Why do you follow the Bible/Christianity?

Seriously.

Have you ever come across something in the Bible and it defied something about yourself or a loved one? Perhaps the question of sexuality/personality etc.

Have you ever smothered your own feelings/character in an attempt to replace them with something out of the Bible that you believe will recreate or remould that aspect of yourself to better suit that of God?

My question is why do you do this?

[Morpheus]

Never mind the Bible for a second...

All the faiths at the esoteric levels align and agree. What are they telling us?

They agree with modern physics that we are more, and other than what we appear, in time and space.
That time and space is illusory. Time, space, gravity make up our "reality".
The Wachowski's in their illustrative cinematic creation, "The Matrix", revealed Truth to the public, regarding these things. Why are you asking this question? Think about it. Because you are Gay?

What the faiths are all telling us is that to focus on this world alone, without understanding that there are consequences and a judgement is shortsighted and folly.
You are not your own!
You are part of a society. Like it or not. Beyond that, you are part of a whole, with respect to God.
"In Whom we live and move and have our being."
...Apart from what the Eastern teachings call, "Maya".

Then... we can talk about various interpretation regarding the Bible itself.

Jesus also confirmed the Far Eastern teachings regarding, "Maya", the illusory aspect of the material world, by both His teachings on the effectiveness of faith, and, of prayer. And, with respect to, "miracles".

The below is from an Atheist. You can look him up:


"If a man's actions are not guided by thoughtful conclusions, then they are guided by inconsiderate impulse, unbalanced appetite, caprice, or the circumstances of the moment.
To cultivate unhindered, unreflective external activity is to foster enslavement, for it leaves the person at the mercy of appetite, sense, and circumstance." - John Dewey

The Wachowski's, in their movie, used the word, "Inured".

Jesus used the word, "slave", when He said, "They who sin are a slave to sin."

Originally Posted by Morpheus

Never mind the Bible for a second...

All the faiths at the esoteric levels align and agree. What are they telling us?

They agree with modern physics that we are more, and other than what we appear, in time and space.
That time and space is illusory. Time, space, gravity make up our "reality".
The Wachowski's in their illustrative cinematic creation, "The Matrix", revealed Truth to the public, regarding these things. Why are you asking this question? Think about it. Because you are Gay?

What the faiths are all telling us is that to focus on this world alone, without understanding that there are consequences and a judgement is shortsighted and folly.
You are not your own!
You are part of a society. Like it or not. Beyond that, you are part of a whole, with respect to God.
"In Whom we live and move and have our being."
...Apart from what the Eastern teachings call, "Maya".

Then... we can talk about various interpretation regarding the Bible itself.

Jesus also confirmed the Far Eastern teachings regarding, "Maya", the illusory aspect of the material world, by both His teachings on the effectiveness of faith, and, of prayer. And, with respect to, "miracles".

The below is from an Atheist. You can look him up:


"If a man's actions are not guided by thoughtful conclusions, then they are guided by inconsiderate impulse, unbalanced appetite, caprice, or the circumstances of the moment.
To cultivate unhindered, unreflective external activity is to foster enslavement, for it leaves the person at the mercy of appetite, sense, and circumstance." - John Dewey

The Wachowski's, in their movie, used the word, "Inured".

Jesus used the word, "slave", when He said, "They who sin are a slave to sin."

I still don't feel you have answered my question(s).

One thing I have noticed throughout my time as a Christian and since I have strayed away from the Church is how often when you ask a Christian a question, they tend to answer it through quotes. I tried to provide questions that would be easy to simply answer Yes or No to and I had hoped to hear people's personal stories and/or opinions.

These were just some of the reasons why I left the Church.

Cat, you asked two questions, first

Have you ever smothered your own feelings/character in an attempt to replace them with something out of the Bible that you believe will recreate or remould that aspect of yourself to better suit that of God?

You seem to feel assured that our answer is "Yes" and then follow up with your second question:

My question is why do you do this?

__________________

which certainly cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no".

To the answer to the first question, possibly so at times, but only since my conversion experience, in which case I have over ruled blind impulse such as an impulse to retaliate a perceived wrong I suffered and replace with the admonition to love one's enemies, pray for them and do good to them. I have to be reminded that in my Spiritual awakening I was able to see that wrongful, hateful behavior is a form of spiritual disease (in me as well as others) and the effective treatment is not retaliation but love and forgiveness which God lavished on me.

This "answer 'yes' or 'no' routine is simply a means of running one through a restricting chute as cattle farmers do to herd animals in the direction the "herder" chooses. We are not cattle.

As for why I try to replace evil impulses, (or wrestle with "the old man") I do so because of Divine intervention in my life by the Person I call God who made me aware that every act and thought should basically be grounded in Love and Peace. Following that in all instances, all else falls properly into place. I believe that is universal truth.

"http://www.oberf.org/mary_b%27s_ste.htm" \l "1st_"

Originally Posted by CatChild

Seriously.

Have you ever come across something in the Bible and it defied something about yourself or a loved one? Perhaps the question of sexuality/personality etc.

Have you ever smothered your own feelings/character in an attempt to replace them with something out of the Bible that you believe will recreate or remould that aspect of yourself to better suit that of God?

My question is why do you do this?

This is not specific to Christianity - people will look to all kinds of teachings, ideas, people, books, what have you, for advice. And yes, people will also sometimes value that advice higher than what their own heart says.

But you escape the trap of blaming a particular religion/book/and so forth and realize that someone's insecurity always comes first, and then they look for external answers.

Mankind's biggest problem is our false belief that what worked for one person in one situation should work exactly the same for all people. Then the "similarity" of the situation gradually diffuses. (We have a whole atheistic religion based on this, it's called the justice system. The mystical branch of this religion is called science. Haha )

I'm sure there is a Universal Law of God, but it is obviously evolving. Otherwise (speaking from a Christian perspective) why would Jesus appear in the middle of the scene and lay down completely different teachings, couldn't the Bible have been complete from the start?

Unless the teachings change as everything else changes. Maybe the principle of change is God? In either case, when someone does something stupid, don't blame whatever they use as justification.

Originally Posted by Mary Baker

Cat, you asked two questions, first



You seem to feel assured that our answer is "Yes" and then follow up with your second question:

__________________

which certainly cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no".

To the answer to the first question, possibly so at times, but only since my conversion experience, in which case I have over ruled blind impulse such as an impulse to retaliate a perceived wrong I suffered and replace with the admonition to love one's enemies, pray for them and do good to them. I have to be reminded that in my Spiritual awakening I was able to see that wrongful, hateful behavior is a form of spiritual disease (in me as well as others) and the effective treatment is not retaliation but love and forgiveness which God lavished on me.

This "answer 'yes' or 'no' routine is simply a means of running one through a restricting chute as cattle farmers do to herd animals in the direction the "herder" chooses. We are not cattle.

As for why I try to replace evil impulses, (or wrestle with "the old man") I do so because of Divine intervention in my life by the Person I call God who made me aware that every act and thought should basically be grounded in Love and Peace. Following that in all instances, all else falls properly into place. I believe that is universal truth.

"http://www.oberf.org/mary_b%27s_ste.htm" \l "1st_"

So you are saying that since you converted, things that you once enjoyed but went against God's word (whatever that may have been for you) suddenly were easy to give up?

I have a good friend who struggles with alcohol. She bounces back and fourth between drying up and binges and we often debate the opposite beliefs that we have. Her belief is in Christianity and mine is ... well I don't really think I 'have' a set belief in any one thing to be honest. But I practice Reiki and she won't accept Reiki because it doesn't go with her beliefs. Sometimes I really wish she would accept the healing benefits of a treatment because I know how good it really is etc. (It has helped my other close friend quit smoking, removed pain from another close friend, helped another emotionally and too many more to mention). Anyways, that was one of the main inspirations for starting this thread. That and my own memories of being worried that I was being a sinner in God's eyes if I felt the urge to experience my own energetic talents and telepathy etc because the Bible said that it was wrong. I felt this aspect of myself was so wonderful and it hurt that God would reject it. I also felt this part of me was the Spirit in me anyway and confused why God didn't approve.

Re my sexual orientation- completely irrelevant to be honest and for what it's worth I'm straight. But before I went and gave my reasons, I just wanted to hear what other people had to say from their OWN words and experiences.

Thanks Mary Baker.

Originally Posted by contentest

This is not specific to Christianity - people will look to all kinds of teachings, ideas, people, books, what have you, for advice. And yes, people will also sometimes value that advice higher than what their own heart says.

But you escape the trap of blaming a particular religion/book/and so forth and realize that someone's insecurity always comes first, and then they look for external answers.

Mankind's biggest problem is our false belief that what worked for one person in one situation should work exactly the same for all people. Then the "similarity" of the situation gradually diffuses. (We have a whole atheistic religion based on this, it's called the justice system. The mystical branch of this religion is called science. Haha )

I'm sure there is a Universal Law of God, but it is obviously evolving. Otherwise (speaking from a Christian perspective) why would Jesus appear in the middle of the scene and lay down completely different teachings, couldn't the Bible have been complete from the start?

Unless the teachings change as everything else changes. Maybe the principle of change is God? In either case, when someone does something stupid, don't blame whatever they use as justification.

I am in the process of changing my world and it is creating a need to do some personal inventory. I have been realizing I have a lot of unresolved anger, hurt and rejection around my sense of who God is from what I was taught while growing up. (Christianity). These questions/feelings need to be dealt with.

[Lightspirit]

Catchild this is a story I tell my kids I teach about god sometimes.


Imagine you are to walk into a house and it is has no lights, inside the house is total darkness.

Also in the house is sharp objects and things that can harm actually inside are things that can kill if stubbled upon.

Your task is to enter into the front door and exit safely out the back door alive and as harm free s posible.


Out the front of that house is a man who has successfully been through the house. Out of kindness he wrote a plan and left it at the front for the next person who must negotiate the perils in the dark.

the house is a metaphor for life as is the perils.

The man at the front is those who have lived before us.

the plan is a metaphor for the bible, the wisdom of those who negotiated the journey of life before us.


the wise man takes the plan and measures his journey and learns from the correct decisions and mistakes others have made instead of making error himself.



Thats why I might apply a bible story to my life at times. The wisdom of escaping the perils others have fallen into and taking the path to good things faster.

thats just a little story I dreamed up to tell kids so they make smarter choices in life to begin with.

The same can apply to other old writings too.

god made me and loves me as I am, my sins are forgiven past, present and future by the blood of Jesus. The journey is all that remains now!

[ElderFlame]

I personally believe in Jesus Christ. I do however have mixed views on the Old Testament and the parts written by Moses may not have come from the words of what we know as 'God' but I reckon people on this forum will know what I mean when I say that. The Old Testament is very correct but it is missing some information and some of the information is not actually factual. Since I read the 'Apocrython of John' I have futher knowledge and It has certainly helped me grow spiritually and grow an understanding for the Bible and two good and false Gods.

Cat C "So you are saying that since you converted, things that you once enjoyed but went against God's word (whatever that may have been for you) suddenly were easy to give up?"

"Enjoyed?"
Does your friend enjoy alcoholism?

"God's word"?


I did not read the Bible at that time and had only very rudimentary knowledge of it. I imagined God was a super Santa in the sky marking who is naughty or nice. Didn't care for such a person, decided to ignore him until I was at least 90 and then do whatever one does to be saved from hell. Subject closed, as far as I was concerned.

I don't recall "enjoying" much other than the overinflated ego that made me feel master of my own fate and recognizing no authority save my own.

I didn't convert. God converted me. The Word of God for me was what was spiritually given to me in mid September of 1947. As I testified then (and so did my friend) "God spoke to me."

God did not list do's and don'ts but made me aware that whatever is not of love is destructive to self and others. He suddenly changed my heart so that I DID love. That is often described as being born again. Jesus taught it. I simply was suddenly changed within. I didn't make the change.

I received enlightenment and things I once desired to do had Light cast upon them so that I saw the true nature of them. Did I still want to do them? HA, HA! If someone walked a path in the semidarkness and thought they were walking in flowers until a light shined down and they saw it was excrement, would any sane person want to continue walking in excrement?

Of course the Bible plainly teaches, and most of us learn by experience, that we can deceive ourselves if we do not let love be our constant guide, and can be temporarly blind in some area and will need to get back on the path of love. Perhaps that is what Jesus was teaching by washing the disciples feet at the Last Supper.

8Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

9Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

10Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit