I'm writing a paper, and I just wanted to see people's ideas about this. I'm looking for Evangelical views in particular, but I encourage anyone to post what they believe. Please refrain from too much "fire and brimstone" stuff too. I'm well aware of those kinds of views. Let's focus on the positive here. Thank you!
2007-10-31 09:49:28 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Ok, I just need to be a little more specific. I do NOT believe in this God, or any God for that matter. I just need to know what people think about this. Uh... if we could keep the I don't believe in this God posts to a minimum, it would be greatly appreciated. Let's stay on topic!
2007-10-31 09:54:56 · update #1
I don't know if this is what you would actually call an answer or not, but I received this in an email. Read it clear through....it really does make sense....
This is an absolutely incredible interview with Rick Warren, author of Purpose Driven Life. His wife now has cancer, and he now has "wealth" from the book sales. In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
"People ask me, 'What is the purpose of life?' And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body--but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.
God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, 'which is my problem, my issues, my pain.'
But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.
It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves:
Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list.
He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
2007-10-31 09:57:58 · answer #1 · answered by irish_indian_fantasy 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I believe God created us out of sheer love and joy at wanted to expand the experience of life. That is the only reason I could ascribe to an Almighty, Loving Creator.
It does not need worship from its creation. It is Almighty, All Knowing etc. We can do nothing to Its ego, feelings etc.
We are here to learn. We are here to be perfected and become more and more a reflection of the Divine's true and most ultimate realization for us.
This of course may take more than one lifetime and the Creator is so loving and just, it allows us all the time we need to reach that ultimate perfection. We are TOTALLY responsible for how long that takes and the outcome of our actions.
2007-10-31 17:01:33 · answer #2 · answered by pixie_pagan 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think we are on Earth to learn. What God has in store for us in the next life I don't know.. I think we move on to something much greater. I am a nondenominational Christian. My view on hell doesn't agree with most other Christians. I go with the Jewish idea of hell, that it is not eternal but a refining time. More of a washing machine than a furnace. For folk like Hitler..maybe it is forever..
2007-10-31 16:59:40 · answer #3 · answered by PROBLEM 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We were all created to love, serve, worship, and glorify God in some way.
We each have a unique combination of gifts, abilities, and traits that allow us to fulfill our purpose in accordance with His will--I believe He calls certain people to fulfill certain tasks (such as missionaries, pastors, etc.) The Bible teaches that God has a hand in bringing certain people to power as kings and leaders to fulfill prophecies, promises, and judgments.
So, there is the "universal" purpose--that we would all come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and live as His children now and through eternity, and the individual tasks or callings that He has for each of us. Of course, we have free will to choose or reject these paths for ourselves, and no one but Jesus the Son of God has completely realized God's perfect will for his/her life without some zigzags and bumps in the road. Instead we live within His perfect Will when we obey and walk with Him and in His permissive Will when we don't, and deal with blessings and consequences depending on which paths we choose.
I also believe that our time on earth is giving us opportunities for spiritual growth in order to prepare us for eternity.
2007-10-31 17:01:00 · answer #4 · answered by arklatexrat 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To glorify Him ultimately. Im not sure if you are familar with the Doctrine of the Elect...but it really opened my eyes to the larger 'picture' of our purpose. Its more than us getting to heaven ultimately...its about coming back together with God. For whatever reason we are among the elect who will present the Bride presented to Jesus, the Bridegroom. It is God's gift to His Son, and then Jesus will return Himself and the Bride back to God.
2007-10-31 17:00:49 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I ain't got a clue . LOL
Maybe God wants to share existence with us
2007-10-31 16:54:07 · answer #6 · answered by Heterodox Idiosyncratic Algerian 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To live the best life possible. Being honest, loving and trustworthy. Living in His likeness.
2007-10-31 16:54:13 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The same as why parents want a child, to love us and pour His favor and blessings upon us and for us to choose to love Him in return.
2007-10-31 16:56:55 · answer #8 · answered by Jason S 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
i believe that maybe god put us here just for experience. actually to think of this is hard! because if you say he put us here to love each other, well theres not really a point to that is there? maybe were his version of "days of our lives" or some sort of entertainment? but i think I'm just going to stick with experiences or to test if were worthy for heaven???
2007-10-31 16:57:08 · answer #9 · answered by estrellita 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Personal entertainment... we're a very extravagant ant farm
2007-10-31 16:52:34 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋