then why are you going through this rigamarole of yours?
Do you comprehend that you're literally committing suicide by this routine of yours?
And what's worse is that you're not only dragging it out, you're adding wrath to your damnation, making it worse for yourself in eternity. It's already going to be bad enough, being separated from God, but this rage you have against Him....... it's like pouring salt, acid, and drinking poison all together--- forever.
I wish you did. Your description is of the devil.
Your description is of the devil.
Claude refused to come to God, through Jesus Christ, to obtain the evidence God stated he'd give everyone who'd come to him.
God tells us--- He saves to the uttermost, ALL who come to him through Jesus Christ.
I.e., he'll give us the evidence of himself as real and knowable, when we come to him, through Jesus Christ.
Jesus further stated that if we keep his teachings, we will demonstrate that we love him, and as a result, we will be loved by God, and they will come and make their home with us.
I'm reading just fine Tree!
You seek to destroy yourself because you believe false things about God, and are therefore drinking the poison, believing you'll kill God. It doesn't work that way.
You're just giving the devil what he wants, and he's laughing his derriere off at your stupidity.
Because I believe the True and Living God, and his warnings, before my 2.6+/- billion seconds are used up.
That you actually think this is a game you're going to win just shows your ego's desperation to win no matter the cost. Which in this case is you, and your eternal soul.
And yet you're throwing yourself, and all who believe your rants into the fires of hell, because you believe you know better.
Rigamarole?
{Sic}
My position is that God, as described in scripture, is an immoral monster and, on this basis, I want no part of Him
How exactly does this suffice as a lengthy and complicated procedure, Steve?
My position is that Christianity, as held by the adherent, is a harmful belief system and, on this basis, I desire it's eradication
How exactly does this suffice as a long, rambling story or statement?
We have been created at enmity with God - compelled from birth, due our fallen natures, to inevitably sin at least once and therefore warrant our collective fate of eternal damnation UNLESS we stop thinking for ourselves and, in a spirit of genuine repentance, substitute God's judgement for our own through the conscious and purposeful movement of accepting Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior
These actions are NOT attributable, throughout scripture, to The Devil, Steve
Per scripture, these are the actions of God, Himself!
This IS evil, Steve
It is evil to create man destined for Hell
It is evil to require that an innocent man die a horrific death before deigning to forgive every other man for being the way that they were created to be
It is evil to require that a man must stop thinking for himself in order to take advantage of the forgiveness on offer for being the way that we were created to be
God imposed a problem upon us
Then He offered a solution to the problem that He caused
Then He demands that we praise Him for it
What I am describing is God, not The Devil
And what I am describing is, in fact, evil per the moral standard as held by most every man on earth - yourself included
{it's just unfortunate that you choose to suppress your own better judgement}
If I set your house on fire {imposition of a problem}
and then promised to put the fire out {offering of a solution}
in exchange for you nominating me for the "Neighbor of the Year" Award {a demand for praise}
you would, rightly so, consider me evil
What God has done is no different, Steve
Now, back to Vernon Claude Peppers...
V.C. Peppers did NOT refuse God
I, Treeplanter, refuse and reject God, but V.C. Peppers did no such thing
Vernon Claude Peppers no more refused God than you, Steve, have refused Puff the Magic Dragon
Can you not understand that Jesus Christ meant no more to V.C. Peppers than Puff does to you?
Can you not understand that Peppers was no more capable of coming to God in order to "obtain evidence" of Heaven than you are capable of coming to Puff the Magic Dragon in order to obtain evidence of Honalee?
Puff makes it clear that if you bring him "strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff" and if you love him like Little Jackie Paper does - then he, Puff, will become real
Go on, Steve - do what Puff the Magic Dragon says to do and the dragon will be revealed to you!
Oh, what's that you say, Steve?
You cannot will yourself to believe in something that, on the surface, seems to you as flatly absurd?
Huh, well neither could Vernon Claude Peppers!!
Here, again, is my question to you:
What I want to know from you is why you call God good and loving even though He consigns the objects of His love to Hell on the basis of their recognizing Him one second too late?
Here is the 'answer' that you provided:
"Because I believe the True and Living God, and his warnings, before my 2.6+/- billion seconds are used up.
That you actually think this is a game you're going to win just shows your ego's desperation to win no matter the cost. Which in this case is you, and your eternal soul"
This is not an answer, Steve!!!
Yeah, we all know that you believe God and His warnings
And we know that God gives us 2.6+/- billion seconds in which to come to Him
However, the question is, why doesn't God give us that one extra second when we are standing before Him, having died, and finally knowing for absolute certain that He is, in fact, real?
