jello5 Posted June 20, 2018 Group: Removed from Forums for Breaking Terms of Service Followers: 0 Topic Count: 4 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 55 Content Per Day: 0.03 Reputation: 4 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/20/2018 Status: Offline Share Posted June 20, 2018 (edited) I come here genuinely seeking instructions. I used to believe in God, and the idea of hell scared the **** out of me. I lived in constant (overwhelming) anxiety due to the fear of not being a good enough Christian and going to hell. I thought there was no way there was NO god, but I did fear I may be worshipping the wrong one. So I started looking at other religions; talking to people of different faiths, reading, watching debates, etc. Once I started watching debates, I began watching debates that involved atheists. My mind was blown by how much sense they made to me, and they seemed to be the only people who could intellectually take down people of non-Christian faiths, but then later started watching them debate Christians. I hated the fact that they made sense because I felt that even though they made sense God was still there and was going to punish me if it made too much sense. But eventually, after hearing enough arguments I had never heard before, learning more about evolution that I never knew, and taking a step back and realizing that I fundamentally disagree with many of the morals preached in the Bible, that I was gonna drop it entirely. I was fine for a while. I never, and still don't, have a "Jesus shaped hole" in my heart. But, unfortunately, society at large (especially in America) REALLY doesn't like atheists. When I used to go to church they acted as if they were synonymous with demons. I, along with everyone around me, thought similarly at the time. I figured anybody who didn't believe in God was evil, or at the very least far morally inferior to an average Christian. Well, my morals haven't changed one bit. I'm still just as nice, polite, and well-intentioned as I was before. So are all of the non-believers I've ever met. It now seems as though it never really shaped my morals... I just thought it did. Still, Christians hate atheists. Most Americans are Christians. I'm pretty much an outcast to everyone who knows and actually cares. It really only started to bother me because this is now true among my family and with a girl I've fallen in love with. After one big debate on Christmas break with my WHOLE family that my mother triggered, everyone in my family knows and everyone acts weird around me. The girl I love told me she loves me, but she can't be with someone who isn't following Christ. We still talk every day because our feelings are so strong for each other but she thinks that she's not supposed to be with me even though she loves every single other thing about me. I want to believe. I really do. Seriously. But, I don't want it to give me anxiety that's so hardcore that I have constant panic attacks. AND, I've dug so deep into the "God vs No God" debates that I feel like I've heard pretty much every argument from both sides because I haven't found a new one from either side in sooooooo long and it's just super repetitive at this point. To me, it seems as though atheists won the argument. Is there somebody who has some unique take, or can tell me something I probably don't know, or ANYTHING at all that could convince me that God is real again? I'm not trying to "debate" and show you how smart I am. I genuinely want somebody to change my mind and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I have this conversation a lot, and depending on who I'm having it with I'll pretty much say"please convince me" and whenever I ask a question that's too hard I'll either get "God works in mysterious ways" or "You just have to have faith." BS. Please, somebody, have a conversation with me like a human being and don't get all robotic trying to show off how pious you are and don't dodge any questions. Don't ask me if I've, "talked to God about it." I've tried. A lot. Even after I've proclaimed nonbelief. I'm sick of people leaving my life over this. Even if you can't convince me that God is real, can somebody please convince me that he's good so I can maybe fake it till I make it at some point. Please. Edited June 20, 2018 by jello5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omegaman 3.0 Posted June 20, 2018 Group: Graduated to Heaven Followers: 57 Topic Count: 1,546 Topics Per Day: 0.21 Content Count: 10,320 Content Per Day: 1.41 Reputation: 12,323 Days Won: 9 Joined: 04/15/2004 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/05/1951 Share Posted June 20, 2018 You know Jello5, Belief in God, is not about knowing or presuming something about God to be true. Intellectual understanding is not enough. The Devil "believes in God", but that is not going to do him any good. Faith is about believing God, taking Him as His word and trusting Him and submitting to His rightful ownership of your life. Faith, the Bible tells us, comes by hearing - hearing the Word of God. It is an interesting concept, as a little goes a long way, and it serves as it's own evidence. We can, and should, ask God to give us the faith to believe. It is a supernatural thing, not something that we can just will to do. I suggest that you read the Bible more, and prayerfully, with and open heart and mind. Surround yourself, as much as you can, with people of faith. Seek out a local church, and attend regularly, there is little quite like surrounding yourself, with people who have what you seek. The importance of the Bible, cannot be over emphasized, since faith is not about believing just anything, but believing what God has said. You not only need to believe, but you need to know what to believe. In the same way, not just any church will do, there are lot's of religious, real and false, that call a building where they gather "church". You will want to find a church that has a statement of faith, similar to the one here, one that is focused on the essentials of Christiany. There likely is no unique take. If there is, it is likely to either have things not needed, or worse, even mislead. Read Matthew, to reaquaint yourself with the life of Jesus, and the book of John, to get a different understanding about what Jesus mean in a more spiritual, less biographical sense. The rest is all between you and God. He has reached out to you, you just need to respond, so I suggest that you pray for His help, plead for it, you eternity depends on His grace, love, and mercy, and He is not unresponsive, He cares deeply, and desires you, but is not going to force you. You need to decide, if you are willing to humble yourself, admit you failure to live as you should, but you should also realize, that it is not up to you to be good enough for Him, we come to Him with our flaws, and just need to be willing to let him change us, for the better. We'll be praying for you! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jello5 Posted June 20, 2018 Group: Removed from Forums for Breaking Terms of Service Followers: 0 Topic Count: 4 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 55 Content Per Day: 0.03 Reputation: 4 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/20/2018 Status: Offline Author Share Posted June 20, 2018 18 minutes ago, Omegaman 3.0 said: You know Jello5, Belief in God, is not about knowing or presuming something about God to be true. Intellectual understanding is not enough. The Devil "believes in God", but that is not going to do him any good. Faith is about believing God, taking Him as His word and trusting Him and submitting to His rightful ownership of your life. Faith, the Bible tells us, comes by hearing - hearing the Word of God. It is an interesting concept, as a little goes a long way, and it serves as it's own evidence. We can, and should, ask God to give us the faith to believe. It is a supernatural thing, not something that we can just will to do. I suggest that you read the Bible more, and prayerfully, with and open heart and mind. Surround yourself, as much as you can, with people of faith. Seek out a local church, and attend regularly, there is little quite like surrounding yourself, with people who have what you seek. The importance of the Bible, cannot be over emphasized, since faith is not about believing just anything, but believing what God has said. You not only need to believe, but you need to know what to believe. In the same way, not just any church will do, there are lot's of religious, real and false, that call a building where they gather "church". You will want to find a church that has a statement of faith, similar to the one here, one that is focused on the essentials of Christiany. There likely is no unique take. If there is, it is likely to either have things not needed, or worse, even mislead. Read Matthew, to reaquaint yourself with the life of Jesus, and the book of John, to get a different understanding about what Jesus mean in a more spiritual, less biographical sense. The rest is all between you and God. He has reached out to you, you just need to respond, so I suggest that you pray for His help, plead for it, you eternity depends on His grace, love, and mercy, and He is not unresponsive, He cares deeply, and desires you, but is not going to force you. You need to decide, if you are willing to humble yourself, admit you failure to live as you should, but you should also realize, that it is not up to you to be good enough for Him, we come to Him with our flaws, and just need to be willing to let him change us, for the better. We'll be praying for you! Well shoot, that sounds nice but isn't believing God even exists a good starting point? And why won't God give me the ears to hear him? I seriously want to. I've read the bible a decent amount, even after losing faith. I will read the books you told me about, though. But I have a lot of friends, and just about all of them are Christians except for like 3 and one of those threes views don't even really align with me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blood Bought 1953 Posted June 20, 2018 Group: Royal Member Followers: 13 Topic Count: 48 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 6,726 Content Per Day: 2.89 Reputation: 6,258 Days Won: 5 Joined: 12/03/2017 Status: Offline Share Posted June 20, 2018 Jello.....nice to meet you! No need to fear any kind of judgement from me. I love atheists. I used to be one. Hard-Core. My two best friends are still atheist—— one of these guys is the funniest person I have ever know n and the other is the smartest person I have ever known.Here are some of my interests—- riding my Harley Heritage Soft Tail, photography, ( I used to be a wedding photographer) and I love listening to music of the sixties and seventies ( Beatles......saw them live back in 1965, Stones,Clapton, Hendrix, caught his guitar pick in a crowd,kept it for a long time, Jackson Browne, Fleetwood Mac and Skynyrd and Stevie Ray).I am totally UNreligious and enjoy nothing better than exposing and puking on all things legalistic.So......let me know if I can help you with anything.You remind me of me not so many years back, only I would bet I was 100 Times a worse sinner than you ever dreamed of being.I’m still nothing to brag about.....lol.....I just thank God for His Amazing Grace. It’s out there for you too, and it’s so simple to get that most people miss it.....oops, sorry about that little “ religious” thingy—— sometimes stuff just kinda slips out....lol....... Best of luck to you, friend 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omegaman 3.0 Posted June 20, 2018 Group: Graduated to Heaven Followers: 57 Topic Count: 1,546 Topics Per Day: 0.21 Content Count: 10,320 Content Per Day: 1.41 Reputation: 12,323 Days Won: 9 Joined: 04/15/2004 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/05/1951 Share Posted June 20, 2018 39 minutes ago, Blood Bought 1953 said: Jello.....nice to meet you! No need to fear any kind of judgement from me. I love atheists. I used to be one. Yeah, I was an atheist too, for 29 years, before I came to faith, Ironically, I came to faith (humanly speaking) because I devoted 10 years to actively trying to disprove God, the more I tried, the less I found the case for Atheism to be credible. So I converted it Agnosticism first, but that was no intellectually satisfying at all. I realized, that Agnostic, was just a politically correct term for ignoramus, lol. Took God a few more years, before I came to faith, it was a hard road for me! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blood Bought 1953 Posted June 20, 2018 Group: Royal Member Followers: 13 Topic Count: 48 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 6,726 Content Per Day: 2.89 Reputation: 6,258 Days Won: 5 Joined: 12/03/2017 Status: Offline Share Posted June 20, 2018 41 minutes ago, Omegaman 3.0 said: Yeah, I was an atheist too, for 29 years, before I came to faith, Ironically, I came to faith (humanly speaking) because I devoted 10 years to actively trying to disprove God, the more I tried, the less I found the case for Atheism to be credible. So I converted it Agnosticism first, but that was no intellectually satisfying at all. I realized, that Agnostic, was just a politically correct term for ignoramus, lol. Took God a few more years, before I came to faith, it was a hard road for me! On 6/9/2018 at 4:40 PM, Cobalt1959 said: We are also instructed to not let them spread around their false doctrine without countering it. inChrist is not weak in faith. He follows a false doctrine. Big difference. Yes, Omegaman......there are many stories like yours out there.....people trying to disprove the Bible becoming Believers to Their surprise.. My road was rather easy......I did nothing, deserved nothing, for absolutely no good reason I was given “ ears to hear”, the rest ,as they say is history.....lol 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omegaman 3.0 Posted June 20, 2018 Group: Graduated to Heaven Followers: 57 Topic Count: 1,546 Topics Per Day: 0.21 Content Count: 10,320 Content Per Day: 1.41 Reputation: 12,323 Days Won: 9 Joined: 04/15/2004 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/05/1951 Share Posted June 20, 2018 2 minutes ago, Blood Bought 1953 said: Yes, Omegaman......there are many stories like yours out there.....people trying to disprove the Bible becoming Believers to Their surprise.. My road was rather easy......I did nothing, deserved nothing, for absolutely no good reason I was given “ ears to hear”, the rest ,as they say is history.....lol Yes, that is the thing. None of us deserve it. It is not surprising, that some are saved, it is more surprising, that any of us are! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK1110 Posted June 21, 2018 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 22 Topic Count: 86 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 6,853 Content Per Day: 2.42 Reputation: 9,579 Days Won: 4 Joined: 07/18/2016 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/10/1986 Share Posted June 21, 2018 22 hours ago, jello5 said: Still, Christians hate atheists. Most Americans are Christians. I'm pretty much an outcast to everyone who knows and actually cares. I'm so sorry to hear about that. True Christianity does not hate, but loves. We are living in the great apostasy. There are so many who claim to be Christians but have never truly repented and dedicated their hearts to Christ and who don't live the Christian life at all. But they claim it, so when they mistreat others they sully Christ's name. It sounds like you have a lot of head knowledge but it hasn't really moved your heart. Might I recommend you look up Voddie Baucham's teaching on Brokenness on Youtube? God bless you on your journey towards Him! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Willa Posted June 28, 2018 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 68 Topic Count: 185 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 14,224 Content Per Day: 3.34 Reputation: 16,647 Days Won: 30 Joined: 08/14/2012 Status: Offline Popular Post Share Posted June 28, 2018 Pray one of those God, if there is a God, prayers. God, if there is a God, my life is a miserable mess. I want to believe but have no faith. Please give me faith. I can't work it up to believe. I need Your help. Please forgive me for turning away from you. Please forgive my unbelief. Please take away my hardened heart. I need Jesus Christ in my life to be forgiven, to be able to love as You do, and to make my life worth living. Amen. 2 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debp Posted June 28, 2018 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 52 Topic Count: 1,014 Topics Per Day: 0.15 Content Count: 12,271 Content Per Day: 1.79 Reputation: 16,330 Days Won: 92 Joined: 07/19/2005 Status: Offline Share Posted June 28, 2018 Your overwhelming anxiety over not being a good enough Christian and fearing Hell.... I'm so sorry that no one explained to you that because of our faith in Christ as our personal Savior, we do not have to fear about our salvation or going to Hell. Our sins have been washed away through Christ...what He did for us on the cross. Of course, we try to live godly but with the help of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. If we fail sometimes, the Lord still loves us. Perhaps if you can get your thinking correct about God being our loving heavenly Father, this might help you. Don't continually think on what the atheists have said....now realize that there is a God and that you are now seeking Him. If you seek Him, you will find Him. Also, as someone else mentioned we do not hate atheists or anyone....the Lord teaches us to love our neighbor as ourselves. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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