The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

Q child said:
What does this mean?
Is this saying that humans with authority were appointed to positions of authority by God?
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Exactly. Every story in the Bible, every tragedy in the Bible is showing you that no matter what happens, no matter what dictator or regime or evil person is in power God is in control and everything is working according to His plan for the world. What people don’t understand is God is working in accordance with His word, we are living in a timeline of His will.
 
Beagle1 said:
I hope the many years of happiness you had with your wife help give you comfort.
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@Beagle1,
This response is also related to your post that was above the one I quoted, but ties in with this one. I would assume, possibly incorrectly, that you are a non-believer, from the way that you posted. Forgive me if I am incorrect. But I wanted to point out something as an example. When someone suffers a tragedy or injury, Christians say they are praying for that person, and rightly so. Non-believers say something like you did in the quote above, or they say something like “positive thoughts going up”, or “much strength to you”. Things like that. Doesn’t that seem pretty empty? If I tell someone that is going through a hard time “positive thoughts toward you”, how in the world does that actually help them, besides a little comfort in knowing someone cares that they are in a rough spot? For me, that doesn’t bring near the comfort as someone who is praying for me. I say this because I have personally experienced God’s comfort in my own life, in times of trouble. Non-believers may find this silly, but that’s okay. I know God personally. He’s taken far better care of me than I could ever deserve. I watch Him work in my life, and those around me, on a regular basis. It’s more than a belief, it’s a conviction of truth. I know for a fact that God is real. I know for a fact that salvation is real. I’ve experienced both of these in my own life and for myself, and no one can convince me otherwise. Once one sees God for himself, that can never be unseen.

I wrote this not as an attack on you, or any other unbeliever, but hoping that it may provoke some careful thought and consideration. Thanks for reading!
 
ianpadron said:
The stereotype of Christians being indoctrinated from their youth is seldom the truth though.
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This is categorically false. In the United States, 94% of adult Christians were raised in Christian households. It's such a staggering percentage that it's not even a stereotype, simply an accurate predictor. Your anecdote about your own life experience is moving but does not make it a statistic.

Young minds are impressionable by their nature. They have to be - children are not born knowing anything, just with a few basic biological instincts like nursing and breathing. We help teach them everything else, and their minds are predisposed to accepting what we teach them. Lots of people still insist "Pluto will always be a planet to me" because that's what they were taught when they were young, even though it technically doesn't qualify under modern standards.

Faith is an unreliable path to truth. If you were born in a Christian household, you are overwhelmingly likely to become a Christian - and to believe it is the "one true way." If you were born in a Muslim household, you are overwhelmingly likely to become a Muslim. The same goes for any religion. They cannot all be true, but they all claim to be. The location of your birth being the decider of whether you are to be saved or not is the second most ridiculous part of the whole thing.

You can choose to believe anything. If it comforts you, fine, but simply believing a thing doesn't make it so. The truth is, all Christians are atheists - for Ganesh, Ra, and the 2999 other gods they choose to believe are false. True atheists are just atheists for one more.
 
taskswap said:
This is categorically false. In the United States, 94% of adult Christians were raised in Christian households. It's such a staggering percentage that it's not even a stereotype, simply an accurate predictor. Your anecdote about your own life experience is moving but does not make it a statistic.

Young minds are impressionable by their nature. They have to be - children are not born knowing anything, just with a few basic biological instincts like nursing and breathing. We help teach them everything else, and their minds are predisposed to accepting what we teach them. Lots of people still insist "Pluto will always be a planet to me" because that's what they were taught when they were young, even though it technically doesn't qualify under modern standards.

Faith is an unreliable path to truth. If you were born in a Christian household, you are overwhelmingly likely to become a Christian - and to believe it is the "one true way." If you were born in a Muslim household, you are overwhelmingly likely to become a Muslim. The same goes for any religion. They cannot all be true, but they all claim to be. The location of your birth being the decider of whether you are to be saved or not is the second most ridiculous part of the whole thing.

You can choose to believe anything. If it comforts you, fine, but simply believing a thing doesn't make it so. The truth is, all Christians are atheists - for Ganesh, Ra, and the 2999 other gods they choose to believe are false. True atheists are just atheists for one more.
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Well said.
 
The roads to the dominating religions are all covered in blood and for that I’ll be a better person and be a non believer. 🤙
 
taskswap said:
This is categorically false. In the United States, 94% of adult Christians were raised in Christian households. It's such a staggering percentage that it's not even a stereotype, simply an accurate predictor. Your anecdote about your own life experience is moving but does not make it a statistic.

Young minds are impressionable by their nature. They have to be - children are not born knowing anything, just with a few basic biological instincts like nursing and breathing. We help teach them everything else, and their minds are predisposed to accepting what we teach them. Lots of people still insist "Pluto will always be a planet to me" because that's what they were taught when they were young, even though it technically doesn't qualify under modern standards.

Faith is an unreliable path to truth. If you were born in a Christian household, you are overwhelmingly likely to become a Christian - and to believe it is the "one true way." If you were born in a Muslim household, you are overwhelmingly likely to become a Muslim. The same goes for any religion. They cannot all be true, but they all claim to be. The location of your birth being the decider of whether you are to be saved or not is the second most ridiculous part of the whole thing.

You can choose to believe anything. If it comforts you, fine, but simply believing a thing doesn't make it so. The truth is, all Christians are atheists - for Ganesh, Ra, and the 2999 other gods they choose to believe are false. True atheists are just atheists for one more.
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I'm not being facetious here, but I would like to know what the definition of Christian household is used in that 94% stat?
Because I can tell you, we went to church when I was a kid, but no way in this God's green earth did I grow up in a Christian household. I feel like what I experienced should have done anything and everything to drive me away from Christianity, but in my 30's after years of unexplainable things happening to me, I let God back into my life, and will never look back at the old way of life again.

There's a lot of Christians out there giving Christians bad names.
Just like poachers, and YouTube stars give hunters bad names.
These people are what they claim to be by name only, and are truly not who they say they are.


Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.
Matthew 7:15

The devil wants nothing more than to run you off, and make you disbelieve the truth.
 
Beagle1 said:
The flip side of this is there are also anecdotal stories that are the complete opposite of yours where fervent believers were transformed into nonbelievers and are very happy. Would their happiness be less fulfilling than yours.
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I don't know about that happening to fervent believers. I know of a lot of luke-warm Christians that fall away from their faith, and many more who eventually come back.

If your happiness is rooted in worldly things, then yea it's far less fulfilling than that of a believer.

I've felt both.

Had it all going for me prior to being born again. Great marriage, great job, made my own schedule, didn't worry about money, never drank or smoked, big friend group...still felt a massive hole in my heart that wasn't going to be filled by anything else.

Doubting and being cynical is in our nature. God knows that, and His word has a funny way of extinguishing that doubt. Try it.
 
taskswap said:
This is categorically false. In the United States, 94% of adult Christians were raised in Christian households. It's such a staggering percentage that it's not even a stereotype, simply an accurate predictor. Your anecdote about your own life experience is moving but does not make it a statistic.

Young minds are impressionable by their nature. They have to be - children are not born knowing anything, just with a few basic biological instincts like nursing and breathing. We help teach them everything else, and their minds are predisposed to accepting what we teach them. Lots of people still insist "Pluto will always be a planet to me" because that's what they were taught when they were young, even though it technically doesn't qualify under modern standards.

Faith is an unreliable path to truth. If you were born in a Christian household, you are overwhelmingly likely to become a Christian - and to believe it is the "one true way." If you were born in a Muslim household, you are overwhelmingly likely to become a Muslim. The same goes for any religion. They cannot all be true, but they all claim to be. The location of your birth being the decider of whether you are to be saved or not is the second most ridiculous part of the whole thing.

You can choose to believe anything. If it comforts you, fine, but simply believing a thing doesn't make it so. The truth is, all Christians are atheists - for Ganesh, Ra, and the 2999 other gods they choose to believe are false. True atheists are just atheists for one more.
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Do you know what country currently has the most people converting to Christianity? I'm not talking about CEO (Christmas Easter only) Christianity, but in the book daily, living for The Lord Christianity...some interesting data there...

I don't think you've spoken to many Christians if you believe that stat you shared. Perhaps it's just my age group, or area I live, but in our friend group, all the church events we attend, ministries, etc. it's a close 50/50 on who was raised by believers and who found faith as an adult. Many of those who were raised in a "Christian household" couldn't quote a single line of scripture aside from John 3:16 and haven't been to church in years.

My story is far from an outlier, it happens daily throughout the world, and when it does, there is no denying it.

There is not a single non-believer/athiest in this thread who is MORE convinced that Jesus/God are not who they claimed to be than I used to be...and look at me now.
 
go_deep said:
I'm not being facetious here, but I would like to know what the definition of Christian household is used in that 94% stat?
Because I can tell you, we went to church when I was a kid, but no way in this God's green earth did I grow up in a Christian household. I feel like what I experienced should have done anything and everything to drive me away from Christianity, but in my 30's after years of unexplainable things happening to me, I let God back into my life, and will never look back at the old way of life again.

There's a lot of Christians out there giving Christians bad names.
Just like poachers, and YouTube stars give hunters bad names.
These people are what they claim to be by name only, and are truly not who they say they are.


Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.
Matthew 7:15

The devil wants nothing more than to run you off, and make you disbelieve the truth.
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Jason, you are as usual, spot on.
 
taskswap said:
You can choose to believe anything. If it comforts you, fine, but simply believing a thing doesn't make it so. The truth is, all Christians are atheists - for Ganesh, Ra, and the 2999 other gods they choose to believe are false. True atheists are just atheists for one more.
Click to expand...

Christians are not atheists. The gap between belief in a god versus no god at all is monumentally large. Some would argue that it takes more faith to believe in no god. The vast majority of the world believes in some form of deity. To quote you quite perfectly, "You can choose to believe anything. If it comforts you, fine, but simply believing a thing doesn't make it so."

I can never get past the moral relativism that atheist viewpoints slam up against. How can one who has no authority higher than self argue to anyone else that one way is better than another? It's blatant hypocrisy. You have no metric or standard to judge anyone for their beliefs or actions or desires other than your own beliefs about a thing. So at the very best, you're just as guilty as the person you're arguing with, and at worst, you're completely wrong! And if you really believe there is no greater purpose for us, well, what's it matter anyway?

"... If the dead are not raised, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.'"
 
molliesmaster said:
Christians are not atheists. The gap between belief in a god versus no god at all is monumentally large. Some would argue that it takes more faith to believe in no god. The vast majority of the world believes in some form of deity. To quote you quite perfectly, "You can choose to believe anything. If it comforts you, fine, but simply believing a thing doesn't make it so."

I can never get past the moral relativism that atheist viewpoints slam up against. How can one who has no authority higher than self argue to anyone else that one way is better than another? It's blatant hypocrisy. You have no metric or standard to judge anyone for their beliefs or actions or desires other than your own beliefs about a thing. So at the very best, you're just as guilty as the person you're arguing with, and at worst, you're completely wrong! And if you really believe there is no greater purpose for us, well, what's it matter anyway?

"... If the dead are not raised, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.'"
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Ultimately, despite the innumerable flaws in atheistic thinking, the moral relativism is where things really fall apart.

The core tenets of morality and truth are hijacked without credit (plagiarized) from the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob.

This of course is why we have things in today's society like "your truth" instead of "The Truth".

Worldly people are concerned with being judged by and seen as "good" by their peers, rather than their Creator, and if nefarious hands get a hold of the group think tank in which they unknowingly exist...bad things happen in a hurry.

History makes this glaringly obvious of course. Truth is not malleable, but denying the existence of He who created it opens Pandoras box of rampant nihilism we see today.

Let's pray for our brothers fellas, believers have had seeds planted in far stranger ways than a Western hunting forum!
 
2-Stix said:
I posted above about the fear part, but felt led to share this.

I see some back and forth from Christians or followers of the Bible and those who are not leaning that way. I come from parents who are pastors for 50 years, the vast majority of my family and in-laws are followers of Christ, some on staff at churches, my wife is on staff at our church, and I run a few ministries there.

Trying to convince someone one way or another, I find never works. The only way I have watched someone find a relationship with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit is that they were open-handed about it and had a tangible experience that they can not explain with a part of the Trinity. My part it in was just praying that they would have that experience. Some have, some have not.

I have been a Christian for almost 45 years...I can't explain it all to you, I don't understand it all, and I dont know anyone that does, and I am ok with that. That is the mystery of God. That is the excitement of a relationship with God. At times it makes no sense, other times it is miraculous upon miraculous.

All I know is if you haven't had a full tangible undeniable experience with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit that is supernatural its hard to argue with us that have and follow God with reckless abandon. It's like explaining hunting to an intercity person that is not that interested in the wild, let alone hunting.

The church is made up of millions of flawed people/believers. I am one. I just do my best to be better each day.

If you're not interested in church, organized religion, Christianity...Just ask God to show himself to you, ask for a supernatural experience...and go from there.

I hope this is not what the moderator was implying would get a ban. If so I am sorry and please delate my post. I have been a positive RokSlider.
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I needed to read this! Thank you so much for posting it has helped me in my walk with Jesus!
 
So can I ask something? Everyone who opposes the idea of Christianity. Can I ask you to try it?
Just 2 months. Go to a good local church, get plugged in to a real faith family, serve others with your life. Really focus on what Jesus did for all of us and try your hardest to live like he did. Repent when you sin. (daily)

After 2 months, I would love to hear what your opinions would be.

Everyone is so quick to jump on a 8 week fitness program to get ready for a week long hunt. I’m saying let’s commit a 8 week faith program for something that will change your life for ETERNITY!

It’s worth it!
 
D_wit22 said:
So can I ask something? Everyone who opposes the idea of Christianity. Can I ask you to try it?
Just 2 months. Go to a good local church, get plugged in to a real faith family, serve others with your life. Really focus on what Jesus did for all of us and try your hardest to live like he did. Repent when you sin. (daily)

After 2 months, I would love to hear what your opinions would be.

Everyone is so quick to jump on a 8 week fitness program to get ready for a week long hunt. I’m saying let’s commit a 8 week faith program for something that will change your life for ETERNITY!

It’s worth it!
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Would you do the same to try other religions not closely associated with yours?
 
Bugger said:
Would you do the same to try other religions not closely associated with yours?
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I am just asking for people to check out their local church. I think the church as a body is one of the best present day examples that Jesus is the way. When I think of my local church, I have 400+ people from all different backgrounds, all different opinions, but we all agree we need Christ. Any point in my life when I need a brother, I have one there. Any point I need help, I have a family there.
Where else can you find a group of people doing life together who are committed to serving one another, loving one another, and doing life together?

I have 3 young children and I can’t think of any other place to raise my kids. The truth that they are learning from the Bible at 3 years old will affect them the rest of their lives.

All I’m saying is give it a try. I’m not here to argue. The best thing I can do is to share what I have and that is the good news of salvation! Some of the best moments in our church is when an unbeliever comes and their life is changed forever.

Have you ever tried going to church with an open mindset?
 
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