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Post by curlywurlysammagee on Nov 20, 2014 2:52:10 GMT -5
I found a leaflet in my letterbox the other day. One of the statements that I liked was this.
a, Humility is needed to admit our need of God and to ask for his help.
b, Faith is needed to believe that God did reveal himself to us through Jesus, who died in our place, and then came back to life, taking the punishment we rightly deserved for our selfishness and sin.
c, courage is needed to commit to follow his ways for the rest of our lives.
Hope you all enjoy.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2014 3:56:30 GMT -5
Here's an alternative ABC which may be equally valid.
A - Accident of birth - to be saved you need to win the lottery of where you are born. If you aren't born into an environment which has accepted Christianity your chances of being saved are small. If you enter the world in Tel Aviv or on the West Bank or in Tehran or on the plains of Afghanistan then your chances of believing in JesusChrist are pretty slim. If one is born into a society in which most people are Christian then your chances of believing in Jesus and his blood and all that are much greater than if one is born among the Yanomami Indians of South America.
B - knowledge of the Bible - in order to be saved one needs to have knowledge of the bible and the contents thereof. If one has never heard of the bible or it's contents the chances of believing in the Son of God are practically zero. You may come to believe in a superior being through experiences in life but without any knowledge of the biblical Jesus or his sacrifice or his resurrection one cannot be saved as a Christian.
C - conditioning - one needs to be Conditioned into believing the Bible is true in order to believe in the Christian God and Jesus. One doesn't just wake up one morning and start believing that the resurrection took place or that God really had an Only Son called Jesus. If your parents believe in the Christian God and/or your school teaches you about the Christian God then you have a much better chance of believing the bible to be true than if they don't. If you are born into a 2x2 family your chances of embracing 2x2ism are probably in excess of 50%. However if you are taught to believe that the bible is just another religious book or that the bible is merely a book of myths and dubious history then you haven't much of a chance of believing it to be true really. Matt10
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Post by curlywurlysammagee on Nov 21, 2014 2:23:59 GMT -5
Well Matt, how do we know what the God I believe in has planned for people in countries and times where the "christian west" has not made its mark. Perhaps my God looks at hearts and minds in a way that we do not conceive.
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Post by dmmichgood on Nov 21, 2014 15:48:30 GMT -5
Well Matt, how do we know what the God I believe in has planned for people in countries and times where the "christian west" has not made its mark. Perhaps my God looks at hearts and minds in a way that we do not conceive. curlywurlysammagee, in your post you name the god that you believe in, as "that God did reveal himself to us through "Jesus."
Why, if that god you believe in is so all powerful, has he only thus far made himself known in the Christian West and not in the rest of the world?
After all, he has 2000 years to do so.
That alone shows that it is the people who create their god or gods in their image.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2014 16:21:21 GMT -5
Well Matt, how do we know what the God I believe in has planned for people in countries and times where the "christian west" has not made its mark. Perhaps my God looks at hearts and minds in a way that we do not conceive. curlywurlysammagee, in your post you name the god that you believe in, as "that God did reveal himself to us through "Jesus."
Why, if that god you believe in is so all powerful, has he only thus far made himself known in the Christian West and not in the rest of the world?
After all, he has 2000 years to do so.
That alone shows that it is the people who create their god or gods in their image.
there are missionaries in just about every country on the planet of some denomination or another...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2014 17:12:55 GMT -5
I found a leaflet in my letterbox the other day. One of the statements that I liked was this. a, Humility is needed to admit our need of God and to ask for his help. b, Faith is needed to believe that God did reveal himself to us through Jesus, who died in our place, and then came back to life, taking the punishment we rightly deserved for our selfishness and sin. c, courage is needed to commit to follow his ways for the rest of our lives. Hope you all enjoy. Please, please can I add one more? d, patience and courage is needed to fend off....you know who, on this forum!!!!!
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Post by curlywurlysammagee on Nov 21, 2014 21:39:41 GMT -5
Well Matt, how do we know what the God I believe in has planned for people in countries and times where the "christian west" has not made its mark. Perhaps my God looks at hearts and minds in a way that we do not conceive. curlywurlysammagee, in your post you name the god that you believe in, as "that God did reveal himself to us through "Jesus."
Why, if that god you believe in is so all powerful, has he only thus far made himself known in the Christian West and not in the rest of the world?
After all, he has 2000 years to do so.
That alone shows that it is the people who create their god or gods in their image.
Does it really, in my view God would not ignore seeking souls who are attempting to live a just life. In every land whether there be bibles, missionaries or not. It's the heart that matters and the intent.
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Post by dmmichgood on Nov 22, 2014 15:20:07 GMT -5
curlywurlysammagee, in your post you name the god that you believe in, as "that God did reveal himself to us through "Jesus."
Why, if that god you believe in is so all powerful, has he only thus far made himself known in the Christian West and not in the rest of the world?
After all, he has 2000 years to do so.
That alone shows that it is the people who create their god or gods in their image.
Does it really, in my view God would not ignore seeking souls who are attempting to live a just life. In every land whether there be bibles, missionaries or not. It's the heart that matters and the intent.
curlywurlysammagee said: "Does it really, in my view God would not ignore seeking souls who are attempting to live a just life. In every land whether there be bibles, missionaries or not. It's the heart that matters and the intent."
When you spoke of one special god, the "God did reveal himself to us through "Jesus," you limited yourself to the god of the Western world.
Why would so many more people in the western world believe in the Jesus version of god and such a few in other areas of the world?
It really is quite obvious as to why.
People in different areas of the world create their gods in their own image. The result being there are many different gods.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2014 18:25:52 GMT -5
curlywurlysammagee, in your post you name the god that you believe in, as "that God did reveal himself to us through "Jesus."
Why, if that god you believe in is so all powerful, has he only thus far made himself known in the Christian West and not in the rest of the world?
After all, he has 2000 years to do so.
That alone shows that it is the people who create their god or gods in their image.
Does it really, in my view God would not ignore seeking souls who are attempting to live a just life. In every land whether there be bibles, missionaries or not. It's the heart that matters and the intent.
What in your view is (a) a 'seeking soul', and (b) a 'just life'? Matt10
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Post by xna on Nov 22, 2014 18:50:47 GMT -5
I found a leaflet in my letterbox the other day. One of the statements that I liked was this. a, Humility is needed to admit our need of God and to ask for his help. b, Faith is needed to believe that God did reveal himself to us through Jesus, who died in our place, and then came back to life, taking the punishment we rightly deserved for our selfishness and sin. c, courage is needed to commit to follow his ways for the rest of our lives. Hope you all enjoy. You imagine a just god. Attachments:
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