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Christianity offers wings not weight

Heneni

Heneni

Miss Independent
averageJOE said:
This sounds like a "Live with your head in the clouds" way of life.
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Hi average Joe. I believe i explained why the christian life is not a 'head in the clouds' way of life.

I believe it is important to understand yourself first before trying to understand others.
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The christian faith is christ-centred. To know HIM is eternal life not to know ourselves. Not that i think a proper understanding of ourselves is not important. But it is not the centre of christianity.

You need to love yourself first before anyone else can love you back.
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We love because god loved us first. The love that christians have for others is a direct overflow of the love god has for us.

You need to understand what is best for yourself first before even attempting to know whats best for someone else. This is Self-centerdness. Centering yourself is imortant. How can someone respect you if you don't respect yourself?
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I think i do understand what is best for me. God is best for me. I respect Him in order to truly respect myself and others. But I fear no man. Lest they become a snare to me. Neither do I desire the council of the wicked, or sit in the seat of mockers. If you lie with the dogs you catch their flees.
The bible has nothing to do with a healthy way of life.
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I would have to disagree...the bible says:

Phillipians 4:8

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

How can that be unhealthy?

As a soldier I have decided to sacrafice my freedom and life for others. I am sacraficing my time. But I would never give up my possessions. I cherrish my family and home. I've worked hard to obtain the things I have. I worked hard to obtain the life I now have. And I'll burn before I have my "possessions plundered". I'll burn before I "give away all I have" in favor of a spiritual pipe dream that is heaven. I make the most of my life and cherrish my possessions (family and home) because our life on this world is limited.
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Even if you give your body to be burnt and yet have not love you and I are nothing.

If you desire to save your life you will loose it.

If you have set your hopes in this life then this life is the only life where you will find your meaning and happiness. For christians this life is only the start of a far superior and excellent life. We are free to give away this one because we know there is much more to come. The hope that we have in heaven makes us endure and gives us boldness. Endurance and boldness that does not come from human strenght but comes from god. Therefore we have no weight to carry.

2 Cor 3:12 ''Since we have such a hope, WE ARE VERY BOLD''

Christians can hang on, and endure and be bold even when the glamour of this life fades away.

The bible says that he who endures to the end will be saved. Now that statement means two things.

1. We will be saved because we endure
2. We can endure because we are saved.

So what makes our endurance so special? Men that are not saved seems to endure at times just like we can.

But there is a difference. We endure because we know there is something better coming, and our hopes and treasure is not here. We can face any situation and circumstance knowing that our god does not look the other way, but works all things together for our good. And our good, lies in knowing him, and being with him for eternity.

We dont workship god because he is some sort of stay at home vain women who needs to be told how great he is. We worship him precisely because we know how great He is.

Our joy is completed by worshipping our father. When we not only come to know the greatness of god, but also have the joy of expressing it, our joy is completed. Jesus 'for the joy laid before him' endured suffering, endured the cross. Jesus had his eye on the ball outside of this earth alone. He too set his sights on that which is everlasting, and it gave him much boldness and great endurance, because he knew what the result of that patient kind of suffering will bring.

Christians cannot set their sights on that which is temporary and fleeting. Instead we set ours sights on that which is to come, that which is eternal. And by doing that, we are indestructable. What can man do to us? Take our lives? They would be doing us a 'favour'. Insult us, persecute us, mock us, lead us like sheep to the slaughter? And what would be the result of their efforts to put us down? Well the bible says....a great reward awaits those who suffer at the hands of man because they are christians. We consider it an honour to have been selected worthy to suffer for the good news.

What man on this earth, will willingly suffer for the precepts of another man? A soldier? And what will your reward be? You will be given honour and glory by your fellow mankind. Our glory does not come from men, and if we seeked mens glory we would not mind sacrificing our own lives for their sakes in the hope to be remembered and go down in history as a hero. There is only one hero in christianity - JESUS!

Heneni
 
Mr Cheese

Mr Cheese

Well-Known Member
slave2six said:
And my point earlier is that which people call "interacting with the divine" is nothing more than an experience that takes place in the physical brain. Just like those drugs I mentioned. You can take mind-altering drugs and go the rest of your life remembering that this was the most profound "spiritual" experience you have ever had. Except that it wasn't. It was a mental experience that you had.

There is nothing "spiritual" about human beings. Hook someone up to an MRI during a "spiritual" experience and you can see changes in the neural activity. It's all in yer head man.
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Travel to the moon was thought the same way once....

Euclidean geommetry was used to model the universe from 300 BC until the late 1970's....

Once again, either you have or you haven't. ;)
 
OmarKhayyam

OmarKhayyam

Well-Known Member
Either you have interacted with the divine or you haven't

And assuming YOU have why can't you verify that experience? The universe your god thing designed is patterned logical comprehensible.

Why is that your god creature/designer is NOT?
 
OmarKhayyam

OmarKhayyam

Well-Known Member
I woke up early this AM and being a bit too foggy brained to read anything of substance I read this entire thread instead.

I would have better sent the time counting the ceiling tiles.:rolleyes:

I got out of xantianty about age 9. I can only feel sympathy for Slave2Six (BTW, you never said which Six?;)) and the others who have wasted so many decades believing in this childish nonsense and letting it control their lives.

God: Man's noblest invention. And craziest.

Yeah, K. you are either deluded or your not. BTW, I don't believe you have Athena in your back bedroom either. And I feel quite comfortable making THAT assessment of YOUR experience.:D
 
slave2six

slave2six

Substitious
Heneni said:
True2ourselves Videos - Baggage
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First of all, this video is based on trying to live "according to God's principles" which, in and of itself, is more baggage than anyone can manage.

Secondly, it seems that the basic idea behind this video is that "I am innocent. I have a right to be loved. I have been hurt. I don't deserve this." and such ideas. This is, actually, not only naive but idiotic. No one is innocent. No one has a "right" to be loved. Indeed, this entire video is completely myopic. The reality is that we have a responsibility to be decent people but we cannot demand that of others. Which leads to...

Finally, it is possible to deal with baggage directly without all this God stuff. It begins with the very simple concept that people are people and that not only will some people hurt you but you will hurt some people. It's the way of things. Recognizing this, we can more easily forgive others and while we may need to cut off harmful relationships we have the choice to move on to healthy ones. And we have the choice to recognize that even if we are excellent people and someone has hurt us, that is not a reflection on us. Nothing can cure the hurt, not even "god." We can only choose to be strong in ourselves and let time sooth those hurts.
 
painted wolf

painted wolf

Grey Muzzle
I like my baggage... it reminds me of where I've been and what I need to work on.

I may take a hand in lightening the load, but I'd never want to make anyone else carry it for me.

wa:do
 
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