If being homosexual is a sin, then why did God create homosexuals?

[IzzyPop]

Is there any limit to what God can do?

So it is possible for a straight woman who has no uterus to get pregnant, but not a man or a lesbian? Does that mean that you are limiting god?

 

[GrayCat]

An infertile married couple seeking God might have His blessing according to His will.

Do you see IVF and other fertility treatment as something that works because of God, according to this belief you express here?


I ask because some Christians, contrary to what i asked above, instead seem to have a problem with fertility treatment, though i don't know why.

 

[GrayCat]

Is there any limit to what God can do?

Where does an individual's free will fit with this philosophy?

 

[JediMobius]

Creation has also limited reproductive possibilities to require a uterus and ovaries.

Don't forget testes. . . and that's pretty much my point.

What makes you think that?[/quote]

Because the only way a virgin ever conceived was by the Holy Spirit so that Jesus could be born fully man yet fully God, Jesus doesn't need to be born again, so I think that's it for miraculous conception where no man is involved.

People who ignore the Bible and live however they wish get blessed with children all the time …[/quote]

Through creation, not through miraculous divine intervention, for the most part, but God often gives out of His grace to those who still live in sin.

 

[JediMobius]

So if I desire something, I first have to check with God to make sure He doesn't object to what I want, and if I haven't checked first, then I'm not focused enough on His will and risk being too driven by my own desires. Is that right?

It may start with trivial things such as coffee, but it wouldn't take long to escalate to vices. Furthermore, who are any of us to say what will or won't affect God's will? The smallest insignificant choice can lend to events of importance. I think the original context of what I said has been removed.

The issue is not simply desire, but selfish desire. If you choose to do something regardless of others and regardless of God, you are ignoring all others but yourself. That is not Christ-like and is not what we are called to.

Let's go back to the cup of coffee. If I feel the urge to have a cup of coffee and I pray to God about that urge and He tells me it is ok, then I can get that coffee without fear of contravening Him. But what if I get the coffee and realize it is pretty darn strong and I want to put sugar in it to sweeten it up, and I forgot to ask Him that first -- can I assume sugar was part of the coffee approval, or is that a separate desire that needs its own clearance? And what if I originally planned on having the coffee in the cafe while reading the paper, but had a change of heart and now my desire is to get my coffee to go so I can drink it in the park across the street -- should I check with Him again?

Forget about the details, all those little things. The little things aren't the point. If you put God first every day, then every day you will put on your spiritual armor (ephesians 6), you will get that daily bread from heaven, and be renewed by living water. Then, the Spirit will impress upon you God's will as the situation calls for it.

It's one thing to consider your desires and follow them with regard to the Spirit, it's wholly different to give in to them, letting your desires rule your choices.

 

[JediMobius]

It's really sad that this is the scenario that people set up of God: that he is sitting there, getting angry at every thing that we don't do that he wanted us to (while not telling us what that was), when I think closer to the truth is that he allows us endless possibility - something that should excite us about living, not cowering in fear, hoping we don't anger the Mountain God, lest he send thunder and lighting bolts.

If you are doing something that is pleasurable, yet harms you (getting drunk), you get repercussions (a hang over, for example). It then depends on how much that repercussion affects you (if you are hung over ever day for work, you will eventually get fired.) However, if you get drunk occassionally, don't drive, and are responsible, I don't think God really cares. He is probably far more concerned about what you are doing to love your neighbor than nitpicking at this or that law or sin.

What if by drinking responsibly you inadvertently cause someone to stumble and return to a previous addiction of alcohol? Why wouldn't God care? Some doctrines solve the problem of alcohol by shunning it entirely so that no one my be a stumbling block. It's ok to indulge occasionally, but to assume it's ok by God and then just go ahead and drink is to ignore God entirely, and you may have unintentionally chosen the wrong day to drink.

Rather than anger from God, I would imagine disappointment.

If you are loving your neighbor, it will bear fruit.
If not, it will usually detract from your life.
One causes you to evolve, the other, to remain stagnant, or even de-evolve.

Without putting God first, how will these fruits have value beyond worldly concern?

 

[JediMobius]

So it is possible for a straight woman who has no uterus to get pregnant, but not a man or a lesbian? Does that mean that you are limiting god?

What are you saying? Why would God cause a man to grow a uterus and carry a child? He obviously never intended such a thing, or else he'd have created men with the necessary equipment. I've seen an account of a girl who was born with no eyes receive a working pair of eyes in a prayer/healing service. So yes, God can do anything if He so chooses.

In the case of the 'straight woman' hypothetical, the woman who had her uterus removed was married, so it should be assumed that if God were to restore her ability to conceive, the child would be created through the natural way God created.

 

[JediMobius]

Do you see IVF and other fertility treatment as something that works because of God, according to this belief you express here?


I ask because some Christians, contrary to what i asked above, instead seem to have a problem with fertility treatment, though i don't know why.

I would say that certainly God has allowed it. It works within creation, so it works because of God in that respect. At face value, I don't see the problem, but I've never considered the issue before. I'd be interested to see why some Christians have a problem with fertility treatment.

 

[JediMobius]

Where does an individual's free will fit with this philosophy?

How about that God doesn't often do these miraculous things only God can do until he is asked to? God doesn't live our lives for us, throwing miracles around like daily newspapers does he?

Wait, I'm confused. Why wouldn't it? My abilities don't limit your free will, why would God's abilities (as infinite as they are) limit anyone's free will? I mean, even if God decided one day to pop out and say "Boo!" to Mr. Atheist Smith, Mr. Smith has the free will to decide how he reacts. He could decide to reconsider God's existence, or to convince himself of delusion or some such denial. Mr. Smith could even decide, upon proof of God's existence, Mr. Smith refuses to listen to God anyway, and politely bids God farewell. The same choices, and many others exist no matter what miraculous evidence God provides.

 

[SiderealExalt]

Joh 3:18 He who believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
Joh 3:21 But he who practices truth comes to the Light so that his works may be revealed, that they exist, having been worked in God.

Not the mind, but the heart, and it's not that Christians have their own insight into men's hearts, but what we've learned from the Word of God.

Mat 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings out good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings out evil things.

Mat 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies;

Blah blah blah be a good zombie,etc ad infinitum. Good thing none of that qualifies for accurate evidence for the apparently ability to read the minds of other people.

 

[JediMobius]

Blah blah blah be a good zombie,etc ad infinitum. Good thing none of that qualifies for accurate evidence for the apparently ability to read the minds of other people.

I was showing where my convictions on these matters come from. It's not that I know what people are thinking, it's that I know what the bible says about the world, about those who live in casual defiance of God. Thanks to the internet and the media, I've seen validation of what the bible says about worldly people. Sure it's a generalization, but in general it fits.

 

[SiderealExalt]

I was showing where my convictions on these matters come from. It's not that I know what people are thinking, it's that I know what the bible says about the world, about those who live in casual defiance of God. Thanks to the internet and the media, I've seen validation of what the bible says about worldly people. Sure it's a generalization, but in general it fits.

At least you clarified, for that I applaud you seriously.

Not so seriously, I call such generalizations steaming piles of poo. People can be superficial and sexually selfish period, sexual preference is immaterial to that sort of thinking or lack there of.

 

[Beanieboy]

What if by drinking responsibly you inadvertently cause someone to stumble and return to a previous addiction of alcohol? Why wouldn't God care? Some doctrines solve the problem of alcohol by shunning it entirely so that no one my be a stumbling block. It's ok to indulge occasionally, but to assume it's ok by God and then just go ahead and drink is to ignore God entirely, and you may have unintentionally chosen the wrong day to drink.

Rather than anger from God, I would imagine disappointment.

Without putting God first, how will these fruits have value beyond worldly concern?

Your explanation doesn't make much sense:
"it's ok to indulge occassionally", but to assume it's ok by God...

How can it be ok, and then not be ok by God?

Are you angry when someone inadvertently does anything that they did that harmed you, but couldn't possibly have known?

If someone doesn't say, "I don't drink anymore. I have a problem," it wouldn't be loving my neighbor to pressure him into drinking. However, if I ask him to go out for a couple of beers after a hard work at work, and he says yes, I hardly think that I can be blamed.

I also am not going to live my life in fear thinking that inviting someone to a party, or getting them a drink may be making an alcoholic go back on the wagon.

Do you always walk around with these worst case scenarios, and if so, how can you even leave your house, lest crossing the street may cause a fatal accident?

 

[David Brider]

Outside of marriage, yes.

And what about inside of marriage?

 

[IzzyPop]

What are you saying? Why would God cause a man to grow a uterus and carry a child? He obviously never intended such a thing, or else he'd have created men with the necessary equipment.

And he would have healed the woman with ovarian cancer so she wouldn't have had to have a hysterectomy.

I've seen an account of a girl who was born with no eyes receive a working pair of eyes in a prayer/healing service. So yes, God can do anything if He so chooses.

I've read accounts of UFOs. There is the same evidence for both.

In the case of the 'straight woman' hypothetical, the woman who had her uterus removed was married, so it should be assumed that if God were to restore her ability to conceive, the child would be created through the natural way God created.

And if he gave wings to pigs, they could fly.

I do not understand the difference. Why is one extraordinary happenstance believable and the other not?

 

[Krus]

Do you always walk around with these worst case scenarios, and if so, how can you even leave your house, lest crossing the street may cause a fatal accident?

The life will be easier if we will give our fear to God and will rely on God.
Everything will be ok!

 

[Beanieboy]

The life will be easier if we will give our fear to God and will rely on God.
Everything will be ok!

I think you missed the point. He was asking if it is not a sin to offer a beer to an alcoholic. I don't think that it is everyone's responsibility to have ESP about another's drinking problem. Wear your medalian, tell people, or say "no, thanks," but i don't think one will have to answer to God, just because you unwittingly asked an alcoholic coworker if they want to grab a beer.

 

[Krus]

I think you missed the point. He was asking if it is not a sin to offer a beer to an alcoholic. I don't think that it is everyone's responsibility to have ESP about another's drinking problem. Wear your medalian, tell people, or say "no, thanks," but i don't think one will have to answer to God, just because you unwittingly asked an alcoholic coworker if they want to grab a beer.

Yes, could be.
Hard question. From one side if you offer beer to alcoholic you give him a "gift". From the other side you provoke him to continue to drink.

 

[Beanieboy]

Yes, could be.
Hard question. From one side if you offer beer to alcoholic you give him a "gift". From the other side you provoke him to continue to drink.

And the solution is? Never offer anyone beer, lock your door and hide under the bed? I mean, what if you cross the street, and someone swerves and kills a little girl? What if you spill something, and someone cracks their head open by slipping on it?

That's the kid of reasoning the poster was using.
It's ridiculous as it is fearmongering, and a pathetic way to live.
I will offer someone a beer. I they are alcoholic, I will ask them if they would like something else to drink, like pop or juice.

 

[JediMobius]

And he would have healed the woman with ovarian cancer so she wouldn't have had to have a hysterectomy.

Only if she asked, and then only if it fits God's plan.

I've read accounts of UFOs. There is the same evidence for both.

How you personally categorize evidence is of little consequence.

And if he gave wings to pigs, they could fly.

I do not understand the difference. Why is one extraordinary happenstance believable and the other not?

You're confusing believable with likely.