Why Christianity?

seantspence · Oct 30, 2024

Why do we follow Jesus? Why do we follow Him and do His will if nothing seems to work out? Why has life gotten worse and worse and worse ever since we started reading the Bible and doing daily Christian activities? What is the point? Does God really fulfill the promises He has set for you? Or does He leave you hanging with nothing to be thankful for in the end? Why did we sign up for this?

ResidentAlien · Oct 30, 2024

seantspence said:

I can't speak for anyone else, but for me it's a matter of truth. I've spent a lot of my lifetime seeking truth; and when the Lord revealed Himself to me as the Way and the Truth, there was no turning back. There was an incident in the New Testament when many turned away and stopped following the Lord. He said to the twelve: "Do you also want to go away?" Peter replied: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." That pretty much sums it up for me.

enril · Oct 30, 2024

seantspence said:

I have to say, simply, because I am no longer lost, I am found. and I can be down, i can be worse than ever, but I will still be found. it is a matter of faith. you don't know, but you jump anyway, and hope the parachute works.

seantspence · Oct 30, 2024

enril said:

maybe I’m just having a decade in Christian crisis

enril · Oct 30, 2024

seantspence said:

or that. and, if you are, find someone who knows things, because my only advice is "you will probably heal eventually." but whatever you do, don't reject your faith. cus I did.

PaulThomson · Oct 30, 2024

seantspence said:

Because I find He works as promised, if we follow the Holy Spirit's interpretation of the Word. If it' not working, it's because we are following some man's misrepresentation or misinterpretation of the Word. Instead of blaming God, how about confessing our ignorance. God would still be true, even if every man were a liar.

seantspence · Oct 30, 2024

PaulThomson said:

Because I find He works as promised, if we follow the Holy Spirit's interpretation of the Word. If it' not working, it's because we are following some man's misrepresentation or misinterpretation of the Word. Instead of blaming God, how about confessing our ignorance. God would still be true, even if every man were a liar.

you cut to the core Paul

homwardbound · Oct 30, 2024

seantspence said:

Because, evil does not want you with Father, Son and Holy Spirit as Won (One) for you, does not want you to see Spiritually of God, how to not fight in flesh and blood over troubles at hand presently, in past or possibly future too. Jesus went to that cross "Willingly"
Did he go there for self? just a few people, just those good enough as we see in religion going on still. Went for all Hebrews 10:10
People in religion say oh yeah come on in, we accept you, have you confessed to God, are you cleaned up yet, you know you got to be water Baptized.
There are legalistic Churches, free Churches (Do whatever you want you are in) no need to get cleaned up.

Then, there is God's true Church "(Ecclesia)" the called out ones that trust God only in truth, that is not seen physically, naturally, the same as the air we breath, not seen naturally. we clean up willingly, God doe not force this on anyone, we decide from the true love of 1 Cor 13:4-7
2 Cor 5:16 we once knew him in the flesh, today no more, what is new? Spirit and Truth John 4:23-24 is in place now, in the risen Jesus for us the people to reside in and be willing to go through troubles too. I have gone through mine and can go through more, that is a fact. Yet no way could I have ever gone through what he went through on his way to save us in his resurrected life after death first willingly, for us to choose to believe it or not.
Col 1:21-23 I believe this as truth, even if sin again and have, yet do not want to. I do know this too, I get mad, angry, upset and think I want to get that other for whatever it is they are doing, have done and might do.
When this happens in thought(s) and I hear of go ahead get them. I respond with no I can't as in. Romans 2:1-4 teaches me, and seeing Romans 14:1-4 too
God is as real as the air I breath daily, for you too, you decide to believe God or not and be willing to go through troubles if need be too.
I am seeing a short while here on earth ion the flesh and blood nature, compared to eternity I believe God gives. I choose God over a short while here. I choose Love, God's type in 1 Cor 13:4-7 Thank you

GWH · Oct 30, 2024

seantspence said:

We are answering this question with special reference to atheists on the Apologetics thread so I won’t repeat myself here if you will join us there.

Publican · Oct 30, 2024

seantspence said:

Did you really sign up? Are you sure? Maybe you're still in that seeking faze? I recall going through a lot of what you described in your post here and in others, in the two years leading up to my meeting Christ. Things often get worse before they get better. The things you love just might be killing you friend. Christ came to set you free. If you are still desirous for the things of this world to the point that you have no joy in Christ, then I suggest that you may not yet be in Christ. Those are not words that I speak lightly. May God shine His light upon you and bless you with repentance.

Webers.Home · Oct 30, 2024

.
FAQ: How do you know for a fact that conventional Christianity is true?

REPLY: I've been an on-going student of the Bible since early 1968 via
numerous sermons, lectures, seminars, books, Sunday school classes, and
radio programs. In all those years nobody yet-- not one preacher, not one
author, not one Sunday school teacher, nor one radio speaker --has ever
produced rock solid, iron clad, incontestable empirical evidence proving
beyond even a hint of sensible doubt that conventional Christianity is
reliable, viz: I have no solid basis whatsoever for believing in it.

FAQ: How can you believe in conventional Christianity when you don't even
know for a fact whether it's true?

REPLY: Why does anybody believe in a religious philosophy? Buddhist,
Muslim, Hindu, Bahá'í, Hare Krishna, Jehovah's Witness, Mormon, Catholic,
Baptist, Judaism, Voodoo, Wiccan, Jain, Druze, Native American, etc, etc,
etc. The answer? Because it grips their heart-- the core of their being
--which is very different than holding someone by means of logic and
reasoning.

When folks are persuaded to buy into a religion by means of reasoning and
logic, they can just as easily be persuaded to give it up by means of
reasoning and logic. But someone whose heart is gripped by their religion is
not easily dissuaded regardless of how strong, how sensible, how
convincing, how reasonable, nor how logical the opposition's argument. In
point of fact, one of conventional Christianity's prerequisites relative to
Christ's crucifixion is believing with one's heart rather than one's head.
(Rom 10:8-9)

FAQ: Are you implying a number of folks are in Hell merely because conventional
Christianity was unable to take root in the core of their being?

REPLY: Yes.

FAQ: Isn't that kinda bigoted?

REPLY: It is, but what can I say when it's one of conventional Christianity's
unreasonable, illogical, senseless core beliefs?
_

EternalFire · Oct 30, 2024

We follow Jesus because he leads us to his God.

CS1 · Oct 30, 2024

seantspence said:

I follow Jesus because he forgave my sins and paid the price for them in his body for me. He has never failed me; even during war, tragedy, and pain, HE has always been there. I follow Jesus because he rose from the dead, is alive, and will return again for me. I fully believe Jesus is who he says he is.

Webers.Home · Oct 30, 2024

EternalFire said:

Oh c'mon now! You'll have to do better than that. There are intelligent people
from all across the internet visiting these forums. Many of them are sincerely
looking for answers; they are not looking for clichés.
_

Lynx · Oct 30, 2024

seantspence said:

Name one other thing in the world that really matters.

I could be the most famous person in the world, but 150 years after I die, try to find three people out of a hundred who even know existed.

I could be the richest person in the world, but I will lose it all when I die. We have never figured out a way to buy immortality.

Having a wife, owning a house, having two or three kids, all the things that people consider essential for being a success in life... I never did really care about all that stuff.

But Jesus... He helps people! And he wants me to help people. That's something I can do with my life that will actually matter. I can get into that.

Remember in the Bible where it says to lay up treasures in heaven? Ever wonder what those treasures are? The streets are made out of gold. They use precious gems for building materials. What kind of treasures would even matter in heaven?

I think it will be the people I helped along the way. My treasure will not be a pile of gold as a reward. My reward will be knowing that I mattered to somebody else, to the people whose lives were made better because I was there.

Lots of people want to matter, to make a difference. Why do you think rich people get all philanthropic? They found out money can't buy happiness, so they are trying to find happiness in helping other people.

Well, Christianity is the best way I have found to help people.

SomeDisciple · Oct 30, 2024

What else are you gonna do? Be a slave to sin? Get bossed around by your flesh; or worse, somebody else's? To hell with that!

Webers.Home · Oct 31, 2024

.
My very first step towards following Christ began with fear.

One day at work, back in 1968, right out of the blue, a production designer
asked me if I was prepared for Christ's return. Well; I must've been either
asleep or absent the day that the nuns in catechism talked about Jesus
coming back because that man's question was the very first time in my
whole life that I can remember somebody telling me. I was 24 and hadn't a
clue what he was talking about.

My initial reaction was alarm because I instinctively knew that were I called
on the carpet for a face-to-face with Christ, it would not go well for me
because I had a lot to answer for. I don't like being made to feel afraid so I
became indignant and demanded to know why Jesus wanted to come back.
That's when I found out for the very first time that it was in the divine plan
for Christ to rule the world.

Then the designer asked me if I was going to Heaven. Well; of course I had
no clue because Catholics honestly don't know what to expect when they
pass away. I was crossing my fingers while in the back of my mind dreading
the worst.

Then the man said: "Don't you know that Jesus died for your sins?"

Well; I had been taught in catechism that Jesus died for the sins of the
world; that much I knew; but honestly believed all along that he had been a
victim of unfortunate circumstances. It was a shock to discover that Jesus'
trip to the cross was deliberate, and that his Father was thinking of me when
His son passed away, viz: my sins were among the sins of the world that
Jesus took to the cross with him.

At that very instant-- scarcely a nanosecond --something took over in my
mind as I fully realized, to my great relief, that Heaven was no longer out of
reach, rather, well within my grasp.

Long story short; I eventually went with that man to his church and, along
with him and a couple of elders, knelt at the rail down front and prayed a
really simple, naive prayer that went something like this:

"God, I know I'm a sinner. I would like to take advantage of your son's
death"

My prayer wasn't much to brag about; but was no doubt the smartest
sixteen words I'd ever spoken up to that time.

Thus began 56 years of getting to know Christianity and its concepts.
_

homwardbound · Oct 31, 2024

Webers.Home said:

.
My very first step towards following Christ began with fear.

One day at work, back in 1968, right out of the blue, a production designer
asked me if I was prepared for Christ's return. Well; I must've been either
asleep or absent the day that the nuns in catechism talked about Jesus
coming back because that man's question was the very first time in my
whole life that I can remember somebody telling me. I was 24 and hadn't a
clue what he was talking about.

My initial reaction was alarm because I instinctively knew that were I called
on the carpet for a face-to-face with Christ, it would not go well for me
because I had a lot to answer for. I don't like being made to feel afraid so I
became indignant and demanded to know why Jesus wanted to come back.
That's when I found out for the very first time that it was in the divine plan
for Christ to rule the world.

Then the designer asked me if I was going to Heaven. Well; of course I had
no clue because Catholics honestly don't know what to expect when they
pass away. I was crossing my fingers while in the back of my mind dreading
the worst.

Then the man said: "Don't you know that Jesus died for your sins?"

Well; I had been taught in catechism that Jesus died for the sins of the
world; that much I knew; but honestly believed all along that he had been a
victim of unfortunate circumstances. It was a shock to discover that Jesus'
trip to the cross was deliberate, and that his Father was thinking of me when
His son passed away, viz: my sins were among the sins of the world that
Jesus took to the cross with him.

At that very instant-- scarcely a nanosecond --something took over in my
mind as I fully realized, to my great relief, that Heaven was no longer out of
reach, rather, well within my grasp.

Long story short; I eventually went with that man to his church and, along
with him and a couple of elders, knelt at the rail down front and prayed a
really simple, naive prayer that went something like this:

"God, I know I'm a sinner. I would like to take advantage of your son's
death"

My prayer wasn't much to brag about; but was no doubt the smartest
sixteen words I'd ever spoken up to that time.

Thus began 56 years of getting to know Christianity and its concepts.
_

My Journey, began at age 12, a miracle. I praised God over it, then at age 14, my youngest sister died at age 18 on an overdose of Heroin.
So much to learn from then forward, never quit belief to God. Was very ignorant and had and still have much to learn about trust to God only and not of myself or anyone else. I became a drunk until age 26-27 when I saw from God within me, I was a drunk because I had not accepted my sister had died. Once I accepted it, the drinking lost control over me. So much learned, learning since, thanks for your truth you shared here

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Why Christianity?

seantspence

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ResidentAlien

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enril

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seantspence

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enril

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PaulThomson

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seantspence

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homwardbound

Senior Member

GWH

Groovy

Publican

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Webers.Home

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EternalFire

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CS1

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Webers.Home

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Lynx

Folksy yet erudite

SomeDisciple

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Webers.Home

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homwardbound

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