Why Christians Don't Understand Non-Christians

A very rich man decided that he wanted to show kindness to the people of the fair city where he lived. Since he was very rich indeed, he decided to throw a banquet for the entire city. He rented the largest sports arena in the city and began his plans. He planned for huge amounts of the best food possible, making allowances for every religious and medical diet. He advertised the banquet in every possible manner - television, radio, billboard, door-to-door canvassing. Considering that there might be some who could not travel, he arranged for free bus transportation to and from the event, and some special-needs vehicles for all who could not ride busses. He even scheduled the banquet to run for 24 hours a day for several days so that everyone could be sure of being served.

He planned long and hard and finally the big day came. The rich man ate quickly and then went about wishing all his guests well and personally making sure that all had every need met. After a while he went outside to tour the grounds and talk with those who had not yet gone in, and those who had already left. Everyone was happy. Many were profusely thankful. It was a glorious occasion.

At one point the rich man noticed a group of people sitting outside a locked door with most unpleasant looks on their faces. Sensing they were not happy, he went over to them. He did not introduce himself but simply asked them if he could be of service.

The rich man explained to them that the hall was arranged to feed a large number of people as quickly and effortlessly as possible. This required order inside, and the entrances and exits had been carefully planned to be as efficient as possible. He then offered to go call one of the golf carts that were avaialbe to help people who could not walk far to take them to the entrance. But the man replied, "We do not want to go in the entrance. We want to go in this door. We don't understand why we can't go in any door we wish. We think the man who set this banquet up is mean and hateful for insisting we go in through the entrance. He has tried to bill himself as a very kind man by offering this banquet, but he is not kind at all if he will not indulge us and let us go through this door.

The rich man was distressed at these words, but still attempted to please these people. He tried once more to explain to them what was behind this particular door, and how if they went in this door they would disrupt the meal service being offered inside. He offered to drive them himself, not only to the door, but inside the hall to their tables if they would only go through the entrance to enjoy the meal. Again the man said, "No, but only a hateful man would keep us from going through the door of our choosing. And we will sit here and tell anyone who will listen to us what an awful man he is until he lets us in."

At that the rich man was enraged and he shouted, "Enough." Then he called a police officer to have them thrown off of the property and ordered that they not be allowed to return until the banquet was over and all the scraps had been hauled away. Then, mourning for their loss, he turned to visit with other guests.

Oh, even though Eve ate the apple first, it is beause of Adam that sin came into the world. (5) Ponder that!

Humm... Yeah, whatever you say.

Let's look at it.......

Genesis 2:15-18
15. The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
16. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
17. but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
18. The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

(Note that EVE wasn't around yet when Adam was told about the totkogae ..............)

Genesis 3:1-19

1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, (1) `You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2. The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3. but God did say, `You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die. (2)'"
4. "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
5. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, (3) she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
7. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
9. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
10. He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
11. And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
12. The man said, "The woman you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." (4)
13. Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." (4)
14. So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
15. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
16. To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
17. To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife (5) and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, `You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
18. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
19. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

1. The Serpent introduces DOUBT.

2. Now she knew EXACTLY WHERE that tree was! She had gotten the info from Adam. Adding things to what GOD had said. Adam either added the remark Eve made to the serpent or she made it up on the fly, as Eve did NOT here directly from GOD about not eating of the tree.

3. Desirable............ Someone tells you, "You can't have it", and immediately you WANT it! Also, the BEST of intentions - gaining wisdom (to be more like GOD).

4. Ah, human nature hasn't changed, "It's the OTHER guys fault, not mine."

5. THIS is why Adam gets the credit!

LuvItOrLeaveIt Wrote:

"Yep. I knocked. Nobody answered."

ArGee Wrote:"I am really surprised. I can think of a few possibilities. Either you didn't look in the right place, or you looked hoping not to find, or you intentionally looked in the wrong place, or you were looking for the wrong person to answer and didn't see who was at the door."

I was surprised when my girlfriend, who is now my fiance, told me the same thing. I couldn't understand why God wouldn't respond to her.

To make a long story short...(if you want details freemail me)God had something he wanted me to do, I didn't want to do it. Until I obeyed him nothing was happening with my GF spiritually.

When I finally obeyed (it had to do with my GF) something did happen.

She called me at work the day after I 'obeyed' and told me this: She said she was speaking outloud while cleaning. Saying basically 'God why do you speak to Chris (me) but don't answer me when I speak to You?' At this point God revealed Himself to her. Why didn't he do it the first, 2nd 3rd 4th time she asked? I have no idea.

Just thought i'd relate this to you.

Sorry about the hurried nature of the post. Time constraints.

Aren't you being imprecise?

No, I really don't understand them. True, I was just like them, except that G-d got my attention. Believe me, there is nothing special about me. I am as hard headed, stubborn, and proud as anyone I know. (That doesn't sound proud, does it?) There is no reason why G-d would prefer me to lexcorp or anyone else. If G-d could get through to me, He could get through to anyone.

Therefore, there is something about those who have not accepted His call that I truly don't understand.

To Everyone: The food is good. The wine is excellent. The fellowship is divine.

Come to the table.

Shalom.

If it wasn't for God's little side-bet with the devil, poor old Job would have been left alone.

Again, the writers of the Bible were probably using a story to illustrate a point. IMO, and I may be wrong, they took considerable license with the Book of Job. I think that if God really made a "side-bet with the devil," He wouldn't be so foolish as to tell us about it. The writers likely embellished this story to help the people of their day understand that God eventually rewards patience and faith, and that pain can be temporary. As you recall, in the end Job was rewarded ten-fold for his "pain and suffering".

Perhaps there is a greater lesson to be learned here: If we trust in God, despite temporary conditions such as sickness, sorrow, and even death, we too may eventually receive something greater than our mortal minds can imagine.

Why doesn't ANYONE read 'til the END of the story??????????

Job 42
10. After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.
11. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.
12. The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.
13. And he also had seven sons and three daughters.
14. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch.
15. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
16. After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.
17. And so he died, old and full of years.

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That's why it's not up to us, but up to God.