Posted on 01/03/2002 11:19:13 AM PST by ArGee
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.
"We want to go in through this door," one of them replied.
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.
Well, then Jesus was a pretty shallow teacher since He is the one that preached the most about Hell. He thought the torment of Hell was so bad that He took on flesh and tasted death for us so that we would be able to escape the pain of Hell.
Unless people come to know that they are sinners and just how dire the consequence of their sin is, they have no reason to turn to Jesus as their Saviour.
-ksen
I'm just curious why you would make that choice? What has that place got that Heaven hasn't got
The problem is that you've never demonstrated that heaven or "that place" even exist. You must first establish the existance of one or both before any intelligent conversation about the nature of such places can begin.
It doesn't matter why we come, only that we come. Once we see Him for who He is the reasons become unimportant. One woman came to Him to be healed of a bleeding disorder. Another came to better understand G-d. One wanted to be healed of blindness. One wanted his daughter healed. One wanted his servant healed. One simply wanted to be more than a fisherman. We all come to Him for our own reasons.
Come to Him for whatever reason you wish.
Just come!
Though the curse has long been broken Adam's sons are still the prisoners of their fears.
Running helter-skelter to distruction with their fingers in their ears.
And the Master's voice is calling with an urgency I've never heard before.
Won't you come in from the darkness, son, before it's time to finally close the door?
Adam, Adam, Where are you?
Adam, Adam, Where are you?
Adam, Adam, I love you!
-Don FranciscoShalom.
My question, in sincerity; have you revealed yourself to God? directly? and on a pretty regular basis?
I ask this because God reveals Himself frequently to those who would seek him out.
How Profound
Jim Robinson said
No Religious Discussions
It is my belief that G-d has revealed Himself to everyone. What would you have Him do to reveal Himself to you?
Shalom.
Why not?
Shalom.
Have you looked?
Shalom.
This is my story and only I get to invent details.
If you are referring to something in Christianity, I'm not getting the reference. Forgive me for being dense, but could you be a little more explicit?
Shalom.
(Almost) everybody thinks the banquet dinner in the arena is a wonderful idea. Thousands, if not millions, of people start showing up at the same time.
When they all see each other, they start arguing very loudly amongst themselves and to the rich man trying to explain why such-and-such a person shouldn't be allowed (they got a divorce, they ate meat on a Friday, they don't speak in tongues, etc) into the arena.
The arguments reach such a fevered pitch that they all set up their own little buildings around the arena and insist to others that the only way to get an actual invitation (and not some sort of counterfeit ticket) to the arena is to first join the group in their smaller building, a group which has it's own set of exclusive rules
My point - you can't even get Christians of the same and/or different denominations to agree on what it means to be a Christian. No wonder you can't even begin to understand those who are not...
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