Originally posted by KellyJayI am not a Christian any more. I have made no secret of that. Do you think I have been trying to disguise the fact that I am an ex-Christian? I believe that I have been very open about it. I even mentioned it in the OP: "I was an adult Christian for 28 years. But I no longer subscribe to the claims made about Christ."
So you acknowledge Jesus Christ now?
Kelly
Originally posted by KellyJayBUMP
Sure
Kelly
3. If you apply the logic of your peculiar technique of 'retrospective erasing' [of someone else's beliefs] to yourself, it means that no one knows ~ including yourself ~ whether you are a Christian right now. I don't think you want to apply this logic to yourself. So why do you insist on applying it to me?
Originally posted by FMFNot at all I think you have been very up front. I also think you are a very
I am not a Christian any more. I have made no secret of that. Do you think I have been trying to disguise the fact that I am an ex-Christian? I believe that I have been very open about it. I even mentioned it in the OP: "I was an adult Christian for 28 years. But I no longer subscribe to the claims made about Christ."
honorable person, you have been going at it with me and not once that
I can think of attempted to bring this down to insults. So you know, I have
a very high regard for you, even if we disagree.
Kelly
Originally posted by FMFAs I pointed out to you in another post, Jesus is required to be a Christian
BUMP
[b]3. If you apply the logic of your peculiar technique of 'retrospective erasing' [of someone else's beliefs] to yourself, it means that no one knows ~ including yourself ~ whether you are a Christian right now. I don't think you want to apply this logic to yourself. So why do you insist on applying it to me? [/b]
and you have denied you ever had Him in your life. You believed in Him
at one time, but that is not the same thing as knowing Jesus Christ due
to he is actually in your life.
Kelly
Originally posted by KellyJayThank you. Too many of the Christians here copy paste, cough up bumper sticker "wisdom", dish out trash talk, or try to condescend each other and/or non-Christians, so it makes a nice change to engage with one who wishes to talk [and talk an talk and talk...] 😛
Not at all I think you have been very up front. I also think you are a very
honorable person, you have been going at it with me and not once that
I can think of attempted to bring this down to insults. So you know, I have
a very high regard for you, even if we disagree.
Originally posted by KellyJayHindsight gives you perspective on the past. That's all well and good. But it does not change what was "real" to the people involved in the past. I did not deny I had Jesus in my life in 1994; I embraced him in 1994; I saw Him as the path toward "salvation" in 1994. I "knew" Jesus then in much the same way as you say you "know" Jesus now [although I am not claiming our faiths were identical]. The fact that I do not claim to "know" Him now ~ or, indeed, that there is anything or anyone to "know" ~ does not affect the reality in my life 20 years ago.
As I pointed out to you in another post, Jesus is required to be a Christian
and you have denied you ever had Him in your life. You believed in Him
at one time, but that is not the same thing as knowing Jesus Christ due
to he is actually in your life.
Originally posted by FMF😏
Thank you. Too many of the Christians here copy paste, cough up bumper sticker "wisdom", dish out trash talk, or try to condescend each other and/or non-Christians, so it makes a nice change to engage with one who wishes to talk [and talk an talk and talk...] 😛
Thank you
Kelly
Originally posted by FMFLet me ask you some questions. Do you reach out to others in need? Do you, if you have a wife and children, love and cherish your family? Do you reach out to others, just for the fun of doing so? (like shoveling others walks in the winter or cutting lawns in the summer [no charge]) Do you smile when you see children playing in the park?
[b]1. What changed you from a believer in Christ to an unbeliever?
I stopped accepting the claims that Christians make about Christ and no longer subscribed to the credibility of the literature. I think this resulted from a process of spiritual maturation that I underwent as I grew out of my 'young adult' years and broadened my horizons. Christians might ...[text shortened]... s interesting, but on a spiritual level it does not work.I know this from first hand experience.[/b]
These are all actions of love. To me this is God's presence manifesting itself, in you. As I said before, whether you know it or not is unimportant.
When love is manifest, it is what you do with it that makes the difference. FMF, you can not find God in a church or a religion, or a book. In fact, in reality it isn't us who find God, it is God who finds us.
In the scripture it says, "your treasure is where your heart is".
Originally posted by PudgenikSo you believe that one "cannot find God in a church or a religion". I can relate to that. Does it mean you dismiss Christ and Christian beliefs? And Islamic beliefs and Hinduism too? You are a theist with no religion, like me?
When love is manifest, it is what you do with it that makes the difference. FMF, you can not find God in a church or a religion, or a book. In fact, in reality it isn't us who find God, it is God who finds us.
1 edit
Originally posted by PudgenikLet me ask you some questions. Do you reach out to others in need? Do you, if you have a wife and children, love and cherish your family? Do you reach out to others, just for the fun of doing so? [text shortened] Do you smile when you see children playing in the park?
This sounds like Benjamin Netanyahu launching into an answer to the question: "Why is Israel expanding its settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank?"
Originally posted by FMFI don't have many years left so if by accident or on purpose I help someone toward the truth, then my so-called ministry here will be worth it.
To me your preoccupation with 'creation literalism' and stuff like 'the Shroud of Turin' makes your faith sound contrived and come across like a kind of ego trip ~ arbitrary, partisan, abrasive and stubborn, just for the sake of it, profoundly anti-intellectual, and proudly non-commonsensical.
This is why I have said several times that you don't seem very spi ...[text shortened]... mulate you and the impact your "spirituality" has on your intellectual and interpersonal skills?