I love you guys (yes, even you)

[JamesRandallFarmer]

Hey good Christian men and women (and also you not-so-good not-so-Christian ones),

I really love you guys. Yes, all of you.

I'm not a Christian; however, it doesn't take strong faith (just open eyes) to see that the people here are truly interesting. The unapologetic and unpopular sentiments expressed here really thrill me.

I'm not saying I agree with them. In fact, I strongly disagree with most everything posted here. It's just that it's thrilling to read these words and believe they are deeply believed. (Please don't correct me; I don't care if they're actually deeply believed or not, so long as I can continue believing that they are.)

And that's really all I have to say. May you continue to be blessed and protected by your respective deities (or lack thereof.) And please do keep the faith, whatever that may be.

Sincerely,
James

[Pastor Ezekiel]

Re: I love you guys (yes, even you)

Thank you for sharing your good wishes, freind. It's nice to welcome a friendly visitor to God's favorite forum.

Please tell us about yourself. What church do you attend? How old are you? Give us your testimony, friend.

[JamesRandallFarmer]

Re: I love you guys (yes, even you)

Pastor Ezekiel,

I must apologize for my hastiness in two respects.

First, thank you for moving my post to the correct forum.

Second, I have posted a detailed reply to your questions, but I must confess that I was not careful to note where it was posted. I of course thought it would be attached to this thread, but I seem to have been mistaken. If it is simply delayed in being visible to me, then please disregard.

I would also like to apologize in advance for being a noob, which is impossible for me to hide, and indeed for possessing curiously little experience with many common human experiences given my age and occupation.

I would not hold it against anyone to explain everything to me as though I were a five-year-old. I often feel that young children have a better grasp of reality than I do.

I assure you I have every intention of being sincere. With respect to Game Theory, I assert that I typically find it to be the option of highest utility.

[JamesRandallFarmer]

Re: I love you guys (yes, even you)

I'm almost certain that I have already posted this somewhere, but I will post it here again, because I see the post I just made using this technique.

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Pastor Ezekiel,

Thank you for addressing me. I know it may sound too self-deprecating, but I'm actually a very selfish person. And I don't claim to have any answers to anything. I think I'm pretty good at coming up with questions, though.

My dad is a Southern Baptist minister. I must confess I couldn't tell you exactly how that would relate to your denomination. He was an Assembly of God minister before that, into which he was first ordained. I don't remember exactly why he changed his mind. It was never an issue with me.

I was raised mostly Southern Baptist, so I am somewhat familiar with much of its teachings. I must admit that I greatly enjoyed it as well, and consider church activities to be some of my greatest memories.

Some things always bothered me about the Bible and some beliefs. I think most of them were just the usual complaints that result from being impatient. But a couple kinda stuck with me.

I already mentioned that I'm a very selfish person, so it makes sense that the number one thing was that I didn't think Heaven sounded very Heavenly. It sounded a lot like church in a lot of ways.

There were some things about church that I didn't like. For example, trying to stay awake. Of course, my dad was the pastor all the time, and I was pretty familiar with his teachings. And of course a good bit of it was hard to follow, not intended for me.

But he did have "Children's Church" sometimes, which I thought was just about the best thing ever. I think he sincerely personally cared about a lot of people over the course of his life, and also felt guilty for making money doing it. I really think he could get a lot out of seeing the ideas posted here.

At about 12yo, I began to think of him as being beneath me in terms of general cleverness, as I came to perceive the entire South collectively.

To me, Heaven was like living in the South, perpetually. That is about what it equated to in my imagination. Yes, the streets were gold, and yes there was no death, and I believed there would just about have to be fried chicken and mashed potatoes, but then what would I have?

For me, it did not seem like enough.

When I was 15 or so, waiting for the bus, I told my little brother about it. From there, my brother and I diverged for a while. He's a Leo like my father. I'm a Cancer, in case you haven't guessed.

After a while, I stopped worrying about religion. After a little while longer, I began to miss it. A little later, it became a hobby. I'm 36 years old.

Again, thank you for asking about me and allowing me to share this. I gain great satisfaction from activities like this, and I can appreciate your apparently pure motives.

Also, I would not be adverse whatsoever to answering more pointed questions, even those of a deeply philosophical, complex, or even unresolvable nature. Do not be afraid to challenge me. I greatly enjoy puzzles and mysteries, and I love attention more than well enough to be candid and forthcoming.

My dad tells me he has observed that I have tremendous faith, but that I don't have good "faith talk." There are many ways to take this, but I have assumed that he believes that I actually believe, but that I don't admit it.

I start probably 30% of my sentences with the word "But;" however, I'm working to become more positive. These emoticons are unbelievable. This is a great thing you're doing here, in my humble opinion.

That's all for now. Thanks again everyone!

[Pastor Ezekiel]

Re: I love you guys (yes, even you)

Thanks for sharing all that. How is your relationship with God now?

It sounds like you have turned your back on God to me. Maybe it was the way those false Christian wimps who call themselves Southern Baptists gave you wrong ideas about God's Holy expectations of us.

I hope that you'll read through our Church Doctrines HERE to get an idea about where we're coming from at Landover Baptist. I'm sure it will sound familiar to you.

Selfishness and "game theory" and demonic astrology will not get you washed in Christ's Blood, Jimmy. God guided you here for a reason.

[HTannor]

Re: I love you guys (yes, even you)

Is "Game Theory" some sort of New Age drivel?

[JamesRandallFarmer]

Re: I love you guys (yes, even you)

Thanks for sharing all that. How is your relationship with God now?

It sounds like you have turned your back on God to me. Maybe it was the way those false Christian wimps who call themselves Southern Baptists gave you wrong ideas about God's Holy expectations of us.

I hope that you'll read through our Church Doctrines HERE to get an idea about where we're coming from at Landover Baptist. I'm sure it will sound familiar to you.

Selfishness and "game theory" and demonic astrology will not get you washed in Christ's Blood, Jimmy. God guided you here for a reason.

I would not dream of arguing against this, and I am anxious to write a detailed response once I have reviewed the doctrine.

These past few days, I have dared to fantasize that there is a chance even a poor country boy like me could one day become a True Christian.

Of course, I haven't yet looked at the qualifications, so I can't say for sure. I'm just saying, the powerful personalities here have given me the audacity to imagine I could one day join the very best of the very best.

Truly inspirational! Please keep up the splendid work!

[JamesRandallFarmer]

Re: I love you guys (yes, even you)

Hi there HTannor. I'm pretty sure Game Theory is fairly new, but not so sure it would be considered by most folks to be New Age.

Right decent guess, though! Thanks for playing!

[JamesRandallFarmer]

Re: I love you guys (yes, even you)

Pastor Ezekiel,

I've looked over the doctrine and I have to say that it is probably the most straightforward and easy-to-understand Christian doctrine I've ever had the pleasure to peruse.

However, I'm worried that I still might not qualify to be a True Christian. Some of your tenets are quite contrary to what I believe with all my heart to be right and true. And I'm ashamed and embarrassed to admit it would take more than simply God's will, the promise of infinite reward, or even the threat of eternal damnation to make me compromise my integrity.

But please don't let that detract from my earnest praise. Perhaps you don't believe that I could have diametrically opposing beliefs and also have a great appreciation for your immeasurable faith. But I believe that I can, therefore to me it is indistinguishable from truth.

Perhaps I was created to illustrate the parable of Matthew 13. On the other hand, I don't suppose I have to tell you good folks that perhaps not everyone was intended to go to Heaven.

Again, thank you very much for not only listening to me, but also trying to save my soul. And I must say, if it were possible for me to be a Christian, I would settle for nothing less than being a True Christian.

Keep the faith!

[TheLordSavedMe]

Re: I love you guys (yes, even you)

This stuff is waaaayyy over my head, I'll tell you that!

But thanks for saying you love me, that was sweet!

I guess a Pastor will let us all know if you are a good person or if your are headed for hell. I'll keep an eye on this thread to see if I'm supposed to agree with you or not Mr. Farmer!

Good luck!

Tammi

[JamesRandallFarmer]

Re: I love you guys (yes, even you)

Oh Tammi,

I think you're the one who is sweet. Thank you for your nice reply!

I look forward to getting to know you better, as well as everyone else. I can't honestly say I'm sure I'll live up to your expectations, but I do promise to be on my best behavior.

Have a wonderful day, Tammi.