I believe that God exists. He is real and ever present. I believe he is sad when he looks down upon the earth and sees what mankind is doing. I also believe that he has a plan. His Son will return one day and end all of this madness, and take his rightful throne as King of Kings. Would anyone like to talk with me on this subject? I'm starting this new post, because some on this LBT rants and raves section don't want me to even mention God on a thread that's about abortion or the Octuplet mom or any other subject. So, I will start this thread that is only about Him and/or religion. What do you say? Is God real? Will He really return to earth one day?

These guys have way more ambition than me though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7wOz5a6yns&feature=rec-r2

"Worship me or I'll torture you forever."

-That god person

"Is god willing to prevent evil and not able? Then he is impotent. If he is able but not willing he is malevolent. If he

is both able and willing then whence come evil?"

-Epicurus

Greek philosopher

He gives us free will. If we choose to do wrong, he isn't going to stop us.

He gives us free will. If we choose to do wrong, he isn't going to stop us.

What is a wrong action? That can be quite subjective.

Is God real? What a great question. Or, how do I know He is real? Good one too. We can see Him in His creation. We can feel Him when we say His name. When we consider how wonderfuly we are made.... when we hear a heartbeat of a baby.... when I see my sister's sonogram of her unborn baby.... when I look into the eyes of another human being...seeing all the different faces out there.... all different and unique... when I looked at a sunrise or sunset... when I look into the dark, night sky and stare at the stars glistening...or look into the clouds or at a beautiful rainbow.... yes, He is real... He is as close as the mention of His name.... His arms surround us, His Love is beyond explanation... For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...John 3:16.... God loves you all whether you believe in Him or not... He surely believes in you!

I see Him in Barack Obama's eyes. He sure did fashion one attractive dude when He made Obama! Yay, God!

No.

.......

I like this answer. :rolleyes2: It made me chuckle! I like you already!

What is a wrong action? That can be quite subjective.

He wrote his laws in his book for all to read and obey them. Not subjective, quite clear, actually. A wrong action is anything that would displease God. Sin.

These guys have way more ambition than me though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7wOz5a6yns&feature=rec-r2

"Worship me or I'll torture you forever."

-That god person

God doesn't torment you forever in Hell when you willingly choose to reject him as your father who created you. The torment will come from your own self. The torment that is spoken of in scripture is a personal torment that each individual will live with forever in a place where God does not exist. Everything that is Good on this earth comes from God. If His presence was removed from here, all that is good would disappear. The unbeliever, by his own choice, will get what he has chosen when he dies without accepting an eternity with their own Father. You may think that a life without God, all that is good and holy, will be what you want,(for then you can be your own boss) but when you actually see what life would be without any goodness, kindness, grace, mercy, love, etc., will be tormenting to your soul. To know that for all eternity, you will live without God's blessings and love will be torture to you. Especially since when you die, you will be put immediately into God's presence to account for all of your choices in life. When you witness his great love and those who will be spending their eternity with him,and see the wonders of Heaven, and then you are told that you have made your choice to deny him, and he sends you to a place called Hell to live with all those who rejected him, that will be torture and torment. So, God is just. He says that he has given all man the opportunity to accept his Son as their Savior while they are in the flesh.(their lifetime here on earth) So there will be no excuses for telling God you don't want him in your life , and he is not the one who torments you forever, you will do that yourself.

He wrote his laws in his book for all to read and obey them. Not subjective, quite clear, actually. A wrong action is anything that would displease God. Sin.

Just to clarify a point... I don’t think the Bible claims that God wrote anything in the Bible, but that it was written by man. Those men interpreted what they "believed" to be God's laws. The Quran claims that Mohamed (who was illiterate) was the instrument of God and that the verses came directly from God to Mohamed’s hand without any input from man. The closest thing to that in the Bible was when Moses went up to the mountain and came back with the Ten Commandments (which if memory serves me right were blasted onto the tablets by God himself, or was that part just in the movie?).

It's interesting how Christianity and Islam have chosen to take some of those "laws" and profess them to be the word of God and that all who disobey are disobeying God directly while at the same time some of the less palatable laws or topics that don't suit their needs get little or no attention.

The video from a few posts back was great because it reminds people like me (agnostic, indifferent, whateveryouwannacallus) that we can and often do do good things all on our own without a book, a Priest, an Imam or even God telling us to do it.

What do you say? Is God real? Will He really return to earth one day?

He better be....I talk to him everyday.

It seems that religion is far too often used as a tool or justification for one group to oppress another.

True, but there are so many other forms of oppression.

I don't wish to believe in a punitive God, one who is so powerless, that He must punish folks for not choosing to believe in Him.

I wouldn't want to believe in a God like that either, Green.

What is a wrong action? That can be quite subjective.

Yes, you are right. But I think we all know when we do wrong. I try to live by this rule, if something feels wrong in my heart, then it probably is.

To Kartman, The bible is a revelation of God, man's fall, the way of salvation, and his plan and purpose in the ages. It was given to us in pieces. Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit during a period of 1600 years. From BC1492-AD100. It consists of 66 Books written by 40 different authors. Kings, statesmen, herdsmen, physicians, fishermen. Some learned and some ignorant. The pages were penned in the wilderness of Sinai, the cliffs of Arabia, Palestine, even on the island of Patmos. Yet when all the books were put together to form one book, it makes perfect sense. Imagine another book compiled in a similar way. Take 66 medical books written by 40 different physicians and surgeons during a period of 1600 years, of various schools of medicine, as Allopathy, Homeopathy,Hydropathy,Osteopathy, Etc., and bind them all together and then undertake to doctor a man according to the book. What success would we have? And what accord? The bible is not a jumble of ancient myths, legends, superstitions, or religious speculation.There is progress of revelation and doctrine in it. The old and new testament are not seperate and distinct books, the new taking the place of the old, they are 2 halves of a whole. You can't understand daniel without revelations or Leviticus without Hebrews. God directed men, chosen by himself, to put into writing such messages, laws, doctrines, historical facts, and revelations, as he wished men to know. It is clear from the character of the bible that it is not the work of man, for man could not have written it if he would, and would not have written it if he could.

Edited March 24, 200917 yr by pattygreen

Yes, you are right. But I think we all know when we do wrong. I try to live by this rule, if something feels wrong in my heart, then it probably is.

I believe that's called your conscience.

Living a good life and being good and doing good things for others is not the way to get into heaven. For no one can do that. If that were the criteria, heaven would be empty.

Yes, you are right. But I think we all know when we do wrong. I try to live by this rule, if something feels wrong in my heart, then it probably is.

Not necessarily. Ever met a hard core Catholic? They have a lot more rules than your typical Christian and they believe you should follow their rules in order to get to heaven. If the Christians can get it straight what the rules are, I think there is a problem within Christianity. The rules are NOT clear. It's no wonder people fear death, they don't know if they followed the rules or not.

Ever talk to people before they die? Most are okay with it, the hard core Catholics such as my Dad... they are scared to death when they know it is a matter of hours/days. They fear death when it comes to the final hours. I think that's a shame, nothing short of a horror.

My Dad died scared to death. He did try to fight death in every way possible. It wasn't because he wanted to live as much as he was afraid he wasn't going to heaven. The look on his face as he died was sheer fear. I'll never forget that for the rest of my days.