It should be true

Chuck said it very well. The Bible is meant to be taken as a whole and not nitpicked. The history and law he talks about is important to understand. The reasons those laws existed are very important. One interesting thing to note that Chuck touched on is law and how people tried to live to it. As you read through the entire Bible and see what transpired on the OT and what transpired with Jesus a few things become very apparent.

1. People of the time were so busy trying to live up to the "rules" they were ignoring the relationship with God. Sort of like if your kids were so busy doing their chores and homework and obeying the rules of the house that they never really took time to spend with Mom and Dad.

2. "Religion" had become people's god. People were paying more attention to their rituals and procedures, along with trying to proclaim their "goodness" and judge others than they were worshipping and building a relationship with God.

3. Jesus came along to reteach people that the key to a relationship with God while here on earth, and eternity with Him later is to focus our lives on Him. Jesus showed us how to love the lord, love others, and asked us to spread that love and His teachings to others to help them do the same. He spent His life serving others and teaching about God and how to further develop a relationship with him. You'll notice He didn't talk about rules, "religion", and judging others like much of the traditional law was set up to do. He was showing us a radically different way to live our lives and bring glory to God.

Ultimately you can pick apart the Bible all you want and you can rationalize a lot of different perspectives about what it is saying. As Chuck said, though, there is a very common thread throughout the entire Bible that shows God simply wants to have a relationship with us and He loves us. It is also very clear what He hates and how we should strive to distance ourselves from that.

502Python wrote: Phosphor, this is a difficult question to ask and I don't want you to think I am being sarcastic. Were you subjected to some sort of trauma while you were Catholic, perhaps by a trusted member of the church? Again, not trying to be hurtful, but an honest question.

Ha Ha. No, that's funny though. I wasn't part of the systematic molesting of children. If I was I would be really rich right now cause I would have sued the crap out of that wealthy Church. Funny how god works though (sarcastic). In my opinion, more evidence that god can't do a damn thing here on earth. I think the Catholic church is the worst of all the Christian Churches. When the pope goes to Africa where aids is a pandemic problem and says that condoms could make the problem worse you really have to ask yourself WTF he's thinking.

Phosphor, this is a difficult question to ask and I don't want you to think I am being sarcastic. Were you subjected to some sort of trauma while you were Catholic, perhaps by a trusted member of the church?

Again, not trying to be hurtful, but an honest question.

not when 2 people see the same thing, your body creates heat which is energy, that energy will leave your body....whether its in the form of a soul or something to that nature

usually the virgins are fat and ugly quinner, but they do specialize....

Phil, do you believe in the unexplainable?, apparitions, I personally have had encounters and sitting here thinking about still makes the hair raise on my arms

eric lavine wrote: Phil, I didnt read thru so i do have to ask, what do you think happens once we die?

72 Virgins

look at it this way, Faith is like a fresh tune-up for your soul, good thoughts bring good results, a belief comes from within and guides you daily, I am in no way a thumper and i have this same discussion with my neihgbor because he is the furthest man from believing in God......yes, i do respect him because he is older than me, I question Gods existance many times because of war, earthqaukes, floods, I 100% respect your thoughts Phil, the Bible is a manual to guide you thru life to choose the right path between good and evil. I dont think any less or anymore of you because of your beliefs. like i said, you try to rationalize the way things are in todays society and it does make you wonder where God is in the grand scheme of things. if it wernt for the commandments, i wouldve probably killed at least 10 people already, woman?? dont even go there, thats what guides me everyday, when i sit in my car on the way to work, I talk to whats refered to as God, my wife has no idea I pray, but it brings out the good in people

and just to let you know al found my exhaust flappers at n3 fo 10.50 each,beats the hell out of 25.00 @ skidim or overtons

God,   Need pics!

im curious as to why you would ask that ,or are you setting me up for another one your viable points as to why my experience was mental and not spiritual.

phospher wrote: interesting question. It depends on what people are praying for. Therein lies your answer. It isn't a waste when you are praying for God's guidance. Is it a waste for your son to come to you seeking advice? Would you not answer his questions? No, it's not a waste. Does God literally talk to you? Because when my son asks me a question he get's a clear answer with sound and everything his mom might even chime in.

No. I don't get an audible response. I'll say I get very clear answers though.

I'll share a story as an example...

My wife and I had moved to SD when I took a job out of college. We were really wanting to be close to our family in CA, but we really couldn't afford to move and were a little financially strapped. We also had a 2nd mortgage on the house that we couldn't afford to pay off. We prayed about it wanting to know God's will but also wanting to express our desire to be close to the family. I was sending out resume's and making contacts but not a lot was happening. We kept praying that God would help show what it was he wanted us to do. An opportunity for a job came up that I interviewed for. The interview went well and during the interview salary requirements came up. My asking salary was about $5k a year higher than their top end, but they told me they would consider it. More prayer ensued and essentially we prayed very specifically about what we wanted to see happen to understand what God's answer was.

Here is what we needed for things to really fall into place and be able to move...

1. Salary as mentioned above.
2. Moving expenses covered.
3. Some way to pay off the 2nd mortgage or finance it in some other way.
4. Sell our house for enough that we could pay it off and pay the realtor.

I talked to my Dad about #3 to see if they could loan us the money. He couldn't. My Grandma has loaned money to friends and family and charges less than market value interest rates, which helps supplement her income while helping the family member. However, she had all her money out on loans at the time.

So, after some time went by, here's what happened...

1. The company offered me the salary I asked for, with a generous moving expense option (Mind you, I never even asked them for moving expenses).

2. I accepted the job pending us selling the house and moving.

3. We placed the house on the market. In a matter of a couple weeks we had an offer that paid the loan and all expenses.

4. Just before the offer on the house came in, my Dad called. Grandma had one of her loans paid in full and now had the money to loan us.

So, everything worked out quite well and it was quite a blessing to be back near the folks and have them see our family grow. Looking at all the things that had to fall into place and the things we very specifically prayed for, I can only offer up that God very clearly answered our question of "What do you have in mind for us? Stay here or move back to CA?"

it was amusing,i can take a guess on who it was

God wrote: Phil, Just wanted to stop by and say hello. Carry On

LOL    I can't believe no one has that username already.

thats what im talking about real people who know that they know that they know ,that was some good stuff chuck even if phill doesnt get it. me personally i should be dead and i look back on life and know that in all my stupidity god has saved my life for a reason,and when i see my 13 year old daughter holding up her hands and worshiping god through song it all makes since to me. nice point andy on prayer

Phil,

Just wanted to stop by and say hello.

Carry On