Dan52

God does not condemn people 'despite' their love, but in the absence of their love. If you do not love the biblical God, then you love a god of your own imagination, or another book. jmo "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him" (John 14:7) Mirrors don't count

Once we say that God has little if anything to do with the Bible -- We are left with an unknown God.

Absolutely, there are many who read the bible and conclude that God is not fair. Everyone has their own idea of what's fair, but since all righteousness resides in God, his judgements surpass our standards. I personally don't understand some of Gods decisions, but its safe to say that God does not evaluate everything the same way we do; "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9). So even when we can see no rhyme or reason for what God determines; "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28). And I agree that the fairness of God can be misconstrued by any individual who wrongly interprets what's written.

I'm a fundamentalist, but I believe your childhood church was incorrect. There is nothing in the bible that literally suggest that the lake of fire is a place where one would burn forever in constant agony. Rather, it is a place of spiritual death, meaning its eternal only in the sense that there's no coming back, its a permanent second death where you cease to exist for evermore. Also, God does not sentence people for trivial sins, Jesus covered our sins. God judges those who reject Christ and refuse to repent of their sins. All will be given an equal opportunity, God is fair.

Its true, the bible clearly teaches that the unsaved will all perish. You may not like the message, you may question the message, or you might disregard the message, but it is biblical. "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). How loving or responsible would it be not to tell someone about the possibility of spiritual death? I do agree that you shouldn't traumatize a child, but rather teach them that Christ is not a burden, but everlasting life. But as adults, a little fear never hurts, in fact it can be just the motivational factor needed to keep us out of trouble. Behaving morally is no guarantee of any reward.... If it is, I'm in some serious trouble.

I suspect most nonbelievers don't even believe that hell exist, so the lake of fire can't be a scare tactic to them anymore than heaven can be an incentive. The threat of hell doesn't frighten nonbelievers, and its not applicable to believers. Its like telling a child that if they're not good Santa won't bring them any presents. That threat is moot if the child doesn't believe in Santa.

If in fact, hell is a true concept, its no more abusive to advise a child of hell than it is to warn a child not to play in traffic. jmo

Fred Phelps, the founder and leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, died today. I suspect he was a serious minister that no one took seriously, including God.

A man says to his psychiatrist, "Doc I have a problem. From the time I get up in the morning, my seven kids drive me nuts, we all share one bathroom, so I don't even get to shave alone. Then I car-pool to work where I'm surrounded by dozens of co-workers who drive me crazy all day. When I get home, between my wife and kids, I have no private time at all. Even on my days off, my wife insist on inviting friends and family over every weekend. I never have a minute of free time for myself or a moment of solitude. Can you help me? The psychiatrist says, "So what exactly is your problem?" Man says, "Haven't you been listening doc? I'M SO FREAKING LONELY" Loneliness can be an empty soul void of purpose. "He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). In that sense, I've never been alone.

http://www.cheryl-morgan.com/?page_id=810

Well, I didn't get the sense that Robertson was forcing his views on anyone. It was the GQ writer Drew Magary who brought the subject up and asked, "What, in your mind is sinful?". That's when Robertson paraphrased those verses which list various sins; drunkenness, adultery, greed, idolatry, homosexuality, slanderers, swindlers, thieves, etc. So imo, he wasn't force feeding his beliefs down the throats of others, he was just answering a simple question. While I agree that there are radical Christian groups like Westboro who cross the line, the majority of Christians don't. But when asked a direct question like Robertson was, most in the faith would feel obligated to give an honest answer, because Jesus said; "whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 10:33).

I don't get this? Last week, reality was a polar vortex. Despite my best efforts to create my own reality of 80 degrees, it remained -10 below..... That's reality, and I didn't create it.

My point was that Robertson was asked a question and he responded by paraphrasing 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10. His answer was what he believed to be true. He did not personally condemn anyone. Imo, the bigots are those who insist on Robertson accepting what they believe, its that old adage; "adopt our standards and abandon yours", otherwise you'll suffer the repercussions and we'll stick the bigot label on you. Having a fear or contempt for gays is the definition of homophobic, and Robertson expressed neither. He simply stated his belief that it was wrong, and that's no different than those who believe its right. Neither belief/opinion is stupid or ignorant.

That seems like a polite way of saying Christians are ignorant.

After reading your initial post, I just prayed that if it be the Fathers will, that she might continue living. I had a very sick aunt who was suffering with cancer a while back, and when I went to see her, I told her that I had prayed for her to live. She said, "Well damn it, stop that!" Anyway, glad your Mom is hanging tough and is back home.