Ramblings of an educated man

[Riven]

No alcohol this weekend. It's gonna be a little weird. But I'm feeing more like myself. Chest still hurts from the accident. I don't think it's ever going to be normal again without surgery.

Can't wait to just go. Just me, my dog, and the yellow line. Well, the dog died. So me and the cat then, :p. Fresh start away from all this mess. I hate being tied down with all these rules and expectations. Freedom. It calls to me.

Doesn't anybody ever wonder, what's it all for? Why this game of faith and sin? Why? What's the point? Why turn life into a game? It seems so silly to me and so out of character for a supreme being. Unless he enjoys our suffering. Hey, what if we all go to hell in the end? What if it's all just a giant troll job? The troll to end all trolls. He could do that, you now. What's that in D&D terms? Chaotic evil, I think.

Or what if there's nothing? You die and you simply cease to exist? It's understandable why we don't want to entertain this possibility. But it must be. Would it be so bad? You wouldn't be aware, so it's not like you could have an opinion one way or another. It would be like going to sleep and never waking up. Sounds heavenly to me after all the crap me and the rest of my species have had to endure and will endure in this life.

The prospect of heaven and hell are equally horrifying. Because in both scenarios, we are all forced to participate in the grandmaster's mad hermit game. There is no way to appeal. All agency is removed and one of these destinations involves eternal torment. Think about all the people you've met in your life. Do any of them deserve such a fate? Are there any that you would condemn? Probably not. So, how is it that we, mere humans, are able to demonstrate more understanding and more compassion than a god?

What if heaven is reserved for the skeptic? Oh, wouldn't that be something. Now that is a God I could worship, if only for his nerve. For his unmatched trolling abilities. I bow to you, sir. For you are the true master. Lol.

It's been a few days since I've worked the brain. This is what happens. It pours out of me like a great flood. But I wouldn't want it any other way. I sometimes think what life would be like if I was slow. I'm sure it would involve a Pentecostal church in the middle of nowhere. Snake handling. At least it's an easy out when you just get tired of all the nonsense. They'd never suspect.

 

[Highway54]

No alcohol this weekend. It's gonna be a little weird. But I'm feeing more like myself. Chest still hurts from the accident. I don't think it's ever going to be normal again without surgery.

Can't wait to just go. Just me, my dog, and the yellow line. Well, the dog died. So me and the cat then, :tongue. Fresh start away from all this mess. I hate being tied down with all these rules and expectations. Freedom. It calls to me.

Doesn't anybody ever wonder, what's it all for? Why this game of faith and sin? Why? What's the point? Why turn life into a game? It seems so silly to me and so out of character for a supreme being. Unless he enjoys our suffering. Hey, what if we all go to hell in the end? What if it's all just a giant troll job? The troll to end all trolls. He could do that, you now. What's that in D&D terms? Chaotic evil, I think.

Or what if there's nothing? You die and you simply cease to exist? It's understandable why we don't want to entertain this possibility. But it must be. Would it be so bad? You wouldn't be aware, so it's not like you could have an opinion one way or another. It would be like going to sleep and never waking up. Sounds heavenly to me after all the crap me and the rest of my species have had to endure and will endure in this life.

The prospect of heaven and hell are equally horrifying. Because in both scenarios, we are all forced to participate in the grandmaster's mad hermit game. There is no way to appeal. All agency is removed and one of these destinations involves eternal torment. Think about all the people you've met in your life. Do any of them deserve such a fate? Are there any that you would condemn? Probably not. So, how is it that we, mere humans, are able to demonstrate more understanding and more compassion than a god?

What if heaven is reserved for the skeptic? Oh, wouldn't that be something. Now that is a God I could worship, if only for his nerve. For his unmatched trolling abilities. I bow to you, sir. For you are the true master. Lol.

It's been a few days since I've worked the brain. This is what happens. It pours out of me like a great flood. But I wouldn't want it any other way. I sometimes think what life would be like if I was slow. I'm sure it would involve a Pentecostal church in the middle of nowhere. Snake handling. At least it's an easy out when you just get tired of all the nonsense. They'd never suspect.

Why? The possibility that God is real, and that His words are true. Let us say He isn't, isn't it true that living God's laws for us gives us a much happier life and healthier life even if He doesn't exist?

I can say I have lived both worlds, and I am happier, healthier than ever. Not only that but I have the possibility that I will be granted everlasting life in the Kingdom of God, is that so bad?

 

[Lalas]

No alcohol this weekend. It's gonna be a little weird. But I'm feeing more like myself. Chest still hurts from the accident. I don't think it's ever going to be normal again without surgery.

Can't wait to just go. Just me, my dog, and the yellow line. Well, the dog died. So me and the cat then, :tongue. Fresh start away from all this mess. I hate being tied down with all these rules and expectations. Freedom. It calls to me.

Doesn't anybody ever wonder, what's it all for? Why this game of faith and sin? Why? What's the point? Why turn life into a game? It seems so silly to me and so out of character for a supreme being. Unless he enjoys our suffering. Hey, what if we all go to hell in the end? What if it's all just a giant troll job? The troll to end all trolls. He could do that, you now. What's that in D&D terms? Chaotic evil, I think.

Or what if there's nothing? You die and you simply cease to exist? It's understandable why we don't want to entertain this possibility. But it must be. Would it be so bad? You wouldn't be aware, so it's not like you could have an opinion one way or another. It would be like going to sleep and never waking up. Sounds heavenly to me after all the crap me and the rest of my species have had to endure and will endure in this life.

The prospect of heaven and hell are equally horrifying. Because in both scenarios, we are all forced to participate in the grandmaster's mad hermit game. There is no way to appeal. All agency is removed and one of these destinations involves eternal torment. Think about all the people you've met in your life. Do any of them deserve such a fate? Are there any that you would condemn? Probably not. So, how is it that we, mere humans, are able to demonstrate more understanding and more compassion than a god?
What if heaven is reserved for the skeptic? Oh, wouldn't that be something. Now that is a God I could worship, if only for his nerve. For his unmatched trolling abilities. I bow to you, sir. For you are the true master. Lol.

It's been a few days since I've worked the brain. This is what happens. It pours out of me like a great flood. But I wouldn't want it any other way. I sometimes think what life would be like if I was slow. I'm sure it would involve a Pentecostal church in the middle of nowhere. Snake handling. At least it's an easy out when you just get tired of all the nonsense. They'd never suspect.

Riven, dear me, brother! If my memory serves me correctly from some months ago, I recall reading one of your threads where you claimed to have found Christ and that you were starting out your faith. If there is unquestionable seriousness to this thread, I'd begin to think that you are now sounding a bit like the advocate of that inferno guy. DUDE! What happened to you?? o_O

But jokingly aside, I am sorry to hear that you are still in pain from your car accident. Perhaps your suffering and afflictions are making you doubt the faith that you once embraced. It seems to be a common trend for some Christians to fall away from God in times of trouble. And yet, some other Christians actually gravitate towards God when they suffer from sudden misfortunes of life. Like a pendulum, one goes back and forth, back and forth. I think we all have done this at some point in our lives. I sure have. And each time I returned to God with a heart full of sorrow and repentance, God took me back graciously and generously.

Sometimes, I wonder how God can tolerate such fickleness of the hearts of men and women? His patience and unconditional love for humanity go above and beyond my ability to imagine. I guess this also means that as a Christian I am to be grateful for His mercy and forgiveness. For what is incomprehensible to me, it must be very easy for God.

You say you wish you for freedom, the unlimited kind. And that you are tired of all these rules and restrictions of life tying you down. But can you truly obtain ultimate freedom just from rebelling against God? What would you gain in return? Would you gain the ability to fly, for instance? Would you be able to snap your fingers and transport yourself from one room to another? Can you really break free from the laws of physics-- the very laws established by God when He created the universe?

Or can you break free from the social laws that have long been established by the lawmakers of your country? Regardless of what you are and who you would rather be, there are certain rules and laws one needs to abide by no matter how much one desires uninhibited "freedom" in this world. For instance, if you tried to take $1,000,000 dollars from the bank by force just because you wanted to, what consequences would await you then?

For as long as you were born human and you are currently living in this world, you are bound by certain rules and laws that are outside of your control. Yet, these very rules that were established before your time are there to protect you.

What is it all for? What's the point, you ask? All for the glory of God, of course! You may call life a hermit's game, I call life God's most creative design that is utterly precious, meticulous, divine, and full of wonder! And we have the privilege to live it, breathe it, think it, enjoy it, remember it, savour it, etc. We were given life's opportunity to experience EVERYTHING that God has allowed us to experience as humans-- the little joys as well as the sorrows of life, the depths of human emotions, the most intricate and profound thoughts, the most cherished and lovable relationships and memories. The intensity of it all is what makes our lives more interesting, no? We were after all, created that we might live and grow richly in Christ and to love God that we may have eternal life!

If there were no heaven to begin with, I still think it is worth knowing Christ and following Him. If everything were a game of charade for God and we were all fooled in the end, I still think it is worth keeping the laws of God and living my life in obedience to Him. Why? Because my belief in God would have been sincere. My love for Jesus would have been sincere. If I were to cease to exist as a non-entity in the afterlife at least in that short span of time when I did exist at all I would have been honest with myself and to my God. But if the hand of God should smite His most devout followers, what more can one do? Regardless of one's own efforts, God's will will always be done no matter what. I would still have to surrender myself to Him and be obedient to God.

 

[hawkman]

No alcohol this weekend. It's gonna be a little weird. But I'm feeing more like myself.

The weirdness will fade away and more of the real you will fade in .

Chest still hurts from the accident. I don't think it's ever going to be normal again without surgery.

Time , it takes time and maybe there is rehab exercises you can do too . Now you get a story

A few years back I partially fell through a wooden deck . My arm stopped me from going all the way through and the fall broke my arm . My wife was there with me (Thank God !) and needed help getting me out of the deck hole . EMS would have been @20 minutes out , so she tried to flag down someone and did . A worker was doing some work on a house up the street from us and he pulled in to help and then he got on his radio and and called a fellow worker to come help .
I had two strong men pull me up out of the deck hole and I as I stood there I noticed I had broke a leg bone too .
I was in bad pain but God sent a question for me to ask . So I asked were either of the men trained in medical ?
And yes one of the men was trained , I kind of chuckled to my self there was God sending help for me in my time of need . If the men had not helped me I am thinking I would have passed out and went into shock , I almost did anyway after I was rescued .

Time , it took about 2 years to get 90% of the motion back in my shoulder that was jammed when I broke the arm connected . And I am an old man compared to you Riven .

 

[Riven]

The weirdness will fade away and more of the real you will fade in .

Time , it takes time and maybe there is rehab exercises you can do too . Now you get a story

A few years back I partially fell through a wooden deck . My arm stopped me from going all the way through and the fall broke my arm . My wife was there with me (Thank God !) and needed help getting me out of the deck hole . EMS would have been @20 minutes out , so she tried to flag down someone and did . A worker was doing some work on a house up the street from us and he pulled in to help and then he got on his radio and and called a fellow worker to come help .
I had two strong men pull me up out of the deck hole and I as I stood there I noticed I had broke a leg bone too .
I was in bad pain but God sent a question for me to ask . So I asked were either of the men trained in medical ?
And yes one of the men was trained , I kind of chuckled to my self there was God sending help for me in my time of need . If the men had not helped me I am thinking I would have passed out and went into shock , I almost did anyway after I was rescued .

Time , it took about 2 years to get 90% of the motion back in my shoulder that was jammed when I broke the arm connected . And I am an old man compared to you Riven .

I'm sorry you had yup go through that. My dad was involved in a scooter accident where he broke the joint in his shoulder. Took a long time for the pain to go away and he still doesn't have full use.

I was told it would only take three months to be back to normal after a sternum fracture. I guess they were wrong. I read somewhere that it can take up to a year to be pain free. It really blows.

 

[Riven]

Riven, dear me, brother! If my memory serves me correctly from some months ago, I recall reading one of your threads where you claimed to have found Christ and that you were starting out your faith. If there is unquestionable seriousness to this thread, I'd begin to think that you are now sounding a bit like the advocate of that inferno guy. DUDE! What happened to you?? :erm

I don't know.

But jokingly aside, I am sorry to hear that you are still in pain from your car accident. Perhaps your suffering and afflictions are making you doubt the faith that you once embraced. It seems to be a common trend for some Christians to fall away from God in times of trouble. And yet, some other Christians actually gravitate towards God when they suffer from sudden misfortunes of life. Like a pendulum, one goes back and forth, back and forth. I think we all have done this at some point in our lives. I sure have. And each time I returned to God with a heart full of sorrow and repentance, God took me back graciously and generously.

Perhaps.

You say you wish you for freedom, the unlimited kind. And that you are tired of all these rules and restrictions of life tying you down. But can you truly obtain ultimate freedom just from rebelling against God? What would you gain in return? Would you gain the ability to fly, for instance? Would you be able to snap your fingers and transport yourself from one room to another? Can you really break free from the laws of physics-- the very laws established by God when He created the universe?

Not unlimited freedom. But enough such that I will feel content.

What is it all for? What's the point, you ask? All for the glory of God, of course!

So, this game is for glory? That's what it is, a game.

If there were no heaven to begin with, I still think it is worth knowing Christ and following Him. If everything were a game of charade for God and we were all fooled in the end, I still think it is worth keeping the laws of God and living my life in obedience to Him. Why? Because my belief in God would have been sincere. My love for Jesus would have been sincere. If I were to cease to exist as a non-entity in the afterlife at least in that short span of time when I did exist at all I would have been honest with myself and to my God. But if the hand of God should smite His most devout followers, what more can one do? Regardless of one's own efforts, God's will will always be done no matter what. I would still have to surrender myself to Him and be obedient to God.

It would be a wasted life. The only one you were fortunate enough to have.

 

[jasonc]

You most see that what is around us is temporary. Not easy that job ,kids ,wife and no I'm not saying family is vanity only that when they are all dead few if any will know or visit their graves and know them. I highly doubt John e Williams if stark ,fl has visits from his great great grandchildren ,that includes my wife .

I have a similar battle ,I plan if the Po will take me and work there,when I do another will replace me at the city and few will notice I'm an gone and so forth with the Po. Yet what I do for Jesus won't be unnoticed

 

[miamited]

Hi Riven

I hear your heart, man. But really, life isn't a game for those who believe. It has a purpose and it has an ultimate goal and it allows us to live in this world and the next with joy, peace and satisfaction. Life is serious and it's a gift. For believers, we didn't just coalesce one day out of a bowl of hot, chemical soup. Then get electrified with some super Tesla bolt of lightening to put two of the thingamajigs that started life together, to then build a body.

I don't know how far you are seeking into this pit of knowledge that has brought these questions to your mind, but I'm here to help or answer any questions you may have. Feel free to PM if you like. Jesus died for me. I know that. I feel that. I believe that. If you'd like to know 'how' I know, I'm here.

God bless,
Ted

 

[Riven]

Hi Riven

I hear your heart, man. But really, life isn't a game for those who believe. It has a purpose and it has an ultimate goal and it allows us to live in this world and the next with joy, peace and satisfaction. Life is serious and it's a gift. For believers, we didn't just coalesce one day out of a bowl of hot, chemical soup. Then get electrified with some super Tesla bolt of lightening to put two of the thingamajigs that started life together, to then build a body.

I don't know how far you are seeking into this pit of knowledge that has brought these questions to your mind, but I'm here to help or answer any questions you may have. Feel free to PM if you like. Jesus died for me. I know that. I feel that. I believe that. If you'd like to know 'how' I know, I'm here.

God bless,
Ted

Thanks, Ted.

I'll be alright. The last few months have been hard. I'm not very content anymore. A bit of nihilism perhaps. It has me questioning things. Things I've believed for years, things about myself. It's a bit like peeling back the layers of an onion and just as unpleasant.

Well, since you offered, how do you know?

 

[Hidden In Him]

Doesn't anybody ever wonder, what's it all for? Why this game of faith and sin? Why? What's the point?

Wouldn't be able to catch up with your other responses, but I can at least answer this from my perspective. The writer of Ecclesiastes mulled over a lot of life's deeper questions as well, and came to the conclusion that the end of the matter is to serve God; that it is man's true purpose. As for the why, that to me is very simple: He sees what would make us the most happy in the end, so if we give ourselves to Him He begins guiding us down the path that will get us there.

That's the short version. Hope it helps, or at least a little anyway.

 

[miamited]

Well, since you offered, how do you know?

Hi Riven,

Since confessing Jesus as Lord, I've done a lot of studying on the Scriptures. In fact, my very first sincere prayer to God, when I gave my life over, was that He give me an unquenchable thirst to know Him and His word and His purposes. I prayed that prayer for about a year as I immersed myself in the word. My testimony is that God answered that prayer. For about a year I couldn't put the Scriptures down. I was constantly reading and studying and looking into many of the different understandings of particular passages.

I can honestly say that since that moment, when I was 40 and am now 67, I have not had such doubts like, "Well, I wonder if this is all true?" But I believe that strength of faith was given me by God's Spirit, just as I had prayed that He would do for me. But God has given us a way that we can know in our hearts that the words of the Scriptures are the truth of the reality that is our life upon the earth today.

Prophecy! God has even told us that we will know who the real God is by His being able to tell us the end from the beginning.

“Remember this, keep it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’

There is no other faith in some spiritual god, with the amount and accuracy in prophesying the end from the beginning. I believe that one of the greatest examples comes to us from the writings of Daniel. Although there are many examples:
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
This was written by the prophet Isaiah, and we know that it was written well before Jesus actually appeared on the world stage because we have a fairly complete copy of Isaiah's words that were found in the Qumran caves. In fact, we know that Isaiah lived about 700 years before Jesus appeared on the earth. That would be like you telling me some hard fact that was going to happen in 2023, but you told me about it before Columbus even sailed the ocean blue. In fact, Matthew uses that exact passage to write to us in proof that Jesus is who he claimed to be.
Unique among all books ever written, the Bible accurately foretells specific events-in detail-many years, sometimes centuries, before they occur. Approximately 2,500 prophecies appear in the pages of the Bible, about 2,000 of which already have been fulfilled to the letter—no errors. But the prophecy given unto Daniel is somewhat unique.

Daniel's prophecy tells us of an event that is to happen hundreds of years later, but he doesn't even know that there ever will be such an event or that the event that triggers the countdown of the prophecy would ever come to pass. the prophecy of the 70 sevens is a unique prophecy in that it not only tells of a future event, but also tells us that the clock to that future event is also a prophecy at the time the message was given to Daniel. Friend, only a God who knows the end from the beginning could have made such an accurate prophecy. Let's look at it for a moment.

while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:
Here Daniel lays the claim that this prophecy was given to him by an angel of the Lord. Ehh, maybe, maybe not. Right?
“Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.

Stop and get the picture here. Daniel claims that this angel of the Lord told him about something that was going to happen in the future. That the prophecy is about the 'Anointed One'. That the prophetic clock didn't start until a 'word' was to be given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.

So, let's put ourselves in this picture. We know that Daniel lived 620-538 B.C. We also know that Daniel received this prophecy while he and his people were still in exile in Babylon. We also know that the 'word' that went out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem didn't go out until the mid 400's B.C. How did Daniel have any idea 100 years earlier than that 'word' was issued, that there ever would be such a 'word' issued? I mean, there again, that would be like you predicting correctly, who is going to be the president of the United States 75 years from now. You're not even likely to have even a clue as to who will be running for president 75 years from now. I'd challenge you to be able to correctly tell me who is going to be running for president 10 years from now. The answer: God told him through His angel Gabriel. Well, if that's the answer, then there must be a God, and if the God that gave Daniel the answer was right, not only about this prophecy but some 2,500 other prophetic writings in the Scriptures, then that God must be the one and true living God.

So, for me, I'm assured that the God that is told to us through the writings of the Israelites as they were guided by the Holy Spirit, is the one true and living God because of all the myriad prophecies and their coming to fruition just as they were foretold. Often hundreds of years before the events happened. There really just isn't any other explanation for the accuracy of all those prophecies. No human being is that accurate!

So for me, I can't ignore the accuracy of the prophetic writings found in the Scriptures. Because of their 100% accuracy, I can't even fathom that there's any human-being that would be able to do that. Then when you read through the Scriptures and begin to see the entire picture of what God has done and is doing, there just hasn't been a question in my mind that this man Jesus was the Son of God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Please let me know if you have any further questions or rebuttal.

God bless,
Ted