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Misc All Things Religious

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

This is the Gospel summary, the foundation of Christianity. Being a Christian does not make someone perfect, in fact, just the opposite. Being a Christian is knowing you are a sinner and in need of a savior, and believing/accepting Jesus Christ as that Savior. The hope for Christians is eternal life in Heaven, not life on this earth. Yes, God is the ruler, but there is also Satan at work in this world and it is a fallen world that will end some day when Christ returns. Until then, we are to Love God and Love Man/Each other. The rest of the Dos and Don'ts are created by "religion" and is no different today than in biblical times with the Pharisees.
 
Why didn't God keep eve from eating a bite of the Apple?


Because He also gave humans the free will to choose.

If God did not allow Eve and us that free choice then we would just be literal puppets. Thankfully God has given us the ability to choose. Some choose good. Others choose sin.


As far as the “why do bad things happen question?”

One of the biggest misconceptions about God and Christianity is that a person who has trusted Christ as his Savior will no longer experience bad things.

That’s not the case at all. In fact, John 16:33 says, “... In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I (Jesus Christ) have overcome the world.”


The ultimate cause of death and destruction is sin. Those killings are a result of a godless person (people) committing a sin. And that sin hurt others. YOUR sins can hurt others around you. Your choices can hurt others too.

Satan is the “king of Chaos” so to speak. As the world becomes more sinful the chaos will increase.

It’s up to Christians to spread the good news of the gospel and save people from these dark times.
 
Just a tidbit of info about myself!

The reason for my move to Erwin TN was because I graduated from Bible college.

I have been working as the full time music minister at a Free Will Baptist church here in Erwin.

Music is my passion and so is reaching others and helping them come to Christ!



We recently had VBS and had over 250 kids come each night. The stories and things those kids live through will break your heart. So few households today have solid parents and these poor kids are stuck drifting in the middle..
 
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

This is the Gospel summary, the foundation of Christianity. Being a Christian does not make someone perfect, in fact, just the opposite. Being a Christian is knowing you are a sinner and in need of a savior, and believing/accepting Jesus Christ as that Savior. The hope for Christians is eternal life in Heaven, not life on this earth. Yes, God is the ruler, but there is also Satan at work in this world and it is a fallen world that will end some day when Christ returns. Until then, we are to Love God and Love Man/Each other. The rest of the Dos and Don'ts are created by "religion" and is no different today than in biblical times with the Pharisees.

This is how I learned it ...

Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem,
Creatorem caeli et terrae.
Et in Iesum Christum,
Filium eius unicum,
Dominum nostrum,
qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto,
natus ex Maria Virgine,
passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus,
mortuus, et sepultus,
descendit ad infernos,
tertia die resurrexit a mortuis,
ascendit ad caelos,
sedet ad dexteram Dei
Patris omnipotentis,
inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos.
Credo in Spiritum Sanctum,
sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam,
sanctorum communionem,
remissionem peccatorum,
carnis resurrectionem,
vitam aeternam.
Amen.
 
Strong athiest here. Prayers are only answered when the outcome can be rationalized as a win. For example before I met my wife I was hanging/dating this girl named Jennifer. It was a disaster and ended up with us going nowhere. A friend at work had been "praying" for me and jennifer to work out. It didnt but then I met my wife.....whose name was Jennifer.......my friend immediately claimed god answered her prayer.
 
Strong athiest here. Prayers are only answered when the outcome can be rationalized as a win. For example before I met my wife I was hanging/dating this girl named Jennifer. It was a disaster and ended up with us going nowhere. A friend at work had been "praying" for me and jennifer to work out. It didnt but then I met my wife.....whose name was Jennifer.......my friend immediately claimed god answered her prayer.
Lol that's not how it works.
 
Strong athiest here. Prayers are only answered when the outcome can be rationalized as a win. For example before I met my wife I was hanging/dating this girl named Jennifer. It was a disaster and ended up with us going nowhere. A friend at work had been "praying" for me and jennifer to work out. It didnt but then I met my wife.....whose name was Jennifer.......my friend immediately claimed god answered her prayer.


Sometimes, it’s not happening because we’re not prepared for what God has prepared. If you could see what God has in mind, you would realize you couldn’t handle it. You needed more time to develop, to grow, to gain experience. Sounds to me God did a pretty good job for you.



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Sometimes, it’s not happening because we’re not prepared for what God has prepared. If you could see what God has in mind, you would realize you couldn’t handle it. You needed more time to develop, to grow, to gain experience. Sounds to me God did a pretty good job for you.



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No. It was an open ended prayer that had many possible outcomes and it just happened I met another girl named jennifer.

No real life or death prayers ever get answered.

Jump out of an airplane with no parachute and pray god stops you from hitting the ground.

Play Russian roulette and pray god stops the bullet when you get to that one right spot.

Get diagnosed with glioblastoma and pray to be cured

See someone with final stage alzheimer and pray they get their memory back.

See when you get right down to the real miracles they dont ever happen. Only answered prayers are the ones that can be twisted and perceived as answered......you know the "god works in mysterious ways" answers.
 
Haha yep. I am still waiting on the winning lottery ticket. I’m sure it’s on his to do list.


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Christians, in many cases, do not do themselves any favors when living out and/or evangelizing their faith. Shaggy's friend's comments are a good example of what I mean. The purpose of praying isn't for you to ask God for stuff, like a genie in a bottle, and then sit back and enjoy the granting of all your wishes. The purpose of prayer is to grow in your spiritual walk and become more like Christ as you to communicate with Him. Sure, we're supposed to share the desires of our heart, but ultimately rest in the knowledge that His will is sovereign and that He is ultimately in control of all things. Sometimes, the desires of our heart are granted, and sometimes they're not. But in either case, all glory and honor should go to Him. It is ultimately not about us.
 
Christians, in many cases, do not do themselves any favors when living out and/or evangelizing their faith. Shaggy's friend's comments are a good example of what I mean. The purpose of praying isn't for you to ask God for stuff, like a genie in a bottle, and then sit back and enjoy the granting of all your wishes. The purpose of prayer is to grow in your spiritual walk and become more like Christ as you to communicate with Him. Sure, we're supposed to share the desires of our heart, but ultimately rest in the knowledge that His will is sovereign and that He is ultimately in control of all things. Sometimes, the desires of our heart are granted, and sometimes they're not. But in either case, all glory and honor should go to Him. It is ultimately not about us.
Amen. Also dare I say prayer is complicated, I mean we also need to understand that first we must mend our relationship with God before we pray. We don't ask with a sinful heart, an unrepentant individual is not in communion with the Father. And of course there is the matter of faithful prayer, what i mean is we need Faith when we pray. Hoping God can do what we ask isn't faith and being selfish in our prayers as you mentioned isn't God's desire either. I've seen prayers answered and I've seen prayers go unanswered....what I know is God's ways aren't man's ways, we love as He loved, we trust, we work to carry out his calling and we wait.

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It is an irrationally-based metaphysical idea that supposes both God is nonsensical and that our understanding of such things is fully comprehensive. It's not very substantive.
 
What are your thoughts on it?

In its basic form of a yes or no question it is avoided like the plaque. When it is answered it answered with a lot of "god wouldn't be tested" and or that's "illogical and cant be answered".

My grandfather was a preacher and I certainly had a christian background but at age 13 or 14 it just didnt make sense anymore.
 
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