(October 10, 2014 at 4:39 am)Thumpalumpacus Wrote:

(October 9, 2014 at 11:24 pm)Drich Wrote: I believe in the the truth of the bible because in it are promises. If we as believers do ABC we will receive 123. I did ABC and received far more than what I was expecting 123 to be.

You won't know about the payoff until you die.

That's the trick, you see.

The 123 is not the 'pay off.' The 123 if Having the Holy Spirit/God be a active part of your life.

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(October 10, 2014 at 12:17 am)whateverist Wrote: Why here is a stupid person now. So Drich, other than enjoying the thought that you have special, secret knowledge that allows you to imagine yourself more righteous than others, why do you believe the bible is anything over and above a book? Wait, I guess you just answered that question.

First thing I am not more righteous, I am quite possiably the least 'righteous' based on my merrit here as I put little effort into it. That is why i sought Christ, because attonement let me fall under his righteousness and not my own. That is the problem with feigning morality. If one has a 'good moral center' then he does not need attonement.

To answer your question
What makes a treasure map any different than a regular map? It is what the map points to. If one follows the map and finds treasures if they follow the specific instructions found in said map then the map is validated as being 'special/set apart' from other maps.

(October 10, 2014 at 10:37 am)Drich Wrote:

(October 10, 2014 at 4:39 am)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: You won't know about the payoff until you die.

That's the trick, you see.

The 123 is not the 'pay off.' The 123 if Having the Holy Spirit/God be a active part of your life.

Well, I don't know what form of Christianity you follow, but the one I was indoctrinated in asserted that the payoff in accepting Jesus into your heart and asking forgiveness for you sins was that you'd go to Heaven after you die.

I'm unsure of any benefit of having some "holy spirit" in my life while I'm alive, though -- at least, any benefit unique to such a belief.

(October 10, 2014 at 10:55 am)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: ...the one I was indoctrinated in asserted that the payoff in accepting Jesus into your heart and asking forgiveness for you sins was that you'd go to Heaven after you die.

Salvation and the forgiveness of sins is not reserved for the afterlife. It starts with repentance - dying to the flesh and being reborn - , regeneration & the renewing of your mind, and only then glorification in the afterlife. Seems your church focused too much on the prize and not the beautiful journey.

@Drich & ChadW

The "rewards" you guys describe here sound about as real as "aligning your chakras" or "wearing a moon stone to deflect the retrogade mercury's ill effects" or "cleansing your body of thetans".

Quote:Salvation and the forgiveness of sins is not reserved for the afterlife. It starts with repentance - dying to the flesh and being reborn

So why don't you just stop sinning Chad and cut out all this other bullshit?

(October 9, 2014 at 11:24 pm)Drich Wrote: I believe in the the truth of the bible because in it are promises. If we as believers do ABC we will receive 123. I did ABC and received far more than what I was expecting 123 to be.

You believe one verse, so that makes the whole book true?

That is freakin' stupid.

Long ago I stepped out in an experiment, based on the words of Jesus.

His words saying, "He that is not with me is against me" and the question-"Where will you be in 100 years?"
were unrelenting in my times of quiet.
I stepped out on a limb and started sawing it off between me and the tree, that was my perception of the following-
I repented. I surrendered to Father God in Heaven.
I did not fall. I was born from Above that night.

When my wife gets a new gizmo, I ask her, did you read the directions?
Every machine we sell (by the company I work for) comes with a Manufactures' Handbook specifically designed to be a guide in the use and maintenance of the machine.

After finding the reality of God by following a bit of the bible, it was clear to me, that it is a Makers' handbook of sorts.
I would expect nothing less from the creator of the most complicated thing we know.

Now, much farther down the road, there isn't the faintest doubt in my mind that I made those 2 correct choices in my life.

Quote: "He that is not with me is against me"

Wait.






That was Dubya.


And we all know what a fucking moron he was.

Jihadis like that quote

(October 10, 2014 at 11:32 am)genkaus Wrote: The "rewards" you guys describe here sound about as real as "aligning your chakras" ...

I do this regularly during meditation. I can assure you that the process and beneficial results are very real.