Religion and Spirituality

tonybear said:

truth in advertising
i once had a pastor teach, your job is to be their friend, be the example of christ. when you invite them it is then my job to preach to them. i have also been taught they will know us by our love for each other, not our ability to beat them with a 40 lb bible.

i have friends of other faiths, and i keep them as friends by loving them, not condeming them or judging them. i don't have to agree with them, but i can respect them as a person.

acceptance of a person and their beliefs or lack of, can open doors of dialog that years of spiritual attack has closed.
tony

lisa42 said:

unChristianlike behavior "ruining it" for the rest of us
Just a comment on how many people are turned off to the idea of becoming a Christian because of the unchristianlike behavior they see or have heard about by people claiming to be Christians. People talk about the whole thing with the Crusades, how southern Christian plantation owners had no problem owning slaves, some of the TV evangelists falling greatly into public shame, supposed "Christians" who bombed abortion clinics, etc, etc...

Well, of course, most of us on this board know that there's a difference if someone merely says they're a Christian and if they truly ARE and act like it. I find myself just cringing when I hear of someone who is a Christian (or has at least claimed to be) falling in a big way. The same thing when I once visited a church as a teenager and they invited me to go with them after church to "witness to others about Christ in the mall". My thoughts were, "Oh, no! That's NOT the way to win people to the cause of Christ- they'll just think you're a bunch of weirdos and will want nothing to do with you, or with becoming a Christian at all for that matter, after they see you in action at the mall!" I also remember when I was in college that there was a guy who'd get up on a table in the middle of campus and start preaching. Some people would listen, but most would laugh and think what a nut he was. I was already a Christian myself, then, and wished now that I had it in me to talk with him back then. Perhaps there were actually a few people who became converted by listening to him- I don't know. But, I bet most people just remember "the kooky guy who used to preach on the table" & it certainly did nothing to help them become Christians- just perhaps it embarrassed them, as it did me.

I just wish that anytime someone sees an "offensive Christian", that they would remember people are people- no one is perfect (and they are sinning themselves if they put on the "holier than thou" attitude. People need to remember that even Christians are just ordinary people with their ordinary faults. People who are arrogant before becoming a Christian may still be arrogant in their Christian faith. Christ condemns that, but it still may be something they struggle with. People who are obnoxious in whatever their beliefs and ideas are before becoming Christians, still may be that same way later.

Killing others in the name of God is always, always wrong- whether it's a supposed "Christian" who shoots a doctor who performs abortions or a Muslim extremist killing "infidels" in the name of Allah. That's really scary- so many in our country are trying to paint the religion of Islam as one of peace. It's only peaceful coming from those who aren't devoted in their faith and who don't believe their Quran literally. I've read excerpts of the Quran, and it really does talk about "killing infidels" and about how they will be rewarded in heaven for doing so. To them, it is the highest honor to kill others "opposed" to their ways and beliefs.
Sorry if I offend anyone for saying this, but I really believe that the Muslim extremists and the Quran is straight from the evil one. Other religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. are not religions I know a huge amount about, but I do believe that they are peaceful religions. Islam is NOT a peaceful religion- if anyone thinks otherwise, then get your hands on a Quran and read what it says- it very much advocates violence towards non-Muslims. I believe trying to negotiate with terrorist leaders (like the pres. of Iran, for example) will never, never work because of his devotion to this "kill the infidels" and "wipe the Jews off the map" belief (that problem goes way, way back and I don't believe the Arab/Jewish hatred for each other will even end until the end of time). I believe the Evil one in this universe is responsible for the sweeping Muslim/Islam religion explosion and that this is really a good vs. evil fight on a spiritual level. The "evil one" also can influence people to do evil things all the while they're claiming to be Christians.

God is love- love does not produce hate or violence. If it does, then it's not truly from God.

My two cents worth, (or two hundred!)

Lisa

lisa42 said:

You are right Phil, in that
You are right Phil, in that I definitely believe fanatacism goes both ways and in several ways. Yes, much violence and hate has been preached in the name of God. I believe that is wrong and I also believe, like you said, that peace will never be achieved. We can keep trying and perhaps there will be a facade of peace for a while, but it will never last- beliefs and hatreds are far too ingrained to ever be gone. Don't want to be a pessimist on the "Think World Peace" idea- but I just don't believe it will ever be achieved.

So, what are WE all going to do to achieve peace in our own lives and in the lives of those we love who are around us? I guess that's the important question we should each address in our own lives.


"Peace" to you-
Lisa

blueroses said:

My Two Amazing Miracles
As promised, in my previous post, here I am sharing with you an event that occurred during my bone marrow transplant isolation that changed my life and ways of looking at the whole topic of religion and spirituality. Grad a coffee, this is going to take awhile, lol.

First let me say that I am far from a bible thumper, lol. I don't carry around a bible and preach at or to anyone and rarely get to church - mostly due to my physical problems - but even before that I was not an avid church goer. Having said that though I have always believed in God and have had a very personal relationship with Him. I don't get into examining the bible or all of the saints and personalities in the bible - I just know that there is indeed a God and a Divine plan.

So, since I have this type of christian outlook it was even more remarkable as to what I experienced those 2 Fall days in 1991.

I was in isolation, after my bone marrow transplant was completed, and not doing all that well. I had tubes coming out of everywhere, fed intravenously - all kinds of fun going on in that room. lol. Anywho, one day I was sitting up in bed - unable to even get to the bathroom on my own after all the intensive treatments I had had - and unable to lie down even to sleep because of pneumonias I had that made lieing down a danger with too much fluid in my lungs. But even with all of this going on, all of a sudden something came over me and I realized that I felt better. Not getting up and going out and playing tennis better, lol, just not like I was going to pass on for a change. After a few moments of this great feeling I called my then husband at the time and asked him to get a video for him and I to watch that night in my room because I felt so much better, happy to hear that he agreed and hung up - he was at work. Remember that cause it's important to the story in a minute here.

So I sat back and was feeling happy that I was feeling so much better when all of a sudden I realized that 'yikes, I can't catch a breath'. I started to panic and looked over in the chair in the corner and waved frantically to my husband to go get help, as I couldn't even think straight enough to hit the call button. He was reading the newspaper and threw it down and ran out to get help. The nurses rushed in with crash carts and that's all I remember. I went into a coma from congestive heart failure. After a few days in the coma I woke up and a day or so later was speaking with my husband about the incident and talking about how lucky I was that he was in the room to get me the help I needed when I went into distress. He looked me rather strangely and said 'I wasn't in the room, I was on my way to the hospital after they called me to say you were in trouble?' So why did I see him clearly in the room that day? Who went for help then? What the heck was going on? I put two and two together later on that day. That was my first miracle.

Several days later I was sitting up in bed and feeling not too bad, all considered. Nothing was going on really - the boredom of isolation only really - when all of a sudden I felt something strange. It felt like a line of heat at the top of my head. I immediately thought 'hmm, strange drugs', lol. However, this line of heat I soon realized was moving. It was moving slowly down my head, deliberately and slowly and seemingly with great purpose. I can't say that I was scared per se but it certainly caught my attention. I pushed myself up on my hands, in the sitting position I was in, as to in some way, I suppose, escape the sensation I guess - not sure, but undauntingly this line of heat kept travelling down my body on some sort of mission it seemed.

'What the heck is this?, I asked myself. So I sat there, seemingly helpless against this line of heat as it moved through me. When it reached my lower chest it stopped and lingered there for longer than in the rest of my body and then it hit me (I'm kind of slow, lol), could this be a healing? I had never directly asked for such a thing or even really thought of something like this but of course like most cancer patients in trouble I was praying my face off most days - mostly praying to please be allowed to live for my children - just let me live long enough to raise them til they are self sufficient. Could this be what was happening? Were my prayers fully heard and the results appearing in such a dramatic way? And why me? Nah, that can't be it. Could it?

Anywho, the line of heat then continued down my body and once again stopped on the top part of my legs - the site of the first cancer. It lingered there even longer and before it started to move on I had this sort of message come to me - not a full blown voice kind of thing, just a powerful thought came over me - but it was put in my head, I didn't produce it - that I know for sure. It said 'This is a healing from God and your cancer will never return'. Then the line of heat continued down my legs and out the bottom of my feet and that was that.

Hmmm, that was interesting I thought, lol - a master of understatement for sure, lol. I can tell you though that from that day on I never ever had one moment of worry that my cancer would return - why would I? I had God's word on it.

This event was important to me, obviously, for many reasons but the biggest gift to me was the gift of peace, at KNOWING like I have never KNOWN anything before, that I needn't fear recurrance. Also just the real genuine feeling of 100% KNOWING something to be 100% true, that God gave me, was like nothing I had ever experienced before. Through our lives we KNOW many things but this kind of KNOWING, right from God, was something totally different. It held not only complete peace of mind but embodied understanding in it's purest form, goodwill, oh my - just everything good all wrapped up in one brief episode. It's so hard to explain but I was certainly blessed many times over to have received it.

I share these two incidents with you because of course it changed my life and I hope in some way will change yours as well. I KNEW now with TOTAL CERTAINTY that yes there is a God, whatever the name you put to Him, there is a higher power - He had just shown me that in no uncertain terms. I share this with all of you who need the hope and the knowledge that you are being looked after - sometimes maybe you won't get exactly what you want but I am sure that you will get what you need. It truly is, I believe, part of His divine plan - all for the greater good.

I hope my story inspires you and gives you the courage and strength to get through the life challenges you face - now and in your future. God Bless you and yours, as he did me and mine. Blessings always, Blueroses.

papajedi said:

World Peace
I wish it were possible but man's very nature seems to make it impossible. Unless his very nature is transformed man seems to have no limit to the evil and trouble he can inflict on himself, others and the planet. But we also know the earth groaneth...............:)

papajedi said:

Yeah
It is so discouraging that humankind can in this age still practice war, genocide..ect. My son did a tour in Iraq, was almost killed three times. It really had an impact on my participation in goverment. I'm a vet and have had many in my family but I became an ardent anti war protester. For the troops but against what our goverment started. I just don't get how destructive man can be....:)