Preaching (split off from Kelly blog) [Trollville]
CONFESSIONS OF A CHRISTIAN
I came here to tell you about Jesus Christ. Why? Because of what He has done for me in my life. He came down from Heaven and gave me a new life. My old life was filled with emptiness, loneliness, anger, and sin. I was suicidal most of the time. Then Christ changed me. And now, I am thankful to be alive.
I did not come here to force anything upon you. I didn't come to harm you, hurt you, or try to change you. I couldn't change you even if I wanted because who am I? I don't want to control you or force you to be like me. Why be like me? I am not a good person. I came here with good news. It is like a child who rides a roller coaster for the first time. She goes to her friend and says, "That was awesome. You have got to try it. Come on, it's the best." I don't wish or desire anything bad for you. I just wanted to tell you something that I believe will do you good.
I just wanted to tell you about Jesus Christ. He is God. He loves all people and wants to have a loving relationship with Him. He wants to engage in people's lives and live with them. He wants to be their loving Father to care for them and help them. He wants to be God--Master, King, and Lord.
You see, unlike other gods, Jesus Christ came down from Heaven to earth. He became like one of us. He suffered what we suffer. He was tempted as we are tempted. He lived like one of us. He did this to reveal God. Humanity did not, and many still don't, know God. In the very beginning, they were separated from God. Because of this, they were far from the truth about God. They had created false ideas, images, and philosophies about God. Humans created religion to replace God. And so, Jesus came to show people, "Look at me. This is who God is."
I wanted to tell you that God is true and He loves you. Jesus showed and demonstrated this. Whoever came to Him, He helped them. He healed people. He loved people. He then died for people. He gave His life willingly as a gift. He offered it to us. He said, "Here I am, take me." And we, in our sinful state, killed Him.
We killed God. Humans nailed Him to a cross. Jesus did not kill Himself. And certainly, God did not kill Himself. Rather, God allowed this to happen to show us something. He wanted to show us what we had become. We had become sinful. So sinful, in fact, that we would kill Him. He wanted to show us that something was wrong with us.
You see, in the beginning, God created humankind. We were perfect. We were not perfect alone. God looked at Adam when he was alone and said, "This is not good." Humanity was created for love. We were created for community. We were created to share ourselves with others and God. Once Eve was created and there was a loving community, then God was pleased. We were created to love God and to love one another. At this point, all was fine and well.
However, the question becomes, how can anyone love God if they are forced? Love is not forced. If Adam and Eve were to truly have the freedom to love God, they must also have the freedom to leave God. And so, God gave them that choice. There were two trees. One was a tree of separation from God. The other was a tree of life with God. The story goes, Adam and Eve chose to be separated from God. And then God blocked off the way to the tree of life.
This was their choice. God did not influence it or decide it for them. Rather, He gave them responsibility and accountabilty. He gave them the choice. And He continues to give us this choice even to this day. God does not force Himself on anyone.
I confess to you, that I cannot give you proof of God. No one can except for God. Why? Because God doesn't want to force Himself on anyone. What good would that do if God showed up one day and said, "Love me!" Would we do it? Of course not.
You see, when Adam and Eve sinned, two very important things happened that explain what happened to humanity. One, we were separated from God. He lives in Heaven. We live on earth. There is a great divide. God is no longer active in our lives. He has left us alone. We are free to kill, war, and do horrible things that hurt God. Secondly, Adam and Eve had been infected with sin. God had created them a certain way. They had changed. It would be like creating a sculpture and once you were done, the sculpture decided to change itself. It didn't want to be what you created. It wanted to be something else. This means that humanity is not what God has intended us to be. We were not meant to die, not meant to do bad things, not meant to hurt, and not meant to live in restricted to earth. We were meant for something more. And we feel this in our lives everyday.
So, from there, God was a distant God. He didn't play much role. And what little He did play was always as an angry God. He claimed a small people for Himself. Gave them the Ten Commandments. He tried to establish a relationship. In a sense, God was saying, "If you are going to live in my house, you need to follow my rules."
But you see, a parent doesn't give rules just to control a child. The rules are given for child's good. And God gave His commandments for our good. The only problem is that they are restrictive. They keep us away from love. They don't help us to love. Rules and laws don't change a person. They just hinder them.
Laws tell us what we should be doing. Obviously, we should be obeying the Ten Commandments. However, we don't. Instead, we find them burdensome. They stop us from having fun and doing what we want. Well, this only proves one thing. Something is wrong with us. Why do we want to do ungodly things? Why is our desire to hurt God rather than love Him? It is because of sin. Adam and Eve had been filled with sin. This sin then transferred down through all humanity. And now, we all suffer from it.
God knew we had a problem. And He made a way to give us a cure. This cure is Jesus Christ. He encompasses all we need. He came to give us life--a new life with God. His whole goal was to bring reconciliation. To re-establish contact with God. Because of sin, there is a great divide. A child isn't born with a knowledge of God. No one knows God. Rather, we live apart from God. But in Jesus, we can have a new relationship with God. Christ can change us and give us new life.
Many have heard this message and know this. This is nothing new for many Americans. Jesus Christ died for our sins. He died on the cross making amends to bring forgiveness. I am sure you have heard this.
What many people don't know is that Jesus Christ did more and is offering more than just forgiveness. Jesus Christ was raised back to life. He then ascended to heaven. He went back to His throne as God. He is now offering a new life to everyone on earth. He is offering a loving relationship.
You see, the greatest commandment God gave is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. What God desires is our love. He wants us to love Him.
You can't force love. God didn't give the commandment to force us into loving Him. That alone is a contradiction. He gave the command to show us what He wanted from us. However, it is in Jesus Christ that God showed us His love. In Jesus, we have forgiveness. We can know we are forgiven. It is in Jesus we can know God.
Jesus is offering to change our heart. He can take the deepest part of our soul and transform it. He can make us new and give us a new spirit. In doing this, He reveals God to us, and then we know God in truth. Jesus becomes our personal proof that God is loving, true, and real.
Rather than depend on external proof, God puts the proof right into us. This proof comes with joy, peace, hope, and love. It is also comes with confidence. We can know God in truth. We don't have to look for God, play guessing games, or rely on ourselves. Rather, we depend on God who helps us to know Him.
You see, faith is not about believing in the existence of God. We should know God. Anyone who claims to know God and doubts His existence is a lair. You never doubt the existence of someone you love. Faith is about trust. A husband is called unfaithful when he cheats on his wife, not when he doubts his wife's existence.
We are called to faith in Jesus Christ. This is very specific. We can't have faith in any god. There are many false religions, ideas, philosophies, idols---false gods. And we have seen what happens when a person places their trust in these. Horrible evils have been done. But Jesus Christ, the man who died for us and the one who ascended to Heaven, is the God we must have faith in. We must trust that He is the one He claimed to be. We must trust that He can help us. We must trust that He will forgive us. And if we do trust Him, we must pray to Him and ask Him to forgive us. We must seek Him and turn to Him.
God wants to reveal Himself. He wants our love. But He isn't going to force anyone. First, there needs to be reconciliation. We need to be forgiven for our sins. We can be forgiven by going to Jesus in prayer and asking Him to forgive us. Secondly, we need God revealed to us. This happens when Jesus Christ comes down from Heaven and puts His Spirit into us. In this way, love is made complete. The person becomes united with Jesus. God is always with them.
I tell you this because I have experienced. I have met Jesus Christ. I know Him in truth, not because of some preacher or some book. I know God because He lives with me.
That is what I want to tell you. I want you to know there is something more out there. Jesus Christ is a loving God who wants to be your God. He is proof. But I can't give you proof. Only Jesus can reveal God.
"No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." (Luke 10:22)
If you want to know God, you need Jesus Christ.
Otherwise, if you are really not interested, then I'll leave you alone. I am not interested in forcing anything on anyone.
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Thanks so much for that up close and personal look into your own ego !
There is nothing in your post that was new...remotely compelling, or that hasn't already been dissected into the categories of:
- a lack of education.
- an appeal to emotion
- a lack of critical thinking skills that make one prone to superstition and suggestion.
NEXT !!!
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
George Orwell
I bet that was a cuntpaste. Just sounds too familiar.
If one is trying to sell someone a product, they should be able to defend it and be open to question. Anything less is a used car salesmen. The people who are stupid buy the car because it is blue. The smart people kick the tires and take it to a local mechanic for an inspection bumper to bumper including the engine and are not afriad of questioning the salesman. And smart people reject the lemon. You baught a lemon. It is a car with no wheels, no engine, no nothing. It is an invisable pink unicorn.
You are more than welcome to attempt to prove otherwise. But you certainly wont get away with preaching at this site.
So if you dont want to defend your god, be our gest, we are not intrested in preachers.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
Thanks for taking the time to share your story. Your god will be very proud of you as I am sure you are of yourself. I truly feel happy that you have found some sort of peace and are no longer living in emptiness, loneliness, anger, and sin.
Did you have anything to do with your escape from your life before christ? How much credit do you give yourself? If you were to fall from grace, would it be you that recognizes the fall or would jesus whisper in your ear?
-Renee
Slowly building a blog at ~
http://obsidianwords.wordpress.com/
A lot of us here grew up in fundy households, so you're not providing us with anything new.
I encourage you to take up research into your beliefs. You'll find that you're wrong. It's just that simple.
I realize you most likely will not, but I have spent years doing so and feel a sense of freedom you cannot. I am not evil, mean or bad. I want to help you out of your delusion. You do not need an imaginary friend.
Have faith in yourself, you can do it.
EDUCATION! EDUCATION! EDUCATION!
Nice of you and your team to delete my post. Thanks. If you are going to delete my posts, then you might as well delete my account along with all my posts.
Then how can you say there is no God and there is no afterlife? How can you make such a claim as you have done in your blog?
Ever think you were on the wrong boat?
It seems to me (and I could be wrong)... your struggle is with God's sovereignty versus humankind's sovereignty. Just because humanity has been given the freedom to do bad things--this does not negate God's sovereignty. A parent may give a child certain responsibilities and hold them accountable. But that doesn't mean the parent isn't still in charge. God gave humanity freedom. This was a gift and it is expressed on earth everyday by what humanity. Obviously, we contradict ourselves. We say one thing, think another, and yet do another.
God can see the whole picture. He allows bad things to happen much like a doctor allows a patient to suffer pain. God has a plan to turn that pain into healing. He has set aside a day to make all things right again. The question we all face is where will we stand on that day?
God made no mistakes. Humanity made the mistakes. Even still, God will set things right again. For now, He's given us a responsibility to love one another. We have been given a short span of life. What have we done with it? Did we abuse it or use it for good?
Firstly, I can sustain that God is love. People who deserve to die are still living. Why? Because God is loving and He is giving them a chance to change their wicked ways.
Secondly, God cries because it was not His will that humans should do evil things. This is not His desire. It was never His desire that people should die. But, what can He do? He created humanity for one purpose: love. And love is a response. This means humanity needed to have the freedom to love or to not love.
We have been given that freedom. And God is holding us responsible. Will we do what we were created to do and love? Or will we not?
God allowes death, pain, and evil to exist because it all serves a greater purpose. The greatest goal of humanity is love. A person cannot be free to love unless they are free to be selfish or to hate. You cannot force a person to love. They must be free to love.
Think about it...if God wanted people to die, don't you think He would be down here on earth killing people off for fun like many people do in video games? And don't you think if God wanted people to be absolutely miserable and to enslave them, He would be down here doing just that? We would see God?
But God's purpose is love. And so, God hides off in the distance. Why? Because He wants people to come to Him in love. He wants our love. That is why He doesn't force Himself on anyone. And that is why no person can find Him unless they come in love.
If someone I love is hurt, angry, and upset and I go to them, they will only hurt me. If I wait until they come looking for me wanting to be reconciled, then I will show myself. Otherwise, there is no point in revealing myself to someone who just wants to hurt me.
God is no different. That is why some people have met God and some have not.
And if anyone deletes this post, then please delete my account. I don't want to hang around here when I am not wanted.
Nothing was deleted, but you should know if you're gonna preach you might as well leave this site and go to a Church.
Hint at having your account deleted again and it might get deleted.
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Hi blakekidney I am glad you are studing Jesus; climbing the ladder to knowledge and enlightenment, and sharing your progress with us, so that others will also learn. I hope you will continue to hang out and learn and help RRS. Jesus/Buddha would insist.
My ideas regarding your ideas in [ brackets ] ,
I just wanted to tell you about Jesus Christ. He is God. [ yes all is god, we are god, nothing is separate ]
You see, the greatest commandment God gave is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. What God desires is our love. He wants us to love Him. [ yes because we are god, have no god before you / we / I ]
"No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." (Luke 10:22) [ to better say, the son and father are one, and this is revealed thru knowing thy self, that we are god ]
If you want to know God, you need Jesus Christ. [ no and yes - to know god is to know yourself, and Jesus when properly interperted can indeed be helpful ] end ~
-----------------------------
Jesus philosophy writings are quite varied, but at it's core best I find it very atheistic. "God of abe" and it's religion is a no no. The "best" Jesus was not superstitious, and there is no separation of we and god. Read all the recently found gnostic books on line. Why were they hidden ? Why was the Jesus clan murdered ? The old government/church who ruined the bible and Jesus philosophy is not our friend.
What others said; Jefferson, like atheist me, was a big Jesus fan and even created the "Jefferson Bible".
Thomas Jefferson - "Among the sayings and discourses imputed to him [Jesus] by his biographers, I find many passages of fine imagination, correct morality, and of the most lovely benevolence; and others again of so much ignorance, so much absurdity, so much untruth, charlatanism, and imposture, as to pronounce it impossible that such contradictions should have proceeded from the same being".
"Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man."
-Thomas Jefferson
"The authors of the gospels were unlettered and ignorant men and the teachings of Jesus have come to us mutilated, misstated and unintelligible."
-Thomas Jefferson
"I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature."
-Thomas Jefferson
"Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined, and imprisoned, yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half of the world fools and the other half hypocrites." -Thomas Jefferson
"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."
-Abraham Lincoln
"Lighthouses are more helpful than churches."
-Benjamin Franklin
"So far as religion of the day is concerned, it is a damned fake... Religion is all bunk."
-Thomas Edison
"When a man is freed of religion, he has a better chance to live a normal and wholesome life."
-Sigmund Freud
Basics: Buddha was an important ancient teacher of early "atheistic" philosophy going against the major superstitious religion of his time , and very much like the "atheistic Jesus" message/story which got so perverted. Jews/Xians/Islamists have been creating midrash for thousands of years, and still do so today. Crazy fantastic elaborations of simple atheistic Jesus philosophy perverted into a Holy Bible scripture book of hocus pocus dogma. Damn council of Nicene, making bible Saul/Paul's formulations nearly half the NT. Xians are mostly Paulines, and anti-Jesus, radically altering Jesus atheistic philosophy. (me)
Cool Book , "Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings" http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Buddha-Parallel-Marcus-Borg/dp/1569754616
Jesus Rocks / The Bible mostly Sucks / Christanity is an insult to Jesus / Help atheist Jesus![Smile Smile](/modules/tinymce/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-smile.gif)
Atheism Books.
That is fair. Though, in all honesty, I do not know the difference between preaching and presenting my case. What would be considered preaching for future reference?
Slowly building a blog at ~
http://obsidianwords.wordpress.com/
Need evidence to present a case.
Trying to play on guilt and fear to persuade people to your God - preaching.
"I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions."
— George Carlin
Hey blakekidney , Atheist Jesus loves RRS ! We are all learning !
I got laughed at when I first came to RRS in my post called. "To Heal the Christians give them GOD", where I recommended funny Neale Donald Walsch, as a helpful de-conversion tool regarding silly religions.
His audio books are quite clever and fun, and had my Xians friends re-thinking their ideas. I had found his "The New Revelations" etc free online some where. I really don't know all that much about him but thought he was one of the better Jesus / God teachers I'd heard. Very gnostic buddha like. Lots of him in Youtube, I've only seen a few.
Neale Donald Walsch - Who is God http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCeSlAvzvCQ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neale_Donald_Walsch
From another fella I just found, Burt Goldman has trained with spiritual gurus and interacted with religious leaders all over the world. He shares his views based on his 50 year journey of spirituality in understanding who God truly is.
Who is God? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrwtAnY4o_8&feature=related
Allan Watts is way cool, and all over the net and Youtube.
Who is GOD ? Well no way is it god of abe .... except to say God is all things....
I send this angel alot, here again for you. Wisdom of the Buddha 8 min, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTsb-woP3jI
Atheism Books.
Just wanted to weigh in on a couple minor things:
You're still not getting it. The whole reason why we like to think of ourselves as "rational" is because we try not to jump to conclusions. For an example... if I hear a noise while I'm trying to fall asleep, I don't immediately go, "ZOMG!!!1!!11!! It's a ghost! It's after me!" Even though the noise might initially scare me, I exhaust all the other possibilities first.. It's probably the floorboards expanding/contracting (depending on the time of year), or the pipes, or the heater turning on, or the automatic ice maker in the fridge spitting out ice cubes. There are at least half a dozen things that could be causing that noise besides a ghost, and guess what, every single time it has turned out to be something that is not a ghost. The whole point is that you are supposed to be objective when confronting something unknown. That means not making up your mind about it before you have evidence.
A lot of people are guilty of jumping to conclusions. The difference is that rational thinkers are willing to admit they are wrong and rescind their initial conclusion. Oops, it turns out Pluto shouldn't be classified as a planet. Oops, it turns out we may not be directly descended from Neanderthals; they might just be an evolutionary dead-end. Oops, it turns out that the sun doesn't rotate around the Earth; it's the other way around. Oops, it turns out there is no Santa Claus. Generally, we try to follow the evidence. If the evidence points us in one direction, then that is the direction we are inclined to follow until a new piece of evidence leads us elsewhere.
But for some reason very few people are willing to reconsider the evidence for God. (I say this a bit tongue-in-cheek, because there is no concrete evidence.)
WTF? What doctors have you been going to? Upon graduation from medical school, all doctors take the Hippocratic Oath, which states that the doctor will not intentionally cause any patient bodily harm, among other things. It is to ensure that the doctor has a sense of ethics. (Apparently, your God doesn't.) No doctor "allows" their patients to suffer pain (if they do, they stand to lose their license). Doctors try to treat pain. They don't just sit idly by.
I think a lot of people here would agree that humanity made a big mistake in inventing gods.
And yet, you came to this forum preaching your message. (However, I don't think anyone wants to hurt you for it. At least I don't.)
Excellent point. So, how then do you explain your own existence? Did you just happen? Or is there a logical reason for your existence?
I would guess this is one thing ALL of us share: I came out of my mothers vagina, my sister came out through an opening in my mothers stomach. The logical reason for birth is long and complicated but the condensed version: egg + sperm = a possible fetus.
Is that logical enough for you, or did you mean to ask a more direct specific question?
-Renee
Slowly building a blog at ~
http://obsidianwords.wordpress.com/