Is God happy with you, or Angry?

[Guest caboose]

In reply to the original title question, I don't think god is angry with me, but I doubt he is pleased either. I'm kinda in limbo with my karma at the moment, cos I'm in the middle of some kind of emotional breakdown. And I keep doing things that aren't right without having the intention to do them.

[Guest DrTom]

Let me start off by saying; ok, you are the smartest guy on this board. Fine. Phd, MD, whatever your educational pedigree is, I'm TAPING OUT!!! I admit you are smarter than me.

Well, thanks, but that really wasn’t the point. The reason I mentioned the stuff I did is to illustrate that I was on “the other side” once. I’ve heard the Christian arguments from the inside, I’ve read and studied a lot within the faith. And it ended up not being for me. There’s more to it than that, but that’s all I’m getting into here.

 

And it’s Ph.D. Just so you know.

 

Saying you are a Catholic, or a Baptist, or a Whatever, means absolutly NOTHING as far a JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH is concerned. 0. Nadda. Nix. Empty. Void.

Considering I’m an atheist, how is this supposed to affect me? Oh no, I didn’t score points with the Fundamentalist Sheep Cult because I used to belong to a particular sect. And while you’re trying to be preachy and self-righteous, isn’t belief in Jesus all that’s required to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? When did it become belief, but only if you’re a born-again who belongs to a select few sects. The whole “my Jesus can beat up your Jesus” bullshit is what deters a lot of people from entering Christianity. Take a bow, Skippy, because you’re one of the bouncers at the door.

 

Dr. Tom, I do not blame you for your non-belief.

Gee, thanks, I was losing sleep worrying about that one…

 

You may have thought you were a Christian, you may have tried to act like a Christian, but unless your spirit was 'Made alive' and you were 'Born again', you are not a Christian.

A decade ago, I might have been upset by something like that. Now, I just see it as self-righteous saber-rattling, and the kind of poison that might end up destroying Christianity from within. I promise I’ll smile extra big when that happens.

 

no one except GOD--FATHER, SON, HOLY SPIRIT, is going to get you into heaven.

That’s all well and good. I think we’ve established already that I’m an atheist, that I don’t believe in the afterlife, that I think there’s a lot of bullshit within Christianity, and that I think your brand of self-righteous proselytizing doesn’t do anyone any good. So, since we know all that…

 

STOP TRYING TO FUCKING PREACH TO ME!

 

I’m not going to sit here and try to convert you to my beliefs, so I bloody well expect the same courtesy in return.

[Guest NoCalMike]

If everyone was chosen before the earth came to be, whether to be saved or not, then how can we truly "feel" what it is like to be born again? Since, there is no distinction or definition of that feeling. I mean, as far as human minds work, I could never truly tell between someone who was REALLY gonna be saved, and someone who just thought they had the "feeling" yet weren't really going to be saved. I mean hell, David Koresh(sp?) probobaly convinced all of his mindless robots that he was JESUS and they all had that same FEELING inside them.

 

Also, when breaking down christianity and the gift of god to it's most basic form. What is required of us, (BESIDES believing Jesus Christ is our lord and saivor,) to get into heaven? It seems we have all come to the agreement that even if you are SAVED, it doesn't mean you don't sin, it is just that you repent your sins and are forgiven, so does that mean ALL YOU NEED TO DO, is believe Jesus Christ is our lord and savior?

[Guest Dopey]

If everyone was chosen before the earth came to be, whether to be saved or not, then how can we truly "feel" what it is like to be born again? Since, there is no distinction or definition of that feeling. I mean, as far as human minds work, I could never truly tell between someone who was REALLY gonna be saved, and someone who just thought they had the "feeling" yet weren't really going to be saved. I mean hell, David Koresh(sp?) probobaly convinced all of his mindless robots that he was JESUS and they all had that same FEELING inside them.

 

Also, when breaking down christianity and the gift of god to it's most basic form. What is required of us, (BESIDES believing Jesus Christ is our lord and saivor,) to get into heaven? It seems we have all come to the agreement that even if you are SAVED, it doesn't mean you don't sin, it is just that you repent your sins and are forgiven, so does that mean ALL YOU NEED TO DO, is believe Jesus Christ is our lord and savior?

Nor-Cal Mike, check it:

 

..."BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS, WHO COME TO YOU IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING, BUT INWARDLY THEY ARE RAVENOUS WOLVES. YOU WILL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS. DO MEN GATHER GRAPES FROM THORNBUSHES OF FIGS FROM THISTLES? EVEN SO, EVERY GOOD TREE BEARS GOOD FRUIT, BUT A BAD TREE BEARS BAD FRUIT. A GOOD TREE CANNOT BEAR BAD FRUIT, NOR CAN A BAD TREE BEAR GOOD FRUIT. EVERY TREE THAT DOES NOT BEAR GOOD FRUIT IS CUT DOWN AND THROWN INTO THE FIRE. THEREFORE BY THEIR FRUITS YOU WILL KNOW THEM." Matthew 7:15-20

As for David Koresh ---^

 

..."that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."" Romans 10:9-11

 

..."For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10

 

I hope this clears things up a little.

[Guest IDrinkRatsMilk]

Dopey, I realize this is what you like to do, but if you do nothing but quote the Bible, nobody is going to listen to you anymore. I, for one, have read the whole thing, it's nothing new.

[Guest Dopey]

In reply to the original title question, I don't think god is angry with me, but I doubt he is pleased either. I'm kinda in limbo with my karma at the moment, cos I'm in the middle of some kind of emotional breakdown. And I keep doing things that aren't right without having the intention to do them.

Caboose, this may help:

 

..."At that time Jesus answered and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:25-30

 

..."I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd."

John 10:14-16

[Guest Dopey]

Dopey, I realize this is what you like to do, but if you do nothing but quote the Bible, nobody is going to listen to you anymore. I, for one, have read the whole thing, it's nothing new.

IDRM, hey bro, I know that you may think that the way I post is strange. But let me ask you a question. How do YOU interpret these passages of scripture?

 

..."Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,...teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you..." Matt. 28:19-20

 

..."I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching." 2 Tim. 4:1-2

 

..."For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." 1 Cor. 1:22-24

 

Please bro, give me an honest interpretaion and explain why? I'd like to hear what you think.

[Guest So what? I liked bubble boy]

1. God, when planning the universe, decides to eventually create Person A.

2. God, being omniscient, knows Person A will be a sinner and will go to hell.  

3. God creates Person A, knowing full well that they're not a good apple.  

4. Person A sins, and God doesn't step in or change His mind.  

5. God damns Person A to an eternity in fire.  

 

What choice did Person A have, really?

No choice, sounds good to me.

Bubble Boy, if you ever do something as offensive, reprehensible, and all-out evil as happily accept the idea of countless billions of people burning for all eternity and not even having a choice in the matter as a good thing, and accomplish all that with a fucking SMILEY FACE, consider yourself fucking banned from this board. Go away, you miserable asswipe on the cloth of humanity. I've got better things to do that listen to the intellectual orgasm of some goddamned religious sociopath who actually WANTS the majority of humanity to be tortured in hell.

 

I give you my opinions and beliefs and you clown me. Screw you Jingus. Just because you have Super Mod. powers doesn't make me your b****. You have all this power (on this board) and your opinion is always right, isn't it. Funny thing is, I quote you and agree and you TRY to jump on me, threating me, big deal. blow chuncks.

[Guest IDrinkRatsMilk]

..."I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching." 2 Tim. 4:1-2

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1

 

Now I'm not a Christian by any means, but for the purposes of this post, I'm going to slip into Christian mode, because I want to demonstrate to you that you don't have to just throw out Bible verses. So read the rest of this post as if I was a believer as well.

 

Ok, the Bible says preach the word, and the sinners will be saved by the word. But is the Bible the word of God? Yes, but that's not all the word is. According to John 1:1, the word is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only one who can deliever the sinner from their sin. Preach Jesus Christ.

 

The New Testament contains the teachings of Jesus, and the largest portion of the New Testament is made up of the epistles of the apostle Paul. Letters he wrote to people like Timothy, and to the churches in Rome, Corinth, Thessalonica, and the list goes on. People who were already believers.

 

Jesus said...

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

 

Preach the gospel; the good news of Jesus Christ. He did not tell his disciples to quote the things he had said to them. Jesus' charge was to deliver the news of his death and ressurection, he didn't make any specifications as to the words which should be used.

 

We have the Bible to admonish and encourage those who are already followers of Christ, and to equip us to bring others into the fold. It gives us the information, and the power we need to do this. The Bible gives us the answers, but God leaves it up to us to find the way to preach the Word (Jesus) in the way that speaks to and best reaches each person we encounter in our ministry.

 

Take someone who has grown up in the church all their life, or an island native who has never even heard of the Bible or Jesus. Would they be reached in the same way? No. When we are saved, we become vessels for the Lord, and he speaks through us in any way he sees fit. The power of God is not limited to the Bible. It's all around us.

[Guest Dopey]

..."I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:  Preach the Word!  Be ready in season and out of season.  Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching."  2 Tim. 4:1-2

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1

 

Now I'm not a Christian by any means, but for the purposes of this post, I'm going to slip into Christian mode, because I want to demonstrate to you that you don't have to just throw out Bible verses. So read the rest of this post as if I was a believer as well.

 

Ok, the Bible says preach the word, and the sinners will be saved by the word. But is the Bible the word of God? Yes, but that's not all the word is. According to John 1:1, the word is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only one who can deliever the sinner from their sin. Preach Jesus Christ.

 

The New Testament contains the teachings of Jesus, and the largest portion of the New Testament is made up of the epistles of the apostle Paul. Letters he wrote to people like Timothy, and to the churches in Rome, Corinth, Thessalonica, and the list goes on. People who were already believers.

 

Jesus said...

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

 

Preach the gospel; the good news of Jesus Christ. He did not tell his disciples to quote the things he had said to them. Jesus' charge was to deliver the news of his death and ressurection, he didn't make any specifications as to the words which should be used.

 

We have the Bible to admonish and encourage those who are already followers of Christ, and to equip us to bring others into the fold. It gives us the information, and the power we need to do this. The Bible gives us the answers, but God leaves it up to us to find the way to preach the Word (Jesus) in the way that speaks to and best reaches each person we encounter in our ministry.

 

Take someone who has grown up in the church all their life, or an island native who has never even heard of the Bible or Jesus. Would they be reached in the same way? No. When we are saved, we become vessels for the Lord, and he speaks through us in any way he sees fit. The power of God is not limited to the Bible. It's all around us.

IDRM, that is some good quoting brother! Somewhere your dad is smiling from ear to ear.

 

I'm at work so i don't have much time, i got some other things to ask.

[Guest SP-1]

RatsMilk. Thank you. I haven't taken the time to post why I take issue with the Christians just throwing out verse. You summed up my thoughts on it nicely. Thank you.

[Guest Dopey]

We have the Bible to admonish and encourage those who are already followers of Christ, and to equip us to bring others into the fold. It gives us the information, and the power we need to do this. The Bible gives us the answers, but God leaves it up to us to find the way to preach the Word (Jesus) in the way that speaks to and best reaches each person we encounter in our ministry.

IDRM, cool. Now here is where the rubber hits the road. You understand that there is a difference between Evangelism, and Apoligetics. One is proclaiming the Gospel and the other is defending it.

Now let me try and explain why I don't do too much evangelizing on a board format like this. It's because most people don't want to hear it!!! Just look at the post by Dr. Tom on this thread and you will see why when I start to preach/evengalize almost everyone loses their minds!!! Their heads start spinning and they start screaming at their computer screens, "Fear the priest, Fear the priest...your mother does something in hell...!!!" Then all they can do is try flexing their admin powers at me and start threatening me!!! Cussing and swearing like druken sailors in bangkok.

 

On the other hand, when someone asks a qestion, then I by necessity, must flip my hat around and become an apologist and defend the gospel. This seems to be the most advantageous to both parties. The rabid frothing heathen gets to hear about the bible and the Lord without being too threatened, and I get to glorify Him who created all things!!! Yeaaahhh!!! And for those who are not rabid and frothing but just simply curious, they don't have to sit through all the flaming and hatred that the true demon seeds have to spew.

 

So my friend, you and Spider can rest assure that there is a method to my 'maddness'. I simply love God and anything pertaining to HIM. My love for HIM is the sole purpose for living. I want to magnify and glorify Jesus. HIS act of love for me on the Cross was something that I will never 'Ever!!!' forget.

 

So my good man, when you say, "God leaves it up to us to find the way to preach the Word (Jesus) in the way that speaks to and best reaches each person we encounter in our ministry." I believe that the way I post is exactly that. Spider Poet can use a more earthly let's be friends approach, and I will use the apologist/teacher approach, knowing that at any moment we both could switch hats. I take the teachers approach mainly because since I graduated bible college years ago, I've preached sermons and taught many bible studies, and I'm that preacher guy at work where when anybody has a question about the bible they come to me and ...so I guess it's just second nature by now. That I believe is why some people who have a higher educational pedigree than myself tend to really be offended, because they can't stand the idea of a blue-colar preacher man teaching them anything. And I can understand that, although my intention is never to sound superior or condencending. It probably sounds that way to them becuase I'm speaking in a manor of authority, but that is only because I'm teaching on a subject that is by nature 'ALL POWERFUL', GOD!!!

IDRM, I harbor no malice toward anyone on this board. I understand the mind of one who has not been touched by God. Their hatred is basicaly fear of the unkown. If someone does not know God, or anything about Him, they attack. I can respect that. When I feel something crawling on the back of my neck I usually swat first, ask questions latter.

Anyway, IDRM, I hope this clears the air a little. I want nothing but light and love to shine!!! That's it! And the best way to accomplish that is through the WORD OF GOD.

Please give me your thoughts on this post, I would appreciate it.

[Guest SP-1]

Dopey . . . are you still in the pulpit or did you pursue other interests?

[Guest DrTom]

Just look at the post by Dr. Tom on this thread and you will see why when I start to preach/evengalize almost everyone loses their minds!!! Their heads start spinning and they start screaming at their computer screens, "Fear the priest, Fear the priest...your mother does something in hell...!!!" Then all they can do is try flexing their admin powers at me and start threatening me!!!

You know, I haven't once "flex[ed] my admin powers" at you. You made a preachy and patronizing post toward me, and I responded in a similar manner. You'll find that most people dislike being preached to, and the best way to deal with that is NOT to keep right on doing it. You obviously want people to be respectful of your wishes, so I think the same is true in return. Live and let live, and we'll get along fine.

[Guest Dopey]

Dopey . . . are you still in the pulpit or did you pursue other interests?

Spider, I am not currently in a pulpit, however, I still teach bible studies usually at friends houses, and sometimes at work. The other day I was teaching a study on Calvinism vs. Arminianism at work. Basicaly I am preaching and teaching just about everywhere I go. I've preached/taught in houses, churches, apartments, jails, oldfolks homes, malls, streets... you get the idea. Some of my best preaching has been done in foxholes when I was in the army. Pulling guard duty two thousand miles away from home, in a wet and very cold foxhole, with C-ration cans and barbed-wire wrapped around your feet, hands freezing while clutching your weapon, and a young city-boy private who's never heard the gospel starts asking, "What's this God stuff all about?". That! my brother is one of the coolest experiences of my life. All alone, one on one, thousands of miles away from home, and then seeing God step in and guide you!!!!!!!!! Wooooooooooooo!!!!!!

[Guest SP-1]

I've contemplated entering the Navy as a Chaplain when I graduate college. Officer pay, counseling, spreading the Gospel for a few years. Not as a career but it's something I might do. My career, my overall call in life, lies elsewhere entirely I believe.

[Guest IDrinkRatsMilk]

Yeah, I see your point, Dopey. When you've got SpiderPoet here taking another approach, I guess there's nothing wrong with the method you use.

I respect that about you, that you try to stop preaching when people clearly don't want to be preached to. Personally, I both respect and hate Christianity, but I like arguing about it, so I like to keep things cordial. The degeneration of the conversation is the last thing I want.

[Guest SP-1]

I don't care when Dopey starts throwing verses out. Not at all. I just wish he would start putting application with it and fleshing out it's meaning.

[Guest So what? I liked bubble boy]

I mean, as far as human minds work, I could never truly tell between someone who was REALLY gonna be saved, and someone who just thought they had the "feeling" yet weren't really going to be saved.  

 

Also, when breaking down christianity and the gift of god to it's most basic form.  What is required of us, (BESIDES believing Jesus Christ is our lord and saivor,) to get into heaven?  It seems we have all come to the agreement that even if you are SAVED, it doesn't mean you don't sin, it is just that you repent your sins and are forgiven, so does that mean ALL YOU NEED TO DO, is believe Jesus Christ is our lord and savior?

First off mike, its not your job to see "who is saved or not?". Second, yes that is all you need to be saved, well their's also God's Love, Mercy and Grace that you need.