Thank you God...... Have you thanked God lately?

[TheAnvil 0]

I thank Him every day. He's been good to me as of late - aside from frustrating me with this project at work, which I'm sure is part of His grand design...

Thank God! Especially for Beers and Chicks!

Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

[Cornholio 0]

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If I bust my ass and make something happen, I thank me. God isn't gonna walk a pretty girl into my apartment, I have to go out.

Very true. However, I like to think that I try and do God's will and not my own. That is not to say that I sit on my ass and he does stuff for me. It means that if I put forth the footwork, he wil take care of the rest.

In your example, yes, sitting on your ass will not bring a pretty girl into your life. However if you do the footwork and show some effort into getting out there in the world and being available, I believe that he will make it possible for Ms. Right to come into your life.

Butthead: Whoa! Burritos for breakfast!
Beavis: Yeah! Yeah! Cool!
bellyflier on the dz.com hybrid record jump

[SkyDekker 1,465]

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Actually, I don't find it lonely at all. It actually comforts me.

I am the primary being in charge of my destiny. My life is based on my choices, the choices of others, and a whole lot of randomness. I control what of it I can (my actions), and don't worry about the rest. I'm not worried about whether a supreme being happens to like me or not, or whether I happen to be of the same denomination of that being, or whether I'm praying hard enough or not.

I do not need another person to interpret the alleged actions or directives of an intangible being for me. There are so many conflicting religions, and so much harm done in the name of religion, that I can't believe that any of them are "right" in an absolute sense. Certainly, they can't all be. Yet they all feel equally adamant in their correctness and faith.

I do not need an artificially-contrived diety to be at peace. I'm comfortable with both myself and my place in the world. I do good for its own sake. I find this to be completely satisfying and intellectually consistent with my beliefs.

I am with you on this one Justin. I am quite happy in my belief that when I die, I die and that is the end.

Should I be wrong and end up in hell. I think I would prefer to be there, I know that is where most of my friends would be

[sunnydee123 0]

Thanks "Big Guy" for allowing me to see the light this last year and make the changes in my life that needed to be made....the changes I deserved to have made in order to find my happiness. My smiles are proof enough that it has been A FABULOUS YEAR and there is still another 6 months to go!

Better late than never!

Dreams become reality, one choice at a time...

[Schroeder 0]

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Simple but true.

That blows me away. How on earth can you say that something that's so unprovable is true? Can you not conceed that you may be wrong? That the possibility exists?

If I ventured in the slipstream; Between the via-ducts of your dreams.......could you find me?

[jfields 0]

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How on earth can you say that something that's so unprovable is true?

Main Entry: 1faith
Pronunciation: 'fAth
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural faiths /'fAths, sometimes 'fA[th]z/
Etymology: Middle English feith, from Old French feid, foi, from Latin fides; akin to Latin fidere to trust -- more at BIDE
Date: 13th century
1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : LOYALTY b (1) : fidelity to one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions
2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust

I don't believe in God, so I don't have any faith in God, but here is your answer, according to Merriam-Webster.

[rhino 0]

My wife has faith in me. There is proof of me. That definition is flawed.

[sunnydee123 0]

My sister felt the same way when my mom passed but has come to grips with it....18 years later. I try to think of it as this.....despite it being hard and not understanding WHY they took your loved one from you - perhaps he needed them to help with his job and although I am not an overly religious person, I have to believe my mom went somewhere better than here, because she was suffering and I am hopeful, one day, I will see her again. You'll sort through it all in time.....just don't close your mind or your heart.

Dreams become reality, one choice at a time...

[FliegendeWolf 0]

Actually, that argument is flawed. When you say that your wife has faith in you, you do not mean that your wife believes in your existence. It is not that she has faith in your existence, but that she has faith in the quality of your character (or some other intangible personality trait).

A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

[jfields 0]

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My wife has faith in me. There is proof of me. That definition is flawed.

No, it isn't. It is not stating that faith and proven existence are mutually exclusive. It is saying that faith is what enables belief in something that cannot be proven to exist. Big difference.

[Schroeder 0]

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My wife has faith in me. There is proof of me. That definition is flawed.

You exist, she can cut you, you bleed, your successes/failures and how you've dealt with them have lead her to have 'faith' in you.

If I ventured in the slipstream; Between the via-ducts of your dreams.......could you find me?

[jfields 0]

Heh! Three rebuttals in under two minutes. I'm impressed.

[rhino 0]

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How on earth can you say that something that's so unprovable is true?

Unprovable to who? you? It has been proven to me on many occasions. The fact that God exists has been proven to me on many occasions. I use to feel the exact same way you do. I literally had to grow up myself and do research, open my mind and start paying attention to the things that were happening around me. Do you think God feels the NEED to prove himself to you? No. Part of the reward for having faith and being saved is spending eternity with him in heaven. But we can agree to disagree.

Rhino

[Schroeder 0]

you're mixing up your words here, you said it was 'true' in a very matter of fact way that if you don't believe you ain't getting into heaven. So, that has been proven to you? Really? That's facinating.

I am fine with agreeing to disagree, but I do want to understand your position, which really makes no sense to me.

If I ventured in the slipstream; Between the via-ducts of your dreams.......could you find me?

[rhino 0]

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Actually, that argument is flawed.

I have faith that my child will be born any day now.. Why because I can see my wife pregnant right?

The same way I can see my wife pregnant I can see things that only God could make happen every day. In my life. The actions I see and the prayers I see answered in my life are no different than the baby growing inside my wifes whomb that I know is there.

No different.

I can see his actions as I can see my baby at this moment growing inside my wife.

The same way that HAS TO BE A BABY. I can clearly see that THAT HAS TO BE GOD AT WORK.

Faith..

Rhino

[rhino 0]

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if you don't believe you ain't getting into heaven.

Nope.. I said if you aren't saved.

[Schroeder 0]

Ok, so my question stands, then, that if you're not saved you're not getting into heaven, has been proven you? How does that work?

If I ventured in the slipstream; Between the via-ducts of your dreams.......could you find me?

[jerry81 10]

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if you don't believe you ain't getting into heaven.

Nope.. I said if you aren't saved.

Although I can't see us getting anywhere with this thread-just out of curiosity- which religion do you subscribe to?

---

[rhino 0]

Have you read your bible? All your questions are answered in there.. Speaking of that I should be reading mine more.

[rhino 0]

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Although I can't see us getting anywhere with this thread-just out of curiosity- which religion do you subscribe to?

I don't subscribe to a religion. I am a saved Christian. Simple.

[Schroeder 0]

When I was 15. I also spent 18 years in the catholic chuch, but what I'm asking you, is how, like you said, has it been proven to you? I can write that I'm 14 feet tall on a peice of paper and mail it you but that doesn't make it true.

If I ventured in the slipstream; Between the via-ducts of your dreams.......could you find me?

[jfields 0]

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Unprovable to who? you? ... Do you think God feels the NEED to prove himself to you? No.

Yes, unprovable to me. Your argument is circular.

You say that God does not have to prove himself to me. But without such evidence of God's existence, I do not believe that God exists. So we are back where we were before, with the definition of faith being belief in something which is unprovable (or not proven). While not belittling your faith, I don't have faith in a God. Since there is nothing that tells me God exists in the first place, I have no reason to have faith. If there were proof of God, nobody would need faith, since the existence would be irrefutably established for all.

[rhino 0]

Not so.. Proof to you might not be proof to me my friend. Proof has brought me to faith. God doesn't have to prove himself to me but he has. On many occasions. Those occasions were between him and I.

As far as being saved... Proof that if you aren't going to be let into heaven if you aren't saved. It is in the bible. I ragard the bible as the truth, God's word. If it is there it is. Simple. Faith is something I had to learn through experience through what I would call proof.

Take your chances. If you don't want to believe that is totally up to you. You had better hope you are right.

[jerry81 10]

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I don't subscribe to a religion. I am a saved Christian. Simple.

And to elaborate on my question; in what way is your personal proof of god's existence any better than the proof of a, say, sunite muslim or an orthodox jew?
My view on this is simple as well- since no firm believer's faith can be proven on a non-subjective level, and since I, from an agnostic's point of view, can see that faith (or knowing if you will) can be equally strong in persons of different religious beliefs, I can safely conclude that none of them is right, because if one of them was right, all the others should be too and I hope you'll agree that's impossible.

But if your personal faith makes you a better man, I definitely won't be the one to tell you to abolish it.

---

[jfields 0]

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Not so.. Proof to you might not be proof to me my friend.

Proof is when something is irrefutably shown to be true by set principles of reasoning. Those rules are applicable to all.

Main Entry: 1proof
Pronunciation: 'prüf
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, alteration of preove, from Old French preuve, from Late Latin proba, from Latin probare to prove -- more at PROVE
Date: 13th century
1 a : the cogency of evidence that compels acceptance by the mind of a truth or a fact b : the process or an instance of establishing the validity of a statement especially by derivation from other statements in accordance with principles of reasoning

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I ragard the bible as the truth, God's word. If it is there is is. Simple.

The key there being that you regard the bible as truth. Your believing it does not make it so. It may or may not be, but in either case, it doesn't depend on your belief. Insane asylums are full of people that believe things that aren't true, to the level of completely denying reality in favor of an alternate and false perception.