wickwoman said:
Interesting phrasing. "Spend eternity with Clete worshipping his God . . . spend eternity with God and all us Christians. . . "
Does that include, Dave Miller, Chileice. If so, I'd say yes I'd enjoy an eternity with that kind of Christian.
Based on the blasphemous things that Dave Miller routinely posts, I give him the benefit of the doubt and regard him as false Christian.
But either way, there will never be a Christian
like Dave Miller in Heaven. For if David Miller ends up in Heaven one day, he will be righteous through Christ and will no longer have his flesh. Therefore he will therefore no longer condone or defend homosexuality nor will he accuse God of sinning against men. He will share many of the qualities and ideals you observe in Clete and Poly and Nineveh and Shimei and Knight and despise.
With the Clete's and the Turbo's? I think not.
:up: Thank you for further validating the point I was making to allsmiles (which he recognized and affirmed already).
And let's talk about this. Is eternity the only benefit of your faith?
No.
Because it seems to me that's all many Christians have to offer - escape from eternal torment.
Christians don't have to die in order to enjoy love and fellowship with God or each other. And no, it's not just like your ungodly friendships. Having experienced both I can tell you that it is altogether different.
Contrariwise, unbelievers don't have to die to be miserable and lonely. Only Christians can know true peace and happiness regardless of their earthly circumstances, whereas even unbelievers who seem to have it all are actually empty inside.
There are those of use who would like to have better lives right now. There are those of us who want to be better people. We want to be more compassionate and loving, more patient and kind. We want to make a difference in the lives of the poor and the disenfranchised.
No matter how much you strive to be a better person, no matter how many good deeds you do, you will still be a lost sinner who needs Christ. And you will still know in your heart of hearts that you are unworthy of His presence. And there is only one Way to be made clean.
By the way, I remember reading some time ago that you don't believe in sin, but your desire to be a better person is a tacit admission that you are in fact a sinner and that even according to your own standard of righteousness, you don't measure up.
But what we see of most Christians is mostly rude behavior, intollerance, and unkindness. And we can be like that without your religion.
If Knight had followed the
Wickwoman Handbook for How to Be a Good Christian, lovemeorhateme would still be a lost homosexual. And you may think that would be a good thing, but I know that it would not.
But thank God that Knight loved lovemeorhateme enough to boldly confront him with the Truth rather than tolerating him straight to Hell as you would have had him do.
Turbo said:
A lot of people blame God when bad things happen to them or are done to them by other people, and therefore want nothing to do with God. I'm sure you know your share of people like that and you may even be one of them.
Actually, most of us want nothing to do with YOUR RELIGION.
It's both. Some people reject God based on false teachings about Him, and some people reject God based on who He really is. (And often it's a combination of both.)
And that's separate and apart from the true God, if one exists.
You'd be wise to figure out whether God exists before attempting to correct others' descriptions of Him.
Suggested reading.
Do do not confuse our lack of association with your religion with a lack of desire to know God. They do not go hand in hand necessarily.
But you have already admitted that if the God I worship is the true God, you want nothing to do with the true God.
It's a simple exercise in logic.
Yes it is:
You want nothing to do with my God.
My God is the true God.
Therefore, you want nothing to do with the true God.
Now, I don't expect you to agree that the second premise is true. But I
know that it is true.
Do you agree that if my second premise is in fact true, that my conclusion is true as well?
People who are interested in the Christian slant on God look to see what affect the belief system has on the Christians. And when we see what it does or doesn't do, we go running from the Cletes of the world.
Clete is a bold witness for Christ who exposes wickedness wherever he sees it. You don't despise Clete for his faults, you despise him for his virtues. It's no wonder that you run from him as you run from the Christ.
[jesus]And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.[/jesus] John 3:19-20
It's easy to be a Clete - we don't need religion for that. But a Dave Miller, a Lovejoy or a Chileice, well that's another thing alltogether.
That's a low blow, lumping Lovejoy in with Dave Miller. Maybe you don't know Lovejoy as well as you think.