Matthew 10:34-38 becomes a disturbing reality when you begin following Jesus

reply to post by NOTurTypical


What has he done for you exactly? Directly I mean.

You want to spend eternity in heaven because you don't want to spend eternity in hell. Am I wrong to assume that?

reply to post by NOTurTypical

Originally posted by NOTurTypical
I want to spend eternity with Jesus for who He is and what He has already done for me.

Good for you. That is your perspective of Christianity. Many are in it because they fear hell, and some even think that you are either a Christian or an Atheist and they don't want to be atheist so they be Christian or if they stop being Christian they become atheist and don't care about spirituality anymore... I know I'm sort of getting from the point, but it is still true that many are only in it because they don't want Jesus to throw them in hell and somehow they still believe he loves them with this mentality...

Originally posted by 3NL1GHT3N3D1
reply to post by NOTurTypical

 

What has he done for you exactly? Directly I mean.

You want to spend eternity in heaven because you don't want to spend eternity in hell. Am I wrong to assume that?

No, the focus is on Heaven, on Christ. I want to spend an eternity in Heaven because that's where Christ is. And personally? He died for me, He freed me from my addictions immediately just by asking, and He miraculously healed my back that had been bothering me for years. But even if He never healed me or freed me from my addictions what He did for me 2000 years ago at Calvary would be plenty enough to love Him forever.

Originally posted by arpgme
reply to post by NOTurTypical

 

Originally posted by NOTurTypical
I want to spend eternity with Jesus for who He is and what He has already done for me.

Good for you. That is your perspective of Christianity. Many are in it because they fear hell, and some even think that you are either a Christian or an Atheist and they don't want to be atheist so they be Christian or if they stop being Christian they become atheist and don't care about spirituality anymore... I know I'm sort of getting from the point, but it is still true that many are only in it because they don't want Jesus to throw them in hell and somehow they still believe he loves them with this mentality...

I've never met a Christian who feared Hell. Catholics might I dunno.

reply to post by Gibzuk


So you're a Catholic, but you don't think like a Catholic?

How does that work?

The realization of such things as the concepts of greed and material desires have nothing to do with God or Christianity. Christianity is not the only religion to which the realization of these concepts can be attributed. As a matter of fact, you don't even need ANY religion to understand such things. It is human understanding and wisdom, not something that came from God. One thing that bothers me about Christians is when they attribute little things to God that don't even have anything to do with God, such as thanking him for putting food on their table, without even considering how it really got there by human hands and human work rather than divine miracle.

If you're a good person, it's because you chose to be. Like you said, you had the chance to make certain choices in your life, and yet you chose to do what you feel is right. That's YOU, not GOD. Realize that you're a free-thinking and free-acting human being rather than praising God for things he didn't do.

Do you have any idea how many atheists and non-Christians have come to the same conclusions about the world as you? Your faith here is irrational and delusional.

reply to post by NOTurTypical


That's because they believe that avoiding hell is as simple as selling their soul to the other dude for eternal safety.

Kinda like taking a poison, then taking a placebo and feeling all the pain drain away...it's all a matter of how you look at it. Hell and Heaven, God and Satan, Christianity and Islam, every difference and every opinion, every belief, is all a matter of perspective. No one is right, no one is wrong...until people start getting hurt, or start losing grasp of reality.

And in the end, it's up to the individual. Should they choose they want to live in an illusion, that is their choice and their right. All you can do is walk away and hope that someday you'll meet them further on down the road, and that they'll be going in a similar direction to yours.

reply to post by NOTurTypical


So the flipside to that is you don't want to spend eternityaway from Jesus, a.k.a. hell. You are afraid yo be away from Jesus, so you don't want to go to hell.

Originally posted by 3NL1GHT3N3D1
reply to post by NOTurTypical

 

So the flipside to that is you don't want to spend eternityaway from Jesus, a.k.a. hell. You are afraid yo be away from Jesus, so you don't want to go to hell.

Yet again, my focus/desire is to be with Christ. Wherever He is is where I want to be. You keep using the word "afraid". I have no fear.

reply to post by NOTurTypical


So you do not want to be where he isn't, a.k.a. you don't want to go to hell, which is why you want to go to heaven.

Thanks for clearing that up. Deny it all you want but if you want to be where Jesus is then by default, you do not want to be where he isn't which is in hell.

Originally posted by 3NL1GHT3N3D1
reply to post by lonewolf19792000

 

Jesus is your shepherd and you are the sheep. Hell is the sheep dog, the constant threat that keeps the sheep in formation and keeps them manipulated.

edit on 31-7-2012 by 3NL1GHT3N3D1 because: (no reason given)

Actually no. We're not afraid of hell. We have no reason to be. Thats the whole point of salvation, Jesus takes away our fears with the assurance of his promise. The Shepherd calms his sheep's fears and when one goes astray he goes after it.

Originally posted by 3NL1GHT3N3D1
reply to post by NOTurTypical

 

So you do not want to be where he isn't, a.k.a. you don't want to go to hell, which is why you want to go to heaven.

Thanks for clearing that up. Deny it all you want but if you want to be where Jesus is then by default, you do not want to be where he isn't which is in hell.

Well, sure. What Christian wouldn't want to be where Jesus is?? Lol. But don't make the incorrect statement that Christians "fear" Hell. Before conversion we didn't believe in it, now that we are saved we do not come under condemnation. (Romans 8:1). I suppose Muslims might fear Hell or Jehovah's witnesses. There is no such thing as assurance of salvation in those belief systems.

reply to post by NOTurTypical


Before you didn't believe in it someone told you about it and you feared it and that is why you wanted to believe in Jesus, because you were afraid of hell and you wanted to stay away from it. You may not 'fear' it now but you definitely don't want to go there.

Religion used your fear of hell to get you to believe what they told you, and now the thought of going there is always at the back of your mind.

reply to post by lonewolf19792000


No, when a sheep goes astray, the sheep dog goes after it. Its very rare that the sheep stray from the pack because they feel as though they have safety in numbers and they know that if they do stray that sheep dog is waiting for them.

The shepherd herds the sheep and keeps them in formation by presenting the sheep dog to them. Get it?

reply to post by lonewolf19792000


So Jesus takes away for fears by offering you salvation? What fears does he calm? Your fear of hell?

Originally posted by 3NL1GHT3N3D1
reply to post by NOTurTypical

 

Before you didn't believe in it someone told you about it and you feared it and that is why you wanted to believe in Jesus, because you were afraid of hell and you wanted to stay away from it. You may not 'fear' it now but you definitely don't want to go there.

Religion used your fear of hell to get you to believe what they told you, and now the thought of going there is always at the back of your mind.

Dear God man, you never stop arguing. Fine, if you demand I be fearful about Hell, then I fear not all my family, friends, and loved ones will come to trust the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. There, I fear that aspect of Hell.

reply to post by NOTurTypical


I don't demand you to fear hell, I'm telling you there is no need yo fear hell because it does not exist, except for what is going on on this planet right now. This is the closest thing to hell there is, you are already in heaven so there is no need yo believe in some guy that lived 2,000 years ago. Its a ridiculous concept.

Religion uses a childs fear of hell to convert them into a christian, the same goes for Islam and Hinduism. That's all I've been trying to say this whole time.

I'm not arguing I'm debating, that is one of the main purposes of this site, to debate things. If you do not like to debate, don't come to this site because you're going to find it wherever you look.

reply to post by 3NL1GHT3N3D1


I never believed in hell before I converted. God's goodness leads a man to repentance, not His judgment. And who are you talking to about what to expect from this site, look how long I have been here. This isn't a debate, it's a discussion, and all I've experienced from you is you'll argue absolutely anything I say. That gets old after a while.

reply to post by NOTurTypical


A christian child would beg to differ. I as a child would beg to differ.