Cousin Jack wrote: Sun Jun 22, 2025 6:23 pm
the_priest wrote: Sun Jun 22, 2025 5:45 pm
ZRX61 wrote: Sat Jun 21, 2025 1:16 am
Maybe they should try praying away the pain & suffering? oh wait...
Yes, I do that. At the hospital bedside, at the care home, at the hospice... I see it first hand. I see people who want to die, they want to leave, they want it all to end, but they also want a place to go do, to have an assurance that they are loved, they are more than just this. I point them to Jesus, that is all I can do. And yes, I've seen prayers answered, I've seen people healed, I've seen pain go and smiles return. I've seen death and the dealt with the grief and pain it brings, but also the faith that those who look beyond to the far shore.
Far shore? Is that what you call your imaginary place now? In my youth it was all about joining a blonde haired bearded bloke in a long white dress on a cloud.
Sorry, but many (possibly most) of us dont believe that fairy tale any more. When I am dead I am dead. Period.
At the moment I have no wish to die, I can foresee a time (hopefully many years away) when I may. If that happens I do not my choice blocked by people who believe in fairy stories.
Sorry if that grates, I don't want to offended you but neither do I want your beliefs to override mine.
Your choice. I prefer to know that the one who calls me will take me to that far shore. Jesus is Jewish, a middle Eastern man, definitely not blonde and blue eyed! Get facts right.
As to fairy tales, become a student of history, learn that the vast majority of the New Testament is firmly rooted in historical fact, Roman, Greek and Jewish, outside of the Biblical accounts verify the existence of Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, Roman Governor. The New Testament scriptures have more historical weight and credence than any other historical records, the volume of support material is far in excess of other historical items. The Koran/Quran, supposedly written seven hundred years later, has 7 fragments purporting to be original scripts. The New Testament has in excess of 20,000 items, many more than just fragments.
My belief does not override yours, but I also won't allow mine to be run roughshod over. I stand firm in my faith and will actually die for it, because I know in full what I believe to be true and trustworthy.
Those Jewish men chose to die terrible deaths rather than refute/deny/denounce the truth that they knew Jesus rose from the dead.
