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.
I must respond. How do you know he doesn't exist? Did Frank Loydd Wright exist? If all you have to show me is his creation, one of his buildings, can you walk me inside, show me a room, tear away a floorboard or do anything else in that house to show him to me. Where, in that house, is he hiding. Actually, the entire house is testimony to his existence. It bears his ideas, his creativity, his - personality.
Can I, with no tools other than my brain, prove to you that solar radiation exists. Well, sort of. I can take you to the beach on a hot day and let you experience, in a couple of hours, first hand, the effect of solar radiation on your skin. If you still choose to refuse to believe it exists, well, isn't free choice a wonderfull thing. Of course, I would have to wonder why you were so afraid to believe in what gave you that nasty sunburn. A reasonable person would even begin to question your reasoning abilities.
Maybe it's not a sunburn. Maybe it's just a rash caused by something you ate today...
Reminds me of a certain conversation just before Christmas about a fellow who thinks that decisions build character.
So true. But I believe that is because the "both" you are referring to are only your interpretations. Therefore, it means that at least one of your interpretaions may be flawed. Remember, your reasoning ability is good, but it is not perfect. I can be the best long jumper in the world, but I'm still not going to attempt to jump the Grand Canyon.
If you continue to plan on using your reasoning ability alone, owk, I recomend wearing a parachute...
You are certainly correct in dinging me here. It was intellectual laziness on my part.
It would have been more correct to say, that I have no evidence to justify the acceptance of an affirmative belief in God, and therefore I do not recognize his existence.
I certainly cannot prove that God does not exist.
Unfortunately, reason is all that I have.
You seem to have a problem with preachers. I have never met anyone who has charged me to show me heaven or hell. I have met some crooks who have tried to convince me they can make me rich without me working, and some have even been Christians. But I learned to ignore them when I was a child.
I'm not claiming anything. G-d is claiming there is a heaven and a hell. And G-d can prove it. He has done so to me and He will do so to you.
For what it's worth, I don't preach a Christianity that is simply an entrance ticket into Heaven. The banquet is a personal relationship with G-d. That's what Christianity offers. That's all it offers. And it offers it for eternity. If you don't want it, you won't be forced to receive it.
But G-d is there and knowable right now. Not after you die, right now. He is not far off, he is knocking on the door of your heart.
Open your heart.
Shalom.
Obviously you've never heard of the Babelfish. Just kidding. Owk, I appreciate your frankness and intellectual sincerity. I know your still searching, for that is the blessing/curse of the intellect. I wish you the best, seriously.
Meanwhile, I have to get out of here, I've used up my lunch break time and I'm going to have to stay late to make up for this 8^>
There is only one road to heaven and God has been gracious enough to point it out clearly to us.
And pay the toll, and carry us across.
Shalom.
What if? The greatest banquet ever imagined is going on inside and you're going to sit out here and starve because of a what if?
Let's drop the pretense, shall we? This isn't about all those people who might exist. This is about one person. This is about you.
Have you heard of Christ? Do you know Him?
Come to the Table.
Shalom.
The assertion is that the Bible was written by G-d. Actually, the true assertion is that the Bible was inspired by G-d. The challenge is that the Bible is mere mythology. However, anyone who has studied literary types knows the Bible is not mythology. It is 66 books written by 40 different writers from all walks of life. There is history, persuasion, and poetry. There is no mythology.
There are many things in the Bible that defy any other explanation than that it is inspired by G-d. Predicting the future is one thing. Scientific information that was not discovered by science for centuries is another.
But the real reason to trust the Bible is that it bears witness to Jesus Christ, G-d's Son, who died that we may live. Jesus redeemed us from our bondage to sin so that we could become the free sons of G-d. Jesus bears witness to the Father, the Bible bears witness to Jesus. For this reason, if for no other, the Bible is reliable.
It would help if you got to know Jesus. Do you know Him?
Shalom.
But I am apologizing. It may take me a long time to get to the last post on this thread.
I'm sorry. I will be there as soon as I can.
I love you all.
Shalom.
We see you as folks who've been hanging around looking for free food for a very, very long time.
I am eating. I have been eating for over 10 years. The food is the best food I have ever known. Sometimes it tastes a little bad when I see the people on the outside refusing to come in.
Come to the Table.
Shalom.
I believe my faith to be perfectly rational, logical, and reasonable.
Shalom.
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