I believe in God Thread

[Amber03]

I appreciate you talking to me about it. I know that it is a religion without Christ. I just do not want to judge people walking in my neighborhood with their head scarves as terrorists. Hate is a very strong emotion which causes many death and anger. I always think that the greatest is love. Love is the only thing that can beat hate. The terrorists are after us because they hate us yet they do not know us. They watch TV or read the news and judge us as a whole. I do not want to do that and believe that you should judge an individual based on their actions, words and heart not by a group. I took classes such as cultural diversity where we learned a bit about Muslim beliefs. It did not talk about how they are terrorists and will kill to get to heaven. Although I disagree with some of their beliefs and rituals, I also disagree with some of the Jehovah Witnesses and Catholics beliefs as well. Then again they all probably disagree with some of mine. God is still God and Jesus is still the Messiah.

[Karol]

You would not be taught about how the religious practices and beliefs of Islam interact with terrorism in a secular college or university because such classes are PC with a view of tolerance and nothing is to be criticized.

My husband taught World Religions at two Bible colleges in South Africa and has an MA in Cross-Cultural Communication from Fuller Theological Seminary. Christian tertiary institutions do indeed teach how the religious belief system in Islam affect human behavior. In fact, my husband and I met 22 years ago in a cultural area studies class on the Middle East covering Islam as part of the coursework at a Bible college. I was taught those things myself as well as my husband doing extensive studies on Islam because Cape Town, South Africa (where we were for almost a decade) is 15%-20% Muslim.

Cape Town's Muslims are considered "coloured" by Apartheid's racial grouping. South Africa brought in slaves from Malaysia (Muslim) and they intermarried with the black population in South Africa. Black, white, and coloured are the terms in common usage in South Africa. Cape Town's Muslim population is unique and the form of Islam is a bit different than that practiced in the Middle East. However, certain things run through all of Islam.

We are the infidel if we reject Islam. The only way to go to Paradise for sure within Islam is to die in jihad (holy war against those who reject Islam). Christians are martyred in most Muslim-dominated countries just for being Christians.

When my husband was at Fuller Seminary in the late 1980's the best estimate for Christian martyrs was about 30,000 people were martyred for Christianity a year worldwide. The figure has now gone up an estimate of 300,000 Christians martyred a year for just being Christians. In approximately the last 20 years, the incidence of martyrdom world-wide has increased 10-fold. Believe me, it has certainly stepped up in the Muslim world to be able to reach those figures as well as in China and other areas of the world.

The PC acceptance of everyone and everything as different but equal in value is a deception in my opinion. Islam is not tolerant of Christianity as Christianity is tolerant of Islam. Murder of someone for their religious beliefs alone is wrong (martyrdom of Christians). Most people do not realize the depth of the submission Islam requires. As I said in my earlier post, the word Islam itself means "submission." The goal of Islam is to dominate all areas of life including government, i.e. sharia law to be imposed.

Muslim groups within the US skirt around being open about this desire to impose sharia law, but even Barbara Boxer has rescinded an award she gave to CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) *Anti-CAIR* Defending America from The Council on American-Islamic Relations

Search GOOGLE for sharia law + CAIR and what you will find is disturbing at best.

[Karol]

I apologize about my statistics for Christian martyrs being incorrect.

Here are two links that estimate Christian martyrs currently at 470 per day (177,500) or 173,0000 per year:

Global statistics for all religions: 2001 AD

puts Christian martyrs at 470 per day (177,500 per year).

andhttp://www.gcts.edu/ockenga/globalchristianity/resources.php

puts Christian martyrs at 173,000 per year as of mid-2007.

The statistics I recently read in an article from a church periodical cannot be corroborated. However, 177,500 Christian martyrs a year is a horrific number. Approximately 65% of all Christian martyrs over the approximately 2000 years of Christianity have occurred since 1900.

[calimari]

Personally I don't mind if someone wants to start a thread for "believers only" to respond to, if they want to keep it "pure" and not read other perspectives. On the other hand, this is not a "christian only" board - there are tons of those out there - and from PMs I've received, many folks think exclusivity is not a great idea.
For whoever mentioned they were shocked that there were so many unbelievers out there - what did you think? I think I read 7-9% of the US is athiest/agnostic. It's a small percentage, but millions of people. There are lots of gods out there that man has worshiped for centuries. We just believe in one fewer god than you do. And for whoever mentioned they were sad to read the comments from those who don't believe --- believe me, we are sad to read all the claims of faith and prayers and such. Not just here,but everywhere. So I think we're pretty even steven!

[Amber03]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1st-timemommy but I love the Lord. I try to share His love with people. I really try to witness (I'm not sure if other churches call it that) to people but I realize that I am a lot more open and eager to talk a bout God online (which is sad in a way) because i don't have to fear others rejections so much. If they are getting mad online, I can just quit reading. I do try to be what I call a gentle witness. I try not to argue and if some one tells me they don't want to hear about it I try not to bring it up again unless I feel the Holyspirit prompting me to do so. I am a Baptist and I know that there are many diff. religions that believe in God, so sometimes I get scared to talk about Him to them because there may be a question to something that I just don't know and I don't want to wreck the testimony of others like me by saying something that isn't true so I just try to be careful and if I'm not sure I say what I THINK the answer is and let the person I'm talking to know that I don't know for sure.

I know how you feel. It really hurts when people reject God. I guess we have to learn to be strong and carry on. I am also kind of a quiet person, I love talking about God but probably don't do it as much as I should. God and his son are our only hope in this world.

[Amber03]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karol I apologize about my statistics for Christian martyrs being incorrect. Here are two links that estimate Christian martyrs currently at 470 per day (177,500) or 173,0000 per year: Global statistics for all religions: 2001 AD puts Christian martyrs at 470 per day (177,500 per year). andhttp://www.gcts.edu/ockenga/globalchristianity/resources.php puts Christian martyrs at 173,000 per year as of mid-2007. The statistics I recently read in an article from a church periodical cannot be corroborated. However, 177,500 Christian martyrs a year is a horrific number. Approximately 65% of all Christian martyrs over the approximately 2000 years of Christianity have occurred since 1900.

Do you think that the Anti-Christ will most likely be Muslim? I think it does say in scripture that he will come from the Middle East.

[Amber03]

Quote:

Originally Posted by calimari Personally I don't mind if someone wants to start a thread for "believers only" to respond to, if they want to keep it "pure" and not read other perspectives. On the other hand, this is not a "christian only" board - there are tons of those out there - and from PMs I've received, many folks think exclusivity is not a great idea. For whoever mentioned they were shocked that there were so many unbelievers out there - what did you think? I think I read 7-9% of the US is athiest/agnostic. It's a small percentage, but millions of people. There are lots of gods out there that man has worshiped for centuries. We just believe in one fewer god than you do. And for whoever mentioned they were sad to read the comments from those who don't believe --- believe me, we are sad to read all the claims of faith and prayers and such. Not just here,but everywhere. So I think we're pretty even steven!

Why are you so angry?
Why does fire blaze in your eyes?
Is this for your disguise?
Do you hide behind a veil of pain?
So, that you can bring about the mundane and leave the blame.
Sadness leaves a tear, anger leads to fear.
Fear of the unknown, we are not alone.
We put up walls to guard against the rain.
But, rain falls through and destroys our game.
What if we wore a cloak of gold, than the rain would not erode.
We build dreams that sometimes fall.
At least we tried, so we didn't fail at all.
You get up and try again and this time you will wear a shield to defend.
Now you are strong and the anger fades away, there is hope for another day.
Look inside and you will find that its always been there ready to decide.
Now, you must make a choice live on your own or use a voice.
A voice that carries a stone to kill a giant all alone.

[calimari]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amber03 Why are you so angry? Why does fire blaze in your eyes? Is this for your disguise? Do you hide behind a veil of pain? So, that you can bring about the mundane and leave the blame. Sadness leaves a tear, anger leads to fear. Fear of the unknown, we are not alone. We put up walls to guard against the rain. But, rain falls through and destroys our game. What if we wore a cloak of gold, than the rain would not erode. We build dreams that sometimes fall. At least we tried, so we didn't fail at all. You get up and try again and this time you will wear a shield to defend. Now you are strong and the anger fades away, there is hope for another day. Look inside and you will find that its always been there ready to decide. Now, you must make a choice live on your own or use a voice. A voice that carries a stone to kill a giant all alone.

What the heck are you talking about? I wasn't the least bit angry when I wrote that. I thought the bit about us being "even steven" was quite friendly! Is this some poem or song lyric or something? Are you a poet who didn't know it? At least make a point. Go re-read my post with a friendly tone and try again.

[Happymom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amber03 Why are you so angry? Why does fire blaze in your eyes? Is this for your disguise? Do you hide behind a veil of pain? So, that you can bring about the mundane and leave the blame. Sadness leaves a tear, anger leads to fear. Fear of the unknown, we are not alone. We put up walls to guard against the rain. But, rain falls through and destroys our game. What if we wore a cloak of gold, than the rain would not erode. We build dreams that sometimes fall. At least we tried, so we didn't fail at all. You get up and try again and this time you will wear a shield to defend. Now you are strong and the anger fades away, there is hope for another day. Look inside and you will find that its always been there ready to decide. Now, you must make a choice live on your own or use a voice. A voice that carries a stone to kill a giant all alone.

Huh???? I am totally lost here?

[chopey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happymom Huh???? I am totally lost here?

Just a bunch of words that rhyme to me...well some of them do. A poem doesn't have to rhyme, but it should make sense. And if the poem is implying that calimari is angry, I never saw it. Interesting........I am confused as well.