You got it, I absolutely do not. Muhammed didn't rise from the dead, Buddha can't save you, neither can other false gods of this world from false religions. There can only be one truth, Jesus Christ is it. The Holy Bible is the only book that reveals His coming, death and resurrection.
You are fooling no one but yourself when you try to justify hatred by calling it Love. ( or justice) If perfect Love casts out fear ( and it does) then there is no hatred in Love. Period. And to condemn, to abhor, to judge as bad and wrong etc are to hate. Those are just facts. I think it must be hard to understand how bizarre it is to believe in loving and hating together.
Sadly, I feel it is you that is fooling yourself because you have created a god in your own image because you don't like what God's word has revealed to you. Period!
And in the interview God does not talk of hatred, punishment, or abomination – He talks of forgiveness and forgiving.
God will forgive you IF you repent. There is no forgiveness without repentance. Need I remind you too that the Interview with God, while it may make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, is not the Bible.
No offense taken. I try to consider the source of insults before taking them very seriously. And here, from my perspective, are a bunch of people who don’t even live by their own rules calling me names based on a belief system that I don’t embrace. I imagine that you can understand – it wouldn’t have much impact on me.
I haven't called you any names, have I? Secondly, why are you here arguing with a bunch of people then about their belief system which you don't embrace if it doesn't have any impact on you? If you don't want to embrace our belief system, go on your way and live according to how you want to live.
What an arrogant statement. How many times do I need to tell you that I do not believe that God abhors anything. That is your belief, not mine. God is Love, not hate. And secondly here, I am not engaging in any homosexual acts. Where do you get off making assumptions like that! You have some real problems I think.
Because YOU so much as told us you are. Remember the post #153 and you used a link from Gay and Lesbian Adventists? Then Petronski told you to tend to your own church in post #186. Why didn't you correct him about that? Why haven't you corrected others that have assumed you are gay? I don't have any problems. You've defended homosexuality and said it wasn't an abomination since you first entered the discussion. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what your sexual orientation is.
Good grief. Again we are not even communicating here. An open mind is not in any danger. An open mind is a healthy mind. It is a closed mind that is in danger of sickness. A closed mind and a hard heart – seem to me to be closely linked.
You say we aren't communicating because I won't come into agreement that homosexuality isn't an abomination, that I won't agree to say the Bible is full of holes and mistranslated, that God is only a flower smelling, peace- nik, hippy dude and for that I am accused of being closed minded? Hmmm... did you ever think you need to OPEN your mind and your Heart to God's revealed word instead of closing it off because you don't like the contents? Having an "open mind" doesn't preclude you from sickness. There are times that people open their minds to the wrong things, like drugs. Like homosexuality.
I think that it is disrespectful to others, and really not much different than Moslems, to declare that only what you believe has any value. I mean that is exactly why the Islamists tell us they are going to kill us and force the entire world to submit to their ideology! I am not saying that it is disrespectful to *believe* that you have the only true path – but to refuse to listen and learn from others is not only arrogance, it is deeply disrespectful. You should not be surprised that those who believe differently from you – do not respect you or your views – since you make it so clear that you don’t respect them. You can’t expect a double standard to apply where you are *assumed* to be right and others are *assumed* to be wrong. Just because you can point to words in a book to back you up will not be persuasive to most people. You need to teach through example – that’s what people really learn from.
I would encourage you to look within – for it is there that you will find Jesus and the kingdom of heaven. Reading a book is all fine and good – but it is not enough – especially when the validity of the book is in doubt. The bible is a book. It has some truly beautiful passages in it and it has some ugly ones as well.
I think where the fundamentalists hurt themselves on the issue of homosexuality is that they come across as a bunch of sinners pointing their fingers at other sinners - condemning and attacking them. If one looks at only the bible – there are two great commandments and there are 10 lesser commandments in which homosexuality is not even mentioned. So the fundamentalists elevate what they think of as the *sin* of homosexuality beyond where it is. Homosexuality lists with sins such as pride, malice, adultery etc.
My view, with those kind of things (pride, malice, adultery, homosexuality etc) is that if they are not against the law then it is not the business of government to interfere with them. Government should do only a limited number of things, imo, and do them well.
Because YOU so much as told us you are. Remember the post #153 and you used a link from Gay and Lesbian Adventists? Then Petronski told you to tend to your own church in post #186. Why didn't you correct him about that? Why haven't you corrected others that have assumed you are gay? I don't have any problems. You've defended homosexuality and said it wasn't an abomination since you first entered the discussion. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what your sexual orientation is.
No, I did no such thing. You assumed – which is an unloving and disrespectful thing to do. If you were to think for even 10 seconds – how could I be a member of a church called “Gay and Lesbian Adventists” if I am not a Christian? And I am not a Christian. That I linked to an article from them is not meaningful, I linked to a couple of bible passages as well. That doesn’t mean that I’m a bible thumper.
Most of Petronski’s posts to me I just ignored. They did not warrant a response. But more importantly, I am talking with YOU. I am not talking with Petronski. In fact, it seems to be just you and I here now. And YOU assumed rather than ask. That reflects poorly on you as does your response when confronted with it. Rather than take responsibility – you tried to pass the buck.
My prayer for you is that you look within and that you learn that we are never going to all agree but that we can listen to each other, learn from each other and respect each other.