Hello all,
I am aware that discussion of religion is not allowed, but after browsing through this forum I want to at least throw this message out there - not to start a public discussion but to invite people to participate in a private discussion through some other medium (email, chat, or private messaging). If the moderators do not like this, I apologize, but in the interest of this being something people might find useful, perhaps you could lock this thread but sticky it?
Jack Johnson, a well-known singer-songwriter from Hawaii, has a powerful line in his song titled 'All at Once'. He says, "Underneath it all there's this heart all alone."
Bertrand Russell, a British philosopher and well-known atheist, once said: “Nothing can penetrate the loneliness of the human heart except the highest intensity of the sort of love the religious teachers have preached.”
When we remove all of the distractions from our lives, we realize that we really do feel this loneliness, this longing, in our hearts. God fills this void in our hearts in a way that no other thing in the world can.
"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."
-St. Augustine
I realize Christianity is something that you may have already thought about and perhaps dismissed. But I urge you to think about it again. There really are very good reasons for believing that God exists and Christianity is true.
I felt posting this is relevant to this forum community because Christianity has its own community in the church. Becoming a part of a church community is a great way to interact with other people. Living a Christian life leads to the formation of many lasting, fulfilling friendships; most important of all a relationship with God.
Christianity makes very bold claims. If what Christians believe is true, then Jesus is alive.
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me."
-Revelation 3:20
Jesus promised to answer all people who seek Him with a sincere heart.
"How to seek? Not just by arguing but by praying, not just by talking about God, as Job's three friends did and did not find him, but by talking to God, as Job did, and found him. I always tell a sceptic to pray the prayer of the sceptic if he really wants to know whether God exists. This is the scientific thing to do, to test a hypothesis by performing the relevant experiment. I tell him to go out into his backyard some night when no one can see and hear him and make him feel foolish, and say to the empty universe above him, 'God, I don't know whether you exist or not. Maybe I'm praying to nobody, but maybe I'm praying to you. So if you are really there, please let me know somehow, because I do want to know. I want only the Truth, whatever it is. If you are the Truth, here I am, ready and willing to follow you wherever you lead.' If our faith is not a pack of lies, then whoever sincerely prays that prayer will find God in his own life, no matter how hard, how long, or how complex the road..."
-Peter Kreeft
Take some time to think about these things. This is life-changing stuff, perhaps the sort of thing we're all looking for...
Please, PM me if you have any questions at all and/or are interested in discussing these things further.
If any responses are allowed, please keep them respectful and constructive. I realize there are good reasons for disallowing it, but it really is unfortunate that discussion of religion isn't allowed because it is such an important topic that often is left untouched.
Hope to hear from you soon,
QuesT
I am aware that discussion of religion is not allowed, but after browsing through this forum I want to at least throw this message out there - not to start a public discussion but to invite people to participate in a private discussion through some other medium (email, chat, or private messaging). If the moderators do not like this, I apologize, but in the interest of this being something people might find useful, perhaps you could lock this thread but sticky it?
Jack Johnson, a well-known singer-songwriter from Hawaii, has a powerful line in his song titled 'All at Once'. He says, "Underneath it all there's this heart all alone."
Bertrand Russell, a British philosopher and well-known atheist, once said: “Nothing can penetrate the loneliness of the human heart except the highest intensity of the sort of love the religious teachers have preached.”
When we remove all of the distractions from our lives, we realize that we really do feel this loneliness, this longing, in our hearts. God fills this void in our hearts in a way that no other thing in the world can.
"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."
-St. Augustine
I realize Christianity is something that you may have already thought about and perhaps dismissed. But I urge you to think about it again. There really are very good reasons for believing that God exists and Christianity is true.
I felt posting this is relevant to this forum community because Christianity has its own community in the church. Becoming a part of a church community is a great way to interact with other people. Living a Christian life leads to the formation of many lasting, fulfilling friendships; most important of all a relationship with God.
Christianity makes very bold claims. If what Christians believe is true, then Jesus is alive.
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me."
-Revelation 3:20
Jesus promised to answer all people who seek Him with a sincere heart.
"How to seek? Not just by arguing but by praying, not just by talking about God, as Job's three friends did and did not find him, but by talking to God, as Job did, and found him. I always tell a sceptic to pray the prayer of the sceptic if he really wants to know whether God exists. This is the scientific thing to do, to test a hypothesis by performing the relevant experiment. I tell him to go out into his backyard some night when no one can see and hear him and make him feel foolish, and say to the empty universe above him, 'God, I don't know whether you exist or not. Maybe I'm praying to nobody, but maybe I'm praying to you. So if you are really there, please let me know somehow, because I do want to know. I want only the Truth, whatever it is. If you are the Truth, here I am, ready and willing to follow you wherever you lead.' If our faith is not a pack of lies, then whoever sincerely prays that prayer will find God in his own life, no matter how hard, how long, or how complex the road..."
-Peter Kreeft
Take some time to think about these things. This is life-changing stuff, perhaps the sort of thing we're all looking for...
Please, PM me if you have any questions at all and/or are interested in discussing these things further.
If any responses are allowed, please keep them respectful and constructive. I realize there are good reasons for disallowing it, but it really is unfortunate that discussion of religion isn't allowed because it is such an important topic that often is left untouched.
Hope to hear from you soon,
QuesT
