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The burden of proof

Gary said:
Please explain how the bible "reads" people.
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you do ask good questions brother. :confused I'm not sure that I can answer it. (still on me first cup of coffee yet, lol)

How many times have you had a question, and flipped open the bible to the exact page that answers your question? Or how many times have you read something in it, that made your mind click and made you think...whoa, that's what's going on right now with me...or similar? That's no coincidence.

I've had that happen to me bunches of times. Sure, it's not the book doing it...but it is the words. That's the Holy Spirit guiding us and making it happen...and yet, He does it through the book. Yes?
 
Edward said:
Thanks brother. I was hoping that I didn't come off too directly and stir up strife, but this is a fairly serious subject, and we are all adults so a little bit of directness should be able to be taken well in discussion so I wrote it.



Bingo. This goes to the crux of it in any of these type discussions. Believer, non-believer, whomever...it's pretty obvious that something is going on here that is more than meets the eye on planet earth. Everybody has a different name for it and some will ignore it, but it's there. Things that make you go huh? To sit up and think about it. When our spirit gets troubled, God is usually trying to speak to us at that time...but the thing is...we have to be willing to accept a connection.

It wont be what the world says, they lie about everything. It wont be what we think it is, for we are merely feeble minded fleshy creatures who are slow to learn and fast on denial. (Praise the Lord for His longsuffering and patience with us!)

The truth is twilight zone, and Gods ways and thoughts are so far above ours that we couldn't begin to grasp it. He will let us, but not for free. He wants to see humility in us, a willingness to set aside the old man and everything he knows, and to step forth in faith, like a little child holding daddy's hand at the carnival so he don't get lost. A willingness to accept these truths and realities without hardness of heart. Then it will flow.

That's interesting what was said about the heart. I think that's on the right track. We "think" with our mind. But before men fell...how did he, as a spiritual being "think"? Not with the flesh mind, I'll tell ya that right now. So "thinking" was centered somewhere else. Perhaps in this "heart" that he spoke of. We are unable to think like this anymore and is likely the source of our confusion.

After eating the fruit, the first thing that Adam & Eve did, was to make aprons for themselves. They became self conscious! If they lost the ability to think spiritually at that time, then they lost this spiritual connection with God. The Lord wants us back in that same relationship and spiritual state that we were in before the fall. It is available to us even today. But we have to be ready, willing, and able to accept it. If we can't (or wont) set aside our preconceived notions about intelligence and spirituality, we will never receive it. We must accept it. Then it goes whoosh, down into our heart and affects us, our spirit, and we grow. We are told countless times in the Bible, to, live for the spirit, be led of the spirit...what's that mean to you?

We have to learn about these things. They're salvific. To pursue these truths and seek God is our only reasonable response to questions of this nature. To pursue the winning of debates is hard hearted and will never lead to the truth about anything. It's a distraction which plays on peoples pride to win, is worldly, and leads to death and destruction ultimately.

Be humble brothers and sisters and admit to yourself that you are a mere man and do not know these things. There is your starting point. Not, well you Christians think, yada yada yada. You're clearly not searching for the truth, but for something else. Sorry to hear that.
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Informative post, sir.
 
jasonc said:
uhm so when we copy and paste it online it feels it?

gary isn't denying the fact that when we read the bible its speaks to us, but what is speaking isn't the bible but the HOLY SPIRIT using the bible to correct us or convict us or edify.
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Jason, I believe you're right but we must remember that we, like it or not, teach here and just as not seeing the speed limit change, ignorance is no excuse. When we make statements like that one we must explain because that statement is easily used to defame God.
 
As I often bring up...... Luke 14:26. You SURE have to have more than printed words on a page for THAT one.
 
Edward said:
Thank you brother. I was trying to keep it on an amicable level and still talk. I felt sort of on the line with it, lol.
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A look through the statuses of the members involved in this thread will sadly indicate where the real problem was.
 
Gary said:
You're confusing the bible with God. You're making the bible something it was never meant to be. An idol. You might want to get a handle on that.
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John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Jesus and the Word are ONE. He is the word becoming flesh, they are inseparable.
 
Edward said:
Sure, it's not the book doing it...but it is the words. That's the Holy Spirit guiding us and making it happen...and yet, He does it through the book. Yes?
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The Holy Spirit is not a book. You're attributing knowledge and wisdom given to you by God as something that comes from a book.

You shouldn't do that. Especially since the bible itself says we have one teacher.

The bible is not a living entity.
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jasonc said:
so if the Bible is God then why is it refered to as an it instead of HIM or a He or by Name?

gary, or any of you aren't it but people. yet we said it reads you.
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In the Spiritual sense, it does read us... if the Holy Spirit is present and is not quenched it gives, each of us, exactly what we need at that time. If we are lost, membership or not, personal declaration of faith or not, it gives no more than the route to salvation.

And as an ex-atheist, discourse is the desired goal. Let's not cut one another off as we witness.
 
Gary said:
The Holy Spirit is not a book. You're attributing knowledge and wisdom given to you by God as something that comes from a book.

You shouldn't do that. Especially since the bible itself says we have one teacher.

The bible is not a living entity.
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Please Gary, bickering is his goal, if he is not seeking.
 
LovethroughDove said:
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Jesus and the Word are ONE. He is the word becoming flesh, they are inseparable.
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Show me in that verse where the "Word" translates to "bible".
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Maybe some of you are mistaking a figure of speech for a literal statement? I didn't take it that anyone meant that the Bible (the physical ink and paper book) is what was "reading" us, but rather that the Holy Spirit uses it in a way that it can appear to be reading us.
 
Edward said:
you do ask good questions brother. :confused I'm not sure that I can answer it. (still on me first cup of coffee yet, lol)

How many times have you had a question, and flipped open the bible to the exact page that answers your question? Or how many times have you read something in it, that made your mind click and made you think...whoa, that's what's going on right now with me...or similar? That's no coincidence.

I've had that happen to me bunches of times. Sure, it's not the book doing it...but it is the words. That's the Holy Spirit guiding us and making it happen...and yet, He does it through the book. Yes?
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What you have said is true, but the Holy Spirit also teaches us from other books. Not to mention, He teaches us through other people, through experiences and circumstances, from creation and on and on. God has given me answers to my questions through modern day authors, too.
 
Jesse said:
What you have said is true, but the Holy Spirit also teaches us from other books. Not to mention, He teaches us through other people, through experiences and circumstances, from creation and on and on. God has given me answers to my questions through modern day authors, too.
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This is true. :thumbsup
 
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