Sunwalker

82

Merry Christmas to everyone! I took this picture earlier today at my church: I have sent you a private message

Hello, @Handsome Changeling. I presume that you had a bad day or something, I know how that feels. I can say one thing, seeking attention in a negative manner makes one empty in the long run. It is like a pyrotechnics show, feels "great" for a couple of moments and then quickly ends. And on the top of that, swearing doesn't really surprise anymore because it got quite common. Know what surprises? Selflessness. Like taking some moments to brighten other people's day. It just take some simple actions like wishing someone a good day, appreciating the efforts of others, being thankful for even the simple things, being educated or helping other people. Negativity burns people out because we were not made for that. Sometimes all what takes to revert anxiety, depression, or even boredom is just a change of attitude. Thank you for making me to think about it, I hope you have a better day

In this life we are subject to all its limitations and constraints. Even Jesus, when he walked among us, was subject to difficult moments. What you described reminded me about two moments of his life: first when he was alone in the desert being tempted, and second when he was in the cross and felt that the Father had abandoned him. But how could you learn about what is good and is bad if only good stuff happened? Those things are what make we mature in the long run. And what are those moments in comparison with what is to como in Heaven? The one thing that was promised to us was the salvation, it was never promised a trouble free life. Faith isn't supposed to be a "feelgood" experience, it is supposed to be a relationship with God. Sometimes God might temporarily suspend the consolations so we might learn to focus on seeking him, instead of the good feelings that come with it. It is necessary a greater effort to seek God when you cannot feel him, and it also counts more. That being considered, one cannot rule out that what you are feeling is also a product of some emotional problem. In this case, it is necessary to seek out the cause. I am assuming that you are talking about John 10. That is an interesting passage. The sheep know the voice of their shepherd, and they do not follow the voice of a stranger, one that might steal them. God gave each person a conscience, so people can know what is right from what is wrong. If there is someone saying something that does not come from God, something inside you tells that something is off with his words. On the other hand, you can also know when someone say someone says something that comes from God, there is a different light to his words. That is how the ones with Christ can know his voice That is the sort of stuff that get me riled up. The big irony here is that freedom of speech comes from Christianity, it was Christianity what formed the culture and values of the Western Civilization. It is Christianity that teaches that individuals have free will, and this should be respected. It was Christianity what gave people the right of not being Christian. Things are different in other parts of the world, I bet that those who so "courageously" attack Christianity would not do the same with Islam if they lived in a Muslin country. I wonder why... Anyways, freedom of speech isn't free, it need to be fought for. When someone is meeting resistance from his enemies, that's how he can be sure that he is going on the right path. The enemies of God have no honor, otherwise they would not be enemies of God. Therefore one must be ready to fight them. One thing is someone just not being a Christian, a completely different thing is someone not allowing others to be Christian. In this case a line was crossed, it is the non-Christians who are not respecting the free will of the Christians. Therefore it is justified to do what is allowed within the Christian morals in order to combat them.

I think that you should not bring that to your mom, and neither say that you will to, it could create some fight between your parents. When correcting someone, it is better to do so first privately. If possible, you should bring this up to your father, and explain politely that this makes you to feel betrayed. But maybe that might not be necessary, since your father might have realized that you noticed, and that could be the enough for him to realize that it was a mistake. Maybe someone else here has something to add? Just for the record, I have PM'ed you yesterday

I would suggest some traditional Gregorian Chants. They are the one musical style that was born from Christianity, they have some solid musical theory beyond them, which goes way above my head, and they were made to create a climate of contemplation. For me, listening Gregorian Chants help to relax. Be when I am on the street going somewhere or when I am trying to sleep. Here is a radio of them: http://tunein.com/radio/Calm-Radio---Gregorian-Chant-s142218/

That's how you open a portal to the coffee dimension

I have answered to this on an earlier circumstance, and I really liked how my answer turned out. So, I am going to repost it here: God does not want to send anyone to Hell. God does not send anyone to Hell, people send themselves there, by they own free will. When someone reject all goodness, he has no other option than running away to a place where no goodness at all exist. Hell is a radical possibility of free will, some people are really this stubborn. But God is merciful, and between Mercy and Justice, Mercy will always prevail. Someone must be really rotten and stubborn in order to end up in Hell. God is more than just "good", God is the source of all goodness. "Love" is more than a concept, "love" is a person. People who live a good life are already glorifying God, even if they do not believe in Him or do not know that He exists. Being a good person already is following Jesus Christ, even if the individual is not Christian. Every person has imprinted in his heart the moral law, so everyone is capable to know what is right and wrong and to be good. Non-Christians, non-believers and people who never heard about Jesus can be saved if they live according to their conscience. Just to clarify, I am Catholic and my explanation above leans towards Catholic theology, I am aware that some Protestant denominations might think differently, but to each one his own. The Catholic Church considers a heresy to claim that non-Christians are necessarily damned, and it also considers an heresy to claim that it does not matter which religion someone follows. Its theology about salvation lies somewhere between these two extremes. Even when a non-Christian is saved, it still happened somehow through the Church (Church = body of Christ). Catholicism does claim that "there is no salvation outside Church", but the question here is where the limits of the Church lies. The institutional part of the Church is its visible limits, but there are also its invisible limits, which where they lie only God knows for certain. When someone follows his conscience, and strive to do good, he might already be inserting him within the invisible limits of the Church. This is what Catholic theology calls by "baptism of desire", or (using different terms) being part of the "spirit of the church" while being Christian is being part of the "body of the church". But where these invisible limits lie is unknown, so that is one of the reason to evangelize people. Anyways, we should never despair about the salvation of someone, even if this person is not Christian. God always favors Mercy, nobody goes to Hell without having the chance of choosing otherwise. Rules shouldn’t feel like an obligation, but they should rather be followed for the sake of the common good and not harming yourself. The rules that come from God are never arbitrary, and exist for a reason. God doesn’t make people to follow them by force, he respects our will. But there are still the natural consequences of your actions, that alone should be reason enough to stick to his commandments. On the top of that, God still expects you to make amends of your mistakes. About secular music, it is not wrong per see. There is several good music there. The problem might be a matter of good taste. There are songs that are just of a very poor taste. Even then it isn’t necessarily a sin to listen to then, but you still would be wasting precious time that could have been used to something else. The Christian have a fine blanket waiting for him at the table of the Lord, but listening to bad songs is like you going to eat from the garbage. Not wrong by itself, but still disgusting. That being considered, not all songs are bad. And one needs to use of personal judgment here. I am not going into the merit of those controversial topics here. What I can say, is that one way or another they don’t impact whether God exists or not, and neither the historicity of Jesus. In other words, regardless of what is right or wrong on these topics, it doesn’t undermine the core of Christianity. So regardless of one’s position on those matters, this isn’t a justification to not believing in God. Charity requires me to say you one more thing, however. If you ever get into a crossroads in which you must choose between being loyal to God or loyal to this world, then you have to pick one of these two since one cannot follow two lords. There are more than just a few circumstances in which God’s will and this world’s will are mutually exclusive. But only one of these two loves you no matter what. Jesus Christ, who is God made flesh, commuted with all sorts of people when he was here: the poor, the rich, the sinners, the saints, the healthy, the ill, etc. He received everyone with open arms. If he didn’t receive someone, it was because they have hardened their hearts to him and refused, not because Jesus didn’t want to receive them (it was what happened to the Pharisees). The love from Jesus should not be mistaken as an approval of everything a person does. He said “I don’t condemn you” and “I am not here to judge”, but he also said “sin no more” and “love each other as I have loved you”. Jesus said that where two or more are reunited in his name, he will be among them. That is by itself a reason to attend a church. One does need his personal moment with God, but we are also community, and we should participate of it and support each other. My condolences. I can only fathom what you should be going through, but I am sorry for your loss. God won’t let you down and support you where you need. About your question, the short answer is yes. However, there are divergences on the details between different Christian denominations. Catholics and Orthodox believe on praying for the souls of the departed, as it can help them to purify them from the sins that they weren’t purified while on the Earth, so they can enter in the Heaven (this purification state is called “purgatory”, and it is temporary). Protestants don’t usually believe in praying for the departed, as they don’t usually believe in purgatory, one goes straight Heaven or just don’t go there at all (this isn’t what I think, but I am explaining it here for the sake of intellectual honesty); some protestants also believe that the departed might be sleeping while they wait for the Judgement Day, so they can get into the Heaven. I am Catholic, and on the Catholic side of things it is believed that the departed can pray for us, whether they are on the purgatory or the heaven. Since they can pray for us, am implication from this is that they somehow know of our affairs on this world, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to pray for us. How they know, however, it is an open matter. They might know through God, especially when it comes to people who are related to them. On the top of that, the departed retain their identity, memories and feelings; so this doesn’t really change that they still love you. One thing needs to be made clear here: they don’t answer prayers and neither perform miracles, those things are God’s doing. They pray to God, so he can do those. When someone is praying to a departed one, the former is asking to the later to pray to God. It might be preferable to pray to someone who is already on the other side, since he is closer to God than us. As an analogy, I can compare it to getting closer to an important person through a mutual contact who is closer to him than you, it will be easier than if you try to go directly. One more thing. The departed are not “here” in the sense that they are in the same world and physical space as us (like one would imagine “ghosts” to be, even though this word doesn’t really apply here – they are still people, not lost souls). They are closer to God praying for us. The departed don’t visit this world, except under extremely rare circumstances, through an action of God (apparitions and such). But in the general sense, they are no longer on this world. Personally, I don’t believe in summoning spirits, and trying to do this not only will not work but also might have negative consequences for you. I think that those rituals summon demons pretending to be other people, and they are always up to no good. I usually avoid to comment on other beliefs, but here I opened an exception because charity requires me to warn you to not fall on the temptation of invoking the dead, and I imagine that you could be subject to the temptation of doing that in your current state. Just stick to the proper things to do: I recommend you to pray for your father, and to honor his memory. Take care, and God bless you!

Hello! I would like to respond to a couple of questions, that I meant to respond much earlier. My favorite is the same one as ChB above, the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. There are so many layers on this story, that one could meditate for a while. That woman was already put aside on that society. It despised Samaritans, saw women as inferior, and on top of that she “had many husbands”. The time in which she went to the well, noon, is revealing: it is the hottest time of the day, when it isn’t expected for her to find anyone else. She could not go there at any other time, because of the hatred she would get if she found other people. When Jesus talked to her, he didn’t judge, and also didn’t start by giving help. He asked for help, he asked for a drink. This completely disarmed the woman, she never expected someone to need her. Even her thought that she was unworthy. Perhaps she expected people to either show hatred or pity. Instead of accusing her, Jesus got her to trust him and open herself up. Her life was changed without being forced into anything, and other people also converted thanks to her testimony. ChB above already gave you a thorough reply, but I would like to add some stuff. The difficulty here is that Heaven is something completely different from anything we are used to. Any description or comparison would fall short somehow, it is unlikely anything else. It is normal to be insecure over the unknown, which might make people to hold onto what they know. But we can still look at it this way: Heaven isn’t to live less, but rather to live more. Much more. If you can enjoy this life in spite of all its shortcomings, there is no reason that you won’t enjoy Heaven as well. Personally, I think that it is a completely different kind of reality that works on totally different rules. Concepts like time and space work in our physical world, but in Heaven I don’t think that such things exist, and it operates completely different. No way of getting “bored”, since “boredom” would imply in some imperfection. Heaven has no imperfections. The upside of the shortcomings of this world is not the shortcomings themselves. Suffering only by itself is the most useless things ever. What matters is the opportunity of growth and learning, the sufferings when offered to God help to redeem you. He can turn them into something useful. And in Heaven we will be closer to God. Here, again, the issue is that we don’t know nothing beyond this life and don’t have anything else to compare to. The things of this world, as dear and important we consider them, will all come to pass and are smaller than the spiritual treasures we have in Heaven. Enough to make you forget all the sufferings at the first instant. It is not wrong per see to value the things of this world. Anything that comes from God is good, and so it would be wrong to say that the material things are bad by themselves. The problem is when we put something above God. The human worth doesn’t come from the material side of things, but from the spiritual one. If God has allowed something bad to happen, it is because he can bring a greater good from it. Sometimes we might get too attached to the things of this world, and this gets in the way of God. It might be preferable to lose them, even if just temporarily, than risking to lose the salvation. A greater personal growth comes from it.

Thank you very much for all the prayers about my surgery! It worked great, and I am mostly recovered by now. I had chronic sinusitis, my nasal septum was almost closed and it was difficult for me to breathe. This also gave me headaches sometimes, and the breathing made difficult for me to sleep. Since I couldn’t breathe well during sleep, I could not rest well during night. That made me to feel very tired at morning. I used to think that this tiredness was because of stress, but it happened regardless of how I was emotionally. I prayed for quite a bit so the cause of my morning tiredness could be found, and it looks like my prayers were answered when I found out that I needed the surgery. Early in last August, a little over two months ago, I got an appointment at an otorhinolaryngologist (the doctor that takes care of ears, nose, and throat). The reason was that I had too many wax in my ears and they were closed, so I went to get the wax washed away from my nose. She (my doctor) did that, but she also took the opportunity to look in my throat and nose. She noticed that there was something wrong in my nose, and then requested a couple of exams: an nasoendoscopy, and computed tomography of the sinuses. With the results of the exams, she diagnosed what she already suspected: my chronic sinusitis. Apparently it had been building up for years, and no other doctor I went to noticed it. She concluded that I needed a surgery. The procedures are called septoplasty and turbinectomy (it is not unusual for those to be made together). They are for reshaping my nasal septum, and reducing my nasal turbinate (which grew too big and was obstructing the air passage). The doctor requested some blood tests and a heart exam for the day of the surgery, all of which showed that my blood and heart are fine. We agreed on a date, we picked up October 11th because it was in the day before a national holiday here in Brazil, the Feast of Our Lady Aparecida. The choice of day was meant so I wouldn’t lose too many days in the college, but I think that the date was really providential. When I mentioned this, in private, to @Steel Accord he mentioned that I would be a new man after the surgery I should admit that I felt a bit anxious and nervous in the days until the surgery. My mom kept asking if my heart said that I needed to get this surgery, my answer was yes. It was the Divine Providence who guided me to that specific doctor, at that specific place, and that specific time. I had been praying for that, plus during all this process of finding a doctor and going to her, I felt a peace and assurance that only God can give, it is not something human. My mother also suggested for me to see with my priest if I could get the Anointing of the Sick. Initially I declined because I thought that this sacrament (we are Catholics) was meant only for the terminally ill or for those who would go through a risky surgery. My mother replied that every surgery is risky, and I decided to talk with my priest. He explained that I could get the Anointing of the Sick, and he gave me it on the Sunday two days before the surgery. The Anointing really helped me to feel calmer and not anxious. In Catholicism, this sacrament has two of purposes: (1) to help the ill person to recover or, if he is already going to die, so he can pass away peacefully; and (2) to help the soul when meting God (the Anointing cleanses one from his sins). I also made a Confession, because I felt that it would be “cheating” to just get cleansed of sins considering I am perfectly capable of doing a Confession. The Anointing of the Sick is useful to cleanse the sins of those too ill to make a Confession, but for those who are perfectly capable of going to a priest and talking, I think that they should also confess. I got the Anointing on the Sunday, I confessed on the Monday, and my surgery was Tuesday. My mother went with me to the hospital, as my patient companion. We got the paperwork done, and we were moved to a private hospital room so we could wait for me to be called for the surgery. It is the doctor on her criterion who decides the order she is going to call up the patients, so we needed to wait as little or as much she deemed necessary. I arrived at the hospital 10 AM (my official arrival time was 11 AM, but I got earlier just in case). The doctor called me up at around 2 PM, so I was moved to the surgery center while my mother kept waiting in the room. On the elevator until there, there was also with me a little boy who would get his left eyelid operated, he looked so calm, I am not sure whether he even knew what it was happening. His mother assured him that she would be there waiting for him once he was done, this really touched me (his surgery also went fine, by the way). At the surgery center, before the surgery, I was still feeling a tad nervous. I was trembling a bit. I still waited for some minutes at the corridor of the surgery center. During this time, I could talk with a patient next to me, who assured me. Seeing the people there moved something inside me. I felt like crying and I then asked the Lord for forgiveness as I had never before. I don’t cry easily, so when I cry it means that it is something else. I was moved to the surgery room. The anesthesiologist noticed that I was nervous. He talked to me in order to calm me down, he joked by saying that while I sleep they work, hehe. The anesthesia took effect very quickly, just a couple of seconds after it was injected in my vein. I had the surgery under general anesthesia, I was sleeping. I had a tube on my mouth to help me breathing. During my surgery, I had high blood pressure. The doctor could control it with medication. She has also found in my nose more stuff than what she could see in the tomography, so the surgery was harder than what she expected. But she managed to do everything that she needed to do in my nose. The surgery was a success, it lasted for around two hours. Because of my high blood pressure during the surgery, the doctor has decided that I should remain in the hospital for the night (I was supposed to return home on the same day). Then I could get further medication and be under observation. I returned to my private hospital room, where I and my mother would stay until the next day. There I would also get medical care and food. I got a pair of nasal tampons inside my nose. I had a cannula in my right arm, in order to get medication. I also could not move much, and I could not eat solid food. My nose was aching, which is normal after the surgery, and the tampons were really bothersome. I had a bit of fever too. Since I am right handed, and I could not use my right hand, my mother needed to spoon-fed soup for me. She also was patient, comforted me, and said me to offer to God my tribulations, which I did. Wise words! By that point, I was annoyed by my condition and I felt a bit humiliated. I couldn’t resist, and I cried a bit. I apologized to my mom for saying I felt humiliated, and I thanked her for her efforts. She was if great help there. She made me company, feed me, and helped me to lift up when I needed to go the bathroom. I needed to pee quite a few times because of the saline I was getting in my vein. We found on the TV a channel that plays relaxing classical music 24/7, while showing relaxing images. We let the TV on this channel most of the time, even during the night. In the middle of night, this channel went off air. My mother felt this was a pity, the channel was really calming. I quietly prayed God so it would return, and not too long after it has returned on air. God takes care of us in both small and big things The nurses were really nice, and every now and then they came to give some medicine and measure my blood pressure, which had already normalized. While I was in the hospital, I also talked with many family and friends through phone or internet. The service of the hospital was excellent; I have nothing to complain about them. Next morning (Wednesday), I was feeling better, so I was discharged from the hospital to return home. The cannula was removed, so I could use my right arm again. I had still to keep my nasal tampons until Saturday, when the doctor would remove them. Back home, I still could not get solid food for a while, and I also had to lay up while resting, with the head lifted by a couple of pillows. In the first couple of days I coughed quite a bit and my nose bleed a few times, all of which are normal in this stage. My doctor also prescribed a custom made antibiotic, which needed to be made at a compounding pharmacy. I have to take it each 12 hours during 15 days, in order to prevent infections. Each day that passed I felt better than in the previous one. Right after the surgery I was a bit upset on my condition, but I could also calm down. Only the nasal tampons remained annoying, they didn’t hurt, they were just a tad bothersome. But they were necessary so my nasal septum could keep its proper shape while healing. Last Saturday, I got an appointment with my doctor in order to get the tampons removed. I got them removed, which was really freeing. My appointment was supposed to be 12 PM, but some other patient cancelled his appointment, so I was rescheduled to 9 AM, earlier! Even here God’s providence showed up, He knew how annoyed I was by the tampons. My doctor prescribed a medicine against bleeding, for my nose. And she said me to wash my nose for two weeks with saline solution and a nasal gel that she had prescribed. This gel was also custom made at a compounding pharmacy, the regular nasal gel that is sold already made is too acidic and makes the nose to ache. The gel which she ordered doesn’t ache the nose. This nasal gel is for hydrating the nasal membrane and dissolving the blood clots. My doctor got surprised on how quick I was recovering, she expected me to look worse. Usually after such type of surgery the region around the nose gets a bit purple and inflamed, but my nose looks great on both the outside and the inside. I can breathe much more easily now, and even my sense of smell is working better. Doctor Vanessa Fernandes, otorhinolaryngologist. A very nice and competent woman, I am really glad and thankful for her work. I should return to her next October 29th in order to get my nose checked after my full recovery. I still should remain home, resting, this week. I should return to college on the week afterwards. I am feeling mostly fine. It no longer aches, I don’t feel ill. There is still some blood-colored snot once in a while and some small fever occasionally, but I am getting better as time passes. And right now I am almost 100% fine. I am really glad for all the support, God be praised! Now a shot-out (in alphabetical order) to the friends here which I kept in touch in private about the surgery. Thanks to @Blue, @ChB, @LittleMac, @Once In A Blue Moon, , @Scootalove, @skysweep, @Steel Accord, @Sterling Crimson, @weesh, @Znex!

This was the reading that was read on last Subway's mass to me What stuck on me was that Jesus didn't heal them instantly. Instead, he asked lepers to walk to the temple to present themselves to the high priest. And the 10 lepers were healed on their way to there. The message that I got there is that Jesus didn't want them to have a passive hole and handle this cure on a silver plate, instead he wanted them to make an effort that was within their capabilities, and have faith that they would be healed. There is one more thing, though. Among the 10 lepers, only one returned to thank Jesus for it. It is not mentioned what happened with the other 9, personally I don't think that Jesus would revoke the cure. But the difference on the 1 who returned and the other nine, is that the 1 who returned got both his soul and body healed, while the other 9 got only their bodies healed. The other message I got from this was that the closer you remain from God, the more he can act in your life. He respects your free will to the utmost. If you don't want to be fully healed, you won't be, even if he really wants to do that. P.S.: Steel Accord, I saw you made another question afterwards. I will get to it at a later date. Now I am recovering from the surgery which I asked for prayers earlier. I will also tell about it in more details. By Sunday I should be 100% fine. By the way, thanks to everyone for the prayers! I really appreciate that. Even to the non-believers there, I also really appreciate your good thoughts. God bless you all Edit (October 13th): , I have also saw your questions right below and I shall also address them in a later date. I am mentioning your name so you get notified of this note of mine.

Hello! How are you doing? Next Tuesday, October 11th, I will go through a surgery on my nose. It is a simple procedure, a septoplasty. It is for opening up my nasal septum, which is almost closed so it is difficult for me to breathe through my nose. My doctor says that it is a trivial surgery, very low risk, and it will be made by laser. Anyways, I would like to ask for your prayers so everything goes well. I will get to the hospital at 11 AM (GMT -3), I am not sure when the surgery will begin. I should be back home on the same day. Thank you!

Hello I would not call faith as believing without evidence, but rather the assurance of things that have not been seen. I would compare here to that group dynamics activity in which you have to throw yourself backwards so someone behind you will catch you before you fall. That exercise requires you to trust in the person that is behind you, that he will catch you instead of letting you hit the ground. Before that, you have not seen the other person catching you for the simple reason that it has not happened yet. And also you cannot be 100% sure either that the other person will ever catch you. You have to believe that the other person will catch you. In other words, you need to have faith. But it is not without evidence, you do know that there is someone waiting to hold you. Believing without evidence would be to throw yourself backwards while you know that there is no one behind you, or at least without a sufficiently good reason to think that there is. When it comes to religious faith, specially Christianity, it is not something that people randomly decide to do for no reason at all. In a more immediate sense, one can see signs of God around himself. Stuff that points towards more than the eyes can see, even though they don’t directly show them. And this is more than willpower or wishful thinking. Nobody really wants to get sick or go through any sort of hardship, so if willpower alone solved all the problems such stuff would never happen. Still, one can observe how the belief in God can change people’s life for the better. It is not that no hardship will ever happen to them, but rather that they have a different kind of strength to go through them. They have the strength to fight against their vices, and eventually become something better. The “belief” in the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus were never observed to have such effect on people, which is one of the reasons why they are a very shallow comparison with God, they have nothing to do with religious faith. Even the observation that evil exists is in itself an indicative that God exists. This because the idea of evil only makes sense if you have some greater good to establish what is right or wrong. The “problem of evil” is only a problem if God exists. Without God, you cannot objectively establish what is good or bad, so the problem of evil would no longer be a problem. On a broader sense, one can also notice God through History. The narrative of the Gospels is set in a specific time and place on History, and they were said to happen in the public eyes. This narrative didn’t happen atop a mount that nobody knows for sure where it is, or when exactly it happened. Since the Gospels exist within a specific time and place, then they are historically verifiable. The Old Testament talked about those events centuries before they happened. They said how the Messiah would born, live, die, and resurrect. It is worth noting that those books were written centuries apart from each other and on different places, and this at a time that there was no print, no easy way to communicate through long distances, and most people didn’t know how to read or write. In spite of all this, those books managed to not only corroborate with each other, but also to tell exactly how specific future events would unfold. Last Sunday, on my Church, the Gospel reading was something that made me though about what we are talking here. The reading was the parable about Lazarus and a rich man. The rich man was greedy, he treated Lazarus with disdain, and in the end the rich man was sent to a place of torment after he died. The rich man of the parable tried to bargain his exit out of that place, he even said that he should get out of there so he could warn his brothers so they wouldn’t fall in the same fate. It is not explicitly told, but rather implied, that the rich man was not really interested in his brothers, he was just making excuses to get out of there. Anyways, it was the response he got that stuck with me, that his brothers have the prophets, and if the people don’t listen to them, then the people would also not listen even if someone returned from the dead. This specific story was a parable, not a historical narrative of events, but it is telling something that indeed happened: someone did return from the dead (Jesus Christ); but the Pharisees, even after seeing him resurrected in person, still didn’t accept. The point that sticks with me here is that it is necessary more than the intellectual conviction that God is there, one must make a step further and willfully accept God and trust in Him. God made people free, he doesn’t want to force anyone to anything. In this world we are used to only do something if we are going to get some compensation or if we are forced to do so. God doesn’t want nothing of that. He wants you to genuinely care about something. That is why I think that God doesn’t make himself as evident as possible, it would be pointless if people are not willing to accept. Instead, I think that God gives enough leads and it is up to people to seeks them. This way it shows some commitment, instead of getting it handled to you in a silver plate. It is worth nothing that faith in the Christian sense is ultimately a gift from God, and one needs to seek it in order to get it, but people are not going to get it by their strength alone, it is necessary the gift from God. And he has promised to give it to whoever wants to. Faith is not a feeling; it does not mean to “feel” God. Even the saints have moments in which they cannot feel the presence of God. And actually this does happen more often the closer someone gets from God, so people can seek God himself instead of the good feelings. Faith is not supposed to be about “feelgood” experiences, though it does involve goodness. Faith is to have the assurance that it is worth moving on towards God, even though you cannot immediately see it. For example, in the Letter to the Hebrews it is said that: “By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he lived as a stranger and pilgrim in the promised land.” About specifically me, what holds my faith together? That is a difficult question, not difficult in the sense that it is difficult to know, but in the sense that it is the sort of thing that you know by experience but it is difficult to express in words. Not unlike when someone ask you to prove that you have a consciousness. But in short, I can say that it is the grace of God coupled with my perception of him in my life and in the life of other people, not only now, but though the History. In other words, this is what I have summarized so far. On a related note, I would like to recommend the book “Mere Christianity” by C. S. Lewis. There he explains the fundamentals of why one is Christian in an eloquent way. The book is in free domain, so it is possible to legally just get it from the internet. Take good care! Mere Christianity.pdf

Pull up a chair and enjoy yourself Welcome! Nice to meet you too.

I have just heart of Hillsong here, so I haven't watched the movie. I looked around on the Internet about the Hillsong band, and my first impression is that they look very passionate about what they do

I have to admit that I have not been as consistent with it as I should. I usually have my quiet time before I sleep, most of times I just do some prayers, but I think that I should get into the habit of also including some Bible readings. The advice I got, and that I would like to share, is that it is good to create a routine, to have some time just between oneself and God. A fixed time, a portion of the day that you plan only for that, and seek to follow it, to have discipline. What was recommended to me was at leas 30 minutes, but even if you can do only 5, be disciplined about it. Even when I end up not spending all the time I should, I have established to myself that I will not go a single day without making at least one prayer. Welcome! Once In A Blue Moon, above, already gave a good explanation and I agree with him. People were trying to be like God, which just isn't possible, they fell victim of their own arrogance. God may speak differently to each people, he speaks in an way that people of a certain time and place can get the message. The time and place of the Old Testament is very different than our own, and God has spoken in a way that they could understand, and they did. It was a completely different mindset than our own, and it will go over the head of anyone who tries to analyse it with the modern day mindset. The Babel Tower would have never reached God even if it continued, because God isn't in the outer space (a physical place), he is in the Heaven (spiritual place). But the people of that time didn't have the knowledge of space that we have today. They thought that they could reach God and be like Him if they went high enough. The fall of the tower was to shown that their goal is unreachable. On a related note, I would like to point out something that came to me while I was typing my response: while people in the Old Testament were arrogant enough to try elevating themselves to the level of God, God Himself in the New Testament was humble to the extreme in lowering himself to our level, so he could walk among us Welcome to you too!

410.044 I just checked that back when I joined the forum, over an year ago, this thread were at around 318.415

You are conscious of your own flaws, and that counts. An evil person would not even care about them. Christianity isn't as much for the saint people as it is for the sinners, who are the first ones to need salvation. It is an way to seek perfection, rather than a private club for those who are perfect. Jesus reached first the most flawed people. There are things beyond your control, that you should not blame yourself. Your upbringing and the environment where you live are not your fault. Parents should be the first example of God's love that one should get. The close family should be one's first experience into the church. It is not uncommon for people who had bad experiences at home to have issues to understand or accept God, that's because they had no example of what God's love actually is. It is virtuous from you that you don't hate your parents. I don't know which issues you had or hadn't with your parents, so I cannot really comment on that. God isn't going to blame you on things that are beyond your control; and for what you did wrong, God is always open for forgiveness. When it comes to God, it is not about how much you have accomplished, because ultimately nobody is good enough to deserve anything from him. It is about the direction that you are following, whether you are doing the best you can in order to improve. As long you do the things that are within your reach, God is going to complement with the rest. Being loving is not the same as being stupid. You don't have to accept bad things that others do to you, and neither you have to take part with malicious people, and much less help them. Love doesn't preclude self protection, and sometimes it is better for all the parties to keep distance from each other. So it is not necessarily bad if it is the case that you doesn't have many friends today. It is important that you keep doing your best effort to become a better person, have respect for yourself and others. And more importantly, make an habit of praying regularly, it is important to know what God wants from you and also to get strength from Him. Keep in mind that praying is not the magical lamp of wishes, sometimes what you want isn't what is better for you and sometimes it just isn't the time yet for something. It is crucial to be very patient when praying. God bless you

Look this way: if you love your family and friends, then you love God. God is the supreme goodness, He is its source, He is the love made person. Anything that is good is good because somehow it is either directly or indirectly linked to God. It is not possible to be good outside God. 9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them. 1 John 2:9-11 The two big differences in Christianity with other religions is that it is God who comes first in our encounter (as the person of Jesus Christ), and God is more than just an authority figure, he is a Father figure. We are not His servants, we are his sons and daughters. One should not follow the law of God because of fear, but rather because those laws exist for your protection, and if you don’t follow you will eventually end up harming yourself and others. This will sadden God because he cares for us, and no loving son would want to make his father sad. 9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other. John 15:9-17 Hell is for those who rejected God, and by consequence any goodness. God doesn’t want anyone to end up there, everything that Jesus passed through in the cross is just a testament of how serious God is about saving people. Getting in the Heaven is not a matter of “scoring points by doing good deeds”, because that would imply that someone is capable of deserving it. Nobody of us is, that is why salvation is offered freely. We should be good not by obligation, and not for getting a reward. We should be good because our Father is good. Being good and caring to others is a natural consequence of having faith. “Being good for goodness sake”, as some would say, though I don’t like much this expression. I prefer rather how the Holy Scriptures phrase it: 16b God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. 1 John 4:16b-21 Take good care

The soul is unique for each person. Actually, it is what makes a person being a person, and not a corpse. If you want a simple definition of soul, it is "your inner being". The soul is created directly by God, and not produced by one's parents, like the body. It is what animates the body, giving it life. The body is flesh, while the soul is spirit. The soul is the subject of human consciousness and freedom; soul and body together form one unique human nature. Reincarnation is not part of Christianity, so according to this faith each new individual is his or her own unique new person. Our current body is corruptible and will die, but the soul is immortal. At the Judgement Day, everyone will resurrect with a new body, but an incorruptible immortal one, not unlike the body of Christ after he resurrected. Only God knows how, where, and when it will happen. It is worth noting that "reincarnation" and "resurrection" are not the same thing. The former would mean the same person being born again as a different individual. In Christianity, you are always yourself, and at no point you turn into someone else. You keep your personality and memories. I can think of 3 different answers of when the soul is joined to the body: (1) at the instant of conception, (2) somewhere along the course of pregnancy, or (3) at birth. The third option I cannot really see how it could be defended, the second I at least see where it is coming from; something in the lines about whether the brain is yet formed or not. However I am inclined to agree with the first one, because that is where the cell have their own unique genetic code, different from both parents, and it has the potential of becoming by itself a full featured person unless stopped. Anyways, I do understand the exact moment is a question that cannot be proven beyond any doubt. So even if there is doubt, I choose to "play it safe" and take the earliest possible moment (conception) as the one that a person becomes a person, so this way there is no risk of wrongly stating that something that actually is a person isn't.

Welcome back I see in your profile page that you are a roller coaster enthusiast. That's a pretty uncommon hobby, and sounds very interesting! What made you like it? Personally, I have rode roller coaster like two times in my entire life, I could not even manage to look at the ride, I kept my eyes closed all the way because I was terrified . And good you like to share your love and passion for Christ, good things are supposed to be shared What weesh said above, plus I would like to add some stuff. I generally does not worry much about political labels, I just defend what I am convinced it is right without caring which political ideology it fits. But if I have to apply some term to me, I use "conservative", because it is what closest describe me. I prefer minimum government, without not too much power in the hands of state, plus its powers should be divided (legislative, executive, and judicial). I defend traditional values of religion, nuclear family, and property; and that it is the duty of the family (not the state) to educate children. I also defend the right of free association for private individuals and freedom of speech for them (Want to to express your faith in public places? So be it, the state must not hold you back from it). The above values could also fit, at least in part, with the terms "libertarian" or "constitutionalist". Anyways, what I am trying to say is to not worry too much about labels. First make clear what your values are and what you are defending, just stating what is your political alignment might be misleading since other people might have a different understanding on what it means, or even have some misconceptions about it. Some people think that "conservative" means "racist", "sexist", "fascist" and "homophobic", when this is far from truth. You should define what are your values first and explain why you defend them, instead of just naming them.

The amount of times that I met such hostility in person, directed specifically to me, is exactly zero. I only had such issues online, even then it wasn't as bad as it could be, considering other cases I know. Rudeness is something that really irks me, on any subject, but if it is about religion, it just adds insult to the injury. I default to courteous and polite, but I can get incisive and assertive at the moment my education isn't reciprocated. This can be a flaw on circumstances that could have been better handled by diplomacy, but I do think that it is necessary on certain cases. Though rudeness in general irritates me, what particularly irritates me is some uncalled hostility towards religious folk, like attacking just on any mention of faith or other religious stuff. The religious individual wasn't doing harm to no one, was being educated and forcing nothing on other people, but then the bashful atheist comes totally uninvited. If it is online, one can easily tell what a certain discussion or article is about by just reading the title. If he is not interested, he can just move on. But he enters in the discussion just to attack and be generally rude, he can't really complain that he doesn't like the subject because (1) he knew full well what it was about before entering, (2) he wasn't forced to come, and (3) it wasn't harming him. Those unprovoked attacks are what irritate me the most. Pro tip: contrary to popular belief, religion can be discussed; it is just necessary to have enough education and knowledge for that. I notice that those who prefer to just avoid the subject usually either are afraid of hostility, or isn't capable of discussing it in an educated manner. About myself? My personal policy is if I am not doing something wrong, then I have no reason to hide it; which is why I am open about my beliefs and about discussing them. On the top of that, I can really respect the courage of other people who are also open about it. What also irritates me, is being accused of something I didn't do. Like when other people assume I think or do something bad because of what I am, that is the very definition of prejudice. I am not against science, I don't hate gays, I am not ignorant, or whichever other stereotype. But some assume that just on mention that one is Christian. Bonus points if they start attacking on sight without caring to even mention what accusation it is, because it is supposedly so obvious, and you are let wondering why the heck they are attacking you. Around an year ago I got involved in discussions on the Sonic Stadium forum and on the late BumbleKing forum, about the legalization of gay marriage in the USA. Instead of rather discussing the subject at hand, I ended up spending a lot more time having to explain that I don't hate gays, that I don't want them prosecuted, explaining that I am not ignorant, that Christian theology is logical, that the faith has historical basis, and defending myself against insults. One reason why I think such hostility exists is because denying God requires to hurt your own conscience, because people naturally have a tendency for spirituality. And hurting your conscience hurts, and when you see someone who reminds you of the pain you caused yourself, there might be some hostility towards this other person. This isn't a logical reason to be hostile, I admit, but people aren't logical when they let themselves to be led by their primal impulses. Another reason, is what alpinefroggy said: I used to have the habit, though I didn't do it in a while, to lurk atheist boards and sites, just to read why they became atheists. A bad experience with religion was almost a constant, and I didn't manage to find anyone who gave some philosophical or logical reasons. This when they don't just say that discovered that religion is stupid, without ever elaborating it further. Being forced into something, or having the ideas shoved in you without the right to question, have the opposite effect when it comes to convincing. The feeling that remains is something in the lines "I was deceived once and I won't be again". That is why "live by example" is a recommended. I remember about that quote of Saint Francis of Assisi: "Always remember to preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words" . If something is justifiable, there is no need to force it and neither the need of using any rhetorical tricks. Anyways, I would like to add that here in Brazil I didn't see those issues not as often and not in the same intensity as I notice in North America. To be honest, I still have a hard time understanding how religion works there. Here I don't think I had anyone to raise the stink eye while finding about my faith; but when I get to discuss it with international people, I already get in aware of which image they might have about the subject. Anyways, it might be healthy to get a different perspective on the subject, which leads me to the next point: Breaking stereotypes is satisfying. I am aware that certain people will be expecting me to behave in a certain way, but then I behave better. That destabilize them. Those discussions of mine that I mentioned earlier in this post only were effective because I kept a straight face, and didn't let their preconceptions to faze me, and I kept going strong and assertive. They didn't expect anyone to come and give an argument that is logical and that not is "because God or the Bible said so". I could notice a difference on their behavior, like thinking twice before engaging with me or others using rhetoric. Aggressive atheists aren't usually expecting anyone to keep standing still, they didn't plan on what to do in the case the other side continued instead of backing away with its tail tucked between their legs. Just continuing might be the enough, as they lost the north and don't know what to do. A handful of people willing to not accept being intimidated might be the enough to make others not willing to attack them. On the top of that, when you are virtuous yourself you might break the reasons that other people thought they had for attacking. At the bare minimum, when stereotypes about religion are removed, other people might even start warming up and being more sympathetic to religion itself, regardless of agreeing or not.