A kind greeting

[sumdumgai808]

Good morning everyone from the Landover Baptist Church Forums!

I stumbled upon your forum a few days ago and I suppose you can say, it peeked my interest. I have never come across a forum with such passionate members before. To get to the point, I would like to have some questions answered and hopefully gain perspective from the members here.

I grew up Roman Catholic but as the years went on, I found myself distant from the faith that I have started with. I find myself in a sort of limbo, unable to completely say I believe nor do I disbelieve in God. My beliefs may seem skewed from your perspective and you would believe I am "unsaved trash", however I can assure you that I still do believe myself to be a good person. Regardless of where my faith and beliefs are, I am still quick to help my fellow man out.

If permitted, I would like to ask you questions that have resulted in me drifting away from the church. I am curious to see how you would answer those questions.

[Rev. M. Rodimer]

Re: A kind greeting

Good morning everyone from the Landover Baptist Church Forums!

Good afternoon. Where are you that it's morning?

I stumbled upon your forum a few days ago and I suppose you can say, it peeked my interest. I have never come across a forum with such passionate members before. To get to the point, I would like to have some questions answered and hopefully gain perspective from the members here.

Answer to your first question: The word you're looking for is "piqued". "Peeked" means this:

A round, yellow face peeked from behind the thin, white curtain.

And "peaked" means this:


The snowy-peaked mountain stood guard over the peaceful mountain village.

I grew up Roman Catholic

I'm sorry.

but as the years went on, I found myself distant from the faith that I have started with.

Hurray! Maybe you can come to Jesus now!

I find myself in a sort of limbo, unable to completely say I believe nor do I disbelieve in God. My beliefs may seem skewed from your perspective and you would believe I am "unsaved trash", however I can assure you that I still do believe myself to be a good person. Regardless of where my faith and beliefs are, I am still quick to help my fellow man out.

The only way to Heaven is through Jesus. Being "nice" isn't relevant.

"Good" is defined as obedience to God. "Sin" is defined as rebellion against or disobedience to God. If you are not obeying all of God's Commands, you are a sinner, thus not a good person.

If permitted, I would like to ask you questions that have resulted in me drifting away from the church. I am curious to see how you would answer those questions.

Is this going to be another of those copypasta things from the West Wing episode?

I suggest trying out the handy Search feature to see if your questions have been answered a couple of hundred times before asking them yet again.

[sumdumgai808]

Re: A kind greeting

Good afternoon. Where are you that it's morning?

I am currently in Hawaii. It is now 12:20 PM.

Answer to your first question: The word you're looking for is "piqued". "Peeked" means this:

A round, yellow face peeked from behind the thin, white curtain.

And "peaked" means this:


The snowy-peaked mountain stood guard over the peaceful mountain village.

My apologies, thank you for the correction.

I'm sorry.

At times, I am as well.

Hurray! Maybe you can come to Jesus now!

I am hoping that I can find a definitive position on where I stand rather than continue in this spiritual limbo.

The only way to Heaven is through Jesus. Being "nice" isn't relevant.

"Good" is defined as obedience to God. "Sin" is defined as rebellion against or disobedience to God. If you are not obeying all of God's Commands, you are a sinner, thus not a good person.

I will agree with you to a certain extent. This is of course relating to part of the reason I have found myself lost.

Is this going to be another of those copypasta things from the West Wing episode?

I suggest trying out the handy Search feature to see if your questions have been answered a couple of hundred times before asking them yet again.

I have never watched West Wing or much of television shows to begin with. I tried using your search feature however I was not able to find my questions among them. It is possible that I have not looked hard enough but I felt it was more time efficient to see if you would be willing to help directly.

What first lead me astray from the bible is a simple concept. God is perfect, man is not. Man is easily corrupted and constantly surrounded by temptation. When I was younger, I realized that the bible itself has been written, edited, and translated thousands of times over - all by man. I started to question it because it seemed like if I was to take the bible as perfect, it would imply that those who were involved were perfect as well. I could not accept that man is perfect which meant that I.. could not accept the bible as perfect either.

How can one believe the bible to be perfect and yet know that the people who have been involved with the writing, editing, and translation of it are not perfect. I understand that there are measures these days to insure a consistent bible but such measures were not always around. I feel like the only true way to know what the bible says is to go to the original texts. Of course people such as myself could not even get close to any of the more ancient books. The doubt that the bible in my hands may not be an exact copy of what the original is leads me to doubt everything in it. Has anyone else thought of this? I apologize if this is a repeat question you have had asked.

[Mary Etheldreda]

Re: A kind greeting

How can one believe the bible to be perfect and yet... anything that requires evidence in lieu of faith tempts me to think critically and logically, thus rejecting faith, the perfect and unmerited gift from God.

Welcome to our friendly forums. The reason you don't have faith, dear, is because like Eve, you think maybe you're clever enough to behave according to your conscience and not according to God's Infinitely Perfect Word. Why not stop thinking so hard and simply be subservient as you have been created to be? Do you have a husband to lead you spiritually as well as physically?

[Sally Ann]

Re: A kind greeting

you think maybe you're clever enough to behave according to your conscience and not according to God's Infinitely Perfect Word. Why not stop thinking so hard and simply be subservient as you have been created to be? Do you have a husband to lead you spiritually as well as physically?

how dare you tell ANOTHER woman how she should be The world is made up of all kings Big Small Shy Tough Pretty Plain it doesn't matter we are all WOMEN and need to support eachother through the hard times and Yes the good times too so I say WAIT for more information before TELLING another woman what to do You may be surprised

[Rev. Edward Clement]

Re: A kind greeting

how dare you tell ANOTHER woman how she should be The world is made up of all kings Big Small Shy Tough Pretty Plain it doesn't matter we are all WOMEN and need to support eachother through the hard times and Yes the good times too so I say WAIT for more information before TELLING another woman what to do You may be surprised

Where does it say that in the Bible and do you have your husband's permission to be here?

Also, make use of correct American English punctuation before submitting a post. It is hard to tell what you are trying to say otherwise.

[Rev. M. Rodimer]

Re: A kind greeting

I have never watched West Wing or much of television shows to begin with. I tried using your search feature however I was not able to find my questions among them. It is possible that I have not looked hard enough but I felt it was more time efficient to see if you would be willing to help directly.

Then I apologize for being testy. We get many trolls here who think this is the "GOTCHA!" question forum, not the Introduction Forum, and who constantly post the same things day in and day out as though they are things we've never considered.

What first lead me astray from the bible is a simple concept. God is perfect, man is not. Man is easily corrupted and constantly surrounded by temptation. When I was younger, I realized that the bible itself has been written, edited, and translated thousands of times over - all by man. I started to question it because it seemed like if I was to take the bible as perfect, it would imply that those who were involved were perfect as well. I could not accept that man is perfect which meant that I.. could not accept the bible as perfect either.

How can one believe the bible to be perfect and yet know that the people who have been involved with the writing, editing, and translation of it are not perfect. I understand that there are measures these days to insure a consistent bible but such measures were not always around. I feel like the only true way to know what the bible says is to go to the original texts. Of course people such as myself could not even get close to any of the more ancient books. The doubt that the bible in my hands may not be an exact copy of what the original is leads me to doubt everything in it. Has anyone else thought of this? I apologize if this is a repeat question you have had asked.

It's been asked, but not nearly so politely. I commend you for this, and appreciate the effort.

Allow me to lay out a logical argument for you.

We start with a couple of basic assumptions; God is all-powerful and all-knowing. With me so far?

Now, since God is all-knowing, He knows exactly what the Bible says.

Since God is all-powerful, He could easily change every single Bible in the world to say whatever He wanted in the blink of an eye. Or even to say nothing at all.

The Bible says what it says.

Therefore, the laws set forth must be what God wants us to follow.

Do you see how that flows logically? Why would God leave us to guess which parts of the Bible to follow?

Now, you may still want to believe the Bible contains flaws. For that to be the case, one of these conditions logically must exist:

• God is either not all-knowing or not all-powerful, and thus not much of a God;
• God is messing with us to confuse us so He can send us to Hell for not obeying Him correctly, which means He is evil;
• God doesn't care about humans' lives, so for practical purposes may as well not exist; or
• God does not exist.

Which of these do you think is the case?

how dare you tell ANOTHER woman how she should be The world is made up of all kings Big Small Shy Tough Pretty Plain it doesn't matter we are all WOMEN and need to support eachother through the hard times and Yes the good times too so I say WAIT for more information before TELLING another woman what to do You may be surprised

Can't you write a coherent sentence, Spazzy Ann? And can you not derail this newcomer's introduction thread with your Spazzercise(tm)?

[sumdumgai808]

Re: A kind greeting

Actually I am a man. I also agree with Sally Ann. Women have the same rights as men and do not need men to guide them no more than women need to guide men.

However this is not a question of genders. All I am asking is how could one say the bible is perfect after knowing it is written/translated/edited by humans? Humans are obviously far from perfect, and to imply that the bible is perfect would in turn imply that the humans who were involved with it are perfect as well.

[Brother Harold Porter]

Re: A kind greeting

All I am asking is how could one say the bible is perfect after knowing it is written/translated/edited by humans? Humans are obviously far from perfect, and to imply that the bible is perfect would in turn imply that the humans who were involved with it are perfect as well.

Because God tells us that it is perfect.

2 Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"

Do you honestly think that our Lord would go to the effort of creating Earth in six days, in all of His majestical glory, and then allow heathen scum to alter His Word?

In Christ

[Jedediah]

Re: A kind greeting

I can assure you that I still do believe myself to be a good person. Regardless of where my faith and beliefs are, I am still quick to help my fellow man out.

Doesn't matter. What matters is whether you have faith in Christ and accept His kind offer of Redemption.

Galatians 2:16
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

If permitted, I would like to ask you questions that have resulted in me drifting away from the church.

It's quite possible that the LORD has sent you delusion because He decided before you were born that you should go to hell. Just putting it out there as a possibility...

II Thessalonians 2:11-12
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

[sumdumgai808]

Re: A kind greeting

Then I apologize for being testy. We get many trolls here who think this is the "GOTCHA!" question forum, not the Introduction Forum, and who constantly post the same things day in and day out as though they are things we've never considered.


It's been asked, but not nearly so politely. I commend you for this, and appreciate the effort.

Allow me to lay out a logical argument for you.

We start with a couple of basic assumptions; God is all-powerful and all-knowing. With me so far?

Now, since God is all-knowing, He knows exactly what the Bible says.

Since God is all-powerful, He could easily change every single Bible in the world to say whatever He wanted in the blink of an eye. Or even to say nothing at all.

The Bible says what it says.

Therefore, the laws set forth must be what God wants us to follow.

Do you see how that flows logically? Why would God leave us to guess which parts of the Bible to follow?

Now, you may still want to believe the Bible contains flaws. For that to be the case, one of these conditions logically must exist:

• God is either not all-knowing or not all-powerful, and thus not much of a God;
• God is messing with us to confuse us so He can send us to Hell for not obeying Him correctly, which means He is evil;
• God doesn't care about humans' lives, so for practical purposes may as well not exist; or
• God does not exist.

Which of these do you think is the case?

Can't you write a coherent sentence, Spazzy Ann? And can you not derail this newcomer's introduction thread with your Spazzercise(tm)?

I suppose this is where my faith found it hard to believe in his powers. Again, I apologize, I do not want to come across as arrogant or close-minded. Why would he need us to make the bibles to begin with? If he could turn anything into what he wants in a blink of an eye, I would have imagined the world would not doubt him completely and we would not find ourselves in the world we are currently in now.

There are always the arguments that many people side step when asked about them. For instance, why does he let people in third world countries suffer? Every other week I hear a tragic story about shootings, starvation, etc... While I understand there are tests that are placed in front of people for a reason - what I cannot understand is the scale on which these occur. If one was to look at it from the outside, it is easy for many to think that God does not exist or that he is not the God we project him to be.

The number of counter points to the teaching in the bible seem to just grow more and more. For instance, I read in the other forum the three ways to prove the world was flat. With our current path, many predict space travel will be more accessible in the future. What does it say about the bible when we get to that point and find that it is indeed round?

I feel so confused about all of this. I hope my thoughts were coherent enough to understand.

[Rev. M. Rodimer]

Re: A kind greeting

I suppose this is where my faith found it hard to believe in his powers. Again, I apologize, I do not want to come across as arrogant or close-minded. Why would he need us to make the bibles to begin with? If he could turn anything into what he wants in a blink of an eye, I would have imagined the world would not doubt him completely and we would not find ourselves in the world we are currently in now.

Free will.

God wants us to believe in Him.

If He revealed Himself to us, then we would have empirical evidence of His existence. We would know. If you know, you don't need to have faith.

He also wants us to obey Him. If we didn't have the ability to choose our actions, we couldn't obey; we'd be automatons.

There are always the arguments that many people side step when asked about them. For instance, why does he let people in third world countries suffer? Every other week I hear a tragic story about shootings, starvation, etc... While I understand there are tests that are placed in front of people for a reason - what I cannot understand is the scale on which these occur. If one was to look at it from the outside, it is easy for many to think that God does not exist or that he is not the God we project him to be.

He probably isn't the God most churches pretend He is.

Do you think God loves everybody? Never hates?

The Bible will tell you different. He hates most people . . . All sinners.

He hates them so much that He will resurrect all the sinners from unknowing death (Ecclesiastes 9:5) into immortal bodies, specifically so He can burn them alive for all time in His Lake of Fire.

Not very loving, huh?

The number of counter points to the teaching in the bible seem to just grow more and more. For instance, I read in the other forum the three ways to prove the world was flat. With our current path, many predict space travel will be more accessible in the future. What does it say about the bible when we get to that point and find that it is indeed round?

My congregation does not share Landover's position that the Bible makes the shape of the Earth clear. It is not a salvation issue, anyway.

[Mary Etheldreda]

Re: A kind greeting

how dare you tell ANOTHER woman how she should be

I dare because it is not I who speaks the TRUTH but the LORD whose TRUTH is spoken through me, His Humble Servant.

The world is made up of all kings Big Small Shy Tough Pretty Plain it doesn't matter we are all WOMEN and need to support eachother through the hard times and Yes the good times too so I say WAIT for more information before TELLING another woman what to do You may be surprised

The only support she needs is to know how to find Salvation and that comes by faith, which comes by hearing the word of God. (Romans 10:17)

[Pastor Ezekiel]

Re: A kind greeting

Good morning everyone from the Landover Baptist Church Forums!

I stumbled upon your forum a few days ago and I suppose you can say, it peeked my interest. I have never come across a forum with such passionate members before. To get to the point, I would like to have some questions answered and hopefully gain perspective from the members here.

I grew up Roman Catholic but as the years went on, I found myself distant from the faith that I have started with. I find myself in a sort of limbo, unable to completely say I believe nor do I disbelieve in God. My beliefs may seem skewed from your perspective and you would believe I am "unsaved trash", however I can assure you that I still do believe myself to be a good person. Regardless of where my faith and beliefs are, I am still quick to help my fellow man out.

If permitted, I would like to ask you questions that have resulted in me drifting away from the church. I am curious to see how you would answer those questions.

If you'd like to find out more about Landover Baptist Church, please read THIS thread created especially for new posters.

If you have a question, use the "search" function before posting it. Most likely it is being discussed somewhere on this Godly forum. Please don't waste God's precious bandwidth.

You will keep a respectful tongue in your head whenever addressing your betters, which includes all True Christians™. Failure to do so, or any attempt at inciting debate or mockery of God's Divine Plan, can and will result in the suspension of your posting privileges.

Your rights on this forum are listed HERE. If you feel that any of these rights have been violated, please don't hesitate to contact a Pastor at once.

[Redeemed Papist]

Re: A kind greeting

Actually I am a man. I also agree with Sally Ann. Women have the same rights as men and do not need men to guide them no more than women need to guide men.

You'd think so wouldn't you. On the face of it the feminist position makes kind of sense if you approach it from a secular reason direction. And this is when alarm bells start ringing in the minds of anyone seeking to follow a divinely inspired moral compass.

Checking the Bible shows us that God has other ideas. Consistently the message is that women should be subservient and that men should rule them with a disclaimer that we shouldn't be unnecessarily cruel.

When it comes to deciding what's right there's only God's way to choose.