|
|
|
|
|
Users viewing this topic:
none
|
|
Login  | |
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 3/27/2008 1:47:54 PM
|
|
|
StephK
Posts: 1834
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: Southwest Louisiana
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: HisLamb26
quote:
Here's a link to a christian apologetics site that may help with the confusion.
If Zion has been to bible school, I'm sure he has been trained in apologetics.
Not necessarily. It would depend on the school and/or the denomination, the course of study and other things. I went to a Christian college and did not take any apologetics courses. It was not required for my major. I did have to take a couple survey courses in Old and New Testament though. In fact the Old Testament course I took was taught by a very liberal "theologian" who taught that fall of the walls of Jericho was only a social revolt. He taught many other similar fallacies.
< Message edited by StephK -- 3/27/2008 2:03:25 PM >
_____________________________
Stephanie
Religion has accepted the monstrous heresy that noise, size, activity and bluster make a man dear to God. To a people caught in the tempest God says, `Be still, and know that I am God.' ~AW Tozer
|
|
|
|
|
Myth-taken Identity! - 3/27/2008 1:59:19 PM
|
|
|
oldmethuselah
Posts: 626
Joined: 7/5/2005
Status: offline
|
Zion,
I see you have done some searching and it has included references, at least to some more contemporary apologists.
Now, though famous as an apologist, I am not going to mention C.S. Lewis' name for that purpose at all.
RATHER, it is his other works (for which he is quite well known)...
that is to say, he has had quite a bit to say about Greek myths etc. and how they relate to the Christian story.
Because I am a bit of a C.S. Lewis nut (hence the picture of the Narnian lamp) I read many of his books, treatises, addresses to university students and personal fictions (not necessarily to do with the Christian faith per se)... in many of them I saw these references to mythology, but of course, that was not my main reason for reading them at the time, so I cannot remember specific books (perhaps some of these other readers can)
Since your central discomfort at the moment seems to be with the "epiphany", you might try looking through some of these musings...
Because of my interest in logic, both professionally and otherwise, I was reading and admiring his structure and thought - but, I don't think, it is the pure logic of Christianity that you are struggling with right now, is it?
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 3/27/2008 2:16:26 PM
|
|
|
BuckleysMom
Posts: 11
Joined: 3/26/2008
From: PA
Status: offline
|
Zion.....This is why we have to be so careful about what we read, watch, listen to, etc. Satan makes it sound so good and so reasonable, but nothing he says is honest, nothing.
It sounds like maybe you need to stop looking at other "stuff" and just get into the Bible. Read and study it and ONLY it for a while. I'm sure your answers are there and God will reveal them to you if you trust Him and ask. He doesn't want to lose you and if you just ask Him with a truthful and honest heart He will show you what you need to see. Please don't go on believeing Satans lies. Use scripture on him, he knows what the Bible says and he hates it when we use it on him. I learned something in a Bible study a while back that I should have known but I had never really thought about it......Satan can't read our thoughts......only Christ can do that. So tell him.......out loud......to get lost, and mean it. If you let him get away with it he will work on you till you lose everything. Please don't give in to him. I'll be praying for you.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 3/27/2008 2:18:02 PM
|
|
|
Jhud
Posts: 6771
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: Lake Wobegon
Status: offline
|
Personally I consider professor of philosophy Dr. William Lane Craig to be the most articulate, well reasoned apologists alive today. I feel very blessed that I live in a time where such men strive for the truth.
His website is here.
One warning, you will have to put on your thinking caps on before reading through his articles; it's really not for the casual reader.
_____________________________
Jack
“I mean to live my life an obedient man, but obedient to God, subservient to the wisdom of my ancestors; never to the authority of political truths arrived at yesterday at the voting booth”
William F. Buckley Jr. 1925-2008
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 3/27/2008 6:32:20 PM
|
|
|
sparkleingsnow
Posts: 3450
Joined: 1/9/2007
From: Payson, Arizona
Status: offline
|
quote:
Original: RedcoatMello
when the same thing happened to me I lost my faith as well and it has not returned. It took six months for me to be at peace with being an ex-Christian, but finally the hurt, anger and confusion died in me.
Redcoat, I wanted to come back and respond to your post. You remain on my heart. First, I'm so sorry that you feel you have lost your faith. What a painful, scarly place to be! Can you look back and see what was going on at that time that caused you to loose faith? I can understand blocking out the "hurt, anger and confusion" by kind of going numb so you feel at peace.
But your not really at peace. You say yourself that it's hard to live a lie. And I bet it is. The only way you will truely find real peace is to return back to the Lord. To dive into His word, to talk with other believers, to talk with Him an ask Him to renew your faith. You know He has open arms just waiting for you to return to them. Thats the only place that you will find true peace.
I encourage you to talk with your family, (your pretending doen't help them), and maybe them can help too. I'm sure they would want to thy and help. I know I would.
I'll continue to pray, and you continue to search. I truely believe you are.
God Bless
_____________________________
Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is
within me, bless his holy name.
Psalm 103:1
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 3/28/2008 8:11:06 AM
|
|
|
JimboFletch
Posts: 4749
Joined: 4/11/2005
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: rcjames
quote:
ORIGINAL: zion7777777
Rcjames, if you r trying to help, i would humbly ask you to stop, I know your response will be, its not me you are offended with, its the word of God... When i am reaching out in tourmoil, just as your first comment to me, you seem to be insensitive and arogant........
My point in case you missed it is that a person who is a Christian for nearly 20 years (serving God, believeing the the Scripture are the very Word of God and there is no error in them, accecpting of the forgiveness for all sins, being ministered to by the Holy Ghost) you know a standard run of the mill Christian; cannot have their faith shipwrecked and bankrupt by watching a movie or reading a book. Just cannot happen.
So I suggest that a person that a movie or a book can pull away from God was never his to begin with. That person was something, but was not a Child of God. And that that person was soon going to run into this passage;
(Mat 7:21) Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
(Mat 7:22) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
(Mat 7:23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
So praise God that maybe, just maybe you can now come to the knowledge of the truth before it is too late.
Thanks
RC
RC and I do not always agree on some matters, but I have to agree 100% with him on this. There are several analogies in the NT of people returning to the world, none of them are flattering and each question more than a surface change in the individual, sort of like someone joining a club instead of being adopted into a Family.
IOW, the turmoil can be very fundamental rather than exposure to anti-Christian literature.
As in my first post, it'd be foolish of you to take anything I write about your wife seriously since I do not know her and have never spent time around her. You KNOW her from years of firsthand experience. And if you KNOW Jesus from decades of a close relationship with Him, no literature by those who don't know Him should sway you.
[Edited to add last sentence]
< Message edited by JimboFletch -- 3/28/2008 8:18:51 AM >
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 3/28/2008 9:35:33 AM
|
|
|
Cephyr13
Posts: 268
Joined: 12/13/2006
From: Dallas, TX
Status: offline
|
Here are some better YouTube videos to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwofkDlunR0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2RD4vTuPN0&feature=related
The second video says you're stubborn and don't want to believe at the end, but don't pay attention to that.
Aside from those YouTube videos, when I've doubted if I'm saved, or doubted if God is real, I simply start drawing on the incredible resource of my mind in which I have stored TONS of proofs of God's existence. Any Christian should have some or a lot of these proofs in their head...
For instance, I learned a while back that philosophically, there must be an eternal source as the beginning of all things. Otherwise, nothing would exist. I learned that evolution and big bang theory are completely and easily disproveable on many levels, which means that there is another explanation. I found that explanation to be extremely scientific, and point to God, and the theory made far more sense and was far more proveable than evolution and big bang theory.
I look back at my own personal experiences, like when I was born again or healed of a certain sickness. When I was born again, it didn't happen because I asked for it. It happened because I was bored to tears and decided that trying to figure out some Bible verse someone pointed out to my mother was more fun that what I was doing. LOL I read this insignificant verse, and asked who the saints were, and was told the saints were us. Nothing was profound about that statement. But suddenly, I was saved. It had taken hours to go to sleep at night for the past few years. My mind wouldn't shut down. I wasn't thinking guilty thoughts or anything like that, but guilt was stressing me out and causing problems. I was sleep deprived too, and becoming depressed for the first time in my life at age 16. But in that split second, it all dropped off of me and I felt freedom for the first time in my life. Freedom, and happiness, and love flowed through my body, and for the first time in my life it was like someone had turned on the lightswitch and I saw the world for what it really was. I saw right and wrong in black and white, not grey... I understood things no 16 year old should understand without a lot of teaching (which I had not had). They were just suddenly apparent to me. My grades went up in school immediately and I started taking higher level courses. Life was awesome and that emotional response of happiness from the spiritual cleanliness that happened as Jesus saved me and washed me clean lasted for a couple years until I got back into sins, which built a wall (hardened my heart a little towards God) and caused me to lose that joy I had.
That one experience of being saved and having no explanation for how that all happened except God is one of my anchors. Later, I learned about creation science and the model of the earth which was created 6,000 years ago. That gave me tons of ammo for proving how God's perfect earth actually existed scientifically and makes far more sense than evolution and big bang. It also taught me how to easily disprove those theories.
I learned about prophecy for a long time, but didn't have anything that proved God until about a year ago, and wow was that enlightening. It added new depth to the Bible I didn't previously see. It told a bigger picture that was at play and made even more sense in the grand scheme of things. The prophecy literally proved God and that was big... No atheist has been able to refute it yet.
Finally, I learned about Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) and how those people can prove the existence of the spiritual world and of angels, demons and Jesus. Wow, was that ever enlightening. I read a book about it that proved it conclusively, then I sought out to help multiples and to prove or disprove the book. That was about 9 months ago, I suppose. Since then, I have helped quite a few multiples, and in only 6 months, I've managed to help a multiple with 63 alters integrate most of them together so that she's only got 23 atler personalities now. In only one more month, she'll be a single minded person living a normal life. In the next post, I'll tell you about MPD and how it proves the spiritual world (heaven) and Jesus, angels and demons.
_____________________________
- Brian
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 3/28/2008 9:55:37 AM
|
|
|
Cephyr13
Posts: 268
Joined: 12/13/2006
From: Dallas, TX
Status: offline
|
People with Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) do not have a mental problem. They are not insane. They do usually have Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) which means they cut themselves and think very badly of themselves. This comes from abuse. MPD starts before the age of 4, usually, due to someone abusing the person physically, emotionally, sexually or Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA). The girl I'm helping now has had all of those types of abuse for 23 years. She's 25 years old and still in the abuse to this day. You just cannot imagine what was done to her and I'm not going to share it.
She split at age 2, and split many, many times after that. Here's how this works.
We have a mind, body and spirit (more accurately, we have a soul, body and spirit according to 1 Thess 5:23). The soul is the mind, will and emotions. Your physical body is in the physical world, your spiritual body is in the spiritual world. And your mind is the link between the two. When a child is abused in the physical world, they cannot escape it, so Jesus built in a mechanism of escape into the spiritual world, because He said He would never give us more than we could handle. So, since the mind controls the breathing and other involuntary functions, it must be present to some degree for survival, or the body dies.
The part of the mind that splits stays in the body, and the core (original person) goes inside, but not fully him/herself anymore. They've lost that other part of their mind which is now functioning separately from them. That person had different memories of when they're out in the body, and the core person does not have those memories. The core goes inside and hides. Where they go is the key to proving the spiritual world.
Some multiples around the world have never heard of Jesus, angels, demons or a spirit world. Yet, ALL multiples see angels, demons, Jesus, false Jesuses and the water of life inside this spiritual world they go to when they split or are not out in the body. Some have not found those things yet, but without prompting them to see those things, they will see them in the system eventually, regardless of if they've ever heard of them before. They call angels shining ones, demons dark ones, and Jesus the shining man with hurt hands if they do not know what these things are.
Their spiritual space or world looks just like this world, with mountains and valleys and rivers and streams, but without any industrialization or buildings or roads. Just maybe a house or castle for them to live in. If a person is abused multiple times, they will have multiple alters. Maybe 10, maybe 100, maybe 500. Those alters all live together inside this spiritual world. Satanists know about it and purposely cause children to split, and then do horrible things to them over a period of many years that really messes them up. They use them for unspeakable sex acts and other horrible things.
Here's another way I prove God and the spiritual world. I can pray something in my head, without saying a word, and the multiple will see it happen in their world, and then tell me it just happened. For instance, I can pray for it to rain or for Jesus to send His light into the system seven times brighter than day, and the multiple will see it happen and tell me it happened, yet they never knew I prayed for that to happen so nothing was suggested for them to see. I have thousands of hours of chat logs where things like this happen quite a bit with no explanation except Jesus is answering prayers. Read this book to learn about this:
The Shining Man with Hurt Hands by Ellis H. Skolfield
www.fishhouseministries.com/pdf/ShiningMan.pdf
For the prophecy, read this book:
The False Prophet by Ellis H. Skolfield
www.ellisskolfield.com (click on Books & Essays and then The False Prophet Ch 1-9)
I guarantee if you read both of those books, you will not be able to deny that there is a God. Both prove His existence 100%.
I'll send you an email with this information in it too.
_____________________________
- Brian
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 3/28/2008 10:11:47 AM
|
|
|
HisLamb26
Posts: 372
Joined: 4/17/2005
Status: offline
|
quote:
Not necessarily. It would depend on the school and/or the denomination, the course of study and other things. I went to a Christian college and did not take any apologetics courses. It was not required for my major. I did have to take a couple survey courses in Old and New Testament though. In fact the Old Testament course I took was taught by a very liberal "theologian" who taught that fall of the walls of Jericho was only a social revolt. He taught many other similar fallacies.
Hi Steph,
I wasn't aware of that. (I am well aware of liberal professors, and have no problem with that-no matter where you stand on the liberal-conservative perspective, it's not a bad thing to be exposed to how people you disagree with think.) Though where Zion stated he had been to Bible College, I just assumed that any decent Divinity School would REQUIRE courses in Apologetics. And while I understand someone not specifically studying for ministry at a Christian college may not be exposed to Apologetics, I would think it would also be a requirement for any course of study at a Christian School.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 3/28/2008 10:57:40 AM
|
|
|
Kat_D
Posts: 3357
Joined: 9/2/2005
From: Where We Shake, Rattle & Roll!
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: Cephyr13
Finally, I learned about Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) and how those people can prove the existence of the spiritual world and of angels, demons and Jesus. Wow, was that ever enlightening. I read a book about it that proved it conclusively, then I sought out to help multiples and to prove or disprove the book. That was about 9 months ago, I suppose. Since then, I have helped quite a few multiples, and in only 6 months, I've managed to help a multiple with 63 alters integrate most of them together so that she's only got 23 atler personalities now. In only one more month, she'll be a single minded person living a normal life. In the next post, I'll tell you about MPD and how it proves the spiritual world (heaven) and Jesus, angels and demons.
What, in the name of all that's holy, are you talking about, Sparky?
_____________________________
~Kat
"...And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes...no more death, sorrow, nor crying."
I weep for those who won't experience this because they have been deceived.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 3/28/2008 3:27:09 PM
|
|
|
smiths4jesus
Posts: 15
Joined: 3/18/2008
Status: offline
|
Try looking here.....
http://www.probe.org/
_____________________________
When You said, "Seek My face," My heart said to You, "Your face, Lord, I will seek." - Psalm 27:8
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 3/28/2008 10:52:28 PM
|
|
|
csl7037
Posts: 639
Joined: 3/24/2008
Status: offline
|
I'm going to have to go back and read over all these posts more carefully when it's not so late. But I have to chime in to say that I understand completely where Jeff is (and maybe RedcoatMello). I have struggled with exactly this for probably a year, maybe more. It's terrifying and confusing. I've been angry at God and I've spent many nights crying out. I've only in the last few days start to ponder the question of what exactly is it that I don't believe. My undergrad degree is in medieval and ancient history - I know how history and historionics works, I know the evidence on a truth-fact level with and without the influence of different agendas. I think I probably learned more concrete to support the truth of the Bible in secular history courses and writings that in decades of church. So maybe we're doubting different things - or maybe we're just not looking at it from the right angle.
There have been passages of scripture that (bear with me) I've come to believe are just plain not true. That has tormented and terrified me! I'm gradually coming to realize that it's not the Bible that I'm struggling with, it's what I've been taught about the Bible. There are things that are so deeply engrained in me that they are practically intertwined with the very foundations of my belief. But I'm really starting to question these things on a new level - I'm finding that it's my concept of some of these things that is just plain wrong.
As a disclaimer, I have to say that I'm talking about some very fundamental, almost universally held tenets of fundamental evangelicalism - not weird culty or denoination issues. I was raised in Charasmatic churces - some WOF stuff made it into my upbringing but I think I waded through most of that stuff years ago. I've spent most of my adult life in Baptist or pseudo-Baptist/non-denominational/borderline-Charasmatic circles. I'm starting to realize, though, that some of what I considered foundational may just be flat out wrong and may have led me to this point of intense frustration.
I am not now questioning my "faith" per se - although I've had moments over the last several months when I would've put myself in RedCoatMellos' boat - ready to just walk away. I tried that; I don't think it's truly possible for a real Christian. I'm NOT questioning RedCoatMello's once/current salvation, just his evaluation or depiction of where he really is right now. (I hope that makes sense.) I questioning right now everything I've ever been taught. It's still a pretty scarey place but not nearly as hopeless a place as I was in before.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 3/28/2008 11:47:55 PM
|
|
|
jfaye
Posts: 702
Joined: 12/18/2007
Status: offline
|
!
quote:
I questioning right now everything I've ever been taught. It's still a pretty scarey place but not nearly as hopeless a place as I was in before.
csl7037--I have to tell you, that I came to a point in my life where I had to determine, if what I believed was
because it was true, or was it because I was told it was true. My parents had always told me I was so gullible
that I believed anything I was told, so I somewhat questioned my intellect at times because of their evaluation
of me! And, admittedly, when I was very young, that is very likely true, that I was very naive and gullible.
But, when I was 34 years old, I decided to find out if what I had been taught was truly 'true'! I purchased an
Abbington Strong Exhaustive Concordance 1979 (older is better than those put out today) and I systematically
checked out what I read through in my Bible. When I came to a word that I thought I understood but wanted
to verify my understanding, then I'd go back to the Hebrew or Greek definitions. I was very glad to see, that
how I was raised was correct but what I did benefit from was the more indepth possibilites of the words in their
original intention! It opened up a depth and a 'richness' of definition and understanding by doing that!
One of my favorite words I researched, (which isn't necessarily doctinally significant--just neat) is the word
'hope' as in the verse that tells us to "always be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within us..."!
'Hope' in this instance means 'confident expectation'! That is not a wishy washy thing! It is absolute, full of
promise that is well-founded! I just love that! We can count on what lies ahead for us, because of what God
has promised us through Christ Jesus!
I suggest you might benefit from doing the same type of research, to be clear about what you believe or what
you should believe.
I agree, it would seem almost nigh impossible to walk away from believing God through Jesus, having once
ever experienced Him a deeply close, and intimate relationship for a period of time. But, then not being in
the position some of you have found yourselves, I count myself most fortunate and greatly blessed. I do not
believe that the Lord has a problem with doubtings. He has told us that there is so much we will not be able
to understand and comprehend about Him! We do not think as He thinks, and what we do know or understand
is only what He allows us to!
I pray you all find Him very believable and very trustworthy as He has shown Himself to me and so many, many,
many others. What I found, is that I may not have an answer for everything I'm asked in regard to God and
why He allows or does this and that, but I do accept my limitations to comprehend the mind of Almighty God,
and when I find myself in one of those moments where many have their minds in turmoil over the unexplainable,
I just acknowledge that I am limited, and my finite brain can't hope to comprehend an infinite Creator but what I
do know of God, makes me know that He is good and right in all His ways, and that is enough for me, right now!
_____________________________
Thankfully His,
Janice
"We cannot appreciate God's mercy until we realize He is first the God of justice!"
"O taste and see that the LORD is good;
How blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him!"
Psalm 34:8
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 4/1/2008 6:03:29 PM
|
|
|
uronlyasoldasufeel
Posts: 2
Joined: 4/1/2008
Status: offline
|
what exactly don't you believe in anymore? Christ, God? Did someone hurt you? what is it that has gone from your life. I do not want to tell you what to do, i just want to pray for you. Please let me know. I sincerely want to help. I, like God want none to perish...let me know what i can do.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 4/1/2008 9:44:54 PM
|
|
|
SD456
Posts: 1505
Joined: 8/6/2007
Status: offline
|
Hi Zion,
You are in a 'crisis of faith'. It's happened to multitudes of christians over the past 2000 years. No one is 'holy' enough or close enough to Jesus to be guaranteed to not suffer through such a crisis. Even Mother Teresa had a crisis of faith.
You haven't lost your faith, you're just not feeling it at the moment. The fact that you were happy 'back then' and are unhappy now, speaks loud and clear that your spirit knows the difference.
I encourage you to rest, quit struggling to make yourself believe. Keep up some simple bible reading as you are able, and keep asking God to walk you through this and bring you to the other side. He's your papa and you're His boy and He won't let you go. Share this with your wife and family so they can pray for you and keep talking to God even when you don't feel anyone there listening. He is.
I have 2 very dear, close friends who went through this exact same thing, both spirt-filled christians who loved Jesus very much before it happened. For one, it lasted about 6 months, for the other it lasted about 2 years. But they've been following Jesus strong again for 10 years now.
_____________________________
MY BLOG
http://reflectionsdeep.blogspot.com
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 4/1/2008 10:03:16 PM
|
|
|
bry180
Posts: 4
Joined: 4/1/2008
Status: offline
|
We are blessed for believing and not seeing. My prayers are for you and God will meet you as you seek Him. In the end, Christianity and your relationship with God is through faith....
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 4/5/2008 11:04:34 PM
|
|
|
SteveDB
Posts: 6
Joined: 4/5/2008
Status: offline
|
Zion,
What is it that you don't believe anymore?
Please know that God is not afraid of your questions--
Isaiah 1:12-18, 30:15, etc....
I became a believer when I was 17.
I grew up in the methodist church, and didn't believe any of it until God, and I had a sit down.
It sounds to me like you may have attempted to bypass making your faith personal, beyond everyone else's experience.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but everyone of those who come to christ must do so for their own reasons. Not because the faith they had worked once upon a time.
Throughout my latter 20's-- mid 1980's-- up until the past 3 years, I had to completely question everything I believed about who God is, and what his word-- the bible-- meant to me.
Life has a way of challenging who we are, and why we believe, as well as what we believe.
Sadly, this is an ongoing thing in my life anyways, and I honestly think for most, if not the lives of everyone who comes to faith.
I strongly encourage you to talk to God. Pour out your heart-- in complete honesty-- to God. He will listen, and answer.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 4/16/2008 10:45:43 AM
|
|
|
Carjadiane
Posts: 1
Joined: 4/16/2008
Status: offline
|
Zion,
I have read through a significant majority of the posted responses to your cry for help.... many things spring to mind. However, it is not from my mind I will respond - as I will say what is in my mind to say, rather than what I believe is in my spirit.
I do not trivialise this when I say I was amused by the mix of replies on this thread... it really shows the different ways in which this situation is viewed, how serious we take it, and our understanding of its impact on you. It also reveals something of the spiritual maturity of those who have responded, and their intentions.
I am not here to grade the posts. The previous paragraph just expresses what I felt as I read the posted replies.
However, there is one reply which caught my attention, as it correctly addressed this issue straight on with its simplicity - and personally, I believe because it dealt with the key issue which is the act of will - it got straight to the heart of the matter.
You see, born-again Christians made a choice to be so, and they can say so because they choose to believe. Irrespective of what life presents to them, they know that the key to overcoming (anything) as a believer is in the decisions we make when we believe in the Word which is an act of will. As Christians it is not so much what we feel, what we hear, or even what we see.... but what we to believe.
The Lord through his servant Paul, who himself was a mature christian, instructed the way-ward Corinthians (1 Corinthians 2:5 ) That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. God's Word is power, and has power over ALL things - this includes sin, of which unbelief falls into. What you must remember is that the devil has an objective where you are concerned which is in opposition to what God through Jesus has for you (John 10:10). Whether you are aware of this or not the enemy has succeeded in his quest to kill your belief, steal your faith and destroy your life and future unless you CHOOSE to act on the truth of God. You will or you are causing needless harm to yourself and placing your precious salvation in the balances of books written about the bible, by sowing your time in books about the bible, rather than sowing your time in the bible.
Reading your post, some may question if you really has a personal encounter with the risen Lord, or the if the gospel ever took root in your heart. Others may conclude that with your search to validate the bible you have opened up a door into your life for the enemy to wage war with the thoughts in your mind. All are valid. Only God knows what is going on within - and that is comforting, as He knows what is really going inside you, and He can (if you choose to let Him) correct it.
The knowledge you have gained while researching these books have caused your belief in Christ to become compromised. These are arguements and pretentions that have taken a more prominent place in you than the truth of God's Word. Again, the Word of the Lord gives clear instructions to us on how to deal with any argument that tries to ursurp the authority of the His Word. You must hold this knowledge captive and bring it in obedience to Christ (2 Cor 10:5-6). Don't be so quick to allow your spirit to lap up writings that sounds good or presents a good debate but are effect spiritually deficient, and cause you harm.
You say you don't believe! What is it that you don't believe?
The basis of our faith is that God loved his creation to the extent that He sent his only Son, Who's name is Jesus, to die for the sins of mankind (past present and future) in a horrific way so that through Him the world might me saved, and spared eternal separation from God. God showed His complete committment by fufilling our hope and raising Christ up from the dead three days following His death on the cross. As a result of this Colossians 2:15 confirms that Christ defeated and disarmed the powers of the Kingdom of Darkness and secured a spiritual victory for all believers.
Make a choice to believe in Christ, and you will believe. I would advise you to pay little attention to relying on your feelings, as they are unreliable because they are fickle. I am not sure where you are in this dilema as it was raised a couple of months ago, but I would tell you to bring to a screaching halt your seeking God out in other places but in His word so that you can grow your faith by hearing the Word of God as you read it, listening to it, meditate on it.
A believer's strength comes from Joy, which is from God. The enemy is out to/or has stolen your joy - the choice is yours if you let him keep what is yours.
Be sensisible, for much of what happens in your life is down to you. The scriptures are there so we can experience our best life with Gods blessing, as God has good plans for us. Do not risk the Lord giving you over to a reprobabte mind (Romans 1:28). Do not allow the enemy to make your life meaningless by feeding you lies - HE DOES NOT CARE ANYTHING ABOUT YOU.
GOD CARES, and you can make it through this valley. This is the winning side - stay on it.
Carjadiane
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Help please...I do not believe anymore - 4/16/2008 11:32:24 AM
|
|
|
URForgiven
Posts: 548
Joined: 3/22/2008
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: zion7777777
I am 32 years old and have been a Christian since the age of 14, I went to bible college and traveled the world spreading the word. I recently owned a Christian Bookstore for a few years and thats when I started searching deeper. I wanted to know why i believe what I believe and I started studying the origins of the books of the bible and why the books were chosen that are in the bible... The deeper I got, the more i found out that alot of things that evan. Christians believe are not neccesarily what the bible teaches or even conveys.. basically, as i studied to find the truth, I came to a realization and had an epiphany that the story of Jesus is just a story like Greek Mythology. Its like my eyes are so open now and i understand more than ever before... It is a little scary and I would love to believe again and i have tried, I have prayed but It just seems to be so clear to me that it is all fake... Now I am to the point that I even question the exsistance of a God... Its easy to tell me to just have faith or pray and He will help me but trust me, Either My eyes have really been open and I can see the truth or Satan has really pulled a fast one on me and I don't see how this can change... My studying and coming to this conclusion is a lot deeper than what i have written but obviously i can't put it all on here... I have spoken to a couple of people and a pastor about this and suprisingly, they all tell me that they cant answer my questions and they too have delt | | | |
Forum Tools
Printable Version
Sure, it might seem to explain a few things, but there are things it doesn't explain, like how the apostles gave their lives rather than stop telling people about the Resurrection of Christ, which is something they said they saw with their own eyes. IMO no attempt to explain this away is credible. As a complete world view, I haven't found anything that explains reality as it really is nearly as well as orthodox Christianity founded on the Bible and articulated in the early Creeds. I say this after rejecting it as a teenager then coming back and spending the following 20 years critically examining things. There are indeed answers if you are willing to look and keep an open mind. Faith doesn't have to be blind faith. 
