[SERIOUS POST]

I was born into a Christian family, yadda yadda. Lately I've been actually thinking about religion and I just can't get my head around a couple of things.

- Prayer: Why should we need to pray for anything? If something happens or it doesn't, it was God's will. Praying for something to happen isn't exactly going to change his divine master plan is it?
- Scripture: How can you accept parts of the bible and just dismiss others? There are so many things in the old and new testament that are contradictory or not socially appropriate in current times eg. anti gay, women are inferior, etc. How can anyone say the Bible is truth, yet conveniently ignore sections of it? I feel like the term 'Religious Extremist' should be redundant; the 'extremists' are the ones that are actually taking the scripture and following all of it (Westboro Baptist Church, for example).

I'm not looking to antagonize, I just want some insight.

We don't pray to change Gods plan, but to communicate with God and receive his love. God made us out of love and the desire to have a relationship with us. He wants to hear from us! He wants to spoil us in love and prayer is a way to do that.

It's like a married couple. You communicate to allow your relationship to grow.

If you've read the Bible, it says Jesus didn't come to say the old testament is wrong. He came to fulfill them.

God made a women out of a mans flesh. " For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and they will become one flesh." God will view them as one or as equal

Thanks for the response.

So, you agree that requesting divine intervention via prayer is, for lack of a better word, pointless?
When you say "to communicate" with God, do you hear responses? Can you actually have a conversation with God? Because believe me, I've tried to actually converse with God, build a relationship with him etc countless times and yet I've come up short every time. Maybe I'm different, but if others are like me, then I don't understand how one could claim to have a relationship with God. It would be like me talking to my wall, then saying I have a relationship with it.



Sorry I don't get what you're trying to say here. Fulfill what?



"I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet." - 1 Timothy 2:12
That doesn't sound like equality to me. Which ties into my original question about contradiction in scripture. If we are to accept the verse you gave as truth, we must reject this one. Vice versa.

This post was edited by tumtum4 on Apr 20 2011 08:47pm

yeah, i don't understand it either

Prayer: God wants to hear it from us. If you know that somebody is sorry you would still want to hear them apologize to you anyway right?

Scripture: Just remember that you can't use our times now and our customs to judge on their customs on their times. For e.g. in 1 Samuel 19-24 Saul tears off his clothes and began prophesying while NAKED! Now the thing is it worked back then when it happened. Now if somebody were to do that now what do you think will happen?

The point is we may view some things as completely disgusting and ridiculous as a custom but in their times it was completely normal. We can't use our customs in these times to judge their customs in their times.

prayer is like happiness, it cannot be touched but has benefits

maybe ur having trouble with something. solving may take prayer/work/patience/money/family
An open mind attacks from all angles, and recovers from confusion

bump

That might be the first problem.

Do you serve the LORD yourself, or do you go through the motions because your family does?

I was far from Christ when I came to seek Him. I was in the depths of sin, and actually had to seek out and find all the proof, and call on Him myself. (This happened later in life) Then there was the moment of salvation, when I gave it all up to follow Him, this evil world, the futile things of the flesh that was at war with the spirit, all the fleeting desires and sinful temptations this world has to offer.

Be ready to leave, you're not going to be able to take anything with you when He sends them out to harvest the humans up.

I hope I can help here.... Or more Accurately, I hope the Lord gives you your answer.

The bible tells us many things. I cannot quote scripture to you, but one thing my Pastor always told me. God loves us all equally. Women are not inferior to men, but they do have a different role in life then men. Also, keep in mind, some things are lost in the english translation.... I can't give you all your answers, but if something doesn't seem right, then go back to the greek words and see what the greek meaning is. Some things are lost in translation.

At my church, we teach God's word as best we can. We ignore no part of the bible, and we teach all parts as called to.
Some people claiming the name of Christian will go to anti-gay rallies, and bash homosexuals all day long.
I personally do not believe homosexuality is right. The bible says it's a sin. The bible also says that cursing, and gluttony, and so many other things are sins as well, and that no sin is worse than another except for the sin of disbelief. It seems to me, that many people are forgetting the 11th commandment. Jesus told us this. Love eachother as I have loved you. Homosexuals are sinners. So am I. So are you. So aren't we all. The sin of homosexuality is no worse than my sins. I do not hate homosexuals. I don't hate anyone (Or at least I make a concerted effort) but I do believe it's wrong. Will I support gay marriage? No. Can homosexuals do what they wish? They can. God even said they had the freedom to choose their own paths. Doesn't mean I have to support them. When it comes right down to it, being Gay doesn't make you a bad person. It's a sin, like any other. We shouldn't swear, but we do, etc etc. I can't judge them. I can't look at a homosexual and say I'm a better person because I'm not. Many people claiming the Christian faith forget that. Some churches don't read the bible in it's entirety, and just read what they wish to. As it is, It seems I've gotten off on a tangent. I dunno if it'll help. I'm not too old, and I'm not the best Christian, God knows that for sure. But what I believe it comes down to is this... God loves us. Yes, sometimes we may not be sitting in our rooms when a big voice comes down with a pillar of fire and goes "DANIEL. YOU NEED TO DO THIS AND THAT". But He has His ways of communicating with us. I can't explain to you many things. I'm not a pastor. Nor am I a bible scholar, nor is my relationship with God the best one out there. But God loves us. And if some of the things in the bible don't make sense, it's good to question that, and talk to others who may have the answer. That's what Christian fellowship is for. Or at least, one of the reasons.

Anyhow, Goodnight. Hope something in my rambling helped.

Stop thinking about it or you will end up Atheist. I know that's what happened to me.