BCPaolo

quick and tasty christmas dessert!! Get a bunch of whole dates. slice them open and pit them. Stuff a slice of manderine orange in each date. coat in chocolate drizzle and sprinkle with coconut shavings. Done! No cooking at all!

Doesn't it seem like God is very vengeful and angry in the OT, always threatening destroy his people and start fresh, etc, and then when Jesus comes, he teaches a very different method... turning the other cheek instead of eye for an eye. Why does God change his ways?

as is most science behind creation. How was THAT for opening a can of worms?

I have quite a bit of experience with situations like this, and one thing I have learned is when trying to give constructive criticism, don't focus on your disagreement with the person you're talking with, focus on their behaviour. For example, if this topic gets brought up in conversation, agree that the girl should be punished, and ask what the punishment is. WIthout saying she's wrong, ask the mom why she feels keeping her kid from church would be appropriate punishment. Get her to explain her reasoning without coming off as hostile or judgemental. SUGGEST that maybe going to church would HELP her daughter and not hinder her, maybe a grounding would be a more suitable punishment? Nobody likes to be told how to do things, let alone how to raise their kids, so being humble and constructive is key in these situations! Best of luck!

So... picture Jesus meeting a homosexual. How do you think He would react? What would he say to him? I'm not saying homosexuality isn't a sin, but lets remember out job: to love God, and to love one another. I don't remember judging to be among our tasks, we leave that for the big guy upstairs .

Wow, why crack down on that? RA's, at least the ones at my university, regularly get up to a lot worse things with their rezzies then talking about the bible... maybe they should crack down on other activities instead.

Yes, of course Christians should go into mosques. How can you ever witness to someone if you can't relate to them? Christians should go into bars too. Not to get hammered and go home with a stranger, but to bring light into dark places. How much darkness does it take to put out a candle?? Maybe that's just me, but I'm not the type of Christian to hide behind my Bible and only leave the house for food and to go to Church. It feels like living with one's head in the sand.

Thanks! You do make a good point. I never thought of it that way. Me neither.It's a good start. But won't it be agreeing with their religeon, though? Not at all, like I said, if you do your research, ask tough questions, etc, then you'll only be left with one option: christianity. It's not about agreeing with one religion or the next. If you're continually seeking truth throughout your life, it doesn't matter which religion you start out with, you'll end up in the arms of Christ.

But pornography is one of many corruptions of something God made - the sexual relationship between man and wife. Sex is a wonderful thing which God created - and it was good. Sin has corrupted that by exploiting the desire and offering other ways of fulfilling it. Likewise slavery is a corruption of a relationship of submission and obedience. Jesus showed how such a relationship was designed to work when he washed his disciples' feet. Those with power are supposed to wield it for the benefit of those without. Slavery exploited that by saying "why not use that power for yourself?" that's very true. Only only that, but back to Eden... so Adam had no evil present in him. What about Satan? The snake? I thought everything god created in eden was good? What's this evil snake doing tempting Adam and Eve?

You can agree with him! All reglions DO lead to God. If you take the time to delve into every religion, and thoroughly scrutinize them, ask the tough questions, and thoroughly exhaust yourself seeking answers, you'll only be left with Christianity. So, in a round about way, he was right!

1) Should we really blame the devil for everything? What is our fault for being sinners, and what's Satan's fault? To me it seems like some people can use Satan as a scape goat ie "I didn't mean to do that, but I gave in to Satan" or something to that effect. I personally think we should fess up and take the blame for our mistakes in life. If I go out and kill someone, that's me killing another person, not satan! 2) I'm familiar with the concept of Evil being the corruption of something good, but if the world and everything in it was good before the fall of man, why did the snake in the garden of eden tempt Adam and Eve? It seems like evil was present in him before Adam and Eve screwed things up for everyone . How could the snake talk anyways?!?

Jealous!!! Spent some time travelling around Italy last year... went pretty much everywhere EXCEPT the amalfi coast... I don't know what I was thinking... time (and cash) was limited... but I regret not going now. On a lighter note, on my visit I came within feet of the Pope himself! Did you see Sorrento? Did you do the drive (or bus ride) down the coast line? It must've been pretty hot this time of year!

What happened to people who died before Jesus' time? were they all condemed to hell? If no one gets to the Father except through the Son, what happened before the Son?

I think they meant Pentecostal. Off the top of my head, I don't know of any web sites with that kind of information. I own a great book on the subject, but that does not help anyone else. Sorry. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It would help others here if you revealed the name of this wonderful book.

Excuse my ignorance, but what's a penecost? I really don't know a whole lot about the different Christian denominations... can anyone recommend a good book or website so I can learn a little?

Start Here: The Case for Christ - Lee Strobel I can't recommend his books enough for people seeking answers!! I heard "More then a Carpenter" is a good read too, don't know the author. My pastor once said "if you don't believe in or worship Jesus, you should worship the person who created him, because writing up a character such as Jesus, with the words that he spoke, that would end up changing millions of peoples lives a couple of thousand years afterwards... that's pretty impressive stuff for a writer!"

According to this link, atheism is also a religion in it's own rite Doesn't a "religion" by definition involve some degree of faith ? Makes me wonder what the resident atheists think about that ( Okay- bring it on! I'm ready to come under fire for that one Just don't use the term "straw man" please- I'm tired of it too ) Be blessed, Tim <{POST_SNAPBACK}> While I agree that athiesm requires faith (quite a bit of it, actually), I think it differs from religion on the grounds that it doesn't require faith in the existence of some kind of deity, which I believe is a pre-requisite for religion.

I've never seen anyone called a sausage before, let alone a silly one. I like it!

That "top ten myths of science" post really irked me. I think it's time people realized that religion and science go hand in hand, and the more you delve into one, the more you need the other. Science can take you to SECONDS after the big bang, but they can't give you a first cause, or take you to seconds before it... that's where faith comes in. Science allows us to observe the world and go "ahhh... so THAT'S how God did it". I noted in one of my other posts that when I was searching and learning about God, I made a realization that there are loads of crap being written on creation, God, athiesm, EVERYTHING!! Yes, there is a lot of bunk science out there... but think of how much Christianity is skewed. Don't believe me? Ever heard of mormonism? How about the Christadelphians? Or any other minor (or major) sect of Christianity that you don't agree with? Any Catholics here? There are literally thousands out there to pick from. Anyone who simply dismisses science as witchcraft or something unreliable has their head stuck pretty far in the sand. The key is to be able to weed through the bad stuff. God gave us science for a reason... in fact, if you read into it, Earth is placed in a very unique place in the universe, galaxy and solar system in which it is very easy to observe what goes on around us, and if we were placed differently, we would not have been able to make many of the scientific discoveries we have today (read Case for a Creator, Lee Strobel, it's very well documented and foot noted). In a roundabout way, I guess I'm trying to say that the more finger pointing goes on between some christians and scientists, the less progress either side makes. We should be working together here... after all, we all have the common goal of finding out the truth, right?!

Unfortunately, life is not always fair. Sometimes some thing will happen in life that makes it seem like the world is out to get you... only to appear to be benificial to you in the end. Sometimes things will seem too good to be true... and often, they will be, and a seemingly great situation will turn on you. I don't know why "nobody cares about you", although I doubt that's the case, because I don't know your family. Just understand that no matter what happens in life, God is always working, and is always part of it, and no matter what the situation is, you can rejoice in that. When I was young(er), my older brother had everything paid for him, while I didn't. I've had to have a job since I was 15. Yeah, it sucked growing up, but now I have the money managing skills that most of my pampered friends never developed while they were younger, and I've saved a lot of cash because of that, and now I'm ahead of the game compared to other 22 year olds who are neck deep in student debts and car payments. I never would have thought of that while I was applying for McDonalds at 15 years old, but it seemed to work out alright!

Don't compromise yourself!! If you try to please them all as best buds, you'll just be stretching yourself too thin, without giving you time to focus on what really matters (God, yourself, your family, etc). Focus on the big things first (God, yourself, your family) and let the friends come and go as they will in life.

Sounds like the devil had more presense in him then yourself. Rock on

Looks like we might have a hit record here. Lol. That was an interesting post. The reason that I ask is because I was raised mainly on rock music (everything from The Beatles, Rolling Stones to Kiss and Motley Crue). The only music that I really listen to now is CCM, or Worldly Christian Music as some may call it. I am just interested to know if it is ok to listen to the music that I was raised on or if I should only listen to music that praises God and Godly things. The funny thing is the preacher of the church that I used to go to is a big fan of Rod Stewart. That sort of struck me as weird because of some of the songs that he has recorded, like

I've been reading a lot ABOUT Christianity... a lot of Lee Strobel, C.S. Lewis, et al, and I borrowed a Bible from a friend, but I think it's time I got my own and spent some quality time with it. That being said.... what version or translation do you read? And why? What would you recommend for someone looking for their first Bible? Thanks!

Thank you so much!