New Ager to Christian to Atheist

[Godscreated]

Then you shouldn't leave out the important parts, Cliff's notes or not.

Sorry, but I'm not writing this according to your specifications. I was telling a condensed story, which means choosing the quickest way to advance the narrative. Inserting "god said" and "the spirit of god filled me" and "i was led by god" and "there were multiple confirmations of god's message" every few sentences does not accomplish that.

And let's be honest: you're just nit-picking because you don't like the story.

You're correct I find your story suspicious, even more so as you continue to post. I'm not nit-picking, I'm scrutinizing. What you say about why you wrote the OP the way you did is probably true, you haven't addressed anything I noted, leaves much to be cautious about.

I find that hard to believe no other god has died for the sins of those he created...

Not true.
Dying-and-rising god

I said nothing about other god stories of dying and rising, my statement was matter of fact, "no other god has died for the sins and redemption of those He created.

You cannot possibly know what those who follow other religions are experiencing. I choose to take them at their word, rather than irrationally claim that they are wrong and i am right based only on the fact that my (former) religion is different from theirs.

I know that God is the only real God, so I assume that those in other religions are mostly trying to convince themselves they have the right religion. How is it you can claim you were a Christian and accept there were other God's, that is totally against the belief.

But of course every religious person must believe in the supremacy of their religion over others.

Why, only one is true, with no stone, wooden idol or animal being the god.

Then put in the important parts, when you leave out the basics of God's actions in our lives it gives me the idea you haven't really understood Christianity.

No, what gives you that idea is your desperate need to explain away the fact that someone who was willing to die for his love of Christ could wake up one day and realize that it was merely fiction.

I have no desperate need to explain away your actions, I fully accept you believe what you say, I just do not take it accept you were a Christian at all. The one in my opinion who's desperate is yourself, you have returned to your original desire of the self, that which Adam and Eve suffered. Rejecting the truth of God's reality means for you that God was never real. Even though you may have believed so at that time, He was never real to you and thus you could have never been a real Christian, no God = no Christian, period. If you had truly known God you could reject what He stands for but, you could not reject His reality.

Really, how personal was your relationship with God, did He make himself known to you, a way that left no doubts?

Oh yes, over and over again. I prayed fervently about every detail of my life, stopping often to ask for confirmation.

This can't be true, you have rejected His existence and to do this means you had deluded yourself for whatever reason.

My wife and I endeavored to live by faith, according to the overwhelming love we both felt from "god." For many years, whenever I encountered doubts i would simply look back on all the "miracles" in my life and conclude that none of it could have happened by chance.

How could there have been love if there was no God. Christians do this from time to time, but those who know God will most likely not leave God.

Whatever you do, don't study Confirmation Bias, or read about the experiments in this field.

Like I said, I'm not afraid of that kind of book, I have the book of Truth that has confirmed much in my life. You listening to man instead of God has brought you to this point in your life.

if one's truly saved one truly knows God and once you really know something is real how can you say it's not real, curious, very curious me thinks.

People "know" all sorts of things that are untrue. The mind is a tricky thing.

Only if you allow the mind to fool you into believing the untrue is true. Acid can have that effect on a person's mind.

Were you a Baptist, the Southern Baptist are the only ones I know who believe in once saved always saved, but this one doesn't.

... washed-in-the-blood speaking-in-tongues spirit-filled grafted-in messianic-jewish study-to-shew-thyself-approved fundamentalist Jesus-loving Christ-worshiping Christian.

Now that you have rejected the existence of God you know this can't be true.

Way to move the goalposts, BTW. "God wouldn't send you where there was nobody to teach you." There were plenty of people to teach me.

I didn't move anything, you did not mention there were others to teach you, the only thing you had to say was the way they knew nothing and you were right. You can drop these atheist cliches, I've heard them all, they make you sound childish.

Here's how I've learned much from the scriptures, I traveled many years with teachers and never left East Tennessee,

Well that explains a lot.

What does that mean, as if I didn't know.

but most importantly I traveled through the scriptures with the One who gave them to man, big difference in our educations, I went directly to the source and many of my questions have been answered, still waiting on a few though, patience will bring the answers when I'm ready to understand the answers.

No difference whatsoever in terms of reading the Bible with the guidance of the holy spirit. That was the first thing I was taught, way back in Hawaii: always read the scripture with prayer and humility.

You couldn't have been guided by the Holy Spirit, you do not believe He exists, if you knew He did you couldn't reject His existence, only His teaching.

I know God actually exists, no doubts, no fears.

No, you believe god actually exists. You have no real proof. And nothing but circumstantial evidence. But the belief makes you feel safe, while admitting the possibility that it might not be true terrifies you.

I have nothing to be terrified of, God is real and I know it's so, He's revealed Himself to me many times and proven Himself many times, He's answered very specific prayer very specificly. I have all the real proof that's needed and that scares you, doesn't it.

So a brain fried as badly as yours must hold some really weird notions at this time.

Oooh, insults! What a very Christian thing to say. Jesus must be proud of the way you show His love to others.

There you go with those childish cliches again, a diversion from the true. There was no insult meant, you and I both know what acid can do to the brain. By the way you described your trip in the OP, your egg was in the frying pan far longer than mine.

I am well aware that nothing i say can ever convince you that i was a True ChristianTM with an intimate, personal relationship with "god." The only way you could ever recognize that would be to travel the same path yourself.

You have stated a truth, one who denies the existence of God could never of had a relationship with Him, it would be like having a relationship with the FSM. It's a shame you went looking for a way out instead of actually seeking God through Christ his Messiah.

GC