In the wake of the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

[Tart]

Just a few weeks ago i was thinking to myself, everyone has different beliefs, even Christians among other Christians, LDS's JW's, Catholics, atheists, Muslims, Buddhist, Hindus, and yes even radical Islam.

And perhaps we are all wrong about some things, and right about other things... Even Abraham might had been an atheist before converting, but what was credited to him? Belief in some God? No it was Faith... Abraham was credited by God for living a faithful life. Now that was a different story, but the way i see it, perhaps living faithfully should be credited to all people no matter what you believe? I dream of a life where I can sit down with anyone, and have faith in spirit, and loving God and love my neighbor as myself... It came in the dream of sitting down in an Islamic state and drinking and eating in peace with these men...

So what is the problem?

I look back at my life, and remember joining a group in the late 90's, of what some people have labeled as a cult. It was a drug rehab for teens. They taught about a higher power (although they would openly confess to ignore Jesus), they taught to pray to that higher power, loving others in the group, about being sober, and abstaining from immoral sexual relationships, among other things... (there is actually a documentary about this place on you-tube, called "The Group - A Documentary")

And its funny to think, here we were believing in what felt like the Spirit of God, of loving people, living appropriate lives, praying to a God of our choice... And then things changed... people started to fall, they started practicing immoral sexual relationships, people were being hateful, everything became a mean joke... And then 9/11 happened, when all this stuff was going on, and it changed our world... It seemed like terror descended on us, but not from Radical Islam, but from our own shortcomings, our own sins...

I look back, and wish i would have believed in Jesus back then, when everything just fell apart when it seems like Christ could have held things together (Colossians 1:17)...

That was the first time i learned about radical Islam. When i was in this group, that was professing a god, but descending into sin... And I see our world that seems to be broken into pieces, with people living lives of sin, immoral sexual relationships, brothers hating brothers, and terror crippling us... And i see radical Islam today, and i think to myself, it is almost a reflection of my world today, with my brothers acting as if we are at war with each other, like a Holy War, yet we still suffer from our own sins...

is this a rant? topic for discussion? you decide

[marco]

Just a few weeks ago i was thinking to myself, everyone has different beliefs, even Christians among other Christians, LDS's JW's, Catholics, atheists, Muslims, Buddhist, Hindus, and yes even radical Islam.

And perhaps we are all wrong about some things, and right about other things... Even Abraham might had been an atheist before converting, but what was credited to him? Belief in some God? No it was Faith... Abraham was credited by God for living a faithful life. Now that was a different story, but the way i see it, perhaps living faithfully should be credited to all people no matter what you believe? I dream of a life where I can sit down with anyone, and have faith in spirit, and loving God and love my neighbor as myself... It came in the dream of sitting down in an Islamic state and drinking and eating in peace with these men...

So what is the problem?

I look back at my life, and remember joining a group in the late 90's, of what some people have labeled as a cult. It was a drug rehab for teens. They taught about a higher power (although they would openly confess to ignore Jesus), they taught to pray to that higher power, loving others in the group, about being sober, and abstaining from immoral sexual relationships, among other things... (there is actually a documentary about this place on you-tube, called "The Group - A Documentary")

And its funny to think, here we were believing in what felt like the Spirit of God, of loving people, living appropriate lives, praying to a God of our choice... And then things changed... people started to fall, they started practicing immoral sexual relationships, people were being hateful, everything became a mean joke... And then 9/11 happened, when all this stuff was going on, and it changed our world... It seemed like terror descended on us, but not from Radical Islam, but from our own shortcomings, our own sins...

I look back, and wish I would have believed in Jesus back then, when everything just fell apart when it seems like Christ could have held things together (Colossians 1:17)...

That was the first time I learned about radical Islam. When I was in this group, that was professing a god, but descending into sin... And I see our world that seems to be broken into pieces, with people living lives of sin, immoral sexual relationships, brothers hating brothers, and terror crippling us... And I see radical Islam today, and I think to myself, it is almost a reflection of my world today, with my brothers acting as if we are at war with each other, like a Holy War, yet we still suffer from our own sins...

Is this a rant? topic for discussion? You decide

There is a Russian saying: The world is not without good people. In fact there are millions of them, performing saintly tasks daily, working to help others. Good and evil deeds were done before Christ was born, and after he died.

If one believes in the healing abilities of Jesus, he is not restricted in time; when he arrived after Lazarus had died, some said: "You came too late." But there is no lateness - if you believe.

Islamic terror, that involves blowing up children, making them behead other humans, and casually detonating explosives in a place where people are happily enjoying life, called itself something else centuries ago or millennia ago. Man never gave up being wicked, but man never gave up being good either.

The modern problem is that evil has acquired sophisticated technology; it can hurt more people. But goodness can likewise save more people. Your sin or mine or anyone else's has nothing to do with the way people want to kill us. When German and British soldiers met over the trenches in WW1 they did not hate each other; instead they wished each other merry Christmas, and played football and exchanged gifts. In the midst of evil, good appeared.

Perhaps when next we hear of some atrocity we should think: surgeon, teacher, research worker, charity worker and innocent child.

Your "rant" is returned with an unaccustomed sermon, Tart. Have a lovely day.

[myth-one.com]

Just a few weeks ago i was thinking to myself, everyone has different beliefs, even Christians among other Christians, LDS's JW's, Catholics, atheists, Muslims, Buddhist, Hindus, and yes even radical Islam.

I dream of a life where I can sit down with anyone, and have faith in spirit, and loving God and love my neighbor as myself... It came in the dream of sitting down in an Islamic state and drinking and eating in peace with these men...

So what is the problem?

I look back at my life, and remember joining a group in the late 90's, of what some people have labeled as a cult. It was a drug rehab for teens. They taught about a higher power (although they would openly confess to ignore Jesus), they taught to pray to that higher power, loving others in the group, about being sober, and abstaining from immoral sexual relationships, among other things... (there is actually a documentary about this place on you-tube, called "The Group - A Documentary")[

And its funny to think, here we were believing in what felt like the Spirit of God, of loving people, living appropriate lives, praying to a God of our choice... And then things changed... people started to fall, they started practicing immoral sexual relationships, people were being hateful, everything became a mean joke... And then 9/11 happened, when all this stuff was going on, and it changed our world... It seemed like terror descended on us, but not from Radical Islam, but from our own shortcomings, our own sins...

I look back, and wish i would have believed in Jesus back then, when everything just fell apart when it seems like Christ could have held things together (Colossians 1:17)...

That was the first time i learned about radical Islam. When i was in this group, that was professing a god, but descending into sin... And I see our world that seems to be broken into pieces, with people living lives of sin, immoral sexual relationships, brothers hating brothers, and terror crippling us... And i see radical Islam today, and i think to myself, it is almost a reflection of my world today, with my brothers acting as if we are at war with each other, like a Holy War, yet we still suffer from our own sins...

is this a rant? topic for discussion? you decide

Ironically, Christians, Jews, and Muslims believe in the same God.




I did not reach a certain age, perform a wide study of all religions, and then decide which religious affiliation I would join. If I had been born into a Jewish family, I would probably be Jewish. Or if I had been born into a Muslim family in Palestine, I might now be throwing rocks at Jews.

[Tart]

I meditate on the Words of Christ.

When he said,
"You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come."

Those words, "see to it that you are not alarmed", other versions say "don't panic", "see that you are not frightened", "See that you are not troubled", "don't be afraid"....

It seems like in my life, it is much more important for me to stay faithful, hopeful, and compassionate... It is funny how we see things on TV, we read about wars in newspapers, we see it on the internet, yet we have never even met any of these people. We dont know any of them. And maybe we are even destined to never meet at all... And we hate them becuase of their righteousness....And they look at us, whom they have never met, and they hate us because of our righteousness... And a discussion has never taken place between the two... Isnt it funny? And here we are openly waging wars with our speech...

That word.. I looked it up, "alarmed" came from the Greek word, "throeisthe", the literal translation is "to cry aloud, make a noise by outcry"...

kind of interesting

[marco]

And we hate them becuase of their righteousness....And they look at us, whom they have never met, and they hate us because of our righteousness... And a discussion has never taken place between the two... Isnt it funny? And here we are openly waging wars with our speech...

I have an understandable fear of people wanting to blow me up. I'm not sure that having a coffee with them would clear up their way of thinking. You say you read the words of Jesus and take comfort. They read the words supposedly given to Muhammad by Allah and they take action. Centuries ago people who wanted Christianity to thrive, burned their brothers.

Perhaps we should not chain ourselves to dogma, good or bad, but believe a simple truth: helping others is a good thing to do. We needn't love them all, as Christ impossibly suggested. Making a small glow in the tiny corner of the cosmos that we occupy is sufficient. It will radiate eventually and touch the stars.

Warm wishes.

[JJ50]

It was thought that unpleasant guy was already dead, how do we know for sure he is now? So many lies are told be that idiot POTUS.