re: Any sliver of belief in god i was raised to have is slowly being destroyed.

I've never read the Bible cover to cover so I can't pretend to be a scholar on the subject. I'm not a regular at church either although I did become a member of a church and got baptized a few years ago. The church politics turned me off so I quit going.

My personal belief is that the Bible is the dumbed down word of God. It's put into terms that people from a couple of thousand years ago could wrap their heads around. Burning bushes, giant boats that could hold two of every kind of creature, talking snakes......

I believe that's all symbolic. Don't get me wrong. There is a ton of wisdom in the Bible. So much so that I am convinced there was a higher power at work. It's just that if I try to take it literally, I struggle.

I would hope you would ask around and find a Bible based church that is led by a Godly man.
Understand, satin is loose on earth and takes great pride in stealing poeples souls. If he can discourage you and seperate you from becoming a growing christian he has won.

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Understand, satin is loose on earth and takes great pride in stealing poeples souls

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I've lost my soul to some satin panties before.

this is my kinda thread!

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this thread is remarkably civil and i'm pretty darn shocked.

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Christian civility at work, son.

I didn't really grow up in a religious home. My mom took us to Sunday school and church when I was young but that tapered off when I was around seven or eight. We would still go on Easter and Christmas Eve but that was about it.

It wasn't until November of 2007 that I felt like God reached out to me personally. My dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and it absolutely knocked me for a loop. I respected my dad more than anyone I have ever known. He was the type of man I always strived to be and still do.

Anyway, he called and told me about the cancer on a Friday night. My brothers and I spent the weekend with him and then I went back to work Monday morning. I was still pretty torn up about it. A coworker stopped by my office to ask about my weekend and I told him about my dad. He told me how sorry he was and left.

No more than five minutes later he forwarded an email to me that he had just received from one of our sales reps. The rep thought it was interesting so he sent it to my coworker who is a devout Christian. It was a story of a guy who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and how his faith in the Lord was helping him find the strength to deal with it. It hit the nail on the head at exactly the right moment.

That was the first time I felt like God took the effort to speak directly to me. Maybe it was just a crazy coincidence but I don't think so. Ever since then, I've believed that God is watching and that he cares.

I forwarded the email to my dad and asked him to read it. It took him several days to get around to it but when he did, he called and thanked me. It gave him comfort.

I printed the email and still carry it in my wallet to this day.

There were a few other things that happened during that difficult time that I couldn't quite explain without thinking it was God at work.

Anyway, that's what led me to becoming a church member and getting Baptized. I'm not sure what to make of the Bible and man's interpretation of it but I do know there is a God.

Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble on like that.

My father suddenly died in 2007. It was a completely unexpected event. A true "thief in the night" experience.

The night before the funeral I had a remarkably vivid dream where my father visited me to say goodbye and he told me everything would be okay. He seemed genuinely happy.

It may have simply been my imagination, but when I woke up I was completely calm and at peace with his death and I have remained that way ever since. Actually, my older sister and brother come to me for comfort when they are having bad days due to dad's death. They miss him and regret certain decisions they made in the final year leading up to his death. They think it's odd that I'm so stoic about his passing.

I think it's God.

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It may have simply been my imagination, but when I woke up I was completely calm and at peace with his death and I have remained that way ever since.

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I had a similar dream several months after my dad passed. My brothers and I were all standing in front of my grandmother's house where my dad grew up. My dad comes walking down the road and shoots the bull with us for a minute like he used to. Then he says he's got to go but that he's alright. Like your dream, it was very vivid.

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I think it's God.

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I think so too.

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I had a similar dream several months after my dad passed. My brothers and I were all standing in front of my grandmother's house where my dad grew up. My dad comes walking down the road and shoots the bull with us for a minute like he used to. Then he says he's got to go but that he's alright. Like your dream, it was very vivid.

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God can surely do something like that. I don't recall experiencing a dream like that, but I do remember a significant event when I was about 16. It involved the first girl I truly loved. She was also my first girlfriend. However, I didn't know how to properly handle my emotions amongst other things at the time.

Cut out some details, and I basically became obsessed with her. It was definitely unhealthy. I didn't truly know Christ at the time either, although I acted like it. When she finally broke things off for good, I didn't know what to do. That was the 1st and only time in my life I actually contemplated ending it all.

What happened next is really indescribable, but I will give it my best shot. I was in my room on my knees in tears. Then I called out for God to do something. That's when I felt true, indescribable peace wash over me. It was as if Jesus Himself came to me, picked me up, hugged me, and told me He loves me. I still remember that to this day, and I still struggle to describe it at times.

Fast forward to when I was 19 this past August, and I came to know Christ. Life has never been the same since.

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I can believe in God but not churches . Churches, the Bible. Those are man made. I don't believe a word. I believe there is a god. But we as a species have contorted his image.

Everyone , even atheists want to believe in life after death, and I'm no different.

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This is how I feel. The Bible was written by people, not God. When people quote the Bible to argue about this topic, I laugh. God didn't write it. Religion altogether was created by people. Life is full of uncertainty, and the thought of there being nothing after this life is too much to handle. What is the point of living if you just all of a sudden cease to exist when you die?

Believe it or not, my studies of science have proven to me that there is a higher power. Whatever "force, or being, or God" that set this universe in motion, IMO, is beyond any human being's comprehension. Man created God in his own image, and all of the teachings about God that you hear today reflect that. Take the afterlife for example. I simply will never ever believe that something that created the world that I see around me, would sentence "non-believers" (who happen to be genuinely good people) to an ETERNITY of torture for not bowing down to him/her/it. Think about ETERNITY. You can't even begin to comprehend it. I would argue that no one deserves never-ending torture. You can commit the most horrible, despicable, cruel acts imaginable. But as long as you "let Christ/allah/whoever into your heart" you get to spend ETERNITY in paradise with God. That is just not logical to me, as evidenced by the complexity of the world around me.

I understand why religion was created, but I think the way it portrays "God" and what he/she/it expects of people is a complete joke. Life is about being a good person, IMO. Who knows what happens after death. I dont think anyone can comprehend what put all of this here or what will happen.