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#344941 - 01/05/06 04:02 PM
Re: Questions for other Religions
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Diamond Poster
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 1,873
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Are you ever worried about not "making the grade"? I think of that often. When the day comes and I have to face Our Lord, will he turn me away.
Once I spoke to a priest about this and he said that I should think of saints who sins were definately worse than anything I'd done. While this may be true, I think that sacrifice is also necessary to gain entrance into heaven. I can't say that I've sacrificed enough. I can start to do more, but after 57 years, I don't think I'll ever catch up.
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Riding the waves of change.....2014
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#344942 - 01/05/06 07:05 PM
Re: Questions for other Religions
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Power Poster
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 3,238
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Jesus says "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." (quoting Hosea 6:6, which says "I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.")
This is so important that Jesus says it twice - in Matthew 9:13, and Matthew 12:7 (right after he invites the disciples to take his yoke upon them and learn from him, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.")
No "catching up" needed - just love the Lord with all you've got!
_________________________
Nobody's perfect, not even a perfect stranger.
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#344944 - 01/06/06 06:11 AM
Re: Questions for other Religions
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Diamond Poster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,362
Colorado
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Quote:
I think that sacrifice is also necessary to gain entrance into heaven. I can't say that I've sacrificed enough. I can start to do more, but after 57 years, I don't think I'll ever catch up.
Go 4 it, you are so right. It doesn't matter if you're 57, 37, or 17. No amount of good now will ever be enough to "catch up". We all fall short. "There is no one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10)
And you are right - a sacrifice is definitely needed. But praise God, it has already been made! "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
It is through Christ's sacrifice that we are reconciled with God. It is because of what he did that all our sins, our failings, our shortcomings are washed away - as far as the east is from the west.
This sacrifice that Jesus made is a gift, freely given to you if you take it. "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:15)
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Romans 3:23-25:
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.
1 Peter 1:3,4:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you.
Ephesians 2:8,9:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
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Come to Jesus
(written by Chris Rice)
Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head, for love is passing by
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus and live!
Now your burden's lifted
And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain, so
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus and live!
And like a newborn baby
Don't be afraid to crawl
And remember when you walk
Sometimes we fall...so
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus and live!
Sometimes the way is lonely
And steep and filled with pain
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain, then
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus and live!
O, and when the love spills over
And music fills the night
And when you can't contain your joy inside, then
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus and live!
And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory's side, and
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus and live!
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Opinions are mine and not necessarily my employer's.
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#344945 - 01/06/06 01:22 PM
Re: Questions for other Religions
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Power Poster
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 5,994
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You must also recognize there are many other reputable denominations who don't interpret the Bible in the same way. It's important that you find a denomination that speaks to you. I must say that many of us find the "non-denominational/fundamentalist" religions try to corner the market on the word Christian. Christians are also Lutheran, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc. and we all interpret the Bible differently. If you find one denomination's interpretation difficult to believe then check out the others.
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If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
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#344946 - 01/06/06 02:31 PM
Re: Questions for other Religions
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Power Poster
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 5,568
New Jersey
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The verses that Great Blue quotes are very clear and straightforward. I don't know of any "reputable denomination" that would interpret them in a way different than that set forth above.
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Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. Peter Drucker
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#344947 - 01/06/06 03:25 PM
Re: Questions for other Religions
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Power Poster
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 5,994
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I don't want to start an argument, but this is one of the problems I see with certain groups of Christians. There are different intrepretations of the Bible as a whole and many denominations accept that and have no issue with it, but then you have your non-denominational/fundmentalists you can't concede someone else might have a valuable interpretation.
_________________________
If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
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#344948 - 01/06/06 06:05 PM
Re: Questions for other Religions
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Power Poster
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 3,238
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MD, I agree that on certain issues, there are differing interpretations of various scriptures and different emphasis on various aspects of the christian life. (For example, some denominations or groups might emphasize exercise of "spiritual gifts" while others emphasize certain spiritual disciplines; some are more "evangelical" or outward focused than others.)
But all groups who are "Christian" recognize and agree on certain fundamentals:
- Jesus is God and God's own son
- God is holy and perfect and demands perfection (sinlessness) of man as a condition of life with God
- Man is sinful and can't meet this requirement on his own and is thus condemned to death
- Jesus took the form of man and paid the penalty for all of our sin by dying on the cross
- Jesus proved that he is God and that his sacrifice was effective by rising from the dead
- Through Jesus' sacrifice, God offers eternal life with him to anyone who believes in Jesus and trusts (places faith) in his saving grace
A church I used to attend had a saying: "In the essentials, unity. In other areas, charity." I think that pretty well sums it up.
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Nobody's perfect, not even a perfect stranger.
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#344950 - 01/14/06 07:43 PM
Re: Questions for other Religions
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Power Poster
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 5,912
Outside A Garage
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
I believe that everyone should believe what they like. However, bear in mind that their way is not the only way. "To each his own" is my point. Get it?
To each his own? No, I don't get it. When did we start accepting that there were no objective truths and that anything was just as good as anything else? Water is wet, flowers bloom in the spring, love is good, hate is bad. Murder is evil, charity is good. Christ saves.
according to you...
Exactly. Someone is right. 2+2 either equals 4,5 or something else, but not all three or a combination of the two. That is what objective truth is. Either Christians are right, or Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Druids, or Tulip-Worshippers. Or noone is, and the truth is something else. But there is an objective truth.
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...you guys, I'm going home
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#344952 - 01/17/06 10:44 PM
Re: Questions for other Religions
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Power Poster
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,300
back to my roots
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And if he knew all that, why would he create humans in the first place? Knowingly set them up to fail? What kind of loving creator is that? That's one problem I have had with Christianity for about as long as I've been alive. So far, the only answer I'm given is: He gave us choice and free will. We chose to disobey.
Then why create a flawed species if you are so perfect?
I think it is a question that will simply never be answered for the skeptics, but is answered for the believers by faith.
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Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. - Carl Sagan
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#344953 - 01/18/06 02:11 PM
Re: Questions for other Religions
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Power Poster
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 7,984
FINALLY ABOVE the gnat line
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God created us to love. He loves us and wants us to love Him. But, that love has to be voluntary or it isn't really love, is it? So, we were given free will and a choice - we can choose to love God or not. He didn't set us up to fail, He set us up to love freely without complusion. As any "parent" He had to know that some of our choices would grieve him and harm us. But He continues to nurture us and provide us with a way to get back to that loving relationship He intended in the beginning.
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"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free."
- Frederick Douglass
My Opinion Only.
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#344955 - 01/18/06 02:47 PM
Re: Questions for other Religions
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Power Poster
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 7,984
FINALLY ABOVE the gnat line
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Whodunit asked the question, "What do you think of this"? I told him what I thought. If he wasn't interested in knowing what others' beliefs were on the topic, then why did he ask the question? I counted 4 questions on the topic in Brynhildr's post. There was no mention to either poster that they HAD to accept my beliefs as anything other than my beliefs. In point of fact - the entire post is about "choice".
Who are you, MD, to speak for them? If they have a problem with my post they can speak for themselves. If they don't think it was responsive to their questions, they can let me know. You seem to assume that professed skeptics need your protection from exposure to Christian beliefs that may be different from yours. Why? I assume that we have adults posting on this website who can speak for themselves and make up their own minds.
_________________________
"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free."
- Frederick Douglass
My Opinion Only.
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#344957 - 01/18/06 03:23 PM
Re: Questions for other Religions
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Power Poster
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 4,384
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Quote:
God created us to love. He loves us and wants us to love Him.
Is that allowed? Would that not be considered part of vanity?
More to my earlier statement: The point of the philosophy discussion is if God is all knowing, and fore thought being part of all knowledge, why does he allow man to suffer not what are tests of faith, because he already knows the outcome, but simply allows suffering for its own sake.
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#344960 - 01/18/06 04:22 PM
Re: Questions for other Religions
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Power Poster
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 5,994
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I don't understand how something can be older than the universe. If the universe didn't exist where did it come from?
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If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
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#344961 - 01/18/06 04:26 PM
Re: Questions for other Religions
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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honestly, how can they really know how old the universe is for a certainty? (that is interesting, though, how did they justify the discovery?)
The funny thing is, it seems like whether you believe in God or science or a little of both, NO ONE realy knows anything for sure beyond their own personal experiance. Faith is involved as much in the "Big Bang" as it is in the "Big Guy"
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#344963 - 01/18/06 04:56 PM
Re: Questions for other Religions
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10K Club
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 10,395
Jersey Shore
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Quote:
The verses that Great Blue quotes are very clear and straightforward. I don't know of any "reputable denomination" that would interpret them in a way different than that set forth above.
I'm pretty certain that most Jewish denominations put very little weight on the content of the Epistles. 
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