Do you fear God?

[edthecynic]

I fear NOTHING!






... except the Gunny .... *shudder*

Actually, I'm a bit nervous around Gunny myself.

Funny you should say that... I'm a little skeered of him myself...

I own Goony!

 

[KittenKoder]

I fear NOTHING!






... except the Gunny .... *shudder*

Actually, I'm a bit nervous around Gunny myself.

Funny you should say that... I'm a little skeered of him myself...

I own Goony!

Really? That's news.

 

[edthecynic]

Funny you should say that... I'm a little skeered of him myself...

I own Goony!

Really? That's news.

Not only did I reduce Goony to banning me in surrender, I manipulated him into banning my custom user title.

 

[KittenKoder]

I own Goony!

Really? That's news.

Not only did I reduce Goony to banning me in surrender, I manipulated him into banning my custom user title.

You never did such a thing. Key word "manipulated" ... and doing something that forces the admins to take away some of the perks on any forum is low, very low.

Also, we are joking, while he may be the "big wig" he is also one of the most fair people I have met online, otherwise you wouldn't be here at all. It's simple really, when someone truly "owns" or "pwns" another person, they don't have to brag about it.

 

[Dis]

I fear NOTHING!






... except the Gunny .... *shudder*

Actually, I'm a bit nervous around Gunny myself.

Funny you should say that... I'm a little skeered of him myself...

I own Goony!

You'd have better luck teaching a rabid dog to roll over and play dead.

 

[Shogun]

I only really fear god when he swerved into oncoming traffic. Who the fuck gave that guy a Drivers License?!?

 

[edthecynic]

Really? That's news.

Not only did I reduce Goony to banning me in surrender, I manipulated him into banning my custom user title.

You never did such a thing. Key word "manipulated" ... and doing something that forces the admins to take away some of the perks on any forum is low, very low.

Also, we are joking, while he may be the "big wig" he is also one of the most fair people I have met online, otherwise you wouldn't be here at all. It's simple really, when someone truly "owns" or "pwns" another person, they don't have to brag about it.

But I wasn't here (BANNED) after I manipulated Goony into posting that Iraq War protesting Quakers were "BY DEFINITION" CON$ervative, on another thread. If you remember, the CON$ on this board claim it's the Left that does the censoring and banning, proving the Cynical observation that CON$ are just like Libs .... Only MORE so.

"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them"
—Barack H. Obama

I knew that using BANNED as my custom user title would SHAME him into a reaction, and it did.
Goony will, of course, have a RATIONALIZATION for both, but I was banned for being Cynical.

 

[KittenKoder]

Not only did I reduce Goony to banning me in surrender, I manipulated him into banning my custom user title.

You never did such a thing. Key word "manipulated" ... and doing something that forces the admins to take away some of the perks on any forum is low, very low.

Also, we are joking, while he may be the "big wig" he is also one of the most fair people I have met online, otherwise you wouldn't be here at all. It's simple really, when someone truly "owns" or "pwns" another person, they don't have to brag about it.

But I wasn't here (BANNED) after I manipulated Goony into posting that Iraq War protesting Quakers were "BY DEFINITION" CON$ervative, on another thread. If you remember, the CON$ on this board claim it's the Left that does the censoring and banning, proving the Cynical observation that CON$ are just like Libs .... Only MORE so.

"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them"
—Barack H. Obama

I knew that using BANNED as my custom user title would SHAME him into a reaction, and it did.
Goony will, of course, have a RATIONALIZATION for both, but I was banned for being Cynical.

Why are you pushing buttons on purpose?

 

[edthecynic]

You never did such a thing. Key word "manipulated" ... and doing something that forces the admins to take away some of the perks on any forum is low, very low.

Also, we are joking, while he may be the "big wig" he is also one of the most fair people I have met online, otherwise you wouldn't be here at all. It's simple really, when someone truly "owns" or "pwns" another person, they don't have to brag about it.

But I wasn't here (BANNED) after I manipulated Goony into posting that Iraq War protesting Quakers were "BY DEFINITION" CON$ervative, on another thread. If you remember, the CON$ on this board claim it's the Left that does the censoring and banning, proving the Cynical observation that CON$ are just like Libs .... Only MORE so.

"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them"
—Barack H. Obama

I knew that using BANNED as my custom user title would SHAME him into a reaction, and it did.
Goony will, of course, have a RATIONALIZATION for both, but I was banned for being Cynical.

Why are you pushing buttons on purpose?

Just testing the limits of free speech allowed on a CON$ervative controlled messageboard.

 

[Zoom-boing]

I hear people talking about fearing God and I don't think I understand why. I don't fear God, I trust God to do what is right for me. Sometimes I need lessons that aren't very pleasant, but I don't fear them or God for giving them to me. So I'm wondering if there's some way to take the phrase that I'm not understanding.

Atheists and other non-believers I would really appreciate it if you could not derail the thread, I really want to hear what other believers think without the usual flaming that accompanies "religious" threads.

Thanks

Fear of God does not mean fear like from a gun, but rather to give respect and to appreciate his power.

You know.......I saw this in a Torah study lesson once. Fear of God basically means being scared of going against His Law (The Torah), because doing so results in death.

Think about it.........the 10 Commandments basically state 2 things.....remember who God is (the first 3) and the others are there to keep you from getting murdered (Commandment 4 is "Thou shalt not murder".)

The rest of them are to keep you from putting yourself in a place to be murdered. If you commit adultry, someone will kill you. If you lie, same deal. Don't honor your parents? You may be murdered.

But, once you understand the rules (don't murder, remember who God is), the rest is simple.

One time, a friend of mine stated that the do nots are there to tell you what not to do. What do you do then? Everything else.

I really feel that more people should talk to a rabbi every now and again to see this.

Not it's not, number four is 'honor thy mother and thy father'. Number five is 'thou shalt not kill'. If you're going to mention them at least get them straight.

Do I fear God? No. Do I fear Satan? Yup.

 

[AllieBaba]

You should fear God because he has the ability to decimate you at any time. You should fear his judgment, his righteousness, and his purity. He is so pure and so mighty, men cannot look up on his face. When Christ returns, he will come with a sword, and that should put the fear of God into people.

All of our good deeds are as abomination to God. The only thing he cares about us is that we love and fear him, and that we serve him and only him. We should fear him and listen to his word because the punishment for not doing so is eternal hellfire.

Sounds like a pretty good reason to fear him to me. He created the world and all that is in it. His mind is so complex we cannot understand it. He is so righteous the only way we can attain his presence is through the intervention of Christ.

You bet you should fear God. If you wait for concrete proof of his existence, it will be too late, and I promise you will be afraid then.
Deuteronomy:
10:12-13 And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

10:20 Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name.

31:12 Assemble the people--men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns--so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law.

1Samuel
12:14,15 If you fear the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God--good! But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers.

12:24 But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

1Chronicles
16:25-26 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

Nehemiah
5:9 So I continued, "What you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies?

Proverbs
1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

1:29-31 Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

2:1-5 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

3:7-8 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

8:13 To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
14:2 He whose walk is upright fears the Lord, but he whose ways are devious despises him.

14:16 A wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless.

Back in a minute.

14:26-27 He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.

15:16 Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil.

15:33 The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honour.

16:6 Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord a man avoids evil.

23:17-18 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.

24:21-22 Fear the Lord and the king, my son, and do not join with the rebellious, for those two will send sudden destruction upon them, and who knows what calamities they can bring?

28:14 Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

29:25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

31:30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

 

[TofuDog]

"Do I fear God? No. Do I fear Satan? Yup."

But if god created everything, didn't he also create satan? So the god of love created satan and hell and actually sends people there to burn for all eternity? Gee, Nice guy. With friends like that...

 

[AllieBaba]

My son is dealing with this issue right now. He is extremely angry with God (whom he refers to as a 10-year-old with an ant farm, with a lot of expletives stuck in) right now. His wife is in Bagram and something bad has happened to her, she's not dead, but it's not a good situation and he doesn't understand it.

Now he has always had an adversarial relationship with God, and, like so many others, cannot comprehend why a loving God will allow bad things to happen to people. But as so many others, he has power issues and continues to try to force God to his will, instead of the other way around. He can't accept that God has a plan. In my own very inadequate way, and trying not to offend (I'm actually quite inoffensive in real life, especially with my children who can be VERY TOUCHY) I referred him to other families who have suffered trememdous losses and death, had doubts, and that almost universally they come to the conclusion that there is a GREATER PURPOSE, although we don't see it. The bible of course states this over and over as well. But as I told him, perhaps this thing happened to his wife so she could be sent home sooner; or perhaps it is tempering their faith; or perhaps as an example to help others.

So yes, God created Lucifer, as he created all the angels and men. In fact, there is some evidence that Lucifer was a favority of God. Yes, he knew that Lucifer would challenge him and ultimately cause all sorts of problems for everyone, and end up in the pit.

It's all part of God's plan. To even begin to understand it, you have to read the book, you have to pray for guidance and understanding, and you have to pursue it honestly...not with a heart intent on challenging and disproving or finding ways to challenge the authority of God, but with a heart intent on trying to obtain understanding.

I've been a child of Christ for years and I'm only just beginning to catch glimmers of our purpose and the outline of God. I think part of the plan, which includes pain and suffering for mankind, is to TEMPER us. To make us worthy of being in his presence, to make us choose, to make us suffer and eventually come through as strong, tempered steel...because although we are made in His image, we are certainly not worthy of his presence as we are.

And our concept of time and God's are vastly different. What we see as the unfairness of God causing us pain and suffering we see in terms of our own concepts of time, as it is now. But eternity is a long time. God has already been around for an eternity, and we will exist after our deaths for an eternity. This life, though intense and worthwhile, is very, very fleeting. The suffering of a parent at the death of a child is a tiny moment in eternity, and is necessary to God's plan...and God knows that eventually we will gain understanding of it if we are saved, and if we are not, what difference does it make? And children are in his hands....when a child dies, that child is with God and safe and sound forever.

But these are universal questions that everyone deals with. What you have to let go, and it is the hardest thing to do, is the arrogance and the anger and the struggle for power that we as humans are subject to, and simply seek the answers. Without preconceived notions, without adversarial attitudes. Just pray to God (even if you aren't sure he's listening) and ask for answers and study your bible and spend some time in prayer asking genuine questions, instead of demanding justification for actions you cannot comprehend.

 

[Dis]

"Do I fear God? No. Do I fear Satan? Yup."

But if god created everything, didn't he also create satan? So the god of love created satan and hell and actually sends people there to burn for all eternity? Gee, Nice guy. With friends like that...

Dude.. Have you even read ANY of the bible?

Sheesh.

 

[TofuDog]

Ya, I have. I even went to sunday school as a yungin'. Cateschism classes in high school. It never made sense to me. A lot of hot air. Like someone please PROVE something, ANYTHING, lol.

 

[AllieBaba]

As I have said before. Almost every person I've ever come across who scoffs at religious scholars and claims to have knowledge of the bible is either a disgruntled schoolboy who bases all their "knowledge" of the bible on verses gleaned as children and/or during adolesence (we all know how open young minds are at that age, and how wise) or read it once in a rush in order to gain some ammunition to use while tormenting Christians.

The bible isn't something you read once and then claim "Gosh, I know everything it has to offer now, I don't need to revisit it...I'm an EXPERT!" It's something you continue to study, if you want to be considered a person of biblical knowledge.

 

[Montrovant]

AllieBaba, if I have no preconceived notions, why would I be reading the bible? Or at least, why would I be reading it exclusively? If I have no preconceived notions about god, I would think I should study all the world's religions, not just Christianity.

As to the question of the thread, while I am not a believer, I've heard people describe fear of god as either being scared or more of an awe thing. It depends on who's doing the interpreting, and the translation, as so much does when it comes to religious documents.

 

[ABikerSailor]

"Do I fear God? No. Do I fear Satan? Yup."

But if god created everything, didn't he also create satan? So the god of love created satan and hell and actually sends people there to burn for all eternity? Gee, Nice guy. With friends like that...

Nice, Tofu Brains.........you have managed to butcher and fuck up yet another thing.........

The SaTan isn't so much an evil person as he is a prosecutor. If you'd actually bother to read the Bible, you'd understand that.

Whenever a person sins, the SaTan is there to go tell God what happened and that is what sets you up to be judged.

Like I said.......prosecutor, or district attorney if you will.

 

[AllieBaba]

I never told anyone to read it exclusively. I said if you are interested in debating it, you should read it with an open mind. If you question the existence of God, then you should apply the directives of the bible to test the existence as the bible tells us to, and if you receive no answer or response, then you at least have made an effort and can testify to that.

Christians love God, there's no doubt about that. We know he loves us, despite the fact that we hurt him every day with our blasphemy, our filthy habits, our sins, our doubts.

But the fear, which is justifiable, comes with the knowledge that at the end of the world, he will annihilate our enemies with A WORD. When the time has come to end the war, he will speak one word and the war will end and our enemies cast into the pit and gone.

THe fear comes from understanding that a tornado of fire followed the Hebrews into the desert and protected them from Pharoah, and the Red Sea was parted to allow the Hebrews through. Anyone who has that sort of power should be feared, whether you love him or not.

You know, most children, if they have a strong and loving, yet distant, father, love that father but fear him also. I am friends with a family with two very strong, very strict, and very, very loving parents. I have NEVER heard any of those children sass their parents, either one of them....despite the fact these parents are very hands on, loving, with good senses of humor and plenty of patience. The kids fear them anyway, because they know that what their folks say, they mean. If mom says "Don't wear a spaghetti strap dress to school" and her daughter sneaks out of the house with that dress on, and dad finds out, believe me, daughter is quaking in her boots. And it's not physical fear, though they do occasionally get corporal punishment (carefully and lovingly administered, never in anger the way I get slap happy with my overwhelming children sometimes...who DO sass, btw). They fear disappointing their parents. They fear being grounded. The punishment for this particular crime was that the daughter, who is a very girly-girl 8 y.o., cannot wear a dress for the rest of the school year (about 4 weeks). A very appropriate punishment, certainly not a cruel one. But very, very effective, and believe me, little girl won't be wearing inappropriate clothing to school again (our school has a dress code with regards to tank tops and spaghetti strings).

You can't have love without discipline, and as sinful beings, we should fear a completely righteous one...because a completely righteous being WILL judge us for our sins. People think that being saved means never having to answer to God, despite the things you have done.

It doesn't. It just means we won't pay the ultimate price of going to hell. We will still answer to God for our sins, before and after salvation....and I don't think any of us is particularly looking forward to this, and I think all of us who understand the nature of God and man ultimately fear it. Not because it will be physically painful (who knows?) but because we will have to answer for every single time we have sinned against God and offer up an explanation of ourselves. And regardless of the fact that God loves us, it is never easy to do that. Particularly when admitting wrong to someone you love.

 

[Kalam]

"Do I fear God? No. Do I fear Satan? Yup."

But if god created everything, didn't he also create satan? So the god of love created satan and hell and actually sends people there to burn for all eternity? Gee, Nice guy. With friends like that...

Nice, Tofu Brains.........you have managed to butcher and fuck up yet another thing.........

The SaTan isn't so much an evil person as he is a prosecutor. If you'd actually bother to read the Bible, you'd understand that.

Whenever a person sins, the SaTan is there to go tell God what happened and that is what sets you up to be judged.

Like I said.......prosecutor, or district attorney if you will.

Most "district attorneys" don't rebel against their superiors. Additionally, Satan (שָׂטָ&#1503 means adversary. You know as little about Judaism and Christianity as you do about Islam.