hey man, read john 4:16



and romans 10:9 i believe?



hope it helps Rew, God bless

I tend to think that if you go to God through any genuine religion, you're pretty much committed to going through Christ. That's because, to me, Christ and God are either the same or Christ was a man who was incredibly spritual and wise; and, additionally, such an identification pervades all religions. There's a book called Living Buddha, Living Christ, and it influenced me a fair amount when I was a bit younger. If you find God through Buddha, I think you also find God through Christ (for example), because the genuine message is basically the same to me. That is, Christ's spirit works in every religion, and that's where my use of 'genuine' comes to the fore. If I don't see that spirit, I don't identify with the religion. I can understand that what I'm saying may sound like a stretch, but it's the way I interpret John 14:6 intuitively. My way of believing is very inclusive ... actually, it comes from a very long search to understand the universe. My search was about following my way through some difficult questions, and what surprised me was that the more I searched, the closer I came to feeling like God is behind all things. To be sure, in December (on the 5th), I feel that I found either a proof of God's existence or at least a very strong argument for it (through physics). Suddenly a lot of ideas came together (some that I had even repressed since childhood) and I came to the light, so to speak. Anyway the result was a deep conviction about how life is precious and how God helps us all along. It seems to me that the best way to represent this way of thinking in the practice of everyday life is to follow Christ. Not just for sake of making your life like what God has put us here to enjoy, but also to satisfy a kind of felt logical demand that we should embrace and become part of an all-pervading spirit. Christ is the prime example of that sort of life and spirit, but I believe that other representations of life and spirit (and even some people) can either reach that level or at least connect with it directly.

In some way, I believe that if you hold a rock, you are holding something that's a part of God. If you hold onto the beliefs of someone like Gandhi, you hold onto some very Christian beliefs. Moreover, in the case of someone like Buddha, I think you're holding onto the very spirit of Christ. That's not meant to sound irreligious. It's just what I believe. Spirit connects everything and of course Christ is the way to God. I just see Christ in Buddha, although I don't identify them 100%. It's just that the same message is there, for the most part. And to me that's the important part

This post was edited by RewtheBrave on Feb 17 2012 11:09am

Are you saying that your dad was a military Padre ?

Rew, you may find some similiar beliefs in buddhism that hold up in the bible, but at the end of the day man.... It's if you believe Christ died for your sins and if you have the holy spirit in you. Not to be rude but Ghandi was a man, not Jesus Christ, and I for me I will never look up to a man's teaching. But I understand where you're coming from, you like what other religions teach and you're starstruck... I will do some praying for you brother, I believe you need to thin out your thoughts on what you believe, you can't get into heaven if you're standing in the middle man, (imo)

Totally aggreed with this.

Also in Luke 9:50 Jesus said:
"Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you."

Yes.



ty m8, this is a passage I liked when I was very young. Even when I wasn't 100% religious I would pray for my opponents in sports. I know it sounds counter-productive, but I always wanted the best competition and I also wanted to avoid hurting them too much.



I agree that Gandhi was just a man, but he was a great man I don't think he literally was Christ but I think what he believed followed Christ's message very closely, even if he was a Hindu. He was very faithful, and he felt that if he found Truth, he would find God. That was his simple message, and he was very strict in his observances. He was a huge supporter of compassion, and he probably really enjoyed the idea of "turn the other cheek". Men like Gandhi help me see a common spirit in all of the major religions

We just did a study on that last night at a young adults group!

It was quite the intense discussion afterward.

I suggest you guys check out the new movie "The Gospel of John" its literally word for word, the book of John, acted out. Nothing is added or taken from it. Really cool how they've done it.