I would like to apologize to all Fundamentalist Christians and thank them for their patience..?

Question

Ladies and gentleman, my Christian sisters and brotherss. Thank you for understanding and accepting my Mental condition. Although I don't see how reporting something that you don't like fixes things, please understand that the following is only an example of the type of question that gets reported. I partly understand why you do it, it is to save my soul... But I have sold my soul a long time ago, so that will prove pretty futile. I do however thank you for caring that I am going to hell. Thank you again and I hope you truly understand and forgive.
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Deleted Question: I am about to accept Jesus as my personal savior, no turning back now?

Question Details: Any last warnings? I have my Penfold's Pentacostal Guide to Self-Delusion, some aholy water, and a pet monkey. I think I am ready.

I'll meet you halfway and just shave the monkey, how about it? Baptism just seems so ooga-booga...

Answer 1

he third observation I want us to see is in verse 4, "Yet their voice (or line) goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." In other words, the voiceless knowledge poured forth by days and nights is available to everyone on the globe who is not physically blind. This is not a private or secret knowledge. The moon you see tonight is the same moon that shines down on Shanghai and Moscow and London. And not only that, it is the same moon that Shakespeare looked at when he wrote some of his sonnets. Nature is a transgeographical and trans-temporal language. The result of this is that all men can be held accountable for acknowledging the truth of what nature communicates. What does nature communicate?

4. That leads to observation number 4 which is found in verse 1: "The heavens are telling the glory of God and the firmament declares His handiwork." The voiceless, visual, universally available knowledge is that behind it all is a glorious God as maker of the world. The world is His handiwork and He is glorious. From this I have been taught three things. First, nature should lead us to belief in God and His glory as creator and therefore every man who can perceive nature is accountable to honor God and thank Him. Romans 1:19-20 says, "What can be known about God is plain to man because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature, namely His eternal power and deity, have been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse... "

If I did not have the witness of Scripture and the historical evidence of Jesus' life and resurrection I do not know if nature would be a sufficient argument to cause me to believe in God. But I think that in my most lucid and rational moments the existence of persons with consciences and reason and the existence of such an intricate and orderly scheme of nature would witness overwhelmingly to a personal, reasonable maker behind the universe. But we can be very glad we have the historical and verbal revelation of God, because most of us would be too stubborn I think to acknowledge God by nature alone.

The second thing verse one has shown me is that even after we believe in God it is nature that enables us to really know some of His attributes. C.S. Lewis (whom you all should read) put it like this: "Nature never taught me that there exists a God of glory and of infinite majesty. I had to learn that in other ways. But nature gave the word glory a meaning for me. I still do not know where else I could have found one. I do not see (either) how the 'fear' of 'God could have ever meant to me anything but the lowest, prudential efforts to be safe, if I had never seen certain ominous ravines and unapproachable crags." (The Four Loves, chapter 2)

For myself, I think I can say that I never really felt what it meant to love God until I had the experience of delighting in some awesome natural phenomena - a night sky, a waterfall in the mountain woods, and a sunrise through an Appalachian mist. I believe nature is the prep-school of our affections, readying them to delight in God.

The third thing that verse one has done for me is give me a keen sense of the eternality of God. If God made the universe, then there was a time when only God existed. That in itself begins to stagger my mind. I am tempted to say, besides God there was only nothingness. But that may create the picture of a large space with God by Himself in the center. But that is all wrong. Once there was only God. God was all there was. There was no room for anything else, not even nothingness, for all that was was God.

But then I am driven one step further and I realize that this God never had a beginning. He never came into being. And the effect that has on me is to make me tremble at His character. Every aspect of your character or personality is explainable as the result of some genetic trait or environmental or spiritual influence. You became the person you are. You grew and learned and changed and matured. But not God. He is good, long-suffering, reliable, honest, righteous, merciful, but he never became that way. He never learned anything from anybody; He never grew; He never changed; He never matured. He simply always was what He is from eternity before eternity before eternity. As unimaginable as it is, it says to me: He is sure. He is a rock. He cannot cease to be what He has been from all eternity, because there are no forces at work on Him which did not have their ultimate origin in Him and are limited by Him. So my faith in God's future is greatly strengthened by pondering the fact that He is the eternal, glorious creator.

To sum up the observations in verses 1 - 4: 1) Nature pours forth knowledge day and night (v. 2). 2) This knowledge is not verbal but visual (v. 3). 3) This visual knowledge is available for people all over the world to perceive, not just for some. 4) The knowledge imported is that God is a glorious creator.

Now we turn to verses 5 and 6 to find something very different. "In them He has placed a tent for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; it rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Its rising is from one end of the heavens, and its circuit to the other end of them; and there is nothing hidden from its heat." What is the Psalmist doing in these two verses? Noël read to me one of the Doonesbury cartoon strips by Gary Trudeau a while back. In it a fellow had just moved to California and was trying to fit in and learn mellow talk. So he read a few lines of poetry: "My heart can scarce contain the joy that cascades from the silver crescent cradling the stars." And the mellow talk translator said, "O, that would come out something like, 'O, wow, look at the moon!'"

Answer 2

You've been worked over, haven't you? It's strange that some people (and I was one) believe that by becoming a Christian you will solve all your problems, even mental ones. Some of those people will not recognize that depr is an illness (you're just lazy). If you join the church it will change your life and all will be well. I have found that not to be true, in general.

If these people bug you so much, stay away from them. Refuse to talk with them. DON'T argue with them. But give them the credit for reaching out and caring about you.

Just one more question: are you going to baptize the monkey?

deb

Answer 3

So... Christians can have questions they don't like deleted, but what would happen if we complained about one of their religious questions? Or if they poked fun at atheists in one of their questions? Gawd! I hate double standards!

Answer 4

Welcome to the world of "Abuse" abusers.
Religious people seem to be the biggest whiners.