DieselDaze

No sir.
My post was directed at you. It was directed at everyone as a friendly reminder to keep the site rules in mind when making posts.

Thanks again.
Rich

t-15 firefighter

What if when we die...we just die? End of game. We turn to dust. After all, everything in the universe, including us, is made of the same thing. Just regular old atoms.

I personally believe that man has a natural desire to believe in something greater than himself. I also believe that he wants to believe that this is not all. There is something after death.

Who knows?

Maybe there is and maybe their isn't. But I do suspect one thing. There isn't a person alive that is 100% sure of what is going to happen after death. There is just a twinge of doubt no matter how minute it is, it is still there. No matter how strong your faith is it will still be there. I know there will be a bunch of people that will say that they know they are going to heaven (and I’m sure they believe that) but deep down inside there is the slightest twinge.

I too am enjoying this topic and if permitted I will try to post some information tomorrow. Need to get some sleep tonight.

Britt

smiller

Well, don't worry, God won't punish you for feeling that way.

Joe N.

The Bible teaches that there is only one way to heaven. That means that anyone that does not trust Jesus as their Savior will go to hell. It makes no difference if a person is Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Baptist, Methodist, Catholic or nothing if they don't trust in Jesus they will not go to Heaven. That is not what I say but what God said in the Bible.

Here is an analogy though maybe a poor one. My boss comes to me and gives me an assignment. He wants me to make 100 fender washers 2" in diameter with a 1/2" hole in the center. He leaves me to do my work and I decide I want to make a 3" square washer with a 1/4" slot. When the boss comes back I give him 100 of the prettiest slotted square washers ever made but he is not happy with my work even though it is very well done. He fires me and tells me to leave and never come back. Would my boss be justified in firing me? What right would I have to be angry with him since he hired me and laid out the rules for me? I was the one that chose to disobey his instructions so that makes me the guilty one.

The Bible is the book God gave us to show us His plan and His instructions for us. He tells us what He expects from us and if we choose not to obey Him then why should we expect anything less than hell. It makes us mad because we don't think His punishment is fair but God has established the rules and we have to abide by them. God is perfect and cannot allow anyone that is a sinner into heaven. That is why He sent Jesus to be crucified and then resurrected. Jesus died for our sins, became our sacrifice and by trusting in Him our sins are forgiven. Every person has to make a choice - either believe in Jesus and have the assurance of spending eternity with Him in heaven or reject Him and spend eternity in hell.

Mexstan

When God made man He also gave us a soul. Adam, the first man, sinned and he and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden (which was in Iran). In sinning, Adam lost the capacity to talk to God one on one and needed a way to have his sin redeemed. Right from the book of Genesis, it points to Jesus being the one to redeem us sinners. From the time of Adam's sin, man now had a God sized hole inside him that needed to be filled. It is because of that hole inside us that man is constantly trying to find his way back to God. Satan takes advantage of that hole and fills the non-believers mind with all kinds of false religions, anything to take his or her eyes off Jesus Christ.
No Britt, you are very wrong if you think I have ANY twinges about the destination of my soul. I know with absolute certainty where it is going to go when I die. (Unless the Rapture comes first)
BTW, God is Omnipresent (being able to be everywhere at the same time), Omnipotent (all powerful) and Omniscient (all knowing) Satan is none of these and therefore needs his devils to do his work, snooping reporting etc for him. God knows your thoughts before you have formed them. Satan cannot read your mind, but he CAN put thoughts into your mind. He is also an expert at making you think these incorrect thoughts originated with you.

bdramsey

God is a jealous God, he made man to serve him, if man doesn't then there's a penalty. You married men out there, you would probably be pretty upset if your wife started spending lunch with another man. Lunch would turn into dinner, and then dinner would turn into whatever else. But, if your wife stays tru and faithful then you will love her and treat her to good things. If not, then it would be difficult to give her anything good. That is the way God feels.

One quick question, not to be answered, but a food for thought question.

For those that don't believe there is a one true God, why do they get so upset at those that do believe in one tru God. Not to be retorical but logical. If you had a friend who walked around thinking the sky was purple all the time, would you hate him, make fun of him? Even though you know that the sky is blue all the time.

There's no reason for arguing or fighting, it's not all about my God is better than yours, there are many other Christians out there that go through the same type of treatment and disbelief as the Christians on this site. Is it all foolishness? I don't think it is.

People is there any law against:

Love
Meekness
Gentlness
Kindess
Mercy
Grace
Longsuffering?

No there is not, but we Chrisitans accept and deal with the punishments and penalties of a non existent law. Why is there so much strife over somthing that so many people think is foolishness?
And endure it with joy today, and will endure it with joy tomorrow.

bdramsey

no

Mexstan

OK folks, finally have a little time to start reading all these posts in detail. I am going to attempt, page by page to answer some of the comments. Please bear with me as I do this as it is NOT my intention to insult any of you, but this is a touchy subject and to answer properly, some of my answers may tread on your toes. Don't get offended, just query what I said and I will try and clarify. In some instances I have replied in a general way because to reply in more detail will take many pages and time. Just ask if you have any questions. Well, here goes for page one:
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Geico266. Since man wrote the Bible I believe it contains questionable stories, but that does not mean it is fiction, rather God's will has been interpreted by man. Hence it can contain errors and stories rather than the truth.

Have to disagree with you on this point. The Bible is the inspired Word of God and contains NO errors. In an earlier post I spoke about the Holy Spirit and how some Christians have invited the Holy Spirit to live inside them. It is this same Holy Spirit that inspired the Bible in the first place that now shows man how to interpret the Bible. Man without the Holy Spirit can only view the Bible as stories or literature and will never understand everything in it.
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Geico266. I believe I'm forgiven and while I challenge conventional religion teaching, and I disagree with God from time to time, however, I'll make it to Heaven and be a "sweeper of the streets of gold"

You may ‘believe’ that you are forgiven, but until you have verbally said what is commonly known as the sinners prayer, you cannot get into heaven. The sinners prayer comes from the following scripture:

Romans: Chapter 10 verse 9-10-13
That if you confess with your mouth the “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, you will be Saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with the mouth that you confess and are saved.

There is no fixed words or incantations to get the entry permit to heaven, but for those of you who have never heard of the ‘sinners prayer’ or don’t know what it is I suggest the following or a variation of it. It MUST be said aloud:

Heavenly Father:
I come to you in prayer asking for the forgiveness of my sins. I confess with my mouth and believe with my heart that Jesus is your Son, And that he died on the Cross at Calvary that I might be forgiven and have Eternal Life in the Kingdom of Heaven. Father, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you right now to come in to my life, change me from the inside out and be my personal Lord and Savior. I repent of my sins and will worship you all the day's of my life!. Because your word is truth, I confess with my mouth that I am Born Again and Cleansed by the Blood of Jesus! In Jesus Name, Amen

Another variation:
“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”
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smiller: How can any belief that can 'never be wrong' ever be 'right'? Meaning, the terms right or correct have no meaning when a belief by definition can never be wrong. Given that, how can you know that any one particular religious belief is more correct than any other?

It depends what you mean by “belief”. In this context I am presuming ones belief in Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible. In an earlier post I tried to prove that the Bible is the ONLY true source of what and who God is and points us to the only actions we can take to be assured of entry into heaven. 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17 also says this: “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”.
As for knowing if any one particular religion is more correct than any other, that can be difficult. However, if religions other than the Christian religion is examined as to its origins, it quickly becomes apparent that ALL other religions are man made and therefore cannot get you into heaven. This is a topic all of its own and can go on for thousands of words but to give just one example: Alternative ‘religions’ such as The New Age movement is not new at all. It is actually the old pagan beliefs from the east and some words have been changed to reflect the times. It is designed to take a person away from Jesus Christ. If anyone wants me to show how a specific ‘religion’ conflicts with the Bible, then just ask, and I will see what I can do.
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Geico266 Have you never doubted your faith? Even on the cross Jesus said "Father, why have you forsaken me".

I suspect that you are taking this out of context. When Jesus was dying on the cross as a substitute for our sins and He took on all our sins, past, present and future, He actually became sin. God cannot look on sin and at that moment God had to remove himself from Jesus. Jesus at that instance was very human and in his human form he could not understand why God left. Jesus as the Son of God, the third member of the Trinity, never doubted His faith. It was impossible for Him to do so.

bdramsey

Mexstan... you are alot better at explaining than I am.... I never was very good at tact.... keep up the good work...!

bdramsey

Originally posted by smiller
[bold]Uhh, the New Testament may say that, but the New Testament is not a part of everyone's bible. You are saying to just believe exactly as you do, that's 'not too hard'. Again, and I mean absolutely no offense, but don't you see just a little problem with that point of view?[/bold]

Look at the bible as a "contract". To fully understand any contract you need the complete contract. The old Testament is the old "contract", the new Testament is the new "contract". Testament means covanent - a covanent between God and the human race.

smiller

ALL (your emphasis) religions? Including religions (such as Judaism and Islam) which pre-dated Christianity by millennia and from which Christianity drew many of its basic premises (belief in a single god, etc.)? Are you saying that Judaism and Islam are 'man made' and when Christianity developed (beginning as a Jewish sect) it suddenly became divine? It would seem that you are saying that God originally produced an incorrect or incomplete bible (the Old Testament) and then 'corrected' or updated it later with the New Testament? Rather odd behavior for an all-knowing being...

Mexstan

Wow, there sure are a lot of things to reply to as I go thru the pages of this thread. I have not replied to every post as others seem to have addressed them, but where I felt I needed to, I did. now on to page two .........


chaikwa, to answer your questions as to know which religion is the ‘only’ one could take a lot of time. In short, if a movement or so-called religion does not focus on Jesus Christ or does not vividly show that the ONLY way to heaven is verbally confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord, then they are false. Just because a ‘religion’ is old does not give it credibility. There are more than 300 cults in the United States alone and every one of them if examined closely is man made and will takes ones eyes off Jesus and focus one on something else. Sure, some of them talk about Jesus, but look closely for the real message. Any ‘religion’ that has its own bible (small ‘b’) is a cult. The Word of God is the only one that will survive. As it says in Matthew 24:35; "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”.
Have all your questions been answered? If not let us know.
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Turbos AmoungUs. I wished the Bible would have explained more about UFO's...of course, they didn't have the technology back then to imagine what they were...I do think a lot of "controversial" things nowdays like aliens, and hurricanes were left out of the Bible..however doesn't make it false in your eyes.

Actually, the Bible does talk about UFO’s but indirectly. The Bible also directly address hurricanes and other weather patterns. What I am about to saw may raise a few eyebrows and cause some of you to challenge me, but that is OK. I believe that we are in the end of the prophesied end times. Jesus could appear at any moment. Why do I saw this? Because the writers of the Bible left us signs of the end times and when we can expect Jesus to return to take away His followers. One of the signs is increased demonic activity. A big part of demonic activity is designed to take peoples eyes away from the glory of the Cross and what Jesus did for us. There has been an increase in apparitions etc around the world. Demons are fully capable of devising things like UFO’s to draw people away from God. Watch for increased so-called UFO activity in the near future. Also watch for increased ‘appearances’ of Mary and Jesus. That goes against scripture.
The Bible also mentions the changes in weather patterns. When Jesus was talking about His return He said in Luke 21:25-26, 28. “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because the redemption is drawing near”.

Chaikwa: Don't you follow the traditional native people's religion? Hopefully you can keep that alive, that is a vital part of American history my brother!

Why? If the traditional religion will not provide a way for chaikwa to get to heaven and show how to save his soul for eternity, then why bother with it? Yes, it is part of history and that is all it is.
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phox_mulder. Just check out all the available religions and practice what you feel is the correct one.

phox, are you not being a little presumptions here? In this case we are talking about a mans eternal soul and you are advising him to just do what “feels’” right. Just doing what feels right is exactly what Satan wants everybody to do. That way he can claim another victim. Can’t you see that this kind of ‘advice’ could be condemning him to spend eternity in hell?
BTW, the Mormon ‘religion’ is a cult and I can demonstrate this by the use of apologetics, but really don’t want to get into that here. (sorry if am standing on your toes)

bdramsey

Mexistan.... and I thought you had more tact than me

Mexstan

Sorry to disappoint you. However, sometimes it is necessary to call a spade a spade.

bdramsey

glad to be of service Gotta run gotta home depot with paging out of service........... ain't nuthin but money in the bank! when God blesses, it's not always for free... somtimes we gotta work for it