Do you believe in a God because you want eternal life?

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• Cool, thanks . :)

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  by Just-A-Pineapple on November 18th, 2009

• Sure, honestly though, doubt anyone here will answer yes :P

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  by Pater Murmidonorum on November 18th, 2009

• I know but I could bet that this is the case for many people.

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  by Just-A-Pineapple on November 18th, 2009

• I just want to make sure I understand, you'd be ok with eternal life?

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  by ConservativelyLiberal on July 15th, 2010

• that is an interesting way of phrasing it :), do we want to live forever? in this world: absolutely not. More accurately: This world in itself has enough to fascinate me for quite a while I am sure, and once I've seen it all I'll just have to go to mars (bummer....). I doubt my curiosity would die out any milenium soon, nor my love and passion for people and stuff like knowledge, music, etc. The actual problem, why I would not want to live any long period in this world, is the people on it. I think people, as a whole, have proven to be utterly incapable of living in harmony with eachother, the world or anything really. As much as persons can be awesome, touch you and change you, make the world 'a better place', mankind as a whole is doomed.
  -
  that being said, the reason I WOULD be ok with eternal life is because God is in control, not man, and because all people that are in that life have shown to accept God's reign. Whether or not eternal is literally eternal, or rather just a VERY long time, I don't know, i've never tried :). I don't know whether I'd get bored after two thousand years, perhaps, perhaps not. In any case I think you should think beyond this world. this world is limited, there are only so many unkowns to be answered, only so many physical laws to be explored. I think once we're done with all of it, flown into black holes, seen the edges of the universe, traveled time and what not, we'll be creating our own universes, our own physical laws, exploring the bounds of our creativity.

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  by Pater Murmidonorum on July 17th, 2010

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• evidently an intelligent believer:

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  by socrates111 on July 18th, 2010

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• I heard this saying once somewhere which really made since to me: "The complexity in design is proof of a creator."

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  by RzLott on July 14th, 2010

• yes, i go along with that:

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  by socrates111 on July 18th, 2010

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  by socrates111 on July 18th, 2010

• You are indeed privileged.

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  by socrates111 on July 18th, 2010

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• well said,you haven't excluded anybody

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  by socrates111 on July 18th, 2010

• Thanks for you comment :)

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  by nightcrawler0_2 on July 18th, 2010

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• so do I

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  by socrates111 on July 18th, 2010

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• indecision may not be the best choice!

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  by socrates111 on July 18th, 2010

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• Thank you , denidowi.

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  by Just-A-Pineapple on November 24th, 2009

• That is a pleasure, Pineapple.
  What a lovely name :)

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  by denidowi on November 24th, 2009

• Thank you.
  Same to yours too.
  And
  Enjoy eternal life when you get it ;-)

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  by Just-A-Pineapple on November 25th, 2009

• Oh, you already kinda have it.. lol

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  by Just-A-Pineapple on November 25th, 2009

• Not yet, Pineapple...
  But I'm on my way ... possibly just getting startedLOL! :)
  What's your background?

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  by denidowi on November 25th, 2009

• You seem pretty certain you will get it so I am sure you will! :D
  Sounds like a pretty cool thing to put hope into that's for sure.
  I'm from Scotland , how bout yourself?

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  by Just-A-Pineapple on November 25th, 2009

• Well, I'm just from "Here"LOL!!
  More specifically, I'm from 'Demonland'LOL ... that is, Melbourne, Australia.
  But my step Dad is Scottish - all the way from Glasgow, and most of my forebears hail from both - Scotland and Ireland. My parents are into family genealogy: so at least I know some of my roots.
  How 'bout yourself, Pineapple?

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  by denidowi on November 26th, 2009

• Melbourne.. That looks like a nice place apart from all the crocs and snakes you get over there! ;-) Ok so that makes you a little bit Scottish then. I live near Glasgow bout half hour drive away in a smaller city. My family are all born in Scotland for many decades ,then goes into England somewhere down the line.

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  by Just-A-Pineapple on November 26th, 2009

• No crocs down here, sweetie ... and not many snakes either really.
  Those kinds of cold-blooded creatures prefer warmer climates than we have here. But it is certainly warm in summer here - which we are moving into now. In Queensland, Northern Territory or outback New South Wales you get more heat and snakes etc
  We do get some kangas [kangaroos] and some koalas in this state (Victoria), but they prefer country and are safer there.

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  by denidowi on November 26th, 2009

• Oh, that is good then!
  I was watching a documentry about Australia and people who hunt down crocs. That is how I got the impression they were all there.
  :D
  I am sure the summers where you live are fairly warm, well... compared to here anyway! It rained all summer long here and is still at it now.
  Can we swap locations? please :D

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  by Just-A-Pineapple on November 26th, 2009

• Oh Honey, that would be great ... but even more so, If only I could swap some of that rain you get there for our 10 year drought here>>> Please?!!!LOL
  The crocs are only in a fairly limited area of Australia ... I think most are quite north - probably Queensland and NT.
  Our summers in Melb get very hot ... as you can probably tell from diligently watching "The Australia Open" tennis championships ... which I'm sure you diligently watch ... they are in late January. ;)

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  by denidowi on November 26th, 2009

• LOL I never watch that ;-)
  yes I am sure you guys really need some rain then! I will send you some clouds in the post :)

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  by Just-A-Pineapple on November 27th, 2009

• ThanX for those: it has now been raining here for the past few hoursLOL!
  Thanks for sending it here!
  I think we'll hire you and import you full timeLOL!!
  You could ask your own price, and you'll certainly get it! ;)

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  by denidowi on November 27th, 2009

• Great! :D

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  by Just-A-Pineapple on November 27th, 2009

• Coming?? :)

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  by denidowi on November 28th, 2009

• Yep! On my next day off ;-)

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  by Just-A-Pineapple on November 28th, 2009

• I shall await your notification of your arrival. ;-)

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  by denidowi on November 28th, 2009

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• isn't that pretty much the same as saying "i believe in God because I do"?

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  by Pater Murmidonorum on November 18th, 2009

• Where did that faith come from? Are you sure it isn't just hope. Hope of something more. And that brings about faith.?

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  by Just-A-Pineapple on November 18th, 2009

• Yes, I suppose belief and faith could be the same thing. But I believe in God because I have faith that what I've committed to and what I've learned and experience all point to Him. My faith comes from those things... the knowledge I've gained and the experiences I've had. Yeah, it is a hope but it's a hope that I believe is founded in evidence. Check out the book "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel. It deals with the evidence pointing to Jesus and his claims about being the Son of God.

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  by BSL is the PITS on November 18th, 2009

• If you had different experiences from what you have had you could of be an atheist you know.
  I guess some people are more open to things than others.

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  by Just-A-Pineapple on November 18th, 2009

• Yes, that's completely true.

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  by BSL is the PITS on November 18th, 2009

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• I do believe that if you long for physical things to satisfy you, you grow very bored with them and you get annoyed with life and find life pointless, which could be a lot of the reason people get so depressed sometimes even though they have lots of money. However, if you are satisfied by God, you are eternally happy. See, that is the entire point. Food and things of this world are only supposed to be extra to God's love. I know that whenever I stop focusing on God it is a lot easier for me to get depressed, because everything just seems pointless and idiotic. I find life absolutely pointless without God. But there is something about just looking over and ocean in silence and thinking about God that feels like it could be satisfying forever to me. I feel sorry for anybody who doesn't believe in God for the reason you just said. I was soooo depressed for a period when I was a kid because I found life pointless and meaningless, and wanted something more meaningful. Once I started listening to the silence and to God, I was satisfied. It is easy for us to get distracted from this important thing, by things of this world. And we often distract ourselves on purpose because we prefer excitement over peace.

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  by Anonymous on July 19th, 2010

• Satisfied by god? What does god give hummers now? But serious, does he juggle? What's so satisfying about sitting around with some know it all for ETERNITY. You think one thing or person no matter how magnificent can keep your attention forever? Sorry, not gonna happen no matter how much you like god, it'll get boring, then what?
  
  "I know that whenever I stop focusing on God it is a lot easier for me to get depressed, because everything just seems pointless and idiotic."
  
  Same way I used to get without a bottle of Vodka with dinner. Or are you saying it's better to be an addict?
  
  I find peace looking out over an ocean too, but god has nothing to do with it.
  
  "I feel sorry for anybody who doesn't believe in God for the reason you just said."
  
  I feel sorry for you, always needing that bottle, those pills, that god, all the same need fulfilled in different ways. You've just got a socially acceptable addiction.

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  by ConservativelyLiberal on July 19th, 2010

• What the heck? Your honestly relating a relationship with God to a drug? It is nothing of the sort. I have been addicted to things in my life, and they never really make you happy. Vodka certainly does not make you happy, it only makes you think you are happy. You think that God just gives you some simple pleasure like alchohol to distract you from things, but thats not the case. He makes you feel whole and he is there for you. The most important thing in this world is love because love is eternal. During the worst times of my life, addictions did not make me feel whole or at peace, they just made me distracted. I do not have a relationship with God because it is socially acceptable! I had nobody to show me God in my life, or to push it onto me like somebody pushes drugs onto you. The reason my relationship with God began is because he was my only hope during a period of my life in Middle School where I lost all my friends and my parents had a terrible relationship. And nobody told me to have a relationship with God!!! How can you say that you are happy, if it is only something that is temporary or based off of circumstance? Happiness is something that reaches to your inner being that makes you content. If you know that you are going to have to go and get some more, and again, and again, you will never be satisfied. But a relationship with God practically escapes time. When I pray, sometimes time just changes way more than the time I thought I was praying and sometimes way less as well. And when I look back on how God put me through those bad circumstances to help me love others, and now I have really good relationships with other people even though they are not socially popular, and they are some of the best relationships I have ever had, I thank God for that, and the fact that I learned lessons from those things that helps me help other people. Heppiness is not based on predicament or time, it is something deep inside you. I cannot even describe to you how good it feels when you look back and realize everything happened for a reason and God was there for you the whole time. You think it's something far out there probably, but I saw some very clear moments in my life when it was obvious God was doing something. I feel sorry for you because you don't know what happiness is. And I don't say that to just be rude or agressive to you. I really am sorry for you.

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  by Anonymous on July 20th, 2010

• What the heck? Your honestly relating a relationship with God to a drug? It is nothing of the sort. I have been addicted to things in my life, and they never really make you happy. Vodka certainly does not make you happy, it only makes you think you are happy.
  
  God does not make you happy, god only makes you think you're happy. What happens when life gets you down? You pray. What happens when an alcoholics life gets them down? They drink. Do you not see that instead of swallowing a pill, or downing a bottle, you've only replaced that need with a different false comfort. You've traded one addiction for another.
  
  You think that God just gives you some simple pleasure like alchohol to distract you from things, but thats not the case. He makes you feel whole and he is there for you.
  
  The bottle made me feel the same way, I felt empty without out it, cold, unable to do or control any part of my life. But ah the release of that first drink. The way my hands would stop shaking, the way the world stopped being harsh and demanding. Yes I know the feeling. The alcohol completed me, the same way god completes you.
  
  I do not have a relationship with God because it is socially acceptable!
  
  I never said you did. I said that your new addiction is socially acceptable. Big difference.
  
  I had nobody to show me God in my life, or to push it onto me like somebody pushes drugs onto you.
  
  No one ever pushed pills or booze on me. I welcomed it with open arms. I fell onto my knees and said...
  
  Dear jack Danniels, have mercy on me, a sober. I am truly sorry
  for my sins. I want to start over. Forgive me for all the things that I have done that have offended you. Come into my heart and make
  me Your child.
  
  Old Grandad, I ask that You take away all my sinful desires and create in me a new heart. I forgive anyone who has wronged me. I thank You for forgiving me and cleansing me with Your precious blood, The blood You shed in the bottle for me. In this first step of faith, I believe You have paid for my my sins and I confess you as Lord over my life right now. I thank You for hearing my prayer and I thank You for the opportunity to start over and live my life according to Your will and not my own.
  
  Johnnie Walker, I ask You to baptize me with Your Holy Spirits. Fill me with the fire, the power, and the boldness that comes from the Holy Spirit, so that I may accomplish Your will; Your eternal purpose for me.
  
  Jose Cuervo, send Your Holy Spirit to dwell within me, to guide me, to anoint me, and to comfort me in my time of need.
  In the mighty name of Vodka I pray!
  
  No I didn't know the words at the time, but I knew the feeling all the same.
  
  The reason my relationship with God began is because he was my only hope during a period of my life in Middle School where I lost all my friends and my parents had a terrible relationship. And nobody told me to have a relationship with God!!!
  
  No one told me to give myself to alcohol either. But I did it all the same.
  
  How can you say that you are happy, if it is only something that is temporary or based off of circumstance?
  
  It's not temporary or based off circumstance. I'm happy because I'm clean. I'm happy because I am in control of my own life. Not what happens in it, but how I react to it. I am happy because I am at peace with whatever comes, not because I'm happy or sad because of circumstance but because circumstances do not dictate my happiness.
  
  Happiness is something that reaches to your inner being that makes you content.
  
  I totally agree.
  
  If you know that you are going to have to go and get some more, and again, and again, you will never be satisfied.
  
  Then why do you pray and pray and pray? God is your bottle, prayer is your glass. You keep filling the glass over and over and over again, you will never be satisfied.
  
  
  But a relationship with God practically escapes time. When I pray, sometimes time just changes way more than the time I thought I was praying and sometimes way less as well.
  
  Yeah th

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  by ConservativelyLiberal on July 20th, 2010

• Actually, I don't pray and pray and pray. I have God in my mind and the good things he has done for me. I don't pray that often. It's more about being aware that you are alive and here for a purpose rather than falling into the madness of continuous entertainment and distraction. I have never been one who prays a lot. However, the feeling of trust in God never leaves. Because my hope is in something eternal, and its not just an addiction. It is also actually really hard sometimes to maintain a good relationship with God. You think that God is my drug, but thats bullshit. Do you have any idea how much I have had to try to keep a good relationship with God at times with all the things fighting against that relationship? Also, I have a really good life right now aside from God unlike before, so if it was an addiction then there would be no reason for me to continue it because I have other things. Also, my faith is to love others as well like christ. Gee, how addicting. It's also addicting to admit things that I am doing wrong and change them. And it's really addicting to deny doing certain things that might be really fun and exciting so you don't get drawn away from God. Geez! Do you find friendships to be bad and addicting as well? My relationship with God is not just some mindless thing. You might get that impression from watching people wave their arms back and fourth while listening to religious music, which I might just consider an addiction. But my relationship with God is something that has involved my inquiry, over and over, and getting a response, and sometimes me wandering off and doing exciting things (Those would be the addicting things your talking about!) and then coming back to God and realizing I did something wrong. Oh, I'm so addicted I just can't help but try and pursue a good relationship with God and reject all kinds of exciting things which would probably be much more fun. Gee, I am just hopelessly addicted. That is bullshit not only because of your logic, but also because it is actually DIFFICULT for me to keep the relationship. What your saying is that I should give up, and that way I would be less addicted. So whats your problem? "Gee, ever since I was a teenager I just couldn't help but reject exciting and fun and addicting things." Boy, sounds like you have an addiction!
  Wow, your logic is hilarious!

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  by Anonymous on July 20th, 2010