Losing my faith in Jesus...

[JLR1300]

or it could mean that in this moment in time, her relationship with her brother is foremost in her mind. Just saying...when our son died, it was really hard to put our minds on others, we were in too deep of grief and distress. It didn't mean that our son was an idol, but that our flesh knows grief, just as scripture tells us that we are to grieve just not as the world does....likewise, we grieve, but in that grief we seek God's comfort and hope. unless of course we are pouring out our hearts to the Living God as He wants us to do...nothing hidden, just an all out pouring ourselves before a holy God. I can remember time and time again, when I told God that I wanted to quite...48 ish years later, I have been faithful every single day. No, by faithful I do not mean without sin, I mean that even in those times of painful pouring out of my heart to God, He comforted me and said, "I know my child, rest with me awhile." It was emotion, and right now, based on these posts alone, emotion is all we are seeing, God alone sees the heart and it is best to leave that to Him and Him alone.

Of course, you may be correct. Lots of times, even as Christians we get upset and emotional and say things that we don't really mean deep down. I have let my emotions get the best of me at times too. Only God knows what is actually going on. I guess time will tell.

 

[Mia Turner]

You guys are truly amazing, thank you for your kind and caring words. Most importantly, thank you for taking the time to try to light someone else's grueling life a little bit. JLR1300, I'm very sorry to hear about your sister, but I'm not as strong as you are. It's hard enough for me to cope with just the idea of losing my own brother and living without him, imagine if it actually happened, I'd most likely kill myself. There isn't one person in this world I want more than my brother, and if He wants to take him away from me then He's no more than a pathetic evil tyrant. I never thought there would come a time where I would start writing derogatory remarks about God, I have always defended God against the people who sought to establish a Godless utopia on this Earth, the same ones who often think of themselves as people of some rare intelligence, truth is it's rare when they show any of this so called 'intelligence'.

To put it bluntly, this whole talk about God, spirit of Christ, prayers, trust and so on... (as razzelflabben said) enrages me. Someone posted this earlier: "YOU do not have the right nor the power to call the shots,to demand upon God's behavior. If He has saved you may your gratitude be sufficient."
This literally made me facepalm myself.

Razzel, if you were drowning, you'd normally call for help right? You don't think to yourself "Oh man... how incredibly pleased I would be if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning right now..", you wouldn't do that, instead you'd be screaming for help. Here's the twist, when someone hears your screams, and he sees you drowning, and he's perfectly capable in saving your life, but he willfully refused to save your life, what would you make of that person?

 

[razzelflabben]

You guys are truly amazing, thank you for your kind and caring words. Most importantly, thank you for taking the time to try to light someone else's grueling life a little bit. JLR1300, I'm very sorry to hear about your sister, but I'm not as strong as you are. It's hard enough for me to cope with just the idea of losing my own brother and living without him, imagine if it actually happened, I'd most likely kill myself. There isn't one person in this world I want more than my brother, and if He wants to take him away from me then He's no more than a pathetic evil tyrant. I never thought there would come a time where I would start writing derogatory remarks about God, I have always defended God against the people who sought to establish a Godless utopia on this Earth, the same ones who often think of themselves as people of some rare intelligence, truth is it's rare when they show any of this so called 'intelligence'.

To put it bluntly, this whole talk about God, spirit of Christ, prayers, trust and so on... (as razzelflabben said) enrages me. Someone posted this earlier: "YOU do not have the right nor the power to call the shots,to demand upon God's behavior. If He has saved you may your gratitude be sufficient."
This literally made me facepalm myself.

Razzel, if you were drowning, you'd normally call for help right? You don't think to yourself "Oh man... how incredibly pleased I would be if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning right now..", you wouldn't do that, instead you'd be screaming for help. Here's the twist, when someone hears your screams, and he sees you drowning, and he's perfectly capable in saving your life, but he willfully refused to save your life, what would you make of that person?

Mia...maybe you need to reread my post. I have been "drowning" many times over, called out to God and He always answered in Love, even when nothing about my situation changed. This is because God is more concerned about the Spiritual, that part of man that is eternal, rather than the fleshly, which is a vapor.

Let me tell you a quick story...I'll make it as quick as I can so as not to make this about me. When I was about 6 years old, my life was so out of control I was trying to figure out how to kill myself. that is when I found Christ btw, because I knew that without someone bigger than myself, stepping in, I would never survive.

Years passed and my situation didn't change. In fact it went from bad to worse. Over the years, my "drowning" has come in the form of abuse from parents, siblings, molestation by my brother, my husband was addicted to inappropriate content, we have been homeless repeatedly, our son died about 2 months shy of his 19th Birthday and as soon as the funeral was over, we sent another son to war. I have been run out of churches because we stood firm on the truths of scripture, watched 2 of our children literally be beaten up for our stand on the word of God. I have been rejected by the church and by the world because I believe that God has shown me Himself by allowing me to thrive in a situation that should have killed me. We have known homelessness repeatedly, lived in very dangerous neighborhoods, to keep off the streets, etc. Had 3 people try to kill me. Seriously, I know what it feels like to be drowning and call out for help. In fact, if I do not guard myself from the visions and dreams that haunt, I relive it every time I remember the moments when they were looking for our son and all I could do was watch when they finally found him and pulled his lifeless, blue body out of the water....yes, that is right, you analogy of drowning is all to real for me. But through all that, I learned that God is first and foremost concerned with the spirit because it is eternal.

Now, the first time I began to grasp this concept was when I was in high school. My situation hadn't changed and though I wanted to disown God, I knew He was the only hope I had. I was sitting sewing and my sister came in and laid on me. I told her to move, she refused...I asked her to move, she refused...I took hold of her arm and set her off me, she went crying to my father that I had scratched her and showed him an old, healing wound. My father went nuts, took off his belt and began to beat me. If you had been watching, you would have sworn I was getting the beating of a lifetime, yet in those moments, Christ literally stood between me and that belt. Neither did I feel a sting from it's contact nor did I have marks from that beating. Jesus took my beating, literally that day. It was the only beating to took for me that way, but it gave me reason to look back over the years and all the beatings and abuse that should have killed me, but didn't...in fact, I was strong, healthy, thriving. My daughter and I were talking not long ago about how messed up I should be, but I'm not. My husband always says that what God has done in my life, through all the abuse and "drownings" (as you call it) that had he not believed before, he would have when he found out who I am despite all of it.

I get what you are feeling and I know the feeling all too well. That is why I can testify to you that God is there, He wants to carry you, comfort you, encourage you, heal you. He wants to do the same for your whole family, but unless or until you allow Him to heal the spirit, the fleshly healing will have no lasting meaning. consider this, what if God healed your brother, only to have him be hit and killed by a drunk driver? Or what if He healed your brother by using your heart or your mothers? What happens if your brother is healed physically, but never joins you in heaven? God's first and foremost concern is your spiritual well being. That is a given throughout scripture.

May you learn to see with the eyes of Christ, trust with the heart of faith, and hope with an eternal hope rather than an earthly one.

 

[BrokenWarrior]

You guys are truly amazing, thank you for your kind and caring words. Most importantly, thank you for taking the time to try to light someone else's grueling life a little bit. JLR1300, I'm very sorry to hear about your sister, but I'm not as strong as you are. It's hard enough for me to cope with just the idea of losing my own brother and living without him, imagine if it actually happened, I'd most likely kill myself. There isn't one person in this world I want more than my brother, and if He wants to take him away from me then He's no more than a pathetic evil tyrant. I never thought there would come a time where I would start writing derogatory remarks about God, I have always defended God against the people who sought to establish a Godless utopia on this Earth, the same ones who often think of themselves as people of some rare intelligence, truth is it's rare when they show any of this so called 'intelligence'.

To put it bluntly, this whole talk about God, spirit of Christ, prayers, trust and so on... (as razzelflabben said) enrages me. Someone posted this earlier: "YOU do not have the right nor the power to call the shots,to demand upon God's behavior. If He has saved you may your gratitude be sufficient."
This literally made me facepalm myself.

Razzel, if you were drowning, you'd normally call for help right? You don't think to yourself "Oh man... how incredibly pleased I would be if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning right now..", you wouldn't do that, instead you'd be screaming for help. Here's the twist, when someone hears your screams, and he sees you drowning, and he's perfectly capable in saving your life, but he willfully refused to save your life, what would you make of that person?

Hello again sister,

Even in light of your more recent post, I would highly suggest going back and reading what i posted back on page 5. It seems I'm late to the party so it's no wander that you've probably missed my post. In the case that you cannot find it I shall include a copy/paste in this post. (Q1>/A1> is particularly of interest I believe...).

God Bless!

Original Post:
Hello Sister,

I've read your post and the others' replies, and have put off replying myself feeling that the others cover what is of the essence. But, you are my Sister in Christ, which makes it my bussiness to make sure you have been given my upmost attention to supply you with the most Scripturaly based answer that God will reveal to me, since you are asking.

After reading your other post it has come to my attention that your brothers sickness has potentially only amplified your confusion, no doubt it makes you think:"If God exists, why does MY brother, His faithful servant's brother, ail such?"

Well, you (and others) ask:"Why does God allow these things to happen?";"He's supposedly this 'all powerful' God, why doesn't He do something?";"what about all the sickness?".

Well, such a multi - question deserves multiple answers.

Q1> Why doesn't God do something?
A1> Hasn't He already? The "End Times" are all ready here, God has revealed that all He's waiting for is all His destined people to be saved (or at least the opportunity to accept/deny) I believe this passage addresses the question nicely...:

3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”

5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, 6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. 7 But the present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. -2 Peter 3:3-10

Q2> You ask:Why doesn't He answer my prayers?
A2> I say to you, are you expecting an answer?
The Lord says He will answer, but you need to have Faith that He will, for as Scripture says:


"But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." -James 1:6-8

Q3> You ask:Why does He tolerate things?
A3> Does He? You've seen Answer 1, He's just waiting for His Elect to use their Free Will to accept or deny Him, then once we are united with Him, He will repay the World for its many evils...:


"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."-Romans 12:19

So it's not like the evils in this world get off scott-free...

Q4> Why isn't He making my life any easier?
A4> He never said it would be easy.... Quite the opposite:


"In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."-1 Peter 1:6-7

Q5> What about the "Big Bang" or "Evolution"?
A5> Actually, if you read some Christian Science books I believe you would become quite aware of how much the very existence of the world and the very things Atheists use to "prove" Evolution and The Big Bang actually PROVE Creation. Quick example: Did you know, that for something to fossilize, it has to be buried quickly (because of decay) to leave a fossile (*Cough* Flood *Cough*). That among Dozens upon Dozens of examples point more toward Creation then "Evolution" and/or "Big Bang " and every THEORY that they come up with, can be disproven scientifically, consequently proving Creation more and more...

So don't lose Heart Sister, put your Faith in The Lord and persevere.

If you have any questions whatsoever, feel free, without hesitation, to pm me. And I will give you the most Scripturaly based answer, through God's power, that I can...

God Bless!
-The Current Lowest Servant

 

[BryanW92]

I have always defended God against the people who sought to establish a Godless utopia on this Earth,

You keep mentioning how you defend God as if that grants you some special permission to dictate terms to God. He doesn't need defending, certainly not from the godless.

They can't create a Godless utopia because they don't control the world and even in the failed Godless Utopias that have been attempted, the people stil found God. Just look at China and Cuba today and the old Soviet Union. If you had spent less time defending God and more time getting to know him, then your current crisis might not be happening. As it is, you seem to have made your decision since talk of prayer infuriates you.

 

[Messy]

Here's the twist, when someone hears your screams, and he sees you drowning, and he's perfectly capable in saving your life, but he willfully refused to save your life, what would you make of that person?

Evil, you've listened way too much to those atheist arguments. I had a conversation with a bunch and one told me he'd just totally destroy my faith if I stayed, he writes books to pull christians from their faith and he admits it.

They say: God can do everything, He doesn't, so He is unwilling and evil. It's a lie. The one that's evil is the devil who comes to kill, steal and destroy. Jesus came to give Life.
I'll pray for your brother for a new heart, I've seen a lot of family and church members healed. I'll call in some prayer groups too, because I think you're not going to do it. Did Jesus ever say: No I don't want to heal you? No He didn't. One man asked Him and He said: I want it, be made whole.
He gave the authority over the earth to man, man gave it to the god of this world, satan, God had to become Man to take the authority back, He went to heaven and gave the authority to heal the sick to the church. If you don't know how to do that ask someone who knows.

 

[Mia Turner]

@BrokenWarrior, thank you for this well organized reply. First, I always had faith in Him that He would answer my prayers, some were answered and some went unanswered. Ironically enough, the paramount one's are the one's that usually go unanswered, I'm sure God must be keeping them on His pending list right?

"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." So it's not like the evils in this world get off scott-free..

eh... by that logic He would be repaying evil with evil.. Wait... I think that's a contradiction, 1 Peter 3:9 tells us to not repay evil with evil, yet Romans 12:19 indicates that He will repay evil with evil? We should just call that equity and when an atheist discover this, just use the "out of context" argument, we should be fine. =)

Out of curiosity, do you believe that the Earth is 6,000 years old?

 

[JLR1300]

@BrokenWarrior, thank you for this well organized reply. First, I always had faith in Him that He would answer my prayers, some were answered and some went unanswered. Ironically enough, the paramount one's are the one's that usually go unanswered, I'm sure God must be keeping them on His pending list right?

"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." So it's not like the evils in this world get off scott-free..

eh... by that logic He would be repaying evil with evil.. Wait... I think that's a contradiction, 1 Peter 3:9 tells us to not repay evil with evil, yet Romans 12:19 indicates that He will repay evil with evil? We should just call that equity and when an atheist discover this, just use the "out of context" argument, we should be fine. =)

I don't know why it would be hard for you to understand that God is allowed to do things we are forbidden to do. We are not allowed to put people in a cage. However, even liberals admit that the government is allowed to jail those who do evil. Why do they allow higher authorities to do that which the individual if forbidden to do? It is because governments are better at having more knowledge of who is guilty and who isn't and of what all crimes were committed. Individuals are more likely to be rash and emotional and make bad judgements and not have enough knowledge and evidence to make sure that the person to be punished is really guilty.

But since God has all knowledge and is not driven by man's emotions He is able to know who needs punished and how much. Just like the government. So if you can understand how a government can do things that are forbidden of an individual then how come you cannot understand how God is allowed to make punishments and judgments that individuals cannot? The reason is because you are actively searching for reasons to accuse Him of wrongdoing since you are angry with Him.

 

[Mia Turner]

I don't know why it would be hard for you to understand that God is allowed to do things we are forbidden to do. We are not allowed to put people in a cage. However, even liberals admit that the government is allowed to jail those who do evil. Why do they allow higher authorities to do that which the individual if forbidden to do? It is because governments are better at having more knowledge of who is guilty and who isn't and of what all crimes were committed. Individuals are more likely to be rash and emotional and make bad judgements and not have enough knowledge and evidence to make sure that the person to be punished is really guilty.

But since God has all knowledge and is not driven by man's emotions He is able to know who needs punished and how much. Just like the government. So if you can understand how a government can do things that are forbidden of an individual then how come you cannot understand how God is allowed to make punishments and judgments that individuals cannot? The reason is because you are actively searching for reasons to accuse Him of wrongdoing since you are angry with Him.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say any of those things, I don't know what's happening with me really, I'm just gonna leave, bye everybody

 

[razzelflabben]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say any of those things, I don't know what's happening with me really, I'm just gonna leave, bye everybody

your hurting, your fearful, and your worried, all natural reactions to what is going on in your life right now. Pour it all out to God then trust Him to show you truth. And by all means, surround yourself with brothers and sisters in Christ who will love you unconditionally without judgment for the emotions you express but with those emotions, point you back to God.

 

[BrokenWarrior]

@BrokenWarrior, thank you for this well organized reply. First, I always had faith in Him that He would answer my prayers, some were answered and some went unanswered. Ironically enough, the paramount one's are the one's that usually go unanswered, I'm sure God must be keeping them on His pending list right?

"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." So it's not like the evils in this world get off scott-free..

eh... by that logic He would be repaying evil with evil.. Wait... I think that's a contradiction, 1 Peter 3:9 tells us to not repay evil with evil, yet Romans 12:19 indicates that He will repay evil with evil? We should just call that equity and when an atheist discover this, just use the "out of context" argument, we should be fine. =)

Out of curiosity, do you believe that the Earth is 6,000 years old?

It is my absolute pleasure, dear Sister, to have given you insight in any way.

And no dear sister, He is not repaying evil with evil. But He is punishing the sins of the guilty by His GOOD judgment. Like almost a modern day judge on a bigger scale. Suppose a man steals an old ladies purse, he is caught. You expect,him to be punished for his crime because it's right correct? See, you wouldn't say that judge is being evil for making that guy pay a fine and making him go to prison for a year or two. Well, that's God's job but on a scale bigger then you and I can comprehend...

And no, I do not believe the Earth is 6000 years old. I can't remember exactly, but the Christian Science book I read, said that Biblically it should be around 44,000 years old which sounds about right.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say any of those things, I don't know what's happening with me really, I'm just gonna leave, bye everybody"

Friend, just like razzelflabben said, your human emotions are messing with you. The anger and confusion I would feel if my sibling was in a similar predicament as yours would be matched, if not succeeded. Emotions are nasty little dudes aren't they? It's our job to keep them in check though:


"'In your anger do not sin': Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."
-Ephesians 4:26-27

Know dear Sister, that you have my word when I say that I forgive you for your anger. I do not judge you, and I completely forgive you. I will never hold any of what you have said or done against you. That in itself is a complete truth without the need to further add to it. But, perhaps, food for thought: if I, a mere man, completely forgive you, how much more so will God? Meh, just food for thought

I will pray for you... will you not give up please? If not for your own sake, then for mine, the sake of a brother in Christ who values you?

God bless dear Sister, I pray you make an informed decision apart from your confusion.

With Love,
-Your Brother In Christ

 

[katerinah1947]

Hello everyone, I have decided to register to this website only to post this thread and maybe get some few honest opinions. First, my name is Mia and I'm an 18 years old Christian and i'm currently in my 1st year in college (majoring in Geology). For so long I have been defending the word of God against doubters, and I tried my utmost best to convince people that Christianity strives for peace and justice among all people, to protect and restore the integrity of our earth and commit to a path of lifelong learning, compassion and selfless love. But recently, I've been asking myself whether or not God is real. I'm losing all of my faith in Him, in fact I don't think I believe in Him anymore. I think I'm becoming an Atheist. If He is real, then why does he tolerate so many bad things to happen? It doesn't make any sense at all... Why isn't He answering my prayers, why isn't He making my life any easier, why does he allow natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis to take place and kill thousands of people...? Why isn't Evolution mentioned in the bible, why isn't the big bang mentioned in the bible... When my antagonists used to tell me that the only reason I believe is because I'm too gullible, they weren't wrong. I used to tell them that God has determined that the only way we are saved is by faith and not by some substantiated empirical scientific data. But that's simply not fair.. You cannot possibly disprove something that isn't real firsthand. I think my question is, how do you know God exist? Thank you very much for reading this.

Hi,
I have been slammed many times for what I am about to tell you, and no, none of them were succesful unless they were just plain dogmatic, even scientifically so, close minded, and mean.
I am now 67 years old. My first professional job was working at Fairchild Research and Developement Corporation in Los Altos California. That was in 1969. I would spend the next 13 or so years in advanced research, and then continue being a researcher for life, for some reason or another.
Your questions are valid. To shorten this let my tell of some summaries of research projects done scientificallly but not in the area of Semiconductors.
Science is really finding out what God has done, and is commanded for us to do. God commanded us to do Science (including God also, thus always capitalized by me. Similarly Philosophy, and Relgion are mixtures of all discciplines together. Such as Philosophy includes Science and Religion. And, Religion includes Science and Philosophy. ) Science was commanded by us in Genesis. It came under the Blessing to subdue the earth. A blessing by God is a command also, as the people departing from Noah's Ark found out, when some of them refused to spread. God did something. They then spread. It is actually said twice that they spread.
Notice I am talking to you like a student. I am also expecting you, like a student in school to do your homework. That requires you to look up all that I have said. Only then will you start to understand. And like in school, only when you have forgotten all that, and relearned it three times, you will not be an expert, till then.
So starting again:
Science, always captalized, is findding out what God has done.
Religion, captalized, is finding out what parts of all that is known about spirits, is actually provably true, and it includes, Science and Religion.
Philosophy, again captalized, is the study of all thought, with proofs to see which of it is true and which of it is false.
Science, lower case, does not mean God is not real. Geology and what you are finding out, is merely telling you that your knowledge of what you knew Biblically was indeed in error, Science wise, and since if God is Real, and Science is Real, and the Bible is Real, then the discrepancies you and others see are merely misunderstandings.
Now, let me tell you of my own work. I was an agnostic. I didn't know if God was real. I worried about it, as I was born a Catholic. I did not know though. I did not.
Somewhere about age 35 or so, I started a research project for home. (It is the only way I know how to think.) It was to find out if The Bible was Real or not. I finished that with The Bible being proven real, by the results of controlled experiments. I did those, after I could not personally prove that book wrong. (A requirement for Advanced Research). I did those as the next step. After all, not being able to prove something is not wrong, does not prove it is right, all it proves is then, I could not prove it wrong. (I did check with everyone else though. I found no one else has ever proven that book wrong either, in the year 2000 or so.)
When I collected all the data, from those five controlled experiments, I summarized the data, which in my line of work, never allows for speculation. The summary is merely a restatement of my findings only.
My summary was: "The Bible is Real. It is True where it says it is True, and it is False where it says it is false."
Now let me tickle your scientific curiosity a little. One day while working on a set of problems no one had been able to solve for the last two and a half years, defeating one after another, using Research Techniques, and God, but I did not know that God was there yet, as I still then did not finish my proof, for The Bible. I was merely engaged in that proof. (As you know by now. Scientific types never say anything is true until it is proven, and proven, and proven and ......proven, with proofs that are passed on and checked by others, and they also always got the same results, that I did, or the orignal theorist did, using those same proofs that the first scientist did, Else the work is considered to be false.) Well one day, I had finished, and in summarizing I realized that I had a missing data point in a progression. It is not possible to publish normally, until I stop everything, and set up more controlled experiments, gather the data, throw out any piece of erroroneous data, summarize and then put that into the work I was on. Then I would be finished.
That would take me another three months, but aha, science teaches a person about God, it really does somehow. I then knew something about God in connection with that piece of work. In my trade, it is called calibration. I somehow had calibrated God, in this area alone possibly, but knew precisely what God would do, and I put down what God would do, without further work.
Was that point right? Did that data point work? Was it found to be wrong and then I lose my job, for being wrong. (In those days for that place, I could say I don't know the answer and not be punished ever. I could never be wrong though in any statement of research, or else I would lose my job, like those cold-fusion boys.) The data point was right.
Later feeling bad about that, I thought and thought, of how I could tell everyone in my field then, that I used God, for that point. I have never found a way back then to do so, in research, as God then was the new Heresey, it was no longer incorrectly using the Bible by church people that called Science heresey in Gallileo's time, nor on evolution, it is now God that is the new heresy, not sceince anymore.
So, I never had a way to tell them, that what they are most certainly using today, and is in some technical book, or science book today possibly, was actually determined by calibrating God, and using that calibration for that answer.
Maybe that can help. Maybe there is no discrepancies between science and God, it is only in what we think, we know, rather than even what some of our Christian Theologians would like us to believe.
LOVE and love,
...Katerina., ...... .
P.S. Researchers are niether writers nor good spellers.
...Katerina., ...... .

 

[teesocray]

I, too, had these questions and doubts. In fact, when I read your post, it was like looking at one of my journal entries. I recently rediscovered my faith in God and Christ and I couldn't be happier. My story starts in 2009. I was having a discussion with my brother and I was trying to convert him because he's an atheist. I was trying to understand why he had become an atheist because he was raised in the church. In the process of trying to understand him and trying to get him to believe in God again, I lost myself and started questioning my own beliefs. That led to me questioning the authenticity of the Bible, whether or not Jesus Christ was real, and whether or not there in fact was a god. And that lasted up until a couple months ago.

While I was having all these doubts, and questions, my spirit was not at rest. I had a lot of anxiety and and I felt very lost. I recently moved to be closer to my family and and my aunt and uncle are faithful Christians so I started going back to church with them and realized how powerful God truly is. I started seeing him working in my life right away. Being around my aunt and uncle helped me to truly understand what faith is and how to apply it to my life; to have unwavering faith and to have confidence that God will answer my prayers not in my time but in his time and his timing is perfect. The belief in God is something that we are all born with, it's not something that develops over time. We are all born with the knowledge of God and it says that in the Bible. I know God is real because everything that is happening today has been written about in the Bible thousands of years ago. The wars the rumors of war, all the corruption that you see everywhere all the murder all the discord, that has been written about in the Bible and has been predicted many many years ago.

I have absolutely no question in my mind that God is real, that Jesus Christ is real, and that the Bible is real and is indeed the inspired Word of God. That's why its called the living word because it applied back then in the time of Jesus and in the early times of the Prophets and it's still relevant now in 2015. As far as why God allows the different things to happen well the only thing that I can tell you is that it serves as a warning to the rest of us. God is letting us know that the end is near and that we need to get ready for the coming of Jesus Christ.

God allows certain things to happen and I'm not exactly sure why he allows a lot of bad stuff to happen but I I trust that God has his reasons and we may never know but everything isn't for us to know. All I know is that God promises to protect us if we seek Him and his righteousness. I strongly advise you to seek out counsel from your church and to pray to God to reveal his true to you, and pray with an open mind and an open heart and have faith that God will provide the answers to you. But also be aware of the fact that Satan to hears your prayers and Satan is the author of confusion and he can have you thinking that atheism is the way but you must remember that his purpose is to lead as many astray as possible. God also allows us to be tested because he wants to prove us. He wants us to overcome the obstacles in our lives by having faith in him. So maybe your prayers aren't answered immediately but that doesn't mean that God isn't going to answer them. Maybe God doesn't give you exactly what you want; perhaps he has something better in store for you.

 

[iambren]

No one can deny your forthrightness. So refreshing! I have a hunch you're going to make it through.

 

[faroukfarouk]

I, too, had these questions and doubts. In fact, when I read your post, it was like looking at one of my journal entries. I recently rediscovered my faith in God and Christ and I couldn't be happier. My story starts in 2009. I was having a discussion with my brother and I was trying to convert him because he's an atheist. I was trying to understand why he had become an atheist because he was raised in the church. In the process of trying to understand him and trying to get him to believe in God again, I lost myself and started questioning my own beliefs. That led to me questioning the authenticity of the Bible, whether or not Jesus Christ was real, and whether or not there in fact was a god. And that lasted up until a couple months ago.

While I was having all these doubts, and questions, my spirit was not at rest. I had a lot of anxiety and and I felt very lost. I recently moved to be closer to my family and and my aunt and uncle are faithful Christians so I started going back to church with them and realized how powerful God truly is. I started seeing him working in my life right away. Being around my aunt and uncle helped me to truly understand what faith is and how to apply it to my life; to have unwavering faith and to have confidence that God will answer my prayers not in my time but in his time and his timing is perfect. The belief in God is something that we are all born with, it's not something that develops over time. We are all born with the knowledge of God and it says that in the Bible. I know God is real because everything that is happening today has been written about in the Bible thousands of years ago. The wars the rumors of war, all the corruption that you see everywhere all the murder all the discord, that has been written about in the Bible and has been predicted many many years ago.

I have absolutely no question in my mind that God is real, that Jesus Christ is real, and that the Bible is real and is indeed the inspired Word of God. That's why its called the living word because it applied back then in the time of Jesus and in the early times of the Prophets and it's still relevant now in 2015. As far as why God allows the different things to happen well the only thing that I can tell you is that it serves as a warning to the rest of us. God is letting us know that the end is near and that we need to get ready for the coming of Jesus Christ.

God allows certain things to happen and I'm not exactly sure why he allows a lot of bad stuff to happen but I I trust that God has his reasons and we may never know but everything isn't for us to know. All I know is that God promises to protect us if we seek Him and his righteousness. I strongly advise you to seek out counsel from your church and to pray to God to reveal his true to you, and pray with an open mind and an open heart and have faith that God will provide the answers to you. But also be aware of the fact that Satan to hears your prayers and Satan is the author of confusion and he can have you thinking that atheism is the way but you must remember that his purpose is to lead as many astray as possible. God also allows us to be tested because he wants to prove us. He wants us to overcome the obstacles in our lives by having faith in him. So maybe your prayers aren't answered immediately but that doesn't mean that God isn't going to answer them. Maybe God doesn't give you exactly what you want; perhaps he has something better in store for you.

It's great to get into a daily habit of prayer and the Scriptures! If our hearts and minds are meditating on wholesome things relating to faith in Christ, then they are far less likely to wander. The Scriptures and prayer - and fellowship also - are the ways that the Lord preserves His people in their daily pilgrimage.

 

[razzelflabben]

I know how you feel. God never answered my prayers. But anyways, if you want something you have to get it your self. God is not going to hand it to you.

sounds like you are speaking from a place of bitterness. Why do you think God owes you anything more than He has already given?

 

[razzelflabben]

he gave me nothing

maybe that is your problem...if you don't accept His gifts, how can He give you anything? the first gift He gave and asked you to accept was His Love through His blood sacrifice that you might have life.

 

[Saricharity]

Mia,

My heart aches reading your posts.
Your whole world is being turned upside down and you have gone through so many life changes too. I can see why you are feeling so confused and hurt.
I think when life is so out of our control, we really start to question our faith.
I did it too (and people tell me I will do it again and again throughout my life)
I'm so sorry about your brother. Hugs!
My adopted sister has been through a very tough time in her life. She was so severely abused by her bio father that she came into my family as a shattered soul. I have watched her crumble to pieces and rip my family to shreds...break our hearts and ugh...I can't even explain it. The last time her father abused her, she was 13 years old...he snatched her off the street and held her hostage for days and abused her horrendously...he even branded her like he does his horses (to prove she belongs to him no matter where she goes). It was horrible and I was ripping mad at God. Why would He allow that? She is an innocent person who never did anything. Yet she lives with so much pain everyday. Mental illness brought on because of her fathers abuse!! Her story is so horrible and my whole family has been and continues to go through really bad days. My dad has been it the worst because my sister seems to take out all her anger on him (hitting, kicking, biting, shoving him down stairs etc) yet she also seeks him out for comfort too. It rips his heart out.
Im only sharing a little peak into her life so I can share how I have come to terms with things. It's been hard for me. I'm a preachers kid...taught to believe that God is sovereign. But when my sister was running away and cutting herself so deeply and tearing my family to pieces...even putting my dad into the hospital (stress related) I was mad. Why was God doing this? Why?
I've discovered a few things on my journey. (This is just my thoughts) I love God. He created this world perfect. Sin entered the world and corrupted it. Anything evil and bad in this world comes from Satan and not God. God allows things to happen for reasons we may don't understand and we may never will. We can't see the bigger picture. We don't know how the things that happen to us affect others. God loves everyone and doesn't want anyone to perish. My sister being so sick has allowed my dad the opportunity to share the gospel with hundreds of people. Not even by his words but by his passion and love for her. My dad has prayed for her in the hospital and in ambulances and in front of strangers and police. God is using this horrible thing to touch others hearts and soften them. I have seen miracles in my life...small ones and larger ones. I hate watching my sister in so much pain. I pray that God will heal her. Sometimes Gods answer is yes, sometimes No and sometimes wait. I don't know what His answer will be. I do know God is in control. That is so comforting for me on so many levels. If I didn't have my faith and if I didn't believe in God...well...it would mean my sister is just suffering and there is no hope. That thought sucks!! I know God is in control. I know he has a plan for her and for me. I know He loves me. I know He answers prayer. I just need to remember that God sees the big picture and He is the creator. He is the one who gives and takes away. All things come from him. We are finite beings and He is infinite. He gave His son to die for us!! Imagine!! The ultimate sacrifice. The wonderful gift.
I don't know what will happen in the future. My sister is in the hospital now because she ran away and was out in -25 temperatures over night. She almost froze to death. She could have died. I have prayed for her until it feel like I can't cry or pray anymore. Prayer is for me to learn to trust and rely on God. I have no idea if my sister will even make it. It will kill me inside if she doesn't make it. However I have decided to love God. I have decided to trust Him...I have decided He is in control and He holds me in his arms.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. (The verse from my own memory...forgive me if I misquoted it...I often mix up translations)

I'm clinging to that promise. It's taken me so much soul searching and I continue to lean on him daily. I still get mad and question Him but I know He is God and I'm not.

I'm going to pray for you Mia.

(Hugs)

 

[Sketcher]

"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." So it's not like the evils in this world get off scott-free..

eh... by that logic He would be repaying evil with evil.. Wait... I think that's a contradiction, 1 Peter 3:9 tells us to not repay evil with evil, yet Romans 12:19 indicates that He will repay evil with evil? We should just call that equity and when an atheist discover this, just use the "out of context" argument, we should be fine. =)

That's not repaying evil with evil.

God has the right to do certain things that we do not.

For example, take this part of my childhood. I grew up with a brother. We fought and pranked each other, that's normal. And our parents would discipline us. This went both ways, but here's the lesson: If I were to do to him what our parents did to him to discipline him - be it confiscating an abused toy, spanking, or whatever - that would have been wrong for me to do, repaying evil for evil. It was clear that punishment was to be administered by them, and them only. It was not evil of them to spank him, ground him, or confiscate his toys. They had the authority to do those things. I did not. Likewise with God. He has the authority to take revenge, and to a limited extent, he has delegated it to governments. But we are not to take personal revenge, he did not give us the authority to do that.

Until recently when I started to wonder whether or not He truly existed. Why does my one and only brother may have to undergo a heart transplantation surgery at the age of 17? Why does God allow this to happen? Why isn't He answering at least one of my prayers and helping my brother as he suffers from this horrible medical condition? Why does He allow many bad things to happen to selfless and generous people? Why does He allow other people to starve to death in other parts of the world? What kind of God is this? Real or not, He simply doesn't seem the all-loving and all-knowing mighty being I'd choose to commit my life to, and this is something many atheists say.

Ah, yes. I actually have a friend who at the tender age of 26, had to undergo emergency heart surgery to install a St. Jude's valve. His mother died from the condition that required it when he was a child. His brother also had it, but mostly recovered. My friend on the other hand, had a stroke as a complication of that surgery. It's tough, real tough. He was very social and fit, now he's wheelchair bound and can't talk well anymore. He's also legally blind now. I've prayed for his healing quite a bit. We haven't had the supernatural healing we were all wanting to see.

God's existence does not depend on whether he heals my friend or not. God either is, or is not. What happens to us or not, has no bearing on whether or not God prexisted the universe, created it, actively lives and sustains it, or anything else within the Old Roman, Nicene, or Athanasian creeds.

The Christians who were being unjustly persecuted in the days of the Roman Empire seemed to understand that. So do many today who hang onto their faith, in spite of being persecuted ruthlessly by hostile governments and militias. In fact, as I'm sure you observed, the Bible was written acknowledging much suffering, as it was happening when books were written, or remembered as the books were written. Christianity itself is strong enough to be held to in spite of suffering, it has been for 2,000 years.

As to the character of God, I absolutely believe he is loving. He took me, of all people. Even if he were not loving, I'd still find it prudent to be on his good side as much as possible. In fact, it would seem more urgent to do so.

Till this day, there hasn't been a single evidence which proves that Jesus even existed in the past. It may be due to the siege when the Romans infiltrated and destroyed Jerusalem, but it could also mean something else. So I can't be as gullible as I used to be few years ago and blindly assume that Jesus existed and performed miracles and raised from his tomb after His crucifixion etc... It's just irrational.

You then said "So, Jesus was a real person who performed real miracles through the power of God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit... So, how do you explain the miracles, if they were in fact "real", that alone is proof of the existence of God". To me this is all just baseless assumptions. What proof do you have that He was a real person who performed miracles? See this is what I'm struggling with... And you're not exactly making it any easier.

Who told you that? What books have you read on the matter?

There is evidence for Jesus outside of the New Testament (the Talmud, Josephus, Pliny the Younger, Tacitus before he converted). Enough to show that there was a man named Jesus who had followers, was said to perform supernatural works, and was crucified by Roman authorities, then said to have risen from the grave. This is of course ignoring the credibility of the New Testament itself.

 

[Wryetui]

I will write this with severe pain and sorrow in my heart, because I am almost crying. I just found out that a beloved neighbour of us died in an accident last night, my heart is broken and that considering that I didn't know her very well. She died in an accident last night carrying products for her little bussiness, because the truck's wheels where unstabilized because those who sold it to her didn't said that it was very old and it needed to be renewed. Do you see the pain? Do you see the evil that exists in this world? Do you see what sin made out of the perfect world God created for us? Imagine that even Jesus, who was God, cried after seeing his friend Lazarus dead, and seeing what sin made to us, made out of His creation...

Consider this, look what CMI wrote about this: Imagine considering the problem of evil and (illogically) concluding that God does not exist—what happens next? Well, you look around the world again and notice that evil still exists and now you do not even have God to blame. Rejecting God does nothing about evil. Thus, atheism does nothing about evil. Of course it does nothing—it cannot do anything and is not supposed to do anything. Atheism is merely an idea and thus, has no volition by which to do anything at all. Indeed, and that is just the point: atheism is an idea, but God is a being who can and does various things about evil: God can condemn it absolutely, God can make provision for redeeming evil, God can abolish evil. Atheism not only does nothing about evil; atheism actually makes evil even worse. Atheism guarantees that evil is for nothing, it has no greater purpose or meaning; it guarantees no redemption of evil.
However, it is inaccurate to state that atheism guarantees that evil is for nothing and has no greater purpose or meaning. This is because in the absolute materialism that atheism implies, evil is very purposeful in that it benefits the evildoer. The evildoer commits evil acts, and as long as they are not caught they evade the judicial systems of this world and simply get away with it, the victim suffers and may suffer for decades while the evildoer enjoyed committing evil deeds.

Also it is inaccurate to state that atheism does nothing about evil; it actually makes it go away by pretending that it does not exist. A tsunami that drowns thousands of people is not “evil”; it is a large wave. A hurricane that destroys cities and kills people is not “evil”; it is high winds. An animal, whether human or otherwise, that kills another animal is not “evil”; it is acting according to all that there is; its own will. It may be inconvenient, we may not like it, we may attempt to do something about it, against it, but it is not evil; it just is.​

The fact of evil in the world is one of the very best reasons for rejecting atheism.

Concluding, you get nothing by becoming an atheist, it doesn't solve it, Christ is redemption, love and SALVATION, if you become an atheist you will get even WORSE.

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