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ComradeZ

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Hello my friends. I'm not sure if this is the right place for this forum, as I passively consider myself Christian, but I am encountering great difficulties with my faith.
Perhaps I should give a backstory to myself before I detail these issues. Please do not scream bloody murder, but I am on the far left of the political spectrum. Please understand that I have put much, much thought and research into my political beliefs, and they are not changing. I am not looking to debate leftism.
However, I have been active on leftist forums and I have come under fire for defending Christianity (don't take this the wrong way, there are plenty of other Christians on these sites, but we are a bit of a minority) and the atheists have been posing ideas that I have been having difficulty with, like, for example, "Why would God demand that we worship him?" (They say it makes him sound incredibly self-absorbed) They also claim that there is literally no evidence for Christianity. I have heard many evidential arguments for Christianity, but not very many serious ones that delve into the philosophy of Abrahamic religions.
The second issue I am facing is with my connection to Christianity itself. My connection to the religion has just seemed to have disappeared. I pray now when I sin, but I never have the feeling that I've had before that God was listening to me and had foregiven me. I just feel like there's a void. It's very odd; I believe in God, I think he exists, but I just feel like he doesn't really have anything to do with me. Like he's just there and nothing more.
Going to church groups around me is even more difficult; it seems that everybody around me is in a competition to see who is the greatest Christian and they always seem to be condescending to me because I am not well-versed in biblical things.
I see other people who seem to have great relationships with God, and it makes me feel lonely. This is not a good feeling, my friends. Please help.
 

Faulty

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If you had a couple of kids, maybe 5 years old, and you hear them talking to each other one day, and one says to the other, "Why does daddy always want our attention? It just seems so selfish." Would you consider that a correct assessment on their part, or a complete misunderstanding?

Do we go to a car show and stare up at the clouds the whole time? No, we we enjoy the cars and give them our attention.

Do we go to a movie and sit in the back, closing our eyes and humming to ourselves? No. We watch the movie and give it our attention.

Do we visit an art gallery and stare at the floor the whole time, ignoring every painting on the wall? No. We watch, study, and enjoy the art, for that's the whole reason we are there in the first place.

Why do so many not see the life and world that God has provided to them, and give their attention to anything but Him. He's not called Father for nothing. He's not the Almighty for no reason. We look to Him and give Him our attention and our affection, because it's why we've came, and also because He deserves it.


As to the second question, if I were to ask you if you were born again and how do you know, what's the first thing that comes to mind?
 
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razeontherock

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I am encountering great difficulties with my faith.

I have been active on leftist forums and I have come under fire for defending Christianity

and the atheists have been posing ideas that I have been having difficulty with

^_^ Generally, forums, even CF, are not good for building your Faith. It is possible to develop relationships with people you know here, and that's what it takes. Atheists aren't interested in building your Faith.

I never have the feeling that I've had before that God was listening to me and had foregiven me. I just feel like there's a void.

There's an old saying: when G-d seems distant, guess who moved?

Going to church groups around me is even more difficult; it seems that everybody around me is in a competition to see who is the greatest Christian and they always seem to be condescending to me because I am not well-versed in biblical things.

There are 3 primary disciplines for Spiritual health: Bible reading, prayer, and Church. Here you describe not having a good Church, and you have disclosed not availing yourself of prayer. How have you been doing with reading the Scripture?

I don't mean to be abrasive, just to shed some light. Personal responsibility is a HUGE force!
 
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razeontherock

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Yup. REPENT! While I'm not known for my tactful bedside manner, I'm also not known to mince words or hide Truth. Our minds are the gateway, and it is there we choose life or death. While extreme thinking can be problematic, seeing things in these terms can help motivate us.

So the first, most accessible Spiritual discipline is clearly reading the Bible. Here are some specifics about the attitude with which to approach that, which makes all the difference in the world in my experience:


1. Approach the Bible with the attitude that it is God speaking to you, telling you about how to relate to Him. Pray with a quiet, meditative spirit, for exactly that. Ask Him to show Himself strong to you, in ways you haven't known yet. It's ok to stir up your hunger, but try not to let that stir up your emotions.

2. Do this every morning, and every evening. We can talk about Scriptural reasons in depth later, but it is God's way.

3. As you read, anything that looks good PRAY FOR IT. Specific examples I've found powerful:

a. Is 50:4 "The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to [him that is] weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. (Jesus got this, prophetically. Talk about humility!)

b. “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:” Eph 1:17

c. Realize EVERY instance of "the wicked man" in Proverbs is you (me / us).
Yeah, ouch.

4. If there's time for more involved praying after this, fine; but more likely there will be other things you need to go do. Don't think they take you away from God because they DON'T! Just don't leave home w/o Him. It's in the doing that prayer seems to be most helpful. "Pray w/o ceasing," keep a prayerful attitude; there is room in His kingdom for our own unique style. The calling is to abundant LIFE
 
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salida

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Athiests arn't going to help you at all and I will give you various info. There are credible arguments for christianity. Also, there are all kinds of churches so maybe consider church hunting again or a different denomination. It took me, at one time, 2 yrs before I found the one God wanted me to attend.

Denomination Test
▷ ▶Christian Denomination SelectorSelectSmart.com free Religion personality test, selector quiz, matching, choose, compare.

What Christianity has done for the world.
What has Christianity done for the World?
What good has Christianity done?

This is the tip of the iceberg.The bible has certain characteristics to conclude it could only be written by God. No other religious book does this.
Visit: www.TheBibleProofBook.com, (you will need acrobat reader for this), read The Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell a former agnostic- and Examine the Evidence by Muncaster a former athiest/The Case for Christ and The Real Jesus by Lee Strobel a former athiest.

100 fulfilled Bible prophecies
Reasons To Believe : Fulfilled Prophecy: Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible (science website)
Eyewitnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Apologetics Study - Evidence For The Christian Faith
Bible Reliability: M-A-P-S to Guide You through Bible Reliability

Historical Accuracy(bible is the most accurate history book)
The bible is loaded with historical statements concerning events hundreds of years ago and has not
been proven incorrect in any.
(Bible compared to other ancient documents):
New Testament starts - at 25 years between original and first surviving copies
Homer - starts at 500 years
Demosthenes - at 1400 years
Plato - at 1200 years

Number of Manuscript Copies-New Testament - 5,686/Homer - 643/Demosthenes - 200/
Plato - 7/Caesar -10

The Failure of Atheism to Account for Morality
http://carm.org/failure-of-atheism-to-ac…
Richard dawkins fraud
Debunking Dawkins: The God Delusion Chapter 1: A deeply religious non believer

Want to come back to God? Then rebuild your relationship with him like you would a person.

Sources
Bible Questions Answered
Christian Research Institute and the Bible Answer Man, Hank Hanegraaff
Sound Bible Doctrine & Christian apologetics of Bible doctrine teaching are needed to defend the faith with Spiritual Discernment.
www.soundreason.com
CrossExamined.org - Frank Turek | Christian Youth are Leaving the Church
CARM - Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
Always Be Ready (ABR) - Christian Apologetics: Defending Your Faith
The Evidence Bible

Feel free to email me anytime.
 
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salida

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Athiests arn't going to help you at all and I will give you various info. There are credible arguments for christianity. Also, there are all kinds of churches so maybe consider church hunting again or a different denomination. It took me, at one time, 2 yrs before I found the one God wanted me to attend.

Denomination Test
▷ ▶Christian Denomination SelectorSelectSmart.com free Religion personality test, selector quiz, matching, choose, compare.

What Christianity has done for the world.
What has Christianity done for the World?
What good has Christianity done?

This is the tip of the iceberg.The bible has certain characteristics to conclude it could only be written by God. No other religious book does this.
Visit: www.TheBibleProofBook.com, (you will need acrobat reader for this), read The Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell a former agnostic- and Examine the Evidence by Muncaster a former athiest/The Case for Christ and The Real Jesus by Lee Strobel a former athiest.

100 fulfilled Bible prophecies
Reasons To Believe : Fulfilled Prophecy: Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible (science website)
Eyewitnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Apologetics Study - Evidence For The Christian Faith
Bible Reliability: M-A-P-S to Guide You through Bible Reliability

Historical Accuracy(bible is the most accurate history book)
The bible is loaded with historical statements concerning events hundreds of years ago and has not
been proven incorrect in any.
(Bible compared to other ancient documents):
New Testament starts - at 25 years between original and first surviving copies
Homer - starts at 500 years
Demosthenes - at 1400 years
Plato - at 1200 years

Number of Manuscript Copies-New Testament - 5,686/Homer - 643/Demosthenes - 200/
Plato - 7/Caesar -10

The Failure of Atheism to Account for Morality
http://carm.org/failure-of-atheism-to-ac…
Richard dawkins fraud
Debunking Dawkins: The God Delusion Chapter 1: A deeply religious non believer

Want to come back to God? Then rebuild your relationship with him like you would a person.

Sources
Bible Questions Answered
Christian Research Institute and the Bible Answer Man, Hank Hanegraaff
Sound Bible Doctrine & Christian apologetics of Bible doctrine teaching are needed to defend the faith with Spiritual Discernment.
www.soundreason.com
CrossExamined.org - Frank Turek | Christian Youth are Leaving the Church
CARM - Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
Always Be Ready (ABR) - Christian Apologetics: Defending Your Faith
The Evidence Bible

Feel free to email me anytime.
 
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drich0150

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Hello my friends. I'm not sure if this is the right place for this forum, as I passively consider myself Christian, but I am encountering great difficulties with my faith.
Perhaps I should give a backstory to myself before I detail these issues. Please do not scream bloody murder, but I am on the far left of the political spectrum. Please understand that I have put much, much thought and research into my political beliefs, and they are not changing. I am not looking to debate leftism.
However, I have been active on leftist forums and I have come under fire for defending Christianity (don't take this the wrong way, there are plenty of other Christians on these sites, but we are a bit of a minority) and the atheists have been posing ideas that I have been having difficulty with, like, for example, "Why would God demand that we worship him?" (They say it makes him sound incredibly self-absorbed) They also claim that there is literally no evidence for Christianity. I have heard many evidential arguments for Christianity, but not very many serious ones that delve into the philosophy of Abrahamic religions.
The second issue I am facing is with my connection to Christianity itself. My connection to the religion has just seemed to have disappeared. I pray now when I sin, but I never have the feeling that I've had before that God was listening to me and had foregiven me. I just feel like there's a void. It's very odd; I believe in God, I think he exists, but I just feel like he doesn't really have anything to do with me. Like he's just there and nothing more.
Going to church groups around me is even more difficult; it seems that everybody around me is in a competition to see who is the greatest Christian and they always seem to be condescending to me because I am not well-versed in biblical things.
I see other people who seem to have great relationships with God, and it makes me feel lonely. This is not a good feeling, my friends. Please help.

Taken from luke 11:
A Friend Comes at Midnight

5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread[d] from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

What are we ask,seek, knocking for?
We are doing these thing to receive a measure of the Holy Spirit. An actual piece of God to indwell you.

What does this look like?
The bible refers to it as Spiritual fruit in Gal 5:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

You may say you can experience these attributes now with out God. It is not the experiencing of one or two of these attributes that is key. It is that these attributes become the defining qualities of your life. Your personality will change to fit these Spiritual fruit, for just like a apple tree can only yield an apple, and not some other fruit, A person indwelt with the holy Spirit can only Yield Spiritual fruit.

Now if you are faithful to your Spiritual fruit, you will be given Gifts. These gifts run the gambit. The important thing Here is if you get to this point you will have what it is you seek.

That brings us back to how do you Ask, Seek, and knock

You Ask in prayer, you seek in the bible (by reading it) and asking question in places like this and in church, you knock by repeating this process till you get what you have been asking and seeking for. that means you can not put a time limit on your efforts. Like the neighbor in this story you keep pounding on the door till you get what you want!!!

As far as why Demands worship; Because He is God and He gets to Demand things. Where we make the mistake is trying to assimilate God in our personal or political views. God is God in part because He created Everything. He owns it all. As the Owner of Creation He gets to make Demands from the created. God does not offer to share His deity with us so we do not get a say in the matter the end.

As a "believer" we must humble ourselves and yield to His authority. This is one of those things we must yield to.
 
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