A sincere question

I dont know if I posted this before , If I did forgive me.
Is it possible to follow the Christian God if you dont believe in the bible?

I want to follow the Christian God but so much doesnt add up in the bible. It is my only hinderance.

So Is it possible?

You asked something very similar, but don't worry about it....

Let me ask a question in return... How do you follow anybody if you don't use the path TO them? You may or may not ever reach them, but you certainly will have spent a lot of time and energy getting off the path, making your own, or trying to find better ones through strange territories and lands.

All journeys have a deadline - our physical lives are not finite. You, of all people, know the shortness of life on earth and the suddenness in which it can end.

I have questions about the Bible, too. Some of its content make God look like a total a-hole in His pronouncements and condemnations. I just shake my head and wonder why, oh why...

Then Jesus' words and actions shine through like beacons of light and hope for the right way of life. For me, I put it ALL (my whole life and path) on the weight of Jesus' words and actions. I compare it, contrast it, examine it all through Jesus - after all, He WAS God on earth, in human form - so that SHOWS me what God Himself is really like, and what He wants me to be.

I still have questions and confusions... and I will be asking for explanations when I get to heaven. But, for right now... here on earth... with confusions and questions, I use the guide that I have - the Bible.

And I make sure I ask for answers to my questions to like-minded brothers and sisters - I do not ask strangers and foreigners for guidance.

I was praying for the first time in a long time last night. I prayed for the simple gut level truth about the bible. The path I am on now answers the questions that the bible cant. B ut me being a person that hates change I think back on the twenty or so years I followed the bible. It wasn't until I started asking WHY that I got discouraged. It wasnt until I seen how man had messed up and misinturpreted the bible and its laws that I went to the path I follow now. I BELIEVE IN GOD, I believe in the sacrifice of Jesus...sacrifice is a neccesity even in nature. I believe in John 3:3 that says we must be born again. but its all the stuff inbetween that i have doubts about. Is believing upon and placing God as the primary God not enought maybe????

berserkr_1 wrote:

... Is believing upon and placing God as the primary God not enought maybe????

I understood everything up until this question... primary God as in one god more important than another? That would imply a belief in multiple gods?

I'm sorry, Jim - could you ask a different way, or explain a little more what you're thinking, to help this old lady understand a little better?

The answers I couldnt find in the bible I found with a more nature based God. Not Asatru, but Odinism seems to give me the answers to why things are as they are and I am as I am..I follow Jehovah and the nordic Nature Gods.

I have to be a stickler for the truth here
"I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before Me"

I have at times in my life delved into many different belief structures both with God and against Him. But I do believe that the only way to Heaven lies in God and His son Jesus Christ.
Sometimes I feel the dark forces working strongly on me trying to pull me away. It's very easy for me with the ppl I am constantly surrounded by to fall onto the dark path but I am praying for strength and that i don't stray too far for too long.
Don't know if that's any help.

Hey there Jim. Mike here. You and I should talk soon.
I have been reading your posts for some time and been praying much just haven't responded until now.
The question, as well as other comments made in other sections, I do not feel can be answered in a paragraph or two on a message board. If you are willing and able lets get in touch when we both have some time and we can go over some of these things.

But just a short answer, to the initial question, from God Himself : "Why do you call me Lord and do not do what I say?"
In other words, how can we follow God (ie. the Christian God) without knowing what He has said?

Lets ignore the "short answer part"...LOL.

In the many years I have been "in the Book" I have had thousands if not millions of questions and yes I do still have some but the more I study and read and pray and get to know the Author of the Book, and not just the book itself, but the One who wrote it, the fewer questions I seem to have unless it is over something I just disagree with the Scriptures about but guess what...if He said it...I can disagree all I want but I will be wrong and God right.

The one thing I always keep in mind as to my questions is this - "He is God and I am NOT!" - "His ways are not our ways nor are His thoughts our thoughts declares the Sovereign Lord". He is the ONLY One who "knows the end from the beginning".

Think on this for a bit and lets get together on my dime and talk.

Until I hear from you : Peace in the Name of Him that loved us unto death...and loves us still!

Praying for you and yours,
Mike

I had to step away to pray to seek the right words. And Mike is very right in that, there are no short board answers for you. Please do take him up on his invitational for discussion and prayer. You know he loves you and he is a trustworthy friend. (I do not use that word lightly for you... )

But I think an attempt should be made for those participating and those who lurk. You never know what minds watch our board....

Di spoke well with "I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before Me" out of Exodus and Deutoronomy.

There is also Jeremiah 10:10 "But the LORD is the true God;He is the living God and the everlasting King..."

John 17:3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Here's a goodie, John 5:44 "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?

(Yep, I emphasized a few words....)

The only problem is that these are words from the very book you say you have doubts about, so it becomes a useless circular arguement. How can I give you proof when the proof that I trust and cling to is from the very source you do NOT trust? Makes it very hard for me.... **wink, wink**

So, let's start with your own words:

Quote :

It wasn't until I started asking WHY that I got
discouraged. It wasnt until I seen how man had messed up and
misinturpreted the bible and its laws that I went to the path I follow
now.

I have asked why also, and sometimes I received answers and sometimes I did not. One thing I noticed right away is the confusion came when I asked strangers for help instead of brothers and sisters.

Now don't get me wrong - sometimes these well meaning brothers and sisters did not give me answers that agreed with my gut. But FIRST AND FOREMOST, my gut KNEW that Jehovah was Lord and King, and that the Bible was His written Word on Earth for us to follow. So logically, the Bible was right, but that MAN had a problem with his finiteness and lack of wisdom. Remember, even you said that MAN had misinterpreted the Bible and it's Laws.

So, back to the source - God Himself and His written Word.

First, yes - there are many, many, many, MANY versions of the Written Word of God. And there are some new ones that are a little wierd, but... this is not a discussion about various translations, KJV only versus all others, blah, blah, blah.

The major and oldest translations - and I define major and oldest as these: KJV & NKJV, ASB & NASB, Amplified, NIV, Young's Literal, Holmes, RSV & NRSV - have all been "proven" as accurate to the old scrolls and historical evidences. These are considered the more "scholarly" versions.

Aside from minor theological arguements within the Christian community, all of these BASICALLY are the same in how they convey God, His power, anger, righteousness, justice, majesty, jealousy, as well as His incredible love for mankind, His grace, His mercy, and the amazing sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, to reconcile mankind back to God.

All of these also portray Jesus in His truest form with His teachings, His miracles, and His mission here on Earth of mankind's restoration and right relationship to His Father.

Global, general concepts for everyday life on earth with God and His people. Love, peace, turn the other cheek, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, take care of widows and orphans, live a life like Jesus, THINK like Jesus, bring my thoughts in line with His, (still working on that one...) share, share, and SHARE, worship God ALONE and respect the earth and animals He gave us. (Yes, there is a WHOLE lot more, but you get the general idea...)

I came to the conclusion that the Bible is RIGHT and man is WRONG. Period.

So I read... and compare... and contrast... and go to a church that TEACHES the Bible and doesn't "interpret" it for me.

So maybe that's where to start, Jim. You had it right when you say MAN messed it up. Quit listening to men, and get back to the Bible. Start there... just reading it again, maybe starting in Matthew with Jesus and His sermon on the mount(ain). **wink, wink**

If you would like a new Bible to start fresh, just let us know. I and sure we can come up with one for you.

Everyone else, provided Jim says yes, want to read with Jim?

I have all manners of different bibles, I basicly use the KJV and NIV. I have read the bible three times through, but I admit not recently. I believe 2009 is the year that I am going to find peace and anchor my boat there untill the skeen of my life runs out. Its starting out quite peaceful and blessed.
I simply ask for the prayers of all of my friends who follows Jehovah as God and the guidance of whatever powers that might be. I must find peace in 2009. My days should be closing in a few years and I want to be anchored....
SO...WHEREVER I FIND THE PEACE is where I shall be from now on.....After I find my fjord and anchor my longship, there will be no more exploring.
Pray to what ever Gods you pray to for me....
Thank you for being my family.
Peace to all of you in 2009.

you're always in my prayers Jim.
and we could all use a little peace in our lives.

I do apreciate the prayers folks....One thing I have learned is never completely dismiss another persons beliefs even if they differ from your own....Though prayer dont work for me I have no doubt that there is a majority of the peoople here that it does work for.....Thank you for your prayers.

Wow... Heavy stuff going on here. I must put in my thoughts...

The majesty and proof of the legitimacy of the divine authoring of the bible is in the nature of it's intricacy and depth. No mere man could have possibly authored this work on his own accord, it's simply not possible.

The bible is authored as to be meditated on. As you meditate and pray upon that which you question, it's author spiritually reveals the unknown to you. Many things deemed as a contradiction suddenly becomes revealed as ingenious and far too deep for any mere mortal to have conceived it.

Think about it. Why does this book alone spark so much controversy? Why can one person read a verse and find nothing but another read the same verse and unlock a great mystery? No other book boasts this sort of depth. This leads to only one conclusion:

The bible was divinely authored by God, through man's hand. God, being God, knew what man would write which words and thus, which man to choose for the exact words he wanted written. He is, after all, God! He knows every single man, his thoughts, his deeds, and what the results of his work on an assignment God gave him will be. So the question no longer becomes, "Is the bible true and accurate?" It becomes, "The bible must be true and accurate, and I wish to reveal it's secrets! I'll read until God unveils them!"

Blessed is the man that chooses this difficult, but worthwhile task! Hope this sheds some light on this mysterious, but amazing work.