Originally posted by Quiero Mota
So how does God talk talk to you JIA? No shining light accompanied by a megaphone voice?
God talks to me primarily through His Word i.e. the Holy Bible. But God has spoken to my heart and through other people as well. God is not limited in His manner of communication to just one method. God can and does utilize the method that meets an individual where he/she is and is the most effective to accomplish His will.
God can and does utilize the method that meets an individual where he/she is
So then why don't I hear [H]im talking to me? The best way to convert me would be to set out definitive proof, from the camel's mouth, as it were, of God's existence. Thus far, I have not had any visions or even hallucinations showing evidence of a deity. Why not?
An even better way to convert me would be to have Jessica Alba do the missionary work. (get it? It was both innuendo and revealing of a sexually frustrated teen... Double points!)
((Wait... I gave up innuendo- Do I have to edit?))
Originally posted by JesusIsAliveUH? That would be reading not talking unless I didn't get the memo.
God talks to me primarily through His Word i.e. the Holy Bible. But God has spoken to my heart and through other people as well. God is not limited in His manner of communication to just one method. God can and does utilize the method that meets an individual where he/she is and is the most effective to accomplish His will.
Originally posted by JesusIsAliveWell then why the heck are you talking to us?
God talks to me primarily through His Word i.e. the Holy Bible. But God has spoken to my heart and through other people as well. God is not limited in His manner of communication to just one method. God can and does utilize the method that meets an individual where he/she is and is the most effective to accomplish His will.
Originally posted by Red Nemesis
So then why don't I hear [H]im talking to me? The best way to convert me would be to set out definitive proof, from the camel's mouth, as it were, of God's existence. Thus far, I have not had any visions or even hallucinations showing evidence of a deity. Why not?An even better way to convert me would be to have Jessica Alba do the missionary work. (get it? It was both innuendo and revealing of a sexually frustrated teen... Double points!)
((Wait... I gave up innuendo- Do I have to edit?))
God does not respond to pride, arrogance, or demands. If you humbly approach the Father God in His Son's Name (i.e. the Name of Jesus Christ) sincerely God will hear you.
Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
God does not respond to pride, arrogance, or demands. If you humbly approach the Father God in His Son's Name (i.e. the Name of Jesus Christ) sincerely God will hear you.
I'm not asking why Yahwe can't hear me. I want to know why he isn't speaking clearly to me. If an omnipotent being can't make itself heard clearly by everyone, then it can't expect everyone to follow its rules. And yet, we're still being threatened by hell.
(Under your worldview) God gave me my intelligence, as well as my skepticism. He can't send me to hell because he doesn't want to speak up. I don't care about being heard, I want to listen. (Except that since I won't accept a subjective experience as proof of a god, Yahwe would have to get into objective proof- something he's not willing to do.)
Originally posted by Red Nemesis
I'm not asking why Yahwe can't hear me. I want to know why he isn't speaking clearly to me. If an omnipotent being can't make itself heard clearly by everyone, then it can't expect everyone to follow its rules. And yet, we're still being threatened by hell.(Under your worldview) God gave me my intelligence, as well as my skepticism. He can't send me to hell because he doesn't want to speak up. I don't care about being heard, I want to listen. (Except that since I won't accept a subjective experience as proof of a god, Yahwe would have to get into objective proof- something he's not willing to do.)
I understand that you are not talking about God hearing you. But God speaks to humanity primarily through His Word i.e. the Bible. God can speak to you audibly but that is not the chief way that He communicates with anyone on earth. In addition, one other thing that I previously mentioned that I must remind you is that no person can come to God the Father except through His Son Jesus Christ. So, if you want God to speak to your heart--again not audibly--then you must have a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. It is through a relationship made possible through Jesus Christ and through diligently seeking the Father God through prayer--made and offered in Jesus Name--and obedience to God's will that you will hear God's voice in your heart.
Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
I understand that you are not talking about God hearing you. But God speaks to humanity primarily through His Word i.e. the Bible. God can speak to you audibly but that is not the chief way that He communicates with anyone on earth. In addition, one other thing that I previously mentioned that I must remind you is that no person can come to God the Father except through His Son Jesus Christ. So, if you want God to speak to your heart--again not audibly--then you must have a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. It is through a relationship made possible through Jesus Christ and through diligently seeking the Father God through prayer--made and offered in Jesus Name--and obedience to God's will that you will hear God's voice in your heart.
But the bible is just a book written by humans. Why not the Koran or any other man made "holy" book? They are all the same.
Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
I understand that you are not talking about God hearing you. But God speaks to humanity primarily through His Word i.e. the Bible.
Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
God can speak to you audibly but that is not the chief way that He communicates with anyone on earth.
Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
In addition, one other thing that I previously mentioned that I must remind you is that no person can come to God the Father except through His Son Jesus Christ. So, if you want God to speak to your heart--again not audibly--then you must have a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. It is through a relationship made possible through Jesus Christ and through diligently seeking the Father God through prayer--made and offered in Jesus Name--and obedience to God's will that you will hear God's voice in your heart.
Originally posted by Red Nemesis
There are many holy books. Why is the Koran or the Avestas or the Bhagavad Gita or the Book of Mormon or the Tao te Ching or the Torah? What makes the bible any different from every other book that claims to be divinely inspired? Has it been right in more concrete predictions (not saying "there will be a war" because there is always a war- the predictions must be specific) than other books? As far as I know- no. Because it was written by humans, the Bible is no more credible than any other religion's book of worship.Well why the heck not? If yahwe wanted to convert everyone, or save everyone, or at least pose a honest question ("will you obey my set commands?" instead of "Will you obey some commands that were written 2000+ years ago that may or may not be divinely inspired"😉 to humanity, there are much more efficient and effective ways to communicate his message. Why doesn't he manifest himself in front of the leading scientists of the age and prove his existence beyond a reasonable doubt? Provide proof, and everyone gets to go to heaven. As it is, there is an unfair system of near-arbitrary chance determining who is exposed to "the word of god" (notice the air quotes) and who isn't.
This is nonsense. To convert humanity, all that is necessary is a show of ability- prove that there is an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, omniscient force (that Yahwe exists) and everyone gets into heaven. If god loves everyone (a pastor told me that once) then he wants everyone in heaven, and should do everything in his power to get them there. Since everything is [b]in
his power, there is no excuse for people to go to hell. [/B]
Without faith it is impossible to please God. God does nothing apart from your faith in His ability. Again, God is not a cosmic bellhop who just does what anyone wants to Him to. He is God and has been so eternally. This is God's universe therefore, He is the one Who makes all the rules about how all things will occur.
Your questions are not unique, millions of people have the same concerns and questions that you have. But the answer is the same: God exists and only by His Spirit can you know Him and see that He exists. Just step out on faith and ask the Father in Jesus Name to reveal Himself to you. Tell Him that you are sorry for your sins and that you want Him to be your father. Ask Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior and to save you from your sins. Then get a Bible and read the Gospel According to John to find out Who Jesus is. Without faith it is impossible to please God.
Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
Without faith it is impossible to please God. God does nothing apart from your faith in His ability. Again, God is not a cosmic bellhop who just does what anyone wants to Him to. He is God and has been so eternally. This is God's universe therefore, He is the one Who makes all the rules about how all things will occur.
Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
Your questions are not unique, millions of people have the same concerns and questions that you have.
Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
But the answer is the same: God exists and only by His Spirit can you know Him and see that He exists. Just step out on faith and ask the Father in Jesus Name to reveal Himself to you. Tell Him that you are sorry for your sins and that you want Him to be your father. Ask Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior and to save you from your sins. Then get a Bible and read the Gospel According to John to find out Who Jesus is. Without faith it is impossible to please God.
Evangelizing isn't going to answer my objections. I've been given the whole spiel before- I'm not buying. Essentially my response is:
I disagree. You haven't given me solid proof, so I can't follow your creed. Sorry, try again once Yahwe stops hiding.
Originally posted by Red Nemesis
So, just 'cause? That isn't a good enough reason. That god doesn't behave in a manner in keeping with his attributes (all knowing, all powerful and omnibenevolent) suggests that he doesn't exist. Also, the total lack of evidence of divine intervention in daily life means that you have no evidence supporting your hypothesis (that Yahwe exists as you have described him) which means that I don't think I can support your worldview. I guess I don't have as good of an imagination as you do.I never claimed to be unique- I still have not been given a satisfactory answer to these questions. I don't have to be unique to have a problem with mainstream religion.
Evangelizing isn't going to answer my objections. I've been given the whole spiel before- I'm not buying. Essentially my response is:
I disagree. You haven't given me solid proof, so I can't follow your creed. Sorry, try again once Yahwe stops hiding.
Sorry, but I am not capable of helping you other than to pray for you. There is no other way for you to know that God is real except for you to come to God as little child i.e. humbly and do as His Word instructs. Again, your stance is nothing new to me. God bless.
Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
Sorry, but I am not capable of helping you other than to pray for you. There is no other way for you to know that God is real except for you to come to God as little child i.e. humbly and do as His Word instructs. Again, your stance is nothing new to me. God bless.
In other words, you are looking for blind sheep. You have to put aside logic and knowledge and just believe for no reason, and in return you will have a great feeling. However, that feeling is not supernatural, and it is not unique to Christianity.