Abusive language. Check
Provoking others. Check
No basis for comments. Check
Cannot give straight answers. Check
Doesn't exhibit any characteristics of a believer in Christ. Check
Possibly delusional. Check

Final diagnosis. Troll. Possibly delusional

Remedy. Ignore.

Wow
What a lot of discussion over a troll.

Actually we should just adopt Jesus' method of dealing with trolls (religious leaders)

Leave them to their fate.

Before you start throwing stones at me please read your Bibles.

A Jesus never forced anyone to follow him. He just told the truth as it is.
B Jesus didn't bend over backwards to accommodate other's views
C Jesus didn't take crap from anyone. He went to the cross willingly even though he could have avoided it because it was the way God had chosen to use to save mankind.

For you guys throwing scripture at each other let me remind you the trolls are having a great time laughing at you.

You can take the matter up with Jesus.
He's willing to talk if you are willing to listen. You know how to do that don't you?
Ball's in your court.

You raise valid questions.

Perhaps there is some hope.

This is a forum so I'll be very brief in my statements. You can dig deeper for yourself.

What is death? Not only on the physical sense but the spiritual sense.
Why would one be eternally separated from God just because of disobedience?

Let us go all the way back to the beginning

What did God create in the beginning?

God created man and he planted the garden of Eden and put man there.
Two trees were put there
The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (KGE)
And God simply said trust me.
Don't eat from the KGE

Man disobeyed and you know the rest.

An interesting thing to note is that before man disobeyed he was naked and not ashamed.
There was no sense of fear even when God spoke to him earlier

After he disobeyed the first thing he did was cover themselves up and he hid when God came into the garden.

I put it to you that man already died spiritually then and the physical death of the body came much later.

I am now going to write on why it was necessary for Jesus to die.

When man fell, he lost the legal right to everything, even the earth.
Basically the devil gained the power to run amok over man anytime he wanted.
Look back to the temptation of Jesus. (Go read for your self)

When Jesus was put to death on the cross, the devil overstepped his legal limits
(I using the term loosely here because I can't find a better word to use)
The devil could not simply kill Jesus because Jesus was not of the seed of man. I.e. Jesus is a citizen of heaven and not earth.

Throughout the OT, God gave a picture of what constitutes sanctification
Using the blood of animals to explain to our human minds we can approach God because we are clean. (Sanctified by the blood)
(Blood is synonymous with life )

So when Jesus body died, his shed blood provided sanctification for every person. Who chooses to obey God again, it is like a reset to a condition before the fall of man.
Are you still following me?

Now I will put the two together.

Man is by nature sinful (unwhole)

God is holy (wholesome)

In man's natural state he will want to run as far away from God as possible because he cannot stand in the presence of a ho!y God.
(Go look up the story of Howard Storm)

If one chooses not to accept the sanctification that is provided by the shed blood of Jesus, he will not be able to stand (tahan) being near to God. In fact he will choose a place of torment rather than be near God.

The shed blood of Jesus is a loving God's provision for a rebellious mankind.
Whether one accept it is entirely a personal choice.

Many times I encounter the question why Jesus and not Buddha or Mohamed or Vishnu or the flying spaghetti monster.

The answer is actually very simple.
The Bible is the single most historically researched set of documents in the world and has been proven to accurately portray historical events crossed referenced to non biblical sources.
Take the Cyrus cylinder as an exanple.

The new testament has more than 5,800 manuscript fragments found so far and these fragments have little or insignificant variations usually attributable to copying errors.
As a historical document, the bible is very reliable.

Jesus Christ is the on!y historical figure I know who fulfilled more than 350 prophesies written about him when he lived his short life of 30some years.

Even the manner of his death was accurately prophesized hundreds of years before he was born.

Finally but certainly most important Jesus has been real to me personally.
He is someone real. Not imagined

Follow him and you will live a privileged life. Not necessarily a wealthy life but certainly a life full of meaning and purpose.
And after you leave your physical body there is much more for you.

I have no idea why you lost your faith.
However I know if you are willing to return and talk to Jesus, He is willing to talk to you too.

Shalom brother.

So have I

And the conclusion I draw is so different from yours.

Did you look at the reasons those atrocious acts took place?

Did you view them from a macro perspective and see the hand of a merciful God who planned for the salvation of a human race e with the minimum amount of bloodshed possible?

I do.

In fact I am amazed why God hasn't burnt the earth to a crisp yet.

Hoka
There are some things we simply cannot understand

Let me put it simply

Try running iOS 10 software on a apple 3GS phone.
You cannot right? Because it is technically not possible.

If you can accept that the human mind is incapable of understanding the how and why of God's viewpoint then you will be much more at peace.

When I looked at Noah's flood, I wept when I realized how hurt God must have been that it is recorded that the Lord God repented he had made man.


Yet in all that mess God saw a way to salvage what he created.


You harp on the good found in some men and demand it be recognized accordingly. God does recognize it but not in the way you expect (see Isaiah 64:6)

Please check out Howard Storm's testimony
He was an avowed atheist

Gentlemen (or ladies)

Common courtesy demands that when we go to someone else house we should behave according to the rules of the master of the house.

If we cannot then it is better not to visit.

To come into this thread flaming and abusive is simply in poor taste and reflects poorly on your upbringing. This in turn brings shame to your family as a whole.

You may think you can hide behind your user name but trust me, you can't hide from your own conscience or from God.

Whatever your beef is with anyone, you can choose to state it clearly with proof and without abusive language.

As far as I can see, it has only been intelligible ranting against TS, who whether we like or not, is host here.

So please behave.

Thank you.

Well it looks like cyber is not a troll after all

Just a very short tempered person.

My apologies.

In answer to your very first question

Let's define what is a Christian

Can we agree that it is one who has accepted the lordship of Christ over his life and has repented of his sins?

If the answer is yes, then the answer to your question will also be yes.

It is not what I say. Listen to what Jesus says

John 14:6 Jesus said to him "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me"

The first Apostles obviously believed that too when they said to the Jewish religious leaders

Acts 4:12 salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

Paul in his letter to the Galatians warned against any other gospel than the one he brought to them I.e salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ .Eph 2:8

Now consider this.
If we Christians cannot depend on the bible, which we claim is the word of God, then what can we depend on?

I am very sorry that christians have given a bad impression to you. I apologize on behalf of all of us.

I would also like to offer a possible explanation on why such reactions came about in the first place. This explanation is based on my own experiences which I am not proud of.

When I was much younger both in age and as a Christian I had what was possibly a dream but it felt like a real life out of body experience.
I found myself lost in a pitch black place with no hope of getting out. Forever.

The fear and desolation I experienced was beyond what words can describe. I cried and screamed but nothing and no one could get me out.
It came to my mind that this is what it means to spend eternity without Christ.

I woke up crying and shivering and for days was unsettled.

As I reflect on that experience I realized I would not wish it on my worst enemy, much less my own friends and family.

That gave me a zeal to share Jesus with everyone.
In my zeal many angry words were uttered when the person who I shared with did not believe me. Words similar to what you may have heard.

On reflection. Those words like "you are going to hell if you don't believe " and "why are you so stupid and stubborn?" would sound like a taunt to the listener, but let me assure you, it was a cry of anguish on the part of the speaker.

They were words of love expressed wrongly because of the fear I felt for the listener if they did not believed.

I drove my own brother away with those words and it took many many years to repair our relationship.

Was I wrong in saying those words ? Most certainly.
I was immature and emotional and though I cared, I did not express my love in the correct manner.

Over the years I have toned down my words and I now know that God in Him mercy has a time for everyone to encounter Him personally to make a decision.

I find that most people who are young or healthy or well off find no use for Jesus and are not ready to make a decision for Him.
But there will come a time when they will be ready and then they will remember what was shared to them earlier.

I hope my post here will shed some light on why some Christians speak and act like they do and I also hope you will forgive the hurt they have cause you.

Peace be with you.

If memory serves me correctly I named you a troll once. For which I also apologized in my subsequent post. And I might add before you pointed this out.

If I am hypocrite then so be it.

Do you find it ironic that you continually provoke others and then place the blame squarely on them without taking any responsibility on your part?

One would expect a self professed long time follower of Jesus to exhibit at least some of the fruit of the spirit. Of which patience and long suffering is part of.

Further, when Peter asked the Lord how many times should I forgive my brother who sin against me what did Jesus reply? Matt 18:21

Peace brother.

Hmm.

This seems to be a good point to say very sorry to everyone we have offended, knowingly or unknowingly

Then we can all start afresh and fellowship like civilized people.

What say you UW?

Not the right approach

Sincere apologies first.

All other issues later

Well, I did label Cyber a troll.

Now that wasn't hard, was it?

One of the fruit of the spirit is humility and as we all know, humility shows strength and confidence.

Thank you pehkay

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God

#3064?

I would like to propose we all read 1 Corinthians chapter 6:1-8 and try figure out a manner we can discuss our differences in opinions in an orderly and brotherly (sorry Tina) manner so as to not make the mistake Paul is referring to.

Perhaps the seniors in this thread can lead the way.