Ah I didn’t mean to imply that you had mocked me or called me stupid.
I was directing that generally toward atheists who do this to people who believe in God, ridiculing them and such.
It seems to me that atheism is a belief system in itself, and those who subscribe to it are out trying to convert as many people as possible to it using tactics such as this.
While I do believe in God and that He is the Creator of everything, I generally do not subscribe to or practice any specific religion. I am more doubtful of what religion actually is.
Now certainly I could be wrong on this, but it seems to me that religion is a creation of man, and its purpose is to attempt to control the thoughts and actions of other men (and women).
I do believe that religion serves an important function in society in establishing a moral pillar, especially for children. Without it, people seem to go down the wrong roads quickly.
I have also had some personal experiences where I have come across some very corrupt people within churches, so that has also lent to my distrust of what the purpose of religion actually is.
Basically, I have come to what I think and believe through my own observations and life experiences. It has simply become impossible for me to deny that there is in fact a loving God, and He is without a doubt active in our daily lives. There is no other way for me to explain some events in my life. It just sort of boils down to the old saying -someone up there loves you.
So what I have is my own understanding of Jesus. Certainly it is likely flawed as I am flawed, however this understanding is what is important to me, wrong or not. I don’t like it when people say oh you have to worship Jesus exactly this way or else you will suffer negative consequence...I discount that utterly.
I love Jesus the way I love Jesus. I have come to this as a result of a great personal journey, it means everything to me, and I’ll not change it to suit anyone else.
[[Now certainly I could be wrong on this, but it seems to me that religion is a creation of man,]]
Religion has always been an institution of God- even from the very begiining
[[I have also had some personal experiences where I have come across some very corrupt people within churches, so that has also lent to my distrust of what the purpose of religion actually is.]]
God will take care of thsoe people- Our faith is in God- not fallible man- It can be ‘traumatic’ runnign into such people- however, it’s important to realize we’re3 all sinners, and even as Christians, some will be worse than others- Whiel there are soem bad eggs, there’s also a great many good ones- Whiel some folks let power and privilege go to their heads, others give hteir lvies selflessly to God with no ambitions other than servign Him- Let these good type folks encourage you where the bad eggs have understandably dissallusioned you- (And just for hte record- we too have been stung many many times by ‘relgiious people’- it’s VERY hard to maintain trust in God when htis happens- beleive me we know- but it’s worth it- God IS faithful- even when it seems He isn’t at times)
[[I love Jesus the way I love Jesus.]]
A lot of peopell ove Him- but soem of them haven’t accepted Him as Savior- The only thing that matters is if we have humbled ourselves before Him, told Him we udnerstand that He and He alone died for our sins so that we may have etertnal life through Him, and not through our own works, and asked Him to be our Lord and Savior- Nothign else matters, not church, not relgioisity, not even love for Him- Unless we are born again, we will not see the kingdom of heaven- Not sure if Yuo have ever coem to this humbling position in life with Him, that’s between you and God and Christ and Holy Spirit- and is a personal issue between just you 4- If you’re not sure- I woudl just encourage you make sure- Eternity is a long long time- let us make sure we have it right now because there are no second chances after we die- God gives us a lifetime to humble oruselves before Him- if we choose not to- then we’ve had our chance-
[[There is no other way for me to explain some events in my life. It just sort of boils down to the old saying -someone up there loves you.]]
That He does, and He longs to get to know you personally IF you haven’t already