William, you made a claim about the Bible, namely that it is:"full of inconsistencies, absurdities, and falsehoods . . ." how did you arrive at that conclusion and can you sight specific examples. Genesis 1:3 says "And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Genesis 1:16 says (to paraphrase) He made the stars. The Bible is not confused on what was made and when, it is the finite mind that fails to comprehend the infinite. At best we can apprehend, but not comprehend. What if God were real, and all powerfull, sovereign, immutable, perfect, just, holy and eternal . . could you understand a God like that without Him somehow telling us about Him. William this is a great topic of discussion and I would love to continue, but not sure if this is a good place, feel free to email me mujar(at)netzero(dot)net I welcome all questions and challenges to my faith in the Bible and Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, it only serves to make me wrestle with questions I may have never asked, and it always strengthens my faith and increases my joy, so thank you!
zeekof PA7:03AM June 09, 2009
Zeek of PA... No.... I'm saying that the so called holy books we rely upon to give us the answers are so full of inconsistencies, absurdities, and falsehoods as to render then completely irrelevant to answering the questions. The Bible, from the first chapter, can't figure out if the light or the stars came first, has the Earth as the center of the universe, and wants us to believe in a talking snake and a man living in a whale. How can we seriously look at this book as a source of enlightenment? My answer is that we can not, nor should we. If there is truly a God, and there may well be, I believe he would want us to look beyond the superstition and dogma and get to the truth behind somehow living on this beautiful planet, spinning around a star, in an infinite universe. And my bet is it has nothing to to with Adam and Eve, Moses, Jesus, or any of the rest of it.
williamof GA9:13PM June 08, 2009
In reference to William Of Georgia who said:
" . . .None of us has the answers . . ."
isn't that your answer?
to Brad of ND, you are correct on watered down Theology, check out this website and find a church near you: www.founders.org
Zeekof PA9:36AM June 08, 2009
Mainline religion will continue its slide to irrelevance. Its median age is 55, the number of children is small, the percentage of children in mainline churches who grow up and remain members of the mainline gets smaller every year.
People on the left are waking up on Sundays and realizing that they don't have to waste time in church if they want to be politically or socially active.
The songs are boring, the coffee is better at the local diner, the theology is either watered down to the point of irrelevance or unbelieveable-please don't ask me what I think of the 'spiritual practices' they're trying to introduce (maze walking, processions, incense, devotions).
brad evansof ND9:41PM June 07, 2009
Good... the more these churches turn towards the evangelical, the more people they will lose, until perhaps one day we will be a nation of reason, not faith. How anyone can put credence in these ancient, irrelevant books and teachings has always astonished me.. that so many rubes can be duped by this same stupid stuff century after century. None of us has the answers, none know the true nature of "god", or is he even exists, and religion is, and always has been, a cheap tool to manipulate the masses for control and power. And when will these latest messiahs and prophets, Jesus and Muhammed, go the way of the others in the dim, dark past... forgotten for the newest thing, the newest "revelation" fron god? And in it's path will also be left those tortured, burned alive, evisorated, skinned alive and otherwise murdered, all in the name of "god"?
williamof GA2:46PM June 07, 2009
Mr. Warren,
I respect your beliefs, but I certainly do not understand them. The spirit of life that Christ came to share really is at odds with the weapons of death, which are what guns are. Even though I believe that freedom should ultimately allow the right to own guns, why would anyone want to? The right to own guns has taken on the aura of idolatry in this country, which is a type of evil that Christ warned against. As a Christian, God has sovereignty, NOT America, which is another form of idolatry that many people fall into.
Now, I have only taken issue with two of the points you mentioned, but I challenge you to think a bit more about which ones of your points conflict with values that really are reflective of Judeo-Christian tradition.
Ultimately, I would like to propose a different way of thinking rather than to just refute ways that do not make sense to me, and so I would suggest that there is nothing "superior" about a Conservative philosophy over "Liberal" - they are both parts of what makes America such a unique place in history. The word "liberal" is rooted in the Latin word for "free". And one can argue that the word "Conservative" means holding on to important values, which can take a great deal of bravery. Are we not the "land of the free, and home of the brave"?
Mark Frazierof NH9:44PM June 06, 2009
20 million dollars is a lot of money. The church could be using that money to reach out and touch all of the people that it says it could be reaching Monday-Saturday. As a cradle UM, I am glad to be reaching out to those unchurched believers who want to do good.
John Wesley said, "“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
Certainly, this ad proposes the same thing.
Suzanne Rogersof AR8:45PM June 05, 2009
for something like a service club. But speaking of "open doors" and "experiences" does not invoke the power of the Holy Spirit upon the potential attendees. Only speaking much about the name, the person, and the work of Jesus can do that. Marketing is fine, but if (for whatever reasons) they leave out the name of Jesus from being the main point, the main event, the main reason, the main motivation, then they might as well not run those ads. Jesus---there is something about that name.
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Kelvin58 of RI 5:59AM October 23, 2009
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zeek of PA 7:03AM June 09, 2009
william of GA 9:13PM June 08, 2009
Zeek of PA 9:36AM June 08, 2009
brad evans of ND 9:41PM June 07, 2009
william of GA 2:46PM June 07, 2009
Mark Frazier of NH 9:44PM June 06, 2009
Suzanne Rogers of AR 8:45PM June 05, 2009
Muser of NM 5:03PM June 05, 2009