Do you need peace in your life?

[MehGuy]

Your evidence is all around you. Just look at this world! We have a giant ball of fire in the sky which is the perfect distance from Earth so we don't burn. That ball of fire provides heat and light for all of creation to live. We have a moon that is just the perfect distance that when it moves in front of the sun it is the same size to the naked eye. Life is absolutely amazing. I don't see how someone can think it just happened with no creator. This world is by design, a creation.


By not believing you are rejecting God. You are either with him or against him. I cannot convince you of anything. My job is just to give you the good news that you don't have to burn. You can accept it or reject it.

Yet science continues to shed more and more of a light about things having a natural explanation. Maybe there is a God and all, cool.. yet the more we peer into things the more we find non-supernatural explanations. 99.99% of the universe is hostile to life. We just have the vantage point of one of the few areas where life can flourish. Even then the little we have is variable with time. I don't see a universe designed for us.

 

[Rajni]

that's inspirational and relating, can i ask what you mean by not identifying as "Christian". just to get a wee issue in the back of my mind out of the way....ie- 'Satan get behind me'

Not sure what Satan would have to do with it in any case, but
I no longer apply labels to my spiritual walk (note my previous
statements regarding theological boxes).

For one thing, they've been watered down with overuse. A label will be
defined as one thing by one person, and as something else by another,
the disagreement in meaning all the while being between two
people bearing that same label.

So from that standpoint alone, religious labels are as useful as
rubber lips on a woodpecker.

That being the case, I just don't bother applying any of them to myself
anymore.

Such labels are also invitations for laziness on the part of those assessing
you. They see a label and attribute things to you based on their
understanding of the label rather than on the individual bearing that
label, not realizing that it's not one-size-fits-all. Too much temptation to
pigeon-hole people.



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[Rajni]

I don't have a Lawyer to decipher all of the rules on this forum.

No lawyer needed, thankfully.

"Stating or implying that another Christian member, or group of members,
are not Christian is not allowed." (Terms of Service and Christian Forum Rules | Christian Forums)

Again, though, I'm assuming most Christians already knew this from what
the previously-cited Scripture has to say about the Lord alone knowing the
heart.

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[Tinker Grey]

So you have met him or you just said that?

Of course I didn't. He doesn't exist. But, just like you I thought I had. And, just like you, I thought no one who "met him" could walk away.

And like @Caliban, I've never had more peace and contentment than now that after 44 years I walked away.

 

[Mantishand]

Yet science continues to shed more and more of a light about things having a natural explanation. Maybe there is a God and all, cool.. yet the more we peer into things the more we find non-supernatural explanations. 99.99% of the universe is hostile to life. We just have the vantage point of one of the few areas where life can flourish. Even then the little we have is variable with time. I don't see a universe designed for us.

God created science.

 

[Mantishand]

Of course I didn't. He doesn't exist. But, just like you I thought he did. And, just like you, I thought no one who "met him" could walk away.

And like @Caliban, I've never had more peace and contentment than now that after 44 years I walked away.

No not like me. I have met him. You can't un-met Jesus. He is very real.

 

[MehGuy]

God created science.

Oh man.. I never thought about that!

 

[Mantishand]

No lawyer needed, thankfully.

"Stating or implying that another Christian member, or group of members,
are not Christian is not allowed." (Terms of Service and Christian Forum Rules | Christian Forums)

Again, though, I'm assuming most Christians already knew this from what
the previously-cited Scripture has to say about the Lord alone knowing the
heart.

-

Your right God knows the heart. But they admit they are non christians so I'm just quoting scripture that matches what they say.

 

[Tinker Grey]

No not like me. I have met him. You can't un-met Jesus. He is very real.

No you haven't.

 

[Mantishand]

Oh man.. I never thought about that!

Well people always try to explain stuff away with science, like it will discredit God or something. It doesn't as he created science. I have yet to hear a scientific argument that proves God doesn't exist.

 

[Rajni]

I would also note that the fact that there are people who experience peace
apart from an active belief in God would suggest that it's not the power of
belief that determines the reality of God, but God Himself that
determines that reality.

If God is a peace-generating agent, that peace can be experienced apart
from any belief in Him. Just as I don't have to believe in gravity for gravity
to have its impact on me, I don't have to believe in God for God to have His
impact on me. (I do believe God exists; I'm just not as dogmatic about the
details like I used to be... after what I've learned, I know better than to be
doctrinaire concerning such matters. This seems very much to be a YMMV
situation).


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[MehGuy]

Well people always try to explain stuff away with science, like it will discredit God or something. It doesn't as he created science. I have yet to hear a scientific argument that proves God doesn't exist.

Seems like circular logic.

I wouldn't say it disproves God, just that we may not have adequate evidence to justify belief in the first place. I'd never consider myself a strong atheist.

 

[Mantishand]

No you haven't.

Yes I did. What is this a grade school fight?

 

[Rajni]

Your right God knows the heart. But they admit they are non christians so I'm just quoting scripture that matches what they say.

Your insisting that they never were to begin with is what I was referring to.

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[Victor in Christ]

Rayjeena, i'm not easily scared but your avatar does. It reminds me of one of the satanic metal CD's i recently ripped up and binned....lol

 

[Victor in Christ]

Not sure what Satan would have to do with it in any case, but
I no longer apply labels to my spiritual walk (note my previous
statements regarding theological boxes).

For one thing, they've been watered down with overuse. A label will be
defined as one thing by one person, and as something else by another,
the disagreement in meaning all the while being between two
people bearing that same label.

So from that standpoint alone, religious labels are as useful as
rubber lips on a woodpecker.

That being the case, I just don't bother applying any of them to myself
anymore.

Such labels are also invitations for laziness on the part of those assessing
you. They see a label and attribute things to you based on their
understanding of the label rather than on the individual bearing that
label, not realizing that it's not one-size-fits-all. Too much temptation to
pigeon-hole people.



-

You believe in the sacrifice Christ made for us sinners on the cross though?

 

[Mantishand]

Your insisting that they never were to begin with is what I was referring to.

-

Yeah that's what I said and meant. I could be wrong who knows. Anyway I understand what you mean by God is to big to be labeled. but do you have a problem with Christianity or Jesus Christ?

 

[Tinker Grey]

Yes I did. What is this a grade school fight?

Hey, if you can make bald-faced assertions, so can I.

 

[Rajni]

Rayjeena, i'm not easily scared but your avatar does. It reminds me of one of the satanic metal CD's i recently ripped up and binned....lol

When I was a Christian it didn't take much to frighten me,
either. Satan and demons lurking behind everything, or so it
seemed. Where was my "peace that passes all understanding"?


Personally, I don't do satanic metal, or satanic anything else.
Never have, and probably never will (though that won't stop
the more jittery types from reading the satanic into what I do
or say).

You believe in the sacrifice Christ made for us sinners on the cross though?

I used to. I know that's what is said about the purpose of Jesus' death on the
cross. Just like I know it's said that Lord Krishna held up a mountain with His
pinky finger. But I can't speak as an eyewitness to either event, as I wasn't
there when it (was said to have) happened.
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Yeah that's what I said and meant. I could be wrong who knows. Anyway I understand what you mean by God is to big to be labeled. but do you have a problem with Christianity or Jesus Christ?

I don't really have a problem with it as much as I simply don't believe a lot of
what it teaches anymore. And Jesus really was never the problem. Actually,
God was never the problem, either. Things get attributed to God and Jesus
by different believers that I just personally no longer subscribe to.

But I also find a lot of wisdom in the bible, just as I do in other sacred texts.
So I try not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I tend to gravitate more towards the mystical side of religions than I do the
dogmatic, militant side of them. Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection
(author of "The Practice of the Presence of God" -- awesome book!), the
Sufi mystic Rumi, the Hindu saint Mirabai... those who not only loved God
but also seemed to be very much in love with Him. I personally have
experienced that kind of love for God and I miss it. But even now I can
compare it to the love I have for a fellow mortal and see the difference.
The love I have for God (which is still there but running in the background,
to use computer terminology) could flare up again at any given time, and
when active it's nothing short of rapture. It makes sense since its focus is
upon the King of the Universe. That right there makes it some heady stuff.



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[Mantishand]

Hey, if you can make bald-faced assertions, so can I.

Um ok?