This Might be Crazy?

Question

I'm putting this out there:

I'm so confused about God lately. Stuff isn't making sense. A lot of things seem to prove he's not out there, but thinking about the world coming to it's own with help is a crazier thought.

So here I go: Please all Atheists and Christians:

Send me links and advice of what to do. Sway me to you're opinion. Show me the proofs and benefits of each side.

Thank You

Answer 1

God did not sent His disciples out to save any one, Jesus did that when he died to pay our price for sin, we only have to except it and have faith. His disciples was sent to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God, let the world know about the good news of the world to come, an that we can have every lasting life. we must repent and come to him for his grace.
The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is ever lasting life.

Answer 2

History itself kind of makes you steer away from religion in general.
Catholicism's main practices that it revolves around today have nothing to do with how Christianity was when it was first invented. Everything is open to interpretation. The Papacy is probably a fraud, Pope's throughout the years have done terrible things, infallibility is a ridiculous concept, the list can go on and on, but research done on your own can show that.
And Protestantism isn't really much better. Luther endorsed the killing of millions of peasants, endorsed the belief that good work doesn't get you into Heaven, and tortured himself because of his imperfections. And his entire argument, though well intentioned and right about its criticisms, used the worst back-up evidence in the world, scripture. Anyone can use scripture to say anything, to an extent.
There are dozens and dozens of cultures with religions of their own, some make more sense than the ones we have today. Some got popular and survived. It's hard to believe people still argue about this.
Recommended reading:
Any unbiased study of the history of any religion. Get to know what it's actually about.
Some humanist/atheist author's works. Kurt Vonnegut, Dostoevsky. Vonnegut's an easier read.
The Atheist Bible. It really helped me when I first started to convert.

Answer 3

Pray with sincerity. Dont play games. If you really want God start looking for Him. I cant bring Him to you. Maybe help you find Him. You need a personal relationship with the one who knows more about you than you do.

Psalms 34:8

O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

If I told you that I was eating an orange right now and then asked you if it was a sweet orange or a sour orange what would you say. You would probably say how would I know? I haven't tasted it yet. The only way that you will ever know how sweet my orange is, is to taste it yourself. With your senses. Your intellect. Your mouth. If you really want to know, you will find out. Make it your first priority. The Lord is a great rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Answer 4

Just be open to whatever ideas come your way. That's what worked for me when I reached a spiritual crossroads. For me, the more I started reading about other world religions besides my own, and the more I began to teach myself about science and what it taught about origins, the less I found that I needed my religion. For me, it was a liberating experience. I'm still attracted to Buddhism and Taoism, and I still appreciate the teachings of Jesus, but I do those things without getting wrapped up in all the drama, as a detached observer, and simply try to learn from the great spiritual masters as much as I can ... even while I consider myself an agnostic, probably on my way eventually to atheist.

I wish you luck.

Answer 5

I'm neither atheist nor Christian. I've looked at both, and all that I can say is that what you wish to believe is what you shall.

There is a saying that is a part of my faith that basically says this: "If that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you shall certainly not find it outside of yourself."

Look into yourself and see what it is that you know. What is it that you believe already?

Read. Read all you can. Talk to people. Find out what they believe and what lead them to where they are today. Don't look to Christians and atheists alone. And don't limit yourself to just one brand of Christian or atheist. Perhaps it might be a good idea to find a comparative religion course at a college, or at least the text from such.

If your attitude is at the outset that only Christian or Atheist is correct, what caused you to come to this conclusion? Don't lock yourself into a box until you've had the opportunity to explore a great deal.

Answer 6

I do not want to "sway" you, but I can provide some information for you to sort things out for yourself.
The most important thing is for you to choose what you believe after examining all the information you can get, and to reevaluate your ideas when you learn something new. I know highly educated theists, and I know highly educated atheists, but they all are not afraid to evaluate their beliefs based on their own research and view new information as a tool to better understand what they believe. It is when you stop questioning and take what other people say as fact (when they do not have facts to back up their statements) that you are truly lost.
Just remember, the Bible is a good book, but it was written by men. It is not meant as a historic text, it is story telling, just like Gilgamesh. All religion has been plagiarized from previous religions. Religion is all about trying to understand what we do not know. And there is no absolute proof one way or the other, faith is by definition a belief that is not based on facts, and one can never disprove that something does not exist.

http://www.talkorigins.org/ great site
http://dravenwriter.blogspot.com/2007/09/zeitgeist-religion-greatest-story-ever.html great documentary on religion

Answer 7

Don't have a link, but here's my two cents for what it's worth: you say you're confused about God lately, so that sounds to me as if you must have believed in Him at one point. Try praying and ask for guidance. I'll bet there's not a believing Christian, Jew or Muslim or even pagan on here who hasn't had doubts at some time. I hope you find the answers you need. God bless.

Answer 8

Read 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

Answer 9

First of all, God is not out there. God is in your heart, so don't look outward, look inward. Reflect on your life, have you been surrounded by love? God is Love. You obviously have faith, have you been nourishing that faith with prayer and Scripture reading, have you been going to church? I suggest you get yourself a Sacred Space on the following website and read the daily devotional. God Bless.

Answer 10

first of all, you ultimatley have to decide for you own, on your own faith or no faith, and from there take in consideration of people's opinions. Also, if you even think that God might believe, pray to him too, before you make your final decision.

No one can really show you proof over the internet...but I'll tell you what I can

As for straight out evidence...
- My friend told me that there's this nonfiction book about how doctors finally thought the patient dead, because well, he was. his friend however, being a christian prayed for him, and he was brought back to life. he told the doctors and they said, "no, he's dead. we checked his pulse." but they checked and pratically fainted at the sight of an alive man in the room. i'm not sure what the book is called....but you could try googling it
- My pastor (not one of those really religious types, he's 24) was driving his bug car on a highway at 70 mph, and osmething happened that caused him to veer to the other lane. because his car was small, instead of being flipped over by that wall that seperates the two lanes, he went straight through, and while his car was crushed to bits by 140 mph collisions with other cars, he was thrown to the grass and it was a wake up call for him.
- i used to be a dry christian, almost atheist you could say, but one day, at a really big retreat of like 1000 people, i saw so many people during the worship service with such strong faith that i decided there must be a God, because a nonexistant force cannot be causing all these changes and such in people's hearts. i prayed, quite dryly, not expecting much, but the next day at the retreat, during worship service i just felt something...and i just knew that he existed. after the retreat ended, so did my newfound passion and belief, but i was left with a desire and from there i grew into God's arms.

it sounds stuipd but firs tof all, i'm horrible at telling my own stories, but if you take the time to look at how it happened....i left out a lot of stuff but it's just amazing what prayer can do

you just have to be strong and live on. as a christian, you will go through rough times and have your doubts- i'm going through one of those times right now. but eventually, with your effort and prayer, you will find your way back to God with renewed strength, faith and passion. that's how i've grown to be such a passionate, belieivng chrsitian

EDIT: i'm kind of not for those really religious people (usually older adults) that are all "o holy God." i mean, yea that who he is and what i do, but they make is seem like God is SUPPOSED to be almighty and loving, so you're SUPPOSED to love him and SUPPOSED to worhsip him. i'm just for the God himself