Input please.. I no longer want to be Christian!

[secretoceanmystery]

Post Removed.

 

[AllTalkNoAction]

1. When I left this site I did so because I felt that the majority of the community were purely focusing on one goal only: get to heaven. I disliked this, it is not what having a religion is about. Although I am still unclear as to the actual PURPOSE of having a religion such as Christianity or any other for that matter I know that it is not that.

How can you know something is wrong if you don't know what's right ?
The goal of Christianity is to love God now, that only comes by knowing him, for which you need to receive His Spirit and allow him to reveal God to you.

2. The Christians whom I met have never acted like Christians, it was a label they gave themselves. Especially one person in particular, who made me re-think even more and made some doubts in Christianity even more profound.

By rejecting bad "christians" you are in fact agreeing with God !

3. I don't feel that I need a faith. I'm happy as I am, I'm perfectly fine, going through life and having my own goals and targets without having heaven at the end of it all. For one thing I do not want to live on forever, what is the point? There can never be enough to do that could last forever, and even with a heaven, and a God it does still not make like purposeful!

Ah, feelings.
Hitler would have said similar to you.
You have already decided what can be done, God says:-
"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (1 Cor. 2v9)

4. I want to make my own choices about my beliefs and feelings, not ones based on some book who's history and author people are not entierly sure of!

You will make choices based on the limited information and experience you have, that takes faith !
Some would say that is folly !

I have met the author of Life, he helps me make informed choices.

5. I want to live every moment of life, do what I want, by all means still be a good person, but not feel restricted by a book, and a God who can show me no PHYSICAL signs that he exists.

You are a prisoner of your limited appreciation of what your potential is.

God offers the keys of the kingdom of heaven, which, if used lead you into a secret garden so to speak.

God offers physical signs !
For starters, if you receive His Life you will speak in tongues - an unlearned prayer language God leads His people in.
(Mark 16v15-20, Acts 2v4, 33, 39)

PM me if you are open-minded enough to believe that maybe you have never actually experienced true christianity.
That can be put right !

 

[rocklife]

don't look to people, look to Jesus Christ. He is who makes us Christians.

if you are really serious about declaring yourself a non-christian, you can also tell the staff (probably up at the top forums) so they can change your icon.

If you want to continue in Jesus, remember to read His teachings and be in His way every day. In the New Testament, Jesus even mentions many are not really God's people, even if they say they are. He knows, He is telling us to wait til Judgment Day to sort them out, we need to focus on other things, like ourselves and our families, and reaching out to those who don't know Him.

I hope your family is also loving christians and not ones who are also discouraging you from the faith. I have hypocrits among my relatives, I try talking but mainly pray for them. We can't let them be discouragement for us to know God and seek Truth. Does your family (the christians) read the bible and are loving people? (not selfish)? you don't have to answer, but I urge you to read the New Testament and Jesus for yourself when you are seeking what Christianity is about. Don't look much to church pastors either, many warnings in New Testament about them too, often not practicing what they preach.

 

[Screamin'Eagle]

I haven't visited this website in over 3 months.. I guess there were a lot of reasons for me to stay away.. I no longer wanted to be a Christian.

Tracking back a bit, I was born into a Christian family, but one who never visited church or had anything to do with God or the Church except the fact that they labelled themselves Christians. In my own time I classified myself as an Atheist, but wanting faith reverted back to Christianity about a year ago. By August this year I thought I had 100% faith in God. The other christian whom I told this manipulated me and used me, with no regard for my feelings. I won't state exactly what happened, except that I was one of the lucky women who escape.

Since then I have decided I no longer have faith in Christianity for several reasons which I will explain:

1. When I left this site I did so because I felt that the majority of the community were purely focusing on one goal only: get to heaven. I disliked this, it is not what having a religion is about. Although I am still unclear as to the actual PURPOSE of having a religion such as Christianity or any other for that matter I know that it is not that.

2. The Christians whom I met have never acted like Christians, it was a label they gave themselves. Especially one person in particular, who made me re-think even more and made some doubts in Christianity even more profound.

3. I don't feel that I need a faith. I'm happy as I am, I'm perfectly fine, going through life and having my own goals and targets without having heaven at the end of it all. For one thing I do not want to live on forever, what is the point? There can never be enough to do that could last forever, and even with a heaven, and a God it does still not make like purposeful!

4. I want to make my own choices about my beliefs and feelings, not ones based on some book who's history and author people are not entierly sure of!

5. I want to live every moment of life, do what I want, by all means still be a good person, but not feel restricted by a book, and a God who can show me no PHYSICAL signs that he exists.

Just hoping for some Christian input here, feel free to ask questions, comment etc. Do you think this is the right decision for me?

Well I was in this same exact position at your age also. And I did what you're thinking about doing and let me tell you it led to me making alot of mistakes. Eventually I realized I had made a mistake and came back but you may not be so lucky. It still is your decision though no one can make it for you.

1 - Christianity isnt about religion. Its about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He shed his blood for you because he loves you and wants a relationship with you. And focusing on getting to heaven is all well and good occasionally...but that can not be your only focus I agree. Their is still alot of work to be done here showing christs compassion and love to people who havent felt it yet.

2 - Then you havent been hanging around the right people Theirs 2 types of people in a church. The christians (who say they have a relationship with God) and the saved (who do have a relationship with God) Not all christians are saved, but all those who are saved are christian...if that makes sense. Basically their are unfortunatly some people in the church who are saved on sunday but not monday-saturday.

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.
Titus 3:4-6

3 - Well...seems you've made your decision there. But as i said christianity should not be about just 'wanting to live forever'. Christianity should be about having a relationship with Christ and showing other people that same love that he gives you.

4 - And that is your decision, though if you do believe in God (which it seems you do) how can you believe he'd allow something to be written in his word that would mislead the very people he is trying to save?

5 - The bible is not just 'a book' it is the word of God. If you dont really believe that then their is not much else I can tell you. You have to have faith. You have to decide for yourself. Do I want to recieve/keep my salvation (which is a gift from God open to anybody) or throw it all away for a lifetime of fullfilling sinful desires and eternity seperated from him. He carried YOUR cross to calvary and Died for YOU. You have to chose to accept it or reject it.



Dont let lukewarm christians bring you down and make you lose faith. Not all of us are that way. I will be praying for you

 

[Adstar]

I haven't visited this website in over 3 months.. I guess there were a lot of reasons for me to stay away.. I no longer wanted to be a Christian.

Tracking back a bit, I was born into a Christian family, but one who never visited church or had anything to do with God or the Church except the fact that they labelled themselves Christians. In my own time I classified myself as an Atheist, but wanting faith reverted back to Christianity about a year ago. By August this year I thought I had 100% faith in God. The other christian whom I told this manipulated me and used me, with no regard for my feelings. I won't state exactly what happened, except that I was one of the lucky women who escape.

Since then I have decided I no longer have faith in Christianity for several reasons which I will explain:

1. When I left this site I did so because I felt that the majority of the community were purely focusing on one goal only: get to heaven. I disliked this, it is not what having a religion is about. Although I am still unclear as to the actual PURPOSE of having a religion such as Christianity or any other for that matter I know that it is not that.

Eternity is a important part of the faith. But if you read the Words of Jesus you will see that loving others is also an important part of the Faith. Your view of Christianity is a bit unclear.

2. The Christians whom I met have never acted like Christians, it was a label they gave themselves. Especially one person in particular, who made me re-think even more and made some doubts in Christianity even more profound.

It is a very big mistake to live your Faith through other people. Your Faith should be between you and God. Are other people God? No. Is the person who made you re-think your faith Jesus? No. Maybe you have lost your faith in "Churchanity"? If you had faith in people then if i was God i would seek to destroy your faith in people because that is not the true faith. We accept Jesus as our savior because we accept Him not because someone down the street is a nice person.

3. I don't feel that I need a faith. I'm happy as I am, I'm perfectly fine, going through life and having my own goals and targets without having heaven at the end of it all. For one thing I do not want to live on forever, what is the point? There can never be enough to do that could last forever, and even with a heaven, and a God it does still not make like purposeful!

Why do you think you have the option to cease to exist?? An important part of the Christian faith is that we believe all people have eternal existance. The question is not if we will exist forever the question is where we will exist forever.

4. I want to make my own choices about my beliefs and feelings, not ones based on some book who's history and author people are not entierly sure of!

Each and every person makes their decisions based upon the information that recieve and their own desires. The Bible is a source of information that each person can read and accept or reject.

5. I want to live every moment of life, do what I want, by all means still be a good person, but not feel restricted by a book, and a God who can show me no PHYSICAL signs that he exists.

The sign is in the message of Jesus. Blessed are those who believe but do not see.

John 20:29
Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Just hoping for some Christian input here, feel free to ask questions, comment etc. Do you think this is the right decision for me?

Your decision should be based on your reply to the message of God not on other people who by their very nature are faulty and are prone to let you down. If you are going to reject The God of Abraham then do so because of Him not because of some faulty person or faulty human organisation on this planet. Our Faith is between us and God through the Messiah Jesus. The whole world can let us down it makes no difference to us.



All Praise The Ancient Of Days

 

[Johnnz]

1. When I left this site I did so because I felt that the majority of the community were purely focusing on one goal only: get to heaven. I disliked this, it is not what having a religion is about. Although I am still unclear as to the actual PURPOSE of having a religion such as Christianity or any other for that matter I know that it is not that.

Getting to heaven is not the message of the NT. Learning about heaven here on earth, living out the kingdom of God, is a major theme. This is a whole of life view that is wonderfully relevant and fulfilling.

2. The Christians whom I met have never acted like Christians, it was a label they gave themselves. Especially one person in particular, who made me re-think even more and made some doubts in Christianity even more profound.

Sad, but we must never equate God with Christians. Sometimes we do give a good testimony to Him, sometime swe don't. But He is still there.

3. I don't feel that I need a faith. I'm happy as I am, I'm perfectly fine, going through life and having my own goals and targets without having heaven at the end of it all. For one thing I do not want to live on forever, what is the point? There can never be enough to do that could last forever, and even with a heaven, and a God it does still not make like purposeful!

You have a faith of some sort, whether it be in reason, your own adequacy or whatever you beleive deeply. Have you read C S Lewis "The Great Divorce"? That is quite a mind expanding book.

4. I want to make my own choices about my beliefs and feelings, not ones based on some book who's history and author people are not entierly sure of!

5. I want to live every moment of life, do what I want, by all means still be a good person, but not feel restricted by a book, and a God who can show me no PHYSICAL signs that he exists.

These two issues are related, and partly restate earlier comments.

God wants you to make your own choices. The Bible? Its why we can trust it that is important. There are really good grounds for trusting its contents.

I share your desire to live. So does Jesus. That's why he said He has come to give us life in all its fullness. I set out as a teenager to discover what he meant. I wanted that, but not religion and 'churchianity'. I am still discovering new depths to His offer.

John
NZ

 

[junkmail]

What I suggest you do is make a prayer directly to God the creator of the Universe. Ask Him to open up your heart and show you the truth. Tell Him you want to fidn the Truth. God Willing he will answer your prayer

 

[rocklife]

What I suggest you do is make a prayer directly to God the creator of the Universe. Ask Him to open up your heart and show you the truth. Tell Him you want to fidn the Truth. God Willing he will answer your prayer

sin will hinder the prayers being answered. We must have our sins dealt with, God offers Jesus to save us from sins (lying, stealing, disrespecting, etc).

 

[NothingButTheBlood]

sin will hinder the prayers being answered. We must have our sins dealt with, God offers Jesus to save us from sins (lying, stealing, disrespecting, etc).

I want to make sure I understand what your saying. You are telling this person the only way to have their prayer heard is to be saved. That is bogus. Prayers for guidance and information are heard whether one is saved or not. God may then burden that person about their sin which can lead to accepting Christ. To tell someone prayer will not help because you haven't excepted Christ yet is ludicris.

 

[rocklife]

What I suggest you do is make a prayer directly to God the creator of the Universe. Ask Him to open up your heart and show you the truth. Tell Him you want to fidn the Truth. God Willing he will answer your prayer

I want to make sure I understand what your saying. You are telling this person the only way to have their prayer heard is to be saved. That is bogus. Prayers for guidance and information are heard whether one is saved or not. God may then burden that person about their sin which can lead to accepting Christ. To tell someone prayer will not help because you haven't excepted Christ yet is ludicris.

Yes, you are right in saying our prayers can be heard. I was just replying to the incomplete post by Junkmail. I cannot explain the whole doctrine of Christianity, I just want to remind that we won't get much of God with sin in our lives.

NothingbuttheBlood, I would appreciate if you could talk gently rather than so harsh, I am still young christian and learning too. Thank you.

 

[izarya]

It happens, it's no big deal. Sometimes we get to a point where we have to be sure that our faith is confirmed within us.

It very well may be that the Lord is preparing to confirm himself in you, to show you once and for all that He IS the Truth.

I have a friend back east, he is older now, but when he was younger, he left his faith. He worked construction during the day and shortly after deciding to rebel against Christ he fell off of a roof and broke both his legs and hip.

He was bed ridden for quite some time, which he used to re-acquaint himself with the scriptures. To his surprise, now more than ever, his understanding of what he read was crystal clear!

God was calling him back to repentance thru the Word, and brought about this injury to make him sit still long enough to hear the call.

Today he has a fruitful ministry and has brought literally hundreds of people to the Lord, he is a community hero and runs the drug dealers out of neighborhoods in urban communities, and sometimes, even converts them in the process!

The moral of the story is, If you belong to Christ... there is NOTHING you can do to escape, so go ahead... take some time off.

 

[eoj]

I haven't visited this website in over 3 months.. I guess there were a lot of reasons for me to stay away.. I no longer wanted to be a Christian.

Tracking back a bit, I was born into a Christian family, but one who never visited church or had anything to do with God or the Church except the fact that they labelled themselves Christians. In my own time I classified myself as an Atheist, but wanting faith reverted back to Christianity about a year ago. By August this year I thought I had 100% faith in God. The other christian whom I told this manipulated me and used me, with no regard for my feelings. I won't state exactly what happened, except that I was one of the lucky women who escape.

Since then I have decided I no longer have faith in Christianity for several reasons which I will explain:

1. When I left this site I did so because I felt that the majority of the community were purely focusing on one goal only: get to heaven. I disliked this, it is not what having a religion is about. Although I am still unclear as to the actual PURPOSE of having a religion such as Christianity or any other for that matter I know that it is not that.

2. The Christians whom I met have never acted like Christians, it was a label they gave themselves. Especially one person in particular, who made me re-think even more and made some doubts in Christianity even more profound.

3. I don't feel that I need a faith. I'm happy as I am, I'm perfectly fine, going through life and having my own goals and targets without having heaven at the end of it all. For one thing I do not want to live on forever, what is the point? There can never be enough to do that could last forever, and even with a heaven, and a God it does still not make like purposeful!

4. I want to make my own choices about my beliefs and feelings, not ones based on some book who's history and author people are not entierly sure of!

5. I want to live every moment of life, do what I want, by all means still be a good person, but not feel restricted by a book, and a God who can show me no PHYSICAL signs that he exists.

Just hoping for some Christian input here, feel free to ask questions, comment etc. Do you think this is the right decision for me?

I will keep you in my prayers.
sending you some hugs and lots of love.

Your friend,
EOJ

 

[newtothefaith]

Greetings friend. This is the first time I have been on this website in 4 months, and can I just say your post made me very happy. It made me happy to see that people are still asking questions, still wondering, still looking for truth and not setteling for something fake in their hearts or believing something handed down to them.

I would say I can definatly relate you. I went to a Christian highschool for 4 years, and I was an agnostic the entire time, and I definately experienced my fair-share of hypocritical christians. I would love to type out a long letter to you, but due to time Im going to keep it short.

You say that you want to live how "you" want to live, and do what "you" want to do. You want to be in control of your life. I would encourage you to try, if you think it can be done. I felt the same way for a long time. I wanted to do all the things I wanted to do, and not follow some list of rules from God. So I did do what I wanted...and then a few months down the road, I hit rock bottom. And trust me friend, wether its now, a few months down the road, or a few years down the road, you WILL hit a low point in your life. And then what will you fall back on? I beg you to listen from someone who has experience "doing what they want", when you hit the low points, people will ALWAYS let you down, substances with ALWAYS let you down, alcohol will ALWAYS let you down. I ask you again, what will you fall back on? Just something to think about.

Many blessings to you friend.

 

[FrAnthony]

Since then I have decided I no longer have faith in Christianity for several reasons which I will explain:

That's good! We are not called to have faith in Christianity. We are suppose to have faith in God (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit), which leads to a Christian lifestyle and eternal salvation. Christianity, in general, has many "wolves in sheep's clothing" so try not to put your faith in human beings...you will always be let down. Someone calling themselves a Christian is most definitely not a rubber stamp of righteousness. At the same time, don't let the "wolves" scare you away from the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Just hoping for some Christian input here, feel free to ask questions, comment etc. Do you think this is the right decision for me?

Nope...It sounds like you are blaming/ignoring God for the actions of others and your own decisions. That will get you nowhere fast, and only add to your frustration.

 

[secretoceanmystery]

Post removed.

 

[heron]

It sounds like you've been around a very legalistic group of people! You are seeing that rules and rightness (simply competition at the core) have less value than love and compassion. Sadly, sometimes when we're in the place to see it, we're not in the position to make a strong impact.


Mt 23:24http://www.studylight.org/desk/?query=mt+23:24&translation=nas&st=1&new=1&sr=1&l=enIn Context
You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!http://www.studylight.org/desk/?query=mt+23:24&t=nas&st=1&new=1&sr=1&sc=1&l=en

Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, To love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

 

[Sketcher]

1. When I left this site I did so because I felt that the majority of the community were purely focusing on one goal only: get to heaven. I disliked this, it is not what having a religion is about. Although I am still unclear as to the actual PURPOSE of having a religion such as Christianity or any other for that matter I know that it is not that.

How do you know that? Why did you come to this conclusion?

2. The Christians whom I met have never acted like Christians, it was a label they gave themselves. Especially one person in particular, who made me re-think even more and made some doubts in Christianity even more profound.

That is always the Achilles heel of Christianity or just about any religion for that matter. However, this faith has redeemed so many others and turned criminals and terrorists into evangelists and peacemakers.

3. I don't feel that I need a faith. I'm happy as I am, I'm perfectly fine, going through life and having my own goals and targets without having heaven at the end of it all. For one thing I do not want to live on forever, what is the point? There can never be enough to do that could last forever, and even with a heaven, and a God it does still not make like purposeful!

If you don't want to live forever, that's not going to stop you from living forever. Since there will be no suffering in Heaven, I also doubt there will be boredom. After all, God is the most powerful and creative being in existence. Oh, and everybody has faith in something, whether they like to admit it or not.

4. I want to make my own choices about my beliefs and feelings, not ones based on some book who's history and author people are not entierly sure of!

You can do that, but you can't deny that the Bible's teachings are full of wisdom that can help you immensely in this life. One of the reasons Christianity has lasted is that the Bible works.

5. I want to live every moment of life, do what I want, by all means still be a good person, but not feel restricted by a book, and a God who can show me no PHYSICAL signs that he exists.

The creation is good enough for many people, just getting out in nature and seeing His handiwork for themselves. If you've ever been out in the woods or in the mountains taking a hike, that is quite a bit of physical evidence of His existence.

 

[Aisynia]

How can I fall back on someone I don't believe in? God can do nothing for me, except to offer a book which was written by an unknown author.

As a general reply to everyone:

Thanks for the advice, but:

a) How can I pray to someone who does not exist in my beliefs? (Think of it as praying to another God which does not exist in your religion)

b) Why would I restrain myself from living life purely based on what someone else has told me - not what I have gone out and found out for myself..

c) Why should I need to rely on anyone else? Or even for that matter someone who I cannot see!

d) God does nothing physically for me!

e) I am still happy without him in my life.

f) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li...ews.html?in_article_id=408490&in_page_id=1811

This woman get's on my nerves. People like this have never even read the harry potter books, I have however read the bible and studied christianity at school. If you haven't read the books and you think they're evil, go read them. I have for the last few years and nothing would ever convince me to go wicca.

g) Why should we embrace god just because he says he created us? Our parents created us, but how many of us go around worshipping them?

h) I am not going to follow any rituals based on what someone else has told me to do? Would you walk outside and cluck like a chicken 5 times, jump through a hoop and eat a cracker just because it was written in the bible?

i) None of you, yes none of you, know who wrote the bible, or indeed where it came from, all you know is that it was shoved in front of you, and you took it word for word. I could do the same with harry potter...

avada kedavra!

okay I think I'm done for now.. more points later..

The Bible is a compilation of books within a book each with their own Author. Think of it in terms of a College literature book. Also, your first sentence contradicts your own words by saying that God Almighty doesnt exist, but then using Him in such a context that says He does lest you were referencing Him as if He were like sinful man.

a. I'm confused. You said before that you were thinking about giving up Christianity, but if you do not believe in God Almighty then what is your belief?

b. I was raised in A Christian home throughout my life, and this past summer I took philosophy. At first, I didn't want to take it because I felt that it would be a blow to my beliefs however by taking it I'm stronger-not to say that this is the route of every Christian. By taking Philosophy I took it upon myself to seek the truth outside of what I'd been told all my life. I follow Christ because I've seen what He has done for me, what He's doing for me, and what He's going to do for me in the future. Whoever said that being a Christian restricted you from living life? Do you consider living life walking on the 'wild' side of things? I've never once in my life went to a party, and yet I enjoy hanging out with friends. Also, you mention about not living based off what others tell you. Your mother gave birth to you some odd years ago. From what she's told you you believe that you were born on that date. Who can you go to other than her and a few other individuals and inquire exactly when you were born? I may be off in what I'm trying to say but I can't think of how else to relay it at the moment.

c. So often people rely on what they can see, feel, hear. The blind person cannot see however he has complete faith in where his next step will fall. You can't see the wind, but you can feel and know it's there. You can see the effects. Christ lived, died, and rose again. Just because He doesn't reside on this earth physically does not mean He is not here.

d. If you're still reading this then God Almighty has just done something physical for you in your being able to continue to breathe even to this word! Alot of things done by the Heavenly Father goes unseen by us. Who knows that just by our losing the keys this morning that we avoided a terrible accident? Who knows that by giving birth to that child we have just provided another way for Christ to bless us tremendously? To say He has done nothing for you is blind.

e. Many atheists, and other believers feel that they are happy without God Almighty in their life. And judging from those words you've already made up your mind about not being a Christian. The reason why I'll continue to address the other points you have mentioned is because I have every hope that you will see Christ one day as many of us Saved, non-hypocritical Christians do.

f. I have never read Harry Potter so I can't comment. I haven't read it because of wicca or anything only that it just doesn't interest me. However, I've read a number of other Fantasy series such as Anne McCaffrey(sp?). I used to watch anime on a regular basis but stopped for personal reasons, and am waiting for the word that I am strong enough to begin again. I was devoting much of my time in life to anime(even taking away from my college studies to watch anime).

g. God Almighty did more in creating us then anyone's parents could ever do in one night. It didn't take two for God Almighty to create the first human.

h. Rituals? I'm not sure what rituals come with being a Christian for its all choice. God Almighty wants us to be more like Him and in so doing we have to immerse ourselves in His word in order to understand how He thinks. I choose to read my Bible every morning and night, to converse with Him every day, to lift up His name in praise, and to simply give Him my all. There is no set time for this because it's in me to serve Him.

i. The people who wrote the Bible are clearly stated within the Bible. There's no arguement there. The author of Harry Potter can state all she wants that she wrote that series, and no one disputes her word simply because she is alive and can claim hold on those books. William Faulkner(a great writer among many) is deceased and his works still belong to him why is the Bible any different?

 

[CouldiEver]

1. When I left this site I did so because I felt that the majority of the community were purely focusing on one goal only: get to heaven. I disliked this, it is not what having a religion is about. Although I am still unclear as to the actual PURPOSE of having a religion such as Christianity or any other for that matter I know that it is not that.

The purpose of Christianity is being reconciled with God through Jesus Christ. The main reason why I want to get to heaven is that I'll be with Jesus and know Him more. The Apostle Paul tells us that we see now but a poor reflection, but then everything will be revealed to us. We'll see Jesus in all His glory and enjoy intimate fellowship with Him. If it weren't for Jesus, then heaven wouldn't be that appealing, because I enjoy living here on Earth, it has it's bonuses (namely computer games). In fact, it is this purpose of knowing Jesus that Paul considers everything else worthless.

In whatever we do, we always look at the end game: eternal life with Jesus in heaven. We do all our good works for His glory in an attempt to bring as many people into heaven with us as possible.

2. The Christians whom I met have never acted like Christians, it was a label they gave themselves. Especially one person in particular, who made me re-think even more and made some doubts in Christianity even more profound.

It is a shame that many Christians don't act like they really are Christians, I'll admit that I've been guilty of acting inconsistent with my faith at times. I think that all of us, as Christians, should go walking around with a sign that says "Under construction," though that would be rather weird. This is because, following and becoming like Jesus, is a process, hence why we call it the process of Discipleship or sanctification. Basically, the Holy Spirit will spend our whole lives trying to make us like Christ, dying to self and picking up our crosses and serving other people. We are still human beings who live in the presence of sin and who are constantly being attacked by our old fleshly desires and by our new adversary ... Satan and his minions.

Ultimately, however, you will held accountable for what you did with Christ Jesus and His death on the cross. You aren't called to respond to how Christians live, but Jesus. That is what Christianity is about - knowing God through His Son who showed us just who God is like. Jesus is the one who loves us that much that He was condemned so that we could be forgiven.

3. I don't feel that I need a faith. I'm happy as I am, I'm perfectly fine, going through life and having my own goals and targets without having heaven at the end of it all. For one thing I do not want to live on forever, what is the point? There can never be enough to do that could last forever, and even with a heaven, and a God it does still not make like purposeful!

You may be going along perfectly fine, but what about when the world caves in around you? What if you hit rock bottom?

You may not want to live forever, but the only other alternative is eternal death... All of a sudden, living forever becomes more appealing, wouldn't you say? lol. As for what we do in heaven, I've thought the same things as you have. But to be truthful, I haven't a clue what it'll be like, but being with Jesus sounds great to me!

4. I want to make my own choices about my beliefs and feelings, not ones based on some book who's history and author people are not entierly sure of!

Think about it though, if God really did inspire the Bible as we believe He did, and since He is the author and designer of life, the Bible becomes our "users manual" for how to live our life such that we enjoy it. Do you think that the Bible tells us not to have pre-marital sex for no reason, because He is a killjoy? No. He says it to protect us from the consequences that we can bring upon ourselves, e.g. unwanted pregnancies, HIV/AIDS, and so on. What about its teachings on worry, hatred, and anger? God knows that human beings were not created to live with these emotions and that they can drag down the quality of life. This is why the Bible tells us not to worry about anything - it is a pointless and useless emotion that achieves nothing but using time and making you feel bad.

You see, if the Bible is God's "user manual," then it is wise to take His advice.

5. I want to live every moment of life, do what I want, by all means still be a good person, but not feel restricted by a book, and a God who can show me no PHYSICAL signs that he exists.

See above for a partial answer to this question.

But did you know that God agrees with you somewhat? He wants you to have a great life and to enjoy it to the max! Jesus tells us that He came so that we may have life, and life in it all its fulness!

No physical signs? Friend, take a look at the world around ... in the mirror at yourself. Do you know just how complicated and complex everything is? This is what God did to Job when He took him outside and showed him the glory of God and just how great He is. Take a look at the stars, the mountains, the animals, the sunsets and so on ... amazing signs.

In fact, on this basis alone, the Bible says that people have no excuse if they reject God because we can clearly see a creator when we look at what He has created.

 

[EmbracingHim]

Secretoceanmystery,

In agreement with many of the above posters, the Bible is the single book in history that has been reproduced millions of times in many languages without major content error and transposition.

It is amazing in this consideration. I learned this in college. Even an athiest professor had to confess this book to be the most amazing in history.

I think things have been stated well by other posters, but I am posting and offering you prayer. Without God we are incomplete. Our hearts are empty and our love in our life dwindles. May the Lord lead you back to Him soon, dear.