newcastle said:
PREPSTUDINSC, you make my point for me (thank you for that, by the way). You speak about your religion and the many different associations and beliefs within it. Your speaking of one splinter of the Christian religion, the Baptist sect. My point is reinforced - their are dozens of sects within Christianity. There are dozens of religions. DOZENS! If you were to have grown up in an Islamic country you would not believe in Christianity, you would probably be Islamic. So what makes yours right?
And then to evolution. Tell me where, in any biblical verse, that even hints about evolution. Just one. Lots of speak about Adam, Eve, Noah, etc. The timelines don't work (i.e., "and on the seventh day . . ."). Lots of speak about slavery. Lots of speak about "an eye for an eye." (The Old Testament is comical.)
I am not trying to slam or ridicule you but dude, use your head. Consider the possibilities. Look to the stars, it is a beautiful universe!
Who made the stars?
God.
Thank you. The Jews, the Christians and the Muslims all believe that.
There are many Islamic sects, too. Shi'ite, Sunna, Sufi, Kahrijite, Wahhab, Ismailite, Zaidi, Nizari, Alawi, Druze, and that's not even mentioning the American offshoot the Nation of Islam and the several groups that have splintered from it.
As to my own personal beliefs, I did consider some other faiths while in college. Even as an adult, I have been on a quest for a church that fit with my belief system. While the Baptist chuch is not perfect, it is probably the closest to what I believe, although I do have some Holy Ghost issues with them. I'm really more of a "Bapticostal" but that's just a personal preference.
However, Christians are commanded to go and make disciples. I wonder how many Christians have actually gone out and by word and deed actually converted someone. It doesn't need to be in some far off land, it could actually be in your neighborhood. More people want to take the easy way out and let people come to God on their own, which is technically the strict Calvinistic interpretation. "Those who God has predestined will come to God on their own..." It is a complete disobeying of the Great Commission where Jesus tells us to go and make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost.
Even Jesus knew that there were going to be people in the farthest reaches of the Earth who needed to hear the Gospel. He's not going to come back until everyone hears it. That's why we have to work now to spread the Gospel. Unfortunately Christian televangelists have done more damage to the faith than they have done to help it. They preach hate and exclusivity and that's not what God is about. Jesus died on the cross to fulfill the Law of the Old Testament because the OT is about perfection and only Jesus was perfect. We have to try to live like Jesus, but God knows that as humans we will never be perfect. We just have to convince some of the TV preachers of that! LOL