Let me 'splain somethin'.............

[ChrisL]

It loves unconditionally but wants worship. That is not unconditional. Unconditional requires nor expects anything in return.
if love is conditional it should not care if we are good or bad. If god is god and wants us to be good, why did it create us with brains, emotions, free will and desire? That is a set up for failure, even on a small scale. If god can make us good, why are we anything but, it pulls the strings and controls us.........or is it really god at all? Maybe what people perceive as god is just a malicious poltergeist playing games with us?

god is god, god is good............ all evidence to the contrary and you still spout the same empty words as if it explains anything

2x2=4
ag is silver
gravity is m/s^2................... that is not an explanation

Worship is given out of Love.
God wants our love.
If we love Him, we will want to worship Him.

And where is the "free will" involved in "love me or I will burn you for eternity or disown you?"

You have free will
What is the problem with loving God? Why would you resist His love?

No, making threats is not giving a person "free will."

It's not a threat.
It's a gift. Freely given.

No, there are definitely threats involved. That is not "love."

 

[Bonzi]

that's because a Pope is not necessarily a Christian.
A Pope is NO different than any other Christian.
His power is given by Man, not God.

And so is your bible! Lol! All written by men of those times.

... men who were led by the Holy Spirit to write God's words...

And what evidence is there that these men were led by anything? Where is the evidence other than some words they wrote?

The evidence is in your heart. What you know can't not be true.......

WTH? This doesn't even MEAN anything. Just a bunch of mumbo jumbo that doesn't make sense.

because your heart and mind are closed.
You want to hear what you want to hear.....
only God can open that door.....

 

[Bonzi]

Worship is given out of Love.
God wants our love.
If we love Him, we will want to worship Him.

And where is the "free will" involved in "love me or I will burn you for eternity or disown you?"

You have free will
What is the problem with loving God? Why would you resist His love?

No, making threats is not giving a person "free will."

It's not a threat.
It's a gift. Freely given.

what's the threat?
please explain........

No, there are definitely threats involved. That is not "love."

 

[aris2chat]

Are you a psychiatrist? What leads you to think I have psychological issues.. that is not very nice....
God is compassionate and caring, but according to HIS definition - not yours.
I am not interfering in anyone else's religion. Only speaking what I know to be true about my beliefs. If that strikes a nerve in some, maybe it's God trying to tell them something..........

You have an interpretation of the bible and a conception of God formed from mans word and written text.

So when I make that statement my God is a compassionate and caring GOD you don't disagree with the tenet, you just have issues that I say it is my God and the way he views things.

I tried to convey religion is a personal experience, you keep wanting to stick to your zealot guns, it's my way or it's wrong.

When I said religion was a personal experience that means in interpretation of religious beliefs and rituals.

You missed the part about religions being societal road maps.

You keep coming out here speaking about your beliefs, unfortunately others have beliefs too.

Does that make yours supreme??

You say it does based on your interpretation of the lords word, what about others interpretation??

You God didn't suggest you not be judgmental?? overbearing?? obnoxious??

Funny mine did ..................

God is God - there is only 1 and he's everyone's God.
We will all have to face Him and answer to Him 1 day.
Stating that fact, well, if you view that as judgmental, overbearing and obnoxious, I'm sorry you feel that way.
I believe it is important for everyone to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Not because it does anything for me personally - but because I am commanded to do it.

Your opinion is that there is only 1 God.

Others hold the opinion that there are many gods and some point out that since there is zero evidence for any gods there are probably none since every god ever invented was done so by mankind.

Ten commandments does not say there are no other gods, just that no other gods should be held above the god of moses.

If jesus is god, why pray to jesus instead of directly to god. Why a crucifix at all if god is god and wants no idols? Why god the father, god the son......, it should be just god and nothing more.

Why pray? It should be no more than a simple, thank you god and be on your way. If you are troubled, talk to it, don't pray. Why does god need to be worshiped or beg favors from?

God is God and deserves relationship with us. That is why we were made by him and what he desires.
That is why we pray.
There are other scripture in the Bible that denounce having other God's. Idol worship etc.
Anything that come before God is an Idol.
People can have opinions, that's fine. they can make their own opinions in life, no one (not even God)denies that.
Jesus, God and Holy Spirit are 3 in 1. 3 persons; 1 God.

war, poverty, natural disasters, suffering, disease, famine ....... but god deserves a relationship with us????

3 persons = 1 god? it needs a psychiatrists, or at lease a better PR agent

 

[Derideo_Te]

I find the OP rather disturbing, considering that the German ww2 army uniform included a belt buckle that read, "God with us":

Nazi Army GOD WITH US Belt Buckle - Picture

Many evil people have invoked the name of God blasphemously.....

Technically that would make your bible an entire book of blasphemy since it invokes the name of your God while he orders his chosen people to commit evil acts.

 

[ChrisL]

And so is your bible! Lol! All written by men of those times.

... men who were led by the Holy Spirit to write God's words...

And what evidence is there that these men were led by anything? Where is the evidence other than some words they wrote?

The evidence is in your heart. What you know can't not be true.......

WTH? This doesn't even MEAN anything. Just a bunch of mumbo jumbo that doesn't make sense.

because your heart and mind are closed.
You want to hear what you want to hear.....
only God can open that door.....

No, my heart and mind are wide open. I've felt this way since I was a child. God has never been able to really convince me otherwise. I really don't see much of a difference between any religion besides little details. Basically, they are a belief in gods that began with people who didn't understand the world around them or how it worked and attributed natural events to things such as "gods being angry." That is just a fact. There is no evidence of a God or that a God ever existed. We have a book full of a bunch of outrageous and literally IMPOSSIBLE events that supposed occurred thousands of years ago that was written by mere men. A lot of them had ulterior motives for spreading the word, I'm sure, and as demonstrated by the holy popes of the past. If God was omnipotent and loving and cared, he would not allow that evil to infiltrate his HOUSE.

 

[Vandalshandle]

I also understand that when the church finally had a big pow-wow, to solidify doctrine (in which they finally agreed that, in order for the new testament to dove tail into the old testament, they decided that god is one, and also three, all at the same time) that Mary missed out on being god number 4 (as well as being one) by one vote. This has had some pretty serious consequences for women in Christianity for the last 2,000 years.

I think that god could have been a little more attendant to his mom......

 

[Moonglow]

Some Popes throughout history have been some of the meanest MF'ers. They were outright ordering to have people tortured and murdered. Innocent people, charged with things like "heresy", who they had "feuds" with or perhaps other reasons. Why would any God allow such evil people to infiltrate his church? The Roman Catholic is one of the earliest denominations of Christianity too.

that's because a Pope is not necessarily a Christian.
A Pope is NO different than any other Christian.
His power is given by Man, not God.

There you go again...

You have a problem with this MG?

Yes, the tunnel vision assumes that what they believe to be correct and what others do in the same light incorrect..yet there is no proof as to who is correct in their actions..

 

[aris2chat]

I think God is a lot like me

I don't demand that my children worship me. When I feed them dinner, I don't demand that they bow and give me thanks. I don't demand that they set aside one day a week to worship me
I don't threaten them with expulsion from my kingdom if they don't properly Worship the ground I walk on

I just want them to be good people

God wants us to love and worship him.
Not because he is a controlling ego-maniac.
Because he is GOD! He is LOVE! and he loves us unconditionally.
Without God, we are NOT GOOD! Only God in us can make us good..............

It loves unconditionally but wants worship. That is not unconditional. Unconditional requires nor expects anything in return.
if love is conditional it should not care if we are good or bad. If god is god and wants us to be good, why did it create us with brains, emotions, free will and desire? That is a set up for failure, even on a small scale. If god can make us good, why are we anything but, it pulls the strings and controls us.........or is it really god at all? Maybe what people perceive as god is just a malicious poltergeist playing games with us?

god is god, god is good............ all evidence to the contrary and you still spout the same empty words as if it explains anything

2x2=4
ag is silver
gravity is m/s^2................... that is not an explanation

Worship is given out of Love.
God wants our love.
If we love Him, we will want to worship Him.

I would never expect my children to worship me................respect me but not worship me

 

[ChrisL]

What always annoyed me about Catholic church, is the sit, stand, kneel bullshit. I would wonder, does God really give two shits whether I sit, stand or kneel, and if so, why? And the money that is supposed donated to "god." Lol. Now, THAT is a good one, I must say!

 

[DrDoomNGloom]

Christians have to be able to broker in reality along with their religion today.

Zealots use circular logic and have trouble actually discussing religion.

Worship is given out of Love.
God wants our love.
If we love Him, we will want to worship Him.

Is that what your God wants??

We worship God because he allows us to live a better life as long as we follow his tenets, he also brokers out punishment for those who do not follow his societal rules.

Puppies and cats want our love, too.
I love them, but why would I worship either??

 

[Meriweather]

I think God is a lot like me

I don't demand that my children worship me. When I feed them dinner, I don't demand that they bow and give me thanks. I don't demand that they set aside one day a week to worship me
I don't threaten them with expulsion from my kingdom if they don't properly Worship the ground I walk on

I just want them to be good people

Not bad reasoning, but God is something more than we who are indeed made in His image and likeness. God is Goodness and Love--those are His qualities. What the First Commandment advises is to put God (Goodness and Love) before all else. Don't let anything else become more important.

If we start thinking of God as an egotist who demands worship, then we miss God altogether. If it is good and loving to tell your parents, wife, friends, "Thank you for dinner," then we shouldn't miss the opportunity.

There is nothing wrong with setting aside some time each day--and even an entire day once a week--to take stalk of where we are, where we have been, and where we are going. Are love and goodness still our priorities?

If your children turn to evil ways, there is a difference between threatening them with expulsion, and following along after them, assuring them their evil and hate does not matter. As did the Father of the Prodigal Son, we stand our ground of goodness and love, and await their return.

When people do not, or cannot believe in God, it is still better not to create a bogeyman and claim that bogeyman is the God believers worship. This can be an especially difficult undertaking when some believers assure us a bogeyman God is after non-believers. Don't listen to that. God is Goodness and Love--and Love is patient, Love is kind. That is the God many of us have experienced, and wish that same experience for everyone. Believer now, or not, you are loved, you are blessed. Be assured of that.

 

[DrDoomNGloom]

because your heart and mind are closed.
You want to hear what you want to hear.....
only God can open that door.....

Your heart and mind is not closed??
You only want to hear what you want to hear.......
Apparently your God has failed to open that same door for you...........

 

[aris2chat]

What always annoyed me about Catholic church, is the sit, stand, kneel bullshit. I would wonder, does God really give two shits whether I sit, stand or kneel, and if so, why? And the money that is supposed donated to "god." Lol. Now, THAT is a good one, I must say!

I doubt god cares if people stick their butts in the air.
church/prayer is an early form or cardo?

 

[ChrisL]

Okay Bonzi, a question, what denomination of Christianity do you follow? I have noted that you feel the Roman Catholic religion has got it all wrong. I would assume you feel the same about the Muslims, the Mormons, the Jews, etc. Now, what evidence do you have that your particular "brand" is more valid and/or more verifiable than their religions? What makes the Bible more or less believable than say, the Torah, for instance?

 

[Meriweather]

So, if God was so loving, why would he make us flawed individuals? So we have free will? So if we are imperfect and choose wrongly, we deserve an eternity in hell or "away from an afterlife" (whatever). WTF kind of GAME is this? What kind of "god" would do such a thing and create such beings? That is fucking cruel. If my child who I actually do love did something bad, I would never want him to be tortured for even a second!!

People have got to stop confusing the word of Dante with the Word of God.

Also, perhaps because I often am privileged to work with handicapped/flawed students, one thing often hits me smack in the face. These "flawed" individuals are perfect. Our greatest flaw is the inability to see our own worth.

 

[DrDoomNGloom]

What always annoyed me about Catholic church, is the sit, stand, kneel bullshit. I would wonder, does God really give two shits whether I sit, stand or kneel, and if so, why? And the money that is supposed donated to "god." Lol. Now, THAT is a good one, I must say!

Come now. you really know nothing of Catholicism, lol .................

Who's God would that be yours??

You are still fixated on a character to which you can attribute personal traits.

Why do non christians always make accusations and innuendo about money and religion.

Hun, money is the root of all evils and even in religions their will be posers trying to work the christian angle to get rich.

Kinda like the professional race baiters / rioters / looters who can never let a good racial tension go to waste.

 

[DrDoomNGloom]

Okay Bonzi, a question, what denomination of Christianity do you follow? I have noted that you feel the Roman Catholic religion has got it all wrong. I would assume you feel the same about the Muslims, the Mormons, the Jews, etc. Now, what evidence do you have that your particular "brand" is more valid and/or more verifiable than their religions? What makes the Bible more or less believable than say, the Torah, for instance?

Religions are societal road maps, try living as a christian in the muslim world.

It ain't about real figures ......................

 

[ChrisL]

So, if God was so loving, why would he make us flawed individuals? So we have free will? So if we are imperfect and choose wrongly, we deserve an eternity in hell or "away from an afterlife" (whatever). WTF kind of GAME is this? What kind of "god" would do such a thing and create such beings? That is fucking cruel. If my child who I actually do love did something bad, I would never want him to be tortured for even a second!!

People have got to stop confusing the word of Dante with the Word of God.

Also, perhaps because I often am privileged to work with handicapped/flawed students, one thing often hits me smack in the face. These "flawed" individuals are perfect. Our greatest flaw is the inability to see our own worth.

I'm just going by the things that I learned, things that I've read and that were taught to me as a child. Apparently your idea of afterlife is not universal, and I would venture to say that most Christians actually do believe in a hell like place.

 

[Meriweather]

OT? What about Jesus, his own son??? Why on earth would he create a son to take on the sins of all mankind and be tortured to death? That's fucking crazy!

A few denominations believe what you said above (Penal Substitution). Most reject it and see Christ's life, death, and resurrection in a very different light. Meanings of words change not only in translating it from one language to another, but as time goes by as well. People are not as cognizant of that as we should be. When I say, "Christ bore our sins," it has an entirely different meaning and connotation from the "Our sins are on Christ" penal substitution version.