Question: Why do people reject Jesus as their Savior?

[bigbadjohn45]

Question: "Why do people reject Jesus as their Savior?"

Answer: The decision to accept or reject Jesus as Savior is the ultimate life decision. Why do many people choose to reject Jesus as Savior? There are perhaps as many different reasons for rejecting Christ as there are people who reject Him, but the following four reasons can serve as general categories:

1) Some people do not think they need a savior. These people consider themselves to be “basically good” and do not realize that they, like all people, are sinners who cannot come to God on their own terms. But Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Those who reject Christ will not be able to stand before God and successfully plead their own case on their own merits.

2) The fear of social rejection or persecution deters some people from receiving Christ as Savior. The unbelievers in John 12:42-43 would not confess Christ because they were more concerned with their status among their peers than doing God’s will. These were the Pharisees whose love of position and the esteem of others blinded them, “for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.”

3) For some people, the things that the present world has to offer are more appealing than eternal things. We read the story of such a man in Matthew 19:16-23. This man was not willing to lose his earthly possessions in order to gain an eternal relationship with Jesus (see also 2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

4) Many people are simply resisting the Holy Spirit’s attempts to draw them to faith in Christ. Stephen, a leader in the early church, told those who were about to murder him, “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!” (Acts 7:51). The apostle Paul made a similar statement to a group of gospel rejecters in Acts 28:23-27.

Whatever the reasons why people reject Jesus Christ, their rejection has disastrous eternal consequences. “There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” than the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12), and those who reject Him, for whatever reason, face an eternity in the “outer darkness” of hell where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30). Recommended Resources: Jesus: The Greatest Life of All by Charles Swindoll and Logos Bible Software.


Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/reject-Jesus.html#ixzz3Zvn6aFuM

 

[nashvillegoldenflash]

BBJ, you will appreciate the commencement speech that Denzel Washington gave at Dillard University (see web address below).

http://www.christianpost.com/news/d...o-what-ive-done-then-do-what-ive-done-138981/

 

[RaiderDoug]

As the boards resident atheist, I'll bite. You guys are seemingly operating under the assumption that non-believers are "rejecting" Jesus/God/etc.

I could ask why are you rejecting Allah? Budda? The concept of reincarnation? Santa Claus?

We simply don't believe that he/she/it exists. You can't reject something that you believe doesn't exist. It never gets to the point of accepting/rejecting. It's simply a non-entity.

Think about a flowchart:

The way it looks to you:

Question 1: Why are you rejecting Jesus/God/Supreme Being/Etc?

The way it looks to us:

Question 1: Do you believe in Jesus/God/Supreme Being/Etc? If Yes, move on to question 2.

Question 2: Why are you rejecting Jesus/God/Supreme Being/Etc?



We never get to the question you're asking.

 

[nashvillegoldenflash]

RaiderDoug, I get that you are an atheist and don't believe in God. Unfortunately, as mere mortals, BBJ, Mike, and I don't have the skills to prove that heaven is real to you. But for us, heaven is a matter of faith and not science. On faith, we accept that heaven is there and so we look forward to the day when we will experience the wonder of heaven. It's our hope that you too will one day have faith and experience the love of God.

Maybe BBJ will want to respond to your comment but as for me I will simply say that God loves you and wants you to have eternal life.

 

[RaiderDoug]

RaiderDoug, I get that you are an atheist and don't believe in God. Unfortunately, as mere mortals, BBJ, Mike, and I don't have the skills to prove that heaven is real to you. But for us, heaven is a matter of faith and not science. On faith, we accept that heaven is there and so we look forward to the day when we will experience the wonder of heaven. It's our hope that you too will one day have faith and experience the love of God.

Maybe BBJ will want to respond to your comment but as for me I will simply say that God loves you and wants you to have eternal life.

If you (or anyone) did, then there wouldn't be this discussion. In fact, there wouldn't be athiests, or other religions at all.

But for us, heaven is a matter of faith and not science.

Agreed. It is a matter of faith, with zero evidence or proof (hence it's faith, and not science).

If it works for you, great! If not, that's ok too.

Which leads us back to the whole "Why do people reject Jesus as their Savior?" question.

You can't accept or reject that which you don't believe exists in the first place.

If tangible proof of Christianity (or any other religion) was presented, then we can ask ourselves the accept/reject question.

If not, then it simply gets relegated to the realm of make believe - with Allah, and the Easter Bunny, and Fairy Tales. It's not worthy of serious consideration.

I could turn this question around:

If you admit that it's a matter of faith, and it has zero proof/evidence - then how can you accept it so readily?

If I said I could fly, or if someone said they'd make you rich by sending 200 bucks to Nigeria to help out a prince, then you certainly wouldn't believe them without proof, right? Of course. (if not, send me $200 bucks and in 10 days i'll pay you a million dollars).

So, when you were presented with the tenants of Christianity, which are outlandish, were you so ready to accept and not reject them?

I can make this even simpler:

The same reason you reject Allah, is the exact same reason we don't believe in Christianity.

 

[bigbadjohn45]

Doug, I realize we've had this discussion before, but the crux of your argument keeps coming back to the fact that Flash, Mike, or myself cannot prove God's existence. And you're right, we cannot. But by the same token, you cannot offer proof of His non-existence, either.

This we do know: matter does not create itself. The general consensus of science is that the universe did not create itself. Something, or, in my belief, some One, was responsible for this.

Again, what if you're right and I'm wrong? Then you've lost nothing. But, if I'm right and you're wrong, you'll spend eternity separated from God. Think about it.

 

[nashvillegoldenflash]

RaiderDoug, since you lived in Tampa it's hard for me to understand how you could have watched those beautiful sunsets and still not believe in a Creator. For what it's worth, one of the most peaceful and beautiful sights is watching the sunset out on the water of Key West.

 

[RaiderDoug]

RaiderDoug, since you lived in Tampa it's hard for me to understand how you could have watched those beautiful sunsets and still not believe in a Creator. For what it's worth, one of the most peaceful and beautiful sights is watching the sunset out on the water of Key West.

About the only place i'd move from Tennessee for is the Tampa area. I loved it down there.

But, you have to consider that the same entity that created those sunsets is the same entity that created Cancer, mosquitos, and the Kardashians. If we give credit for one, we have to give credit for the others.

 

[nashvillegoldenflash]

RaiderDoug, I know atheists have a hard time understanding why God allows suffering in the world and for this reason they choose not to believe. I guess in a perfect world, no one would ever get sick, die or suffer and there would only be joy and happiness.

So the question is, “If God loves us, cares for us, and wants the best for us, why does He allow all this suffering that goes on in the world? He could stop it if He wanted to. But somehow, He doesn’t seem to want to. What we don’t realize is that sometimes when nothing appears to be happening, God is patiently working. A good definition of suffering is: ‘Anything that causes us mental, physical, or emotional pain or irritates us in some fashion.’” (See: 1 Peter 4:12-19.)

The following are some of the Reasons God allows suffering:

1. To get our attention. (See: Psalm 119:67 and again in Psalm 119:71.) Sometimes God wants to get our attention to look to Him and pay attention to that, which is important to God.

2. To develop righteousness and maturity in us. God may be in the process of building maturity in us and by allowing certain events to happen to us, He knows we’ll “grow up” and become more mature in the process.

3. To prune us. (See: John 15:1-2.) “He removes attitudes and habits that are harmful to our fruitfulness.” The whole pruning process is used by God to cut back useless things in our life to maximize our potential as Believers. He sees attitudes in our lives that don’t belong there. He prunes off what shouldn’t be there. God can’t stand stuff in our lives that cloud our vision of Him.

4. To teach us obedience. (See: Hebrews 12:5.) “Sometimes people suffer because of their own disobedience.” When we become disobedient we can expect some kind of suffering.

5. To teach us to trust Him. (See: 1 Peter 1:7.) “He tests our faith in order to strengthen it.” An example of this is in the principle of tithing.

6. To teach us to depend continually on His grace and goodness. 2 Corinthians 12 tells us that when we are weak, we are strong. If we want God to use us, suffering is going to be a part of our life. God uses it to teach us so we will gain wisdom. “Suffering in life and being used by God are inseparable.”

7. To manifest Christ’s life and character in us. It’s to help us to be living examples of God’s character. And God’s character shines forth in us through times of sanding, sifting and pruning. Whatever the form of suffering we encounter, there is a Divine purpose involved. “When someone meets us, they will meet the Son of God in us.”

8. To purify our hearts. A pure heart is a righteous heart —which is the will of God for us. Purity and God’s power go together. “There is no power in your ministry unless you are pure.” Keep in mind that all suffering is not a result of sin. God has a purpose in allowing suffering in our lives.

9. So we can share in the holiness of Christ. (See Hebrews 12:10.)

10. To teach us to give thanks in everything. (See: 1 Thessalonians 5:18.) “You don’t have to feel thankful to express gratitude that God is going to bring something good out of your experience.”

11. To develop character and perseverance. (See: Romans 5:1-5.)

12. To enable us to share in the sufferings of Christ. (See: Philippians 3:10.)

13. To prevent pride in our life. (See: 2 Corinthians 12:9.)

14. To broaden our ministry. (See: Philippians 1:12-13.) An example of this would be: “going through an experience of suffering and loneliness that extended His influence.”

15. To reveal the evil nature of mankind and the righteous judgment of God.(See: 2 Thessalonians 2.) In this chapter it says, “The wicked will be judged.”

 

[RaiderDoug]

Flash, you've admitted that we can't understand God's intentions, right?

So, considering that you don't/can't know God's intentions - isn't it at least a possibility that he sent those things because he's cruel and sadistic?

 

[RaiderDoug]

Even though none of us are budging from our positions, I'll say that I've enjoyed the conversations we've had here. So many times this devolves into "you're a delusional idiot" - "NO, You're the delusional idiot"!

Which is something that I think gets lost in the whole religion/different religion/non-religion debate:

As long as we all treat each other civilliy, then it doesn't really matter what you or I believe.

 

[nashvillegoldenflash]

BBJ, you and I know miracles happen yet atheists continue to disbelieve in God. Medical doctors like Dr. Ben Carson have witnessed miracles in hospitals all the time and that is why they have such strong faith in God (see web address below). BBJ, I ask that you continue to pray for non-believers so that they too may receive His grace and be saved regardless of how they try to disprove Him.



http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2008/01/11/january-11-2008-dr-ben-carson/656/

Doctors Have Faith in Faith

A survey conducted by the American Academy of Family Physicians shows that ninety-nine percent of doctors believe a relationship exists between faith and physical healing. Recently, more than one thousand health-care professionals met at Harvard Medical School to examine the connection between spirituality and healing.

Doctors’ faith in faith was bolstered by a California study of the effect of prayer on recovery from heart problems. About two hundred heart patients were assigned to Christians who prayed for them, while an equal number, a control group, received no known prayers. Neither group knew about the prayers, yet those who received prayer developed half the complications that were experienced by those in the control group.

A similar study by the Dartmouth Medical School examined the effect of prayer on healing when the patients prayed for themselves. The death rate six months after bypass surgery was 9 percent for the general population but 5 percent for those who prayed for their own healing. And none of the deeply religious patients died during the period of the study.

https://bible.org/illustration/doctors-have-faith-faith

 

[bigbadjohn45]

Flash, no doubt there have been countless examples (such as the teen's above) of persons who recovered from seemingly impossible odds. Doctors would have no explanation to offer, other than to proclaim it a miracle. We both know The Great Physician can do anything He wants--whenever He wants.

 

[RaiderDoug]

Flash, no doubt there have been countless examples (such as the teen's above) of persons who recovered from seemingly impossible odds. Doctors would have no explanation to offer, other than to proclaim it a miracle. We both know The Great Physician can do anything He wants--whenever He wants.

There's another side of the coin to this as well.

People die all the time. People suffer all the time from things that could simply be fixed by an entity that "can do anything He wants--whenever He wants".

Did they not pray hard enough?

Did god not love them enough?

 

[nashvillegoldenflash]

RaiderdDoug, let me share a story that happened to me back in 2003 when I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. After experiencing abdominal pain on my left side for about a month, I finally decided to go to my doctor to have it checked out. After a full examination, it appeared that I had testicular cancer and a biopsy later confirmed it. Given the pain that I was experiencing in my abdomen, I was convinced that the cancer had spread and I would have to undergo chemotherapy. Although I was concerned, I can honestly say that I was not afraid given my faith in God. My wife on the other hand was not as confident as I was and was scared of the possibility of becoming a widow. I looked my emotional wife in the eye and reassured her that that would not happen but I also told her if it did I would be in a better place. The point is I am not afraid to die and if God decided to call me home tomorrow, I would not feel cheated. That is how I feel about death and hopefully many other Christians feel the same as I do. Luckily for me, all I needed to treat my cancer was surgery and radiation treatments. The reason for the abdominal pain was referred pain which finally went away. Other cancer patients have not been as fortunate as I but I don't believe that is because they didn't pray hard enough. Whether you understand it or not, the Lord has a plan for all of us. When it is my time to die, I will go willingly because I look forward to looking Jesus in the eyes and being a part of his heavenly Kingdom.

 

[bigbadjohn45]

RaiderdDoug, let me share a story that happened to me back in 2003 when I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. After experiencing abdominal pain on my left side for about a month, I finally decided to go to my doctor to have it checked out. After a full examination, it appeared that I had testicular cancer and a biopsy later confirmed it. Given the pain that I was experiencing in my abdomen, I was convinced that the cancer had spread and I would have to undergo chemotherapy. Although I was concerned, I can honestly say that I was not afraid given my faith in God. My wife on the other hand was not as confident as I was and was scared of the possibility of becoming a widow. I looked my emotional wife in the eye and reassured her that that would not happen but I also told her if it did I would be in a better place. The point is I am not afraid to die and if God decided to call me home tomorrow, I would not feel cheated. That is how I feel about death and hopefully many other Christians feel the same as I do. Luckily for me, all I needed to treat my cancer was surgery and radiation treatments. The reason for the abdominal pain was referred pain which finally went away. Other cancer patients have not been as fortunate as I but I don't believe that is because they didn't pray hard enough. Whether you understand it or not, the Lord has a plan for all of us. When it is my time to die, I will go willingly because I look forward to looking Jesus in the eyes and being a part of his heavenly Kingdom.

Flash, God bless you, sir, for sharing your heartfelt story. Your testimony in God's grace and healing power is very much appreciated.

 

[nashvillegoldenflash]

BBJ, I appreciate your kind words. Another part of the story is when I was convinced that my testicular cancer had spread to my abdomen and thought I would have a very tough road ahead of me, I told my wife I wanted to have the same courage and grace that Hubert Humphrey showed when he was stricken with cancer. Although I did not care for Sen. Humphrey's domestic policies, I always admired him for his courage in facing death. This might surprise liberals that I would ever say something positive about a Democrat but I thought I would share this with you so you know I can admire strong character in others who I don't agree with politically.

 

[RaiderDawg78]

Flash, I want to compliment you for this story & I have a personal reason why.

I am an EXTREMELY conservative Christian. I tend to live my life as black and white as anyone I know; there is little grey areas for me in most matters. I believe in Miracles and I believe that people are saved by faith in Christ.

At one time, most of my words sounded a lot like what you and, especially John, type on here. Then one day, I was trying to witness to an agnostic and he essentially told me that while they could possibly believe the bible's story, it cannot be possible based on how Christians act. I tried to explain how you can't judge Christ by Christians because we are all fallen, but he did get me thinking. As I have talked to more non-believers, I found the consistent reason most don't believe in Christ is the actions of Christians. I have literally heard believe say, "I want to believe, but how can I based on how truly evil and mean Christians are."

So I really started listening how I and other Christans present their testimony. I have noticed most self-proclaiming Christians are not very Christian. Most end up pushing non-Christians further away from Christ.

As I looked at this, I noticed other things. The truly most Christian person I know, votes democrat. The reason, she runs a not for profit that helps support domestically abused women and children. They provide resources for such as housing, food, and help legal issues for these very battered women. The program was funded through a democratic inititative, which the recently elected Tea Party state legislator in my state has now defunded. The program lost so much money, that they had to start turning some of these women/children away. My friend tried to help one family that was in particular need out by going around to local churches trying to get assistance. She went to 10 different churches asking for help - none helped. I am sad to say even my church apparently turned them away. Without resources, the woman had no where to go, ended up going back to her husband, and he subsequently put both her and their son in the hospital for leaving.

Not every person that votes democrat is deranged like John said.

Not every person who disagrees with your stances is anti-Christian; some of us take different approaches to the same problem.

We disagree on climate change. I HATE that this became a political issue. I hope the majority of the science is wrong. The fact is though, as a scientist, I can look at the data and realize that the vast majority of studies supports the fact that man is affecting the global climate. It really is what most of the facts say. We can debate the degree man is contributing and we can definitely debate the best recourse on how to limit our negative impact, but man, most of the reputative studies support it.

We can debate Ben Carson's 10% flat tax. I don't dislike it because its Biblical, I just think we could not sustain our society if we cut that much.

I have no clue if raising the minumum wage will have a negative or positive impact on our economy. And I am not sure how much we should raise the MW to if it is raised. I do know that the figures suggest its more complicated that just that & I know 7 nobel laureates in economy currently believe that raising the MW a few dollars will actually stimulate the economy. I want our economoy to be stimulated. I want people who are living closer to the poverty line and needing government assistance to have a little extra income so they can get off welfare if possible. I tend to listen to subject matter experts, so if nobel laureates and a host of other people say it will help, I tend to not pay attention to Rush's or Hannity's emotionally linked ideas on the subject.

I will be honest, I read what John wrote on the MW thread and I was coming on this site to basically bash him for being self-rightoues. He embodies the old presentation of myself that I believe pushes non-believers away from Christ. If I were a non-believer, things like that would definitely make me not want to be a Christian. It makes me angry when Christians do things that push people away from Christ. It makes me angry when Christians assume the GOP is always correct and they put others down for not following facts, because not person who takes a different position doesn't have good facts. Not everyone who votes democrat is awful and the GOP does not have ownership on faith. Hey, I can get judgmental and angry - two of my own traits to work on.

Reading your last 2 posts on this thread, for some reason took away my anger. I hope we can all be less condescending on this board, even when we disagree.


Anway, sorry for the rambling & getting off topic in some spots. But thank you for posting.

 

[nashvillegoldenflash]

RaiderDawg78, I know BBJ is more than able to defend himself so I will let him respond to your comments regarding what you perceive as his self-righteousness. If you have read my comments over the years, you will know I despise Democrats. After all, it was the Democratic Party that booed God at the last Democratic National Convention. All I can say about your friend is she is truly misguided if she continues to vote for Democrats. Yes, what she does to help domestically abused women and children is noble but what about all the aborted babies who lose their lives by unjust laws? How can she justify liberals who support these laws? I will discuss this further when I have more time but I have to get back to work now. Although I appreciate your kind words, I believe you are wrong about John.

 

[nashvillegoldenflash]

RaiderDawg78, so non-believers you know believe Christians are "truly evil and mean." Please have them explain to me how Mother Teresa was so evil and mean to the people of Calcutta.

 

[RaiderDawg78]

Flash, you missed a few points.

1. I never said that these people said ALL Christians are mean and evil. I hope they don't think I am evil. Their point was that if you look at every person that claims to be a Christians, that you can find a Westboro Church for every Mother Teresa OR you find pastor who bashes homosexuality in public, while he is having a secret homosexual affair behind his wife's back or that is abusing children. Our words as believers are magnified and we, collectively, do a pretty poor job of living different than the world. I don't agree with these people, but I at least try to understand why they think that way.

2. I hope you realize that there are some Christians that voted for democrats and some atheists/agnostics that vote GOP. I think both parties have initiatives that should be supported by believers and both have initiatives that should not be supported by believers. 70% of Americans claim to be Christian, yet only 25% of Americans identify as Republicans (31% democratic, 42% as undecided, 2% as 3rd party). So clearly people outside the GOP must be Christian. (For the record, in 5 presidential elections, I have voted 3rd party 3x, GOP 1x and democrate 1x.

3. I never said John was or is a bad person or bad Christian. I said he comes across mean spirited on here in the way he presents himself sometimes. I said that if I was a non-believer and was searching, that reading comments like that would not make me want to be a believer. So its often not what Christians believe, but how we present it. I say this as someone who has a look in the mirror for how I present myself as well. I miss the mark often, sometimes its good to be accountable to yourself and others for how you present yourself.


I hope you can see these points as logical, even if they are not your way of looking at things.

 

[nashvillegoldenflash]

RaiderDawg78, certainly there are people who claim to be Christian who don't live as Christians. Also there are people who claim to be conservative who aren't. You claim to be extremely conservative but your voting record doesn't indicate that you are. In the last five presidential elections you state that you voted third party three times, GOP once and Democratic Party once. So by your admission, you either voted for Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, or Barack Obama. I admit the Republican candidates were not all that great but they were all better than the alternative candidates that you voted for in four of those presidential elections. From looking at your voting record, I wouldn't be surprised if you vote for Hillary in 2016. Of course you are free to vote for whoever you like, but please don't tell me you are a conservative because your voting record proves otherwise. I appreciate your participation on this forum but not the disingenuousness of calling yourself a conservative. I'm sorry if you take offense to this but when I look at the state that our country is in today, I have to place the blame on the people who enabled our country to fall apart.

 

[bigbadjohn45]

"I have to place the blame on the people who enabled our country to fall apart."

Well stated, Flash.

 

[RaiderDawg78]

Flash,

I'm not offended at all. If anything I feel sad. Instead of asking why I voted the way I did or who I voted for, you assume something that is just....wrong.

In 2008, when you were voting for a moderate that considered leaving the GOP for the democratic party (John McCain), I voted for a pastor. In fact, if you have voted straight GOP over the past 5 presidental elections, I guarantee you I have voted for the more conservative candidate 3 times and for the same candidate 1 time. If I used YOUR logic and assumptions, maybe I should ask you why you voted more liberal than I did. The GOP does not own conservatism. If you look at some of the 3rd parties you may find some that actually fit more your belief system.

Oh, the 1 time I voted democrat, was 2004. I would have voted for Santa Claus, the easter bunny, or the Vanderbilt Commodore over W. I agreed with John J. Duncan (GOP - TN) that we should not go to Iraqi. Bush's administration sent us in there (which even Ted Cruz says we should not have done) and got a lot of Americans killed. One was a VERY close family friend. So I voted in protest, in a state that I knew my vote did matter anyway (Mississippi was going GOP), against the president that sent my friend somewhere he shouldn't have been and got him killed.


And I agree, I put place blame on people who cause problems in our country. I believe both the GOP and Dem parties are so corrupt at the national level, lead by power, special interests, and greed, they would say anything to get a vote. So I look for the better candidates and hope that someday a strong 3rd party candidate will emerge that can get 10% of the popular vote, so that party gets campaign financial support to give us a better option than the typical horrible choices we get.

So in 2016, I will vote for the candidate who supports individual rights and liberties, who vows to protect everyone's religious beliefs and not infinge his beliefs on them, and who will work to strengthen our economy using fiscal responsibility and sound economic principles. These have not been a strong suit of either the GOP or DEMS lately at the national level. I can say there is a 99% chance I will vote 3rd party again.


But then you didn't ask, you just made a silly, ignorant assumption.

 

[nashvillegoldenflash]

So if you voted for Chuck Baldwin, who had no chance of winning, you like so many others wasted your vote and enabled Obama to win. So yes, you are partly to blame for Obama's re-election. For your information, Baldwin received 199,314 votes, about 0.15% of the total popular vote.

 

[RaiderDawg78]

WOW.

First, if every person who voted for Chuck had voted for John McCain in their state, John would not have won any more states. So actually, NO, not one person who voted for Chuck Baldwin could have given John McCain any more electoral votes than Barak Obama and, therefore, not one person who voted for Chuck is responsible for Obama.

Second, what does that have to do with your assumption about my belief system? A conservative voting for a conservative person is a conservative. Isn't that correct?

 

[nashvillegoldenflash]

Now that you brought up your belief system, let's talk about it. The truth of the matter, I'm appalled that you honestly don't have a strong rebuke for those who say Christians are truly evil and mean. And please don't bring up the Westboro Baptist Church or Jeremiah Wright. Everyone knows that the Westboro wackos are an unaffiliated Baptist church known for their hate speech. And Jeremiah Wright is also known for his hate speech. Just because they both claim to be Christian doesn't mean that they are. And if you have forgotten or don't know all the good that the Christian Church has done for the world please watch the following video, then hopefully you will know what to say to the non-believers who claim Christians are mean and evil.



http://christiangoodinsociety.blogspot.com/

 

[RaiderDawg78]

I'm appalled that you honestly don't have a strong rebuke for those who say Christians are truly evil and mean...."

Let met stop you right there. Where have I described how I respond to non-believers when they say some (not all) Christians are not very Christ-like? Can you show me where you asked how I respond when they say things?

Since you have yet to respond to any question I ask, let me do it for you here. I didn't say how I respond and you didn't ask. Once again, you ASSUME wrongly and jump to conclusions without asking.

The purpose of this thread was "why do some people reject Christ." I gave a reason that I hear alot that was not mentioned in the original Swindoll thread. I mentioned that these comments by non-believers have made me cognizant of how I say things. I mentioned that I have tried to see their point of view (so that I can better understand and witness to them)and when Christians say things a certain way, I can understand why a non-believer may take offense. I said that some comments on here seem mean spirted (I never questioned John's or your faith) & I said it has made me more aware of how I say things, because sometimes I have come across mean spirited. It's not always what you say, but how you say it. Not one time have I said I didn't respond to these non-believers. Yet you show me the disrespect of not asking and assuming I didn't respond and make a smartelic comment about "in case I forgot." You don't know that I know take a person to church with me every week who at one time said that some Christians seem so mean. And you don't know that another person that said to me this is a reason they do not believe to me, through a lot of witnessing and reading Orthodoxy, is now a believer. You are appalled that I didn't do something.....when in fact I did respond and you assume I didn't, even though you don't have a clue about it or bother to ask.


You know - through this thread I have realized, there is no point posting anymore on this forum. Seriously, there is no debate or rational discussion. You questioned my conservatism on assumption & when I respond, you didn't show me the courtesy to say "you may be a conservative, but I disagree with how you express it." You tell me its my fault Obama was elected. When I can show by numbers that is not the case, you don't show me the decency to acknowledge that, you just tell me how appalled you are about something, that you literally don't have a clue about.

Seriously, if someone doesn't show you respect or address your points, why would you continue to talk to them? It is not just this thread, but you didn't respond to points in the climate change thread or the tax thread. Why would I continue to post on a forum where people don't bother to respond to points, they just call you a liberal because you don't go about things exactly how they do.

So I am out. I wish you well. Have a great weekend.

 

[nashvillegoldenflash]

Perhaps an apology is in order. Questioning your faith was wrong of me. Since we will never agree on foreign policy or "climate change," I agree it's best not to discuss politics any further. I wish you well as well.

 

[nashvillegoldenflash]

RaiderDawg78:

After working all day power washing my driveway and all the concrete behind my house, I had plenty of time thinking about my inappropriate comments that I made to you. Although I somehow may justify part of my displeasure, there is simply no justification for disrespecting you. You are right about me making ignorant assumptions. So before I say anything else, I want to say that I'm deeply sorry. Although we may disagree politically, you deserve the same amount of respect that I give bigbadjohn and blueraidermike. I realize my apology I made last night was not as sincere as it should have been and you deserve a much better one. Since I want this apology to be only about my repentance, I want to avoid discussing politics. However, I want you to know I'm truly sorry for your anguish over the loss of your family friend. Although I consider myself a "hawk", I can be more emotional than anyone you know when it comes to the death of a love one or friend. Besides the death of my father who passed away at the age of 67, the most I ever cried was during the tribute to Walter Payton before the 2000 Super Bowl. During his illness I had prayed for Walter every night for several weeks until I just simply forgot to keep praying for him. I remember watching Walter when he was on Larry King Live during his illness after he had lost so much weight. During the show, a gentleman had called in from Jackson and told Walter that he loved him and all the people there were praying for him. During the pre-game Super Bowl tribute, I simply broke down and cried like a young child. I wept beyond tears, slipping into rhythmic heaves while I covered my face with a pillow to hide my grief. Feeling embarrassed, I got up from the couch and walked to the back bedroom. My wife shortly followed me and gave me a hug to try to comfort me. She seemed surprised that I could become so emotional over someone I didn't personally know or had never met. I guess I felt guilty that had I kept praying for him, maybe Walter would not have died. The reason I share this with you is so you will know how much I can grieve over the loss of someone I care about. Certainly the loss of a family member is a much more difficult experience than the loss of a football legend so I know how badly you must feel. Again, I'm terribly sorry for the loss of your friend. Hopefully, one day you will forgive me for my hurtful comments. What you said about presenting one's position in a respectful manner makes a lot of sense and I will try to follow your advice in the future. God bless.