Why are you...

[Migs]

the religion you are now?

on the same note, what "aha!" moment made you born-again people become born again? 

My parents are Catholic.  I was raised Catholic, but early on we stopped going to church.  Didn't go to sunday school or communion etc.  We still observed some of the traditions.  As I got older and studied, I basically threw religion out the window. 

[Hugo Chavez]

Sometimes I see God

[Butterbean]

We went to church when I was little occasionally.  I don't really remember that much about it except that the children's choir director was mean and also one day in Sunday school a kid came out of the bathroom w/his pants down. 

In high school I went to that church's church camp but it was more of a social thing.




My conversion came after getting interested in bible prophecy and reading the bible more and it making sense to me.

[Migs]

funny how we diverged after studying

[Deicide]

the religion you are now?

on the same note, what "aha!" moment made you born-again people become born again? 

My parents are Catholic.  I was raised Catholic, but early on we stopped going to church.  Didn't go to sunday school or communion etc.  We still observed some of the traditions.  As I got older and studied, I basically threw religion out the window. 

My parents are atheists. I was raised with no religion.

[Deicide]

We went to church when I was little occasionally.  I don't really remember that much about it except that the children's choir director was mean and also one day in Sunday school a kid came out of the bathroom w/his pants down. 

In high school I went to that church's church camp but it was more of a social thing.




My conversion came after getting interested in bible prophecy and reading the bible more and it making sense to me.

You became a Christian based on 'biblical prophecy'? That was the sole reason?

[Colossus_500]

I grew up in a baptist church and accepted Christ as a youngster (9yrs old).  Still remember it as if it were yesterday.  The sermon that the pastor was giving was about how Sampson destroyed an entire army with a donkey's jawbone.  I remember thinking how amazing God must be to give one person that kind of power.  And I wanted that type of strength (hey, this site is all about muscle, right  )  I also remember thinking how cool I was now that I could take one of those little shot-sized cups with the grape juice and the little crackers during communion (I used to get so mad that I couldn't take it before I was saved lol).  Thought I was big stuff. 

I strayed away from the church fellowship in college (like 99.5% of college students do).  I kept my prayer life and relationship with God the whole time during college, but missed out on a lot of fellowship. I started searching again for a church home not long after I graduated.  I remember when one of my best friends gave his life to Christ and was going to be baptized.  I felt so bad for not telling him more about God, and not being the one who led him to accepting Christ as his savior.  From that point on, I've made it a mission to tell all who will listen and live a life that even those who don't want to believe will see Christ in me. 

It wasn't until my father passed away that I became passionately crazy about God, and wanted God to use me to the fullest.  I wanted my wife to know that I was all about God, and that I want that to be the center of our marriage.  And I've tried to carrie that mindset in all that I do as a husband, father, son, friend, and co-worker.  I fall short of that quite often, but I always get up and get back in the fight. 

Until He Comes,

Colossus

[Sir Humphrey]

I don't converse with invisible friends.

[Migs]

interesting story colossus

thanks for sharing

[Deicide]

I grew up in a baptist church and accepted Christ as a youngster (9yrs old).  Still remember it as if it were yesterday.  The sermon that the pastor was giving was about how Sampson destroyed an entire army with a donkey's jawbone.  I remember thinking how amazing God must be to give one person that kind of power.  And I wanted that type of strength (hey, this site is all about muscle, right  )  I also remember thinking how cool I was now that I could take one of those little shot-sized cups with the grape juice and the little crackers during communion (I used to get so mad that I couldn't take it before I was saved lol).  Thought I was big stuff. 

I strayed away from the church fellowship in college (like 99.5% of college students do).  I kept my prayer life and relationship with God the whole time during college, but missed out on a lot of fellowship. I started searching again for a church home not long after I graduated.  I remember when one of my best friends gave his life to Christ and was going to be baptized.  I felt so bad for not telling him more about God, and not being the one who led him to accepting Christ as his savior.  From that point on, I've made it a mission to tell all who will listen and live a life that even those who don't want to believe will see Christ in me. 

It wasn't until my father passed away that I became passionately crazy about God, and wanted God to use me to the fullest.  I wanted my wife to know that I was all about God, and that I want that to be the center of our marriage.  And I've tried to carrie that mindset in all that I do as a husband, father, son, friend, and co-worker.  I fall short of that quite often, but I always get up and get back in the fight. 

Until He Comes,

Colossus

You sound like one of those people who would be a murderer without 'god' in their lives; I guess we should thank 'god' for small favours.

[Joel_A]

I grew up in a baptist church and accepted Christ as a youngster (9yrs old).  Still remember it as if it were yesterday.  The sermon that the pastor was giving was about how Sampson destroyed an entire army with a donkey's jawbone.  I remember thinking how amazing God must be to give one person that kind of power.  And I wanted that type of strength (hey, this site is all about muscle, right  )  I also remember thinking how cool I was now that I could take one of those little shot-sized cups with the grape juice and the little crackers during communion (I used to get so mad that I couldn't take it before I was saved lol).  Thought I was big stuff. 

I strayed away from the church fellowship in college (like 99.5% of college students do).  I kept my prayer life and relationship with God the whole time during college, but missed out on a lot of fellowship. I started searching again for a church home not long after I graduated.  I remember when one of my best friends gave his life to Christ and was going to be baptized.  I felt so bad for not telling him more about God, and not being the one who led him to accepting Christ as his savior.  From that point on, I've made it a mission to tell all who will listen and live a life that even those who don't want to believe will see Christ in me. 

It wasn't until my father passed away that I became passionately crazy about God, and wanted God to use me to the fullest.  I wanted my wife to know that I was all about God, and that I want that to be the center of our marriage.  And I've tried to carrie that mindset in all that I do as a husband, father, son, friend, and co-worker.  I fall short of that quite often, but I always get up and get back in the fight. 

Until He Comes,

Colossus

note to self: stay away from this guy.


this guy would probably eat children's brains if God told him to.

[Deicide]

note to self: stay away from this guy.


this guy would probably eat children's brains if God told him to.

Exactly. Reminds me of this girl I knew who said the only reason she didn't kill her neighbor was because 'god' told her not to.

You should stay away from this guy; huge genetic freak coupled with religious delusion.

[loco]

note to self: stay away from this guy.


this guy would probably eat children's brains if God told him to.

Joel,

Colossus is a great guy who has been nothing but nice to everybody here.  You'd be lucky to have a friend in your life who is half the man Colossus is.

Colossus, thanks for sharing your testimony!

[loco]

We went to church when I was little occasionally.  I don't really remember that much about it except that the children's choir director was mean and also one day in Sunday school a kid came out of the bathroom w/his pants down. 

In high school I went to that church's church camp but it was more of a social thing.




My conversion came after getting interested in bible prophecy and reading the bible more and it making sense to me.

STella, thanks for sharing your testimony!   

[Migs]

ok, when you "talk" to God, when do you think you get a response?

[Joel_A]

Joel,

Colossus is a great guy who has been nothing but nice to everybody here.  You'd be lucky to have a friend in your life who is half the man Colossus is.

Colossus, thanks for sharing your testimony!

Can't say I'll take your word for it.

[Deicide]

Joel,

Colossus is a great guy who has been nothing but nice to everybody here.  You'd be lucky to have a friend in your life who is half the man Colossus is.

Colossus, thanks for sharing your testimony!

There is nothing admirable about people who need religious delusion to be ethical and moral people; Colossus falls into that category.

[loco]

You sound like one of those people who would be a murderer without 'god' in their lives; I guess we should thank 'god' for small favours.

It certainly goes both ways:

Atheism may lead some, not all, to Nihilism.  That doesn't mean that Nihilism leads to serial killings, but still:

Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence. A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy. While few philosophers would claim to be nihilists, nihilism is most often associated with Friedrich Nietzsche who argued that its corrosive effects would eventually destroy all moral, religious, and metaphysical convictions and precipitate the greatest crisis in human history. In the 20th century, nihilistic themes--epistemological failure, value destruction, and cosmic purposelessness--have preoccupied artists, social critics, and philosophers. Mid-century, for example, the existentialists helped popularize tenets of nihilism in their attempts to blunt its destructive potential. By the end of the century, existential despair as a response to nihilism gave way to an attitude of indifference, often associated with antifoundationalism.
http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/n/nihilism.htm

[Deicide]

It certainly goes both ways:

A nihilist is non de facto an atheist. Besides I know of no atheist personally who is like that yet I know several Christians who have admitted they would rob and murder without their deity.

[loco]

A nihilist is non de facto an atheist. Besides I know of no atheist personally who is like that yet I know several Christians who have admitted they would rob and murder without their deity.

They were probably just talking, wrongly thinking that it was a good argument for believing in God.
 
I personally wouldn't rob or murder anybody, with or without faith in God.  But I did become a better son to my parents, a better brother, a better friend, a better student, a harder and more responsible worker and a more responsible borrower after I became a Christian.
 
And I have known of atheists who, just talking, admitted they would probably rob, rape and murder if they did not fear the law of the land and the consequences if they got caught. 

Then there are atheists such as Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot who killed millions of innocent people just because they were above the law and could get away with it.

You spent some time in S. Korea.  You posted that they are very dishonest people and that they robbed you and treated you like trash for two years.  You expressed that you had come to hate them and that you wished N. Korea would invade them and that they would all killed each other.  Weren't you "just talking" when you said that?  I believe you were.

If you were serious about that, wouldn't you kill them all yourself if you had the power at your finger tips?  No?  You'd rather have the N. Koreans do your dirty work for you?

[Deicide]

They were probably just talking, wrongly thinking that it was a good argument for believing in God.
 
I personally wouldn't rob or murder anybody, with or without faith in God.  But I did become a better son to my parents, a better brother, a better friend, a better student, a harder and more responsible worker and a more responsible borrower after I became a Christian.
 
And I have known of atheists who, just talking, admitted they would probably rob, rape and murder if they did not fear the law of the land and the consequences if they got caught. 

Then there are atheists such as Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot who killed millions of innocent people just because they were above the law and could get away with it.

You spent some time in S. Korea.  You posted that they are very dishonest people and that they robbed you and treated you like trash for two years.  You expressed that you had come to hate them and that you wished N. Korea would invade them and that they would all killed each other.  Weren't you "just talking" when you said that?  I believe you were.

If you were serious about that, wouldn't you kill them all yourself if you had the power at your finger tips?  No?  You'd rather have the N. Koreans do your dirty work for you?

I wasn't serious about 'killing people'. I don't want to kill anyone. That said more than half the country of S.Korea is made up of devout Christians, says a lot. These cases you cite such as Mao and the rest, their actions had nothing to do with their religion, rather with their cores as people and their ideology. Atheism is a lack of belief in a deity not a fully formed belief system. You could cite many religious people doing similar things.

[loco]

I wasn't serious about 'killing people'. I don't want to kill anyone.

Neither were the Christians that you mentioned above, probably.  I can't speak for them.  People just talk sometimes.

That said more than half the country of S.Korea is made up of devout Christians, says a lot.

Actually, about half their population has no religion.  Only about 1/4 is Christian and about 1/4 Buddhist.

Of those claiming to be Christians, it would be hard to know which are devout and which are not.

These cases you cite such as Mao and the rest, their actions had nothing to do with their religion, rather with their cores as people and their ideology. Atheism is a lack of belief in a deity not a fully formed belief system. You could cite many religious people doing similar things.

Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin and Pol Pot had no religion.  They had a lack of belief in God.  And they killed millions of innocent people.

[Deicide]

Neither were the Christians that you mentioned above, probably.  I can't speak for them.  People just talk sometimes.

Actually, about half their population has no religion.  Only about 1/4 is Christian and about 1/4 Buddhist.

Of those claiming to be Christians, it would be hard to know which are devout and which are not.

Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot had no religion.  They had a lack of belief in God.  And they killed millions of innocent people.

They didn't kill people because of an explicit lack of belief in god.

[loco]

They didn't kill people because of an explicit lack of belief in god.

They killed because they could, because they had no fear of God, because they had no fear of the law of the land, because they were above the law of the land.

[Butterbean]

Can't say I'll take your word for it.

I wouldn't expect you to take my word for it either, but Colossus really is a wonderful person.  I am glad to call him my friend. 

I don't understand why you think you should be afraid of him, he may be huge and be able to squash us like a bug, but he is a big softy    I suppose he could squeeze you to death giving you a big hug