Somebody more wise than myself should really help Hurting out here. She needs more than just my two cents. I'm just trying to get this post back to the top so maybe someone will provide more help than I can. Once again Hurting, I'm praying for you. Don't lose hope and keep on being open to truth. Take heart.

-Aiden-

Living "right" should be a side-effect/desire from our love of God. I find that when I'm trying to live right without praying and loving God, I fail miserably. When I am loving God, I do tend to live right without actually having to strive all the time for it. Granted, I do fail when loving God, but I do not let it get me down and I usually am more worried about praising God for helping me up again. Sorry if this isn't completely well thought out. Take care.

-Aiden-

While Romans 2:11 does say that God judges all men the same (paraphrasing), I should think that this is concerning their sins and how those sins concern their eternity. Yes, in the end we are all judged by the same God, and are all seen as equally unworthy of salvation. But that entire passage seems or atleast could be talking of just the final judgements. God looked down upon Job and said that he was the most righteous man of the time. This is God favoring someone because of something they did. Now I have been told that some believe that Job was not a real person and only served as an old Jewish story, but until further evidence is shown, I believe that Job was real. Now if God saw Job as more righteous than his neighbors, then surely God could just as easily be more displeased with the more sinful neighbors. I am not saying that he would judge either persons more or less favorbly in the end, but in their time alive, some of their sins could have been more or less repulsing to God. Of course God feels repulsed by all sins, but the level of repulsion could vary. Notice that I say could quite a good deal during this discussion. Keep in mind that this is all for the sake of discussion and that we are talking about God and his different levels of sin classification in the present life, not from death and on. I'm enjoying this thread. Take care.

-Aiden-

I know this is late, but Praise God anyway.

-Aiden-

I'm praying for you Hurting.

-Aiden-

I'm not sure of the complete reasons for King James having the Bible translated, but I do know that the Bible had been translated before that into other languages. REALd, the caves you speak of are the Dead Sea Scrolls, I'm pretty sure they were written down in Hebrew or some middle-eastern language. The Bible was translate into Latin and kept intact by monks during the Dark Ages. The Roman Catholic Church had the scriptures kept and read only in Latin for a long period of time, until around the Protestant Reformation. One of Martin Luther's biggest complaints against the Church was that it did not have the Bible available to the lower classes. I'm not sure if you were just generalizing or misinformed, but REALd, please please be careful about what you say. Granted I may be wrong on the above stuff, but I did take time to recount the facts. We can't be spraying whatever we think should or could be true. And why is only the King James Version of the Bible the only right Bible? There are heretical (sp?) Bibles out, but I know that there are plenty of correct Bibles other than the KJV. I personally read both KJV and NIV mostly. It is way to easy to just blast all the other Bibles away as evil, but that simply isn't true. Sorry for always being on your tail, but you got to state the truth instead of just opinion. I say all this in love though, so don't think I am attacking you as a person. Take care.

-Aiden-

I'm definitely going to be living, truly living, in my Father's house. I can't wait. Every truly good thing here on earth that makes my heart jump with excitement is just a foretaste of what is to come. Like a man with blurred vision all his life, my eyes will be truly open to all the beauty that he has. And oh! the love of Christ! How it captures my soul. Praise be to Him. This is what my heart beats for. This is the prize at the end of the road, not that I could run or win it on my own.
Artpuey (I think that was your name, sry if I got it wrong or confused with somebody else), I truly want to encourage you to seek the truth. That is, of course, if you actually care. If you do then I would suggest reading; Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell, and C.S. Lewis. Those are some of my favorite authors because they are disecting and piercing with reason. There are certainly more authors out there, but if you seek God whole-heartedly, then you (or He) will find you. If you think you want nothing to do with God, then question this; have you ever felt like there is more to life than this, that perhaps humanity is just off-centered, you ever felt incomplete? These and more are signs that you are hungry, and for every hunger there is something to fulfill it. There is a desire for food, there is food. There is a desire for sex, there is sex. We all have the desire for God, you just have to indentify it when it comes. Man, I am sorry for being so preachy and long winded, but take care man.

-Aiden-

P.S.
REALd, What did you mean by saying that you could whoop Art in two seconds? If you are serious, then I want to encourage you to check your heart. Jesus never encouraged such behaviour. That kind only turns people away. Search your heart, take every word captive, and pray without ceasing brother.

Could you be a little more specific? Or else our answers could become quite lengthy on all kinds of replies. Take care.

-Aiden-

Hey hurting,
Just before I start typing off the top of my head, let me warn you that I am in no way very well versed in all this. Hopefully someone more learned in this will help out.
About women who choose to abort their children and get labelled murderers. Though it is sad to say, murder is what abortion is. I'll let someone discuss, if they want, on when exactly it is considered murdered according to the level of the babies' self-awareness. You said that there are mothers who abort their children and feel traumatized about it. Well, the fact that they feel guilt about it should ,in itself, show that abortion is wrong. Yes, they are traumatized, and yes they are murderers, but I do not think people should brand them murderers. We all have the capabilities of murdering someone, its just that the opportunity hasn't arrived or that some other force (God) has given us the power/grace to resist.
Now on to your thoughts about what to do if you had a suffering child. Now I'm not sure, but can the doctor tell you that your child is going to suffer all the time? They can tell if they'll have a terminal illness, but thats not all suffering all the time. If they are alive, then God has a plan for them, and his plans are never all pain and no joy. The possibilities of having a child who would suffer it's entire existence, and much less the doctor being able to tell that before birth, is highly improbable I should think. I'm serious when I say correct me if I'm wrong. Like I said previously, this is just my immediate thoughts on this. I should like to learn more on the subject however, so please, anyone who is learned in this, share some knowledge. Take care Hurting, and I just feel like I should encourage you to keep being open to God. The Lord will not hide from those who truly seek him, I believe. With love.

-Aiden-

Shylynne,
I'm sorry, but I did not exactly understand what you meant? I perhaps was becoming too opinionated or maybe unclear. I basically picture the "snot and slobber sessions" being sermons with lots of emotion and little else spoken, in which case I meant that Jesus doesn't seem to want us to do that. Man, I should have just written that earlier. Perhaps I'm still being unclea. Anyways, were you agreeing or being sarcastic or what? Sorry I can't get it on my own. Take Care.

-Aiden-

I personally can't stand touchy feely messages because emotions in themselves can't be trusted. Of course we must state the truth and the truth alone, but it should be done with tact and love. Sugar coating the truth can only mislead and disgust people. If I can't picture Jesus giving a snot and slobber session, then we shouldn't either. Take care.

-Aiden-

Hey Jess,
I would say welcome, but I think I got here after you. Anyways, great name choice, Red Letters actually used to be the name of one of my cousins' bands, but they've been silent for a while. All this just in case you ever here of them so you can connect them to me in a roundabout way. Take care.

-Aiden-

Hey REALd,
Great enthusiasm and fire, but it's directed in the completely wrong direction. Jesus is all about bringing people to him through love, not through rants and raves (though given, Jesus had his time in the temple, but don't look for opportunities to reenact the temple turnover). On the actual subject of getting tatoos though, the Bible does talk about it. Read Leviticus 19:28. Now it's true that many of the old mosaic laws aren't applicable today, but many still are and the spirit of the law does indeed exist. The spirit of the law meaning that we only do what would honor God and love our neighbor. I myself once favored tatoos, but the more I think, pray, and read about it, I begin to favor the anti-tattoo position. Of course I'm not saying that people with tatoos are any more sinful than someone without one. Neither am I a racist. Be more careful when you go around shouting the racist-alarm. What I am saying is that your heart condition is of paramount importance. Take care, and remember, in all things we are to love.

-Aiden-

I believe that dreams are normal functions of the brain, but sometimes God can come into them. Be careful though when you have a dream. We are warned against demons looking like angels, who tell us lies and such. Take every thought captive.


-Aiden-

Well said Allinall,
I haev never heard it put that way, but it certainly adds a new angle and perspective to it. Thank you again. Take care.

-Aiden-