No need to avoid sinning, all is forgiven?

[Drich]

Then why isn't one of the Commandments "Thou shalt not gossip"?

Because OT Jews were given only apart of the law concerning physical sin. The Law was not "complete" Till Jesus' sermon in Mat 5. After this sermon The law was expanded to matters of the Heart. Anger, lust, envy, superiority complexes/gossip, and the like.

So you can't want anything better than what you already have!

Not to the point it dominates your being. It drives your life or your being.

I was a seeker. I looked to this deity for answers and never received one. I think 20 years is enough time to conclude I was talking to the sky.

Did seeking include reading the bible? Because you are missing a general fundemental understanding of christianity that is based on the sermon on the Mt. How can one have searched for twenty years and missed this key principle?

There is a difference between going to a club where avaiable women are, and going to a clud and talking to them. Just showing up to the club does not mean your entitled to whatever you want.

Where did I say I think I should have gotten "whatever I want"?

Did you speak to God? Did God make Himself known to you? Or are you saying you simply did not want God to do any of these things?
Because Luke 11 says a Good Father will give his son what He Asks/Seeks. If you did not want God to make himself known to you then why have this conversation? what were you seeking in church for 20 years if not God?

And your analogy is a poor one.

One could say the same about your objection.

A proper analogy would be that I'm told to go to a club where there are available women, but I can't see them. I'm told to speak into an intercom and the women will hear me. I can ask them whatever I want and if one of them is interested in me, she'll answer back. I go to the club every Friday night for 10 years and speak into the intercom, but no one ever answers back. I finally conclude there aren't really any women on the other end of the intercom.

Again even in your analogy, if you can not see 'women' then you are not in the right place.
If your understanding of God is an unresponsive box then you simply showed up in the wrong place.

I see... so Gandhi's immense contributions to human rights means nothing because he once got angry... or he gossiped.... or he doesn't believe your deity is real...

Why? because good deeds do not cancel sin. You are thinking of Gandi's religion, and no part of Biblical Christianity.

And your deity's idea of what constitutes "sin" is pretty screwed up.

Why? so you do not have to seek attonement? The good news is that sin is not the end of this equasion and does not have to condemn anyone to Hell.

So there's no point in doing good deeds.

As a way of earning the right to goto Heaven, no. None what so ever.

Might as well be an obnoxious, unpleasant prick who keeps the ball when kids accidentally knock it into your yard. As long as you accept Jesus, your ticket is punched! WOO HOO!

Good deeds become currency once one is accepted into heaven. Good deeds do not have any value as a way to buy yourself into heaven.

It's like an arcade gaming token. You may have paid 25 cents for it, but outside of the arcade it is worthless, and whether you have 1 or a million tokens. The tokens in of themselves do not buy you the right to be in the Arcade. For if the owner asks you to leave your Gandi stock pile of tokens just became worthless.

Well, he's never done a damned thing for me.

Dying for your sins so you may have a choice as to where you want to spend eternity is a pretty big deal.

Just as well. I'd rather not spend eternity stroking the ego of a self absorbed jerk.

Again this is why we have been given this life. Because there are many many people like you who do not want to spend eternity with God in their heart of hearts. Your life your life's testament will be the deciding factor as to whether or not you are with God or seperated from Him. Appearently it is too easy to choose to be with God even if you do not want to when standing in His glory. This life has segergated us from said glory so we can make an accurate choice based on the condition of our hearts.

Gossiping is just as severe as raping and murdering a child. If that's the case, your god is retarded.

Severe as in deserves eternal seperation from God, yes.

What's wrong with how I spent that 20 years is that I wasted hundreds (maybe thousands) of hours worshiping a deity that doesn't exist.

Because you are the imperical standard in which all of existance is measured? In otherwords if their is a Creator God of the Universe as the bible describes. He is oblidged to do magic tricks for you so you will have cause to believe in Him??? How does that ego work for you in the rest of your life?

Sorry to disappoint you, but no "sin" is tugging on my heart.

If one does not understand what sin is then how can it tug on your heart? Which leads me to conclude that if you spent 20 years in the church, it was asleep. Or maybe you had a version of the church that did not teach the fundementals of Jesus, God, the bible, sin, evil, or anything else resembling basic christianity.. How can anyone spend this much time at church and have no recolection of any of the basics?
People who seek to be Doctors spend less time at school and become sucessful practioniers.
How can you say you were seeking anything if you have nothing to show for your efforts?

Which really is a moot point anyway. For Luke 11 tells us to Seek till we get what we have been seeking after. You have nothing to show for a 20 year effort, so unless you were seeking nothing, then you have some more seeking to do.

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God does exist.

Prove it.

It is not on Christians or Christianity to Proove the existance of God. This is a task the Big man has reserved for Himself and the potential believer. If you want proof, then ask seek and knock for it yourself just like everyone else who has received proof.