Random Religious Thoughts

...must have been one of the 5 or so Boson particles @CERN, as it could not have been God in Genesis, as I view that figuratively, not literally....(I feel compelled to disclose that the CERN remark is humor, so that it will not be taken literally.) This will be my last response to you. Your CERN remark was not in good faith, how ironic.
 
QuickTwist said:
4) Jesus did not FOCUS on the Kingdom being within us. He said that a single time, and it's easy to twist this and make it Jesus' central message when it's not. His main message was to repent of your sins, not that God is within you, which is an Eastern Pagan idea. Matthew 4:17 "From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.”"
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"in Luke 17:21 "for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you" in response to the Pharisees asking when the Kingdom of God will come.....The editors of the Jerusalem Bible suggest that "among you" is preferable to "within you" because "within you" does not furnish as direct an answer to the Pharisees' question."

But this notion of the subjective nature of the divine is a heavily gnostic one. Lumping gnosticism in with "Eastern Pagan idea", while convenient sophistically, is historically inaccurate. Most of the 1st and 2nd Century gnostics considered themselves Christians and the Gospel of Thomas, while considered heretical since the 4th century, is arguably a genuine source of reported sayings of Jesus.

"the Gospel of Thomas conveys that Jesus ridiculed those who thought of the Kingdom of God in literal terms, as if it were a specific place. ..... readers are to believe the "Kingdom" symbolizes a state of transformed consciousness."
 
SlowUpTake said:
"in Luke 17:21 "for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you" in response to the Pharisees asking when the Kingdom of God will come.....The editors of the Jerusalem Bible suggest that "among you" is preferable to "within you" because "within you" does not furnish as direct an answer to the Pharisees' question."

But this notion of the subjective nature of the divine is a heavily gnostic one. Lumping gnosticism in with "Eastern Pagan idea", while convenient sophistically, is historically inaccurate. Most of the 1st and 2nd Century gnostics considered themselves Christians and the Gospel of Thomas, while considered heretical since the 4th century, is arguably a genuine source of reported sayings of Jesus.

"the Gospel of Thomas conveys that Jesus ridiculed those who thought of the Kingdom of God in literal terms, as if it were a specific place. ..... readers are to believe the "Kingdom" symbolizes a state of transformed consciousness."
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To conclude the teachings of Jesus to be of only one thing of importance should be more thought about before anyone tries to put the Word in a box, saying it was for one thing. Knowing neither one of you guys could think that way, why place importance on one thing when all Jesus was said to have said was of great importance. It's like the whole armor of God: it's not just about wearing our armor, is it. It teaches us how to stand when being ridiculed, laughed at, thought crazy, and all else that goes with the territory. Ephesians 6 teaches us how important it is to stand with truth and righteousness. If we tell truth, we cannot get caught in a lie or be told we are wrong to be standing so in righteousness. It is easy to remember those verses because we read them so much. We remember those verses. I would say those things were taught by Jesus. Isn't it a great feeling when we just know something? He wants us to be happy in our daily lives, not worrying and such.

Gnostic thinking? Eastern Pagan idea? "Arguably" may be a great way to say it. Book of Thomas is not in the Bible. There is enough for me to deal with if it is not. They say there is a reason for everything, and I refuse to go down that rabbit hole. If I felt led of God to be fighting for those words, I would do so. I do not.

I think a "state of transformed consciousness" to be maybe a bad choice of words to say it is the Kingdom...only? I know I have read "transformed by the renewing of our minds" in Romans 12:2 to be close to the same. However we look at it, why should we not embrace what we have? Why leave something considered heretical in the Bible? The Kingdom of God consists of many things, I would suppose. Should we discuss placing it in a box?
Have you tried to be part of the Holy Spirit of God? Does the Spirit of God dwell in you and speak with you? Do you listen and ask questions? Do you talk to God, or do you talk with God? Does God speak to you?
 
These are questions to ponder, not answer or rebuke. We can ask ourselves all kinds of questions. Some say intuition comes from God. I say we come from God. We are all parts of the many miracles of God. Our brains form from tiny little things that happen to just go to the right places, as if they have brains of their own. We so fail to see we are in the image of God. Why?
 
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I agree @just me . If someone doesn’t want to believe then that is their choice (God has afforded them that option - with a caveat).

I believe and have faith because I choose to and because there is no possibility that the number of things I’ve witnessed could possibly be coincidence (and I’ve had far too many statistics classes for a single person).

I love science because it comforts me by making life a little easier. It is a beauty of that which was created and makes me smile.

Anyone that chooses not to believe should go find something they do believe in rather than engaging in what seems like a pointless conversation for them. Certainly they have plenty to do with their life - right?

I wish everyone prosperity, good fortune, and happiness. Perhaps they’ve thought it through internally, such that it is “good enough.”

On thing I’ve learned to be certain - people have to find their way on their beliefs because nobody can be told what to believe.
 
We were taught what to believe and look what that has become. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
 
I was taught by word as a child. Many of those words influenced my family in a way that hurt me tremendously (in many ways). It pushed me away from religion for decades and I had to choose after a long inner journey. I believe that was Gods path for me and it couldn't have happened any other way - for that I am grateful and still alive. If I hadn’t gone through the pain of walking alone then I never would have found such a strong connection to God.

Some people are ministers - I’m not one of those people. I’m grateful for people who have that life purpose but my life is on a different path / journey - all shall be revealed in due time.
 
There are many types of ministering. I think of the verb administer. Our paths can differ so greatly, yet we all revolve around the Son. Something pushed me away from church. Maybe it was several things. I feel one day I will walk back into a church. Thought about the vision of a golden piece of DNA way up above one day or night, as I sleep very little and get times confused when something happens like that. Someone told me it was a ladder, and those were steps I had taken. There was a form stopping me near the last step. I looked at them and said: Sorry, but you are not what I am looking for here. I walked around them and kept going upward until I was sitting, and the figure was back where I had encountered it sitting down way beneath me. There were no steps or there was no place to go farther. I thought it showed me I was part of God's DNA: maybe we all are.
 
Scars can be difficult to deal with. Being late in life and having an old scar removed instills much thought. Being shown it has no purpose to scar any longer is redeeming. We carry burdens sometimes for lifetimes we need not carry. I recently had a burden removed I have carried many, many moons. It feels wonderful. It does not surprise me it happened as I was praying for forgiveness for it. I would like to say it was what I was shown and what I heard. To me, that makes more sense.

To say someone had a vision has always bothered me. It, to me, is more like they were shown something. Calling them visions I can understand.

I always heard the best fruit was hard to reach, and sometimes required going out on a limb to get to it. No, I'm not talking about a pear or an apple; I am speaking of spiritual matters. No, they do not always require that; but, some do. Do we want a beautiful pear because it should be enjoyed by someone, or do we want to get it unbruised from the fall? Maybe neither, but maybe both and much more. Should we have to see it to know it is there? Maybe some of us understand it is there, but feel it must be for someone else. Maybe it is for someone else, but how can they get it if we do not share it with them? Maybe it is for God's family?

A dog falls into a ditch and makes the news when someone rescues it. Is that because the dog was alive? I pass the dead on the roadside all the time, depending on what area we are from and what resides there. Late one Saturday afternoon, a deer was hit and wrapped around a stop sign right in front of a small church. With a small rope and my truck, I dragged it to where it would be no problem for the buzzards to eat without causing traffic problems. When I went back, the leaves and such from its stomach mixed with blood was disgusting. Went and bought several bottles of bleach and a bottle of Lysol, then cleaned the area and scented it. Why? I had watched men from the church cutting the grass, sweeping, and women going inside the church most of the day for preparation. This happened after they had all left.

That was my job, and I don't even go to that church. Nobody from the church would know I did it. There was no hesitation, either. It was trying to get dark. Everything they had done for preparation had been marred. I hunt and eat venison, so am used to seeing that kind of death. I neck shoot, but have seen what other deer have looked like. How would the service had gone had I not done what I did? Did God use me to do that? No!! God taught me to do that, no questions asked. The world has racial and religious problems. It was a church of those of a different color than my own, not even my denomination of belief. Why place that sight in children's minds? The elderlies' minds. That smell the next day? Did it cost me anything? Consider it a tithe. My time is a gift to me. We know. Sometimes we just know what needs to be done and do it. Why watch others suffer when we could suffer in such a small, unrecognized manner? I felt blessed, not like I was suffering. Maybe it was almost like watching them cut the grass and clean the sidewalks. Please do not commend me for this. I have received my reward. Why bring it up, though? To share the pear.
 
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In Christianity, discernment is the ability to obtain sharp perceptions or to judge well. In the case of judgment, discernment can be psychological, moral, or aesthetic in nature. Discernment has also been defined in these contexts: scientific, normative, and formal. The process of discernment, within judgment, involves going past the mere perception of something and making nuanced judgments about its properties or qualities. Discernment in the Christian religion is considered a virtue and a lifelong task, a discerning individual is considered to possess wisdom and be of good judgment through a profound spiritual alignment and engagement; especially so with regard to subject matter often overlooked by others. Wikipedia
 
Here is most of a letter I wrote to the elder who gave the sermon today at church...

"I first want to start out by saying this is not an "angry letter" or anything like that. I just wanted to talk about how I see things a little differently from you. I'd be open to talking more about this if you want to do that.

First, I understand the impetus of the message. Your message was about how Christianity is all about peaks and valleys. It is very much a message I agree with. The goal is to be a light to the world. In fact, there is this famous quote attributed to Billy Graham that goes something like, "Mountaintops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valley." So, I agree with the overall thrust of what you said.

However, I have some disagreements about how this is done.

I should go to church more. I know that. But that seems to be your mountaintop experience you speak of. I do not feel the same way. Why do I say this? To be perfectly honest with you, going to church feels more like a chore than something that feels like a mountaintop experience. To illustrate this, I keep waiting to see some great work of God in Sunday service. Something truly supernatural; undeniable. But to be honest, it just seems like what happens on Sunday is what would always happen if people did the same exact things, but were not saved. And don't get me wrong, community is very important, even though it is definitely a weakness for me. But, I am just not really sensing the power of the Holy Spirit on Sunday as much as I feel it in my Monday through Saturday.

And that brings me to this second point. It seems like you seemed to be talking about all the things we have to DO in order to be a strong Christian. I agree in part. The Bible is replete with examples of how we ought to behave as the people of God. But then there are other times, where it's not about our righteousness at all, but only because God is faithful to His people. I have experienced quite a few supernatural things since my faith was confirmed--some of them completely undeniable, but all of them, I know God was behind. And further, I have a strong stance that we should not "chase" or even "expect" God to do supernatural things in our lives. In fact, most of our lives should be about what I call "Ordinary Christianity." That's where there are no fireworks, no light shows, no bells and whistles. Just ordinary faithful living. And I think I do a pretty good job of this in my Monday through Saturday. I'm not perfect, obviously, and in some ways I see how much more I could be doing. But, I still do a fair bit of evangelism. I still have people I am discipling. I still have a fair bit of meditating on things above rather than things below. Anyways, my point in all this is that the Christian walk is not about the things you DO. It's the way God has shown us grace. Now, we are all different, and we are all prone to err on either side of the grace vs works dilemma. It's a VERY old debate, going back to at the very least the time of Luther and the Reformation (which I just wanted to point out that Luther and Calvin both believed in baptismal regeneration, but that's a separate topic). To make it really simple, Christianity is not about what we do; it's about what Jesus did. People are not "more saved" because they do the things they are supposed to, and "less saved" when they are people who screw up. In fact, there are plenty of examples in the Bible where God used some pretty rotten individuals to do His will, just because God is God and we are not.

In any case, I hope you do not take this email as antagonistic or anything. That is not my purpose in this. Just trying to give my perspective."
 
So disappointed in Christians lately...

Really hate how Nick Fuentes is getting labeled a Christian, and young men are watching him. Utterly tragic. Candace Owens is also a woman who carries with her the spirit of Jezebel.

God was doing a good thing through the assassination of Charlie Kirk, but Satan is trying to come take the seed from the ground.

I just wish that there were more Christians who actually thought the way a Christian should and acted the way a Christian should.

It's like I am in agony over the debates about Calvinism when there are WAY more important things to be thinking about.

I guess that is why Jesus was known as a man of sorrows. He saw how utterly fallen humanity is. He knew he had to go to the cross for our redemption.

Please, Lord, come quickly.
 
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