Where did life begin? (Merged)

Do you believe we have a creator, aka "God"?

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#2,026
#2,026
Orange_Crush said:
My faith has been shaken on several occasions. Yes, I have struggled several times.

The longer I have followed Him though, the more I have studied and prayed, the deeper my faith has become and the more I have found capacity to trust Him.

I truly believe the things I post here, bro. I truly believe them because I have truly thought deeply on these subjects. I've thought deeply because I have had to.

And the longer I have followed Him, the longer I have had opportunity to experience His character and faithfulness.

I have recently gone through a season where He seems to have taken almost everything from me. Or allowed almost everything to be taken from me and my family. We've been left with no ability to fend for ourselves.

Having walked with Him for so long, our first response was to trust Him and see this season as opportunity to see Him glorified. We've treated it as opportunity to feel His presence and provision above and beyond our capability. We've relied on His Word that His strength is shown in our weakness.

He's been more faithful than we could ever have hoped. We've felt His love, care and presence like we never have before.

So, yes. I have had seasons where I believed in Him and still questioned His character. He's met me in those seasons because I asked Him to. And I've experienced Him in such places in such ways that I'm not sure if I'll ever need to question Him like that again.

There is MUCH I don't know or understand about Him. But there is also MUCH that I have experienced of Him, and that's what makes me trust what I don't understand.

Much love and many prayers for you, bro. I know you have had, and have, pain. My prayer is that God will meet you there and it won't have been wasted pain--as it will have been your road to Him.

OC
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What enables you to reconcile your anger at what has happened? Is there ever an actual answer to why things don't line up?
 
#2,027
#2,027
apevol said:
OC, I am curious to know if your faith has ever been shaken to the point you wanted to revoke your allegiance to God. I'm not talking about belief, but rather, your capacity to view God as worthy of worship and devotion.
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Sorry to dbl-up, ape. You and marcus are in contact, no? Please ask him to pass along my email and phone number. I'll give you more details about our most recent season.

But more importantly, I'll tell you about the last time me and God took the gloves off and I'm pretty sure in hindsight I was in danger of cashing out with Him. Believe it or not, it was about four or five years ago.

There I was, a pastor, still believed in Him, but I think I was seriously in danger and walking away from Him. It wasn't a rational issue. It wasn't about logic, philosophy, or theology. It was completely an emotional break.

Call or text me if you want. I'll tell you about it, how He met me, and what He's done since.
 
#2,028
#2,028
apevol said:
What enables you to reconcile your anger at what has happened? Is there ever an actual answer to why things don't line up?
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Don't always have an answer. Sometimes I do. I guess what I'm saying is that He's proven Himself to me so I don't need answers.

It's kind of like my wife. Sometimes she leaves and son't tell me where she's going. Sometimes she comes in late and we don't talk about it. But I've known her character for decades and I know she loves me, so I don't have to know where she's been.

Or my kids. They hated the pain from their booster shots when I took them to get them. They knew I held them down and allowed the Dr to hurt them. But they know I'm daddy and I love them, so...

All this to say that it takes a lot of faith on my part sometimes. It takes trust when I can't understand. But I have a history with Him and I've gotten to know Him, so it's not blind faith, I don't think.

Not sure if that helped...
 
#2,029
#2,029
Orange_Crush said:
Don't always have an answer. Sometimes I do. I guess what I'm saying is that He's proven Himself to me so I don't need answers.

It's kind of like my wife. Sometimes she leaves and son't tell me where she's going. Sometimes she comes in late and we don't talk about it. But I've known her character for decades and I know she loves me, so I don't have to know where she's been.

Or my kids. They hated the pain from their booster shots when I took them to get them. They knew I held them down and allowed the Dr to hurt them. But they know I'm daddy and I love them, so...

All this to say that it takes a lot of faith on my part sometimes. It takes trust when I can't understand. But I have a history with Him and I've gotten to know Him, so it's not blind faith, I don't think.

Not sure if that helped...
Click to expand...

Talked to Marcus, and texted you.
 
#2,030
#2,030
A question for believers. Do you believe God is omniscient? Does he know everything that has and will ever happen?
 
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#2,033
#2,033
dduncan4163 said:
A question for believers. Do you believe God is omniscient? Does he know everything that has and will ever happen?
Click to expand...

This is a job site conversation all the time.
If G-d knows all....everything that has or will happen......does that mean that’s there’s no free will? Has everything been determined in advance or does G-d just know what will happen? If G-d knows what will happen does that mean that G-d experiences time differently than humans. An argument can be made that all time happened at the same “time” even though we experience it differently.
This is way more than a yes or know question imo.

Next question

Is G-d, as the creator of all things, with in his rights to allow all things to happen? For example....children get sick and die. G-d could prevent this from happening but doesn’t. What does this say about G-d?
 
#2,034
#2,034
Orangeslice13 said:
If G-d knows all....everything that has or will happen......does that mean that’s there’s no free will?
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There are pretty convincing arguments that libertarian free will doesn't exist with or without God.

Orangeslice13 said:
Next question

Is G-d, as the creator of all things, with in his rights to allow all things to happen? For example....children get sick and die. G-d could prevent this from happening but doesn’t. What does this say about G-d?
Click to expand...

I'm afraid it's worse than simply allowing these things to happen--in same cases, God causes it. What would you say about a person who did this? Should we worship them?
 
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#2,035
#2,035
Wafflestomper said:
There are pretty convincing arguments that libertarian free will doesn't exist with or without God.
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I'd be interested in your presentation of these arguments.

Wafflestomper said:
I'm afraid it's worse than simply allowing these things to happen--in same cases, God causes it. What would you say about a person who did this? Should we worship them?
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Wouldn't that go back to Slice's question per God's rights? IOW, consider whether you are making a "type" mistake in the question. (Are you equating God == people? If so, should you? If you should, why?)
 
#2,036
#2,036
Orange_Crush said:
I'd be interested in your presentation of these arguments.



Wouldn't that go back to Slice's question per God's rights? IOW, consider whether you are making a "type" mistake in the question. (Are you equating God == people? If so, should you? If you should, why?)
Click to expand...

Well Crush clearly knew where I was going.
 
#2,039
#2,039
Wafflestomper said:
There are pretty convincing arguments that libertarian free will doesn't exist with or without God.



I'm afraid it's worse than simply allowing these things to happen--in same cases, God causes it. What would you say about a person who did this? Should we worship them?
Click to expand...

Does G-d “causing/allowing things really change anything? Is He not within His rights as Creator to do as He sees fit with His property/creation?
 
#2,040
#2,040
Orangeslice13 said:
This is a job site conversation all the time.
If G-d knows all....everything that has or will happen......does that mean that’s there’s no free will? Has everything been determined in advance or does G-d just know what will happen? If G-d knows what will happen does that mean that G-d experiences time differently than humans. An argument can be made that all time happened at the same “time” even though we experience it differently.
This is way more than a yes or know question imo.

Next question

Is G-d, as the creator of all things, with in his rights to allow all things to happen? For example....children get sick and die. G-d could prevent this from happening but doesn’t. What does this say about G-d?
Click to expand...

One of the worst times I ever had was telling a family their 11 year old passed away on Christmas morning. Talk about changing one's view.
 
#2,043
#2,043
Orangeslice13 said:
Does G-d “causing/allowing things really change anything? Is He not within His rights as Creator to do as He sees fit with His property/creation?
Click to expand...

What's up with the G dash D? Are you afraid to spell God? Are you fearful of spelling a name? Are you fearful of your god?
 
#2,044
#2,044
VolStrom said:
What's up with the G dash D? Are you afraid to spell God? Are you fearful of spelling a name? Are you fearful of your god?
Click to expand...

1)no. god is a generic term. Jews tend to have a healthy respect for the G-d of Abraham, issac and Jacob. We drop the vowel to be specific about whom we speak. We also leave out vowels when using His name. As in YHWH.
2) ummm no. Redundant question is redundant. See answer #1.
3) should my G-d desire to destroy me I will still serve him.

My question for you.

Is it because of your tiny Johnson that you feel the need to be disrespectful and disingenuous when asking questions of things you don’t understand?
 
#2,045
#2,045
Orangeslice13 said:
1)no. god is a generic term. Jews tend to have a healthy respect for the G-d of Abraham, issac and Jacob. We drop the vowel to be specific about whom we speak. We also leave out vowels when using His name. As in YHWH.
2) ummm no. Redundant question is redundant. See answer #1.
3) should my G-d desire to destroy me I will still serve him.

My question for you.

Is it because of your tiny Johnson that you feel the need to be disrespectful and disingenuous when asking questions of things you don’t understand?
Click to expand...

Never understood why people give you flack for that.
 
#2,048
#2,048
apevol said:
I can't remember if I had to ask or I already knew. I think I already knew.
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I know a lot of religious people who talk down to others who don’t agree with them. I know many atheists who do the same things.
I don’t claim to be the smartest guy alive, but I’ve come to a place where I’m pretty solid in my beliefs. I can still be persuaded on things but I’m pretty solid.
I’ve never understood the desire to ridicule those who draw different conclusions.
 
#2,050
#2,050
Orangeslice13 said:
I know a lot of religious people who talk down to others who don’t agree with them. I know many atheists who do the same things.
I don’t claim to be the smartest guy alive, but I’ve come to a place where I’m pretty solid in my beliefs. I can still be persuaded on things but I’m pretty solid.
I’ve never understood the desire to ridicule those who draw different conclusions.
Click to expand...
My problem is with God, not those who believe.
 
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