I Truly Do Not Understand

[Guest Alexandros]

First off, I'm not Christian.

My question is, how is it that you believe in God and Jesus, and so forth, in what I might call 'pure blindness'? By which I mean, you haven't seen anything to prove their existence? Is it a feeling in your heart? Is it a knowledge in your mind? I'd love to know why because I truly don't get it....what validity has Christianity shown you over all the other religions that exist?

[ayin jade]

The Holy Spirit.

[Dad Ernie]

First off, I'm not Christian.

My question is, how is it that you believe in God and Jesus, and so forth, in what I might call 'pure blindness'? By which I mean, you haven't seen anything to prove their existence? Is it a feeling in your heart? Is it a knowledge in your mind? I'd love to know why because I truly don't get it....what validity has Christianity shown you over all the other religions that exist?

Greetings Alexandros,

I do not believe that any person who claims to be a Christian comes to Him in "pure blindness" or ignorance. It certainly was not that way in my case. I had a personal confrontation with the Holy Spirit of God (the Christ Spirit), and he convicted me of my unrighteousness and God's absolute perfect righteousness. You may call this "subjective" and thus not of any value, but for those who experience this "meeting", they are changed forever.

Many people look for a "sign", but this is what Jesus said:

Matthew 12:39-40 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

I will attempt to "interpret" this for you. This response was to the question of the Pharisees and Sadducees "give us a sign", meaning they wanted Jesus to do something to demonstrate that He was who He claimed to be. This is in essence what you too are asking. So this is what Jesus is telling you TOO:

Jesus died. For 3 days He lay in the Grave. On the third day He came back to life - He AROSE! He was seen by all His disciples and thousands of others before He ascended into Heaven where He is now seated at the right hand of the Father.

He was ABSOLUTELY DEAD, DEAD, DEAD. If you saw the "Passion", which was probably not as bad as the reality of Jesus' scouraging and torment and death, then you must acknowledge than NO MAN could go through what Jesus did and NOT DIE. There was NO swooning, no one stole his body, and there was absolutely NO gain for any of the Lord's disciples in spreading the Word that Jesus WAS ALIVE, in fact most all of them died a hideous death. They never got rich, they never prospered over preaching the Gospel, in fact Paul often found himself doing tent making in order to support himself. So there was NO reason for ANY of the Lord's disciples and Apostles to "carry the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world". They did not foment rebellion against the governing authorities, but instead told everyone "to obey the government".

Now, if you want to check these things out, you can prove these things to yourself. The Lord's DEATH AND RESURRECTION are going to be the ONLY SIGN you are ever going to get from God, UNTIL YOU MEET HIM FACE TO FACE, even as I and many others have.

Blessings,

Dad Ernie

[Guest yod]

I came to faith by trying to prove that the Bible was false. Ever tried it Alex?

[shammah]

Let me tell you several reasons why I believe, Alexandros;

First off I was attacked by demons since I was five years old; my family just though it was nightmares.

By the time I was six, I refused to go to childrens church, because if God really existed, I needed His protection, and needed to know Him!

I was allowed as long as I kept quiet. I learned that by the Name of Jesus Christ even I could command the spirits taunting me at night to stop if I became a believer!

I didn't go forward, but heard the message and believed, went home and commanded the demons to leave, and I was no longer bothered!

My parents were church goer's for awhile, but they never really gave their hearts to the Lord until death was at the door!

Secondly I studied the historical evidence of the bible, especially in contrast to the books and stories which other religions are based on.

The bible has never been proven wrong historically; and the greatest historians who would love to prove it wrong, always end up supporting biblical data!

Many who have started with the agenda to prove biblical history wrong , have become believers!

While other religions are more based on myths,have very few writers such as the Hebrews had, and were meticulous at documenting times names and places!

Beyond the Historical data which I remind you, it was so accurate that if one word was misplaced, it was required to start the whole book over again; the Word of God, was not handled with the liberty of various translations today!

But the very fact that Christ was born, verified, and over five hundred people saw him after his resurrection, and quoted and testified to this witness ,would hold up in any court of law!

You see not only did the supporters of Christ see him after His resurrection, but others also, and also graves of some of the old saints were also opened and prophets of old were resurrected and seen.

Miracles performed and seen and quoted by religious unbelievers at the time, and recorded to prove to all man kind.

Even the guards that were sent to defend the tomb of Christ, witnessed the resurrection and the angels, and fled in fear! This would have meant execution for the guards to leave their posts; but the religious leaders bribed the centurions not to punish the guards , and make up the story that a band of fishermen stole the body away while they were sleeping.

Jesus Christ fulfilled hundreds of prophecies of the coming of the Messiah , which when analyzed by scientists of one man meeting all the qualifications, it would be billions to one!

But most of all when He comes into your heart ,you are changed if you are a serious seeker of the truth, that truth is more important to pleasure, and eternity more than a short time of selfish indulgence!

Many are called, for He doesn't want any to perish, but few are chosen; because to follow Him you must put Him first over your will, or the family!

Many of the sacrifices of the old testament are hard to understand, because they are shadow pictures of what Christ would come to fulfill; so start with a gospel or two, and then get into the teaching of what it is to become Christ like! Forget the denominations, at least at first, and find the truth in the pages, ask with a pure heart that Jesus would reveal his truth!

Most churches, especially the Catholic, make it a ritual, but make it a life-style! Follow no man but check everything with the word, using word searches or a concordance to prove out a subject!

I wish there was good fellowship ,but it may be hard to come by, being it is the last days, and Christianity has become more social than serious; but find fellowship if you can!

Everything in the world and all religions, let alone powers and principalities are against a true believer,but just inquiring shows an interest!

Believe nothing that isn't solid in the word, picking and choosing pleasing scriptures, or the latest fads, and books!

The Christian life is as narrow as one person at a time, each one giving account. no pastor, or mentor, goes through that narrow gate to meet Christ and His salvation with you!

There is much more to say, but it's your choice, you can choose God, but in reality He looks at your heart and chooses you, again, many are called but FEW are chosen!

If truth outweighs your own desires, He may have chosen you from the beginning of time, knowing the beginning till the end!

Agape; Ephraim.

[Botz]

Alexandros...

First off, I'm not Christian.

My question is, how is it that you believe in God and Jesus, and so forth, in what I might call 'pure blindness'? By which I mean, you haven't seen anything to prove their existence? Is it a feeling in your heart? Is it a knowledge in your mind? I'd love to know why because I truly don't get it....what validity has Christianity shown you over all the other religions that exist?

Hi Alex....'Pure blindness' suggests that we must be a bunch of idiots who are willing to believe anything as long as it gets us through life.

I trust you understand just a little bit that this is not the case...but each of us in our own way has been drawn to the Saviour from all sorts of backgrounds and with all sorts of sins and hang-ups...BAGGAGE!

When a person is attracted/intrigued/compelled towards Jesus there comes a time when they must put their best foot forward and take a step of faith and believe He is actually who He claims to be...and He will give to you exactly what the Bible promises is only His to give...namely forgiveness of sins,eternal life,and a relationship with the Heavenly Father.

Many of us have looked deeply into other religions and philosophies in an effort to sift out the truth about what life is all about...but have found they all lead nowhere and will just give you religion or a way of living ....but no Saviour.

I want the truth about life...and in Jesus I have found the truth...I trust His words totally!

Believing in Jesus does not mean you commit intellectual suicide or that there is no evidence for the message of the Gospel...quite the contrary ...as others have mentioned there is a vast amount of geographic,archaeological and historic evidence that strongly adds weight to the History in the Bible...and then there is the evidence of Believers who carry in themselves the light of Messiah through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost...and there is also the ongoing historical evidence of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel.

[jesussaves]

Alexandros, the most facinating thing in all of life is the manner in which the Lord chose to reveal Himself to those who believe. You see, He has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, yet, profoundly, those same things reveal Jesus to those who believe. I do not tell you this simply because I just read about it or heard about it and am passing it along. I am telling you this because I have experienced the transformed life. I have been born again, just like Jesus said. He is awesome! I gotta tell you, there is nothing like knowing Master for yourself. Before I met the Him, I thought I knew it all. I soon realized I didn't know anything at all until Jesus came into my life. I wished I had met Him sooner. The joy of knowing Him is something I cannot begin to describe.

In the Book of St John chapter 20, verse 29, Jesus says,"...blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

All it takes is a simple faith, like a child with such humble trust, to know Christ personally. All it take is believing.

There is no formula as to what to say to Him. He sees your heart. Just go to Him and talk to Him, tell Him in your own words how you feel and that you would like to know Him personally. If you don't believe you are a sinner in need of a Saviour, ask Him to reveal your heart to you and then you will soon see that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. We cannot stand in His presence without first believing that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God and that He died at calvary for our sins and that He alone is the atonement. Final, complete...He laid down His life so we could have everlasting life.

This world has created many false gods to worship because there is a place the Lord created in all of us that needs God. But the worship of silly things man made himself is futile...and just plain silly. The worship of a statue made by man is no different that worshiping a chair made by man. Buddah, Mohamid, ...just men who had philisophical ideas that the Bible warns us not to cling to because they are vain.

You can count on Jesus. Who else would die for the sins of the entire world. Who else would love us that much. Who else but Jesus.

God bless you. I hope you reach out to Him..He is reaching out to you.

Jesus saves

[MooseGirl]

First off, I'm not Christian.

My question is, how is it that you believe in God and Jesus, and so forth, in what I might call 'pure blindness'? By which I mean, you haven't seen anything to prove their existence? Is it a feeling in your heart? Is it a knowledge in your mind? I'd love to know why because I truly don't get it....what validity has Christianity shown you over all the other religions that exist?

Greetings Alexandros,

I do not believe that any person who claims to be a Christian comes to Him in "pure blindness" or ignorance. It certainly was not that way in my case. I had a personal confrontation with the Holy Spirit of God (the Christ Spirit), and he convicted me of my unrighteousness and God's absolute perfect righteousness. You may call this "subjective" and thus not of any value, but for those who experience this "meeting", they are changed forever.

Many people look for a "sign", but this is what Jesus said:

Matthew 12:39-40 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

I will attempt to "interpret" this for you. This response was to the question of the Pharisees and Sadducees "give us a sign", meaning they wanted Jesus to do something to demonstrate that He was who He claimed to be. This is in essence what you too are asking. So this is what Jesus is telling you TOO:

Jesus died. For 3 days He lay in the Grave. On the third day He came back to life - He AROSE! He was seen by all His disciples and thousands of others before He ascended into Heaven where He is now seated at the right hand of the Father.

He was ABSOLUTELY DEAD, DEAD, DEAD. If you saw the "Passion", which was probably not as bad as the reality of Jesus' scouraging and torment and death, then you must acknowledge than NO MAN could go through what Jesus did and NOT DIE. There was NO swooning, no one stole his body, and there was absolutely NO gain for any of the Lord's disciples in spreading the Word that Jesus WAS ALIVE, in fact most all of them died a hideous death. They never got rich, they never prospered over preaching the Gospel, in fact Paul often found himself doing tent making in order to support himself. So there was NO reason for ANY of the Lord's disciples and Apostles to "carry the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world". They did not foment rebellion against the governing authorities, but instead told everyone "to obey the government".

Now, if you want to check these things out, you can prove these things to yourself. The Lord's DEATH AND RESURRECTION are going to be the ONLY SIGN you are ever going to get from God, UNTIL YOU MEET HIM FACE TO FACE, even as I and many others have.

Blessings,

Dad Ernie

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dad Ernie, all I can say is WOW!! I have never thought of it this way before. Thanks

Moosegirl

[Leonard]

Alexandros: Good questions, but wrong premise. Most people think of faith as what you and they are more apt to call 'blind faith.' However it is my contention that faith is never blind. Real faith gathers information and makes informed judgments.

After we have arrived at one level of faith, we are usually...by gathered evidence propelled to another.

Please remember 'evidence' is not the same as 'proof.' Proof is a very paucitous commodity in this universe. Evidence may be gathered but 'proof' is mighty hard to come by!

Let me say that when I have broken bones healed INSTANTANEOUSLY that is 'evidence' not proof. It was a pretty darned good evidence, but not proof. Such evidence gave me a basis for even greater faith in this God we serve.

Leonard

[JimR-OCDS]

First off, I'm not Christian.

My question is, how is it that you believe in God and Jesus, and so forth, in what I might call 'pure blindness'? By which I mean, you haven't seen anything to prove their existence? Is it a feeling in your heart? Is it a knowledge in your mind? I'd love to know why because I truly don't get it....what validity has Christianity shown you over all the other religions that exist?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Leonard,

how do you know we haven't seem anything to prove their existence?

I have and I know many other's who have. For myself., it wasn't a vision per se, but from the depth of my very being, a bright light filled me and this bright light was the person, Jesus Christ. I felt his love and compassion. It was like nothing I have ever felt before.

Other's have different experiences of Jesus in their live's, and those experiences are so profound, that the person's life is transformed entirely.

I think the confusion you have, is that you believe religion is faith and the two, although they often go together, are not the same thing.

Faith, is a gift from God. It is the revelation of himself, in some way, to the person who receive's this gift.

Religion, is the persons reaction to faith.

Once a person receive's faith, he/she has an intense desire to learn everything they can about Jesus and to be with other's, who also have received this gift of faith. Many return to the religion they were raised in. Other's find new religions, or even start their own. Either way, religion now has meaning and purpose. The things once thought as being foolish, now make perfect sense.

No one can give you this gift of faith. It must come from God himself. However, it is your's for the asking, all you have to do is go to God for it, and be willing to surrender your will over to him. All your ideas, thoughts and agenda's, must be discarded, in exchange for the ideas, thoughts and agenda's that God has. The experience is what some call, "being reborn or born again."

If you are seeking this experience, then you must go to the source, and that is God, revealed in Jesus Christ.

Tonight, do as I was instructed, before I first received the faith. With a Bible in hand, go to a quite place where you will not be disturbed. Before you open the Bible, open yourself to God, and say a prayer, asking Jesus to come into your life and to bring you his presence. Then, open the Bible and read the first page that you open to. It doesn't matter where in the Bible it is, or if you even understand, what you are reading. The Holy Spirit, will guide and feed you. Then watch what happens.

One important word of advice here! Don't look to have the same experience as other's have. Christ speaks to us, from where we are and your experience will be a personal one. Abandoning all thoughts of other's experiences, is the upmost importance!

God Bless!

Edited December 10, 2004 by JimR-OCDS