tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-754125091287589349.post5404084038088450942..comments2023-11-09T12:19:17.565-06:00Comments on Just Call Me Frank: Our Endeavour at Being Frank: Religion, You Say? We Have a View On That.Just Call Me Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058598849716342352noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-754125091287589349.post-13054533795017797812011-09-18T11:44:39.163-05:002011-09-18T11:44:39.163-05:00I was raised Roman Catholic and now I am a Luthera...I was raised Roman Catholic and now I am a Lutheran (Missouri Synod). Your main objection here is with Christianity, which I can appreciate. Many crimes, murders, wars have been commited in the name of the Christian God, which is an abomination. The true understanding of God as taught by the Lutheran Confessions and Scripture is that God sent His Son not to fight our political battles, this is why the Jews could not accept him as the Christ. Christ came to teach and to die for our sins. Period.<br /><br />Christ does not condone sin, but knows that we are all sinners. He also does not steer away from sin. He did, after all, hang out with the worst of sinners, the tax collectors and the prostitutes. God loves sinners, because we are all sinners and we are his creation.<br /><br />Before you start to think that I am a religous zealot know that I believe I am the worst of sinners. I have cheated, I have lied, I have wished and caused harm to others. I have failed often to do what Christ called me to do, to love God with all my heart and all my soul and to love my neighbor as myself.<br /><br />The problem with the wing of Christianity you were raised in is that they preach a theology of glory, which teaches that if you believe in Christ everything will be great, but you have to work at it. The true understanding of scripture teaches the theology of the cross. That is that once we believe we are screwed. Life is going to be even harder for us here on earth. Christ does tell us that families will be broken apart and wars will be fought over his name.<br /><br />Why, then, does a loving God allow a child or any of his creation to suffer? One of the respondents above hit the nail on the head, free will. God has given us the option to believe in him or turn away. He gives us the option to be good to others or to be downright evil. Free will is a tricky thing, we like it, but yet we don't.<br /><br />I wish we were all good to each other, but sin has mucked all that up and evil is in this world and in our hearts. God is not the enemy, we are. We distort the beautiful message of hope and true peace that comes from Christ and turn into a vile thing, a la Westboro Baptist Church.<br /><br />Many of my friends are pastors and studying to be pastors. I always encourage them to not block themselves out from what is going on in this world. To see what battles their congregation have to face on a daily basis. And especially when one in their congregation is struggling with sin NOT to turn their backs on him/her, but to hold him/her even closer. <br /><br />Without my faith I truly believe I would have died 20 years ago. I struggled with drugs and addiction. Tried all the meetings and counseling in the world and yet battled. It wasn't until I was brought to the faith that I overcame those challenges. (Note that I said brought to the faith, not accepted Jesus into my heart which is a wrong understanding).<br /><br />I don't condemn those from other religions or atheists. Who am I to condemn, like I said I am the worst of sinners. What bothers me is when those of another faith or atheists shove their beliefs in my face and then proceed to tell me I'm an imbecil for believing in Christ's salvaton. Tolerance goes both ways.<br /><br />Thanks for putting up with my ramblings<br />-------@myDARKESTmind on twitter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-754125091287589349.post-33177157065041409492011-08-07T12:38:56.910-05:002011-08-07T12:38:56.910-05:00I have to say that "for me" religion (th...I have to say that "for me" religion (the church) has always been a dark place in my life. When I was just a little pup my mom took me to bible Sunday school. I was probably 7 years old or so. I was fascinated by the wild tales that the Sunday school teacher was telling me about magical things. Being young and thirsty for knowledge I asked the teacher how she knows all of this is true. She smiled and said because it is written all right here in this book and held up the bible. I asked her who wrote it. She said some men from a long long time ago. She said it contained the word of god. I asked her how does she know it’s true if it was written so long ago? She didn’t have an answer. Even though I was young, something didn’t seem right. Needless to say when my mom came to pick me up, the teacher asked her to please not bring me back again because I was disrupting the class. I guess I made her look bad?? That was my church experience. Fast forward to high school and I started getting into ancient history. I learned all about the Spanish Inquisitions’ and how the church would travel the globe and take peoples ways of life and change them to their own. For instance, the Mayan culture. The church destroyed almost everything they could of those peoples heritage because they didn’t understand and just thought they were demons or some such nonsense. Today we have only small fragments of that culture because the church destroyed it all because they didn’t understand. It’s like the book burning that the church’s do to this day. A quick side note I thought was funny was that when the first Harry Potter book came out the church was all upset and actually burning the books because it was about Witchcraft. Then after the final movie came out the church applauded it because of its similarities to their views. So I'm confused. Now I want to say for the record that I do believe in a higher power. I had an experience once that changed what I thought. I had died once, only for a short bit and the doctors were able to revive me. I had been very depressed and went through a nasty divorce and I had enough. I overdosed and was pronounced dead. Luckily one doctor didn’t give up. Anyway, what happened to me was, I was floating, it was great, I was in a long tunnel and I was warm, I was happy and I felt an over whelming feeling of love. I wanted to stay forever. There was the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel" and I was headed towards that at a very slow rate of speed. I can remember the feeling of peace that I had and how safe I felt. As I floated along, there was thunderous voice, and it was so loud that it felt like it permeated my very DNA. This sounds weird but I could feel the voice in every molecule in my body. It tore through me like radiation. All the voice said was "NOT YET" and then I was instantly sucked backwards at a very high rate of speed. I was back in my body and quickly sat up and started choking on the tube they had down my throat. I yanked it out and tore all the wires off my body. The first thing I did when I was back in my body was to ask the doctor if he had said anything while he was working. He said no. I asked him if he said "Not Now" and he said the only things he said was instructions to the nurse, "hand me this, hand me that, etc...". I can’t say for certain what it all meant but It was so powerful that I believe there is something after we die and I don’t know who spoke to me but it was an experience where I felt nothing but peace and love. I think there is something after we die and that there is a higher power, but I don’t know what that higher power is. I believe that throughout history the church has done a lot of evil things and I will never be a part of any of it I can safely say. At night I say my thanks to the voice that returned me because I have since married my high school sweetheart and we have been together for a long time. We have 4 great pups. Just my 2 cents : / ~~~Rufus the Wonder DogRufus the Wonder Doghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13055824176537680100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-754125091287589349.post-17398644940547146312011-05-22T19:38:18.050-05:002011-05-22T19:38:18.050-05:00I only can stare to all this pain and weep like a ...I only can stare to all this pain and weep like a little child. Maybe it's just the same thing that God do. If religious people you have met in your lifetime don't want to hear your questions maybe they were afraid, just like you, that there are no answers, but only questions. few years ago I were looking for things that could fill my heart, not because Christ had no answer, but because the only one He had for my many questions was always the same, and I didn't like it. Make sure my life was no bed of roses, just a bed of thorns, instead. but now the very real question is: this God you haven't seen yet, want to descend in the very depest wound of your heart, and heal, and give new life, and new nature; are You ready for this? and please, stop looking that horrible pics, it hurts You.<br /><br />Kind regards and ... hugs.<br />Levlevminskijhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15028115235321915562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-754125091287589349.post-8129847928723139092011-04-22T17:49:37.368-05:002011-04-22T17:49:37.368-05:00Thank you for reading, Boe.
We are glad we are no...Thank you for reading, Boe.<br /><br />We are glad we are not offensive here (because we are often offensive over on Twitter!) - if you follow us there we are sure you've seen that.<br /><br />Thank you for your kind words and insight. <br /><br />Happiness,<br />Frank/WeADIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06886049525605172225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-754125091287589349.post-53801149659814772562011-04-22T14:33:06.444-05:002011-04-22T14:33:06.444-05:00Frank,
There is never an excuse for people to sta...Frank,<br /><br />There is never an excuse for people to stand by and watch or allow the suffering of others, and do nothing about it. We are all brothers and sisters on the tiny sphere called earth, and we must stand back to back to help, support, love and encourage each other. To those who believe in God, their hope is that in the end, the evil ones who preys on the young, innocent or weaker ones will ultimately get their due. I realize that doesn't answer you question, as to why would a loving God allow such things to happen to innocent people, but in the end I really don't believe they will get away with it.<br /><br />None of us want to be mindless or lifeless puppets, and if God were to dictate every thought, action or reaction humans had, that wouldn't be much of a life at all. In order for humans to enjoy life on this planet He gave all of us an amazing gift called free choice. Unfortunately, many have taken their free choice and made very painful and damaging choices, which have deeply hurt others. I know that has to grieve the heart of God.<br /><br />Certainly, believers have not communicated their values and beliefs very well on numerous occasions. They have even tried to force their beliefs on others, mixed with a ton of judgement on top of it. Quiet frankly, anytime anyone forces anything on people for any reason, the natural tendency is to resist, and to force back with even more passion than it was presented to them.<br /><br />I don't find your post offensive at all, quiet the contrary. It is so rare to encounter "real" people like you who are willing to share their deepest hurts, toughest questions and passionate beliefs for all the world to see. Thank you for being vunerable and transparent with the world, it is very refreshing to communicate with you! My heart aches because of the hurt and pain that you have encountered in your past. Most people have had some measure of pain in their lifetime, maybe not to the same level you have shared, and each of us have tough choices to make in regards to that pain... <br /><br />We either allow it to rule our lives or we take that pain and use it as a tool to help others in a similar situation. You're honesty, vunerability, and courage to speak openly about these past issues, has to have made a huge difference in countless lives. I applaud you for the strength and courage you've displayed in blogging about all of this. I look forward to more of your brutal honesty.<br /><br />Warm regards,<br /><br />Boe ParrishAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-754125091287589349.post-78956151338096924722011-03-20T23:25:04.206-05:002011-03-20T23:25:04.206-05:00I will try this again now that I'm on my compu...I will try this again now that I'm on my computer :)<br /><br />I rarely post on religious and/or political topics, but both of you are some of my favorites and I am comfortable with you, so I will.<br /><br />I wish I had answers for you, not that you're really looking for them, but more to really add to your discussion per se. But I don't have them. I don't think any of us really do have the answers we seek. I don't know why there is the suffering that exists in this world and I don't understand why crimes against the innocent are "allowed" to continue. I happen to be a religious person, and though my faith has fluctuated throughout my years it has always existed. <br /><br />I do know, though, that while there some things I will never understand, and am not ever capable of understanding, the faith that I have will not allow me to judge my fellow men and women for not having faith. I think that something like religion or a relationship with God is tremendously personal and cannot be forced, and while I may understand things a certain way and perhaps can add understanding to someone else's, I can't compel someone to believe as I do. This is counterintuitive to me.<br /><br />All I can do is live the way I feel I need to live, to be a good person, to improve myself daily and to fight my own personal demons. I must do this so that I can show those who have abused me, transgressed against me and my family, that they will not be victorious over me. If I can do all these things with using a religion as a guide for me or a comfort, then I think that's alright for me. I can have peace with that.Streetlights94https://www.blogger.com/profile/17357314247794183522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-754125091287589349.post-8542559864911143982011-03-20T19:28:13.261-05:002011-03-20T19:28:13.261-05:00Grr, I thought I just posted a comment and it'...Grr, I thought I just posted a comment and it's not showing up...anyway. Just wanted to say that I admire your sharing of your life experiences with such candor. I also had a religious (pentecostal) upbringing and struggle as an adult to sort it all out and decide where I stand on things. I respect the conclusions your experiences have brought you to, and look forward to reading more! (I'm jessicatressica on Twitter :)Jesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03206944287365435502noreply@blogger.com