Oh my God, I'm an Atheist !!

I believe it is God inspired, but written by humans, during a certain time, and in a certain place. It's power is being able to be subjective, and hopefully, if your attitude is right, will help you grow closer to the Lord, and not affect people in a negative way.If anything, I see the bible sometimes, because of who assembled it, as a tool to control the masses, yet God's word is in there. Yes He does. He says to enter into heaven, you must be like one of these. In other words, children are innocent.
He also says that if you mess with a child, that is equivilent to messing with Him.Being on your death bed, can bring you back to a simpler time in life, such as being like a child. Because everything you did in life, may not matter at that point. When I say we were created to worship God, it also means we were created with a desire to worship. As I pointed out we can be deceived into worshiping the wrong things. We are always looking to fill a void, and that void is to worship God.Throughout our entire history, most of the human race has worshiped one thing or another. That is objective evidence that we are born with a desire to worship something.I do not know what atheists worship, but surely they search for joy somewhere. It is one your death bed, that you might question those ideas. When you are faced with non-existence. A few people have even indicated, that if it made them feel better, they would even consider it, which I think is very honest.

Well put!

Until you get something back, then it is much more than faith. Guessing?
People often say in this forum "do the right thing."What is this right thing?
But I guess I am getting off my own topic, sort of.

Did I ever mention, how much it bothers me that anyone could go to hell?
Why God would do that? Your right, I thought about that before I started this topic, but I still felt like I had to bring it up. I don't know just how honest the answer will be. Or if people can even fathom what it is they will think when it happens. I have come close to death a few times, and had some time to think about it (before I was a Christian) and like with the case of NosyNed, and loved ones, I sure hope I get to see them again.
How strange is it that the majority of us want to live forever, yet our pyhsical beings won't?
I wonder if people would still commit suicide if they knew they could live forever, for certain. Probably.

Desperate, or enlightened.Did it ever occur to you that there are christians without ulterior motives?

Sorry Percy, you are wrong on this one. No. It does neither. I clearly state that it is my belief of the later, and I ask if people will turn and ask God something. You can ask Santa something too. Doesn't mean there is an assumed God.

Which Jesus jar? Yours, or the one of the bible?
I will be fair and say that I do not know every single person that ever existed, so there is no way I could really know if it is true or not. But I have never met a person who could be like Jesus all the time. Oh, how do you do that? I never said you MUST be closer to God to notice.

Well it is open to anyone, but Christians should be believing where they will go, and counting on God's mercy. Well because they also probably believe they are going somewhere.
I don't question other religions, because it is beyond me. I do accept it, because God created it all, and He knows what He is doing. As I pointed out, I know plenty of atheist, musslims, that are more Christian, than most christians. Yes, in a matter of speaking. I believe we are accountable for our actions. We have divine appointments constantly.I think God is a fair God. Having said that, what chance does someone like a person who gets molested by a priest have, of knowing God?I went a long time without knowing God, I don't feel like I would have went to hell if I died then.When I look at people, regardless of their belief's, I see them all on the same level. We do things on different levels, but we are all human, and I can't possibly know all the explanations why people do things. But God knows.

Neither did I for a long time. Reading the bible, focusing just on what Jesus says, is a little more than a guess. It makes sense to me.

No, I believe atheists, and agnostics know God in their hearts, but can be deceived by the world into thinking He doesn't exist.It is on your death bed, that you may experience a drop of everything that you were taught to believe in, and then the truth can come through.This topic was only made by me to give people a chance to think about it, and do discuss it, if they have thought about it.I do not refuse to accept this idea, it is what I currently believe. This discussion offers an opportunity for those who think differently than me, to present their thoughts, and possibly show me something different.My whole existence on EVC, has been one of sharing what I believe, and know, while testing my own faith, and also clearing up all the dogmatic BS that us Christians experience. You see, I really don't want to be dogmatic, or ever be mistaken for a "fundie." I just want to be a normal person, that believes in Jesus. Oh, I do accept your answer, what I don't accept is your misconceptions and accusations of who and what I am. What am I really up to?We don't need to go down any path. I don't have all the answers. Believing in God, does not immediately give you all the answers. If anything, it causes you to ask more questions. I have given possible answer to the question, if God is good....
Nothing in the bible would indicate that believing in God, is going to make your physical life any better. Just look at what Jesus went through.
Your spiritual life should improve, and your eternal life.
There were definite areas of my life that improved upon coming to know the Holy Spirit. Nothing anyone can say here will ever take that away.
Does that make me some kind of perfect person?
Do I instantly become some kind of role model for all to follow?
Hell no!
It is also unfair for others to put that pressure on me, and only shows just how much they could use a little biblical philosophy, and learn to forgive others. Also to abandon faith in GOD, based on what people to, is the most piss poor excuse that ever was. But I did it too, so who am I to judge?
Even Paul himself noted how poor he was at trying to be like Jesus. He notes the struggles between flesh and spirit.Everyone here tries to make being a Christian into some sort of destination, and it is not a destination, it is a journey. No better or worse than the next persons journey. I am so sick a tired of the same programmed responses from everyone, placing Christians on some supposed higher moral ground than others.Is it jealousy? Are people jealous that I had some kind of experience with God? Of course they will answer an astounding NO. But if they aren't jealous, then why get angry at me? Maybe if they dropped that, then they could experience the same thing.
Many people have experienced God before me, and many will experience God after me. If God exists, then we will all experience God at one point, possibly on our death bed.
There are flaws, and things of this world on me that I will probably realize on my death bed too.All I know is what I felt from God, was so much love, and things that I can't even put into words, that I feel the desire to share it with others. In the spirit, and in the flesh (by helping others). No one has convinced me of anything to stop doing that, to date.Is a forum the best place to do it? I don't know. But when my email was not hidden, I received many emails thanking me for my faith. Maybe people were to scared to actually post. I've even had a few thank you posts in here as well. I had to hide my email, because of the spam I was getting.This post was long, and drifted all over the place, but I just want to help you understand who and what I am about. Why I even start posts. I never really have ulterior motives, sometimes I just want to hear what people have to say. You can take most of my words at face value, unless I did not express myself correctly. There are many ways to say the same thing.

So, according to you, you cannot objectively prove the Holy Spirit.jar, I will never figure you out. I really don't like what you have to say most of the time. You really rub me the wrong way. Perhaps it is your hatred of christians, or the christian cult of ignorance, and the category you put me into. There are many times you say stuff that makes sense, and many times you seem to contradict yourself. You seem like you want to be in the middle somewhere between being christian, and not. It's like a clever rouge or something, and then at the last moment, you can spring those words "I believe in Jesus."If you believe in Jesus, then stop calling Him a liar. He promised us the Holy Spirit. It is when we receive it that we become a witness of Jesus. What does that supposed to mean? well we could start writing about it now, and never stop until we are dead. But once you experience it, you'll know. Yea, and not everyone that says they have experienced it, actually have. But there is no way to prove any of it. Most people don't even know He exists, even though He is there all the time.Oh, and being closer to God, is always a good thing. That is why I mention it. Seek the Lord with all your heart.Maybe we should start some great debate or something, so that we could clear some of this stuff up, and come to some mutual ground.

How do you do that in an infinite universe?
Plus you are basing your decision on the constraints of time, where as heaven might not even have time.

I could fish forever.

Do we really know what happens as people are dying?Or after they are dead?The bible says no-one enters heaven except through Jesus. Sometimes I picture Jesus in a basketball uniform, and a hoop behind Him, and He checks you the ball, and says, try to get past me No, I am not stating that at all. I have stated many times that I went most of my life being agnostic. I was not in denial, or was I avoiding the truth. Or did I feel like I was going to heaven.How many times do I have to say this, and when will people stop treating me like a fundie? I do.

Why do you (and others) give me this line of crap, when I have repeatedly told everyone that I was agnostic for 30 years Huh?I WAS AGNOSTIC FOR 30 YEARS! Forgiving the behavior?
WTF is that supposed to mean? WTF?
When did I say that?I have repeatedly said that many atheist, and whatever will likely be in heaven before supposedly christian people. Where did they get their morals from? Deny it all you want.
But I wasn't talking about you.Oh, and f-off. I am not a racist, or a bigot, or intolerant.
You inability to see this, is the years ironic moment. I respect beberry much more than you right now, actually I totally respect beberry, and at least he was able to put aside his own feelings about "people like me"(whatever that means) and see the truth I feel we get along fine, considering his dislike of Christians in general, and my not understanding homosexual attractions. I do not have a single thing against beberry, so I don't know where you get this BS from. Neither of us require your thoughts on it. Hurt and pain?
Where? When?
Give me a fucking break. Your post was like one long insulting, attack to me. And from the person who made the rules. Just awesome.You have pushed me one step closer to leaving this forum. Outstanding.Your own prejudices, intolerance, hatred, towards "CHRISTIANS" has hidden the truth from you. FUck off. Just fucking suspend me right now.
I support gay marraige, whether you like the way I do it or not.I do not understand homosexual attraction. Just like I don't understand why people support PETA.
Homosexuality is a sin, according to the bible,
I feel it would be a sin for me,
It may not actually be a sin for those who are doing it, I have left it up to God to decide. Thanks to my religion, I have overridden what I feel is incorrect. The Holy Spirit has made me a better person.
Those are my beliefs, but have chosen not to extend those beliefs into keeping others from doing it. There is no hate involved. It is my personal view that I am entitled too.
I am a sinner just like the next guy, and do some things that I hate myself. Who am I to tell people what they can, and cannot do?
God does a mighty fine job of letting people know when they are doing wrong. That is the job of the Holy Spirit.Even though this all has been sorted out, in your very own forum, people still don't get it.And my history here? WTF is that supposed to mean?
I have always been mistaken for a fundie. Your the one with the problem, not me.At first I did not understand, but some traveling around, has shown me just how bad the rest of the country is out there. Here in the NYC area, I feel we don't really have that "fundie" problem. We are a little more liberal. The worst we have is the Pentecostals who probably hate the way I worship, more than fundies hate gays.I really didn't even fully understand what a fundie was, until I came here, and people started calling me, just because I believe in Christ, not because of my values. All of you are prejudice, it is plain and simple.And not understanding homosexual attraction, is not part of it, because I have always felt that way, even though I was agnostic for 30 years. I guess I am just a gay basher at heart, right?Well at least I am honest, have a nice day. Oh and thanks for your incredibly insulting OFF-TOPIC post.