[Annoni]

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Oh I can tell this is gonna test me

Originally Posted by Lugez

You see, this is my problem with the Christian God. Here, he sounds like a DICTATOR, not a God. Yeah he created us, but he didn't create us just so we could worship Him. He did so we could LIVE OUR LIVES in whatever way we so choose. I honestly don't really think God would give a crap if you believed in him or not.

We can still live our lives however we choose, there's just rewards and consequences for what we do. (Much like reality, huh?)
And of course He cares if you believe Him! He is a jealous God, and if one of His children turns away from their Father He obviously is going to care.
Think about this...
A man has a daughter. He's giving up part of his life to nourish this child of his and give them a good life, constantly sacrificing everything whenever the baby needs. The father goes through many points where he thinks he jst can't take it anymore, but every moment the little girl says "Daddy", or when she learns to say "I love you" makes everything worth it. At age 12, pleasant girl says to her Daddy, "I'm gonna go whore myself out. This life just doesn't seem right to me right now. I'll make money off of that and find my own house, bye." Dad is left behind, all the work walked out the door to whore herself to the world.
It's even worse for God when one of his Creation turn away. He even SACRIFICED a child of His, the Son of God, for all of us! Do you not see the love in that? He sold his son to sin, the very sin He hates, which disgusts Him! He sacrificed His son for US so that we may be saved and have eternal life! That is what the Bible says. This is what the Christian God's views are, the only God.

Originally Posted by Lugez

Swapping beliefs is not an insult AT ALL. He created this Earth and Life. While MEN are the ones who wrote the belief systems and moral codes, such as The Bible. People need to choose beliefs for themselves, and I don't really see how choosing one over another insults God....He's not the one that created them.

Yes, it is an insult to Him. More than it is an insult to any parents that has poured everything into a child only to have a child reject them. Yes, man did write the Bible, but it was THROUGH God that it was written. That's Biblical, that's the Christian God's, the only God's view.
It is true, people need to choose beliefs for themselves, such is the freedom God has offered us. What do you mean by He's not the one that created them?

Originally Posted by Lugez

I actually believe it would be more of an insult if you stuck to a religion that you personally did not believe. ConcreteGirl has been having doubts about Christianity in itself....Maybe the religion isn't for her. God wouldn't want her to follow something that she had doubts about. And honestly, is it not REASONABLE to have doubts about it considering the world we live in? I'm sure God would understand.

This God, the Christian God, The only God, would want her to follow the Bible, which is His word spoken to us that is active in all our lives. That is also biblical. He would want her to sort out those doubts and work through them with her, because He'll always reach down to us, but we don't always reach to Him.
Understanding, yes. He is also just. Foolishness and ignorance (not saying that's what you have, not for me to judge) is not tolerated too lightly, but the price Jesus paid still prevails over that for us if we believe in it and accept it.

Originally Posted by Lugez

In our current mental state I believe we can only have limited relationship with God....Living your life to the fullest, doing what makes you happy, and standing up for what you believe in is the closest we can come to having a relationship with God.

That is true. Here, now, we can only have a limited relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. But after death, we will see face to face, while now we see a poor reflection of the truth. That is biblical, and is also what the Christian God, the only God stands for, because He is the word.
You obviously have some issues understanding what a relationship with God is. Just because we are somewhat limited does not mean we are completely restricted. Faith, miracles, prayer, none of that would work or be done is there was no relationship with God.

Originally Posted by Lugez

I don't believe God asks us to worship him.....You create life just so it could worship you? I don't view God as a pissy deity who cries and sends you to damnation if you don't worship and acknowledge him. That just sounds like a God with too many humanlike qualities. It just doesn't seem reasonable to me. If I were the one who created life, I would want that life to flourish. Worship wouldn't be necessary.

Humanlike qualities, funny you should mention that.
Genesis 1:27 :: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

We are in His image, so we're bound to be a bit like Him.

There is so much more to say, and I don't want to be wasting my fingers.
He wants us to worship Him, most people would love to be worshipped, to be put above by someone. And He is our Creator, so when we ignore Him, He does not like it. When Creation puts aside the Creator and does not thank Him for the life He has given to ungrateful souls, He's not going to be bursting with joy to these people and how they're living.

Originally Posted by Concrete Girl

But God isn't exactly being forgiving when he would order people to be stoned. He isn't exactly being kind and just when he has the POWER to stop some of the things that are hurting humans today, that are beyond their own power to stop, yet refuses to. He isn't being kind when he sends homosexuals to Hell but allows repenting mass murders enter Heaven. I know that God is supposed to be perfect and never make mistakes, but commanding someone to stone another human being is far from perfect, because when God did that he was going against his very OWN ten commandments. So my question is, why would God do something like that to begin with...?

Perhaps the better thing would not be to not believe in the God in the Old Testament whatsoever, because clearly, God must have undergone a severe personality change between the time of the old testament and the new. The problem is that I entered the Christian faith being taught to believe that God was exactly those things you listed - king, forgiving, etc. But then imagine my shock when I realized that God KILLED every single living thing on his earth in a great flood, because they weren't perfect like him. It doesn't make sense to me. Why would I want to worship a murderer? Because judging by the new testament, it wouldn't be hard to assume that He's exactly that.

Honestly, there's a lot you don't understand a lot of misguided information here. I would sort some things out for you to better understand, would you like that?

And, this statement bothers me.
"He isn't being kind when he sends homosexuals to Hell but allows repenting mass murders enter Heaven."
You're missing a piece here. Actually, the only piece. The whole thing. Both homosexuals and murderers can go to either Heaven or Hell. It's where their heart is at in God and with God and whether they have accepted the truth of Jesus that determines Heaven or Hell - not the type of sin. All sin is equal to Him. All sin is detestable to Him.

The stoning, Old vs. New Testament, and the flood are all things that require a lot of explanation since you seem either unknowing of the truth to them or are confused about the reality of them. If you want to see another view of it all with more depth to it, please ask.