Wh among you still believes in God?

Wh among you still believes in God?
i never stopped believing in god.
i did, however, have my arguments, blasphemies, and criticisms.

lately, i have come to the conclusion that since i have never created anything, i should just shut up.
i can't even manage my own life properly, let alone the entire universe.
 
I do. Absolutely. I've had way too many prayers answered. While I do believe "coincidences" do indeed happen, my own experience would be like winning the lottery several times in a row-- either you're way, way beyond lucky, or you're getting help somewhere.

What I don't believe in is that (a) the world is a just place, and (b) there must not be a God because really bad things happen so often to good people. The things that brought me to this site were NOT a result of God being there or not being there; they were just things that happened. Why? Who knows. They just did. Neither I nor God had anything to do with it.

So to answer your question, yes. I personally believe Jesus has been there for me too many times, and will continue to be there for me in the future. That's my two cents.

Bob
 
Thanks for your question. This is how I feel about God.

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands (Isa 49:16) I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. (Matt 28:20)

The remnants of the dragons storm are always with me like a quiet breeze in my mind. They will never leave they are memories. Because of this an addict is always an addict. The only thing that changes belongs to the word recovery. Its a new word Im learning and I have to learn it again every day

I have complete faith in Christ when he says, I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my spirit shall be in your hearts and mine angels round about you to bear you up. Christ is now before my face straight in front of me. Many times in my life the rocks have been on my right and left but now I have Christ there to help stop me from hitting them. I focus on my vision which is always straight in front before my face, the space between the rocks. As I do this His spirit fills my heart and His angels bear me upso I can make it through another day and live in the reality of now. Knowing that I am a son of the living God and that He loves me totally and completely helps me so much.

I spent much of my life desperate for love and not knowing what words to use or where to find it. All I have ever wanted was to have someone or something fill the hole in my heart and love me. . . I needed calm, control, and a feeling of all is well in my life I needed LOVE.

My wife and Christ have done this.

His Atonement has filled and healed me.
Christ has restored all that was taken from me many years ago in my youth My power, my sexual identity, my self-worth and most importantly my soul
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness Ps. 23:3

That is how I feel, Thanks for your question, Ted
 
pure awesomeness !!
 
I believe. I also people are free to do as they wish. There are consequences.

A perv decides to groom a kid to be his sex toy, me. There are consequences of that CSA in my life. It messed me up for a bit. But I also believe it comes back to the perp. I may never see or know.

In short, the actions of a small group of evil doing people can often color people's feelings on God.

I am trying to not let the perp steal my ability to believe in God.

I try and remember the good, the wonder of the creation, the ability to love.

Some days I struggle.
 
I don't.

This is not to say I am opposed to or in any way disrespectful or hold malice against those who do. I just don't. However, I consider myself a spiritual agnostic, who happens to be a Unitarian. :)

But I wasn't always this way.

I grew up in the Lutheran church. I lived and breathed it. I attended school there most of my childhood. I was confirmed and participated in the Holy Sacraments. I went to Sunday school, vacation Bible school, and Lutheran summer camp. This was my life. I knew (and still know) much of the Bible inside and out. Heck, my dad even took steps to become a minister (his alcholism probably is why they passed him over). But something changed pretty early on for me.

*trigger warning*

I never quite fit in in school. I was the kid who was perpetually bullied, demeaned, and had no friends (remember this is Lutheran school)... except God. He was there. Then at age 9 when a neighbor boy (my only "friend") raped me, I started to wonder where this all loving God was. Then I figured that this was like the Job story. He was testing me. So even as damaged and broken as I was after that, I kept my faith in Him.

Then the next "friend" raped me.

Job experienced a heap of troubles. I hated myself wanted to die, but was always taught suicide was a sin and the last thing I wanted to do was sin and not have a chance to ask for forgiveness. My faith was erroding as my life took a downward spiral that my 11 year old brain wasn't physically capable of comprehending (my brain now can't either). During this nightmare, the bullying increased, my school work went straight to hell, and my disfunctional family was falling apart (my parents split then). My faith still flickered on, barely.

My troubles were just starting.

When my mom married her husband, who would go on to sexually abuse and rape me on a daily basis for 3 years, that's when I realized, either God is dead or He was never there to begin with.

This was a hard struggle for me. In my mid teens, I endured a grueling crisis of faith. In the end, I concluded that maybe there is or maybe there isn't a God. If there was one, then He wasn't an interventionalist God.

This story has a semi-happy ending.

Despite my problems defining God or lack there of, I still wanted a community like most church going people have. But where does an agnostic like myself go for that? Insert the Unitarian Universalist church. I have been a member for almost a year now and am very happy to have a group of friends and support who are like minded, good hearted, loving people.

I hope I didn't offend anyone. I sincerly apologize if I have. I took my time writing this to be careful to be sensitive to others who do not share my spiritual beliefs.

Thanks for reading.
 
atari kid -

thanks for sharing your story.

we have a lot in common - raised in the church, abused by "friends" and step-father.

the big difference is that i ended at a different conclusion. i still believe in God. it hasn't been easy to maintain that faith - and i can't really explain how or why. but it has been important to me - and one of my main sources of hope that has kept me going.

i did not find your post offensive in the least. thank you for your care and sensitivity in trying not to hurt anyone. that is my goal as well.

i am glad that you have found a place of caring community.

love and peace to you,
LEE
 
JoziSA,

The original publication has been removed and there is no online copy I can point to. It was called "Survival of the Godliest" by the demographer Phillip Longman. I did find what looks like a partial or complete extract here.

The thesis was that a number of behaviors of religious adherents conferred survival benefits. Specifically, that religious people have more children than non-religious people. The result is more religious people and less non-religious people over time. And the more religious people are, the greater number of children they have, therefore the religious community becomes more fundamentalist over time.

~efm
 
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[quote:Ever-fixed Mark]religious people have more children than non-religious people. The result is more religious people and less non-religious people over time. And the more religious people are, the greater number of children they have, therefore the religious community becomes more fundamentalist over time. [/quote]


maybe that is god's plan?

God said unto them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth"
Genesis 1:28

"As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it."
Genesis 9:7
 
The peace that entered my soul when I stepped foot on a Catholic Shrine in Birmingham, Alabama. At that life changing perspective I knew he was always by my side, he was alive even before me, walked the earth in the past and still is. That is my prove!! That is why i still cling to him!! Because the peace was so penetrating so indescribable to human words! i pray that this peace always will be with me! I go visit the shrine every time my church goes to visit! it is a peace of heaven i pray all you experience. God bless you! And you are worth a lot to God! God loves you! always remember that
 
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I believe in a Higher Power, or God, of my understanding, not the God of any Bible, nor religious dogma.. my God loves and accepts me as I am, warts and all.. this God has been trying to help me & guide me my entire life but I just couldn't see it until recently
- Tom E
 
I also believe in an higher power/purpose, but I don't follow the traditional scriptures or teachings.
 
I come from a religious background that was forced on me. It was also fundamentalist, which I find I cannot do anymore.

I am finally learning to embrace a God of my own understanding, rather than the God of someone else's understanding forced on me with the threat of hell. That's a huge step (for me).

I am learning to open up my mind and realize--that there is salvation outside of the fundamentalist view I grew up with. I don't have to believe in that, or listen to them anymore. I'm free.
 
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I think Denial of God the Creator works about as good as the Denial of our abuse worked for us, that denial may help us cope for a little while, but ultimately we have to deal with reality.

It's a lot easier to pretend there is no God, because it's too scary to admit there is a satan & a hell, especially when true evil presents it's self so readily (we here have all been touched by it). It's so easy to be blinded to all the good / Godly blessings, even miracles all around us. For me, just watching a sunrise, seeing a newborn baby or even an animal is enough to know the existence of God. Feeling love, feeling love for my own newborn child was a glimpse into the love our Father God has for us all, and that's an incredible feeling. That's a Love that I couldn't comprehend till I had my own child. That was a huge need that I went unmet from my own childhood due to the circumstances back then.

I've lived life both ways walking away from God and walking with him. I know the difference in my life walking with God has made. I've witnessed the super natural in a church. I've witnessed the lives of the believers who trust in God / Jesus for their salvation who for the most part live peaceful happy lives, I've witnessed some who still struggle with their demons but are better off still being in the fight. Christians to contrary belief are not "perfect", nor profess to be, they are just forgiven. They are like beggars trying to show the other's where the food is. They are not trying to hoard it all for themselves by lying of it's existence. Satan is very good at what he does, his sole aim is to have us use that gift of free will that God gave to us all to turn away from God, it's that simple. He will use anything like our hurts, fears etc to get us to turn away & more importantly our legacy generations too. We all have a target on our back, But our Father God provided a safe space with him. He wants you to commune with him, seek & find his peace. He didn't make us to be robots in thought, he gave us all free will and a choice to make with it.

Has there been evil done in the name of God / religion? Sure (thanks to satan), same as fathers & mothers doing evil things, does fact that make all fathers & mothers evil? In both the past & the present, Judaeo / Christian societies have led to the furthering of all kinds of freedom & elevated standards of living in general. You don't have to look far to see the havoc that Godless societies left in their wake, mass genocides, few freedoms if any, not even a freedom of speech...

A relationship with God / Jesus is not hard to attain or keep, he loves you and wants you around. What's easier to accept, being and feeling loved, protected & treasured for being a child of God, or living blindly unloved & untreasured? For me It sure beats feeling like a beat up marionette with my strings being yanked around by satan.

....Where do you want to see your soul in 100 years?

That's how I see things in relation to God.
 
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