What is the question?

1. 59

   Jeramiposted 12 years ago

   To be or not to be; that is the question?????  Who said that?
   
     To be an Evangelist or not to be an evangelist, that is the question!
   
     It is written that The Lord God  said that he gives Faith to those that he chooses! And he doesn't to those that he chooses not to.
   
     SSOOoooooo !  If God wanted everyone to have faith in him, ?  would he not give Faith to everyone?????
   
     SSOoooooo  I have come to believe that "The Good News" which the apostles were instructed to spread, had little if anything to do with spreading of  "The Faith".
      We can not give someone else faith in God; cause God already said that he will do that.!
      If God doesn't want someone to have faith, there is nothing that we can do to make them get it.
   
      SSOOoooo the "Good News" just might have been about something else.
   
   
      I wonder what it was. ??  The bible doesn't say.  I think that part was left out!   ....  or was it?
      I think that the good news is hidden in plain sight. 
      
      Not only is it in plain sight; ...  but,  it is highlighted in RED letters.
   
     But we get so caught up in explaining Aaa  Billion nitpicky unimportant details that we become color blind. 
   
      Isn't there a verse where Jesus talks about the color blind leading the color blind?
   
      If not? ...  there should have.
   
      
      God gives me enough wisdom to understand those things which I understand.
   Unfortunately; he doesn't give me enough wisdom to explain it to someone who doesn't understand.

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   1. 95

      wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hamlet, of course, though I don't think he referred to evangelism...
      
      As long as you try to make sense out of the biblical texts you will forever remain confused and wondering or you will decide to make up whatever pleases you for a meaning.
      
      Sounds like you have decided that not everyone possesses the capability to have faith - does it please you to make that decision?  If not, make another interpretation.

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      1. 59

         Jeramiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Howdy ...wilderness  ..   well? ..  I see a lot of truth in biblical texts,
         though I don't see it well enough to show it to Ya.

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   2. 88

      Paragliderposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hamlet, but you knew that
      
      Here in Qatar, and it is the same in UAE, proselytising is illegal. There have been prosecutions of visiting evangelical Christians but also of local evangelical Muslims. The State, though Islamic, believes that people should respect others' beliefs and not try to change them. (The call to prayer from the mosques, though often very loud, is not considered proselytising because it is Muslim to Muslim).

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   3. 59

      pedrogposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Do you feel somehow special with your line of thought?

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      1. 59

         Jeramiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         NO!   but I'm good with it.

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   4. 59

      Disappearingheadposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I believe Jesus said that some pots were made for beauty, others for everyday use, and others for ignoble use. Paul said that God raised up Pharaoh for the very purpose of getting israel out of Egypt. God repeatedly hardeded pharaoh's heart when pharaoh himself wanted to let Israel go. So seems to me we have an established principle that there are those who don't have faith through no fault of their own.
      
      If someone doesn't believe because they have not heard a satisfactory convincingly brilliant argument with supporting evidence, who is at fault? The evangelist or the hearer?

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      1. 59

         Jeramiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         If someone doesn't believe because they have not heard a satisfactory convincingly brilliant argument with supporting evidence, who is at fault? The evangelist or the hearer?
         
            If this person doesn't have a receptive mind , ...  it is no ones fault,
         it's just the way that it is.
         
            I think that if there wasn't conflicting forces, everything will stop moving.

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   5. 59

      A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, believers are "special"

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      1. 59

         Jeramiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Finally ....   you said something that I agree with.
         
           We are special; and you are too.  As you well know.

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         1. 59

            A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            In other words, everyone is special and no one is special.

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            1. 59

               Jeramiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I think that you might be onto something with that thought;  something very special.

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               1. 59

                  A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Uh, it's called logic and it isn't special at all. Ignored by believers, but certainly not special.

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                  1. 59

                     Jeramiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     Don't Ya think that just about everyone is ignoring something.
                     
                       Some of us ignore more than others.
                     
                       Can't any of us pay attention to everything.  We get dizzy and pass out, cause none of us were designed to understand that many things.

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                     1. 59

                        A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        Speak for yourself.

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                        1. 59

                           Jeramiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                           If my statement doesn't include YOU ?....  I guess that you think that you are an exception?  that You can handle knowing everything?
                           
                              I'm not surprised

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                           1. 59

                              A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                              Your religious fantasies and how you perceive reality has nothing to do with me, so please speak for yourself.

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                              1. 59

                                 Jeramiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                 I completely see and agree with your point 
                                 
                                 
                                 That statement can be said to be true; (and of equal credibility) .... regardless as to which one of us are saying it.

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2. 59

   Jeramiposted 12 years ago

   And good day to you Paraglider;
   
      I once was blind, then someone lit a candle and now I see a little better.

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3. 80

   dmopposted 12 years ago

   I have always paid close attention to the words in Red, I'm glad I'm not color blind that would make it much more difficult. You could likely take away all the other words and the Bible would be just as profound.

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   1. 59

      Jeramiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Actually If these were all that we knew?  that would be a really good thing.

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4. 59

   Jeramiposted 12 years ago

   I change my mind.  ...   After we have emprinted these words of red in the concrete of our mind ...  we then might want to do the same thing whenever an angel is said to have spoken.   
      If we can understand these in such a way as to be in agreement ... that would be even better.
   
   
      We would find ourself believing a lot of things differently than we do.

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5. 59

   Jeramiposted 12 years ago

   But then ....   cause of how we choose to interpret the teachings of the disciples ...  we get confused and say that God has created a mystery.
   
      We pretend it is all suposed to be just like a Jig Saw Puzzle;

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6. 0

   Emile Rposted 12 years ago

   I enjoy your posts jerami. Probably, because when I understand what you were getting at; I tend to agree.
   
   I don't think the good news was hidden. I always assumed that the good news was meant to be that God is real, God is one and he loves the whole world. He loved the world before the world knew him. I would assume that if that were fact at that moment over two thousand years ago it would still be true today.
   
   So, that would mean you are right. All thoughts and all beliefs would serve a purpose in the grand scheme of things. The trick then is determining what that grand scheme might be and how the incessant infighting is working at odds with it.

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   1. 59

      Jeramiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Emile R; ... Back Atcha ...  I enjoy reading your post also.  They often nudge my thought process just a little further outside the boundaries from which they were contained.
      
         And that is a good thing!

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