| User | Magnolia Steele |
| Topic | True Religion? |
| Message | With all the different faiths there are, how does one know if their faith is the right one before God? How did we come to have so many takes on worshiping God? Is the bible the only source to learn about God? How much of the bible should we apply in our lives? Is the bible outdated? Would true religion advocate homosexuality, abortions, and premarital sex? If not, why exclude those who practice this if they have God’s mercy as the rest who do not practice such things? Is it right to start your own church? Should women become priest or preachers? Should babies be baptized? All these are questions that define to each of us what exactly is right or wrong in a religion. I would like to know your take on it. What is the true religion, and have you found it? What makes it true to you? You do not have to anwser all these qiestions. Pick and choose as you like. Feel free to bring any ideas along the lines of this thread and share them. |
|| Replies ||
| User | kanu | 2006-05-30 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | Whats the difference between a saint who can benedict persons and provide instructions for the full awakening of god consciousness and jesus? |
| User | kanu | 2006-04-27 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | its simple really - just accept that you are a servant of god (or even better a servant of the servant of god) and your confusion is over - the moment you enter even a bread crumb of "I am the lord and controller of this world" expect confusion
As for dying for one’s faith or religion just compare jesus and the stereotypical islamic human bomber - one, upon his (apparent) demise of body is thinking "God forgive them" and the other is thinking "I’m gonna get them real good" - its like the difference between gold and lead |
| User | Blue Monk | 2006-04-27 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | How many followers of the many different kinds of religions would die before accepting that any other religion is (or even might be) correct in the eyes of God? The stronger the faith, the more that would die. Billions? Martyrs all! Madness?
Sometimes the very most faithful are compelled that they must "save" all others from their own foolish peril and stop the spread of heresy or elsewise cleanse the populace, even if it means by killing them! "It is God’s will" they will claim, and many are guilty throughout history. Yes, even Christians to the dismay of Jesus I’m sure. "so we have the identity crisis, not god" Yes, but is it a crisis founded in the very confusion that God allows us to stay in, apparently since we are only human and unable to truly fathom His awesome power and glory? Is it His will? Is there a purpose to it? Or is that what happens when evil (godless) men seek to hold the perceived power of God over their followers? Faith alone in God is as much as a human mind needs because historically - at such point as one truly knows God - then other men will deem him totally mad unless divine intervention (or other men’s gullibility) makes him a saint or prophet. God made us who and what we are and perhaps that is why He choses to be so forgiving. He gave us Jesus who stands waiting to forgive and accept any of us, not as a saint nor a prophet but as the Son of God and One with God. That is not confusing and as a gift of God, it costs nothing but only requires simple faith. |
| User | mae | 2006-04-26 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | I agree with kanu - God is perfectly clear about who he is. The human desire to be equal with God is what causes our problem with him. We refuse to see his true role, wanting it to be less than it is, which, in turn, at least in our own minds, elevates us and our role. mae |
| User | kanu | 2006-04-26 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | so we have the identity crisis, not god - I mean we cannot even ascertain what is a sufffering caused by our own foolishness and what is a curbing punishment of god - actually the curbing punishment of god is for one to suffer by one’s own self created journeys into the realm of deafness to his instructions. |
| User | Blue Monk | 2006-04-25 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | God may have made his role clear to those angels in His presence, but He leaves that very unclear to mankind, hence the vast confusion with regards to what is the "True Religion". Either He is putting on a contest to see which of us gets closest, or He enjoys a smorgasbord of worship. In my experience, He does have an excellent sense of humor - when He’s not driven to smite someone. |
| User | kanu | 2006-04-21 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | Thats one of the good things about god - eternally in all circumstances he is completely clear about his role in the world - we cannot say the same about ourselves |
| User | kanu | 2006-04-09 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | I think there are two completely different aspects of a person - one is their body (which is temprary due to being material) and the other is the soul - so the point is that one should identify themselves more as a servant of god rather than their material designation (gender, colour, creed) because after all one is ultimately not an eternal woman or an eternal man |
| User | joeyalphabet | 2006-03-30 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | You’re thinking in human terms, Rokhal. God’s justice is perfect. Didasters and bad things like murder and assault will happen even to good people. There was just the case here of a nun very much involved in the community helping a lot of people, who was killed in an auto accident by someone who was high. As a human I don’t that as being just, but I have to believe God had a reason for calling her home like that.
Christians say we are ’saved’ from death by believing in Jesus. That’s what he said, that anyone who believes in Him shall never die. The signs of slavation should be loving all people and doing good works. The reason that’s not always the case (and I’ll use myself as an example here) is that I don’t love the way I should. I get angry and I hate because I’m human and prone to sin. I ask God to forgive me and help stregthen me to fight this and become more like Jesus. I’m not trying to get you to convert to Christianity or anything, I’m just trying to respond. |
| User | mae | 2006-03-30 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | Rokhal, God is most assuredly just. But he has offered us a gift that will pay the debt that we owe. If we accept that gift, we are not tossed out like last week’s fish. If we reject that offer, then, phfft! Out we go. mae |
| User | mae | 2006-03-30 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | The ’signs’ of salvation, kanu, are love - especially for other believers, and most especially for God and the things of God; joy even in the midst of bad times - which makes it something different from happiness which is dependent upon circumstances; remorse for our sins; and a desire to be in the presence of God. It also imbues a person with a confidence and peace that most people don’t possess.
Not everyone who is saved is an evangelist. Even among evangelicals, God has given different people different gifts (SOMEBODY has to answer the phone!). And mostly, kanu, it’s a different feeling in yourself. It’s really hard to describe. You belong to God; you are entitled to all the benefits he offers: his love, his protection, his provision, everything. You know where you belong and to whom you belong. The other things I mentioned are outward manifestations that others can see (the faith with works that Chell mentions); this is an inward manifestation that is felt by the Christian. mae |
| User | kanu | 2006-03-29 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | On the side how do you know that you are "saved" I mean what asre the symptoms - sure you can say I accept jesus/buddha or god knows who else but what makes you different from a person who is merely dreaming that they have awoken from a dream. |
| User | Rokhal | 2006-03-29 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | God’s not just, Joey. Justice is tossing us all out like last week’s fish.
Mercy isn’t about obligation, either. There aren’t any innocent heathen out there, so we’d best get the missionaries to the guilty ones, top speed. Maybe God does have a plan for those people, but the Great Commission was pretty definite about the urgency of evangelism. |
| User | joeyalphabet | 2006-03-29 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | I don’t believe my religion [I’m Catholic] is the be all and end all of what is right. I don’t believe that Christianity is the be all and end all. And I also don’t believe a loving, just and merciful God throws people into hell for not getting every little doctrine just right either. |
| User | kanu | 2006-03-28 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | Well there has not been anything briliant arising out of secularism either |
| User | ghostknight | 2006-03-28 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | wow, you said it. claiming to have a religion at all is ignorant and prejudiced, not to mention arrogant and insecure. |
| User | joeyalphabet | 2006-03-28 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | All I know is my religion’s right and everybody else is wrong! X-) |
| User | ghostknight | 2006-03-27 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message |
| User | kanu | 2006-03-27 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | well I guess it is a safe problem although perhaps not the best way to solve it |
| User | Magnolia Steele | 2006-03-04 | |
| Subject | untitled |
| Message | I did not mean I dislike saintly people. I am just a loner by nature...I dont like crowds of people. I would hate to be around anyone long, regardless of status in the world. I just like being alone. Now you see my problem?
Maggie |