paul from cleveland

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Posts by paul from cleveland

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  47

  A question for Christians

  by paul from cleveland in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jesus said to 'go your way and sin no more' and the bible also says not to 'use the grace of god as an excuse to sin'.

  however the bible also says that 'all sin and fall short of the glory of god'.

  this means that we can only partially obey the commandment to be sinless.

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  paul from cleveland

  (It wouldn't hurt to keep it in your pants and save it for a treat once in awhile.)

  I'm sorry I ever mentioned it.
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  47

  A question for Christians

  by paul from cleveland in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jesus said to 'go your way and sin no more' and the bible also says not to 'use the grace of god as an excuse to sin'.

  however the bible also says that 'all sin and fall short of the glory of god'.

  this means that we can only partially obey the commandment to be sinless.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  paul from cleveland

  Ynot, Envisioning you lying on the kitchen floor crying is painful to me. I know that kind of pain. I hope it didn't last long.

  I'm glad you've always felt God's love. I know you're a very loving person. I'm happy you're at peace now.
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  47

  A question for Christians

  by paul from cleveland in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jesus said to 'go your way and sin no more' and the bible also says not to 'use the grace of god as an excuse to sin'.

  however the bible also says that 'all sin and fall short of the glory of god'.

  this means that we can only partially obey the commandment to be sinless.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  paul from cleveland

  Are you born again? Without being a new creation you are unable to overcome the "flesh", the sinful nature.

  Have you invited Jesus directly through prayer into your heart?-- Have you accepted his invitation in return ?)

  No, I'm not born again but I've prayed very hard for this for years. What does it feel like? How do you know? How can you know? Are you sure?

  Masturbating?????

  Hi Mouthy (My new Grandma). I didn't say I necessarily have a "problem" with it... I just wrote that "someone once asked" about it. (I won't say who)
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  47

  A question for Christians

  by paul from cleveland in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jesus said to 'go your way and sin no more' and the bible also says not to 'use the grace of god as an excuse to sin'.

  however the bible also says that 'all sin and fall short of the glory of god'.

  this means that we can only partially obey the commandment to be sinless.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  paul from cleveland

  Thanks for all your answers. Forgive me for not quite getting it. I think my problem is with the idea of 'deliberate sin'. Isn't all sin deliberate? Don't we know we're sinning when we do it? If we didn't, wouldn't it just be a mistake? To me, trying not to 'sin deliberately' is an impossible task. I never know if there is some 'cut off' point where it's okay. For example, I know that when I'm driving down the road and going even one mile over the speed limit, I'm sinning by not obeying Ceasar's law. When I keep doing it, there is no longer any sacrifice left for my sin. To even look at a woman with lust, I've committed adultery in my heart yet I keep doing it. I know this may seem ridiculous but I really think about these things all the time. When I was a Witness, I always felt I had to do more. Enough was never enough. Now, it's kind of the same thing. I just can't stop deliberately sinning.
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  47

  A question for Christians

  by paul from cleveland in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jesus said to 'go your way and sin no more' and the bible also says not to 'use the grace of god as an excuse to sin'.

  however the bible also says that 'all sin and fall short of the glory of god'.

  this means that we can only partially obey the commandment to be sinless.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  paul from cleveland

  Jesus said to 'go your way and sin no more' and the bible also says not to 'use the grace of God as an excuse to sin'. However the bible also says that 'all sin and fall short of the glory of God'. This means that we can only partially obey the commandment to be sinless. This fills me with as much anxiety that I had while being a Witness. How can I know if I'm being "good enough" for God? Since I can't be sinless, there must be some arbitrary cut-off point where I'm just not good enough. There's got to be a point when I've just committed one to many sins. As someone once asked 'am I going to die because I masterbated one to many times'?.
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  21

  The Probabilty of there being an Intelligent Designer part 2. (some responses)

  by hooberus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  on the thread "the probabilty of there being an intelligent designer" the poster "elsewhere" wrote:.

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/187282/1/the-probabilty-of-there-being-an-intelligent-designer.

  here is my basic reasoning on why i reject id:.

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  paul from cleveland

  In the natural world, every event has a cause. Therefore, the first event must have been caused by something outside of nature. Something supernatural. This supernatural cause is what I call God.
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  21

  The Probabilty of there being an Intelligent Designer part 2. (some responses)

  by hooberus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  on the thread "the probabilty of there being an intelligent designer" the poster "elsewhere" wrote:.

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/187282/1/the-probabilty-of-there-being-an-intelligent-designer.

  here is my basic reasoning on why i reject id:.

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  paul from cleveland

  Existence just "is". The foundation of everything is built upon an illogical paradox. Until this is explained, I'm not going to rule anything out.
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  21

  The Probabilty of there being an Intelligent Designer part 2. (some responses)

  by hooberus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  on the thread "the probabilty of there being an intelligent designer" the poster "elsewhere" wrote:.

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/187282/1/the-probabilty-of-there-being-an-intelligent-designer.

  here is my basic reasoning on why i reject id:.

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  paul from cleveland

  The way I see it is that existence itself is a paradox. Using natural, observable laws, nothing should be here in the first place! Why is there something rather than nothing? The paradox of existence itself leaves a lot of room for the supernatural.
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  26

  I passed the GED test!!!

  by noni1974 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i went last week and took it after studying on my own for months.

  i thought i needed some help so i went and signed up for ged classes.

  they test you to see where you are.

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  paul from cleveland

  Congratulations Noni! I'm sorry to hear about your move to Kentucky though. It's been nice to get to know you. I really enjoyed our visit.
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  128

  The upside of atheism

  by paul from cleveland in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i realize whether you believe in god or the non-existence of god it has to be taken on faith since both positions are unknowable and unprovable.

  however, i can understand faith in god as basically a hope for something better.

  i can also understand agnosticism; admitting it's unknowable but still leaving the door open (perhaps the only intellectually honest option).

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  paul from cleveland

  I'm a bit of a nihilist.

  Nihilistic thoughts are what really get me down the most. I shouldn't have read so much Nietzsche. Once those ideas are in your head, you can never get them back out. Now that philosophy is one of several competing ideas I have about ultimate reality. For me, the only escape from them is music, dancing, drinking and drugs (preferably all at the same time). The other ideas I have include God.

  Paul, I owe you an apology man. I had you down as someone just trying to stir things up for the sake of it.

  Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt. I never want to stir things up. I didn't want to start a discussion about what's "true". I just wanted to see how people can be comfortable with the idea of atheism, just in case it's true.