• underdogtoo said on Jun 09, 2006....

  It is wiser to blame god than blaming oneself or blaming other people for whatever misfortune that happens. God doesn't mind. He is so vast all of the blame would not even be felt as a sting. If people took this concept to heart I believe there would be lesser conflict in the world. :)

• GospelSongbird said on Jun 10, 2006....

  I am Pentecostal, and that puts some people--even other Christians--off. Hands down, the most important part of my walk with God--I dislike the term "religion"--is salvation, knowing I'm saved. The second part enhances the first: the baptism of the Holy Ghost. God bless you.

• hotaka said on Jun 10, 2006....

  Many years ago, for some reason, I decided to follow Christianity. I started visiting different churches to find which one I felt most comfortable with. I started hanging out with other Christians my age and going to youth groups. I started buying Christian CDs and listening to what the lyrics were telling me. I must say the thing I liked best was as one guy said during a youth group meeting. "Religions are something that tie you down with rules. But when you accept Jesus Christ in your heart you enter a relationship, and a relationship is something that builds you up." During those years, feeling that Jesus was my friend was the greatest part of being a Christian. No matter what, I felt there was someone with whom I could share my deepest concerns, even while my old friends quietly tolerated my new faith. I met a lot of great people whom I would say had the true spirit of being an ordinary person who was a Christian. Unfortunately, I met too many other people who put me off continuing attending youth group meetings. I felt I didn't need those people who constantly criticized others for their mistakes but always tried to justify their own. As long as Jesus knew what was between us that was all that mattered. In the end, too many people made me feel like Christianity was not for me. I still believe that Jesus lived and that what he told us makes for a great blue print for living. But I find the religious part of Christianity overbearing. And now I believe so many other things that would make most Christians point their fingers in rage and offense. If God is really as the western religions say he is, I hope He can find it in His heart to forgive me for what I accept as possible truth.

• kelly said on Jun 10, 2006....

  You specifically asked about religion and not a god so for me the most important part of religion would undoubtedly have to be tolerance. I'm an atheist so--as you can see--the thing I need most from religion is tolerance. So often religion ends up being just another tool for organized violence against "non-believers."

• the_wanderer said on Jun 10, 2006....

  I'm an Orthodox Christian...But not a devout one...Somewhere along the way I have lost my faith, maybe I've never had one...But I still believe in my own way...I don't make the focal point of my existence a life lived under the Hand of God, but one where I seek the right path...And for me, the path of God is just another path that I can't take, but I observe...As the name says...I'm still wandering...and wondering...It's part of my philosophy of always trying to see the big picture...By commiting oneself to God, you can't see the whole picture...Although there is no greater picture than God...Am I going to burn in Hell for not believing in Him with all of my heart? Probably...But that's just me...What saves a man's soul is not neccessary to save the next one...So I will live this bitter sweet existence of mine and from time to time I'll talk with God and He'll talk with me...Even if He watches me everyday, takes care of me, of all of us...I can't, I just can't put Him in all my actions and thoughts...I haven't found the answers to my questions in Him, but I fear I'll never find them, I only can find more questions...That is the way I am, that is the way things work...Indeed, faith the size of a mustard seed could move mountains...I don't even have enough to light my path in this world...So I must keep searching for one...Maybe one day, like the prodigal son I will return, and my Father will receive me with open arms...But, until then, I will still be spending the life He has given to me...May God have mercy on our souls!

• lidstrom82 said on Jun 10, 2006....

  A lot has been said in history about whether God is "worth it", but the alternative has not been taken seriously. The Bible says that Satan and many angels rebelled against God and Heaven, and ended up falling from Heaven. These consist of Satan and his demon legions. Satan and his followers have just about one goal: to hate, undermine, and destroy all God holds dear - and that is us, humanity. God protects His believers from such attacks, but the book of Ephesians in the Bible says this: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the autorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (chapters 6, verse 12). This is not quite common knowledge even for many Christians, but this verse basically says that our main struggle in our existence on Earth isn't against each other, but against Satan's evil influences. Before donning the red cape, horns, and the pitchfork (and therefore bad fashion sense), Satan was one of the greatest angels in Heaven. Now, that makes him a tough enemy. He has been around before us, and has seen so much of humanity's habits that he can push our buttons where it hurts. I believe we see the influence of Satan and his demons when we're tempted to do something we know is wrong, or when we're such a slave to damaging behavior that we can't break free (addictions), or we place our faith in anything other than God. Satan thrives on lies and he wants to separate us from God and destroy us - only because he knows that the more he leads away from God, the more it will hurt God. Some people blame God for all the evil in the world, and I've even heard some say that when they die and see God, they will call Him a murderer and willingly jump into the lake of fire. First off, anyone who saw God in the Old Testament stopped short of dying on the spot. When you meet your Maker, God, I doubt we'll be in much position to tell Him off about anything. Second, if jumping into the lake of fire is such an easy thing out of spiting God, why don't more people stick their hands into a fireplace for a few hours? The lake of fire is an eternal punishment, and not something we can understand while we're cozy on Earth. But sadly, most of the people we know will have this punishment after we die for one reason: we rejected Jesus Christ. This is not to make any of you scared or guilty, it is something the Bible makes clear. Satan's oldest tricks are to make people believe in any god other than the real God, or to make people believe that they can be their own god. We would like to think we're that powerful, but how can we control a world we didn't create? How can have amazing power if we're stuck in traffic like everyone else? Demons give people like psychics, magicians (not like David Copperfield or David Blaine, mind you) voodoo priests, satanists, and others powers that we credit to ourselves. It might impress others or appear useful, but the demons' jobs are done if we are led away from God. So what hope do we have if every "power" and "sinful" thing can potentially lead us to Hell? Simple. Jesus Christ. After He died on the cross, He went down to Hell and basically owned Satan, then rose from the dead and appeared in the flesh to His disciples on Earth, to prove that He had conquered sin, death, and Satan. Why? Because he took the punishment for all people's sin. How? He is the Son of God, so He could pay the price for every person who's ever lived. That's why eternal hellfire and pain isn't our only option. That's why we aren't sentenced to death when we screw up (sin) - because of Jesus. That's why the Bible claims that Jesus is the only way to spend eternity with God - because He loved us so much that He would die to give us hope no matter how bad our life gets. And that is fundamentally the most important part of religion to me - that it's not a religion of rules at all. It's simply knowing Jesus and what He did for me, and being grateful. For anyone who has lost faith or has become discouraged from following God by other people, you will be rewarded greatly for staying the course, believing the Bible's words as God's, and getting to know Jesus like you would your best friend. I say this all because it works. It's the way God intends for it to be. True fulfillment comes from nowhere else except God's work in our lives, and in others around us. And demons suck.

• hotaka said on Jun 11, 2006....

  I don't believe in Hell or Satan. I believe there is an excellent chance that there is some kind of superior force that guides the universe. But lidstrom82 mentioned something interesting and that was about Satan's evil influences. I think those influences are nothing more than our animal instincts that tell us to steal, kill and basically act selfishly and without consideration of others. To form and maintain healthy human societies we have to supress those dark desires. To separate good from evil we personify them with God and Satan. I always heard Satan has no power but his influence over people. So all those magicians and voodoo priests can't have received their power from demons. I don't believe in their magic anyway.

• lidstrom82 said on Jun 12, 2006....

  Good thoughts, hotaka. Many people choose not to believe in Hell or Satan just because they don't like the idea of having eternal punishment even if they feel they've lived a "good life" or has been "a good person". Believing in the all-powerful, true God, also means believing in God's enemy and adversary, Satan. It's all part of the same story. To acknowledge God and not the devil is picking and choosing what to believe - believing the "God loves" stuff and casting away the "Satan and evil" problem. Christians receive power from God - to heal others, to predict events, to encourage and uplift others, to lead people, to speak/interpret other languages, to understand God better, all that stuff. They can do that only because God is the one with the power, working through them. People in Africa are being healed of AIDs, blindness, deafness, and other afflictions, because God's power is working through Christians. The point is, we don't have any supernatural power ourselves. It needs to come from some other source. Being a believer in God opens one up to His power, which is good. However, where does all the magick come from? It's prohibited in people depicted in the Bible, which means it is not from God. There is a very real presence of evil in this world that doesn't "make us" do things, but does tempt us. Have you ever had weird, outlandish thoughts about doing something so horrific and evil that you wondered where it came from? That's a possible way of demons influencing. They can't touch us or possess us except in certain circumstances, but that's another issue entirely. The issue is much more clear if one lives a life for Christ, because the love of Christ drives out fear of any evil forces in the world.

• generic said on Jun 12, 2006....

  Lidstrom 82, when you mention christianity, its like going to a wendy's and ordering everything on the mentu because thats exactly the makeup of the christian religion. All of these religions go back to MU. I don't know if you notice the similarities of all the religions and how they are geniusly interwoven into christian faith. Christianity tends to be a linear faith, meaning that it runs parallel like on a time line, however your vedic faiths see it as a drain if you will that flows forever in a spiral. Lets think for a minute about the concept of heaven and hell, there would only be one religion or philosophy to live by and that would be confucianism. Its an interesting philosophy/religion, that you might want to take a look at.

• generic said on Jun 12, 2006....

  I'll post a Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism paper on here for you to take a look at, that may tie into your blog.

• anonymous said on Jun 12, 2006....

  Speaking of religious leanings. Someone sent me the link, I'm just not sure what to think. A message from G-d What should I think of that? Should I be offended or laugh it off?

• anonymous said on Jun 12, 2006....

  Sorry didn't put in the link: ||{1}||

• underdogtoo said on Jun 13, 2006....

  Religion only takes us so far, we have to walk the rest of the way alone. To have someone to guide us on that last stretch is of paramount importance. No one can give us salvation. It is like eating an apple. We don't get filled by having someone else eat the apple for us. Religion teaches us morality. Morality does not save us, it makes us stable enough to begin on our journey to salvation. Peace, all.

• hotaka said on Jun 13, 2006....

  lidstrom82, you say what I would expect from a Christian but I like the way you say it. I can't believe in everything you say but you have a great way of expressing your beliefs. You're one of "the good ones". God bless you.

• lidstrom82 said on Jun 13, 2006....

  God Bless you too, hotaka. Thanks for all the comments everybody, this has been a great discussion. I believe that we were created to live with God in happiness, but we screwed it up. We still do, 'cuz God is perfect, and we're not. That sounds simple, but they don't mix together. Whenever we'd sin, we would have a harsh punishment: "the wages (price) of sin is death". From lusting after someone to committing murder to lying to refusing help of someone else, the penalty is death. That seems pretty unfair. But we did (and continue to) mess things up. War. Racism. Hatred. Bigotry. That's all on us. Some people wonder why God doesn't just come down from Heaven and clean things up. That's just it. HE DID. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and He was able to live a life for us to follow after. He taught great things. He also conquered death. How many people can say that? But remember, if we sin, we deserve to die. Not anymore, only because of Jesus Christ. He died on a Cross for all men for all time, then came back to life, so that their sin would not count against them and give them the deserved punishment. If God sent His Son to take my place so that I'm not burning in Hell for eternity for anything from shoplifting baseball cards to hating my parents, then out of gratitude I believe in Jesus. It is Jesus' power that disproves that He was "just a teacher"...and it makes Him even greater than any mere men (Confucius, Buddha, Gandhi, Joseph Smith, Hubbard, etc.). Underdog, there is a point where we must "walk the walk" when it comes to religion. Jesus Christ, however, DOES give us salvation. Freely. We don't earn it, like a few other religions will require of you. If we could earn true salvation, we wouldn't need God (or other gods); we'd be well off enough to be our own god, and that is an outright lie (though satanists and other religions continue to encourage believing that we're our own god). The Bible clearly makes a case for believing in Christ, but it also clearly points out there are false gods, false teachers, and false religions. This is interesting because other religions tend to assimilate other religions to fit into their "larger" beliefs. Christianity, assuming it's the true faith, says it outright: No one can live with God without believing in Christ. What about every other religion? The Book of Revelation speaks of the end times, and of the "whore of babylon" - a being that is drunk on the blood of God's saints over history, and represents every false religion and false god. She is in league with the Antichrist and Satan himself. Satan is said to be the prince of this world. Considering every religion except Christianity makes up most of the world's population, and again, assuming Christianity is true, then most of the world has the wrong idea. They either seek to be their own god, reach attainment themselves, pray to other gods, or reach spiritual enlightenment through sex, human sacrifice. My friends, this is not true. I'd be dead if it weren't for God. I was depressed and ready to give up on life on my own terms. If I had been a Jew, I would have long given up on waiting for the Messiah (and many Jews already have given up); if I believed I could be my own god, I would have been powerless and broken, unable to continue trying to reach attainment; I would have been too confused to pray to any incarnation of Vishnu; and whoever I would pray to or believe NEEDED to come from someone who is alive and fighting to bring me life - a long-dead Buddha or Confucius just can't promise that. I can only speak for myself, but telling of what God did for me speaks volumes. And here I am now, very much alive, and very much desiring to share life-giving love with others the way God did (and keeps doing) for me. I am alive today only because of Jesus Christ, and the more people in the world that can say the same thing, the better off this world will be.

• free_therapy said on Jun 20, 2006....

  Please see my response at http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/3314/The-Most-Important-Part-of-Religion

• CreativeWoman said on Jun 20, 2006....

  I was raised a Baptist. I became a Catholic when I married 8 years ago. I converted because I thought it would be best for our marriage if we shared the same faith. I knew he wouldn't convert to my religion, so I made the change. I often describe myself as a Catholic with a Baptist heart.

• TheNakedProfessor said on Jun 22, 2006....

  The Bible is an anthology book, fable, fact and fiction all mixed together. A sign of modern insanity is to settle for whatever a book has to say, then rationalize it with some allusion to "blind faith." That's called "surrendering." Giving up just because you don't have the time, intellect or inclination to devote thought to the most significant issues of life and would rather leave the thinking to "them" doesn't mean you're getting eternal life or (even more pompous) "heaven." It means you're gambling. For a picture of God that makes sense, see my blog on the subject, called BECOMING GOD. Look me up on SoulCast. - TheNakedProfessor

• maggie02mae said on Jun 30, 2006....

  CreativeWoman- the greatest man I have ever known is a Baptist who converted to Catholicism. I like to joke that his saint name will be "Brian the former-Baptist" (get it? John the Baptist...? yeah yeah lame, but i like it). I'm Catholic. I've always been Catholic. Born, raised, educated. Most of my friends from Catholic school no longer practice. I find that ironic. Most of my Catholic friends now were public schoolers. I'm Catholic because it just makes sense. I don't get off on being a part of the "true religion," in fact i know people who do, and they make me sick to my stomach. Religion is not a popularity game, please! I've read and studied and prayed on it, and it makes sense to me. What do I find most valueable? Man, I have no idea. Seeing Christ work through others is the most amazing thing I've experienced so far. Does that answer that question? Probably not. Oh well.

• Susmaryosep said on Jul 27, 2006....

  Honest with yourself, that's a good way to behave, and to invite god into your life.....

• Susmaryosep said on Jul 27, 2006....

  Honest with yourself, that's a good way to behave, and to invite god into your life.....

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