God's Role In Natural Disasters Gods warning or Nature at work?

[whafizi 0]

Why are cockroaches here too?

yes, everything have its own purpose. cockroaches are for decomposition of meterials, same as flies does. otherwise, we'll have many un-decomposed meterials around us. scientifically, those undicomposed meterials will cause the "loop of natural resources" to stop.

 

so what r the purpose of human then? is it just to live? is it just to eat? just to consume all of the earth natural resources until there's nothing left? human being is a far far more advance life form than cockroaches are, you know?

 

"there is more than this life is"

what's that?

THE AFTER LIFE!

 

*guys, i m not trying 2 be emotional here. please understand. i m just trying 2 exchange my opinions here. so i hope that this can be a healthy discussion. no bad feelings, ok. hope something like this will widen our mind.

[MajesticTreeFrog 0]

What I find strange is the need for us to have a purpose. It seems that whenever a conversation of this sort happens, that idea comes up. I personally don't think that there is a 'purpose' in the sense being used here. There is no 'grand design' which would supply such a purpose. To some, this seems very pessimistic, possibly fatalistic. It took me a long time to understand why people saw it that way. The reason is that, for them, this world has a purpose(The arrogant ones will tell you what it is, the others will claim ignorance, other than this deep intuitive belief that such a purpose exists, whatever it may be). To claim that the universe is purposeless is to declare to them that the universe has spun out of control, gone insane somehow, been unglued.But that is only because to them, such a view is to say that the universe has LOST its purpose, where what I really mean is that I don't think it ever had one to begin with. No purpose has been lost, nothing has gone insane nor come unglued. Rather, the complex interweave of the universe strikes me as unguided, a sort of happy accident of litterally cosmic proportions.And once again, for similar reasons, this strikes many as horrible pessimism, or perhaps youthful rebellion against a christian upbringing(which is impossible since I never had one). But to me it is the opposite: It is the most optimistic view anyone could hold.Why? Because that means I am lucky simply to live. To be an accident of this sort is to already be more lucky than the weekly lottery winner. It means that whatever problems are faced by humanity are problems that are human in scale: no plan or design exists to crush our hopes nor foil our dreams. The problems that exist are solveable on THIS plane of existence, no matter how hard they seem. But it also inspires a sense of duty, of responsibility. If I, my friends, indeed the entire world is but a happy accident, then no one may reasonably expect for it to happen again. And because this is so, not only I but all the other happy accidents on this planet had better take damn good care of it, because its the only one we get. If this is a happy accident, then we should be noble and compassionate and honest and true, because that is the only way to really make it all worth a damn. There may be no purpose, no grand design, no man behind the curtain, but that doesn't mean that we as a species cannot give it a purpose, make a design. But it will require mankind to take off the curtain, stare itself in the eye, and realize that whether or not we agree about such things, WE are responsible for what occurs and for all intents and purposes, WE are the man behind the curtain, may we make ourselves worthy.(ps, I am working on my writing, so tell me how you liked how that read. thx)

[whafizi 0]

my friend, i believe there is this "grand design" working in our world.

do we really believe that this complex creatures such as us has existed spontanuesly in this world? do we really think that the complex and perfect structure of human DNA existed spontanuesly?

do we actually believe that humanity has existed by accident and by accident we are being a superior species with no purpose?

or we r here just to eat like monkeys, just to live like cockroaches, have s#x like dogs? is that acceptable?

do we believe that we are equipted with advanced mind better than any species in this world just to dominate them?

From The Matrix 1. The agent smith said:
"When i try to classify your species, i realize that you(human) are not actually mammals."

"Every mammals in this planet instinctively develop a natural equlibrium with the surrounding environment, you humans do not."

"You move to an area and you multiply, and multiply until every natural resources is consumed."

"The only way you can survive is to spread to another area."

"There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern."

"Do you know what it is?"

"A VIRUS".

"Human being are disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague"

then if there's no purpose of humanity, then Agen Smith might be right!

[pbolduc 0]

What I find strange is the need for us to have a purpose.  It seems that whenever a conversation of this sort happens, that idea comes up.

There is a difference between "a need" as you put it, and wondering why. As stated in my second reply in this topic. The why is simple, and while I recognize your perspective on the matter (a non-believer), as well as your right to believe in what you want to, I still must state that our purpose for existance is we were created because it pleased God to do so. No other reason.

I personally don't think that there is a 'purpose' in the sense being used here.  There is no 'grand design' which would supply such a purpose.  To some, this seems very pessimistic, possibly fatalistic.  It took me a long time to understand why people saw it that way.  The reason is that, for them, this world has a purpose(The arrogant ones will tell you what it is, the others will claim ignorance, other than this deep intuitive belief that such a purpose exists, whatever it may be).  To claim that the universe is purposeless is to declare to them that the universe has spun out of control, gone insane somehow, been unglued.

It is impossible to belive in a grand design, if you do not recognize a Creator. In fact, one has to make great efforts to justify in there mind the non-existance of a Creator. Why, simply because we were created for the sole purpose of fellowshipping with God, in His presence.

The problem is that most do not ever take the time to try to know God on a personal level. Its kind of like a neighbor I had across the street from my first house. He was an older man with whom, for the first three years, I had never even as much as said hi to. I judged him from a distance. I figured he and I had nothing in common, so why bother.

Late one night a drunk drive hit my mailbox, he completely demolished it and got his car stuck on the remaining post. In the noise and confusion, my neighbor came to see if he could help. While there was little conversation that night as we got the car off of the post, we had used his floor jack and the next day when I returned it, over a cold soda in his yard, we got to know each other better.

To make a long story short, that man was one of those guys, although they are few and far between, who left a mark on you. He became a good friend and confident of mine and knowing him changed my perspective on life, even before I became a believer.

The point being made here is that most treat God in the same manner as I did that man. The pre-conceive that God has nothing to offer them, so they ignore Him. Yet, just as that old man made a make on my life, God is waiting and ready to make a mark on their life, if they would only let Him. yet they run from Him.

Personally, I think they are arrogant ones, to deny the existance of the Creator, when His creation is not only all around them, but they themselves are part of the Creation as well. The Bible says thinking themselves wise, they become fools.

And once again, for similar reasons, this strikes many as horrible pessimism, or perhaps youthful rebellion against a christian upbringing (which is impossible since I never had one). 

Not having a Christian upbringing is a good thing. As stated above in reply #1 there are over 20,000 professing Christian faiths out there. That's 20,000 man-made perspectives of God's single truth. The Word of God tells says let each man work out his own salvation with fear and trembling. We need not that man teach us, but the Spirit, that teaches truth, and does not lie.

But to me it is the opposite: It is the most optimistic view anyone could hold.Why?  Because that means I am lucky simply to live.  To be an accident of this sort is to already be more lucky than the weekly lottery winner.  It means that whatever problems are faced by humanity are problems that are human in scale: no plan or design exists to crush our hopes nor foil our  dreams.  The problems that exist are solveable on THIS plane of existence, no matter how hard they seem.

In Genesis, it says that God destroyed the World (Noah's Flood which most evolutionist deny ever happening) because whatever man could conceive in his mind, he could do with his hands. In other words, man had reached a point where they felt they didn't need God any longer. They could save themselves. A pretty big slap in the face, the created telling the Creator He was no longer needed.

PS. I think you writing abilities are quite good.


pete

[whafizi 0]

I m not a good believer/practioner , but i never forget that there is a higher self out there.

The problem is that most do not ever take the time to try to know God on a personal level.

yes pbolduc is correct. i like his story. but god can give you more than lending a floor jack . and any of His creation who ignores him are the one who is arrogant.

All this cannot be explained by Science. Does that give us a reason to believe in God ?

so does god exist? in attending to this question, one should think, "searching for god wouldnt hurt me".

from my personal judgement, some of us dont want to search for Him because they want to be free.
God doesnt ask much from us, just to believe in His existance and fellowshipping him which only take a small fraction of your life.

like have been said before, searching for Him wont hurt you, and people who never search for him are the the one who is arrogant.

[MajesticTreeFrog 0]

Thanks for the compliment pete. I wish to make a distinction that will probably be usefull, and that is the difference in underlying viewpoints that I think you and I hold. These differences are very basic I think, so I would like to sketch out what I see as their source.You strike me, perhaps wrongly, as a man brought up in a religious household. I do not mean religious in the devout way, but instead religious in the sense that God was paid at least some minimum of lip service. Further, like most everyone in this entire country, you were raised around other children from a similar background. In this environment, the existence of a God, specifically the Christian God, is a basic assumption, lying unquestoned. A stone beneath the river of life, unnoticed at the time but constant in its presence and influence. Like I said, I may be wrong, but for the moment I hope you will grant that this is at the very least a not uncommon state of affairs, that I wish to contrast with my own.My origins were not so standard, if any upbringing may be called standard. My mother and father agreed not to say anything of religion of any sort to me until I was, in their mind, old enough to 'decide for himself'. They did this originally as a form of compromise, as my father was an atheist and my mother was (at the time) mildly christian. In this way I came up not only agnostic, but rather ignorant of the entire question of who or what was the source of the world around me. I was, more than any agnostic or atheist could hope to ever be, free of any pre-conceived notions about the supernatural and religious. Moreover, I was brought up in California which at the time was already a melting pot of cultures. This environment made people rather shy of speaking of religious conviction, and so the 'big question' remained an area of absolute ignorance to my mind. On top of it all, my parents were rather adept at keeping me occupied at other pursuits of intellect outside of the 'big questions'. All the 'little questions' I had about any sort of thing were answered by my parents with an avalanche of books, a tendency shown in the continual existance of a large(and often overflowing) bookshelf in every room of my parent's house to this day.But here is the thing, sometimes these books contradicted each other. One book, from one year, would say something completely(or at least importantly) different from a book printed a different year, or even the same year but by a different author.Asked about these discrepencies, my parents pointed out that people have different perspectives, and furthermore that what was thought to be known at one point in time may instead have been completely off base. This idea was not a new one, as I had often noticed how adults would tell me one thing, only to contradict themselves later. Or worse, some would tell me that 'I shouldn't be so nosy' or 'kids shouldn't be asking such questions' or some other similar form of informational rejection that I gradually came to understand really meant 'I don't like answering questions all the time' or 'I don't know the answer, so why should you?'. And in all this, very early, there arose the seed of doubt. Not the existential doubt that plagues many an overpaid and underfed artist, nor the incredulous feeling experienced by someone who has been offered the deed to the Eiffel tower. No, this doubt was much simpler and subtle, possessed of the realization that the truth of any answer to any question was never so solid as others made it out to be. Rather, truth was really a sort of communal agreement that everyone more or less agreed to in order to get things done(without going into particulars, because that makes things harder). At the same time, it is impossible not to notice that some things are pretty well agreed upon. Indeed, some things are in little if any contention by anyone. But here again you see, doubt must exist. As history teachers love to tell their students, everyone(or close enough) used to think the world was flat. So, what does that leave to stand on that can be truly be called 'truth', in any sort of absolute, dependable way?Very little really. Truth is never really known, outside of purely logical truths. But even those rest on the truth of other propositions, and we know where that leads. So, the next step is to make a 'most reasonable' or at least 'most practical' guess at the truth.How does one reach this 'most reasonable guess'? By observing the world, and trying to figure it out as best we can, with doubt always watching over ones shoulder.So, back to the beginning of this post(and the point). The difference between perspectives is that when you talk with people like myself(and I suspect hashbang as well), is that for you, there is truth. It lies like that stone under the river, constant and unchanging. For us, it is not so clear. We are all to aware that the stone is being worn by the flow, and that it is only our all to brief perpective that makes it seem to stand unchanged. We do not debate that truth exists, simply that any ABSOLUTE knowledge of it is denied to us. We make do with trying to approximate it with many observations of what it appears to be.Furthermore, even knowledge of the sort, 'but I know it in my heart that this is true' falls prey to doubt. How often have we had feelings of that sort, but been wrong? "I know Sally took my candy pop! I just do." Only to find out that it was simply misplaced. Perhaps a religious feeling is much stronger, or even somehow different, but they cannot subsist to us unaided, as they must survive the baleful eye of doubt.I say this knowingly. I have had what people usually refer to as a 'religious experience'(though not a christian one). Yet despite that, as moved as I was, at the same time I stood unmoved, the sword of doubt preventing even powerfull emotions to gain much foothold, until such time as I could find good reason to have it step aside(which, to an extent, I later did. But that is a story for a different post). So, whenever you wish to convince me, or hashbang, or anyone like us, remember: you are wasting your time convincing us, the one you must convince is doubt.And doubt is a cunning, ruthless, and fearless foe, whose power is strong, and whose heart is unmoveable.(written once again partly as writing practice, criticism of both the point, as well as the writing's style, cadence, etc... are welcome and apppreciated)

[whafizi 0]

But here is the thing, sometimes these books contradicted each other.  One book, from one year, would say something completely(or at least importantly) different from a book printed a different year, or even the same year but by a different author.

i m sorry to hear that. i know it is hard for you, but you are not searching far enough!. Christianity is not the only faith that we have in this world. try to compare and study. you might found a faith which will have no contradiction.

at least you believe...

[MajesticTreeFrog 0]

Lol, good job missing the point. I don't know if that is my fault or yours.

 

And no, I don't believe, which is partially the point. Try reading more closely, perhaps to the end.

 

i m sorry to hear that. i know it is hard for you, but you are not searching far enough!. Christianity is not the only faith that we have in this world. try to compare and study. you might found a faith which will have no contradiction.

 

at least you believe...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[whafizi 0]

Lol, that's just my hope...

[pbolduc 0]

So, back to the beginning of this post(and the point).  The difference between perspectives is that when you talk with people like myself(and I suspect hashbang as well), is that for you, there is truth.  It lies like that stone under the river, constant and unchanging.  For us, it is not so clear.  We are all to aware that the stone is being worn by the flow, and that it is only our all to brief perpective that makes it seem to stand unchanged.  We do not debate that truth exists, simply that any ABSOLUTE knowledge of it is denied to us.  We make do with trying to approximate it with many observations of what it appears to be.

 

Furthermore, even knowledge of the sort, 'but I know it in my heart that this is true' falls prey to doubt. How often have we had feelings of that sort, but been wrong?  "I know Sally took my candy pop! I just do."  Only to find out that it was simply misplaced.  Perhaps a religious feeling is much stronger, or even somehow different, but they cannot subsist to us unaided, as they must survive the baleful eye of doubt.

 

I say this knowingly.  I have had what people usually refer to as a 'religious experience'(though not a christian one).  Yet despite that, as moved as I was, at the same time I stood unmoved, the sword of doubt preventing even powerfull emotions to gain much foothold, until such time as I could find good reason to have it step aside(which, to an extent, I later did.  But that is a story for a different post). 

 

So, whenever you wish to convince me, or hashbang, or anyone like us, remember: you are wasting your time convincing us, the one you must convince is doubt.

 

And doubt is a cunning, ruthless, and fearless foe, whose power is strong, and whose heart is unmoveable.

 

(written once again partly as writing practice, criticism of both the point, as well as the writing's style, cadence, etc... are welcome and apppreciated)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Majestic,

 

I first would like you to know that I appreciate you. Although we have extreme differences in beliefs, I feel that there is an eternal reason for our discussions.

 

It was kind of you to go more indepth about your background, especially in an open forum as well. I feel I owe you the same. There is a truth out there, there has to be. Either God exists, or He doesn't. Either there is but one God, or there are many, or none at all and we came from some soup on a rock billions and billions of years ago.

 

You were partly correct about me growing up in a "religious' background. I was raised Catholic. I, like yourself, could never understand the "don't do as I do, does as I say" mentality of the grown ups around me. Early on, from 8 or so, I considered most all Christians I met hypocrites, still do for that matter as you will see.

 

When I was 18 I moved away to take a job in another city. While there I started to go to a multi-denominational "Christian Coffee House". When they found out that I was a disgruntled Catholic, all the various denominations pulled on me to join their church as they do.

 

This confused me even more. I couldn't understand their intensity in degrading the other faiths. In an earnest effort to conform, I would read the Bible. My goal was to see what the Bible had to say, and join the faith that matched the Bible. It is God's Word after all.

 

The problem was, however, none of the doctrines being thrown at me matched the Word I was reading. They each had some basic truths, according to what I interpreted, but made cheap excuses when questioned about the questionable, at least in my mind, doctrines they brought forth.

 

One day, I threw my hands in the air and prayed (yelled) a simple prayer in frustration. Basically I stated that I was confused from all of this, and that it was my desire to only know God's single truth. I didn't want what others believe to be truth, or even what I thought to be truth. I wanted to know His single truth and if He didn't give it to me, I would walk away.

 

Well, experience since has taught me that God does not work in our time, He works in His perfect timing. The truth didn't come and in a few short months I found myself in the Navy, enjoying life on the wild side. Wine, women, song, and social drug use (pot) became not only the order of the day, but drove my life.

 

I enjoyed being single, traveling to 57 countries, meeting foreign women, and the constant partying. While I did manage to advance in the Navy and keep the two seperate.

 

After my honorable discharge in 1981, my dad and I opened a housing maintenance business servicing an Air Force base in Florida. By this time my parents were converted Catholics, (professing Christians) and although I had noticed a change in their lives, the doctrine they preached at me was the same old canned doctrines I had heard earlier in my life.

 

By this time I was married. My parents fell in love with my wife (wife was not a Christian). It was as if, because I would not conform , my parents kind of disowned me and adopted my wife. (That is the way with most Christians are, they kill their wounded).

 

As time went, 1989 or so, on things in my relationship with both my wife and parents dwindled to nothing and I found myself divorced, gave her absolutely everything but my baseball cards. I tried to get back in the Navy, but that was the time of the military cutbacks and they were not taking vets with more than 8 years separation. I missed it by 2 months.

 

I bought a car for a dollar from the recruiter, took my sports cards and traveled the country doing baseball shows and partying. Within a year the sportscard craze had all but died and my income died along with it.

 

I found myself in the state of Maine with no income in the dead of winter. In all of this time, although I never really acknowledged Him, I never denied God, nor His existance. I just believed, like so many others, that I didn't matter to Him. He was too busy to concern Himself with me.

 

One day, while in my hotel efficiency, I litterally cried out to God once again for Him to reveal His truth to me. I had a good self-pity party, got up and went about my life, not really believing He even heard my prayer, much less answered it.

 

I went down to Florida where I met my present and last wife. She, like myself, was basically unencumbered and we decided to travel out west. I eventually got a job as a reporter for a locally owned state wide newspaper. I was assigned the political beat focusing on the many unconstitutional laws that are being usurpped on us all.

 

It didn't take me long to come to the realization that what I had been brought up to believe about this country and our government was a hoax. (another subject all together) I began to wonder if there was any truth, anywhere. The things I was finding out about our governement as I did the research for my articles made me ill inside.

 

After a long discussion with my wife, we decided to take the summer off (1993 or so). we ended up on a Dude Ranch in the Gila National Forest. They were just opening and I contracted with them to plumb the shower house. We were there several months living in a real Tee Pee. It was cool.

 

It was here that I decided to really make an earnest effort to seek and find out if God existed or not. I picked up my extremely dusty Bible and began to read. I simpley opend the book to a page and read. The first verse I read was Jeremiah 29:13 "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."

 

This verse shot through me like an arrow. I had from time to time been seeking God, but not with all of my heart. Soon after that, I was reading in 1st John 2 where in verses 26 and 27 it says "These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."

 

I have shared all of this with you to make this point. What modern day Christianity professes, and what is actually in the Bible are two very different and distinct things. When I write in these forums concerning the things of God, it is not to try to convince anyone. We all go through life's experiences and draw our own conclusions. All we can do is share these experiences with others.

 

What I have found to be truth is God's Word. When one finally gives in to the pressure in his or her own heart to seek their Creator, they find that He is true to His Word. You will find Him when seeking with an earnest heart. He will write His laws and precepts on your heart.

 

Once God has begun to write His truth on your heart, there not only is no denying it, you do stand as the bedrock under the stream, solid, strong, and not wavering. Yes as the water rushes over you, you are worn smooth, but isn't that how the beauty of a precious stone is brought out, in a tumbler with water?

 

You do not need books or man to teach you the truth. You do not even need the Bible. What you do need is an earnest heart to find it. And you need to search in the area where it lies, with the Creator.

 

If you have never gone directly to the souce, I strongly recommend it. It truly will blow your mind. It did mine. Do I know the entire truth, absolutely not, however, I do not with absolute certainty that I am seaching in the right place.

 

Just as the treasure hunter becomes certain he has found the wreck he has been looking for when he finds the ship's bell, so is it when God writes His first truth on your heart.

 

 

pete

 

 

PS. My wife read part of your post and she comment on her own on how well your post was written, I agree.

 

It is late here so I'm not going to proof this, I still have work to do. Please forgive any typos you may find.

[whafizi 0]

it seems that this discussion might go out of hand. somebody might get hurt, and i dont wanna that to happen. i really apprechiate the relations we all have here. from now on i'll involve myself to other topic rather than talking about Religions stuff.so, i hereby dont want to involve myself again in this kind of conversation, ever.i hope to apologize to anyone who was hurt reading my comments, especially to my dear friends MajesticTreeFrog and Hasbang.peace to all.

[MajesticTreeFrog 0]

I doubt anyone was hurt by your comments, certainly not myself. But if you do not wish to talk about these things, then that is your choice. I just don't want you to feel bad or anything, because there is no reason for you to.

 

it seems that this discussion might go out of hand. somebody might get hurt, and i dont wanna that to happen. i really apprechiate the relations we all have here. from now on i'll involve myself to other topic rather than talking about Religions stuff.

 

so, i hereby dont want to involve myself again in this kind of conversation, ever.

 

i hope to apologize to anyone who was hurt reading my comments, especially to my dear friends MajesticTreeFrog and Hasbang.

 

peace to all.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Darren1405241470 0]

I was ... well, I am being brought up in a house were my mother and one of my sisters is a practicing catholic and my other sister is a non-practising catholic. 90% of my friends and such are non-practicing catholics so that's what I classify myself as when someone asks. To be honest I have no idea wether there is a God or higher being, nor do I have any idea what the purpose of life is or if their even is a purpose for us being here. What I do know is that all of the religions so far have had many faults in them while with many, almost all of the "believers" have been very hypocrytical (there are of course a few exceptions of both religions [there are many strong buddhist and muslim believers] and people in religions [off the top of my head mother Tereasa was a very pasionate catholic]) and when asked about the inconsistences in their religious beliefs they were very good at changing the subject.

 

It seems to me that we will never find the answers to many of these questions unless of course someone finds a way to prove that one of the scientific theories is correct, but upon recollection even if somebody did find a way to prove it I think that one of the churches would destroy it. As it is the churches hold allot of power throughout the world and many of the leaders of these church would not want that to change. Maybe I've just seen too many movie's. As I have said so many times I just don't know and I don't think I (or anyone else for that matter) will until I die, and by then it is a little late to find out the purpose for the world .

 

If you have never gone directly to the souce, I strongly recommend it.  It truly will blow your mind.  It did mine.  Do I know the entire truth,  absolutely not, however, I do not with absolute certainty that I am seaching in the right place.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Unfortunately their is no possible way to go directly to the source, for me or anybody. If you will notice the Bible was not written by God or even Jesus. It was written by men, and if you read the bible Adam sinned in the garden of eden so long before which is the very reason why Jesus was here in the first place, to repay our debt. If man sinned before then why not after. The point I am trying to make here is that the bible is again simply a small group of people's views of how the world was created etc. The entire thing could have been made up by one man for all I know.(actually I have often wondered whether the librarians would classify it as fiction or non-fiction ). Perhaps someone has evidence that it is real or was at least written by the people who signed it?

 

Just as the treasure hunter becomes certain he has found the wreck he has been looking for when he finds the ship's bell, so is it when God writes His first truth on your heart.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Unfortunately the treasure hunter is often wrong but because he never does find any more the ships bell he doesen't know so.

 

I can only hope that some day I will find the truth behind all of these questions. Until then I guess I will have to try to concentrate on other things and lead the best life I can.

[pbolduc 0]

I can only hope that some day I will find the truth behind all of these questions. Until then I guess I will have to try to concentrate on other things and lead the best life I can.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What experience has shown me, both personal and that witnessed of others, that you can only find the truth if you are actively seeking the truth. When I said "got to the source" I meant give God a chance.

 

Most people don't. They have dismissed the possibility of God taking a personal role in their life, mainly due to societal impact, that at best they offer a half-hearted prayer, usually challenging God to prove His existance.

 

They have gone their entire life without ever attempting to build a personal relationship with their Creator, then in a speed prayer they challennge Him, and when He dosn't respond in their alloted time their blow Him off.

 

Yet, having made up in their mind God is incignificant, they spend countless hours in earnest persuit of "the meaning of life" delving into areas the Bible says we ought not to go. And they usually find some kind of short-term peace there. The spiritual forces that would act to keep them away from finding God's single truth no longer hinder them because they are now off the straight and narrow, seeking false truths in eternally dangerous places.

 

God has made a promise that if we seek Him, we will find Him, but only if we seek Him earnestly, with an earnest heart.

 

pete

[dissipate 0]

i don't believe it was God's warning. if God wanted to warn us about something, a lot of people would have been clearly warned before the earthquake happened, and God would have made it very clear that it was a warning. and i don't think God was just sitting there doing nothing while the tsunami killed so many people. He would have been and would still be absolutely devasted at the loss of lives and the amount of destruction.but if you ask me why this happened or why God allowed it to happen, i don't know. it seems that lots of things here are unexplainable and will remain so till i die and meet God. one day i will know why, and in the meantime i do my best to trust God.maybe some good things came out of it though. so many countries are working together to help the victims. it was predicted that Thai militants were planning to attack parts of Thailand on Jan 4 but that didn't happen. people are working together and treasuring and appreciating each other even more.