Most Common Questions from New Christians?

[millerrod]

how can God be three yet one? how can a tree be one yet have many branches.

 

[Amandax3God]

Heres a picture of what the Trinity represents. The whole trinity thing is hard to grasp, and I'm still trying to grasp more of it myself, this helped me a little to understand.

 

[Amandax3God]

how can God be three yet one? how can a tree be one yet have many branches.

You made me think of this, lets go along with your 'tree' explanation of the Trinity.

Okay so, you have the whole tree, in comparison to God.
You have the Stump, the Branches, and the Leaves. All these things MAKE UP the tree, can you have a tree without ANY leaves?(all year lets just say ..) without ANY stump? Without ANY branches? Of course not, The Father, The Son(Jesus) and the Holy Spirit, Make up God. The leaves aren't the branches right? And the branches aren't the stump right? The stump isn't the leaves either ... well, The Father isn't the Son, And the Son, isn't the holy spirit, and the Father isn't the Holy Spirit, but yet they make up God. Without any, it doesn't exist, without any of the elements of a tree, it can't be called: 'a tree'.

Heres another little explanation, that is short, sweet, and simple, and it may, or maynot help you:

Heres Johnny.
Johnny the Baseball player
Johnny the Student
Johnny the Son.

But Johnny, is still 'Johnny'.

 

[millerrod]

Johnny Loves us and that makes me happy

 

[Angel of God]

Okay since I am not sure which forum is appropriate I selected this one. I am wondering what the most common questions were among us when we were new christians. Since this is the board for New Christians what are your big questions?
For me it was ...
How can God be three persons at once?
How can I trust that the Bible is truth?
How do I know when I hear God's voice and know that it is not mine own thoughts?

These were my biggest ones. I think most have been answered during my walk but I still struggle with the last. I wanted to open discussion on this topic and see what people had to say.

a)Jesus said:"I am the way, the truth and the life",
the way is the son, the truth comes from the Holy Spirit that is Spirit of Truth and the life comes from the Father......

b)One has to try the truth in the Bible with the knowledge that it's true, it's as to believe in Jesus Miracles.....

c)If you don't know what you are doing then you are not hearing Jesus Words, this is not hell but if one wants to be a good christian then he has to hear Jesus words.
The least for salvation is to celebrate christian festivities and not to be a devil friend against christianity........

 

[phan]

im a new chrisitan and i have a question: if god is real, and he loves us and he wants each and every non believer to join his kingdom, and if he has supernatural powers like the powers he used wind to seperate the waters in the book of Exodus, then how come he cant use supernatural powers to gain more credibility for the stubborn people out there?

 

[Super Gnat]

Because even if God did those things, most people still wouldn't believe in Him. In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the rich man is (obviously) rich, and Lazarus is a begger who lives outside his gates. They both die, and Lazarus goes to Abraham's bosom while the rich man goes to hell. The rich man can see Lazarus and Abraham, and begs Abraham to send Lazarus with a little water. But Lazarus is too far away. So then the rich man says:

'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
" 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "

The really interesting thing here is that if you go back and look up Moses' life and some of the prophets, you'll find out that people didn't believe them even back then, when God was doing more obvious things.

For example, with Moses. Moses and the rest of the Israelites were in the desert, and came to Mt. Sinai. (I'm taking these things from Exodus 19-, btw.) When they had been there for two days,

On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.

Moses goes up, God tells him that the people aren't to touch the mountain, and gives him a bunch of instructions. Then in chapter 24,

Then he said to Moses, "Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, but Moses alone is to approach the LORD; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him."

[...]
Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.

So these people saw God, or at least some part of Him.

God tells Moses to come up to Him on the mountain to give him the laws of the Israelites. Moses appoints a few people to keep order while he's gone.

When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

So, Moses is still up there, the cloud, thunder and lightning, etc. atop the mountain is still going on, so you'd think that the people would be suitably impressed and dedicated to serving God for the rest of their lives. But in chapter 32:

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him."
Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."
When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD." So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

So they decided that Moses was never coming back, and so they had better make an idol and worship the idol and claim that the idol had brought them out of Egypt. And Aaron, who had seen God, helped them to do it.

And then you start looking at the prophets. I'll just mention one, but it should be enough. Elijah proved without a doubt that God is God and Baal (an idol) is not at Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18.

So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."
But the people said nothing. Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God."
Then all the people said, "What you say is good."
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." So they took the bull given them and prepared it.
Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."
"Do it again," he said, and they did it again.
"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."
Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!"

Ahab, who was the king of Israel at this time, personally witnessed this miracle. His wife, Jezebel, was an evil woman who worshipped Baal and other false gods.

Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them."

So Ahab did nothing. The people who had witnessed the events on Mount Carmel did nothing. Everybody acted as if it hadn't happened at all.



What Moses and the Prophets tell us is that even given incontravertible (sp?) proof of God's existence, even seeing God with their own eyes, people still won't believe. So it's pointless for God to do those things, because they don't change people's hearts.

 

[phan]

Thank you so much super gnat. i didnt realize that god had used his supernatural powers back then even when the egyptians and the jewish had witnessed gods powers in the book of exodus...but still didnt beleive God for who he said he was...thanks again!

 

[Bro_Sam]

When I was a new Christian I always wanted somebody to tell me how I could know God's will.

 

[millerrod]

If it fall within 1Cor.13:4-7 then it is Gods will , if it steps on --offends these manners of Love then it is not Gods will.

 

[ChrisinMI]

While I am amazed that this thread is still around ...

I have come up with another question...

Credibility of the Bible...how do we explain the 'seemed' contradictions and/or ommissions?

I came across this question recently and can't explain it. My answer was that we don't have explainations for all things but that doesn't mean they are not true or do not exist... That is the best I can do...Give me your best answer.

 

[FreeSpirit74]

Someone once said to me and this helps me heaps that you know if it is God if the thought does not go away. If you continue hearing a voice in your head to do something it is God. He will keep telling you something until you do it.

Well, I've been having this persistant thought in my head the last few days about picking up the phone and contacting a buddy of mine with whom I had a falling out back in January. Would that count?

I want to, but I'm scared that I'll be rejected, and plus I don't know what I'd say, exactly.

 

[bethdinsmore]

Credibility of the Bible...how do we explain the 'seemed' contradictions and/or ommissions? quote]

Here's a great site, that answers the book "101 contradictions in the Bible"--fascinating reading. www.debate.org.uk/topics/apolog/contrads.htm

Also, [wiki]Apologetics[/wiki] is a good place to start, especially the links that give Christian Evidences.

aloha in Jesus

 

[JPPT1974]

Well, I've been having this persistant thought in my head the last few days about picking up the phone and contacting a buddy of mine with whom I had a falling out back in January. Would that count?

I want to, but I'm scared that I'll be rejected, and plus I don't know what I'd say, exactly.

Maybe you ought to pick up the phone
Or meet that buddy of yours
In order to put aside your differences
And patch up your friendship with your buddy!

 

[jamiepr79]

Hi all

Yes I always knew about the Lord and claimed to be a Christian but I didn't do what the bible told me, I was blinded by my own selfish interests and pride.

I'm lucky I can say for 100% surety that the Lord exists (but even that didn't help me), but I tried to make my own path and lead myself down the path of ruin and misery.

You have to submit to God and believe in his will, he has a plan for all of us, I've only given myself to the Lord a couple of weeks ago. And I stumbled many times but Lord corrected my foolishness and guides me on my path through his power and not through my own.

I have been impatient and it seems as if all these obstacles are conspiring against me but through the power of the Lord I will persevere. And I must admit I’m having difficulty making time for the Lord and sometimes I feel fatigued and confused but I feel the Lords strength guiding me.

 

[lady4theallmighty]

Okay since I am not sure which forum is appropriate I selected this one. I am wondering what the most common questions were among us when we were new christians. Since this is the board for New Christians what are your big questions?
For me it was ...
How can God be three persons at once?
How can I trust that the Bible is truth?
How do I know when I hear God's voice and know that it is not mine own thoughts?

These were my biggest ones. I think most have been answered during my walk but I still struggle with the last. I wanted to open discussion on this topic and see what people had to say.

I am a new Christian as well. There is a post here called "Guide for New Christians". She's got a web link in the post that has a question and answer section that I found to have some helpful information, particulary about the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Also, I picked up a book titled How to Listen to God, by Charles Stanley. I've found it to be incredibly helpful in this area! I'm sure that you can pick up a used copy on Amazon for pretty inexpensive, or I would be happy to share my copy with you.

Have a blessed weekend in Jesus!

 

[lady4theallmighty]

Oh and one more thing, you asked how do you know if the Bible is true. I asked my boyfriend the same question, and his response was "I just have faith that the bible is true". That's all I needed. Faith.

 

[JPPT1974]

Oh and one more thing, you asked how do you know if the Bible is true. I asked my boyfriend the same question, and his response was "I just have faith that the bible is true". That's all I needed. Faith.

The bible is true
Never lies
And never will my friend
Just know that God loves you!

 

[leanne708]

the trinity still confuses me