Can you change your username??

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SUMMIT75

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.....and this is were the thread begins to take a turn for possible arguments.

As the OP of this thread, admin please delete this before it gets carried away. My question was answered, username changed but the theology lesson needs to end.

Thanks.


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dotman

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Well I can argue that god is not real after having lived in Illinois. That place is what I would imagine hell to be like. Also things like childhood cancer, ISIS, and the complete lack of physical proof just to name a few. I’m just pleasantly surprised that this many people would chime in on such a sensitive subject that is not publicly acceptable to talk about and the fact that this conversation has stayed level headed and not turned into a shouting match.

Or you can argue that due to God’s freewill, letting man choose its own course, he has shown just how corrupt the human species is and why we can never be sin free.

God is a choice, he doesn’t impose himself on you, you have to accept his grace and believe his only son died for your sins.
 

jmden

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I would agree with you. There are plenty of organized religions that man did think up, and they are a scam....or a cult.......or however else you want to classify them.

True biblical Christianity is not a religion--one of the many important things that make it completely unique. It is a relationship with an infinitely holy, powerful, loving, forgiving Creator God. Religions are man made and there are many of those.
 

Btaylor

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The beer post are funny to me because I get the impression they are meant as a subtle jab never mind the fact that Jesus' first miracle was to turn a whole bunch of more or less dirty dishwater into wine so the wedding celebration could continue. Just saying...
 
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The beer post are funny to me because I get the impression they are meant as a subtle jab never mind the fact that Jesus' first miracle was to turn a whole bunch of more or less dirty dishwater into wine so the wedding celebration could continue. Just saying...

Nah..You’re way overthinking that one just two guys talking about beer from Chico California because he happened to notice that is where I am from... I also happen to be a B.Taylor. Seeing your post confused the hell out of me at first... thought I somehow changed my own username at first


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The beer post are funny to me because I get the impression they are meant as a subtle jab never mind the fact that Jesus' first miracle was to turn a whole bunch of more or less dirty dishwater into wine so the wedding celebration could continue. Just saying...

Isnt this a great message BTaylor just preached? ... Jesus first miracle was to keep the party going. In fact when Jesus would preach a funeral, dead people walked out of the tombs, and the funeral would end. But when Jesus would arrive at the party that was about to end, the party continued.

I just preached this 3 weeks ago
 
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Isnt this a great message BTaylor just preached? ... Jesus first miracle was to keep the party going. In fact when Jesus would preach a funeral, dead people walked out of the tombs, and the funeral would end. But when Jesus would arrive at the party that was about to end, the party continued.

I just preached this 3 weeks ago
I thought that was Craig Christ doing that? There's even a song about him on YouTube.

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Outhunting

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Well its been pretty civil on this thread especially since religion has been the topic here. It goes to show you just what a good crowd roksliders are after 3400 views and a few pages. Religion and politics usually gets ugly pretty fast but its a good level headed crowd. The OP would like to shut down the thread and I second it. Nobody is changing any minds or beliefs on here and that is just a simple fact and I am going back to thinking about the upcoming hunting season!
 

HookUp

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I find it far more gratifying to hike upon the Rocky Mountains knowing I am made from the same star dust the mountains are. Life never ceases to amaze me and I am blessed to have been born and lived in N. America with many precious experiences.

Any non-believer can be as deeply spiritual as anyone who claims a religion. Spirituality is about connecting with other people, relationships, gratitude and appreciation of life. It is not found in any one text written thousands of years ago.

A human sacrifice to save yourself from sins you never committed? As Christopher Hitchens said "I will not play with those toys"

And for the believers who say God is working, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. We need less organized religion, not more.

This is a fine topic as long as people don't name call and make it personal. We are all free to believe, we should be free to have an open civil off season discussion.
 
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FlyGuy

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Been a quite interesting thread. Before it gets shut down, I figured I'd share my perspective. Maybe it's helpful to some, maybe it's irrational. I totally get what everyone from both sides of the discussion are saying. I've spent a fair amount of time thinking about this one in my life. In the end, I made the conscious decision to believe. The rational behind that decision is far too complex to relate in a thread post, but there are two specific points that I'll keep focus on. Now these may not make sense to anyone else here except me, but here goes:

#1 - "The way In". Yeah, I too struggle with some of the Sunday School Story parts of the bible (the whale, the ark, etc), but I find this part absolutely fascinating. It's been mentioned before in this thread but the key point is that you Can't EARN it. Earning something is a very human construct. That is what feels right to us. Early religions put human traits into their Gods (lust, war, jealousy, etc) To the best of my knowledge, all major religions have this concept of earning salvation woven into their fabric. Which, to me, indicates a far more human architecture. But, the idea that it is Free, even if I don't DESERVE it, that just goes against every ounce of our DNA. We just don't do that. People need to earn our respect-generosity-kindness-sympathy-love. We do not allow people to turn their backs on us 5, 6, 7, 100 times. But He does. Always welcomes us back and is happy and forgives and doesn't resent. Imagine your spouse doing that? Never happen. I just find it very hard to believe that we made up this primary and central part a few thousand years ago because it is so far from our true reality. This idea is the absolute core of Christianity, all you have to do is believe in Him and the kingdom is yours. Doesn't matter how good you are at being good. That can't get you in. But, yet we've failed at learning this throughout history, and we still do today (insert your favorite pet peave about the last church you attended here). We just have to make it about how good you are and I believe we would have written it that way if it was our story and not His. If you really spend some time on that one it becomes more and more of a humdinger.


#2 - "you can't have it both ways". About 8 years ago my wife and I were happily expecting our 1st child. We were 25 weeks along. She woke me up early one morning saying something was wrong and then my life changed forever. My son was delivered a few hours later. 1# 9oz. He was about the size of a coke can and breathing from a ventilator while my wife was fighting for her own life back in the delivery room (lost over 1/3 of her blood). You want to talk about having your heart absolutely ripped out of you. I could do NOTHING to help him. So... I prayed. Really, really prayed.

I wonder, all those that say it's a joke, that say it's Santa Claus. When you find yourself stripped down to the bone like that, do you think you'll pray? Do you think you'll ask God for help?

A few years later, my wife is fully recovered. My son is now home with us, but it doesn't look anything like I pictured. We have 24hr nursing in our home. Huge pieces of medical equipment instead of nursery furniture. I really began to struggle. I was angry. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Wasn't fair. And there was no one to direct the anger at. Wasn't the doctor's fault. Wasn't my wife's. God sure was a convenient Target though. I spent a lot of time wrestling with this one.

In the end, for me, I decided that if I believed in Him when I needed Him, then I also needed to believe in Him when I didn't.


To the OP, I'd love to hear your story one day. I sincerely hope it was not a tragedy, but simply a logical decision. All the best to you. To the Mods - Very cool too see a subject like this one covered and commented on without anyone taking fire. Love this place.

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GrantMan

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The bible is fake news. We will soon be getting all the information we could ever need from quantum computers!

I actually have been studying the bible for a few years and paying close attention to society and the more more I learn and observe the more I believe in God.
 
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The bible is fake news. We will soon be getting all the information we could ever need from quantum computers!

I actually have been studying the bible for a few years and paying close attention to society and the more more I learn and observe the more I believe in God.


Fernley ? I go thru there a couple times a year heading to Minden. I have looked out the window while passing by and thought, I wonder what lives out in those mountains.
 

jmden

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William F. Albright, one the great archeologists said:

"The excessive skepticism shown toward the Bible by important historical schools of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, certain phases of which still appear periodically, has been progressively discredited. Discovery after discovery has established the accuracy of innumerable details, and has brought increased recognition to the value of the Bible as a source of history."

Big Bang? The liberal press and liberal education machine would, in general, have the masses believe there's no question about it. In actuality, there are numerous major and crippling problems with it that the scientific community hotly debates.

Just like topics discussed here (2A...?) the mass media and liberal education systems as a whole produces people that are not truly told/given a critical look at the other side of the story. My kids are taught straight 'evolution', but they know many of the huge issues which bring it to it's knees and destroy it. Believe me, it takes way more 'faith' to believe in 'evolution' than creation by God. Sure we see and Darwin saw what is commonly called micro-evolution/adaptation, but genetically this results in less information in a population of animals/etc. Micro-evolution is the 'engine' by which Macro-evolution (monkey's to human and such similar ideas) is supposed to occur. What does macro evolution require? More information. What does micro-evolution/adaptation, the engine behind macro evolution genetically produce? Less information. Big Bang? No one still has a clue how the first life could have formed truly (conjecture), Darwin can be quoted by saying that if there are not millions of intermediary life forms found fossilized then his theory is shot while the evolutionists to this day have only pathetic and discredited examples of such.

Which came first? The heart or the blood vessel/veins or the blood? Which came first? Eyes (cornea, lens, optic nerves going to the brain) optic nerves or the brain to interpret what is being seen? Which came first? Bones or muscles? Michael Behe, a noted biochemist writes about a concept called 'Irreducible Complexity' basically talking about biochemical machines found throughout life forms that are so complex and they cannot be reduced in complexity or they would be useless. This very small sample listed here is absolutely pathetic... Which came first? Male or female?

DNA...so complex that Bill Gates says they are trying to make computers that mimic it. Really? “DNA is like a computer program but far, far more advanced than any software ever created.” Bill Gates. And yet we have a blind faith in a blind random process and try to salve our concerns about it by an ever increasing time span being used from Big Bang until now? And even more interesting is that DNA is a language which communicates information. Information always comes from a greater information, check out information theory, and yet, as smart and all knowing as many of us are/want to be, we have no idea the infinite information to be found in DNA alone of let alone all the DNA of all the life forms on earth. And we are just talking about a small part of what's on one very small planet in what is an infinite universe. The boundaries of the universe are not known.

Hmm...an infinite God and the universe is infinite. Hmm...an infinite God and we are still trying to find what is really in an atom. Things smaller than electron, neutrons and protons--leptons, quarks...where does it end in minaturization? And all with knife edge balance that isn't even understood.

And we sit here and shake our fist at an infinite God? Really?

I can't begin to mention the thousands of potential talking points here related to every area of life. This is a link to a lecture by Lee Strobel, a highly educated former atheist who went about to prove Christianity was false and instead came to know the Lord based on the evidence. There is so much evidence if one is REALLY willing to search. The Case for Christ | Atheist Tries to Disprove Christianity Becomes Christian! - YouTube

Another very small slice of reality to watch. It's a movie called the Atheist Delusion: The Atheist Delusion Movie (2016) HD - YouTube

There are ready answers to virtually (hmm...if God is truly infinite, wouldn't there maybe be some things we don't and won't ever know?) every issue folks raise up against why they shouldn't believe in the one true God. Pride and an underlying knowledge that they are accountable to that God, an accountability many are desperate to say doesn't exist so they don't have to feel accountable, are some of the reasons people don't want to believe.

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." Proverbs 9:10

"The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God'. Psalm 14:1
 
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Gents, a forum isn’t going to change anyone’s mind. The best anyone can hope is an open mind and civil conversation. If anyone is ever in the Fort Worth area and wants to talk theology, hunting, logic, deep thoughts like “what is truth?” And “how can turkeys be so stupid, yet still outsmart me?”, my garage door is open and the beer is cold. Cheers.
Damn... That is exactly what I need. Seriously. Rokslide makes me want to move back to the states. Lol

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