the one thing in my life I cannot find- Faith. So Im giving every religous person on this board to give me some religions info ect... I have already had bad dealings with christianity but feel free to try to convert me anyway.

have you tried other religions?

Novo, for you, i suggest you research Buddism for the inner peace you are trying to find.

You are your own god.
read my avatar quote.


I'm keeping an eye on this thread. Lets, everyone, keep it civil.

I have looked into wiccan,buddhism,and druidism I really just need some type of spiritual guidance-Stories from followers of other religions even christianity is fine. Im open to anything at this point.

Why do you feel that you need a religion?

What feelings do you have now towards organized religion?

What are you looking for in a religion? What is your goal?

This may not help you but, it sure helped me.
I left my family's church at 20 after years and years of devout, blind faith in my methodist upbringing. I visited church after church attempting to rekindle my faith to no avail. I spent 3 years studying religions of the world. The best one I found was Tao. I loved learning about it and felt more at ease with my faith. Since then I have become completely nondenominational. There is me, what I believe, and how I chose to live my life. I have a personal relationship with *insert deity of choice here* and make daily choices accordingly. It is private matter that I only discuss in depth if I am asked specifically. Works for me, sorry if it does not help.

hes totally right
i am my own god in Juliaism

I dont really feel a terrible need for a "religion" But I need faith in something In my life. Some unmoving faith that will always be there, its a comforting thought. Im completely opposed to organized religion. Religion should be a personal thing between you and your chosen diety.
There reason christianity backfired for me and most other religions is because if god is so loving-Why is there suffering?

His Holiness, The 14th Dalai Lama of Buddhism:

"Whenever I meet even a 'foreigner,' I have always the same feeling: 'I am meeting another member of the human family.' This attitude has deepened my affection and respect for all beings."

"I pray for a more friendly, more caring, and more understanding human family on this planet. To all who dislike suffering, who cherish lasting happiness - this is my heartfelt appeal."



In short, Buddism is about Peace, Unity, Respect and Admiration. It is about dispelling all negative emotions and reaching a state of enlightment.

A Buddha is a person who has developed all positive qualities and eliminated all negative qualities. A Buddha was an "ordinary" human like you and me before he/she became enlightened. Enlightenment is compared to awakening, as a person suddenly expereinces a complete transformation of body and mind from sleeping to waking up. One could say that a Buddha represents the very peak of evolution, as he/she is omniscient or all-knowing. All Buddists strive to become one with the Buddha.


Sounds pretty damn sweet to me.

Thats what I said

Do you have any strong feeling for nature? Do you enjoy being outside taking a walk in park or something? Do you have any kind of fasicanting with water or fire? Do you believe that every animals are equal? If so try following:

Buddhist (Tibetian Buddhist are more suitable for american lifestyle)

or Taoism

Here is a good author to look up:

Te Ching (translation by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English) I have book call Tao Te Ching, it is a GREAT book to get starting on.

Bradley Trevor Grieve, it is sorta of cheesy but it seems to have lot of similar things that Taoism and Buddhist teach.

Also it is strongly recommend for you to STAY away from anything that require you to focus on one god (ie, christian, Muslim, or Jewish, etc...).

you can have faith in anything politcal Change like Che Guevara or a world peace like John Lennon. It's all about what's your goal, what pushes you, what drives you what make you who you are.
+++
In the Christien Point of view suffuring exist to enjoy the good basic things in life. Mainly why luxury is a sin. ( that's why the Vatican makes me laugh so hard)...but it's just to keep it to the basics.
***
highschool souvenirs: I created my own religion, It was called Gypsysm, live like your life was a show on TV.

Well, if you wish to have faith in something in your life, start with having faith in yourself for one. You deserve to have as much faith in yourself as in anything else, so that is a good start.

Why is there suffering? There are several reasons why according to christians, but depending on how fundimental the believer is will get you different answers.

Some say it is all due to the devil.

Some new age type folks think that the suffering that we experience is all by choice, and it is through the suffering that we learn things like compassion. They believe that there is a reason for all of the suffering.

Some say that the suffering on earth is all due to the greed of mankind; that we let others suffer when they do not need to do so. There is plenty to go around, but instead we hoard everything we can while others have nothing.

There are a lot of reasons why. There are also many religions to choose from if you feel that you need a religion. I can point out some good places to learn about different religions so that you can see what your options are and then make the decision that feels right for you.

my moms Buddhist. we go to a temple about 3 hrs away every summer. Dodrupchen Rinpoche runs his own monastery in tibet, so he comes every 3 years or so with his wife. the monk, tulku, lives here so he arranges meetings more often. mom said im Buddhist too, and i even have a bhuddist name too although i cant remember what it is
heres Tulkus website, hes also written quite a number of books
http://www.tulkuthondup.com

Like Fluffybunny said earlier, there are a lot of potential reasons. I suppose the "right" answer would depend on your religion/point of view.

Technically i don't have a religion, but i do have basic principles that can be resumed to this: Stand Up, Stand Out, Stand Forth. (the simplest way to put it)

Stand up: for the things that you belive in.
Stand out: If you become a wallflower your voice will have less power.
Stand forth: there are something wrong you can fix right now, do it.

***
by "Technically" I mean that i don't follow any religion in particular, I just take the best of each.

You can make up your own religion if you want, you don't have to follow anyone else's. I'm a New Age Christian (yes, I know it sounds wierd ) and it works fine for me.

Sometimes I like to here go here. It always gives me a lift (if I'm willing to believe it ).

If your looking for proof that God exists, in my opinion you shouldn't ask anyone else about it. If you do, you'll only get an opinion. Believing in him is entirely your choice. Some poeple do, some don't. God won't come to you, you have to come to him.

I hope you find what you're looking for.

thats what i did also dispite mom saying im Buddist too you could have 3 religion and merge them all together just chose ones what makes you feel comfortable

Buddha was born in a wealthy and privileged family. Until he was 29 he stayed home in his fathers palace. When he left his house for the first time he saw an old man, a sick man, and a corpse. This made him realize that he too was subject to old age, sickness and death. After seeing a fourth man, who was holy, it gave him hope that there was life beyond suffering. He tried advanced, already taught, methods of meditation, but this didn't work. He then decided to starve himself in hopes that he would achieve enlightenment. This also did not work. Buddha realized these two methods were not the way to go about this. Pain was not the answer. Then he remembered that as a child, when he achieved a joyous state. This was how he would reach enlightenment.

Buddha's enlightenment brought him knowledge that beings were reborn many times and that they were reborn according to their good deeds, or bad deeds.
"He also saw the nature of suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering and the way leading to the cessation of suffering With this realization came liberation on a experiential rather than solely intellectual level: 'I directly knew: "Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no coming to any state of being"

Buddha advises against the two extremes of luxury and self-mortification and offers a "Middle Way". This has to be taken into context with the Four Noble Truths.
"These are 'the noble truth of suffering...the noble truth of the origin of suffering...the noble truth of the cessation of suffering...the noble truth leading the way to the cessation of suffering".

He spend the remainder of his life homeless, and travelling from place to place teaching. He traveled by foot, and using his begging bowl for food. This way he came into contact with all levels of society, telling the same message to all those he taught. He says:
"life is suffering, craving is the cause of this suffering, there is an end to suffering, and there is a means to bring this suffering to an end."

Buddha's last words were:
"All things are impermanent - strive on with diligence!"


On a religion trip to a Buddhist temple we were all amazed by this religion. Visually their temple was appealing. There was colour and gold, and statues, and it was large, and spacious. We sat on mats, and assembled into the lotus position. We sat there in silence with incense and with our own thoughts. The monk said that 15 minutes a day, everyday for a year of mediating will truly make you feel better and peaceful. I think Buddhism is a practice that best suites your needs. I too am faithless, and Buddhism will help greatly.

Tulku, my monk dude at the place where Buddha became enlightened
then the second one is where Buddha gave his first sermon

I would agree with what most of the others have said...

If you have the time, take it to research all the religion you can. You will feel it when one his right for you.

As for Buddhist, I am personnaly deeply drawn to it, as with many religion that are close to earth, like druids. I chose however to take what I feel his right from many religion. They all have great wisdom to share. As for faith, I have faith in my self, in life, the earth and the potential of human kind.

This does not say that I do not beleive in any higher beings, as I am sure there must be some and who can guide us with wisdom and love....but God...I personnaly do not see him as many religion do. I think this his something that differs to each individual.

Good luck!

How can we know happiness without sadness? How can we know what is good if we can't compare it to bad?

I think that's why there is suffering in our world.

Why don't you have faith in the goodness in people? And "preach" good things - smiling to someone on the street, listening to a friend who is upset, being sensitive to others feelings, trying to understand where someone is coming from before disagreeing. Do to others what you would have done to you. That's my philosophy.

I think that someone can't really be converted. They can be presented with the information and then they have to make the choice as to whether it feels "right"

Nothing has really felt "right" to me. Agnostic works fine for me.



Potholer

I wonder why its so hard for some of us to just fall into a religion.
being raised a christian, then later trying several others..it always came down to faith.
I guess i just don't get it. Seems there should be something more.
Im agnostic and not any thing else because there has to be more to it than the view the atheist have, atleast to me. Im just not sure what

The sweet is never as sweet without the sour...


-simply

with out suffering how can you know happiness?
have u ever read the book of job?
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil.
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.
The LORD said to Satan, "Whence have you come?" Satan answered the LORD, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it."
And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?"
Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nought?
Hast thou not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse thee to thy face." Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house.and there came a messenger to Job, and said, "The oxen were plowing and the asses feeding beside them;
and the Sabe'ans fell upon them and took them, and slew the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, "The Chalde'ans formed three companies, and made a raid upon the camels and took them, and slew the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house;
and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
Then Job arose, and rent his robe, and shaved his head, and fell upon the ground, and worshiped.
And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return; the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."
In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD.
And the LORD said to Satan, "Whence have you come?" Satan answered the LORD, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it."
And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him without cause."
Then Satan answered the LORD, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life.
But put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face."
And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power; only spare his life."
So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD, and afflicted Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
And he took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes.
Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God, and die."
But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eli'phaz the Te'manite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Na'amathite. They made an appointment together to come to condole with him and comfort him.
And when they saw him from afar, they did not recognize him; and they raised their voices and wept; and they rent their robes and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.
And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
And Job said:
"Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night which said, `A man-child is conceived.'
Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it.
Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
That night -- let thick darkness seize it! let it not rejoice among the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.
Yea, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry be heard in it.
Let those curse it who curse the day, who are skilled to rouse up Levi'athan.
Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none, nor see the eyelids of the morning;
because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes.
"Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?
Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should suck? : For then I should have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept; then I should have been at rest,
with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves,
or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.
Or why was I not as a hidden untimely birth, as infants that never see the light?
There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.
There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.
The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.
"Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,
who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hid treasures;
who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they find the grave?
Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, whom God has hedged in?
For my sighing comes as my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water.
For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest; but trouble comes."
Sounds like job felt as lost as we, so dont fret have faith in love,how ever if u cant find faith just be a good person, live ur live with out regrets, and my u allways find laughter and happiness

what of the starving millions?
the raped
the murdered
the killed
what of the literally thousands of contradcitions in the bible?

well the bible is a big book, anything that's long enough will eventualy end up getting too complicated and crash. Like socialism the basic ideas was simple, but in the real world they can't be aplied. (lets not forget it was writen by many people in long period of time...now that breading ground for mess ups)

For the millions in pain and suffering, there only confort is that mystical god.
***
You might ask why all these thing exist, the theological responce would be that humans were cast away from eden and , as a punishment from god, humanity will face daily tragedies. To make the humans consient of why they should follow the early 10 commendments.

///
Personnaly rapes, murders, robery etc. are things that made me start my own Ideals. Because god or no god (satan or no satan), change will come from a inlighten sociaty who doesn't just preach but also apply.

(see Lucifer and God thread by yourbestnightmare)

I just want something that will always be there, nothing in my life ever seems to last. So why not find a faith.

you can't just say to your self "today I'll find a god"...you have to live through experiences and gathering knowledge on your self then you will be able to find serenity and so find a "religion" that fits you.

I too believe that you can't really be happy if you do not have some sadness to go with it. I believe in God because I hope that one day I will go to a better place than Earth, without all the sadness and corruption and greed.

Faith...seems it hard to come by for some of us.
I've read and heard that life experiences bring it to you. (so to speak)
But if any thing i seem to get farther from it.
having something stay with ya in life would be nice.
but i suppose the nature of good things is that they end at some point.
and heh I have enough of the bad that seems to hang out forever lol.
But i cant help think it would be nice to have something good with staying power!

Hello
first and formost , you must have faith in yourself......no one should force their religion onto you, the same as you should not let them do this....you are you, a free person to choose....Does a religion really matter??? Is it that important to you???
If so , then you will find your own way in due course.If you do find one that suits you, then let that faith, which you choose, guide you.

Blessed Be.
Nightshade.
xxx.

Novo
the one thing in my life I cannot find- Faith

Faith is an inner knowing and something which cannot be forced through the will or aquired by thinking about it... nor is it found in a book...

If you're looking for something to believe... then I reckon Buddhism could be worth considering because it has no god and according to some of the monks, Buddhism is not a religion, but is instead, a journey through the mind.

It is said... that the path to nirvana lies inside the mind of every one of us...

If all else fails and you don't know which way to turn... then bathe yourself as if you were washing the body of a holy person.. take your time and experience this act of awareness... On the other hand... that may not help either so you just might have to sit under a tree by a pond and feed the ducks... Now that surely would be an act of faith... I think...

Welf
.

Find it hard to have faith? I find that a little unbelievable consider there is nothign but faith. When you open your eyes, you have faith that what you see is really there, when you sit in a chair you have faith that it wont collapse beneath you. So technically proof doesn't exist... only faith.

When thinking and choosing what religion to conform to... I think it would be helpful to interveiw religous leaders from different religions, and confront them with arguments that people out of that religion have for them. See which religion holds water. My advice to you when confronting the leaders of the christian faith with arguments... don't interview a baptist pastor. No offense to any baptists here. But be sure to hurry... there is no telling when our time is up.

Seriously dude, make up your own mind. There's a word for people who need to be told what to do and what to believe all the time...sheep.

Have faith in YOURSELF. That's all that matters.

Are you looking for or trying to find belief in God?

Have you made any decisions yet?

I'm thinking this thread was made just to what? make people feel for you? I have noticed you haven't come back to this thread to post your opinions or show your enthusiasm in making a decision to believe in a religion. I'm sick of your threads like "I am leaving now" "Farewell UM" "My life is terrible" and so on. I don't think members will be feeling sorry for you and your drama queen persona anymore. If you had intention to find faith in your life, then you wouldn't post a story about your bad encounters with christianity, and how you will be converted back to it again, or find faith somewhere else, and not make attempts to find more about our suggestions! We all know your story, and how you don't have it well, but please, deal with your situation, and stop anyother attempts to make us feel bad for you. I'm sure you will find faith, and have a good life when you living on your own, but when you have no intention to finding faith, don't bother start another thread like this.

All religions offer guidance and advice about morality, spiritual paths, how to treat others ect.

However the unique thing about Christian believe is that the Creator Himself realized that mankind was unable too fully comprehend the results of his flaws/sins against Him. And provided a just sentence off DEATH upon all sinners.

This sentence was than served by Himself (through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ) God himself became 100% human to accomplish this feat. And through Faith and faith alone (NOT WORKS OR SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTMENTS) provided a way for us too return to our Fathers house.

This fact sets Christianity aside from all world religions including atheistis.

May God bless you on your search for Him.

What kind of a sentence is making us die, and going to a better place called heaven? And if we are all sinners, then what is the point of hell, and what is the point of trying to do good, and not sin, if we WILL die, and we will be sinners no matter what we do?

I don't agree with Irish on the issue of death being a sentence. Death is probably something that exists outside of God's control.

Regarding Diebytheflyguy's comments, it is not clear that all people will go to heaven. All of God's faithful children will go to heaven, but whether or not that extends beyond Christians and Jews is known only by God.

As far as hell, if everyone goes to heaven than there would be no need for it.

As far as the point of trying to do good, if you are faithful to God then you want to do good, according to all of God's commandments, including (and most importantly) his greatest Commandment, specified in Matthew 22:34-40. If you have never read this section---read it now. It is a great read.

I will give this hint, the greatest commandment is about love.

So you have found Order of the Standian!

Hi Dyebyetheflyguy
I think you got the gist of what I was saying. I will try to make it more understandable by giving you an analogy.
Lets say you had a less than wholesome (I sound like Moe) fascination with matches. While experimenting with them in the basement of an apartment building. A fire starts and is soon out of control. The building burns to the ground and claims the life of a couple of firefighters. You are arrested and stand accused before the judge.
The judge hands you down a sentence of say 10 years in hopes that you will grow to understand the harm you have caused and change your ways. I am shore you would understand that this was justice for your actions.
Now suppose that same judge was your father. And he knowing you better than anyone else decided that he was partially responsible for your faults. as he made you. After serving you the sentence he then steps down from the bench and has himself handcuffed. He turns to you and says,” I will serve your sentence for you in the hope that you will take the time to mend your ways”. I don’t believe you would find such a loving judge on this earth.
As for hell, the fire and brimstone I believe it is an analogy to describe the pain and suffering of being eternally separated from those you love and our Creator.
As a lie is a lie so is sin in Gods eyes. And every one of us will stand accused before the judge. I hope that when that day comes you will be able to say to Him ”But Father, Have you not already paid for my transgressions”.

No Doctor, you take a calculated risk, based on the experience that in the past that chair has not collapsed beneath you. If it were a strange chair, you might test it prior to taking another calculated risk and sitting in it.



With the exceptions of Mithraism (savior son of god), Krishna (savior son of god), Herakles (savior son of god), Wang Ti (savior son of god), etc - all of which incidentally lived long before Jesus....Not so "set aside" is it?

I tried Religion for over 10 years but all i got was grief, heartache and alot of peoples own ideas rather than those taught from the Bible... So i gave up, never felf better.......

Thats exatly what Religion is. someones or a groups take on something spiritual. Don't give up on your own quest for spiritualality because of someone elses enterpitation of the Bible. Your conclusion in the end is what matters most. Keep seeking.

The need is what always fascinated me. People asked me why I need it, I can't help to a feel a thirst for something... and if the thirst exists their must be something to quench it.

Religion in an etymological sense, as I understand, means to reconnect. The creature reconnecting with the Creator. Reconnecting, in all religions and genuine philosophies requires some discipline. Discipline is the instruction handed to a disciple by a master, the more muscle you seek to gain the more you will have to train.

So it's not a mere ideology or a view point on the world but an actual means to retaining our original station. I'm not Christian but I have read the bible, and I don't understand the hostility towards Christianity, it ironically resembles the ignorant stances some fundie Christians have towards evolution. Many principles spoken in the NT are universal and exist in one form or another in all religions. Perhaps your issue was not with Christianity but the denomination you were in or even the hypocrisy or flaws you saw amongst the people in your church.

If any of those are the case we must remember there is a difference between the path and the traveler. The Path may very well be a perfect one though the traveler imperfect.

In any case, I would suggest going with what you know. I hold Christ to be a genuine Prophet sent by God to teach mankind how to live, how to reconnect. Forget what you might have learned and been taught and just read through the gospels yourself, learn the bible, ponder over it, and think things through.


take care and best of luck,
mortify

the one thing in my life I cannot find- Faith. So Im giving every religous person on this board to give me some religions info ect... I have already had bad dealings with christianity but feel free to try to convert me anyway.

Faith begins with this: The faith in the fact that you will eventually find you way. If you are hopeless, you are faithless. If you hope to understand someday, that's the first step.

The second is to put your faith into something, and believe it will pan it's self out for you if it is right for you.

Like putting you faith in God. You may not understand why he says the things he says, or how he can exist, or why he loves you, or how he loves you, but if you put your faith in the fact the he IS and DOES, he can reveal to you the answers about him you seek. That's why we even have faith; because we as humans are unable to gain full and utter comprehension of every facet of our universe. God know we can't understand how he can exist, but he also says that if we put genuine faith in him, he will reveal to us these things.

It says in the Bible :Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all other things will be added unto you.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am a christian, and I have had some very terrible experiences with other christains. Infact, I have found as a rule, it's better to do business with non-christians. They seem to jerk you around much less. But we must realize the human imperfection and folly does not reflect a divine loving God.

Just as one black criminal doesn't condemn the entire race.

Finding God for ourselves means giving up convetional beliefs of man-made religion, and seeking in earnest what we think God is. And having faith, that he will reveal to us what he is not. Confusion is not of God. He doesn't want his word to be hard to understand. Confusion is of the enemy of God. Lucifer is the father of all lies, and confusion. He is resposible for the countless losses in the various translations of the bible. He is responsible for our doubts.

But faith in God allows us to overcome untruths in his biblical text. If we find something that doesn't make sense, he says to be steadfast in prayer, and that he will then reaffirm our faith.

The true seeking of God does nothing but enrich ourlives. It has no negative effects. If a church, or other christians are being idiots, stop interacting with them, and ask God for a felowship of brothers that will be good for you. If he feels you need it, he will give it to you. He tells us he will provide for our every need. And he does.

Seek him if you want to. But do not seek him because you feel you are forced to, or have to.

The fallacy in this is that some Gods claim that they can save you immortal soul. Humans cannot make that claim for themselves. Humans, however, don't want to die. I believe in a God who also doesn't want us to die.

Living forever sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. But if I believed I was my own GOD, it wouldn't be a "possibility"

We are our own masters, yes, but god kinda refers to something all powerful, that has abilities beyond our realm. (Now, I acknowledge that humans have untapped abilities, but we can't really understand them at this point in time.)

This sounds alot like the process of Christianity. We seek enlightenment through God. We desire to be One with God. We search for a spiritual awakening. We promote the dispelling of negative emotions. Peace. Unity. Respect. Admiration.

I am a chriatian, and I can find nothing in what you just said that is different than christianity, except for the fact that we believe in God, Yeweh, Jesus Christ, the holy spirit, and not Buddha.


In regards to marriage and that banner, I have nothing wrong with the government respecting the gay or lesbain union under the law. Some would call it marriage. But I consider marriage the union of two people under my God, not the law.

If the homosexual community does not acknowledge the God which I believe created the concept of marriage as a symbolic union under him, why would they care if it took place in a church, or whether it was called marriage?

The government respects common law unions, and should respect same sex unions as well as "officially married" unions. But what I am am trying to perserve my concept of marriage pure for my furure generations of people with my beliefs. And my belief clearly states that God does not respect the union of a man and a man, or the union of a woman and a woman. And why should gay people care about that if they don't even believe in God?

The gay people I am friends with (Yes, I have gay friends) mostly don't care about marriage. And the ones who do argue that the government acknowledging the unions of common law and married couples, but not same sex couples is discrimination. And it is!

But marriage has traditionally been a symbolic act before god. What christians are fighting for (Or maybe should be fighting for) is the preservation of the word marriage. Call it "Gay Union", and we'll call ours "christian marriage."

What's wrong with wanting that?


Quotes:
All religions offer guidance and advice about morality, spiritual paths, how to treat others ect.

However the unique thing about Christian believe is that the Creator Himself realized that mankind was unable too fully comprehend the results of his flaws/sins against Him. And provided a just sentence off DEATH upon all sinners.

Actually, God meant for man to be immortal. When man was created, he was right next to God (Not in power, but in plain). He could talk directly to God, and walk with God on the earth. He and God were hand in hand, freely exchanging information by a completely perfect means.

The important fact here is the man was NOT created sperated from God. God did not want us to ever die. God made us so he could have a genuine, real relationship with another being, which is also the essense of why he made us with free will.

But when the first man seperated himself from God, he lost his immortality. Since God is the only thing that is immortal, man could only be immortal by being with God. Man "sinned". Man, "went against God". Man seperated himself from God's glory, and suddenly had the knowledge of what that meant. It meant death.

However, God loved his creation so much that he gaves us another chance. He told us that something else could die in our place if we asked for his forgiveness. This began with sacrifices.

But God didn't want to stop there. Satan, who fell before man on a spiritual level, held the keys of death. This means that he could effect man's mortal life, trying to cause man to die early, and trying to seperate him further from God.

To defeat Satan, God created the ultimate sacrifice. A sacrifice that would die in the place of all animals, and change the way humans were forgiven by god.

God created a human who was infused with his very own spirit. In essense, his son. A Man who was without sin, in a corrupatble body. This was Jesus.

Because Jesus was part of God, without sin, and not seperated from God, he was immortal. He could have lived forever. But this wasn't God's reason for creating him. God made a perfect human to which could make a sacrifice that would cover the heads of all other human's after him. a way that anyone might find and accept God. An example of how to live to get closer to God even. An inperfect human has to sacrifice his life for his sin, or repent and sacrifice an animals life, and hope God will accept it. But a perfect human needs to sacrifice. A perfect human's death, in essense, became the ultimate and supreme sacrifice. One capable of covering the heads of every other human ever to exist. All one has to do to be part of this is to believe that is actually took place. God says if we believe in his sacrifice, our souls will not be condemned to seperation from God. Our physical beings we must be seperated from though, because God is not physical. But our non physical beings are immortal. They always have been.

What kind of a sentence is making us die, and going to a better place called heaven? And if we are all sinners, then what is the point of hell, and what is the point of trying to do good, and not sin, if we WILL die, and we will be sinners no matter what we do?

God did not create "Hell" for people, or their eternal souls. Hell was a special place reserved for the most powerful being ever to regect God. This is Satan. God says he cast him out of th upper regions of heaven. This does not mean he and his follower angels are confined to "hell"as of yet. Satan has the ability to exist in other regions of space and time as well. But he is the most powerful of those is a fallen state, and controls all others who are fallen. "fallen angels and fallen humans alike". Satan used to be the highest Archangel, and was the origion of music. Because he was second only to God, he decided he wanted to be God. Wanting to be God is regecting him. Wanting to be with him and part of him is accepting him.

When Humans die seperated from God, we cannot reach the upper levels of heaven, where God exists in his natural element. We have to exist apart from God, which is where Satan exists.

There will come a future day, Gods tells us, that he will make a final judgemnent on everything he has created. A day in which afterwards, there will be no repenting, and no forgiving. On this day, after all souls are acocunted for, we will be judged for our sins, and given either life with God, or life apart from God (which as I have refered to before IS death) God on that day will also take the keys of death from Satan, and bind him forever in torment, and all his fallen angels. Human souls who are apart from God will experience what it is to be apart from him. Satan, being a being of much greater ability that humans, will experience a torture which we cannot conceiev of.

What I'm getting at here is the seperation from God is hell. This is why we were created apart from the plain the nagels exist in: because the angels only had one choice to make. For, or against God. After they made it, they could not be forgiven. God wanted to make a being which had further choice, in which eh could have deeper relationship with. He created us then. Gave us a physical world. And gave us the ability to reject him time after time after time, but still be accepted into his eternal glory.

Quote:

The need is what always fascinated me. People asked me why I need it, I can't help to a feel a thirst for something... and if the thirst exists their must be something to quench it.


All men/women are created with a void. God specifically put this in us so we could have a knowledge of what God was. Without a desire to worship, we would never worship anything, let alone him, and there for would be a type of robot being, which would eternally be seperated from him. Every culture reflects this, and this is why the vast majority of humans feel the need to worship something. Some fill it with drugs, religion, activity, study. Any of these can quench the thirst for a time being. But I have only found one God, one faith, which has quenched this longing so utterly and completely. It is God. It is Jesus Christ. It is the single maker of all heavens, and all earth. He alone can fill my spirit.


"calculated risk"

This is in effect faith. No person puts their faith in something rediculous. They calculate it first. No one believes his pet dog created the universe, and puts faith into it. Just as no on would put a risk into a strange chair.

But if we have a chair we have sat in all our lives and it has never once fallen, we tend to take less and less of a "calculated risk" when sitting it it. Sure, we always look before we sit, amking sure there is nothing on the seat, and that we will not fall off the edge.

But if someone comes in secret and makes a cut in the chaits legs, and we fall one day, it will take time to work up the courage to sit in chairs without making sure it is completely stable.

Christians take a calculated risk in God. Lets say that I feel God is telling me to talk to someone who looks a bit rough. Being unsure of this feeling, I take a calculated risk. If the feeling was from God, he will guide me and protect me when talking to the individual. If gfeeling was not from him, maybe I get beat up or told off. But either way, my faith in God is strenghtened, as I learn from my mistakes.
Taking a risk is the only way to make progress with anything in life. And like any calculated risk, you believe if it is truely worth it, it will pay off.



Quote:
With the exceptions of Mithraism (savior son of god), Krishna (savior son of god), Herakles (savior son of god), Wang Ti (savior son of god), etc - all of which incidentally lived long before Jesus....Not so "set aside" is it?

yes, it is completely set aside. Those were false prophets. Faith in God gives his children the ability to tell whether a prophet is false or not. It may seem "not so set aside to you" if you do not follow God. But for those who do, it is revealed. Pray and believe in them if you want, but you will get no response. They died. They did not rise again. They were not perfect, without sin. They did not make the sacrifice Jesus did.


Quote:

I tried Religion for over 10 years but all i got was grief, heartache and alot of peoples own ideas rather than those taught from the Bible... So i gave up, never felf better.......

MAN created religion. God created faith. If you truely want to seek God, but despise the hypocrites of church, then do not go to chruch. Seek God. Once he tells you he wants you to go to a church, pray and ask him for one that you can bear. Remember, no church is perfect. You will find something wrong with anything if you are looking for it. But as I myself had to learn, we o to church to honor God, not Men. If the Man preaching tells you something false, or questionalble, ask God to reveal to you the truth, believing that he can, and wants to.