quote:

Originally posted by clpo13:
we were all supposed to worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster, who sends us to carb-free pasta hell for not bowing down to his noodly appendages?

A carb free hell! I'd better dig out my pirate gear.

Yo Ho Yo Ho A pirates life for me...

so, by calling me intolerant aren't you being intolerant? yeah, okay i'll give you some evidence, but i haven't got time right now, i'm going out, i'll write later tonight or tomarrow.

quote:

buddists may be some of the nicest people on earth, but that does not change the fact that their belief system is not ture. The same goes for any other religion. i know many people from different religionns and they are all nice, kind, caring people who do a lot of good an they are all very serious and faithful to their religious system, but that still does not change the fact that their beliefs are wrong. it just doesn't. truth is not relative.

This is precisley the kind of intolerance that angers the blood of those who are outside your religious group. God tells you to be accepting. Accept that not everyones going to beleive, that they think your system of belief is a sham created by Mara to delude the senses and lure your mind into tanha and dukkha.

quote:

other religions just don't live up to what they claim.

Really, I must protest, if you are going to make such broad sweeping statements then you must at least have some evidence and Auschwitz behind you. I fear that I must insist that you discontinue any such intolerance again, lest I call upon the powers that be to remove you.

loves us all and is still there with you. You can ask for guidance to how to cope with it and help for future healing but God is MIGHTY and he will never forget about you. Not for one second. I hope this has helped you. If you have anymore questions feel free to write back.

God hasn't forgotten about you. He doesn't forget anybody on this earth. He knows every single person and knows just what you need. You said you are felling depressed, but God is not ignoring you. He knows just how much each of us can handle and never puts too much on us. It may be a good reason for Him to be allowing you to feel like this. We all are human and we go through different issues everday. God tests our faith in Him. Will we blame Him or will let Him do His work. Also, remember that God doesn't just do things because we tell him we need to be healed so heal us. He knows what hurts us and how much is enough for you to handle. HE

ampmaster... have you ever read the book of Romans???? it explains it all there. it's very clear. i suggest you read it. God does love, youre right about that. he has unfailing, neverending love, but he is also just. Romans explains it all. read it. it's very clear, and there is no way that you can believe the way you do and follow the bible. you don't know the God you claim to serve. And the muslims do not worship the same God we do. i'm sorry, but they don't. it's just that simple. compare the two religions. and the bible clearly says that if one doesn't believe in and put their faith in Jesus Christ then they are still condemned. it's plain and simple. and buddists may be some of the nicest people on earth, but that does not change the fact that their belief system is not ture. The same goes for any other religion. i know many people from different religionns and they are all nice, kind, caring people who do a lot of good an they are all very serious and faithful to their religious system, but that still does not change the fact that their beliefs are wrong. it just doesn't. truth is not relative.
And clopo you can know truth. what God has given us is true, you are right though, he has not fully showed us everything, what he has shown us is true. and we can trust that. and what if i could prove that Christianity is true and irrifutable? and you could actually put your faith in it? i can prove without a shadow of doubt that it is true, and other religions just don't live up to what they claim.

quote:

don't you want to know truth?

I do want to know truth. But knowing the full truth in this life is impossible. That reminds me of a good quote: "Believe those who seek the truth, doubt those who claim to have found it." The search for truth is what matters.

The way I see it is this: when I die, I'm dead. There's not much I can do about it, is there? If there exists a loving and compassionate God like all my Christian friends keep telling me, then surely I won't go to hell. I'm not an evil person. I'm no saint, but I do more good than some believers I know. I'm not worried about that. Besides, I actually don't care to know what's going to happen to me after I die. Ignorance is bliss. If I worried about it, my life would be that much more complicated. Yes, I can die at any time. But will my worrying affect where I go after that, if I even go anywhere? Not a bit.

Sure, I could become a Christian, confess my love for Jesus, and think that I'm going to heaven after I die. But what if Christianity turns out to be a sham and we were all supposed to worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster, who sends us to carb-free pasta hell for not bowing down to his noodly appendages? There's just as much a chance that Christianity will turn out to be wrong as it might turn out to be right. The same goes for any religion. If I don't saddle myself with any of those religions, I don't need to worry about an afterlife. What happens, happens.

It is hard for others to understand completely, I know. I'm not asking you to believe the way I do. I just want people to understand that their religion might not be right, so why should I ascribe to it?

"Love divine, all loves excelling"

Christ's love and forgiveness is unilateral and belief isn't required to forgive a person. There is no requirement, there are no strings there is just love. The love of a creator and the love of his son.

No the type of christian that think your going to hell if your not christian

I got a suprise for people like you, the jews and muslims worship the same God in a diffrent way, does this mean they're going to hell as well? Heck the Buddhists are some of the nicest, kindest most caring people on earth are they all going to hell?

what...? cause i'm the type of Christain that believes what the Bible teaches???

your the type of christian that really pisses me off

God has to be just, he is loving, but he has to be just. he has to stay true to his character. and we are all unworthy of Him, we have all sinned. lied, stolen, disrespected our parents, something. we all have, and so we are all condemned. he can't have a relationship with us because he is Holy and pure and we are sinners. and so thats why God sent Jesus His Son to die for us on the cross. he loves us so he sent his Son. and so then we have a responsibility to put our faith in that because God says clearly that us putting our faith in Jesus is the only way to be saved from our condemnation. That is God's only provision for our sins, Jesus Christ. And those who don't put their faith in Jesus Christ are condemned. that is clear in the bible. the bible is Gods word. he speaks to us through that. and it is clear that Jesus Christ is the only way out of our condemnation.

Those who deserve such recieve such punishment

I think that regardless of religion if you live a good life you will find a place set for you in the kingdom of heaven

quote:

hell for all of eternity

I find it a little difficult to beleive that a benevolent god can subject you to eternal torture when you have only lived a relativly short time.

how can you not care? that doesn't seem to make much sense to me, sorry. i mean... don't you want to know truth? and if you are wrong wouln't you want to know? i mean, life is short and you never know what could happen. you could die today. and wouldn't you want to know where you are going after you do die?? you never know what could happen or when, and it only makes sense that you would want to know whats going to happen to you after death. i mean, you don't want to be in hell for all of eternity do you? i'm not saying that you would be or anything... i'm just saying don't you want to know where you'll be for the rest of eternity? idk... maybe it's just me.

I felt the same way you did for a while, blue. I prayed and prayed but got no response. Nothing. And before any of you say anything, let me tell you that I was completely open to anything God would do. I wanted God to be there. I wanted some response.

And I never got one.

My solution? I decided that I simply didn't care. It didn't matter if God was there or not. To put it in a nutshell, I stopped worrying about getting a response. My life is my own, and that's all that matters.

And you know what? I felt immediately better. And I still do. No one can make me feel otherwise. I've made my decision, and I feel great about it. No regrets.

It's really quite amazing how good you feel when you stop worrying what will happen to you after you die.

Of course, my experience doesn't really apply because I've never been depressed at God not being there for me. Heck, the only time I was depressed (not clinically, just really bummed out) was when I didn't know if God was there or not. Now I don't care, and I feel much better.

HE HAS NOT FORGOTTEN YOU! He loves you so much that he sent his own son to die for you and me and still we ask ourselves if he really loves us?!
Yes life is hard but, God does not give us a load we can't handle, on the contrary what he gives us is because he trusts us and because we can carry even more. That load is what makes us stronger and also makes us softer. Why and How? Well when you through something and you see someone else, you know how to help him/her.

He has not forgotten you nor has he left you alone. Why doesn't he directly go to us in our moments of need?
Because there is something called Free Will, thus you believe in him because you decided to and when you get to understand this you'll understand why he seems to not care, when actually he wants to come running to lift you up, hug you, love you, heal your wounds cry with you and guide you by his hand to safety. When we give your heart to God he gives you a new heart made to his spec's making you able to understand him and life itself.

“We forget about him, we ignore the warnings and caring he gives us and when we get pain we are quick to point the gun at whom has giving us so much.”
“We see tragedy and we curse at him, we see happiness and we praise him.”

By The Way: Humans love to see a fellow Human crying, dying, decaying, suffering, pleading for help but when they are found in the same situation as them they do the same, they feel the same.

I'm not a Christian, but god doesn't forget people. He just like to challenge us.

God doesn't give us anything that we can't handle. even if we think that we can't. He knows better than we do. obviously. You just have to keep looking to Him for your strength, and have faith in Him and his plan for you. He will use you in great ways if you let him. Are you reading His word and praying?? If not, you really should, God speaks to us through His Word. And when you pray remember that He doesn't always give us what we want because he has something better for us. even if we precive it as hard, or unfair, or just crappy.... he knows what he is doing. read his word, and get to know him personally and deeply. Phillippians 4:13. 1John 3:1. Hebrews 11:6 Psalm 23:4. 2 Corinthians 4:8. Isaiah 54:17. Psalm 100:5.