Open Challenge to Those who say they hear God

[rikuoamero]

This is going to be short and sweet. In the past six months on this site, I have talked with many a person. Some people say they communicate or hear or receive information from an all knowing god.
When debating the subject with them, they offer no reasonable answer as to why only they can hear this entity yet I or other non-believers cannot, despite my assertion to prior belief in this entity.
So I'm going to make a safe assumption. I will take it as safe since it has never happened. The assumption is that I will never hear directly or communicate with this all knowing entity.
Running with that, my challenge to those who claim to communicate with this being or hear it, is to repeat the sentence that is written on a sheet of paper in my drawer.
Yes, I've made this challenge before, but I thought I'd make it the focus of a thread all its own.
This sheet of paper has a detail about my life that is embarrassing. I have never told it to anyone. I am willing to risk it becoming public.

There is of course the problem of "What if someone DOES give you the line, but you refuse to acknowledge it?" Suffice to say, trust me on this that I am being sincere when I promise that if someone does say it, I will acknowledge it.

[Realworldjack]

[Replying to post 19 by Realworldjack]

What you have just said in that post runs counter to just about everything tam says on this site. She says she is not part of a religion; she says that relying on a church structure has led people away from Jesus; and if I'm not mistaken, has utilised the exact same verses as you and come to opposite conclusions.

Anyway, your position (that we don't hear God, that you don't hear God, that the relationship I'm told about by others is about judge vs saviour), is outside the point of this thread.
This thread is for those who do indeed say they hear an all knowing entity. Since you don't claim this, this thread isn't for you.

I understand what you are saying, so this will be my last response. My point is, it really does not matter what tam says, and it really does not matter what I say, the only thing that matters is what the Bible actually teaches. To understand the Bible, you do not need to know what I, or tam thinks.

[rikuoamero]

[Replying to post 19 by Realworldjack]

What you have just said in that post runs counter to just about everything tam says on this site. She says she is not part of a religion; she says that relying on a church structure has led people away from Jesus; and if I'm not mistaken, has utilised the exact same verses as you and come to opposite conclusions.

Anyway, your position (that we don't hear God, that you don't hear God, that the relationship I'm told about by others is about judge vs saviour), is outside the point of this thread.
This thread is for those who do indeed say they hear an all knowing entity. Since you don't claim this, this thread isn't for you.

I understand what you are saying, so this will be my last response. My point is, it really does not matter what tam says, and it really does not matter what I say, the only thing that matters is what the Bible actually teaches. To understand the Bible, you do not need to know what I, or tam thinks.

Again, problems. The Bible can be used to support both your and tam's positions. She can point to verses that support her interpretation, and so can you (and if I'm not mistaken, you both point to the same verses).
So it's kinda weird that you just say "look at what the Bible teaches". What if I interpret it in a completely different way than you? The subject of "what the Bible teaches" is not objective, everyone looks at it a different way.

[rikuoamero]

So 4 days have passed. 343 views and this will be the twenty-second reply.
Multiple people on this site have said they hear Christ/God/Jesus in some fashion, have made the claim...and none of them have even attempted?
Okay then. Just so you know, those of you who read this and have made this claim before...any time I come across you making the claim in the future, I will be linking back to this comment. It stands as a stark refutation for your claim.
If what you were saying were actually true, you could have easily proven me wrong, succeeded at my challenge. However...

[Peds nurse]

I believe that there is a God for atheists...I pray I can show them who He is!!

I have several questions on this point:

1. Why should you be so concerned about showing atheists who God is?

HI DI!! Sorry it has taken so long to reply....but we now have a baby in the house

Atheists are no less valuable to God than I am. If I truly love them, then I very well should show them who He is....and not only them, but everyone.

2. If this were important to some God don't you think this omnipotent God would be in a far better position to do this himself?

He uses His people DI. I very much disagree with the entire handing out tracks and knocking on doors and asking people to come to church. I do however, think that when we are invested in people's lives, that people see God in us. We are His very hands and feet at work.

3. Most atheists (at least the ones on this forum) have read the Bible, studied the scriptures, and words attributed to Jesus as well as the entire history of the God of the Old Testament. Many of them were raised as Christians and are fully aware of the teachings of Jesus and the God of the Old Testament.

So now for the very important questions:

Why would you think that it's your job to do something that both Jesus and God had failed at miserably?

It isn't a job my friend, it is a complete privilege, and believe it or not, I truly love and care about each one on this forum. Are you sure that God has failed? Do you know the hearts of all on this forum? I don't. All I can do is plant seeds, and in His time, God will make them grow. Neither you or I have any idea on how our words are used on this forum, nor the impact that they might actually make in someones life. God has not failed anyone...it is us who have dropped the bar.

How could it even be possible for you to succeed at something that both Jesus and God had failed to accomplish?

It isn't me, it is Him working in and through me. I am not capable to change hearts toward God.

Please think about this for a while.

Consider the following:

I read the Old Testament (supposedly the inspired word or history of God and man).

I was not the least bit impressed by it or compelled to believe that it came from any all-wise supernatural God.

Thus if those stories were inspired by God in any way in an effort to get a message to me about him, he has clearly failed miserably to convince me of his existence, and especially of his character.

You want to know something DI. I read the Old Testament, and the New Testament too, and not always do I feel inspired, or closer to God or do I even feel I know Him any better. Believe it or not, we as Christians don't always feel chummy toward God. There are countless things I don't understand, that are difficult for me to understand, or that I just plain don't want to understand. I have found that for me, that there is a difference between obtaining knowledge, and pursuing a relationship, that aids in understanding.

I also read the New Testament (supposedly the divinely protected words of Jesus).

In short, Jesus himself (if he were real and had something to do with the writing of the New Testament) has failed to convince me that he is the Son of God or had a clue what he was talking about.

It isn't His job to convince you of anything DI, nor is it mine. Since you read the New Testament, did you ever read where Jesus went around chasing people with a stick to believe in Him? He shared His love, and God's truth, but the decision to follow was strictly up to the people. I can show you (or it is my desire to do so), who He is, but I cannot make you believe Him....that is not up to me. That decision is left up to every individual.
~~~~

Now, consider the implication if Peds Nurse, was to miraculously convince me that the Old Testament God and Jesus are real?

Peds Nurse would then have succeeded where both God and Jesus has previously failed.

Peds Nurse would necessarily be a better communicator and teacher than either the God of the Old Testament or Jesus.

In other words, the only possible way that you could convince many atheists that the Bible is true is if you could surpass both Jesus and God as an effective and compelling communicator.

No DI, that isn't true at all. I am incapable of convincing you to become a Christian. I am way under qualified, and as a matter of fact, the only one that is qualified is the Holy Spirit.

When you stop and think about that, doesn't that suggest that it wouldn't even make any sense if you did succeed?

It doesn't make sense because I cant make you believe anything. Like I said, I can only show you who He is through my experience with Him.
~~~~~~

God inspired the writing of the Old Testament and commands and directs people on how he wants them to believe and behave.

After seeing that this isn't working very well, he sends his only begotten Son Jesus to correct his failed communication by teaching the people in-person.

That should surely be sufficient right?

But wait, it can't end there. Evidently Jesus wasn't very convincing and there are still a lot of non believers, and atheists.

So what does God have to do now?

Work through Peds Nurse to try to succeed at something that even Jesus failed at?

What would you have God do DI? Would you like Him to get a shotgun and make you believe? Do you want Him to drop money from the sky? Even the Israelites had manna from Heaven, but even then, that wasn't enough to make them trust in Him, to believe that He is very much a capable God. This was after He parted the Red Sea, and did many other miracles! So, even miracles from God are not enough to convince people of His existence, nor even the creation of the world. God does not force us to accept His love, but it is there if we choose to do so.


~~~~~

I just don't see the point in evangelism to be honest with you. Evangelism amounts to nothing more than a proclamation that neither Jesus nor God were convincing so maybe an evangelist could do better?

I think this is something every evangelist should seriously consider.

~~~~~

If God and Jesus could not convince me of their reality, I can't imagine an evangelist succeeding where they had failed.

That just makes no sense to me at all.


So please let me know your answers to the questions I have asked above.

Thanks.

All of us evangelize something DI. We evangelize our doubts, our disbelief, or our belief in something greater than we are.

Blessings

[JoeyKnothead]

Don't it beat all. I hear or see stuff, they send me to the motel loonie. Say it was God, they send me to the pulpit.

We gotta stop giving such folks a pass, and demand they offer some divine - yet confirmable - revelation. If God's a-speakin', when'll the daymares stop? When'll they let me come home for good? When'll I be well?

[Inigo Montoya]

Don't it beat all. I hear or see stuff, they send me to the motel loonie. Say it was God, they send me to the pulpit.

We gotta stop giving such folks a pass, and demand they offer some divine - yet confirmable - revelation. If God's a-speakin', when'll the daymares stop? When'll they let me come home for good? When'll I be well?

You ain't never gonna be well, Joey. As in so many other threads where evidence is asked for and crickets can be heard, or long and rambling side stories told instead, I'm reminded of one of my favorite Dr Harris quotes.

"...this, to me, this is the true horror of religion: it allows perfectly decent and sane people to believe by the billions what only lunatics could believe on their own."