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how do i know???

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KeepTheFaith15

Thats Me whats can i say?
lemme ask everyone this then, how can i be sure god's there? you say he sent his one and only son,the bible says that how do YOU know that the person writing the bible wasnt just lieing? what if theres no god,jesus,heaven, and hell and im just looking up talking to the sky and not someone whose there how can u be sure that all that happened, how can you be sure that after we die were going to heaven if were saved? how do you know all that exsist? i dont wanna doubt this stuff i wanna be strong in my faith but i dont see how i can be when i dont even know if all this stuff is even there,if it even happened if it's even true? i just dont know. so if you know all the answer tell me.
 

JagSayon

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Originally posted by KeepTheFaith15
lemme ask everyone this then, how can i be sure god's there? you say he sent his one and only son,the bible says that how do YOU know that the person writing the bible wasnt just lieing? what if theres no god,jesus,heaven, and hell and im just looking up talking to the sky and not someone whose there how can u be sure that all that happened, how can you be sure that after we die were going to heaven if were saved? how do you know all that exsist? 

Faith15, let me ask you then. What if, the people writing the Bible weren't lying? What if there is God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Heaven & Hell? Can you take the risk of not believing? I got a real jolt after I got questioned from a banner next to the expressway - "So you don't believe in Me. But what if you're WRONG?". Sure, if its one big hoax, then nothing to lose right?


But what if He DOES exist? It is written, "It is better to not know Me, then to know Me and turn your back on Me". There was a period when I had my doubts, few years back. But I told myself, I can't risk going to hell. Faith15, I hope you don't turn off the straight but narrow path that leads to salvation. I hope this helps at least a bit.

Jag
 
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KeepTheFaith15

Thats Me whats can i say?
i didnt say i didnt believe and you didnt help one bit you didnt even answer my questions. geez dont be harsh. i asked a question that i wanted a real answer to not you come back with the same type questions to me,i want to know if he's real or not because i dont wanna sit here and talk to the sky if he isnt even real but your right im not gonna risk going to hell i nevere wanted to risk it it's hard to believe he's their when i havent gone through anything but suffering but he is there so yea im better now. now does anyone else actually wanna answer my questions cause i need some insight.
 
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JagSayon

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I didn't mean to be harsh. Sorry. I meant to emphasize on the point that I'm making. The Christian Faith is based on God's Word (Bible), Faith (as your name implies), and works based on Faith. Faith, to know God, you must have Faith, because anything without faith is sin. It is easy to God, as in making a fiery cross the size of texas orbiting the earth like another poster recommended, there won't be any atheists or evolutionists around. But He wants us to trust in Him in all that we do. He exists, its in His Word, nature and in us.

I'm terribly sorry if you've taken it the wrong way. I didn't mean to be harsh, it was never my intention. :cry: I've edited out things which I thought were pretty strong in language. I got carried away, I'm sorry.  

Jag
 
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Blessed-one

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sometimes it may be so easy just to deny God, but i can't, not while i live on Earth, with all the wonders surrounding me, living inside me. I myself am a miracle, how did i come to become a fully grown woman when i was just a tiny little thing in my mother's womb?

a few night ago i was listening to a tape, the topic was about the mysterious things people believe, and how scientists have actually done some experience on it. They've interviewed many people who had out of body experience, and all said the same thing! now that isn't something to be dismissed so easily. They said that they went through a tunnel of darkness where their very life was reviewed like a movie before them, except, it was fast as a flash. Then they emerged in a garden where it was so comfortable that they didn't want to leave, but none of them crossed the door just beyond the garden. Maybe behind the door was where judgement will be given.

now i didn't want to start a debate here or scare anyone, i just want to point out that there is a life after death, that life on Earth is just a transition stage, and ultimately, we have to face the consequences of our actions and God.

Recently, i'm reading a book called, "Disappointment with God". The book is actually about God's disappointment in us. A pattern emerges from the OT to NT, God first showed Himself visibly, as a column of cloud in Moses' time (but the people were afraid of Him, and they were disobedient) ; God elected Kings (but the people were afraid of Him, and they were disobedient); God poured out His word on His prophets (but the people were afraid of Him, and they were disobedient).

Everytime, God was spurned, people who had the very evidence of His existence failed to treasure Him and follow Him, so He withdrew, His miracles producing none of the effects that He wanted. His people did not love Him. He was constantly disappointed.

At last, it came to the point that God came down on Earth as Jesus, to establish His Kingdom where people will love Him with their hearts. To consider this closely, you can see that it was a shocking experience, from the beginning of time God has been above all, His presence was something that none could bear, His voice was like thunder and everyone feared Him. Yet He chose to come down among us!

For me, whenever i doubt Him, i'll remember His love and His putting Himself among us. He didn't have to do it, He could've punished me and wiped me from the face of the Earth, but He chose to forgive me and forgive and forgive....

ops, this's a bit long, but i hope you can get something out of it. *praying*
 
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endure

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well, i think this very reason is why we need apologetics, the back bone, or the argument for the bible. that makes a defence and assurance that we are in the truth.
i understand that it is about faith, but not blind faith. faith comes from hearing...faith comes from knowlegde, knowing. by knowing you are in the truth, that is where your true and unshakable faith comes from. blind faith without foundation will get you to heavon, but maybe not anyone else and it not always be strong enough to withstand the areguments of this days athiests or agnostics or diffrent religions.
peter said we are to always have and answer to any question asked us. we should not say "well i dont know...but i beleive it anyway." maybe that works for you, but it doesnt that help anyone else. and it makes you look like a blind fool to the world.
it makes christianity look so stupid, when atheists attack you, and all you can say is "well......i still beleive". thats what all other religions say, if ours is the one true one, we should be able to show why.

just some general apologetics to encourage you.
first of all,
1.the bible is in complete unity with all science and history.
modern telescopes have disproved every theory of astronomy of the past, but not yet any of the bible. this has silenced critics in this field. the bible story of creation is in complete unity with geology. Geologits from Yale, Princeton, Harvard agree to this fact.
one says "creation as is given in Genesis is faultless" another "the more the leaves of the earth are turned, the more they show the old book, the bible is true".
800 scientists of Great Britian sighned this statement, recorded in the bodelian library, Oxford England.
"We, the undersighned, students of the Natural sciences, desire to express our sincere regret that researchers into scientific truth are perverted by some in our own time into occasion for casting doubt upon the truth and authenticity of the holyscriptures. We concieve that is impossible for the word of God written in the book of nature, and Gods word written in holyscripture, to contradict one another....."
2.the bible was written by many diffrent men, some who knew nothing about each other, yet they never once contradicted each other, they were in complete unity with each other, surely a divine work.
it was written by over 40 diffrent authors, had 60 diffrent books, over the course of 1,800 years. and though sometimes knew nothing of each other, yet they had one theme "redemption by jesus christ".it must be divine.
3.jesus fullfilled prophecy, to the extent that no man could naturally do. there hundreds of prophecies spoken of centuries before fullfillment, this could not have been done by man.
4.jesus prophecied and it came to pass as is shown in history, a clear undeniable fact showing the divinity of the word of god, and jesus was divine.
5.the bible was written by good men, not liars, becuase many of these men told of their own faults and sins, evil men would not have done so. the bible condemns all sin, something no evil man would do. the bible had to be written by good men.
6.many of the earliest followers and authors of the bible died for their beleif, it was not a lie they simply wanted people to beleive, they themselves followed it to the death. liars do not die for a lie.
7.the bible we have is the true bible, becuase we have direct copies of some of the very earliest translations and documents. and the men who actually watched jesus and knew him personally, were still alive when the bible was being translated, those people would have known if it was being changed, if it was no longer the true story, and not have stood for it.
8.we have a volume of books you can buy called the "ante nicene fathers"
it is a collection of writings from some of the very earliest church fathers or leaders, within only years after jesus' death.
these men quote enough scripture in there writings, that even if our bible was completely wiped off the face of the earth, we could use their writings and re-wright the entire thing except for 11 scriptures.
we know we have the true bible, the same one used by the very earliest churches.
9. without a divine, supernatural, creating person, there is no answer to our existence, becuase matter is not self creating.
nothing can create itself, and nothing but a god could have always existed, there had to be a creator, there has to be a god. or nothing could exist.
10. the preservation of the bible proves its divinity.
no other book has gone through the conflict the bible has.  whole kingdoms and religions have tried to destroy the bible, but it has weathered every storm, and still exists long after its enemies had passed away.
John lea wrote the book "the greatest book in the world" in 1929
and in his book he tells of a french king who proposed a new wave of persecution agaisnt the church to totally wipe it out. but a wise counserler and general spoke and said
"sire, the church of God, is an anvil that has worn out many hammers".
Voltiar boldly prophesed that within 100 hundred years the bible would be forgotten. but now, more than 100 years later, his own house where he made that statement from, now has stacks of thousands of bibles, and from that house thousands are distibuted anually.
11. the greatness of those who accept the bible prove it is more than an ordinary human product. webster said "great authorities are great arguments"
it was confirmed by great men such as.
George Washingon.
Thomas Jefferson.
John Quincy Adams.
Andew Jackson.
Zachary Taylor.
Abraham Lincoln.
W.E.Gladstone.
Theodore Roosevelt.
Woodrow Wilson.
Herbert Hoover.
John Adams.
Ulysses S. Grant.
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Queen Victoria.
Kaiser Wilhelm.
John Bacon.
Napoleon Bonaparte.
William Cullen Bryant.
Mark Twain.
Samuel Colgate.
Alexander Cruden.
Benjamin Franklin.
Alexander Hamilton.
Alfred Tennyson.
Daniel Webster.
i could produce quotes from each person to prove that each of them truely did beleive the bible but i didnt have the time or energy to type it all.
people say that only fools would beleive the bible, aparently not.

well,
i hope i have helped to increase your faith in the word of God.
 
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Awake

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KeepTheFaith15, I had heard all of the aforementioned arguments, facts, and references to wise & famous men of our country's past.  That is not what did it for me.  I realized it totally in my heart the same day that I realized that I was truly saved and my sins wiped away. 

I was in the habit of praying, going to a church, & all that.  I knew what I read and what others said about me being forgiven and all that.  I just didn't know it in my heart.  God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and salvation just were not real to me.  My prayers at that point in my life kinda reflected these thoughts.  I had heard the word, I read the Bible, I hoped that I could get in on this whole salvation/eternal life package deal, but just wasn't sure that God would allow Jesus's perfect sacrifice to cover my nasty list of sins. 

Anyway, it happened as I was praying one day.  I fell silent for a moment as thoughts were racing through my mind.  At one point I felt this extreme sensation of being more warm and comfortable than I had ever been before (sad attempt at a description, but word fail me).  I heard this quiet voice saying "It's time to put your past to rest once and for all.  It's time to move forward.  It is done, my child.  Your sins are all forgiven."

Only then was it real to me.  Only then was it real in my heart.  It was as if the horrible weight of my past was removed in an instant.  I felt better than I had felt in years.  I cannot express to you my joy.  I fell in a pile, sobbing uncontrollably.  On my worst day now I feel better than my best day before that moment.

I may seem to be rambling at this point, but there is a point to my long post.  I read the Bible, and others told me that it all was real.  The strength of their faith combined with my own desire to want to believe in God and Christ's gift (I am not sure it could be called faith, but close to it) kept me talking to God.  Then, when he knew the time was right, in his own way, God made it clear to me. 

I could have just skipped my story and gave you only this paragraph.  Hopefully, by relating this very personal experience to you, I have added some weight to my advice to you:  Keep the faith, keep learning about God, and keep praying (talking) to God.  God will provide the proof that your heart and mind needs.  Be patient, be faithful, and be ready to listen to him as you would a really good friend. 
 
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Keep the Faith, for me, the bible tells me that it is the inspired Word of God. I have had many of the same questions to keep surfacing like you do and that is what I keep coming back to. I still don't always have answers to my questions right away but I exercise me faith by believing the Word to be the truth and He inspired all the authors so that I may come to believe in Him. I suppose I could spend my time questioning but I chose to spend my time believing. I giggle sometimes when I start questioning this, that and the other. Sounds silly, but I figure that when I finally come face to face with His Presence, I will ask Him all these questions that still seem to be unanswered. But ya know what, when I reach Heaven the answers I have wasted my time searching for will no longer matter anyway cause I will be where I wanna be..... BTW, I read your public entry for journal. Sounds like you had a great time at the concert and will again tonight! Spend your time doing things like this that will build up your faith and have some fun for a change. Wish I could come with ya!!!
 
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This is a tougth one I guess in the end it all bils down to having trust and faith.

Ive met people who have come off drugs. They have spent a life of drugs drink sex and countless over sins and they have all come to god. We have some real powerful people and if you ever meet a christian who has been in these speriances most will tell you theres nothing in this world that can compare with what god has done with it and they have tried it all!

The way I look at my christain lifestyle is challenging. I like being with my christain frieinds because everyone is caring and kind and is willing to pick you up and help you out when you are down. If im in trouble I can turn direct to my christain freinds for support and prayer whihc I cannot do with non christain friends.

Even if at the end of the day theres nothing its not going to bother me because im dead. But I beleave god does exist and Im going to be with him and I would rather live a christain lifestyle doing what I feel a calling for and a passion to do. And as someone says this life is only short. when you die thats forever and its either living for god and spending an eternity with him or an eternity in hell.

All christains go thought doubt but if you ask god to help you overcome it then as your faith grows you will doubt less :)
 
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OKay, this is what I think. In my life, I have experienced things that have taken me aback. I have seen things that are just too big to be conincidinces, I think you know what I mean.
I have been worshiping a few times and I have felt God, literally, I have felt him running through my veins, making me smile and laugh at a time that I could not control it. Also, you have to look at the facts:
A. The Univers is expanding outward, which means it had a starting point, which means it had a Starter.
Without law there is Chaos. So how did lae come about? Did some man, made billions of years ago from a little organism in the water say
"There needs to be order!" No! A Divine Being, known as God said, this is good. And made law to guide it.
I have more, so I hope this has helped.
 
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