rynodigsmusic

Why would either of those be true? They seem to be true at least to me. I have found in my life that opening up to love someone who either does or doesnt love you takes courage, quite a bit actually. And, how is courage possible without fear? People think that a courageous man, a hero, is just as fearless as can be, I disagree. I think a hero, or courageous man feels fear very much and faces that fear with courage of the heart. Youve, read the Gospel. Jesus faced his destiny with courage so that others might have the love God has for him. To me, that sounds just like something the love of God would do if it were ever to appear here in this world to teach us how to love, and to save us from a life that is found wanting at the heart level. "We didn't start the fire"

We dont all believe the same things do we? But, if love takes courage and courage takes fear, is there any other way to see it? I have no problem admitting I have fear in my life, well maybe I do, oops but I just did, didnt I? No, but seriously, this revelation was a beautiful thing in my spiritual understanding, While I have found that God inspires us to fear him, it is a beautiful fear...a very beautiful fear. I have begun to understand that there is love in fear...and you may or may not admit, that many fear love...but fearing love and finding love in fear still means that love takes fear. "We didn't start the fire"

Because we are not 'saved'. Haven't gotten on our knees and accepted Jesus Christ as our lord and savior. We won't "see Gods beautiful light". Fear a god of mercy, love, compassion? Fear hellfire and brimstone? From this same merciful god? Fear...fear....fear...... If I don't believe in heaven and hell, I guess I have nothing to fear. Righteousness, mercy, goodness, and compassion are not defined by dogma. Love is something man created to differentiate us from the animals. But, if there is a God, we are his biggest joke. He was bored on the 6th day, the animals had it down, breeding, they knew the pecking order and didn't question it. God said, "let me create man and woman, two completely different species, give them the ability to cross breed, give them animal instincts and the ability to reason." One the 7thy day, God laughed! I really respect other people's views and beliefs as their own. Religion, or lack thereof, is a personal thing, but this holier than thou dialog has been really fun to read, and I couldn't resist. BTW, when are ya'll gonna be disappeared? I want your house! Peace, Jeanie You and I believe differently. But did you happen to notice my signoff. Love takes Fear. To live without fear is to live in a lie. Everyone fears something, it can be a beautiful guide for us. Again, what we know about Heaven and Hell is very little. Im ny walk with Jesus I have begun to understand that Heaven and Hell, although could also be places, are more conditions or states of the heart. That is, Heaven is with God, Hell is without. Nevertheless, you and I believe very differently in regards to love. Even if love were created by us or not, it is very powerful, enough to destroy and empower. Edited to add: How is it holier than thou to admit I am evil and in need of help?? "We didn't start the fire"

You are greatly decieved. Nevertheless, how exactly does this explain that God didnt create satan and allow sin? Which is what we were talking about. You all should know that I still beileve in the balance of good and evil, but that love has power over them both. And, you should know that I also believe we are evil, wicked, and sinful, thats exactly why we need a savior. To snatch us from the fire. But, unfortunately you seem to be believing what you want to and until you see the truth, you will never see Gods beautiful light. "We didn't start the fire"

Rubbish......i would suggest actually reading the bible before making incorrect statements... Are you under the impression that the bible suggests there is more than one God? Then God created everything for his purpose didnt he? But if thats not enough, take Isaiah 54:16-17... "See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc; no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD. There are many being forged for the work of the blacksmith. They are tempered in flames and molded in the fire. Their tounge speaks the deception that decieves them and the lie will keep them there until the truth sets them free, by "snatching them from the fire" Gods elect are those who have been in the fire and tested by the flames, they are those who have been saved by his grace, those who have tasted death and found life. There is much more to say about this....Zechariah... Then he showed me Joshua [a] the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?" Zechariah cont.... In the whole land," declares the LORD, "two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. 9 This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.' " "We didn't start the fire"

But why the God needs to _wait_ until the Judgment day, if - as Christians say - his goal is just to separate those who follow Christ and those who do not? 24Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27"The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?' 28" 'An enemy did this,' he replied. "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' 29" 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' " "We didn't start the fire"

If i punched you in the face would you turn the other cheek? Or do you only get this when you grow eternaly?? You can pm your awnser to me, either or. I'm not relegious, but I know there is a god? ME!! Pure Joy if I could, but I can only hope that I would. "We didn't start the fire"

Or at least replaced it. Yes, removed and replaced. Like when you take out an old car part and replace it with a new one. So when the new part wears out after time will you get a new one? What brand will you go for next time? Its been my experience that as long as desire is fed, it will grow and grow. Having a newfound desire for the love in the eternal God offers eternal growth. "We didn't start the fire"

No, question God, search, pine, do whatever you will, but the truth is that understanding changes through perception. Anyone can look at something different than someone else, and some can even find good in everything, but understanding why takes faith. That is, if your going to find something good out of what you perceive as evil, your going to need a little faith and trust. We know that God allowed sin, becasue the bible says that God created satan to work havoc and destroy, but we also know that without sin we would not have Grace, just like without death, we would not have life. Everything changes through perception, the question is, do you take mans perception, or Gods? If you take Gods, then you trust that all things work for the good. If everything is inevitable anyway, a man who trusts has peace even in the roughest times. Look at Jesus. He knew he was going to be crucified, yet he still kept his peace through trust. Yes he was scared, he was a man afterall, but through his trust in Gods love (which is what he was/is), he kept peace in his heart. The love he released on the cross carries with it a deep peace. So deep, the world doesnt really understand it at all because in order to recieve grace, you have to be guilty of sin. "We didn't start the fire"

Once again you wrongly assume things about other posters in this thread. Humble? Nah. I'm not an atheist. Im so mad at myself for saying that again...but, the tone of your posts suggests that you dont believe in God. "We didn't start the fire"

Good from one perspective is evil from another perspective, generally. Yes, deception takes discernment. "We didn't start the fire"

Or at least replaced it. Yes, removed and replaced. Like when you take out an old car part and replace it with a new one. "We didn't start the fire"

Why would a perfect supreme being create "perfect humans" that perform "evil acts"? Why would such a supreme being even create evil, unless evil was perfect. evil was created to serve a perfect purpose, one we could never understand fully. "We didn't start the fire"

Define heal. When the flesh is in pain it can be healed. When the soul is in pain, it can be healed as well. My flesh was addicted to many things, the healing of my soul healed my addictions as well. You didn't define heal. heal |hēl| verb [ trans. ] (of a person or treatment) cause (a wound, injury, or person) to become sound or healthy again : his concern is to heal sick people | [as adj. ] ( healing) a healing effect on the entire body | [as n. ] ( healing) the gift of healing. • [ intrans. ] become sound or healthy again : he would have to wait until his knee had healed. • alleviate (a person's distress or anguish) : time can heal the pain of grief. • correct or put right (an undesirable situation) : the rift between them was never really healed. I didnt desire to be addicted to anything, but I was. Jesus removed that desire, he healed me by revealing a greater desire, God. "We didn't start the fire"

You have labeled belief as knowledge, and non-belief as belief. Backwards x2. Your intelligence will make it harder and harder to find faith. You clearly are very smart, like JCD, but seriously, what does this have to do with anything? Nevertheless, belief comes from knowledge and non-belief is a type of belief. For example, you believe there is no God based on the knowledge you have believed, and your disbelief is still a belief. Yeah, im pretty sure JCD taught me that one with his intelligence. Again, none of this has any substance, its simply an expression of prideful inteligence...ego, "We didn't start the fire"

Listen, I dont enjoy engaging you anymore than you do me, so I wouldnt flatter yourself so much....but, Much of your intelligences, though graceful in sound, have absolutely no substance at all when someone is searching for the deeper aspects of the human spirit. Many of you offer nothing but quesitons about evidence and proof, while never submitting to you not having evidnece or proof to the contrary. Faith on the other hand, while completely ridiculous to your ears, offers me an endless depth of understanding, perception, and spiritual revelation in which I apply to my everyday life with incredible and indescribable sucesses. Life has made one of its greatest qualites something that cannot be bought, or even taught, but only given. While faith is completely ridiculous to many of you, dont you think it is at least slightly intriguing that it has so much power over the mind of man? Faith in Christ is not about how much you can destroy, but how much love you can let in from love itself. There is no act of hope, you either have it, or you dont. Again, we have our hope through love, so it is the love that carries the true power. I dont believe that love is just an act...do you? One of the good pleasures of God is giving the gift of himself to the humble, to those who are like little children. I really didnt know what Jesus meant when he said that, but as I type these words, It is being revealed more and more. "You have hidden these things from the wise and the learned and revealed them to the little children, yes Father, for this was your good pleasure". "We didn't start the fire"

Well, I find it interesting that you seem to believe you have the best words to raise children with and that faith in Jesus Christ is such a poisonous substance to them. But, you have only focused on exactly what you wanted to focus on. You heard me say we dont deserve our lives, but failed to hear the rest of it, which is coincidentally what Jesus is all about. Jesus is Life, grace is love when you feel you dont deserve it. If you have never felt as if you dont deserve to be loved, then you dont know what im talking about do you? If you heart ever did want for something more, I can only hope it would find what mine found, as it is, we are at a point in this conversation where faith meets denial, not doubt, and I dont think we could go any further do you? As for the deserving death comment, I said it to express that life is a gift and everything we have is a gift, this is to inspire humbleness...or did you give yourself life? Did you create your own opprotunity?....life has an origin, a beginning and it has shown that it takes life to GIVE life, and Jesus, who is Life has come to give us more through an understanding and perception of life itself. But while you ponder how many errors you see in my thought process, why dont you tell me what you did/do to deserve your gift of life. "We didn't start the fire"

Here it is- it is your HOPE in God that you are getting joy from. This is one of the greatest gifts of life. Hope that inspires Joy. What your missing is why we have hope, and until you get that understanding and that perception, im afraid you may not ever see why, instead, you will constantly be on the side that persecutes what it doesnt understand. "We didn't start the fire"

Well, I think you and I got off on the wrong foot! I have a little smile on my face because I cant believe I read your first post so quickly and completely mis understood it. I thought you were comparing my thought process to that of jeffery dahmers. I was totally wrong in that regard and I sincerely apologize. I loved your paint on life and it is not up to me at all to reveal mine to you, I dont have that power. There is a difference between you and I. I believe Jesus is God and you seem not to, but I dont see much of a difference in our enjoyment of life. I talk about guilt, condemnation, yes, but I also talk more about love, hope, faith, joy, freedom, and living life to the fullest. As a believer, I know there is a judgment. Either it is already being executed in our hearts, or it is after death. As a non-believer, you believe there is no judgment. Yes, I only know this because of the Gospel and Jesus Christ and I am believing it more and more the longer I walk with him. Nevertheless, you are you and I am me, we are who we are. But, I definitely wouldnt assume that living with the life of Jesus is denied the beautiful perception in not only doing the things you enjoy, but also communing with God, and in my lifes experiences, not even surfing the clouds comes remotely close to communing with God in spirit and in truth....not even close. One life? I dont believe that. I believe that those who die with Jesus live with him, where, I cant possibly know. The bible says Heaven, but paradise to me would mean nothing without Jesus, so as long as hes there, I will be forever in praise. But again, I am very sorry that I said, "people like you", I really am. I just read through it so fast and I believe I was in a hurry to get something done here and these forums are sort of addictng (for lack of better word) and I may have had others to "get to", but, no excuses, I am sorry. "We didn't start the fire"

And I never claimed to be humble. I do indeed believe that I am smarter than a religious person, at least in this area.Quote Im not really quite sure what I have done to infuriate you, but I do understand your frustration nonetheless. You are not a believer in Jesus Christ, its just that simple. Or worse than that, you are a believer but have chosen to deny and betray his grace, and for what, evidence of the invisible? "We didn't start the fire"

Define heal. When the flesh is in pain it can be healed. When the soul is in pain, it can be healed as well. My flesh was addicted to many things, the healing of my soul healed my addictions as well. "We didn't start the fire"

Apart from my misunderstanding what he said, could you please point out the irony. "We didn't start the fire"

Eh? No he didn't.Quote Your right, I am terribly sorry. I misunderstood that or read it too fast, but to say that we deserve life could be considered just as "diseased" as saying we dont deserve it. Why not consider life a gift? Even if you dont believe that gift was given by God, you could still at least consider it a gift of life could you not? "We didn't start the fire"

>>>>You are far from the truth, and rage is easily inspired in people like you. You fall into deception very easily and have managed to sincerely believe I am like jeffrey dahmer and on top of that, insinuated it might be a good idea to "handle" me. Are you really sure that I am the one who is unjust? What did you do to deserve your life? What makes you believe you deserve what others do not have? Wasnt everything you have born from the opportunities you had? Im assuming you are not physically or mentally challenged? Do you think you did anything to deserve not being handicapped? If I am a preachy type, I preach about humbleness and how none of us are any better or greater than others, yet the truth is that is not what our ego tells us is it? We like to believe we are humble, but humbleness is a path, like righteousness, like humility, like truth. "We didn't start the fire"

It's strange because those are the words Christians use themselves. >>>>God Is, take that for however you like. Explore love a little deeper and you may or may not understand. But try telling the couple in love that love is not alive, that it is just an emotion, that its not empowering...that it doesnt have the power to unlock the deepest most poetic parts of the heart. Explore love, but beware, love is something you have to let in, before you can even begin to understand its power over you. Looks like you're confusing the definition with what you like to imagine. This will not work, as you cannot base definition on your personal subjective feelings. Then your definition makes little sense if you tell people to follow God just because it "empowering and feels good". And it makes even less sense if you tell the people the God wants them to follow Jesus or they'll go to Hell. Yes. Look at your Jesus - has he ever made a wrong choice? According to you that's what you're trying to follow! The bible talks a bit about perfection. Jesus calls us to be perfect as God is perfect and James says again that a perfect man is one whos words do not condemn him. I don't give shit what James said. He's not God nor son of the God, why should anyone ever listen to him? You'd better listen to your local minister - at least you could make sure his words were quoted properly. So you didn't answer the question - if your God wanted us to be perfect, why he didn't create us perfect? The God is obviously capable of creating perfect humans; why didn't he? Or why some people NEVER SEE their own fault within destruction of a relationship. it seems to be very America-specific things. It's not only in relationships - a lot of people here seem to generally blame everyone else for their own acts of stupidity. Just turn on your radio, and in 30 minutes you'll hear from another stupid idiot who wants to ban the school sport competitions because "his kids did not qualify to the sport team", or that the government should pay off his mortgage because "he signed the loan application without reading it". So far I have never seen anything like that in other few countries I lived and worked. And from history classes I know for sure it wasn't like that all the time; seems to be pretty recent innovation. Both sides carry blame for the other, but fail to see their own. Truth is about seeing your fault, blame, and guilt, and it is the beginning of peace. The heart cannot see anything, it's a blood pump. Any graduate with high school diploma should know that. So when you're talking about "seeing someone with your heart", you're talking nonsense. Could you please explain? So you believe in Zeus, Odin and so on? Just because you didnt see it, doesnt mean they aren't there, right?Quote >>>>Did you know that a man can only believe what he wants to? It literally is believe what you want, it is the only thing you can. "We didn't start the fire"