Im worried

up until a few years ago i went to church every Sunday was baptized and all that good stuff. Then all of a sudden I started getting skeptical and didnt go as much as I used to. So I started going back to church but it didnt feel inspirational like it used to, nothing in the church changed. I try to believe and I pray nearly every day but for some reason I still remain skeptical.

Im scared that if God is real and if the Christian faith is true, that this might come back to haunt me after I die.

No, I went through the same thing when I declared myself "athiest" (which was a misnomer, I believe there HAS to be a god now, but there's no heaven or hell blah blah, I believe in reincarnation)...anyways...I know exactly this feeling, or something close to it.

With me when I first left church (even though I was very young) I'd tell myself "there is no god" then immediately say "sorry god if you are there" heh...until finally I got used to just believing their wasn't...all I really did was change my beliefs though...and I do believe there must be a creator or purpose.

So moving towards the point, what I think you're experiencing, is that "Drag" that pulls on you, when you've not been getting the preacher's works on you constantly.

It seems to me that the initial feeling you have with religion is the same as with santa clause, but as soon as you learn santa isn't real christmas is never as "magical" and as soon as you learn that your religion may not be solid, i.e. you think a tad bit differently no matter how much differently, you feel that religion isn't strong in you anymore.

Anyways...God is God, if he did design us directly, as the christian faith believes, he'd not have given us free will.

Evil exists because man can make choices that other men do not like.

God is nature, all of creation, and Suns, galaxies, planets, rocks, trees, birds, none of these things, are evil in ANY way.

So I doubt anything would haunt you, if you think there's a heaven, then the way to get to it would be to not suffer, and to spread that non-suffering to everyone you can.

The idea that you have to accept a person who was born by a mortal whore, as god, to get to heaven, is one of the greatest farses in history (well that's MY opinion any ways )

As for your skeptic attitude, maybe you should just be with god for a while and sort things out on your own.

I find it in nature, the heavens, too vast and gorgeous to not be godly, the forests, too old to not be respected, the mountains, too large to be ignored...wind, the voice for all living things without one.

In that I find not an answer but the question "why is any of it here" and though God is not the answer, he's the "Cause".

And so if you think he'd punish you because you sought YOUR own beliefs, which he gave you the right to do, and those beliefs dn't cause you or others to suffer, than I'd gladly help you and satan fight in hell against him.

Really though, if you ask me, there is no such thing as salvation, only life, and we must have morals and do good, for our own dignity and benefit and our very own soul, not to get into heaven. But mostly for our soul, believing we live many lives, I think our live's effects on our soul last through all our existance, and so if you cause much suffering (evil, immorality what not) then your soul and everyone's soul affected, begins to be scarred by suffering.

So in effect, an existance wrought with suffering is hell, and an existance void of it, is heaven, all the while though we live and die and live again.

So make your life a heaven, remember, if you're judged for bringing heaven to earth then you have the right to # god up the a$s, because nothing in this universe deserves to be judged for doing what is good for while we live.

Oh well that's the way I answered my initial withdrawls, if you truly find yourself skeptical, I wouldn't be surprised that after a few years you'll not be so "fearful" anymore, and begin to reason out what happens to you when you die, on your own. Without the aid of a preacher, or a "savior"

If you're not truly skeptical, then this has been a phase and sometime soon you'll be some "born again" and believe all that fire and brimstone stuff

But think of this next time you're in church.

How can there exist a heaven, when there is a hell? Where ever there is suffering nothing can truly be "heaven" and no one in heaven can escape hell's consuming hate and suffering.

The very idea that there is a heaven//hell ignores any possibilities in between, and in the fullest sense, any statement with a slight bit of falsity in it, is false, so any heaven with a slight bit of hell in it, is hell, just like those who've never felt pain, feel it the hardest, those who've never suffered (heaven) would feel the mere existance of hell as if all heavenly people were on the cross.

Think about it...how can there be a heaven if there is ANY suffering anywhere? Heaven is an absolute, just as hell is, but hell is where there is no hope, we already know you can be tossed out of heaven to hell, but you can never get out...so hell is the final ultimate, and what is final, is GOD.

This is why I don't believe in any of it, suffering and bliss are gradational, you can have some suffering, but more happiness than not, and so be mildly "enlightened" and such, but so long as you shift there's always hope, even for those who've known ONLY suffering pain and misery, there's hope that that will end...so I don't think God cares, he is a creator//creation, not a judge, we suffer or don't by our own accord.

So I would say you have nothing to fear

Woo wee this has been a long post, but such are posts where I am unsure exactly what I want to say, and how I wish to say it.

Sincerely,
no signature

Christ is god and is real, ive witnessed him and many others have witnessed
miracles of him.

Freemason, since you reject what you dont understand ill give this for you to think
about.


Wha would you do if someone told (you) that your a black man who kills people and is an alien, and
these same people without (knowing) you kept saying false things about you or said stuff that was not true?


you do the same thing to god by saying thaat we get condemned for what we (want) to believe, yet what you believe is false to god who knows him more thaan you know you.

Yet (you) can make god what you want him to be?

who are you?

have you seen god and known what he knows?


If your god is nature than how can it be a statue?


God has provided proof and miracles to everybody thaat christ is the lord, 2000 years of them, and we will
pay who (openly) hate him for no reason.

peace.

Yes, I also have had a "falling out" with God, but then I came to realize it was not God I didn't believe in, it was the church. The church is the one that turned me off from God! The church is making up rules for their own financial gain, to me they brainwash you into what they want you to believe...If you read and understand the Bible you'll see there are very little rules of living your life...

Actually, if you read the Bible, you'll see that there are LOTS and lots (and lots) of rules and that you're in violation of most of them.

The Hassidic Jews and certain Christian sects do attempt to follow it to the letter. Most christians, however, throw out the bulk of the injunctions (saying "Jesus overturned this") and then go on to explain how Jehovah never changes his mind (and don't bother to explain why Jehovah would change the rules.)

I don't think "Jehovah" made any rules. "Jehovah" means god of thunder and lightning, from what I remember. It was the name of the Hewbrew God, given by the Egyptians. I think there are actually multiple ideas of what god Jehovah was, but there is not one set definition. There is an Egyptian one, Hewbrew one, Latin one, Modern one... etc.

Jesus only claimed to have the truth, but Jesus never supported a religion being created. Jesus had friends and followers. I believe it was Peter that said, "Let's have a party and make a religion!!!!" Talk about a good idea going wrong. The closest words of Jesus that we have, that I know of, are from the Gospel of Thomas. You are considered a Heretic if you believe it, but it is from around 300 AD. It is the oldest living writing the public has that claims to be the words of Jesus... possibly from his own mouth.

A few quotes from it (also seen in the movie "Stigmata"):

"3. Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you. "

"77. Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained.

Split a piece of wood; I am there.

Lift up the stone, and you will find me there." "


I guess everyone has the choice to judge for themselves.

I myself am a non-believer. I don't openly hate "god", because I don't believe in him. If he is a him.

That's the other part, why is god the father, not the mother. Who is to say god has a gender. That would be proof that religion was created by man, because in ancient times, man was superior to woman. Think about it, god is the father, Jesus the son, Adam the first. All men, I think that's kind of sexist.

(and I'm a guy by the way)

I openly critisize religion, because it teaches ignorance, while teaching good morals. No other thing has contradicted its self more in history.

Now, I am about to contradict myself. If it can bring people together instead of pulling them apart, I'm all for it.

I think people get chrisianity around the wrong way, especially concerned with laws. Its an outsiders mistaken cultural knowledge of what christinaity is that causes many problems for people, the truth is easy...

Look at it this way ....

The Old Testament (OT) was a book of instructions, imagine that you had to drive from New York to Los Angeles, by yourself, you would need a map and a list of turnoffs etc and to get to your destination.

Thats what the OT was, the people were given laws to make them different from the other tribes, to help them to follow God, but they did it with the instructions written down.

It didn't work, they stopped reading the instructions and got lost in the Mid West somewhere. So God said "OK I will give you a co-pilot who will guide you on your journey, as its hard to follow written instructions especially when you are alone and feeling rebelious"

Now, imagine you had to make the same trip but you had a co-pilot, like in a rally, someone who says "Turn left here, don't go there, left corner coming up, small hill ahead" You then don't need to follow all the laws.

Sure the main ones are the same, you still are on the same trip, on the same road, but the minor ones are covered by the co pilot.

Now imagine that if you DO make a mistake the co pilot takes the blame and helps you get back on the track,

... that is christianity.


The co-pilot is the Holy Spirit who lives in you and guides you in the right way, he takes you on the trip that the OT tried to take the israelites.

I've experienced the same thing and I think I still am, but I believe in God, always have and always will.. i've falling out of christianity... it just doesnt make any sense to me anymore.

No, you will not go to hell if your not christian.. that's one of the biggest deceptions in christianity... you can be jew, christian, or muslim and have your reward with God.

Jehovah" means god of thunder and lightning, from what I remember. It was the name of the Hewbrew God, given by the Egyptians

man, you are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo WRONG! given by the egyptians? LOL... Jehovah is NOT a name of God, never has , never will... Jehovah was a word created by a german monk in the 1500's!!!! not in ancient egypt.

the names of God are Elohim, Yahweh, and Alah (allah) and yes the word "alah" is in the bible.

and no, jesus is NOT God like truth always like to brag about.


[Edited on 1-31-2003 by Illmatic67]

I don't believe in hell or heaven. I do believe though in spiritual progression at differing levels, some in this life, some possibly in other lives and some in other dimensions of existance. Some of those levels might not be so pleasant but we end up there as a result of our own choices and the opportunity to learn from our mistakes is always open to us so that we move on.
No one is barred from an after death existance, it is simply a natural law that we are all subject too. Many people who have had NDE's speak of losing interest in any organised religion and narrow dogma. It doesn't matter what you believe or what you call or regard yourself as, christian/hindu/atheist, it's how you treat others and live you're life that matters most.