christianity is a dead end

well. good for you. you found it. or should i say, your parents found it for you, and you just went with it. I prefer to hear other peoples views, but, unlike you, i dont immediately throw them out just to "Strengthen my own views". As for me, im still looking, cause you know, i DONT know everything.

 

Keep in mind the reason Jesus was killed-- He claimed to be the creator. "Before Abraham, I AM!" Jesus is the creator. Therefore I worship the creator.

 

I believe the Bible is the truth. I have not yet found any other religion that seems to be right other that Christianity. However, I tell you what.... If you knock down the Eastern Gate.... I swear to you I will No longer believe in Christianity or the Bible ever again.

 

Ah, and I say: Sure! It's possible. Giants... I've heard of them before as well... This brings into account some sort of realism in the Bible, I understand that. It says: Well, some of the context of the Bible can be proved as truth. That's fine, but that doesn't justify the entirety. As commonly known, religion can walk parallel to historical fact. For instance, the Aztecs had a prophecy talking about gods that would come, and the discription of these gods fit into the Spanish Conquistidor: Cortez. Religious context. Historical fact.

Flooding in the Bible may also be explained in historical fact by the ever-changing(on a bigger time scale) but periodical climate conditions. Science has verified floods have happened before. So once again we have religious context parallelling Historical fact. I'm open to that.

It just doesn't justify Moses parting the Red Sea with the help of God, or God flooding the Earth because of humanity's sin. There are other possibilities as well. The Bible can be viewed as an accurate description of History as far as the individuals of that time perceived it. They didn't say: "Well periodically we experience climate changes on a global scale, due to.. etc etc.. Therefore.. etc." They saw it as an act of God, and thus wrote about it. The Bible may be accurate, but only to the way the writers perceived things in that time and culture.

This is my standpoint about these things...

 

On a spiritual note: I see the Creation and the Creator as one, like the dreamer and the dream, the painter and the painting.

Put simpler: I worship nothing. I simply am being. No words, no thoughts, just being... Like the trees sway and the wind blows. I see true sacredness as beyond worship, something pure, beyond levels of hierarchy, dieties and authority. When the sunset takes your breath away, in that instant, without thinking about it, there is only that experience. You and the sunset as one. Awe, inspiration, energy. In that split second. Everything is a temple, all is a teacher... If you are open to seeing them that way.

 

Actually much of the evidence that was presented here to support evolution was stated to be false by those who support evolution. And I took the time to check out much of the evidence that was put before me. When it was demonstrated to be false, and by your own people, all I got was silence. And then we moved on to another topic. But I did consider that evidence.

 

if i wasnt so lazy, i would make that my lifes mission. Unfortunately, i dont care what you believe in.

 

Jesus said that many will stand before Him on the last day, and He will say them, depart from me I never knew you. If you worship nothing now, the day will come when you will wish, you had taken the time to worship the one who would of been able to save you.
The Jews are not back in Israel by accident, and time is running out. Don't waste your life away like a tree swaying in the wind. Find out who Jesus Christ is.

 

if theres a god, he isnt so shallow that he would demand worship.

 

I love a learn, grow and understand more and more each day. If such a life, an experience, pure and simple, assures me a front row seat in Hell, I'd take it over Heaven any day. While I'm there, I'll be sure to get the rest of you guys Satan's autograph. PM me for any other special requests. Remember, there are lots of people down there... From Hitler to Buddha.

 

Well without facts you can speak in the most lofty of terms, but the Bible records history before it happen. Thats why Jesus fulfilled the 300 prophecies of the Old Testament. Thats why the Jews have returned to Israel. Thats why Jerusalem is under Israels control. That is why Jerusalems East Gate is still sealed, and all attempts to break through have failed, as the Bible said they would. That's why they are finding the remnants of Pharoahs army between the two granit pillars, placed there by Solomens workmen, and at either shore. And at the bottom of the Red Sea his army has been found coral incrusted. And not far from there they have found the real Mount Sinia with the large stone altar built at the base of the Mountain where the golden calf was worshipped. And they have discovered that the entire top of the Mountain is burnt black. Because the Bible stated that when God decended, He was like a furnance of fire. And the 12 land marks described in the Bible are all there. The Bible doesent make up stories of fantasy, it speaks the exact truth. The prophecies of the Bible describe America, and state that our nation and all her cities will burn, and will be destroyed in one hours time. If you ignore the wealth of information of fulfilled prophecies, and the astounding discoveries that are now taking place, you will still be able to speak in the most lofty of terms. But if you are a no nonsense kind of guy, you will see the truth of the matter, and respond to the obvious.

 

Back in 1973 I had encounters with two spirits that came from there. Believe me, you don't want to go there. This is no joke.

 

Jesus is the Creator, that is why the Bible states, He was in the world, the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.

 

Jesus said it is appointed unto man once to be born and then the judgement. Jesus spent a third of His ministery warning people to avoid Hell. Are you ready to stand before God, and can you tell Him why you deserve to go to heaven? And remember, the Bible states that most will go to Hell. There is a real answer to that question, do you know it?

 

No one deserves to go to heaven, so i doubt that question will ever be asked.

 

Ive been a good person, and i have tried my hardest to live in accordance with the example that Jesus set.

 

There are obvious consistencies to the Bible. There's no denying that. But the Bible isn't the soul book to make prophecies. Many cultures, from the Mayan Calender's accuracy to Native American predictions - have been fullfilled. I won't bring in Nostra Damus. I like viewing facts and taking them into consideration, but Nostra Damus is not exactly veriable and his prophecies could sway many ways. So, nevermind him. Prophecies are a human thing. We do it alot, and just because one of the set of prophecies is entirely accurate, like others, doesn't weigh it in any greater than the rest.

But nevertheless, we see synchronicities throughout all of human history, through various cultures independently creating similar things such as... accurate prophecies.

Aside from prophecies, discovering consistencies of Biblical accounts in real history (which I actually did agree with you upon their existence), still doesn't mean the way they wrote about it is the way we would see it today. For instance, and this is common in many religions:

The top of the mountain burnt black? First of all. Was it actually burnt? I'd like to see an article about it. At any rate, it's black. Okay. That's fine. But it's also possible something else could have caused that, and like I've seen through various religions, they take something from the environment and write about it in religious context. For example: The Greeks believing the reason why the seasons changed were because of an event with the gods... Or, hey, we can create one right here: Why does it rain? Because the gods are upset. Why is the river in this valley shaped this way? Ages ago, the great hero battled a slivering serpent. Why is that mountain black? Because God came down in fire.

This sort of thing is common. I'm sure you could look up such consitencies yourself.

As far as strange, undescribable phenomenons that coincide with God and the East Gate, etc... Well, this could open up an entire new topic of conversation, but I recommend looking into metaphysics and statistics concerning human beings influencing reality. We have subtley influenced our environment by mere beliefs and attitudes alone. To really get into this, I recommend seeing a documentary/movie "What the Bleep Do We Know?".

At any rate, I will give you an example: During the 1990's there was an experiment in Washington DC, a city with one of the highest crime-rates. I am not sure about specifics, but this was the jist of it: A large number of people (in the thousands I'm sure) were brough to DC to pray, meditate, etc at one time. The police stated that, "It would take 15 feet of snow to drop the crime rate 15-20%." Mind you, it was summer.

Sure enough, the crime rate dropped 15-20% during the time of the experiment. Beforehand they proposed the 15-20% drop of crimerate from previous experiments on a smaller scale. Strange eh? Just from human thought, human influence. Fascinating stuff...

The point I am trying to make here is that there are other possibilities to things we once conceived to have clear-cut and straight forward answers.

 

Im afraid just following His example isnt enough. God is perfect, so just 'good' wont do. You have to be made perfect, and only God himself can do that trough forgiveness. If you dont ask for forgiveness, perfectness and therefore God cant be reached.

 

agreed

 

i dont think that man can reach perfectiveness thoguh, only the One God is infallible