A Churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all." This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today! " When you are DOWN to nothing.... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment! All right ... now that you're done reading... send it on!!! I think everyone should read this!! "When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, "Jesus, could you get that for me?
Dont come in this section of the board. We here are no more weird than you for not beleiving. If YOU have a problem with it dont come to the "Help from above" section It is about christian faith.
Pascal, the mathemetician once proved using probability theory: Upon death, the consequences of: believing in God during one's lifetime; and, there is no God, are far less severe then of not believing in God during one's lifetime; and, there is a God! :grin:
Im not afraid of anything, however we dont accept rudeness in this section. You can be rude anywhere else you want and since you make it a habit of being that way you dont need to be here. We have asked people before to stay out of this section, if you wish you can be next.
If Hell isn't enough of a reason....I don't know what is?!?o No: I couldn't stand the thought of a life without Christ....not to mention - an eternity.:Smarty: Couple that with a lake of fire - that's a downright scary thought!!
My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, I saw the Lord, there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God. Until I am born again and really begin to see the kingdom of God, I only see from the perspective of my own biases. What I need is Gods surgical procedureHis use of external circumstances to bring about internal purification. Mike, Thanks for posting the narrative. I have reflected a similar attitude concerning attendance. I have a different perspective now.
I have been without Christ in my life before. I was an un-believer for many years. I was raised with Faith but turned my back on it. Then I was saved 20 years ago. I cant imagine going back the other way. There is a definite difference in my life now that He is there. I don't have to face alone the insurmountable issues that come along. I no longer live in fear. There is a time and a place of my death and when that happens I will be home. I cant say I have ever heard God in an audible voice or that he has ever manifested Himself before me, but I do know that He is with me. There are things that happen in my life that could not have been orchestrated by me or anyone else. Those are God things. I am comforted by the fact that He accepts me for who I am a as I am. And you would have to be God to do that:laugh: I just know that Gods love is unconditional and He wants all of his people to love him back. I just cannot imagine the hopelessness and despair that I would carry every day if He were not part of me. So, "why bother"? It's simple. Your Creator loves you and wants to be with you. He gives hope in a hopeless world. He gives peace in a turbulent life. He provides comfort through tragic times. As humans we all have one thing in common. None of us will get off of this planet alive. Where we spend eternity is our choice.
You forgot the second post there txgwildcat!! Since you deleted your first I thought I would point out the second one
I only said, "Live in Fear weirdos". It's not a personal attack on anyone. I deleted it because of apparent sensitivities. Gimme a Break, I apologize for the weirdo comment. As for my rudeness, Show ME!
I guess I missed out on some stuff with my sometimes dial-up internet service. Seems the operative word here is "Fear". I felt that today at lunch I'd do a Bible study to deal with Fear, and what it means to followers of Christ, and folks who dissregard Christ. I am doing this in a tone of helpfulness as if I'm speaking normally. Don't interpret me as yelling or seeking to prove something on my own laurels, which would lead to failure. Fear of God. Yessir we are commanded to fear the creator of EVERYTHING. Both Believers and otherwise have this command. Try to imagine as best you can a command such as this from the Creator, not in a text like being fearful of something earthly like fear of getting beat up by Mike Tyson. I recommend reading Isaiah 8.11 for the command. So why are we to fear God? Jesus summed it up best in Matthew 10.28. "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destry both body and soul in hell!!" If you don't follow Christ, this message outta scare you. But God WANTS you to chose Christ of you own free will so that you will not wind up in Hell. So can fear have a purpose greater than the sum of fear itself? Does it still apply to the saved? Yup. Again, imagine this from God, not humans. Here are examples of why we are to fear. 1. Fear is a Sin Deterent. Father God wants us to live rightously and achieve the ultimate prize. Eternity with God, Jesus, and the holy spirit!!!! See Exodus 20.20 The great prophet Moses speaking through complete instruction from God told the Israelies "God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning". 2 Secures divine blessing. Luke 1.50 "His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation". Thing how fearing God, and teaching your family to do the same, will be manifested by your family and many generatons of it being in eternal paradise. Good stuff!! 3. Fear can motivate us to respect others. Leviticus 25.17 "Do not take advantage of others, but fear your God". I could seek out more passages, but you get the idea.....right? In his unfathomable wisdom, God has instituted fear as a way that you'll cling to his truth and rightousness to acheive salvation in Christ. Do you not like a God fearing person? Why not? To fear God means he/she will have no desire to do you any wrong. The God fearing person's desire for you is nothing but good stuff. I guess in closing I wanna say that I prayed about this issue and tackled it from the very God breathed passages in the Holy Bible. God bless all my Buick friends and my great hope is that todays study may cause enlightenment. God bless all of youns!!!
Now by printing just a small portion of that, you've changed its context. Its a common thing for folks to do. To make certain passages more friendly to them. Please use caution with such editing if you chose to investigate Christ further. Thanks for checking out my study. We will all do what we can if you have some questions or need guidence. I myself learn more about matters of the spiritual every day. Plus this forum allows me to be more bold and less subjective to stumbling speech. Its crash time for me:sleep:
Dan, well said!! :TU: But we must remember, when we consider the sacrifice of Christ for us, and God's love is made complete in us, "perfect love drives out fear." (1 Jn 4:18) Incredible! I just humbly make this point because I think someone pointed this out to me once before here in this forum.
Absolutley Glenn. When we acheive a Love so great as to not want to disrespect our creator, then we'll have no desire to sin. No sin, no fear. I didn't add Love to my study cause it wasn't in question. All emotions can be studied because they were all created by God and his unfathomable wisdom. And you'll find that they all have turning to Christ as the number one option.
The closer I get to my Lord, the more I see that a job is just a means to an end and a way to pay the bills. Much more important stuff to do as far as God's work. He has outlined "The Great Commission". I am learning that the Lord can work through ordinary men. Worship is a way of life for me and my family as was my salvation a life changing event AND the single greatest decision I ever made. I seek and desire a closer, more intimate relationship with my Lord and Savior. I pray that he will continue to mold me more in the image of his Son and that others might see Him in my ways and actions. Christian fellowship is a wonderful thing. We serve an awesome God! I'm also grateful for a forum such as this one. God is good all the time! For my Christian Buick brothers here, I pray that each of you be in God's will in your lives and be receptive to His desires for you.
