Escaping Christianity

[presonorek]

You don't know what I have experienced.

No. I do not know what you have experience nor will I ever know what you have experienced. That is extremely problematic. We have both experienced the sun shining on our face. We can agree that the sun exists. We have both experienced the wind blowing on our skin. We can agree that wind exist. You have experienced the miraculous existence of God. I have not. That forces me to rely on the honesty of your testimony but allows you to bask in the comfort of knowing the truth. That gives you an advantage over me which invokes a feeling of jealousy and animosity. By the rules of human nature I am inclined to call BS on your claim of experiencing God. If I accept your claim then I am admitting that I am inferior to you. Humans do not like to do that. Whether true or false, you create animosity when you assert to a first hand experience with God.

What is the details of your experiences that you were referencing?

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

? Can you elaborate ? Feeling good is not the Holy Spirit. I feel good sometimes too.

See, when you say stuff like this, it only discourages me from continuing with this conversation. Educate yourself, and perhaps we can continue this conversation later.

lol I was raised in church since birth and attended church 3 times a week. I have read the Bible three times cover to cover. lol I know all about "getting saved". 100% of the time when people encounter God it is a personal thing. I have an experience in my life that was either supernatural or outside of my realm of explanation. However, I could never prove it to you or anybody else. That is extremely problematic. God has never been proven but I believe if He exist then He will one day prove Himself. I doubt I will be alive to see that day.

 

[presonorek]

I was raised in church, married a Christian, raised my kids in church and currently teach Bible at a Christian school. At the end of this school year (May 2020) I plan to resign as a teacher and stop attending church for one full year. At the end of that year I plan to have my name removed from the church role and afterwards make my atheism public. I love the philosphy, ethics and the culture surrounding Christianity. I just can't live a lie any more. It just can't be healthy. This invisible and silent God dude offers me nothing. I love the Bible and learn a lot from it but the God dude in that book either doesn't exist or has no interest in me. Church attendance is more burdensome than it used to be. I learn more from the Bible studying independently. Kindergarten might be fun for a 6 year old but is painfully boring to a 40 year old.

Any questions? I have lots more to say but I already feel like the post was too long.

You are the perfect libber wacko now!

I do not follow your logic. I am conservative as a mother fucker. Well I am fiscally conservative. More like Calvin Coolidge Conservative not Ronald Reagan Conservative.

 

[presonorek]

The Bible gl

You know you're going to hell, right?

No. I am not sure about about any of the hell stuff.

Just poking you buddy. I had a similar situation, and if I had a nickel for each time I was told I was going to hell, I would have a lot of nickels.

I kind of worry that I will lose all my friends and have to start all over. My entire social circle is Christian. Most of them will either be freaked out or pretend to be freaked out because they don't know what else to do. I have already talked to my wife. She isn't going anywhere. My kids are growing up soon anyways. I could lose them just because of the progress of time. My life will likely become worse but pretending to be perfect does some good but some harm. The harm it does to my quality of life outweighs the benefits I get from living a lie. I may keep pretending for a while longer just to make things easier. Who knows?

You seem to be adept at living a lie.

Perhaps you could go into politics.

Bam! Fired from my teaching job in March, elected to political office in November.

 

[sealybobo]

You know you're going to hell, right?

No. I am not sure about about any of the hell stuff.

Religions. What a scam. You know what I hate about religious people? Same thing I hate about republicans. Facts don’t matter.

 

[sealybobo]

The Bible gl

You know you're going to hell, right?

No. I am not sure about about any of the hell stuff.

Just poking you buddy. I had a similar situation, and if I had a nickel for each time I was told I was going to hell, I would have a lot of nickels.

I kind of worry that I will lose all my friends and have to start all over. My entire social circle is Christian. Most of them will either be freaked out or pretend to be freaked out because they don't know what else to do. I have already talked to my wife. She isn't going anywhere. My kids are growing up soon anyways. I could lose them just because of the progress of time. My life will likely become worse but pretending to be perfect does some good but some harm. The harm it does to my quality of life outweighs the benefits I get from living a lie. I may keep pretending for a while longer just to make things easier. Who knows?

You seem to be adept at living a lie.

Perhaps you could go into politics.

Bam! Fired from my teaching job in March, elected to political office in November.

You were? My cop buddy got to 20 years, campaigned for clerk of this township, won the election, now he’s like a county clerk making $80k. If he makes it thru 2 terms he’ll get a pension from office and the police dept. cha Ching!

 

[BreezeWood]

You appear to be very confused. Good luck.

The Bible reveals that 'The truth will set you free.' If one feels imprisoned, lost, or uncertain, he likely doesn't have it...

.
not confused at all ...

You certainly are confusing, though...

.

I know there is a Creator, Almighty God.

You don't know what I have experienced.

'The truth will set you free.'

.

You certainly are confusing, though...

.
it's not the first time for bs -

truth be told is not found in hidden recesses of the christian bible or anywhere else save the lite of day.

 

[LittleNipper]

You appear to be very confused. Good luck.

The Bible reveals that 'The truth will set you free.' If one feels imprisoned, lost, or uncertain, he likely doesn't have it...

.
not confused at all ...

You certainly are confusing, though...

.

I know there is a Creator, Almighty God.

You don't know what I have experienced.

'The truth will set you free.'

.

You certainly are confusing, though...

.
it's not the first time for bs -

truth be told is not found in hidden recesses of the christian bible or anywhere else save the lite of day.

Yes, truth is in the Bible. It is unfortunate that you are blind to it.

 

[james bond]

Bam! Fired from my teaching job in March, elected to political office in November.

Sorry, I guess I have a hard time believing you.

But that's beside the point. It is what it is.

The question I have in regards to your Christianity is did the Holy Spirit never come into your life? Jesus never entered your heart?

 

[BreezeWood]

You appear to be very confused. Good luck.

The Bible reveals that 'The truth will set you free.' If one feels imprisoned, lost, or uncertain, he likely doesn't have it...

.
not confused at all ...

You certainly are confusing, though...

.

I know there is a Creator, Almighty God.

You don't know what I have experienced.

'The truth will set you free.'

.

You certainly are confusing, though...

.
it's not the first time for bs -

truth be told is not found in hidden recesses of the christian bible or anywhere else save the lite of day.

Yes, truth is in the Bible. It is unfortunate that you are blind to it.

.

Yes, truth is in the Bible. It is unfortunate that you are blind to it.

,
too bad you are unable to see the lite.

 

[james bond]

too bad you are unable to see the lite.

Which light? Satan is very good as showing himself as the "light."

 

[james bond]

Religions. What a scam. You know what I hate about religious people? Same thing I hate about republicans. Facts don’t matter.

Haha. You don't know what facts are even. Facts are things that everyone can use. Your silly atheist beliefs (another religion) has made you see red.

 

[presonorek]

Bam! Fired from my teaching job in March, elected to political office in November.

Sorry, I guess I have a hard time believing you.

But that's beside the point. It is what it is.

The question I have in regards to your Christianity is did the Holy Spirit never come into your life? Jesus never entered your heart?

Did the Holy Spirit enter my life? Uh no
Did Jesus enter my heart? Uh super no

I'm not sure what you mean by holy spirit entering my life but nothing has been inserted into my heart. That kind of procedure would require major surgery. Dude. Seriously? If dumb shit like putting a magic man inside your heart wasn't commonly said then it would sound ridiculous.

Did I put a man name Steve inside my heart? Uh no. That's a strange thing to say. It's actually fucking psychotic. Change the name to Jesus then suddenly if makes sense to say something foolish like that. In reality it is still stupid if the guy's name is Jesus.

 

[The Irish Ram]

What you escaped is a pleasant eternity.

. . . and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

But you certainly can jump out of that hand. I don't believe you were ever safe in His hands to begin with, though.
You never committed. You merely pretended. All the while being deaf and dumb:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

But thankfully you have been stopped from "teaching the Bible" from an atheist's point of view.
Good luck in your secular world...

 

[james bond]

Bam! Fired from my teaching job in March, elected to political office in November.

Sorry, I guess I have a hard time believing you.

But that's beside the point. It is what it is.

The question I have in regards to your Christianity is did the Holy Spirit never come into your life? Jesus never entered your heart?

Did the Holy Spirit enter my life? Uh no
Did Jesus enter my heart? Uh super no

I'm not sure what you mean by holy spirit entering my life but nothing has been inserted into my heart. That kind of procedure would require major surgery. Dude. Seriously? If dumb shit like putting a magic man inside your heart wasn't commonly said then it would sound ridiculous.

Did I put a man name Steve inside my heart? Uh no. That's a strange thing to say. It's actually fucking psychotic. Change the name to Jesus then suddenly if makes sense to say something foolish like that. In reality it is still stupid if the guy's name is Jesus.

It means you never took the leap of faith and became a true Christian.

At least, you're not committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

 

[BULLDOG]

Bam! Fired from my teaching job in March, elected to political office in November.

Sorry, I guess I have a hard time believing you.

But that's beside the point. It is what it is.

The question I have in regards to your Christianity is did the Holy Spirit never come into your life? Jesus never entered your heart?

Did the Holy Spirit enter my life? Uh no
Did Jesus enter my heart? Uh super no

I'm not sure what you mean by holy spirit entering my life but nothing has been inserted into my heart. That kind of procedure would require major surgery. Dude. Seriously? If dumb shit like putting a magic man inside your heart wasn't commonly said then it would sound ridiculous.

Did I put a man name Steve inside my heart? Uh no. That's a strange thing to say. It's actually fucking psychotic. Change the name to Jesus then suddenly if makes sense to say something foolish like that. In reality it is still stupid if the guy's name is Jesus.

It means you never took the leap of faith and became a true Christian.

At least, you're not committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

I did. I committed myself to what the preacher said i should commit to, and patiently waited for the peace and understanding and the good will that was to come with my committment. It never came, so I prayed harder and even became a deacon for a while. Still nothing. After years of thinking it was my fault that none of the promises seemed to come my way I determined to find out why. As soon as I retired and had the time, I did an in depth study of the bible in hopes of becoming a better Christian and finding how I failed. It had to be some fault of mine if I didn't share in all the promises I heard about each week. The more I studied, the more I realized preachers tendid to make shit up and their sermons didn't resemble anything Jesus said in the bible. Do I need to finish the still long story of how I gave up on silly religious claims, or can you figure it out for yourself?

 

[james bond]

Bam! Fired from my teaching job in March, elected to political office in November.

Sorry, I guess I have a hard time believing you.

But that's beside the point. It is what it is.

The question I have in regards to your Christianity is did the Holy Spirit never come into your life? Jesus never entered your heart?

Did the Holy Spirit enter my life? Uh no
Did Jesus enter my heart? Uh super no

I'm not sure what you mean by holy spirit entering my life but nothing has been inserted into my heart. That kind of procedure would require major surgery. Dude. Seriously? If dumb shit like putting a magic man inside your heart wasn't commonly said then it would sound ridiculous.

Did I put a man name Steve inside my heart? Uh no. That's a strange thing to say. It's actually fucking psychotic. Change the name to Jesus then suddenly if makes sense to say something foolish like that. In reality it is still stupid if the guy's name is Jesus.

It means you never took the leap of faith and became a true Christian.

At least, you're not committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

I did. I committed myself to what the preacher said i should commit to, and patiently waited for the peace and understanding and the good will that was to come with my committment. It never came, so I prayed harder and even became a deacon for a while. Still nothing. After years of thinking it was my fault that none of the promises seemed to come my way I determined to find out why. As soon as I retired and had the time, I did an in depth study of the bible in hopes of becoming a better Christian and finding how I failed. It had to be some fault of mine if I didn't share in all the promises I heard about each week. The more I studied, the more I realized preachers tendid to make shit up and their sermons didn't resemble anything Jesus said in the bible. Do I need to finish the still long story of how I gave up on silly religious claims, or can you figure it out for yourself?

Apostle Paul clearly taught that we receive the Holy Spirit the moment we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” 1 Corinthians 12:13

It's fortified by “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” Romans 8:9

The kicker to me is “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14

I used to think people were chosen, but that doesn't make any sense with the Bible. So is it the person choosing?

 

[presonorek]

You are bad. I am good. I go to heaven for eternity. You go to hell for eternity.

Did Jesus enter your heart? Did a man named Barry enter your heart? Did a man named Adam enter your heart?

I know for a fact the answer is no to all three questions. I just thought I would ask you these questions to see if you were an honest person or not.

Human beings are too big to fit in hearts. Medical science has not discovered a way to put humans in your heart. There is so much ridiculous about this concept that it is mind boggling that people lie about this silliness all over the place. It just isn't possible to put people inside your heart. I'm sure deities are just as difficult. As a matter of fact deities are even more difficult to put in hearts due to their intangible nature.

Lying to me is fine but stop lying to yourself. Everything your religion teaches is not literal.

 

[james bond]

Did Jesus enter your heart? Did a man named Barry enter your heart? Did a man named Adam enter your heart?

Lol, you are a liar and a putz. Did you ever lose any of those close to you? Don't they remain in your heart you moron? Jesus did the ultimate sacrifice for you. (Anyway, he'll be back and this time he won't be a servant.)

I can't stop laughing, so better stop here.

 

[james bond]

I know for a fact the answer is no to all three questions. I just thought I would ask you these questions to see if you were an honest person or not.

You wouldn't be wrong for most of my life. Jesus eventually came into my heart as my faith grew. The closest I can explain is how you feels about those close to (friends and family) you who have died. One of my trio of good friends died young. It's been years but still have not been able to find his mother who supposedly lives near me (not in good financial situation; lives in a trailer park but do not know where) nor been able to contact my other friend (he's a cop so it's difficult to track where he is). I've looked for him on his route but he's a distance away in another city. IOW, these kinds of things affect you and your life.

In your case, I don't think you were ever a true believer, i.e. didn't take the leap of faith yourself. You just went along because of family, friends, church, and stuff. I did, too, growing up in a parochial elementary school and then forgetting after I grew up and left. I didn't become a true believer, i.e. took a leap of faith, until 2012.

Jesus talked about the four types of believers after hearing the word of God. He highlights four different responses to the gospel as shown in the video below. The seed is “the word of the kingdom.” The hard ground represents someone who is hardened by sin; he hears but does not understand the Word, and Satan plucks the message away, keeping the heart dull and preventing the Word from making an impression. The stony ground pictures a man who professes delight with the Word; however, his heart is not changed, and when trouble arises, his so-called faith quickly disappears. The thorny ground depicts one who seems to receive the Word, but whose heart is full of riches, pleasures, and lusts; the things of this world take his time and attention away from the Word, and he ends up having no time for it. The good ground portrays the one who hears, understands, and receives the Word—and then allows the Word to accomplish its result in his life. The man represented by the “good ground” is the only one of the four who is truly saved, because salvation’s proof is fruit.



Anyway, good luck in your new belief of atheism.

 

[presonorek]

I know for a fact the answer is no to all three questions. I just thought I would ask you these questions to see if you were an honest person or not.

You wouldn't be wrong for most of my life. Jesus eventually came into my heart as my faith grew. The closest I can explain is how you feels about those close to (friends and family) you who have died. One of my trio of good friends died young. It's been years but still have not been able to find his mother who supposedly lives near me (not in good financial situation; lives in a trailer park but do not know where) nor been able to contact my other friend (he's a cop so it's difficult to track where he is). I've looked for him on his route but he's a distance away in another city. IOW, these kinds of things affect you and your life.

In your case, I don't think you were ever a true believer, i.e. didn't take the leap of faith yourself. You just went along because of family, friends, church, and stuff. I did, too, growing up in a parochial elementary school and then forgetting after I grew up and left. I didn't become a true believer, i.e. took a leap of faith, until 2012.

Jesus talked about the four types of believers after hearing the word of God. He highlights four different responses to the gospel as shown in the video below. The seed is “the word of the kingdom.” The hard ground represents someone who is hardened by sin; he hears but does not understand the Word, and Satan plucks the message away, keeping the heart dull and preventing the Word from making an impression. The stony ground pictures a man who professes delight with the Word; however, his heart is not changed, and when trouble arises, his so-called faith quickly disappears. The thorny ground depicts one who seems to receive the Word, but whose heart is full of riches, pleasures, and lusts; the things of this world take his time and attention away from the Word, and he ends up having no time for it. The good ground portrays the one who hears, understands, and receives the Word—and then allows the Word to accomplish its result in his life. The man represented by the “good ground” is the only one of the four who is truly saved, because salvation’s proof is fruit.



Anyway, good luck in your new belief of atheism.

Deep down you know this is illogical and weird. Whether a man name Sharp Heading exists or not is irrelevant until I interact with Sharp Heading. Once I run into God at the supermarket or something then His existence may matter to me. At present I have never met Him nor His son.

This is odd because i have spent 41 years in a Christian world. Where does this dickhead hang out at and enter hearts? Give that bitch my address and tell Him I want to talk to Him.

You know for a fact this shit is stupid. I get it though. There is a huge incentive to lie to yourself but you never truly convince yourself in honesty.