Do you go to church or not?

na, I think he has peaked

 

Good to see an almighty christian who doesnt hesitate to judge others, shame on you.

I'm a jerk because I said something some of you didnt like, but if its the other way around its not a problem.

 

Shame on me.....no shame on you.....the difference between what you post and what we post is we are not insulting others. Telling someone she is the reason that Christianity is a turn off to others is a terrible thing to say. You can dish it but you can't take it. In other words, you reap what you sow.

 

Telling someone their religion is wrong is insulting? So in stating the Christian religion is the 'only' way is not telling all of the other religions the very same thing that is supposed to be insulting? Just pointing out the impact on those who do not hold the same belief as you is the same.

 

Based on your posts, you're a jerk for many more reasons than just that.

 

Wayne......it's the way that NY9 told her that she is one of the reasons that Christianity is a turn off to others and that what she wrote expressing her beliefs {where she didn't insult anybody} is arrogant. I think everyone can agree that anybody in this country is free to feel however they want regarding religion.

 

This made me think of the sermon I went to on Sunday.
Logically speaking, "you cannot trust Christ alone for you salvation, and simultaneously believe others can trust in something or someone else for theirs." (from a sermon this past Sunday - I'm not taking credit for writing that!)

Christians are told to spread the gospel. It may be insulting to some, but that's a chance we take. Here is something else mentioned in the sermon:

"How do I share the truth of Christ with an adherent to a false religion?

... (I've skipped a lot - this just refers to those who are antagonistic) If he/she is antagonistic to the gospel, leave him/her alone but continue to spread the gospel (Acts 19:8-12)"

(There are other instructions for those who are seeking the truth or those who are blind to the truth)

It made me realize that we are not expected to beat an antagonistic over the head with a Bible. God changes people, not us. We should plant the seed, but whether it grows or not is out of our control and responsibility.

 

calling me rude and arrogant isnt insulting me? remove the halo please, its suffocating your brain.

 

I cannot say whether anyone would or would not be insulted by the post, but I do wonder if the same post were made based on Islam being the only true religion whether it would be considered insulting or arrogant.

I was not discussing the tone as much as the message.8)

 

What was you just spouted at me the other day? Cleo's favorite saying? Offense is taken, not given.

 

You can spread the gospel all you want and it wont bother me, its when you start talking like you have some divine knowledge of the unknown (you dont know anymore than the rest of us by the way, I dont care what that voice in your head is telling you), Christianity is the only way, Christian friends are the only friends worth having, etc. If you want to lead the 'blind' to christianity, I suggest you seek other methods than what to me comes across as 'Im right and youre wrong'.

 

Offensive

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is offensive, especially to the lost. I'm sure nobody would like to be told that they are a sinner. But the fact is that we are all sinners and should burn in the lake of fire for eternity. Praise God for sending his son to die on the cross for our sins. Those that choose to believe are saved by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Those that choose not to beleive will suffer for eternity.

If this offends you, then you are lost. If you tell me that I'm wrong, I won't be offended. If you tell me that Islam or Mormonism or any other religeon is the "only true religeon" I won't be offended. If you tell me that Christianity is for non-intelligent, uneducated, weak-minded hypocrites, I won't be offended. But if a Christian evangelizes, even with the most tact, it will be offensive.

Granted, Christians don't always use the most tact(including me) when evangelizing, but there is a spiritual reason the Gospel message is so offensive.

For the offended, Jesus died on the cross so you wouldn't have to suffer in Hell for enternity. He loves you and wants to spend eternity in Heaven with you.

 

you never cease to amaze me with some of the crap you tote around...

 

you are such a dip sheet... can you crawl any lower jack off....

 

Hasn't this been discussed ad nauseum around here? Everybody gets their panties in a wad when a Christian wants to try and save someone. You'd think by now they'd just ignore it and accept that it is part of that person's faith to try and convert others and nothing anyone says or does is going to change that. So just like nobody is going to convert any of the non believers any time soon none of the non believers are going to convert the Christians. I think we just need a banner that says it's useless to try and convert anyone to anything around here and trying is useless. :lol:

 

But when Atheist pay for ads on buses or put up billboards they get all kinds of whining. Proselytizing to me rubs most folks wrong but if you do it I think you should allow the atheists and agnostics to do it also.

That said, most atheists are not going to go door to door because when it comes to religion brains don't always engage.

 

Sir/Madam, would you be offended if you knew that I thought you were "Lost"?

I have little need for or want of a god or savior and the last thing I would consider myself is "Lost".

 

I can't be lost....I've got Garmin.


:mrgreen:

 

:jester:, mine sends me on a wrong turn every now and then but I always reach the goal!

 

I read this article this morning, thought sharing with you all.

Is Belief in God Morally Imperative?
— Khalid Zaheer @ 5:24 am

When I say that belief in God is a moral issue more than an intellectual one, my understanding can be described in the following way:

Man has an inherent moral virtue of being grateful to his benefactors. We are grateful to our parents, teachers, relatives, friends etc for what they have done for us. This inner inclination to thank and pay back to those who have helped us is universally shared so strongly that those who go against its verdict are considered ungrateful, immoral people.

If the above-mentioned premise is valid, then it should proceed from it that the one who is responsible for conferring upon us all the blessings that we enjoy, including giving us the company of the people who deserve our grateful behaviour, should be the focus of our best emotions of gratitude. I concede that, to begin with, one might ask as to why should one thank Him if there were good reasons to believe that He doesn’t exist? The intellectual thought would indeed pose a challenge to the moral impulse in man, but the latter impulse would incline him to search for the right answer far more eagerly than he would do for a question whose answer he is seeking simply for intellectual curiosity. The earnestness in the quest for God should at least be the equivalent of the eagerness of a man who is tracing his parents about whom he is not sure if they were alive or not. My question is: Have the agnostics and the atheists explored enough to claim that they haven’t found anyone who was ultimately responsible for all the blessings they enjoy? Have they earnestly prayed to Him, even without formally believing in Him, as I did? If they would say that they did and yet didn’t get any response, I would say that, at best, I am seriously puzzled because my experience has been very different. When I prayed to Him, even when I thought that I didn’t formally believe in Him, His response was overwhelming. Why aren’t these others going through the same experience in response to the same behaviour? I am honestly baffled!

The fear factor can only be a starting point for believing in God. It is a very superficial reason to believe in Him over a long time. In fact, it is no reason to believe in Him. I would suggest that it is better not to believe in God than to believe in Him for fear of His probable appearance. I don’t believe in a God who should be feared like we fear a deadly monster. I believe in a loving and caring God, who more significantly, responds to my prayers. And I am dead sure that He does. But I am no one to accuse others of not trying enough or not praying to Him sincerely. That’s why I say that I am simply puzzled. What loss would occur to those who haven’t found God if they were to pray to Him in sincere earnestness?

However, for the prayer to cause connection with God, there should be one condition satisfied: One should submit oneself humbly before Him. You might say that it’s a funny proposal for someone who doesn’t even believe in Him to humble himself before God. I would respond by saying that when we feel morally obliged to be grateful to the source that arranged for us all that we have in this life, when we find that there were reasons to believe that He exists (even if there were other reasons that lead to a contrary conclusion), and when our vulnerability causes us to be fearful for our existence, could there be a better response from us than to humble ourselves before Him (or His supposed existence) and see what happens?

I have a feeling that the intellectual arguments of the agnostics and atheists deprive them of that all important feeling of humbleness that inspires one to look earnestly for God. But I can be wrong.

Quite often, I have observed people who claim not to believe in God deriding religion, religious people, and the concept of God. There is often a rejection of the religious concepts with disdainful sarcasm. There is a clear sense of intellectual superiority one can smell from the kind of remarks that one hears. Richard Dawkins has made strong claims in his book on the basis of scientific studies that the more intelligent a person, the more likely it is that he is going to be an atheist. My point is that what they consider to be their strength (intellect) may actually be causing their downfall by making them feel superior and thus causing them to be arrogant and therefore not humble.

Both gratefulness and humbleness are desirable virtues. Both ungratefulness and haughtiness are immoral tendencies. The one pair of attributes leads to God. The other takes away from God. That is why I am of the opinion that belief in God belongs primarily to the domain of morality; the intellectual aspect of it is much less significant than is often realized.

I am not claiming that religious people can’t be arrogant. Some of them are immensely arrogant. Nor am I claiming that all atheists are arrogant. Some of them are genuinely down-to-earth. While arrogant religiosity will find no place in the mercy of God, humble atheism will, hopefully, give way to true belief in Him.