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.
OK, same page so far.
I don't ascribe human traits such as love, hate, vengeance, appearance, faults, anything, to God.
Where do you think humans got their traits?
I don't believe I should know His movements or try to know Him.
And I would say you have achieved smashing success. May you enjoy the satisfaction of the total achievement of your goals.
I know that sounds kinda sarcastic, but I really do wish you joy in your life. Just because I don't understand why you would settle doesn't mean I want you to be unhappy.
Shalom.
Is it time to blow this popsicle stand? I mean those two who are judging G-d may bring lightning down and all and I just got my hair cut.
Shalom.
To restrict your choice would destroy the whole point of having a choice.
He doesn't want prisoners worshiping Him. He wants people who choose to worship Him.
If you reject God, you choose to be without Him.
Jhn 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
And whosever doesn't believeth in him, shall slow-roast in horrible racking pain for all eternity, for merely being unlucky enough to have been born where they never heard of the guy.
Sorry, I just can't reconcile this with the notion of "loving God".
I'm baffled. You believe that an intelligent being created you, most likely for a reason, and you don't care why?
You can leave it at just that? You have no curisoity about Him at all?
Don't you think He knows your thoughts and feelings? He knows your cares and what you love. He knows when you are thinking of Him and that means nothing to you?
I know you're there! Now leave me alone! ????????????
If God is perfect, then He is a perfect judge.
I do understand Him. Sure I may post my thoughts about certain things, but i'm not gonna sit here and say his ways are my ways.
If He is a perfect judge then He will take of those who have never heard His son's name.
I don't know how He will judge, but I do have my own theory about this. YOU have heard the Gospel.
To whom much is given, much is expected.
I realize you only have the eyes that you've been given, but take the leap. Ask Him if He exists, ask Him to reveal Himself to you.
It worked for me, and for my fiance.
One would think so...
You know at least one thing about God. You know He exists. Do you think it's possible to know more about Him without understanding the full scope of His being?
"I have no problem with thinking this. Don't you think, that after all these years that humans have populated this earth, that if we were supposed to, or were able to know, this question would have been answered by now?"
I'm not sure which question you are referring to, but as a Christian (arrogance warning) I do claim to have an answer to the question. Of course, since I am human, my answer is incredibly short of His complete nature but it is an answer nonetheless.
"I am not so arrogant as to assume I can understand God. "
I hear what you're saying and I know that I, as all people who claim to know the Truth, come off as arrogant. Ten years ago I wouldn't have made any claims as to knowing the Truth, or even Acknowledging that there is a Truth but i've had experiences (improvable of course) that have changed that way I think about God and Truth. Because of these changes I can claim to know that Truth without feeling arrogant at all.
"Why should I spend my short time on earth striving for something that I can't have, or would even understand?
I think you can get to know Him...and I think you can understand Him more than you think possible.
"I certainly don't want God to leave me alone, that is why I thank Him daily for letting me be the way I am."
Have you ever asked Him who Jesus is?
Hello Jn316.
I was interested by the above comment that you made and I would like to know what you think of my situation. I`ll try to explain it the best I can, please forgive me if it is a clumsy effort.
From my understanding of what ArGee has been saying throughout this thread (I have read every post - my eyes have gone square), you cannot have a relationship with God until such time as you seek to have a relationship with God simply for the sake of having a relationship with God.
I have asked God to reveal himself to me many times and so far I haven`t got a response, but my real problem is this: When I ask God to reveal himself to me, I can`t say I am doing so because I genuinely desire a relationship with him, because my head is saying, "How can you desire a relationship with someone when you don`t know if they exist or not?" So when I ask God to reveal himself to me, it is not because I desire a relationship with him, but because I want to know if he exists or not, thereby putting the burden of proof onto God. It is my understanding that putting the burden of proof onto God is not really acceptable, so what do I do?
Your comments would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Slapper.
Show off!
I wish I had hair to CUT!
All i'm saying is that you can get to know Him better. He is infinite intelligence and love...He created you and I believe He wants you to know him better.
I’m flattered ;-)
”From my understanding of what ArGee has been saying throughout this thread (I have read every post - my eyes have gone square), you cannot have a relationship with God until such time as you seek to have a relationship with God simply for the sake of having a relationship with God. “
“I have asked God to reveal himself to me many times and so far I haven`t got a response, but my real problem is this: When I ask God to reveal himself to me, I can`t say I am doing so because I genuinely desire a relationship with him, because my head is saying, "How can you desire a relationship with someone when you don`t know if they exist or not?" So when I ask God to reveal himself to me, it is not because I desire a relationship with him, but because I want to know if he exists or not, thereby putting the burden of proof onto God. It is my understanding that putting the burden of proof onto God is not really acceptable, so what do I do? “
”Your comments would be greatly appreciated.”
ArGee would probably be a person to ask, but I’ll give it a shot.
I can give you my personal experience. I’ll try to keep it short.
I asked God to reveal Himself to me. I was a seeker and I was incredibly unhappy. I was going crazy as a matter of fact. I could not deal with the pressures around me. I met a guy who told me a little about OT prophecy. He was actually talking about prophecy about Jesus but I didn’t realize it at the time. Actually, I don’t even remember what he talked about, I was stoned ALL the time, but the stories he told me were like water to a dying man. I couldn’t get enough of them. (I didn’t know it at the time but there were several people praying for me.) At this point in my life I was pretty much against Jesus. I had made up my mind about who He is/was.
I can’t really say exactly why I asked Him to reveal Himself to me. I’ve never really thought about it. I suppose something inside me knew that He was the answer to all my questions about life. I didn’t really seek a relationship with Him but I got one immediately thereafter. I’m sorry I can’t answer your question fully, all I can tell is you what happened to me.
As far as my ex-GF goes, She told me that she had asked Him if he existed as well but said she got no response. This had been going on for at least a few years. I’m not sure. Over the course of a few weeks I kept telling her to ask Him, and she would say ‘I did…’. We would repeat this over and over. I was baffled. Why would God not show Himself to someone who asked?
He finally did reveal Himself to her. He spoke to her in a beautiful way. Was it because she had a change of heart that made her seek in a different way? Something huge had just happened between the two of us and maybe it was that life change that softened her heart and got her to the place where He wanted her to be. I’m not sure.
Maybe that is your problem. Anyone can say ‘Ok God, if you exist, appear before me right now. Knock over that can on the table. Ok you don’t exist, bye bye now.’.
Maybe ArGee is correct, maybe there does have to be a certain condition of the heart that He requires before He will reveal Himself.
Why do you want to know if He exists? Intellectual curiosity? If He shows Himself to you and don’t want to have a relationship with Him then why should He even bother?
I’m sure if He did reveal Himself it would change your life drastically and you would seek a relationship. Nevertheless, I guess I’ve answered my own question. It seems like you do need to have more than intellectual curiosity.
His fingerprints are all over this world. The cosmos show His incredible handiworks.
BTW, this *is* the short version ;-)
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