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heart Suicide Spicy Taco Ranger heart says:
I think my favorite part about the Bible in general is when Jesus talks, it's all in red. There have been many a times when I needed perspective on something and opened up the Bible looking for anything in red. Not to say other parts of the Bible weren't helpful, but Jesus had a way of putting things that just made sense - no holds barred kind of truth - the good stuff ninja
I especially loved the part when he went into the temple where they were collecting taxes in God's name and he started throwing stuff around. The great thing about him is he always knew exactly what needed to be said, and when he wasn't talking, he knew exactly what had to be done.
I think that was why so many people recognized his as an authoritive figure.

heart Suicide Spicy Taco Ranger heart
It may not be in the form of a specific question. I honestly wish it were that simple.
I am always curious about what it is that draws people to seeking a higher power. It would seem to be a need in most cases. By identifying with Alla, Buddha, Jesus, Ashura, Terra Maternis or any number of respective dieties and/or sub dieties, millions have laid claim to finding - the one and only truth.
If it were just a few hundred people or even a few thousand, I could have dimissed this idea entirely as rare case delerium, but it's not rare and something about it is always very real for these people.
I think if I had only been exposed to one religion in my upbringing, it would be much easier to identify with a single set of beliefs. If I had been born and raised in Asia, the odds say I would be a buddhist, in the middle east- a Muslim or Jew - and in Europe or America - Jewish or Christian.
Taking this into account, trying to identify with a single diety seemed unlikely. I would have to pick one and stick with it, which meant I would have to find out which one was real for myself. For a few years I was searching actively for answers as to which all powerful being was real. This was a difficult task.
I went to Buddhists to their temples for several months. They were very devout and expressive that only their way was the truth.
I went to Church with Christians whose claim was the same.
I went to Sinnagogs where the claim was the same.
I wasn't allowed in most Mosques, but many muslims I have opened dialogue with are just as devout to their soveraign God as any other faith.
So I came to the brittle and somewhat vague conclusion that if God were real, the specifics of that God were seemingly exchanged in arguments across the lands. Many of the world's great religions claim to have a prophet or the like that represent God's will.
Jesus, the Dahli Lama, the prophet Muhammed.
All of these testaments made it extremely hard for me to trust anything that I heard. I didn't take any answer at word of mouth. I didn't make my opinions confined to a limited perspective. I traveled nearly a third of the entire earth looking for a variety of answers. I talked with thousands of people in dozens of countries. I took notes and attendted testimonials. I interviewed hundreds of people who converted from one religion to another. It was a great opportunity to ask questions. Mostly I was particularly interested as to why these people had a change of heart. There are many Muslims who become Christians because they claim God wasn't really in Islam. On the other hand I've interviewed people were seemed elated that God was in Islam and that's why they left Christianity. I've known Buddhists become Christians. Christians that became Buddhist. Since I couldn't find an answer good enough to appease my curiosity, I shifted my attention to the testimony and stories of others.
I've conducted tests on people prayed for in hospitals as opposed to those who recieved no active (observable) prayer. (Now that's not to say no one prayed for them, so I can't exempt the possibility that a divine hand may still have been involved.) In fact, I can't deny anything about Buddha, Alla, Jesus, Terra Maternis, etc... because I don't have evidence.
I can't disprove them any better than I can disprove the boogey man. But that's not the point. I'm looking for evidence that God does exist. I want the evidence that God exists. If it's there I want to find it. People have told me to pray and I've prayed. People have told me that the complexity of one thing or another is evidence (but it's only suggestive at best).
Now I don't claim to be Atheist, because that involves denial of something that cannot be proven false. Most Atheists colate with the claim that probability denies God's existence. For me, this subject is a double-edged sword. Both the theory of Creation and Evolution seem quite probable. The hole with Evolution is a lack of sustaining evidence, and the hole with Creation is a lack of sustaining evidence.
People have told me I'm obsessed with evidence. I won't lie... I am. Why? I've had thousands of people lie to me. Now I know some people have told me the truth about some things, but the liars have made it that much harder for me to trust people. And that may be the heart of the problem itself.
So what' s my question.??
Obviously I need a new perspective to approach any further search.
I just don't understand how a creator would create beings with wordly senses and then expect us to believe him based on a sense we either don't have, or that not all of us have.
I've also been told this additional sense requires faith first hand. Believe first, ask questions later. In my case, this is simply unacceptable. If I operated with that mentality, my life would be seriously damaged by previous persons seeking to do more harm than good.
There are many people like me who don't believe because a lack of worldly presence.
I have heard many claims about God's presence being real, angels, heaven, hell etc.
Now if life is a test involved in the creator's plan, than to some extent I can understand this hardship.
The Bible is full of trials and tribulations. It could be that it's not yet my time to believe - for one reason or another. Maybe something else is upposed to happen first. After all, if God were so undeniable, people would believe on the same materialistic terms as money, property and other worldly concepts. So on a hypotheitcal note, God's wisdom would make perfect sense. In fact, in almost every Biblical sense, God's wisdom would make perfect sense. Unfortunately for me, the last piece to this puzzle is God himself. Without that piece, the picture just isn't complete. So I had to start building other pictures.
The end result... nothing has made perfect sense to me.
I've accepted I probably won't ever know how the world began.
I've accepted to let it go.
It could be that I just haven't needed God yet. Maybe God only appears in people's lives when they need him.
I've known people who got really sick and found God.
When I get sick, I struggle, and in time, I get just as better.
I've known people who cheated on their spouses and sought God's help.
When confronted with similar temptation, I simply refuse.
I've known others who when they failed at something, prayed for strength.
When they stopped to pray, I just kept going, and in many cases, finished first. (competitive reference)
In my most desperate moments to know if God existed, I payed until I cried that he allow me to fail behind those who believed, but instead - I continue to excel.
I've been told God doesn't work like that.
I've asked God how he works... and in no way that I'm aware of has he answered.

Every time I hear the word - God - I feel like the blind child hearing about how beautiful something is. I can stare as hard as I can for as long as I can. It hurts to think so many people would lie. It seems unrealistic that so many are dilusional. But... I have nothing else.

I've never been in any hole that I haven't been able to pull myself out of.
They say there's no such thing as an Atheist in a foxhole.
Well... I've been in some interesting places, done some things and I've seen people die, sometimes by the dozens in frequently brutal, imorral ways.
Even under fire, I never once thought of God, but I remember a few times where I saw people who stopped - even in the middle of combat -to pray. I remember what they looked like. I knew they meant every word.
It's something they have that I don't. They need it.
But that's my big question.

Do I need God? If so, how do I need him? I know people say to save souls. But that just doesn't sound real to me. I don't feel like I have a soul. People talk about what they feel in their heart all the time, but our emotions occur in our brains ( a very mental activity ). The heart... it only pumps blood.

It doesn't frustrate me to talk about God or to be told how real God is. No one frustrates me but myself and the people who've lied to me. As far as I'm concerned, every Christian may be telling the truth.

If God is real then I need him, but I need him to tell me or show me. Allowing me to get out of every hole in life without him isn't helping his credit in my case. And if he is helping - why he keeps it such a big secret is beyond me...
I mean, is it because I don't deny him that I am somehow spared? Shouldn't it take more?

What makes you believe, above all else unquestionably? When did it occur to you that God became real and undeniable? Did he say something? What did he say? Was it a feeling? How did it feel? Was it something you experienced? What was it? Did you see something?
Please let me know.

heart Suicide Spicy Taco Ranger heart
Yeah, those are some very good questions. And yes, I have asked them. A lot of people might not realize it, but there are many unhappy Buddhists out there. I got to talk to quite a few. Many who strive for 'enlightenment' suffer for many years in a path they 'believe' will take them to a higher place. There were of course happy ones, very content with their walk of life, but I think more were unhappy than most realize. As far as other religions I've had the time to interview, much of the same applies. I would have to agree that christianity and the bible do offer something that people can live with 'now and forever'. The promises of the bible are also on the basis of a constant, endless love. I think it's love that is mostly absent from many religions.
"Of all these things do first in love - or something like that anyway."

Many of these other religions most definitely have constant change sto doctrine, etc. Some of the core ones don't. I mean Islam is pretty rock-founded in its ways - unyielding in many cases. But unyielding without love is what I believe has led to much of the violence here in the middle-eastern continents of the world.

As far as handling stuff on my own, well - my attention span in the heat of things has a tendancy to get real narrow, real fast. However, I do work in teams a lot. We have team efficiency. I think because everyone knows their job and whose good/bad at what, we just automatically compliment one another without a second thought.
When things get hard - I find myself appreciating the added challenge. It sharpens my perspective. Even when I fail I take it as a lesson of how not to do things in the future and then I move on.
Sometimes I have to do something several times, taking note on the 'many' ways not to do it confused

And wow - that dreams sounds really scarry! sweatdrop
I would freak if I ever had a dream like that.

Oh - lol. For years I was alone, or at least I felt that way. But on my bed I have so many stuffed animals and cuddle-bits. On the worst days of my life I could always come home and hold onto them. They were my sanctuary. The number of times I cried myself to sleep with Zeboim (fav. plushie)... is many, but it was always comforting. When nothing else was there... they were. I haven't cried like that in almost three years though. Guess I've hardened up a little. But I still love my snugglebits 4laugh

I'll go post something in the dreams thread. It's relative to this subject, but since it was a dream, I'll go post it there.

You do a really good job of posting your views intellectually, which I can greatly respect. You have excellent referencing in relation to your views and it is also very meaningful. I don't know if I've posted anything that was anywhere near relevant per say, but I'll try to make a better effort in the future mrgreen

heart I am studying this again. Good topic at any rate. heart