Universe?!

The old testament demands obedience or god will kill you. The new testament says that God loves you and if you sin you can repent and all is forgiven. Why is God bi-polar?

The New Testament [Gospel] supersedes the Old Testament. Christ replaces the Law.

Why did God command Abraham to kill his son, and then at the last second say stop don't do it? If God knows all, then why test someones faith? God should already know how far someone would go for one's faith.

What God knows [ALL] has nothing to do with Him testing anyone's faith. Testing faith means that YOU have to make a decision.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. When? For the last ten thousand years any human or animal that was meek was taken complete advantage of by the "bold and decisive".

The inheritance can only be collected after death! And it's not the [old] Earth that's inherited - it's the New Earth. It doesn't look like you'll have to worry about it, though!

Thou shall not covet thy neighbors possessions. Why? Coveting someone else's Porsche or ski lodge in Colorado is what makes me strive to do better in my life, so i can one day have those things.

You will never have those things. You're obviously too dumb. Can't spell, for starters and ask a lot of dumb questions. Not only that, there are no highways or gas stations in Heaven. You're not supposed to strive to do better - you're supposed to strive to BE better!

Thou shall not kill. Why? In the old testament God ordered lots folks to be killed.

'Thou' means you! It doesn't mean God! It's meant for the guy who's trying to kill YOU!

Here's a freebie answer:

You're only going to Hell if you reject Christ as your Savior, refuse to repent of your sins and deny the Deity of Christ [that means deny that Christ IS God]. Saying that He's a great philosopher or prophet or carpenter just isn't good enough!

You're right about organized religion, though!

I think that organized religion is more about control and money then the worship of a supreme being, but that is just my opinion and I've been told by many that I'm going to hell.

[edit on 1-11-2007 by THEGodSend]

reply to post by assassini


Didn't the 2 ministers in your family teach you anything? Were you paying attention - instead of gazing out the window or doodling in your Bible?

So now that you're 17, maybe you should read that Bible - and you won't have to come here and ask silly questions!

[edit on 1-11-2007 by THEGodSend]

[edit on 1-11-2007 by THEGodSend]

[edit on 1-11-2007 by THEGodSend]

reply to post by time4chg07What your question seems to be is why can't fe-male lesbians be prist.But, I will anwer the question you asked first!  The Old testement is a history of the creators paitnce with humans that think therefore belive but, do not see and therefore trust the creator. Let us start at the begining shall we.  The earth and all whithin it was created for the binifit of man.Adam was created in our own image.  He was created as a grown man of 28 years old and acted very much like a young puppy constantly barking out questions to (GOD) I AM as he is commonly refured. One day My parince got the better of me.I said wo-man and I removed the air within a 3cubit area around him and he dropped like a rock. The creator turned to me and asked why?  He knew but, GOD in good at asking retorical questions.  I wanted some alone time with my master. GOD removed Adams' rib and created a companion for Adam to comunicate.  A partnership capable of entetaning themselves without the Creators' constant attention.  There were origionally 70 books in the holy bilble the torah is 5 written and 12 verbale. the new testament is the story of Adam reborn without sin. Jesus only dose mericals with the approval and through the power of GOD. the Trinity is 3 Intities whith the ability to asume human or speritual form at will. If, God apearred it would not be belief by faith it would be trust by knowing GOD is light means knowlage of all things. Ask and you will know seek and you will find the garden of eden was not distroyed and still exist but , is ouside of the human visual light spectum. I'll write more later. until that time may the creators' love and knowlage become known unto you.

reply to post by THGHOST



im not sure what you are trying to say regarding the whole creation thing, i dont know if it was how you worded it...but kinda confused me.

According to the bible:

God created adam for him to have a companion for himself...not for adam, but for some one to serve him on their own free will rather than how the angels just automatically served him...with the exception of lucifer and the few other angels who fell after getting too arrogant.

God made man in Gods likeness, that is what the bible says at least...i dont know about adam being 28 years old, but from how the bible makes it sound it does seem older. but at the same time, i dont think adam was an annoyance to god that he had to constantly watch over. Adam named everything for god, it was like god was the boss and adam was earths manager (in a sense) and he created Eve because adam was lonely.

Im not sure about this whole fe-male, wo-man thing and how you got the impression about my question being in regards to lesbian priests....? but that was certainly not my question.

Wow. Great thread.

For a good portion of my younger years, our family did not attend a church. Mom was catholic but if we went it was for the obligatory Christmas or Easter mass. I can remember doing this only a couple of times as a child. But still, I went through confirmation classes, confession and had my first communion. Didn't understand a thing, just went through the motions because that's what good catholics do.

Didn't go to church again until I was 17 and a senior in HS. Went with my best friend to a non-denominational church in our town. Actually liked it. I liked the homeiness and the informality of it all. Still didn't grasp the Bible or the doctrinal teachings. (I've always struggled with the trinity concept...man, tell a catholic priest you don't understand that and watch out!).

Went into the service for a few years, got out and started attending a charasmatic chuch with a friend from my workplace. Whoa! Night and day difference here. However, spent 4-1/2 years there getting real churched up. Learned a lot of scripture, was active with youth, led Bible studies, etc.. But, still felt that I wasn't getting the "truth" that I was searching for. Other doctrines started me to wonder what was real with religion and what wasn't. For example, TITHING...didn't understand it and didn't like it. Same thing about eternal tourture in hell....didn't sound like God to me.

Well, ended up leaving and took a leave from church for about 7 years. During that time got married and became instant dad (stepdad to 4 children). Wife wanted to go to church, so we started attending a major denominational church with friends of ours. We became members and very active. I sang and played trumpet. My wife was active with the daycare. Still, questions remained.

Our pastor left about a year after we joined and had my first taste of church politics when all other pastors were told they had to resign as well. One pastor was a good friend of ours and felt that this policy SUCKED. He was the children's pastor and many kids were hurt by this. New pastor hired after 8 months. Seemed o.k., had a vision, etc.. Ended up hiring a new worship pastor. This was a very good thing. Never felt more connected. Then, out of the blue, the worship pastor was fired (along with new youth pastor hired less than a year who knew the worship pastor).

Still had major questions. Church seemed to really like money and buildings. Always contributing to something.

About this time, The DaVinci Code movie released and many discussions about what Bible really says and if it is real. No real discussion about this like I was hoping for. Basically, Dan Brown was all hosed up and if you belived any of that you needed help. So, I read the book...started having more questions. Started to do some digging on the net about tithing, since it was my biggest hangup. Found this site during this time.

Ended up leaving because of questions, incident with worship pastor and the site I found. Of course, nobody called to follow-up with us. Very typical I hear of most churches when someone leaves. They like you when you are contributing ($$$), but you become invisible when you go. Apparently, not worth anyone's time. So much for doing what the Bible teaches.

The site I found was a major eye-opener with this site. Tithing explained, trinity (or lack of) explained, false doctrine of hell explained. For first time im my life, I feel as if I have some real answers.

Wife now want to attend church again. Don't want to. If I do, I feel like I have to keep my mouth shut or I fear I will be kicked out (probably not a bad thing).

But, about the Bible. A book....put together by men. Were words inspired by God? Don't know, wasn't there. Do I have faith that they were. Yes. Do I think that the Bible is taken out of context in just about every church. Yes. Do I think that church preaches hersey & lies when the preach that you must tithe 10% of your income...ABSOLUTELY YES. Do I think the church is wrong to preach a literal hell...YES. But, how does every other major orginization keep people at bay and controlled....FEAR!

I don't believe churches are a bad thing. But, I do believe that they all tend to become very cliquish and preach things from a standpoint of the pastor is 100% correct and you (a layperson) know nothing because you are not ordained or an elder, etc. Because of this, they can pretty much do and say whatever they want, and because it is found in the Bible it must be true.

[edit on 1-11-2007 by Freenrgy2]

We are meant to understand what the Bible is all about: The Sonship of Jesus the Christ, the significance of His Cross and His Resurrection - and His exclusive role as humanity's Redeemer and source of Eternal Life!
-THEGodSend

But it is presented in such a way that it is confusing to people who aren’t ready for the real message. It makes people take it less seriously because they all have ADD. Like someone said before, it is a mixture of a lot of different religious knowledge. So why not do it again? I think you all acknowledge that it’s content is not purely original or even literal. So why not just get all the religions together and write a new book again?

Because it’s too politicized. There are entire nations and systems still relying on the lies. That’s my problem with any religion, people think it’s like picking a team or something. Like they are playing fantasy football and hope to win heaven. Either that or they are even worse and use it to prove some kind of spiritual superiority. It’s a false notion that people get away with pushing because of poor wording.

I know you are supposed to get the message, the problem is the way it is written and the way we pit religions against each other. It takes people far too long to sort through all the words and perceptive associations in the world to find a real meaning, most people don’t even have the time to anymore. I can’t help but notice most people tend to be around 30 before they really get it. That’s not necessary anymore. It’s wording can be twisted very easily without even intending to do it, even without it being manipulated.

Come up with something new and all inclusive. Have kids meditate instead fidget around in church or something and maybe they will get it sooner. It is a very personal message and it can be intimidating to accept they way it is presented. It just doesn’t hold up as well anymore. Do it for the same reason Jesus edited it, to weed out the social BS yet again. Just get the Priests, the Rabbis, the head Islam guys, the Buddhists, yoga masters, scientists, whatever and just lock them all in a room until they write a new book. Have people vote for them or something if your worried about character or manipulation.

That would fix the political problems that really bug atheists and no one would have a reason not to be enlightened. People are just confused. I bet if you got scientists and historians involved you could even come up with something so true they would teach it in school. Then, BAM!, no more confusion. Some adults might be confused at first but at least their children wouldn’t have to be ever again. They could do it if they wanted to, and that’s why I’m not religious, because they chose not to. I’ll read the books but I’m not going to subscribe. They are all far too old and it is limiting.

Prayer and repentance are basically forms of meditation but they are masked in such a way that they’ve become meaningless formalities to some. There are a lot of good practices in different religions and Christianity was the last big attempt to bring them all together. Why don’t they just do it again? It was written for people with much less educated than us. It just makes sense. The ones who preach understand it is not so unique don’t they? If they got together I think the people would follow, it frustrates me that they don’t.

You know that’s what America’s fore fathers wanted, “one Nation, under God, indivisible”. Religion is the biggest leash on people in a democratic society and we could fix it in today’s world. We could do for religion what America did for government with it‘s constitution. Isn’t that how you all say how the Bible, then Christianity, came to be? By combining the worlds knowledge? Then having the societal BS weeded out by Jesus? So, why not do it again? Why have a holly book that makes us do that ourselves in world that constantly contradicts it?

Because you have to wait for Jesus to come back and do it? It even tells you that path will lead to our destruction. Maybe that’s the last hidden message? That if we wait for another Jesus it will already be too late. Maybe someone was smart enough to word it so that the church wouldn’t bleep it out. Maybe I’m getting off topic and typed way too much….but the man said he wanted different opinions and I have plenty.

My advice to you is to read everything and come up with your own opinions until they write a new book, then after that, come up with your own opinions again. Go to the top of the mountain and speak to the burning bush yourself.

reply to post by Freenrgy2



The church in the West is kind of messed up these days. It's just a reflection of the spiritual decline and compromise that has afflicted us. It's not Jesus's fault. The Bible is the Word of God and the Word will endure forever. You can trust it and it's the best benchmark of whats right and wrong.
www.gospeloutreach.net...

There is no requirement for tithing in the New Testament. However giving is encouraged and the pastor or teacher is allowed to make his living off of preaching the gospel. You should give according to the Lord's direction. The tithe is simply based on an old testament example.

From this site we have this teaching on tithing:

1. TITHING ACCORDING TO GOD

1.1 Paraphrase of God's Commandments on Tithing to the Israelites

One tenth of all your income is Mine, and it is holy unto Me. (Ref. Lev.27:30) Therefore, I, as the rightful Owner of the 10% of your every pay cheque, command you the following:

a) Take the tenth portion of your pay cheque, which is Mine, go and have fun. Spend it on you and your family, for whatever your heart desires.(Ref. Deu.12:5-7; Deu.12:10-12; Deu.12:17-18; Deu.14:22-26)

b) However, do not forget those whom I have called into My ministry and those who are poor: take 10% of your every THIRD pay check and do not spend it on yourself and your family, but rather give it to them. (Ref. Deu.12:19; Deu.14:27-29; Deu.26:12-13)

c) Remember: one tenth of your income is My holy tithe, and you MUST

NOT use it for ANY unclean thing, that is, for ANYTHING, but for what I have commanded you. (Ref. Deu.26: 14)

Observe the above commandments so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God, and I will bless you and I will prosper you in everything that you do. (Ref. Deu.14:23; Deu.14:29)

In other words, God said: "Throw in a party - and I'll pay the bill. However, do not forget those whom I have called into my ministry, and those who are less fortunate than you - and I will bless you."

cnview.com...

Seems like we've corrupted the concept of tithing a bit. 2/3 of it was to be spent throwing a party with friends and family to give thanks unto the Lord, whilst being generous to those who can't afford to pay for the festivities themselves. Pretty different concept I'd say.

reply to post by OptionToChoose


If you thought I was complaining, I mislead you.

The light I've seen and accepted has shown me it all belongs to God. The most valuable things I have are my voice and my will. If you promote peace with either, that is God's will, along with reflecting God, showing people, to Christ, to Him. I myself believe what Jesus/Yeshua spoke of, I believe in his Father. Wealth is dust, the true valuables are inside. I've given up trust, respect, love, for material, put to use one day, gone the next. Then I found The Christ.

When I realized I walk under the same sun Jesus did, it became very real for me, and I allowed myself to see God. I responded to what had always been waiting for me.

The truth is not a mystery. It is not hidden. For something to be secret, deception must be involved. The truth is Christ, and one day there will be sensory proof, besides creation itself (if you accept it).

Our days are literally numbered though. These bodies don't last forever. The soul does. The mind isn't total being, it is merely a conduit. Connecting the material with the immaterial.

Edit: To clarify, I do accept Christ as me personal savior.

[edit on 1-11-2007 by depth om]

reply to post by Titen-Sxull

Jesus, however, remains one of my favorite philosophers ever, I say philosopher because he never intended to start a new religion...

IMHO, Jesus was not a philosopher or great moral teacher. The quote by C. S. Lewis sums it up for me, either I accept Jesus as he stated he was or I do not. I believe he is the only begotten of the Father, the son of God. God Himself in the flesh.

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.

You do have the choice to accept His claims or not. I personally do but that is just me.

I am not here to tell anyone what to belive or to make yourself have faith in something you must search In You. This is what we have all been told by any one of any formed "religion" upon earth. This is why I had "accepted" most views at some of my needful times in life. I was movin at 30yo.Ajob, lots of bills, generally regained my mental health, hanging with friends, and living life as I "SAW" . I even decided to go to a Pentecostal/born again Christian church, despite my being gay, and some issues I felt were compromisable to a point, as long as itdidn't affect my SECURE and RELAXING goals of what happiness was portrayed all around me, "Practiced by Everyone" in their own way. Then 1 night, I went to church with mom.Andthen, she did something I'll never foget, she looked at me and asked if I believed Christ could "Put me on the straight Path(meaning could I CHANGE what in my HEART I have KNOWN as A TRUTH I never Questioned.")This after almost 10 years of her being one of my biggest advocates as to who her son IS and she wants my happiness and thats it. Even though we aren't very in your face about any sort of judgements or ways. THIS SHOCKED ME and the look in her eyes as the only moment in my almost 30 years of battling many problems that have surfaced, as many are all around us, in every aspect of a humans life in this time of day, as it factually IS.THat moment when I felt her EYES become A judgemennt on my soul and then she said , CHURCH has "helped"(CHANGED COMPLETELY) me realize that it is a sickness and it is A CHOICE. That is when those eyes that have always loved at me ineveryway because of the absolute chaos as my life had once been spiraling towards, felt like it had hit a ROCK, like no other I had actually felt in my SOUL. This PURE emotion, because my mom means so much to me, felt LOVE actually FEEL like HOPE and TRUTH and TRUST and above all the UNCONDITIONAL PERFECT LOVE only a mother has, especially for her 1st born child, as bulletts FLY a hit2man's heart and become a SAD LONELY DESOLATE ILE of DEATH begin to Murder my Spirit and Soul. As I felt in my vision watch as they became an actual DEFILEMENT that I saw begin to Escape this new happy foundATION of progressionial happy-go-luckily and seemingly better in most all my years of finding another way towards here I Had just stopped to stand and breathe a little, and decided I will forgive all and let go(INCLUDING MYSELF) a very hard thing to just try to attempt. Worked for and began in thoughts to finally heal with soulspoken words that just Want and Need to live a "HAPPY" life I had seen in my mind and through witness' hands. This i HAD destroyed many times and remodeled for constuctions in faults and truth. BECOME AN ACT OF WAR ON MY SOULS new evisioned, complete and POSSIBLE DEATH in which I HAD SURRENDERED ME and would probably END up as DEAD, letting any who have "SEEKED TO DESTROY" win the battle of my final stand. >>>>>>BUT this is probably what and where the exact fate line and confusion to you readers and mYsElf begin to have something referred to in THE HOLY BIBLE as THE REVELATION. Not what you just read and try to find in events around you and watch shows about what all organized or secular worshippers have "deciperherd" as "THEIR TRUTH" we all laughed at a few times, even maybe thought we belived in just for a moment until we turned our heads and found minds THOUGHT of SECURITY to RELAX and change the subject to food, sex, money, anything we could think of really. >>>>>>>>>>>OVER the next course of maybe Amost 1-1/2 months(VERY SHORT) but, I WILL to say it seems like the time has actually slowed down very quickly but deceptive parall lls, hAs by mY Own "AWAKENED EYES & EAR" bEgUn An ActUALL rEcOrd TIME As I was TOLD jUst A glAncE dOwn At mY wAtch. IAM nOt "lie" nOw. In fAx wIll hOpE mY bEst tO hELp wiIh tHE gIFt TO SIMPLY ASK YOU TO ACCEPT IN YOUR FREE WILL sOMEthINg U cAn stOp AftER tHIS 1ST pOst Is dOnE, bUtIFUFALLOUCANNOTTURNBACK

reply to post by captainplanet


You put a lot of effort into that post!

Your comments reflect a 'natural' view of the Bible, approaching it with your intellect and reason. Therein lies much of the problem and confusion and disappointment (frustration?).

Go to my website (novalight.org), click on 'What Is This Website About' and read the paragraph written by T. Austin-Sparks. It explains exactly the problems you're having.

The Bible is not a synthesis of all religions, trying to come up with 'one religion for all'. That's not possible.

The Bible is the inspired Word of God, written by God-inspired men. What is there is what God wants to be there. It is not meant for the non-believer but the believer. Even a believer has trouble comprehending it all. It needs to be understood in sections and verses that are relevant to what God wants to reveal to you. Often, just 1 verse is sufficient and packed with spiritual meaning. The Bible is not meant to be read like a novel or a textbook. Generally, people are not very interested in picking up and reading the Bible because you're right - it can be confusing.

IF and WHEN by God's Grace you are given spiritual understanding of Who God is and Who Christ is and Who the Holy Spirit is, THEN (and only then) will the Bible begin to make sense, both spiritually and using reason. Reason does not contradict the Bible IF you have that spiritual understanding first.

The Bible didn't interest me or make sense to me until AFTER I became a 'born again' Christian. Even then, I needed (and still need) the help of men with much deeper spiritual understanding than mine. In my case, it was men like Oswald Chambers ('My Utmost for His Highest' , etc.) and T. Austin-Sparks whose writing has illuminated Scripture for me in a way that I could not have accomplished on my own.

There are MANY problems with the system of 'Christianity' and you hit most of them. Those are problems caused by men with lack of spiritual understanding or questionable ulterior motives (or just blindness). T. Austin-Sparks covers those problems extremely well. Behind all those problems and facade lies the Truth - Jesus the Christ and you can SEE! Him in His amazing simplicity. You don't need a PhD in religion or the Bible to understand (spiritually) what He said. A very simple person (child) can understand Him perfectly! In fact, Jesus said that we must come 'as children' to Him.

From that standpoint, the Bible is a perfect book! "God is not the author of confusion". Man's ego and focus on the 'natural' creates all the difficulty.

Read what some anonymous person wrote about a true follower of Jesus. It's called 'The Life' and is near the end of my website. It's too long to repeat here.

Originally posted by THEGodSend

Originally posted by assassini
God doesn't need your money. Did God ever ask you for money?

God has never asked me for anything that I know of. Organizations in his name ask for money all the time.

If you accepted Christ as your Savior, you go to Heaven. If not, you don't go to Heaven (you go to Hell). If you never heard the Gospel, were born deaf and dumb or autistic, died before reaching adulthood, etc. - we don't know what happens to you! Anyway, that's none of your business - it's God's business.

Great! I did that when I was seven, so no worries for me.

Whatever He did is not important for you to know.

So, 16 years of Christ's life as a man is not important? Even though he only lives to be 33. We know more about Moses

NO! They can't keep away from that Golden Calf - so God is gonna MELT them. SEE! Ezekiel 22:20

They still got the "promised land" twice.

He wrote the 10 Commandments. He thought that was enough. Do you have any idea how much time it takes to run the entire Universe?!

It wasn't enough. So, God sent Christ. I have no clue how much time it takes to run the universe. God is the alpha and omega, the begining and the end. (Revelation 1:8) Would that not suggest that God has no need for time.

The New Testament [Gospel] supersedes the Old Testament. Christ replaces the Law.

Great! Now I don't have to worry about the seven deadly sins or the Ten Commandments. They are all found in the Old Testament

What God knows [ALL] has nothing to do with Him testing anyone's faith. Testing faith means that YOU have to make a decision.

What is the point of testing if God already knows how you are going to do on the test?

The inheritance can only be collected after death! And it's not the [old] Earth that's inherited - it's the New Earth. It doesn't look like you'll have to worry about it, though!

I stand up for what I think is right. I'm not a big fan of wimpering under the sheets when bad things happen. I assert myself and so does every police officer, firefighter and member of the armed forces. So I guess that means a lot of us don't get to go to the New Earth.

You will never have those things. You're obviously too dumb. Can't spell, for starters and ask a lot of dumb questions. Not only that, there are no highways or gas stations in Heaven. You're not supposed to strive to do better - you're supposed to strive to BE better!

You're probably right about the porsche. My 4 wheel drive montero is better suited for going to my time share in Breckenridge. As for being dumb, I recall Matthew 7:1-2. I can't spell, but then again I have never met a person who was not superior to me in some way. My questions might be dumb, and until somebody comes up with better answers I'll keep my dumb questions. I strive to do better so one day I can BE better.

'Thou' means you! It doesn't mean God! It's meant for the guy who's trying to kill YOU!

So the guy that is trying to kill me isn't supposed to, but I'm not allowed to kill him either, even if he doesn't listen to God's law? I should wimper under the covers and let him butcher my family with an axe. Then I'll be meek and get to go to the New Earth.

Here's a freebie answer:

You're only going to Hell if you reject Christ as your Savior, refuse to repent of your sins and deny the Deity of Christ [that means deny that Christ IS God]. Saying that He's a great philosopher or prophet or carpenter just isn't good enough!

You're right about organized religion, though!

I have not rejected Christ as my Savior. I do repent for my sins. If Christ is God and God is Christ then believing in one automaticaly means believing in both because God is both. I never mentioned anything about Christ being a philosopher or prophet or carpenter.

[edit on 1-11-2007 by THEGodSend]

reply to post by THEGodSend

They taught me not to prejudge anyone, always strive to do the right thing, honor my family, honor God, help those in need, stand up for the weak, and think for myself. Thinking for myself involves me asking "silly" questions. Would have been nice if they taught me how to spell too.

You are absolutely wonderful for doing this. He has come through into my writing, the way he started to reveal in adventure because his nature is all and that is infinte, thats only by our words, he made them, he's at the same time the word I'm finding his messages everywhere he uses in the word I I I I, and we also use it as well and when hi is where we needto say hi, and emotions become something more,,then there is IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII.

My thoughts on seeing him all around as a basic way to say Hi I'm here
.......
I am the Alpha
I am the Omega
What hasthe bible been revised as we factually know language has changed through documentation, and sight we see other languages written as communication of the ages in losts of formats, and to still come across in today with the 2000+ years we know of since we started keeping time, how many times in languages has he grown familywise in numbers, as any father does with all his children, and he has still as much love if he reaches to all and designs a way to connect if you just think out of all mans wickedness to control and enslave and serve them for any material gain, especially now. Look who we put our faith in to live because we've been reprogrammed by our ouw proram. Doctors who are to help us from being sick and they won't help if you don't have insurance, it kinda goes against their oath to help all in need of medical treatment, but again, its not just their faults, its everyones, all have played a part in causing himsome pain, and he tries to reach everyone despite what we do against him and he still fights for yor love, would any relabeled human being do that kind of merciful act these days. I can't say for sure its not really my place but we don't need a definitive answer from another as we can use our eyes and ears to answer what is actually taking place around us. Its consuming as a disease and the blindness i see even now as hurtful, what is fateher feeling? We all believer or non-believer can see what seems to be coming into soon. You can feel it in every way this evil has infected lives somewhere. But we also know that his book is factual, and that is a feeling of emotion that is sooooo....... and the worst part i'm feeling is no one around seems to want to call it as god is giving you a chace to see, its not others faults again, no blame for the sins of mankind are eventual, and that seems to be where it may turn, god even says that when i call you on you to help others restore our natural beautiful home You may not make it, as you will in a sence become the social possible full crucifixation he gave as this gift of ultimate time-spaniing love with keys to life we seem to ignore andnot stand up for any immorality we see or go against our souls and damage our beliefs and morals to become prisoners because if we defy man physical security will be compromised. OHHHH YEAHH we don't seem to SEEE this all around do we. If you didn't want to do something at our works that hurt who god made us as once and this unique combination defiles its our "CHURCH" by bowing and doing it anyway. This I feel 1 parts of the Manifest Destiny that we have been told to believe as schoolchildren. But Manifest is Man bringing himselfinto a state of comptetetakeover of an area they called destiny.They strted it here in the us, but from what i may see, it doesn't look as if has really ever stopped at the Pacific Ocean, target when they came from Spainand everywgere to stake claim as a value, but history shows us numerous in examples about the people who were of this land at one time. Any way its just things I've felt always and just let sit and rot in my soul and it seeked to consume me.... And god intervened. That to me is a real living seeing miracle I have seen by myself with no ther person telling me what I should think. Anyways take care and thank you, and we live in him. Tony

reply to post by SevenThunders


Never heard that before. No, I simply believe that tithing was commanded of the Israelites when under the law. Tithing was to the Levitical priests and, get this, did not include money! Tithing was done in the form of grain & livestock. Why? Because the priests could hold no other position and this was how they were able to survive.

What's also not known about the tithe is it DOES NOT mean "a tenth", it means "the tenth". This is a very distinct difference. Most churches will preach the tithe (which is a damnable heresey) and tell the congregation that in order to tithe one must give 10% of their income. They'll even throw in scripture about how does a man rod God....in tithes and offerings, yada, yada, yada, knowing full well most laypeople don't know what their Bible actually says.

When tithing was practiced under the law, you were only required to tithe on THE TENTH of what was a titheable item. So, if you had 9 bushels of wheat, did you tithe? NO. But, today's church will tell you that you have to give 1/9 of that. If you had 11 bushels of wheat, did you tithe? YES, but only on the tenth one. And, it didn't even have to be the best. If you were tithing on livestock, you could give the runt as the tithe. This is in stark contrast to the unblemished lamb which was given for the sacrifice.

However, churches are starting to catch on that more people are becomming educated about the tithe and its unscriptural basis in the New Testament church by promoting "first fruits offerings", which are also not part of the New Testament church.

Paul never, ever, preached the tithe. Jesus never preached the tithe (the story about the widow and her two mites was about giving to the treasury and has NOTHING TO DO WITH TITHING).

If anyone could collect a tithe, it would have been Paul as he was a Levitical priest. But, he never did. He never helped to setup a church and told them that they had to tithe. He advocated to give and to do that cheerfully. What good does it do you to give 10% in a church service knowing that you needed that money to pay a bill or buy groceries for your family. Yet, there are those in the church that tell you if you don't give 10% (of your gross, of course), then you just don't have faith for God to provide. But, God already provided by allowing you to work and receive a paycheck, but we're supposed to believe that God doesn't want you to provide for your family first and that you'll get these miracle checks in the mail that EXACTLY cover your debts. I heard this many times in church. But, for each one of those occurences, there are dozens more where someone had their electricity disconnected or water turned off or filed bankruptcy because they tithed and were waiting for the floodgates of heaven to open as they sunk deeper in debt while the church built its new buildings that they were so proud of.

To preach the tithe in today's church is heresy, plain and simple.

[edit on 2-11-2007 by Freenrgy2]

reply to post by assassini


They taught you about living a moral life. That's good but it's obviously not good enough (you still had no answers to The Puzzle - all those silly questions you're still asking about God).

Christ said that 'you must be born again'. Guess what? - you haven't been 'born again'! Read my post to Captain Courageous earlier in this thread. It applies to you as well.

Christ said: "Seek and you shall find". What did He mean by that? He meant seek Him! (find out Who He is and why He came and how that matters to YOU - what you should DO about Him). To 'seek' is an all-consuming business (not just reading the Bible when you feel like it). Imagine you wanted something REALLY BADLY (God calls it 'the desire of your heart'). Now when you want THE answers to all your questions as badly as that, then you're ready to 'seek' (Him). It means giving up just about everything else (except for breathing, eating, sleeping and going to the bathroom). When you want it that badly so that it becomes an all-consuming passion, THEN you're ready to seek.

If you should ever get to that point (God has a huge inventory of heavenly 2x4s to help you 'get there', IF you're lucky!), start by listening to a Christian radio station (it'll save a lot of wasted seeking elsewhere. I made the mistake of seeking just about everywhere else first - firewalking, self-hypnosis, Rosicrucians, etc.) Then I finally found the 'Bible Answer Man' and Greg Laurie on the radio. In the meantime, studying my website VERY thoroughly could help! I know it may seem confusing - but it isn't. It all depends 'where you're coming from'.

Once you found Him, you will either have satisfying answers to all your questions - or you'll think they're silly (not worth asking).

SEE! what I mean?