Thank you Tammy and SA, my dear sisters, for answering this newborn's questions!
I know nothing about mechanical engineering and very little about parenting. Do I get a thumbs up?
Do you hate God
by Star tiger 225 Replies latest jw friends
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tec
(((Nickolas)))
Were your ears ringing a few days ago? We were talking about missing you.
Shades
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Nickolas
No, just dropped in on a whim, Tammy, saw this thread and felt the need to comment. Off again.
Hugs back.
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still thinking
Tec.....
But more than studying closer... the better thing to do would be to ask for understanding, and let the spirit teach, yes? Even if you have to keep asking, and listening, until you hear an answer? Because you might be judging an entire people wrongly, otherwise
Jonathan dough.......No, actually that is what the Bible is there for, to teach us. Of course we ask for understanding, but as it relates to Scripture if that is where the answer lies. I'd rather not wait for voices whispering in my head. You need something a bit more concrete than that, and we have that already.
I don't know why but these comments struck a nerve with me. It would seem to me that if you have faith that there is a god...and enough faith to believe that when you pray...either in your head our out load, that a God or someone other than you, would HEAR you...why is it so hard to believe in this situation, that a God or someone else would answer you? If you believe that something out there is powerful enough to create a world, create us, answer prayers etc...etc...is it reasonable to think he is UNABLE to answer us without a book written by people.?
Is it just me, or does that seem kind of demeaning to such an all powerful god. Why do ALL christians or Jews or whatever belief you have, believe that their god is incapable or not willing to speak to them...personally? other that people like you Tec or Aguest of course...I'm talking more about religion.
Also, it seems to me that you have to have a lot of faith in PEOPLE to believe that the bible is infallible and 'concrete'...considering all the different translations and meanings that have been put into the bible over the centuries.
If I did change my mind for whatever reason, it would make far more sense to me that God/Jesus....or whoever...could communicate directly with me somehow...at least that way I wouldn't be relying on other PEOPLES understanding/translation because lets face it...there is soooo much to choose from.
Besides that...the more I read about different religions arguing with each other about god, the more I am convinced he doesn't exist.
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factfinder
still thinking-
very good points.
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still thinking
Ha ha reread the edited version factfinder...I don't think my brain was working properly when I wrote it the first time. Either that or my fingers just weren't keeping up with my thoughts. Either way, I think it makes a bit more sense now...LOL.
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tec
Thank you Still! That is how I feel as well. ('Kay, not your last sentence... but the rest) The creator of the universe(s), a Spiritual being from whom the universe came and holds together, cannot communicate with his creation e x cept through words written in a book? Seems to make the spirit seem kind of moot. Seems to rob us OF the spirit all together, at least it seems so to me. So that instead of placing your faith in that Spirit, one places their faith in a book that admittedly can have errors. I would feel absolutely lost if I turned away from the Spirit of Christ, and God, and instead turned first to the writings about them.
But thankfully, God can and does speak to us. In Spirit, and through His Son.
Peace to you,
Tammy
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AGuest
Your comments/questions are quite valid, dear ST (the greatest of love and peace to you!)... and I would like to offer the following, all of which is taken FROM THE BIBLE... which dear JD (peace to you!) and others adamantly claim they put their faith IN... but repeatedly, openly, and consistently deny as to its TRUTH:
"For YOU have not approached that which can be feltand which has been set aflame with fire, and a dark cloud and thick darkness and a tempest, and the blare of a trumpet and the voice of words; on hearing which voice the people implored that no word should be added to them. For the command was not bearable to them: “And if a beast touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” Also, the display was so fearsome that Moses said: “I am fearful and trembling.” But YOU haveapproached a Mount Zion and a city of [the] living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and myriads of angels, in general assembly, and the congregation of the firstborn who have been enrolled in the heavens, and God the Judge of all, and the spiritual lives of righteous ones who have been made perfect, and [Jesus] the mediator of a new covenant, and the blood of sprinkling, which speaks in a better way than Abel’s [blood].
See that YOU do not beg offfrom him who is speaking. For if they did not escape who begged off from him who was giving divine warning upon earth, much more shall we notif we turn away from him who speaks from the heavens. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, saying: “Yet once moreI will set in commotion not only the earth but also the heaven.”Hebrews 12:18-26
I have yet to have someone who clamors about their faith "in the Bible" and the Bible being "the Word of God"... explain to me HOW it is that these verses are here... and yet, neither God NOR Christ... are speaking. And it does NOT say "him who speaks from/through the Bible." It says, "him show speaks from the heavens."
What of this... from Christ's own recorded words?
“Most truly I say to YOU , He that does not enter into the sheepfold through the door but climbs up some other place, that one is a thief and a plunderer. But he that enters through the door is shepherd of the sheep. The doorkeeper opens to this one, and the sheep listen to his voice, and he calls his own sheep by nameand leads them out. When he has got all his own out, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, becausethey know his voice." John 10:1-4
" My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27
How about this?
"What I tell YOU in the darkness, say in the light; and what YOU hear whispered, preach from the housetops." Matthew 10:27
... in light of THIS:
"For God speaks once, a nd twice—though one does not regard it— i n a dream, a vision of the night, w hen deep sleep falls upon men, d uring slumbers upon the bed. It is then that he uncovers the ear of men, a nd on exhortation to them he puts his seal, t o turn aside a man from his deed, a nd that he may cover pride itself from an able-bodied man." Job 33:14-17 (Note, it is NOT a dream; however, since it often occurs in the "wee" hours, the translators took "vision of the night" to MEAN a dream... and that is what ended up in the writing.)
And what about John's words about HOW one learns?
"I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, andyou do not need anyone to teach you. But ashis anointing teaches you about all thingsand as that anointing is real, not counterfeit -- just as it has taught you, remain in him." 1 John 2:26, 27
When my Lord showed me these verses (because I asked him why no one SAYS that he speaks and he showed me where others knew of it) he responded with a simple statement:
"They don't SAY, child, because they do not believe that I do. They do not believe... because they are not MY sheep. MY sheep... know MY voice and once they hear it, they do not listen to the voice of strangers."
From that point on, I have marvelled... to great extent... at those who readily take others to task about their lack of faith "in the Bible" and adamantly tout THEIR faith in what it says... and yet, TOTALLY DISREGARD what "it" says on this matter. Christ... the Word of God... is ALIVE, dear ST. Yes, he is a SPIRIT, but he LIVES. And he is the Son of the LIVING God... and not some silent, lifeless, idol. Neither of these NEED a book to speak for them. Previously, God spoke to Israel by means of the Prophets... who wrote down what He told them so that it could be disseminated. From the outpouring of holy spirit at Pentecost 30 CE, however, He has spoken.... "by means of a SON." Hebrews 1:1, 2
It's in the Bible... for those who need to see it "in writing"... because they lack the ability to walk... by FAITH.
The Kingdom... the "heavens"... are INSIDE you, in YOUR midst... when God and Christ come... and make their abode... dwell... IN you. As a TEMPLE of the Spirit of God... you hold the kingdom IN you. And it is from above the "ark" of YOUR Covenant with God... the thing that above ALL else is to be most guarded... your HEART (which pushes blood THROUGH your vessel)... that He speaks. He speaks... by means of HIS blood... holy spirit... which melds with YOUR blood... so that the two become ONE.
Thus, when He (God, through Christ) speaks one can "hear" Him... all the ways "in" their bones, the place from which blood originates. Because the spirit... IS IN THE BONES. This is why although the rest of the vessel returns to the dust... the bones do not. They must be burned or ground down some way for that to occur. Thus, Ezekiel saw "dry" BONES.. bones with no LIFE... blood... in them... being resurrected. By means of God's breath... HIS life... holy spirit.
I hope this helps and, again, peace to you!
YOUR servant and a slave of Christ,
SA
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still thinking
Thanks Tec and Aguest...you have certainly given me something to ponder over
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Quarterback
I thought that I knew everything about God, and would get to explain him to many.
Now, I beleive in God, and I am comfortable is using the name Jehovah from the YHWH intitials found in the Hebrew texts.
However, I believe in a caring God that has a plan. What that plan is could very well be in what Jesus said in that model prayer, "A Kingdom to come, a will to be done on earth as well as in heaven.
I'm beginning to see that Organized religion is trying desparately to hold on to their congregations. Some are portraying God as being selective and very judgemental. They clowd a person's view of God in many ways. It's kind of like the story of Job, and those three so-called comforters. The account tells us that they were off based. Yet their BS was published right there in that Biblical account.
I wouldn't count on what I believe to be as accurate though. I am not an expert. So many see God in different ways. Only Jesus knew God personally and say him perfectly. He said, " He who sees me, sees the father". I believe that you have to learn about Jesus and his life, to get closer to God, Jehovah.