Have fun with your friend.
IS GOD REAL? HOW DO YOU KNOW?
by still thinking 778 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
tec
I wasn't aware that you asked for something, Still. I was responding to Diamond's test. Telling someone over the internet what color shirt they are wearing is a parlor trick... and to what end?
We have the bible as it is... how much unity is there on that? How many people take a simple sentence: love and bless your enemies, bless those who curse you... and turn that into meaning something else? A sign... a book... a trick... a test... all of these things can be abused and/or e x plained away and/or manipulated. Even if God appeared (voice or image) in the sky - mass hypnosis, or aliens perhaps. If I told DD what color shirt he was wearing - trick, or fluke. A telephone psychic can do tricks like that. It proves nothing. (and no, I don't know... it feels wrong to even think about asking.) All the things God is written to have done in the bible... saving the Israelites from Pharoah... how long before they turned away from him, or doubted him, or moaned and groaned, or worshipped something else?
He has done all that people have asked. Sent prophets and signs, and even His Son. It is up to us to listen.
If you want to know God, then look at Christ (and/or love). If you love Christ, then follow Him and obey his teachings. THEN he and his father will come and make their home with us.
Peace,
tammy
-
Wizard of Oz
@still thinking......Lunch, just checkin' in. Thank you for the kind words M'lady and directing interested ones to my ramblings.(LOL) To do an experiment to see if people receive spirit directed subliminal msgs, as opposed to being mentally ill; goto www.abc.net.au/internetradio/triplej This is a conduit(well for me it is, and has been for 17yrs) When I needed an answer, I got it there through subliminal msgs. I found that fulfillment for trains of thought would be coming out in the dying moments of a thought question. These fulfillments were mostly though not always via on air announcements and promo. To test if what I thought to be the answer was true I would listento the the rythm through the undertone of the music. It was akin to a voice talking to me. Bakbout9n.z.
-
tec
And I second Palm's wish... have fun with your friend. This thread will still be here ;)
Peace,
tammy
-
Wizard of Oz
P.S. don't force yourself to listen for it use it as background
-
mP
TEC
You should read some of the gnostic writings and you will find jesus sayings also being told by the teacher of righteousness many years before Jesus was born. Wisdom was a god, her name was Sophia in Greece. Jesus was not the first tell us those caring fuzzy warm stories.
-
diamondiiz
Tec
Stop making excuses. If parts of the bible were from god, he would want us to know which scriptures or whole books were inspired by him because after all, those would have been the words god wanted us to know otherwise why inspire someone to go through the trouble of writing what god told them only to end up in a book that contains myths, and mixed with uninspired words?
It appears you claim the bible isn't that important for faith but faith in Christ is and yet your whole faith is based on the book. Without the bible, you wouldn't know of bible Jesus since that's the source for your original knowledge regarding Jesus called the Christ. For majority of Christian world bible is the sole book where they come to learn of Christ, so you see, the bible is important for those who come to know Christ.
Same with the 'tests' of what you might be wearing, or listening to, or whatever. These are designed to trip someone up. They are not a sincere request for a sign (which is a lack of faith). You don't believe for a moment that God is real or that anyone hears anything in spirit.
Another empty excuse. I can claim to hear Papa Smurf speak to me and if you don't believe in him, it's your problem because you lack faith. There is no trick. If your voice is from God or Jesus it wouldn't be that difficult for the voice to tell you what my name is or refer to me by such. If that's testing god, he must be very insecure being and cower at any simple question that's too difficult for him to answer. He can only answer those that have faith? Where the hell was he when I was looking for him - oh yes, I just didn't have enough of the faith that he deemed was worthy to answer, right?
There is a reason why I usually don't respond to voice hearing people, sorry I got involved in this crazy exchange or words.
-
tec
Stop making excuses. If parts of the bible were from god, he would want us to know which scriptures or whole books were inspired by him because after all, those would have been the words god wanted us to know otherwise why inspire someone to go through the trouble
of writing what god told them only to end up in a book that contains myths, and mixed with uninspired words?
I'm not making e x cuses. (I told you how to look and see which parts of the bible are inspired (or at least claim to be), and which parts are not.) God wants us to listen to His Son. Period. That is the entire work of God. So if you want to know what God wants, and who God is... then you simply have to look at the Image and Truth and Word, who He sent us.
If you keep looking to scriptures that do not possess life to give to you, instead of the One who does, then that is a choice you are making.
It appears you claim the bible isn't that important for faith but faith in Christ is and yet your whole faith is based on the book. Without the bible, you wouldn't know of bible Jesus since that's the source for your original knowledge regarding Jesus called the Christ. For
majority of Christian world bible is the sole book where they come to learn of Christ, so you see, the bible is important for those who come to know Christ.
People keep saying this. But my personal original source of learning about Christ is word of mouth (based on other word of mouth or the gospels, true). The same way people learned in the first century. Paul didn't write strangers letters. He spoke to them, witnessed to them about what he had seen. Same with Peter and John, etc. The letters came after. But even then, t he gospels and witness accounts are a good place to learn about Christ - about his life and teachings, his death and resurrection. You can get to know someone through their teachings and deeds. But He also teaches about the spirit... to keep knocking and the door will be opened... and so at some point in learning about him, you might want to go to Him, in spirit, and get to know Him. Not just know about Him.
If your voice is from God or Jesus it wouldn't be that difficult for the voice to tell you what my name is or refer to me by such.
Why should He do this?
Where the hell was he when I was looking for him - oh yes, I just didn't have enough of the faith that he deemed was worthy to answer, right?
I can't answer this for you. My guess is that He was there. Maybe you didn't know how to hear Him. He was there for me for a long time, before I understood that. I kept knocking, I put my faith in him to lead me, and I followed Christ as best as I could. I did not even know I could hear in spirit; I did not know such a thing was possible. But I put no limitations on timing for me to recieve understanding, and I stopped demanding a sign (which I was never going to receive, because no signs are given anymore... we must simply follow Christ, in spirit and faith)
Peace,
tammy
-
SweetBabyCheezits
TEC: My guess is that He was there. Maybe you didn't know how to hear Him. He was there for me for a long time, before I understood that. I kept knocking, I put my faith in him to lead me, and I followed Christ as best as I could. I did not even know I could hear in spirit; I did not know such a thing was possible. But I put no limitations on timing for me to recieve understanding, and I stopped demanding a sign
TEC, you've mentioned bias and critical thinking a few times in the past but the application still seems elusive when it comes to faith. If you insist on KNOWING that something unsubstantiated, untestable, unverifiable is true (faith with no time limit, no outward signs, etc...) and you refuse to consider any other possibilities, are you not giving free reign to confirmation bias? The same goes for me or anyone else.
-
cofty
no signs are given anymore
Very convenient that with the growth of science and technology that could verify a supposed sign god stopped doing them.