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.
But I do not believe that Jesus is God (or the Messiah); therefore, Jesus is not my savior. IMO, of course.
Perhaps I phased it wrong when I said "I prefer to go it alone." I prefer to go with God and have Him judge me worthy through my work. If that is not sufficient for Him, then I am content to have made the effort.
You have said it. But more, how the lost blame G-d for holding to His simple plan of salvation rather than accepting their plan as superior.
Shalom.
There is no exception here. The experience is unverified, ergo, it is not submitable as evidence.
Which denies a person the right to believe in what he has experienced, unless he can verify that he experienced it. Sorry, but your materialism denies the evidence of the senses.
After that, people who hear the story have a responsibility to judge it, based on what they know about the teller -- his closeness to the person who originally experienced it, his reputation for truth, etc. It may not be proof, but it is evidence.
And the people all said Amen
Repentance is not fun for an Adamic sinner, but it is integral to saving faith. For some folks, it proves to be impossibly difficult. You need to understand that about non-Christians. I certainly do. As RobRoy has intimated in another post, self-destructive behavior really is self-destructive.
And I am not even talking about turning over a new leaf to do good works. I am talking about the Satanic depravity of the unregenerate sinner. He hates God. He hates the Truth. He just doesn't ordinarily admit this to himself--i.e., he won't repent.
***
Let me also urge you to read my #696.
When I meet someone who fits that description, I will discuss the matter with him.
Most of the people who offer the "what of those" point are hiding behind someone else so they will not have to face their own choices.
G-d is not interested in what we think of how He deals with someone else. The issue is how He deals with us. My issue is how He deals with me. Your issue is how He deals with you.
And, of course, if I love someone, I will tell them of the goodness of the feast, the excellence of the wine, and the divinity of the fellowship.
Shalom.
The problem is that there isn't just one kind of non-Christian. There are many people who aren't Christian that could simply be classified as "differently religious", and these kinds are typically relatively easy to convert. However, there is a small percentage of the population that has no real religious tendencies at all, which is where Christians are doing a really bad job. The reason Christians are doing a bad job is that they assume that these people are merely "differently religious", which is hardly the case.
I would classify myself as one of those people that has never had religious tendencies towards anything. Nonetheless, I was raised in a positive and very religious environment and have been thoroughly exposed to just about everything the Christian religion has to offer. It just didn't stick, and lacking any obvious intrinsic value I drifted away from it. Explaining your religion to someone who essentially doesn't have the capacity for religion is like explaining color to a blind man. No amount of willingness to understand on the part of the blind man will make your explanations of color any clearer. Saying that the blindman is willfully ignoring the concept of color is nothing more than frustration on your part.
I think it is this second type of non-Christian (the ones who have no natural religious tendencies) that you and others are arguing with on these threads and you have to adjust your arguments accordingly. All intelligent arguments have to be made from premises that both sides agree on and developed logically from there. Assuming that both parties are honest (and I believe they are in this case), then you should be able to demonstrate the logic of your position without resorting to assumptions that aren't shared.
But I do not understand, because G-d was able to reach me. I am not special. If G-d could reach me, He could reach anyone. The non-Christians have also been reached. I do not understand why they drew back from G-d?
Shalom.
I was taught that it was a matter of simple trust in God. But there wasn't a big Jewish community where I grew up, so my religious education is spotty and often self-taught. If you haven't already, you should catch up with a poem that explains my beliefs in more detail.
IMHO, religion is not, but a relationship with God is. Man will never cease to make things more complicated than they need to be...
Lord, G-d. I echo the prayer of ru4 for OWK. Amen!
Shalom.
Thank you for your feedback. Actually, Jesus didn't invent parabolic teaching. It was a rather common first century Rabbinic practice. Jesus was, obviously, very good at it.
I was not intending to tell a parable nor to share the whole Gospel. I was trying to make a point about how non-Christians appear to me.
Shalom.
Shalom.
Pete Townsend put it rather succinctly:
And Tommy doesn't know what day it is.
He doesn't know who Jesus was
Or wat Praying is.
How can he be saved
From the eternal grave?
While you might be comfortable in your faith without that answer others aren't. If Tommy can't be saved, I don't want in.
Your assumptions are false and therefore your conclusions are in error.
But it could not have been avoided. It was part of the plan. It was needed to convince some that his love will conquer everything, even the power(terror) of death.
You also forget that these people were waved off by their teacher, warned repeatedly of what was in store for them. But what they experienced first hand was so compelling they could not be swayed from their appointment.
Also, of personal concern to the people that went to their deaths singing Psalms of Praise, was the clear warning that if they denied what they saw, it would really offend the guy putting on the "banquet", offense to they point of where they might be asked to vacate the premises...
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