Re: General Questions Any Takers

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: Valid questions. I'll throw out my bit on them, but I want to also caution that no website, even a board like this is a substitute for real interaction with someone. I highly recommend finding a discipleship setup where you can do just that. My offer still stands to connect you with someone who has done that ministry for years. : I apologize in advance for not including Scripture references, but I simply don't have time to dig them up here and now, but they do exist. I'm not making this stuff up, though it is my interpretation from time to time. : : : * We are told that Jesus Christ is our only way to God through our salvation is, Christ. What about those before his time, will they all go to hell. What about the indians or cultures that have not expirieced Christ ? Will so many be cast out simply by not being given the truth ? : We are told that Christ's redemption was once and for all. It covers not only those who are able to accept this act after the fact, but also those who looked forward to that hope of salvation before that time. : As for people who have never heard the gospel, we are also told in the Bible that every person will have the chance to accept or deny Christ's gift. We are also told that God placed signs in the world so that no one would have that excuse. Now that brings up the question of how exactly salvation occurs, but I'm not going to go there now. It is too big a debate, but the point is everyone will have that chance. : I like to think of it like this: Christ did the salvific act once and for all, so ALL are already saved. Alot of us just don't know it yet ;) : : * Homosexuality, with all the we have wrong what is it with this? We are told as a people to act right. I am suppose to judge a person for what is on the inside and not by their cover. So how can this be, as long as a man follows the commandments and walks with God, why is so much put on the gay thing. How many straight people out their do I know that are hypocrtics. How many shirt wearing bumper sticker people out their who are ready to cast that first stone, are so much more than a man that simply chooses to love another. What about if you love a man though choose never to have sex. I just do not understand this. : Nothing worng with loving another man, or woman. This is a purely cultural problem. I mean it doesn't exist as an issue in some cultures, and didn't always exist as one in American culture. The sticking point is homosexual acts because the Bible explicitly comments on these. But then even these are nothing more or less than sins, just as you say, the hate and stone throwing is wrong. : : We have so much agony going on that you would think if you are blessid enough to find love, in the end who cares about a the genitaila. I have never been to aware of this. I always figured I will love who ever God has for me. I will love the person for who they are and what they mean to me. I am just so lost on why your genitalia means so much in the end ? : This is getting away from Christian doctrine, so I'm not going to comment on it from that perspective. But instead as a naturalist and a scientist. The reason genetalia matters is that for all the joy and satisfaction involved in a love relationship the point is still to create a means by which the species continues. Homosexuality simply doesn't fit that profile. There is no evolutionary, speciary, ecological reason for homosexuality that humans are aware of. Some people have tried to justify it as such in various ways using alot of presumptuous notions to prove their point, but this is the same as the hardline creationists who are not purely looking at the evidence. : Now that said, I can't make the argument that what people do is strictly based on their biology, so I won't even try. Enter here all the countless arugments about homosexuality, and you can debate them until you turn blue, but in my mind the biology thing doesn't fly. (Incidentally, since I know this a subject very close to some people I'll say that my position doesn't rule out the "I was born that way" thing, only that the extrapolations from that statement must be considered carefully, and I'll stop there...another time and place.) : : : * I recall sitting in on of PS's sermons and anyone who knows Steve knows he is "blessed" with a butt kicking knowledge. He has a way of putting things that makes me do a double take. I have been reading John and now some Proverbs and I understand it. I even ask God to help me to understand it. Though is there a certain time to "understanding" it. A friend who has been helping me with what to read tells me to read a book in the bible and that will help me to better know Christ. I can sit down and go through a book, then do it again and again. I read it, I understand it. Though I do not seem to "get it" most of the time ? Any ideas on what I could be doing wrong, or is it just that I should read slower ? take more time. I am starting to read just one verse and think about it, though my mind moves quickly and I am always thirsty to read more. I guess in the end I am just wondering if there is a right way or a wrong way to do this ? : I think many people stress too much about this stuff. Too many people are looking for some esoteric meaning to come floating out to them. In my expereince it just doesn't happen that often. The Bible is pretty straight forward. Just try reading what is there. And also it can help to compare translations. Sometimes as good as the NKJV is, reading the same verse in the NIV, NASB, RSV, or even the Living Bible can help it sink in. : Secondly, don't ignore the long traditions of study, they are basically the same in both the protestant and Catholic traditions with both word/text study methods, and more mystical methods (by mystical I mean taking the meaning as it hits us as opposed to discursing it.) Check them out and again, you can learn these from a good teacher. : I keep harping on the teacher because I know how much those mentors have helped me. In our detatched society we forget that some things are best learned from those who have gone before.

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