08 Feb 14
Originally posted by stellspalfie🙂
there are only so many 'walls of text' a man can take. id like to find the man who invented 'cut and paste' and beat him to death with a printed stack of grampy bobby posts.
I do appreciate that he adds stuff like "(Ephesians 2:8-9)" to his paragraphs.
Makes it a lot easier to see what can definitely be skipped.
08 Feb 14
Originally posted by Great King RatTruth has always had opposition; falsehoods have existed since the Serpent deceived the first woman in the Garden.
I don't want you to hide at all. I want you to see that you worship a being that would torture me simply for not believing. Not for murdering, not for raping little children, not for making other people feel bad, but for not believing.
And you are okay with that.
I want you to see the sickness that is inside your head.
Forget the bible, forge ...[text shortened]... e who are okay with eternal torture or filled with people who are not okay with eternal torture?
Originally posted by Great King RatYou make it sound like I suddenly woke up one day and said "Today, I will choose God!"
What made you choose God, Suzianne?
Throughout childhood, I believed in God and His Son Jesus. My parents as I was growing up were not actual Christians. Their religious beliefs were probably more properly classified as a type of Deism (at least as I understand it, we rarely went to 'church', although I do remember attending Sunday School, where we learned all the Bible stories ), because they had no concept of Salvation through Jesus Christ's redemptive sacrifice. I had what might be considered a 'child's idea' of God and Jesus as good and loving us and all that, but I had a huge gap in my belief concerning Jesus' mission on Earth. I thought only bad people didn't believe in God, and that evil people did evil things because that's just the way they were, perhaps fooled into evil by the Devil. As a child I thought that being good was pleasing God and that it required endless work and being careful that one didn't slip into evilness through taking the easy way out because one didn't want to work at it any more. In college, I was a heavy-duty partyer at first and it was not unusual for me to show up to an exam in the morning with a burning hangover or not to show up for class at all until midday. I pledged a sorority and two sisters (astonishingly, their names were Elizabeth and Mary) took me under their wing and started talking to me about God and Jesus and they taught me something I had not heard yet up to that point, the whole story of love and forgiveness centered on Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. They backed it up with scripture and showed me the pertinent Bible verses. It was like an awakening. The scales were lifted from my eyes and I could see the truth of it and everything suddenly *clicked* into place for me. Everything I had ever heard and not quite understood about religion all became clear, and I was immediately overcome with the clear and obvious truth of it all. It was like I had been asleep and was now awake. They gave me 24 hours to absorb it all and to think about what it meant. I stumbled through the next day thinking about it all day and I reread some of the Gospels with new eyes and I went to them that evening and asked them, "Well, what now? What do I do now that I know the truth?" They explained that all I had to do was confess my belief to Jesus, accept Him as my Savior and ask him to come into my life and show me the will of God. I prayed as never before and by the time I was finished, my face was wet with tears and Beth and Mary were crying too, and someone walking by the room came in and asked if we were alright and Beth pointed at me and said, "please welcome the world's newest Christian!" and we all had a good cry and laughed about it and we all went out for cake, to celebrate my new birthday in Christ. I will never forget it. The rest, as they say, is history.
Originally posted by SuzianneThanks, Suzi.
You make it sound like I suddenly woke up one day and said "Today, I will choose God!"
Throughout childhood, I believed in God and His Son Jesus. My parents as I was growing up were not actual Christians. Their religious beliefs were probably more properly classified as a type of Deism (at least as I understand it, we rarely went to 'church', although ...[text shortened]... elebrate my new birthday in Christ. I will never forget it. The rest, as they say, is history.
The post that was quoted here has been removedOriginally posted by Duchess64
'Why Do Men Reject God?'
Being born in ignorance, I was unaware there was a God for me to reject.
As far as I can recall, God never approached me and asked, 'May I have
a date with you for all eternity?', and I said, "Sorry, you're not my type."
So I kept to my path, and God kept to His, and our paths did not cross.[/b]
Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
One Christian's understanding of atheism:
In biblical terms: "Romans 1:18-20 New American Standard Bible Unbelief and Its Consequences:" "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." I believe an atheist at the point of god-consciousness (becoming aware of the possible existence of a supreme being and accountable for a personal choice for or against god) says, 'no'.
________________________________
Originally posted by wolfgang59
Where did your god come from?
Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
"From Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life (1955) Chapter XIV "In this autobiography of his childhood, C. S. Lewis recounts the process of his own conversion as a young professor at Oxford in the 1930s.
XIV Checkmate: You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England. I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet. But who can duly adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape? The words compelle intrare, compel them to come in, have been so abused by wicked men that we shudder at them; but, properly understood, they plumb the depth of the Divine mercy. The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation." http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/ownwords/joy.html
09 Feb 14
Originally posted by Grampy Bobbyi see grampy bobby has challenged duchess to a 'wall of text' battle.........to the death!!!!
Originally posted by Duchess64
[b]'Why Do Men Reject God?'
Being born in ignorance, I was unaware there was a God for me to reject.
As far as I can recall, God never approached me and asked, 'May I have
a date with you for all eternity?', and I said, "Sorry, you're not my type."
So I kept to my path, and God kept to His, and our paths ...[text shortened]... d His compulsion is our liberation."[/i] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/ownwords/joy.html[/b]