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Post by ranman77007 on Aug 4, 2007 8:38:46 GMT -5
Luk 8:29 (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.) i have been telling people of the devils here for awhile now. you talk far too much Legion..... 6 posts in 3 years? does everybody get along with you? can Legion go in the chat room? if i only let Legion use my I.P. address, will you let him in Syd? see, he has a clean Spirit now.... but nobody's perfect.
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Post by Yeah Right on Aug 4, 2007 10:07:53 GMT -5
If people were more loving and caring to each other and the world became a better place the Christian world would gather round and give the credit to God. Isn't God great? Aren't we so blessed? God's love of humanity never changes or falters. When good things happen to us in our lives we know that God cares and loves us all. Oh but when bad things happen in the world God is hidden away like an unsightly birthmark. It's never God's fault that bad things happen - it's man's. The rain that falls on the unjust is God's punishment but the rain that falls upon the just is always the fault of someone else. What a convenient God. God the all powerful One who with one flick of his finger could cure all the world's ills doesn't bother to lift a finger at all. You can't have it both ways - God is either all powerful and could cure the ills of the world or He isn't. If He is then why doesn't He? If he loves and cares about humanity He surely would. The reason that he doesn't is because He really doesn't care at all. In fact He doesn;t give a hoot!
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Post by ithascome on Aug 4, 2007 10:48:42 GMT -5
Yeah Right .....
Has anyone ever gone out of their way to give you a helping hand.... to show love for you when they did not have to. Why do you suppose they did that? I tell you it was God that did that. He loves you and worked through them. When I was a little boy I lived in an orphanage in a room with 50 other boys. Every Christmas morning our room would be filled with toys, candy and clothes. I tell you it was God that did that. many years later... one cold Christmas night I went to a post office and found a man lying on the floor wrapped up in a dirty blanket. As I was leaving... a voice spoke to me and said "help that man" .... I tell you it was God that did that. The problem is not that God doesn't give a hoot! The problem is that we have more and more people that don't give a hoot!
Do you care?
you said it... why blame God because people refuse to follow Him? What did Jesus say... "Love your neighbor"
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pete
New Member
Posts: 37
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Post by pete on Aug 4, 2007 12:49:48 GMT -5
Annemarie, you could be my soul sister! I can SO relate to what you're saying. I wouldn't say I have been driven from God though. To me it seems more like an awakening, a realization that all religion is hopelessly subjective. I have seen people stand up in meeting or convention and tearfully express their joy because of finding "the Truth" after years in "false religion." Then, I read posts here from former members of the fellowship who express their joy upon exiting because their eyes were opened. As another poster mentioned, if you were born and raised by Muslims the odds are huge that you'll always be a Muslim; there is no "truth" outside the bounds of the Koran. If you were born and raised by Christians, you may try as an adult to find answers in other religions, but again the odds are stacked against you. How can you find peace in something else when your young, malleable mind was loaded with software that says "follow Jesus or you'll be tortured in a burning lake of fire forever"? The bible (especially the OT) is full of negative imagery, and speaks of an angry, racist, misogynous god. You can try to spin it anyway you like (and most do), but take off your Christian/Judeo/2X2 decoder glasses and read it just as it's written. When you finally come to the conclusion that a lot of it was written by angry, racist, misogynous humans, and not by god, then things start making a lot more sense. For me, there is so much freedom in understanding this: just because everybody I know says the bible is the inspired word of God doesn't make it so. Sure, there ARE some inspiring passages in the bible -- Psalms and Proverbs are full of timeless wisdom -- but most of the book is made up of myths, allegories, and one-sided views of the old world. I'm with you, Annemarie, whoever you are. This board has enlightened me, scared me, confused me, but ultimately pushed me...out of my comfort zone. Finally, I'm finding out who I really am and what I really believe. I'm still on the journey (it's a lifelong one, after all), but it's good to know I'm not alone in this quest. I hope we hear from you again. --Pete
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Post by Gene on Aug 4, 2007 14:07:32 GMT -5
Pete, you have written my thoughts quite precisely. I would not say that this board has driven me from God either, but it has certainly helped to solidify my belief that religion is a construct of man in his attempt to bring order and meaning to an otherwise rather chaotic and certainly transient life -- and as such, I am convinced that religion is a reflection of mankind's desperation much more than it is an expression of any deity.
I am still on my spiritual journey. I am learning not to discount other's search for meaning through mysticism. At the same time, I am increasingly impatient with those who would seek to impose upon me the logical conclusions of their own mystical beliefs.
Regards, Gene
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Post by ranman77007 on Aug 5, 2007 3:47:50 GMT -5
Yeah Right ..... Has anyone ever gone out of their way to give you a helping hand.... to show love for you when they did not have to. Why do you suppose they did that? I tell you it was God that did that. He loves you and worked through them. When I was a little boy I lived in an orphanage in a room with 50 other boys. Every Christmas morning our room would be filled with toys, candy and clothes. I tell you it was God that did that. many years later... one cold Christmas night I went to a post office and found a man lying on the floor wrapped up in a dirty blanket. As I was leaving... a voice spoke to me and said "help that man" .... I tell you it was God that did that. The problem is not that God doesn't give a hoot! The problem is that we have more and more people that don't give a hoot! Do you care? you said it... why blame God because people refuse to follow Him? What did Jesus say... "Love your neighbor" the thing about that guy in the blanket: helping him on christmas is pretty cool...but then comes the 26th, and the guy is looking at you like "huh is christmas over?" and you see that this guy is going to need help on the 27th,28th,29th,30th,......Happy New Year !!! just give him a new blanket, 5 bucks, tell him you are an angel, since he may be one too (they like entertainment).....and bail !! exit stage left !! or take him in as your own.
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Post by ranman77007 on Aug 5, 2007 3:52:44 GMT -5
Annemarie, you could be my soul sister! I can SO relate to what you're saying. I wouldn't say I have been driven from God though. To me it seems more like an awakening, a realization that all religion is hopelessly subjective. I have seen people stand up in meeting or convention and tearfully express their joy because of finding "the Truth" after years in "false religion." Then, I read posts here from former members of the fellowship who express their joy upon exiting because their eyes were opened. As another poster mentioned, if you were born and raised by Muslims the odds are huge that you'll always be a Muslim; there is no "truth" outside the bounds of the Koran. If you were born and raised by Christians, you may try as an adult to find answers in other religions, but again the odds are stacked against you. How can you find peace in something else when your young, malleable mind was loaded with software that says "follow Jesus or you'll be tortured in a burning lake of fire forever"? The bible (especially the OT) is full of negative imagery, and speaks of an angry, racist, misogynous god. You can try to spin it anyway you like (and most do), but take off your Christian/Judeo/2X2 decoder glasses and read it just as it's written. When you finally come to the conclusion that a lot of it was written by angry, racist, misogynous humans, and not by god, then things start making a lot more sense. For me, there is so much freedom in understanding this: just because everybody I know says the bible is the inspired word of God doesn't make it so. Sure, there ARE some inspiring passages in the bible -- Psalms and Proverbs are full of timeless wisdom -- but most of the book is made up of myths, allegories, and one-sided views of the old world. I'm with you, Annemarie, whoever you are. This board has enlightened me, scared me, confused me, but ultimately pushed me...out of my comfort zone. Finally, I'm finding out who I really am and what I really believe. I'm still on the journey (it's a lifelong one, after all), but it's good to know I'm not alone in this quest. I hope we hear from you again. --Pete lifelong journey to where? its gonna be a surprise party, i'll tell you that much....
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Post by ithascome on Aug 6, 2007 2:28:09 GMT -5
Or you could get him a place to stay and help him get a job.
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Post by ranman77007 on Aug 6, 2007 2:57:56 GMT -5
Or you could get him a place to stay and help him get a job. thats what i meant by take him in as your own.... but maybe he don't want a job, maybe he just thinks he wants a job.... there are homeless people, i have lived with them, been around them, and there are a lot that are quite content to wake up under the bridge, ask people for money, buy alcohol mainly, unless they are into the drug, motel scene... and they have no intention of changing.... but helping them is still the right thing to do, help them if you can... strange but true...
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Post by ithascome on Aug 6, 2007 13:12:01 GMT -5
Yes I agree.... I spent 3 years trying to help ex-cons get on their feet... many were homeless... some could not be helped. My job was a government grant program... which we had promised 80% success in order to obtain the money. We were only able to have 73% success... so after the 3 years were up... the grant was not renewed... so I was out of work for a while as a result.
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