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Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 9:52:51 AM
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mr.moustache
Posts: 3
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Why do you believe in the Christian faith? Why do you choose to believe and in some cases, live your life for something that takes "faith?"
Put it this way- If someone you didn't know were to ask you one day in a coffee shop, "So, why do you believe in Christianity, Jesus, and all of that?," what would you say?
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 10:12:04 AM
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SonInMe1
Posts: 3544
Joined: 4/16/2005
From: my mom by God
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Holy Spirit two by four generated by poor choices.
_____________________________
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
James 4:4
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 11:04:30 AM
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SoldierInGodsArmy
Posts: 16
Joined: 5/8/2008
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I'm glad you asked good sir.
I believe because I feel the holy spirit in the valves and arteries of my heart. Its love warms me like a Hot Pocket straight out of the microwave (a little humor).
If you ask this because you have a lack of faith, I do hope you would consider accepting Jesus Christ as your savior. Or you can simply burn in hell with the rest of the nonbelievers for all eternity.
(I assumed the asker in the coffee shop was a nonbeliever)
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 11:20:08 AM
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PolarBear
Posts: 850
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: Moving to San Antonio!
Status: online
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quote:
ORIGINAL: mr.moustache
Why do you believe in the Christian faith? Why do you choose to believe and in some cases, live your life for something that takes "faith?"
Put it this way- If someone you didn't know were to ask you one day in a coffee shop, "So, why do you believe in Christianity, Jesus, and all of that?," what would you say?
Because it is the only worldview that has true explanatory power for the big questions of life. It makes sense, and the way it describes the world is exactly how the world really is.
_____________________________
My current ministry dream:
http://victorymuseum.org
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 11:35:10 AM
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my2kidzz
Posts: 7
Joined: 5/7/2008
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First I would ask them why they don't believe. It takes more faith not to beleive in God than it does to believe in God. When you look at the creation of all things and say there is no God....That takes GREAT faith !
_____________________________
Clear skies
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 12:22:11 PM
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rcjames
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From: Oklahoma
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quote:
ORIGINAL: mr.moustache
Why do you believe in the Christian faith?
Uh, because it is the truth.
Thanks
RC
_____________________________
Just a country Preacher's humble opinion
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 4:13:01 PM
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PNK
Posts: 53
Joined: 3/11/2006
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quote:
ORIGINAL: SoldierInGodsArmy
I'm glad you asked good sir.
I believe because I feel the holy spirit in the valves and arteries of my heart. Its love warms me like a Hot Pocket straight out of the microwave (a little humor).
If you ask this because you have a lack of faith, I do hope you would consider accepting Jesus Christ as your savior. Or you can simply burn in hell with the rest of the nonbelievers for all eternity.
(I assumed the asker in the coffee shop was a nonbeliever)
I agree, great way of bringing people to Christianity.
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 4:28:37 PM
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CherishedbyGod
Posts: 2740
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: mr.moustache
Why do you believe in the Christian faith? Why do you choose to believe and in some cases, live your life for something that takes "faith?"
Put it this way- If someone you didn't know were to ask you one day in a coffee shop, "So, why do you believe in Christianity, Jesus, and all of that?," what would you say?
Because He has proven to me over and over and over again that He is Who He says He is, He does what He says He will do and He is a faithful, faithful, faithful God into whose nail-pierced hands I can place my life for now and eternity.
_____________________________
~Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ~
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 4:32:14 PM
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atheistinpeace
Posts: 90
Joined: 8/16/2007
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quote:
ORIGINAL: SoldierInGodsArmy
If you ask this because you have a lack of faith, I do hope you would consider accepting Jesus Christ as your savior. Or you can simply burn in hell with the rest of the nonbelievers for all eternity.
Exactly why I found Christianity was a way of thinking I just couldn't subscribe to. This sort of comment is precisely why a common criticism of religion is that it perpetuates itself through fear. I'm sorry, but saying this to a non-believer will - in the vast majority of cases - do nothing to make them choose Christ, and everything to strengthen their secular humanism.
To go back to the OP, why I believed back when I did: largely through upbringing - I was raised more or less as a Christian, certainly at the school I attended. That would answer why I was a Christian, not a Muslim, or suchlike. As to why I continued to believe - I always found the idea of God's companionship very comforting. It was a source of help in times of need, someone who I felt was watching over me. To which you could add a sense of hope that life didn't end after 80 years or so, and that we had a surviving soul. In short, then, comfort and a sense of security - I suppose that was why I believed.
AiP
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 5:01:51 PM
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HisCovenant
Posts: 4572
Joined: 4/12/2005
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quote:
ORIGINAL: CherishedbyGod
Because He has proven to me over and over and over again that He is Who He says He is, He does what He says He will do and He is a faithful, faithful, faithful God into whose nail-pierced hands I can place my life for now and eternity.
Did you cheat off my paper, Cherished?
God has shown Himself trustworthy and I need someone who I can trust since I know I fail.
_____________________________
-HisCovenant/ Zipporah
My friends call me Zippy!
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 7:21:01 PM
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ladyichigo
Posts: 330
Joined: 10/23/2007
From: "The Pit of Despair...wheeeze"
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I have trust/faith in Jesus Christ my Lord my Savior and my God because nothing and nobody else in this universe has given THAT much gracious love, and has continued to reveal His faithfulness regardless of how lacking I am in my own faith in Him.
As I have shared in another post:
In the places I have failed in my walk to follow Christ, God has set up pillars in those places to remind me that it is He who is in control. Everything that happens is according to His purpose and He uses for His glory. Being a Christian isn’t all rainbows and butterflies. It’s an arduous journey that we choose take to follow the One who is perfect because He loved us first. It’s about living a life that reflects the One who gave His all because of His love for us and it’s humanly impossible to perfectly reflect Christ because people are not perfect. That is all the more why we need Christ. I have been told we are weak for needing God. Only weak people believe in God. And I say yes, I am weak, and that’s why I NEED GOD, because with God I am strong. Tragic things happen in life. My dad killed himself. I don’t exactly understand why God allowed my father take his own life, but I am certainly not blaming God for that. Through my dad’s abrupt departure from this earth, I learned that I have to depend on God who is eternal, and I know that I have to trust in God and not lean on my own understandings. I know and believe that the world is not perfect because of sin. Because of sin, all these terrible things happen. That’s why God sent His perfect Son Jesus Christ for us to give us hope.
I will not reject the salvation I have in Christ just because of the things I went through. (See Romans 5:1-5). All that only makes me want to seek Christ even more and to cling on to Him more. The struggles in life are ongoing, and sometimes, the straight and narrow path seems impossible to walk, and I can’t see where I’m going. I can be bitter and angry about it and blame it all on God for all the things that has happened. If I am to deny my faith I will be without Christ, and I will have no hope and will have been certainly and eternally dead. That’s why I hold on to Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God for dear life do everything I can while I’m on this earth to glorify His name. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.
_____________________________
Mari
Attending church and being confirmed does not define what a Christian is, though it may define a “religious” person.
David Wright - AiG
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 7:25:01 PM
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SavedByGraceMD
Posts: 265
Joined: 2/13/2008
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quote:
ORIGINAL: PolarBear
quote:
ORIGINAL: mr.moustache
Why do you believe in the Christian faith? Why do you choose to believe and in some cases, live your life for something that takes "faith?"
Put it this way- If someone you didn't know were to ask you one day in a coffee shop, "So, why do you believe in Christianity, Jesus, and all of that?," what would you say?
Because it is the only worldview that has true explanatory power for the big questions of life. It makes sense, and the way it describes the world is exactly how the world really is.
I agree with this. To me it is the only thing that makes sense. I have always believed in something bigger than us, some reason we are here, some purpose to this madness we call life.
The fact that God created us, gave us free will, knew we would sin, gave us a way to salvation in Jesus Christ, that through His perfect sinless life, and sacrificial death, we could be saved, makes perfect sense to me. It took me 31 years to grasp all this, but I finally have. Thanks be to God.
_____________________________
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 8:06:05 PM
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SD456
Posts: 1502
Joined: 8/6/2007
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quote:
ORIGINAL: mr.moustache
Why do you believe in the Christian faith? Why do you choose to believe and in some cases, live your life for something that takes "faith?"
Put it this way- If someone you didn't know were to ask you one day in a coffee shop, "So, why do you believe in Christianity, Jesus, and all of that?," what would you say?
I believe in Christianity because I met Jesus and His love.
_____________________________
MY BLOG
http://reflectionsdeep.blogspot.com
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 9:54:31 PM
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SonInMe1
Posts: 3544
Joined: 4/16/2005
From: my mom by God
Status: offline
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Telling the Truth to the world is akin to talking to a person who is overweight and you are an expert in dieting. You communicate directly but in love.
Telling someone they will burn in hell without Christ is the truth. Now, how that is done is critical, I think. In love through having a good relationship with that person. Telling that to a stranger just...would not be effective I think.
But telling it, we must. The Truth, saves. I'd rather be hated than to lie to people and have them eternally damned.
_____________________________
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
James 4:4
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 11:13:20 PM
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LCannon
Posts: 1387
Joined: 2/22/2007
From: Lebanon, OR
Status: online
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There's only two world views in effect in this physical universe, speculation and revelation. I choose to live in [His]Revelation, mystery of Jesus revealed.
_____________________________
"[Prayer power] hasn't never been taxed to[His]full capacity.
His standing challenge, 'Call on Me and I will answer with great and mighty
things which thou can't imagine." Hudson Tayor
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/8/2008 11:47:44 PM
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URForgiven
Posts: 378
Joined: 3/22/2008
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quote:
ORIGINAL: mr.moustache
Why do you believe in the Christian faith? Why do you choose to believe and in some cases, live your life for something that takes "faith?"
Put it this way- If someone you didn't know were to ask you one day in a coffee shop, "So, why do you believe in Christianity, Jesus, and all of that?," what would you say?
Because when I came to the end of myself...Jesus was there, waiting patiently, with His arms outstretched saying, "Welcome home, welcome home my friend."
And he filled that infinite vacuum within me. And I will spend eternity saying thank you Jesus, thank you.
_____________________________
The sin of the world is unbelief.
"I am a Believer, it is impossible for me to be an unbeliever."
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/9/2008 6:34:10 AM
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JMCrwd
Posts: 37
Joined: 5/2/2008
Status: offline
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I believe because of all the wonderful things Christ has done in my life. I have a daily struggle but I know that at the end it will all be worh it. I asked my 6 year old son why he believed in Jesus and his answer was the best I ever heard. He told me he didn't know why he believed, he just did. Out of the mouth of babes, huh?
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/9/2008 11:18:50 AM
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PolarBear
Posts: 850
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: Moving to San Antonio!
Status: online
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quote:
ORIGINAL: atheistinpeace
Exactly why I found Christianity was a way of thinking I just couldn't subscribe to. This sort of comment is precisely why a common criticism of religion is that it perpetuates itself through fear. I'm sorry, but saying this to a non-believer will - in the vast majority of cases - do nothing to make them choose Christ, and everything to strengthen their secular humanism.
Right -- certainly there are better ways of getting that message across.
Hell is a very real implication of the truth of the Christian faith. Jesus didn't sugar coat it. However, it is only an implication of the worldview and avoiding it isn't "the" reason to believe. One needs to believe or disbelieve based on how much sense the Christian worldview makes and how much evidence there is for it.
I think it is more coherent and describes reality far better than atheism could -- therefore I believe. It also does so much better than, say, Islam or Hinduism -- hence I believe specifically in the Christian God.
quote:
To go back to the OP, why I believed back when I did: largely through upbringing - I was raised more or less as a Christian, certainly at the school I attended. That would answer why I was a Christian, not a Muslim, or suchlike. As to why I continued to believe - I always found the idea of God's companionship very comforting. It was a source of help in times of need, someone who I felt was watching over me. To which you could add a sense of hope that life didn't end after 80 years or so, and that we had a surviving soul. In short, then, comfort and a sense of security - I suppose that was why I believed.
AiP
Sounds like you never had a direct encounter with Christ!
It's definitely not too late.
_____________________________
My current ministry dream:
http://victorymuseum.org
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/9/2008 7:39:57 PM
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Ephesians4_32
Posts: 2292
Joined: 4/30/2005
From: The Crossroads of America
Status: offline
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Because God loves me and teaches me to love others through Him!
"...while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people..."
Galatians 6:10 NASB
"The Lord takes care of me as his sheep; I will not be without any good thing." Psalm 23:1 Basic English Bible
(God caused me to love Him even though my family of origin were not Christians.)
_____________________________
“To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect.” - John Owen
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/9/2008 7:49:56 PM
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Conquered
Posts: 113
Joined: 6/18/2005
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I believe because:
God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. - 2 Corinthians 4:6-7
_____________________________
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. - John 15:16
www.desiringgod.org
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/9/2008 10:42:36 PM
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Covaan_Meshuga
Posts: 2133
Joined: 6/8/2005
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To ask why I believe is to ask a very personal question but one I don't at all mind talking/writing about.
I first believed in G-d as a what most would call a toddler, but I hated Him with passion. Oddly, my hatred didn't deter Him. When I was 14, however, I really wanted to be a believer, as it is defined in the Bible -- to go far beyond the idea that even the evil ones believe and tremble, to recognizing His lordship and allowing Him to live it out in my life. Why? Because by that age, I had realized that I, by myself, was not enough. I needed Him. I wanted Him. I asked for Him. But I struggled with trying to live as a believer and did worse than a poor job of it, because I did not understand that I didn't have to do it alone.
At 23, pregnant with my first child, I needed Him to teach me how to be a good parent, so I ran to Him with more sincerity, crying out for help. I did better in living for Him, but I still didn't know I did not have to do it all myself.
After getting into deepre Bible study, I was eventually put out of my old church, after my children were adults with families. This was when things became more clear to me. This was when I learned He is not a church. I did not know that before. I learned that He is not dependent upon that congregation's leaders as the only ones to carry truth. In fact, I learned that He may have lost their address. 
Now, I don't serve Him because I must, I don't serve Him because someone said I must, I don't serve Him because I have to retain an image; I serve Him because I love Him. Now, we have close and personal relationship.
I have been from belief, through unbeliefe, to belief, back into unbelief, and now in belief, because I finally understood that He is sufficient and completely undependant upon the earthly entity that once taught me that they were His favorites and the only ones with the "whole gospel," while everyone else had a "lesser gospel."
_____________________________
Abiyah
Why does He keep quoting Torah? Doesn't He know He's about to abolish it?
Looking,waddling, and quacking are not the essence of duckness.
G-d has only one natural-born Son; EVERYONE else is adopted.
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RE: Why do you believe? - 5/9/2008 11:47:23 PM
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rapturefish
Posts: 96
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: mr.moustache
Why do you believe in the Christian faith? Why do you choose to believe and in some cases, live your life for something that takes "faith?"
Put it this way- If someone you didn't know were to ask you one day in a coffee shop, "So, why do you believe in Christianity, Jesus, and all of that?," what would you say?
It's a bit mysterious to be honest. Did I ultimately come to believe because I chose to, or because God chose me and drew himself to me by His gift of faith? Not to get into Calvinist/Arminian debate here, but from my limited perspective God revealed himself to me through the word and through my early church experience and I was drawn to Him, and I wanted to have something to do with Him. That I made the choice was merely the end of that pre-journey and the beginning of a lifelong journey with Him.
I'm not sure I merely just chose, I think very much that God called me to Him and I couldn't help but answer because I wanted to, and I wanted to because he chose me.
If anyone tries to convert me to atheism I would not be worried, because to me it's as if someone is trying to show from words and pictures that there is evidence that my Dad is not real when I see and talk to my Dad every day. No amount of supposed evidence can trump a real day-to-day experience of relating to God.
To answer the question, why do I believe? Because He's real, Jesus is real, God is real, the Holy Spirit is real, and we are in relationship now. To me it's never a question of systems, but of which one is a real one and which one is dead. And God is not only real, but He's wisdom and He is Love. He is ultimately trustworthy for everything in my life, and He is personal and gives a toss where no-one else would. And there is ample evidence that He is real apart from all that.
cheers,
_____________________________
-- rapturefish --
One happy barramundi [<><]
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