God is cool

Of course God loves us, the question we have to answer is how much do we Love him. Remember he is a Father too, so what Father would welcome people in his home when they reject his Son? How can one say they love the Father but not love the Son that is made in his image?

GrowingSmaller said:

I see God as (or believe that He is) some kind of cool magician. I had a "Christian epiphany" (please dont bore yourselves) some time ago, but I have problems believing in a trinity.

I think that maybe God made Islam for me, because I am not fond of the dea of an eternal "church service in the sky" (to put things perhaps unfairly) which Christianity offers to the saved. So, I believe I may be saved ("beatific vision" = saint). But God offers Islam to me as an alternative to the orthodox heaven.


This may sound a bit tongue in cheek, but i am not a very serious person in general, and I think that God loves me for who I am. Hence, God is cool.

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Indeed, God loves you ; read Psalm 139 for proof of that amongst other vital proofs.

Im afraid that God has only one singular way to be saved , and that is to be saved from all accumulated sins . The method he chose was to send his Son Jesus to earth to pay the price that we could not pay for ourselves despite how 'good' we think we are or how hard we try to be.

If you are willing to get completely reconciled to God thru his Son Christ, then you will be safe to physically die and will experience an eternity which is so incredible that human words cannot adequately describe. Read 1 Corinthians 2:9 please.

Finally, because Jesus CHrist is real / there is an incredible amount of reliable historical evidence for his life, death, and resurrection.../ that he fulfilled 300 former predictions made of him thousands of years prior / and was totally sinless in lifestyle (whereby Mohammed was certainly an immoral Person based on history).....whatever Jesus said and taught about how to get to heaven, is the absolute truth. He said HE was the way to heaven and no other way --- that makes every other competing religion, philosophy, secular religion such as Secular Humanism ....completely false and a huge deception.

HOW willing are you to look into the evidence for Jesus ? If youre interested since your eternity is at stake, id be willing to spend time with you if you are genuine so you can have opportunity to receive Jesus as your King so you can have heaven. If you are not interested, then I guess ill conclude by saying that expecting '72 Virgins in Heaven as a gift from an immoral God for having been a good Muslim all ones life' will never ever occur and is utter hypocrisy expecting it from a holy, righteous, pure Creator in whos image we are all made. YES, God is certainly Cool...but hes not a lowlife and Muslims don't have the real Creator or true Prophet in Mohammed ...only an Imposter . Regards

GrowingSmaller said:

I am liking the ISKON (Krishna vedic) approach, where we reincarnate according to our wishes (ie in ther material nature if we are materialistic, the spiritiual domain if we are spiritual).

MAybe 72 virgins may be boring after some time, a life of gluttenous sensuality?

There is no space (afaik) for much philosophising in the Muslim paradise, at least according to how it is described. But also in Christianity... although you have a great attitude to free thought at this point in history, with these foums being so open and welcoming, and also tolerant. But the intellectual.... well, is that aspect of us lost in heaven? After all arent we supposed to be as angels in heaven, and angels (and the higher part of man) has been associated with intellect.

But anyways, re christians here "normal" because I ought to tighten up my manners, I always feel like a lower class in church.

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If the IKSON approach was true then we all would be our own "god." Think about it, if that's true then what would we need God for? And there would be no motivation do what was right because we would be in control of our destiny through our own will. In Heaven we will be a tier higher than angels. Humans are made in God's image and since we walked the Earth and believed the Lord we will be welcome in his family. It is not about how intellectual we are it is about how faithful we are. Jesus said what is first on Earth will be last in Heaven and what is last on Earth will be first in Heaven. So the people who endured great hardships in this lifetime will be more blessed and have more than the ones who lived a life of comfort and privilege. Also guard your thoughts from feeling lower class in Church, it is a trick of the devil to make you feel unworthy to keep you from going to Church. The truth is we are all unworthy but God graciously wants us and accepts us, so come to him. I hope this helps, God bless!

Remember, Smaller, that although we need to be "smaller" in our own eyes, God will exalt the ones who come to Him through His beloved Son (note John 14). I would advise you to not be just academic about deity, but think about God as a heavenly "Father" who loves us; and His Son --the Lord Jesus, the Christ (messiah) of God as His Savior for mankind.

Your thoughts about God and your idea of reincarnation, etc. is only reasoning, but God's Word is eternal, and one must not risk being left behind when God calls His church to Himself one day. We must not just "take our chances" with religious ideas. God has revealed Himself clearly in His Word, so you are held responsible and would do well to study it (begin with the Gospel of John and learn about the Creator-God for our day. Look up always!

GrowingSmaller said:

I think that maybe God made Islam for me, because I am not fond of the dea of an eternal "church service in the sky" (to put things perhaps unfairly) which Christianity offers to the saved. So, I believe I may be saved ("beatific vision" = saint). But God offers Islam to me as an alternative to the orthodox heaven.

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That's not what Christianity offers, though. The Christian hope is a resurrected body in a new heaven & earth - not zipping off to some place in the sky.

Here is a link that really addresses this topic well: You're Not Going to Heaven: There's a Better Final Destination | Seedbed

GrowingSmaller said:

Thanks for the quotes, both yours and from the bible. You know I am not an exclusivist. The more ones way is exclusive, it seems that then even amongst fellow believers in ones own religion, then they have to conform to my view in ever decreasing circles, until I am the only justified one out there.

What about "BLESSED ARE THE HUMBLE OR POOR OF SPIRIT" AND "THE HUMBLE SHALL BE EXHALTED" AND "THOSE WHO WUOLD BE LAST WILL BE FIRST, AND THOSE WHO THINK THEY'RE FIRST WILL BE LAST".

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a. We should be so very grateful that God provided A WAY, and that specific way was his very own Son being sent to pay the price for sins that we couldn't. We couldn't, Mohammed / Buddha / and David Koresh couldn't ....only a perfect sinless Person could. Jesus. You cant get to God by trying to be good either because sins still remain even though we occasionally act righteously . Its Jesus Christ or no way at all. But God loves us so much that he gave us his Son and all we have to do is simply trust that his sacrifice was totally sufficient to remove our sins. Therefore, it becomes a RELATIONSHIP instead of doing a bunch of required religious things . See the difference ?

b. Yes, we need to be humble. Humble to simply receive Gods free undeserved gift of being saved and reconciled back to God himself., and never try to get their by pulling up on our own bootstraps by doing rituals, visits to certain places, mechanical activities, and the like. Its all done and finished in Jesus alone, and not us. It takes a humble person to deny self effort and instead trust Jesus ...someone else . I hope you will even if it means under the threat of death by a hostile Religion that is highly intolerant.

You can be sure of your salvation too, and it only comes thru the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who historically atoned for mankinds sins then resurrected to prove it was sufficient and completed. It was performed by a sinless person because he is part of the GodHead. No other human Religious Leader could ever do that for mankind...all they can offer is some form of morality to live by and even at that some of these Leaders were immoral, unethical, and ruled by the sword -- not a good role model for mankind. But Jesus is and was. Its Jesus we need to trust because he did some things that nobody else did or could. What will you do with Jesus ? : Just call him a good teacher, or, call him the King, Lord, and Master over Creation itself. What people decide about him determines all of eternity so please please please consider Jesus with your utmost diligence . Theres only one chance to get it right.

I see God as (or believe that He is) some kind of cool magician. I had a "Christian epiphany" (please dont bore yourselves) some time ago, but I have problems believing in a trinity.

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Why? What's the problem with the Trinity?

I think that maybe God made Islam for me, because I am not fond of the dea of an eternal "church service in the sky" (to put things perhaps unfairly) which Christianity offers to the saved.

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This isn't what is offered to the saved.

So, I believe I may be saved ("beatific vision" = saint). But God offers Islam to me as an alternative to the orthodox heaven.

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Uh, not the God revealed in the Bible. The God Christians worship and serve does not offer alternatives to salvation through Christ except an eternity in hell.

This may sound a bit tongue in cheek, but i am not a very serious person in general, and I think that God loves me for who I am.

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How do you know He loves you for who you are? The Bible says something very different.

Hence, God is cool.

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Because He makes no demands upon you morally or otherwise? That's convenient...

Selah.

GrowingSmaller said:

Hey thanks! What about those who are last being those who are least sure of their salvation, rather than the "hooray I'm saved" crowd? And some of those who prophecy in His name being disowned by Him. Does that not leave space for a more unconventional salvation, ie outside of the conventional church?

Also I live in the UK and ther eis a "class system" in society, and I live in an affluent area(ish) but I am personally not so well to do (wealthy), nor have a university degree either. Some of the churches are quite material minded, its like they're dressing for the next wedding reception or the next job interview. I thought that christianity was meant to be a Gospel for the outcasts and sinners, but its often a bit of a cult of the world and of social status alongside all the piety. And when the offetory goes on the partors sports car or something (thats not evidenced but I wouldnt be suprised), well this seems incredible.

The "prosperity gospel" idea ("God will make you wealthy") really puts me off. I tried the Cathiolics, and they have some great saints to look up to, but I seemed like more of a reject from the start, not being of the successful typology. IN the LDS church the pastor even emphasised "we are an inclusivbe church" but it seems that well they are an upper eschelonn of academic types to me. God bless, and all that back biting my teeth will be lost some time.

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There is a space for unconventional salvation, but that is based on a person's heart and if they never heard the Gospel before. That definitely applied before the industrial age because the world was not a global community. But now we have global communication like the internet and social media the good news of Jesus can be spread to more people. But we still do send missionaries out in third world countries or small villages who never heard of Jesus. For the people who are least sure of their salvation, they can become sure by reading one of the gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke or John to understand Jesus. Understanding salvation is definitely a topic everybody should be actively searching for. The people who prophesy in his Name being disowned by Jesus are like the Pharisees in Jesus time. They do not serve God to honor God, they serve Jesus to appear holy. They like how people treat them because they appear to be holy like Jesus. If we start living for our own glory instead of Jesus's glory we will lose focus and be distracted by the temptation of pride and what the secular world considers to be honorable.

I have also been apart of a church that preaches the "prosperity gospel" and I don't like it either. Churches like that do not see the big picture and they are also in danger of behaving like the Pharisees because they will become puffed up with pride and working towards the material blessings instead of being a blessing like Jesus told us to do. I agree, definitely avoid those churches, not to say everyone in their is "bad" but the leaders of that church should know better if they are properly following Jesus's words. I currently go to a non-denominational church now, when I was looking for a church home I paid close attention to the preacher's sermons and how they viewed the bible. If the members of the church are not expected to read the bible then all of the church members are in danger of just blindly follow what ever the leader of that church says. It is most important for every believer to grasp a good understanding of what the Lord's will is.

Reasoning will profit little. Start reading the Gospel of John, then the Epistle of Romans, and you may begin to hear God speaking to you --otherwise, if one continues reasoning and listening to various rationales, they will surely go astray and miss God's "...so great salvation" in His beloved Son.

There is an urgency about this, friend, for you may not be here even tomorrow, and it will then be too late to change your views.