Home > Gwinnett > Rick Badie / My Opinion > Archives > 2007 > November > 20 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USPrayer works; answer isn’t always, ‘yes’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
She called early Sunday morning, before service. The stranger said she had a brain tumor.
She told Sharon Watkins, the pastor, that she wanted Tucker First United Methodist Church to pray for her.
The congregation learned of the unusual call during “known concerns,’ that time of the service where we acknowledge those who are at home or in the hospital, ill. Then, we pray for them.
Last week, the issue of prayer turned very public when Gov. Sonny Perdue held a prayer vigil for rain. It made national news. Whoopi Goldberg, the comedian/actress, defended him on a recent episode of “The View.” Skeptics criticized his faith-based approach to the drought. Some called it an embarrassment to the state, a political stunt, a joke from an administration that’s done too little, much too late.
Nowadays, we see various public displays of people praying, giving thanks. Some football players drop to their knee to say a prayerful thank-you for scoring six points. At award shows, those rappers who put the most vile lyrics to beats thank God for their success.
It’s not my place to judge their sincerity. Yours neither.
So rather than “go there,” let’s flip the script. Think about those who embrace no institution of faith; who have no desire to explore it; who shun belief in, or even the slightest acknowledgement of, any kind of higher being or spirituality.
What do they credit for their blessings? Better yet, when times prove difficult, seemingly unbearable, to whom or what do they turn for relief?
On April 4, 1993, Tommy Tomlinson wrote a form letter to his dearest friends. A nagging hoarse throat had turned out to be a tumor. Doctors removed a mass about as big around as the fingernail on the pinky finger from one of his vocal cords. Additional treatment was needed. If successful, he’d be left with a raspy voice - “like Joe Cocker on a two-pack-a-day habit,” he wrote.
For those of us who would want to help, Tomlinson made a suggestion.
“If you’re the praying kind, pray,” he wrote. “If you’re not, build up good karma however you can.”
Today, Tomlinson is an award-winning columnist for The Charlotte Observer, a 2005 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in commentary.
Thank science and medicine. But don’t discount what his friends tapped into - faith, spirituality, positive thoughts and energy. In other words, “prayers.” And if Tomlinson had left us, if his surgery had failed, that still wouldn’t have been a reason to say, unequivocally and absolutely, that prayer can’t work. You don’t always get what you want, when you want it.
After Sunday service, Debbie Carlton, the associate pastor, told me that the woman who’d called Tucker First UMC had planned to call churches across the metro area and ask for prayers.
Maybe she called yours.
Don’t let her down.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail rbadie@ajc.com.
Permalink | Comments (49) | Post your comment | Categories: Rick Badie
Comments
By Mark
November 20, 2007 8:38 AM | Link to this
Anyone who believes in a magical man in the sky is either a child, or a retard.
By Stan
November 20, 2007 8:57 AM | Link to this
Mark, I don’t particularly believe myself, however I find it incredibly rude and completely inappropriate to refer to God as the “magical man in the sky”. If you have nothing productive to add to the topic please do everyone a favor and simply not post.
By Mark
November 20, 2007 9:14 AM | Link to this
What productive comments can there possibly be about an entity that doesn’t exist? Better be good Stan. Santa is on his way! LOL
By Aquagirl
November 20, 2007 9:16 AM | Link to this
Okay, here’s a productive post. If you want to see how great prayer works for healing check it out.
If you care about this unknown woman, don’t pray for her. Y’all want her to die or somethin’?!?
By Katie
November 20, 2007 9:19 AM | Link to this
There was a scientific study done on prayer and the findings were that prayer did not help. so, go ahead and believe in the white man, with a white beard who lives in the sky but I would suggest putting the bong down and be realistic.
By Katie
November 20, 2007 9:19 AM | Link to this
There was a scientific study done on prayer and the findings were that prayer did not help. so, go ahead and believe in the white man, with a white beard who lives in the sky but I would suggest putting the bong down and be realistic.
By Dave
November 20, 2007 10:16 AM | Link to this
Katie and Mark, I guess if you can’t see it, touch it, feel it or taste it, it doesn’t exist, right? What a sad, self centered narrow minded approach to life. You would be the ones that laughed at people who thought the world wasn’t flat, just because you hadn’t seen it. Ot that illness couldn’t be cured, because you hadn’t experienced it yourself. You always think that if it doesn’t work out for you, give you what you want or require nothing of you, you want no part of it. You sad, lost and ignorant people. God works all around you every day. You just refuse to see it. I am a Christian who thinks science and religion walk hand in hand (evolution, for instance). You go ahead with your blinded life, accepting only what you can touch and living by rules that benefit only you. I’ll believe in wonder, mercy, good will, joy, forgveness, God speaking to me and proving his existence every day. One day, you won’t have an option.
By Aquagirl
November 20, 2007 10:39 AM | Link to this
Dave, how ironic you use flat-earthers or the sick as examples. Science had to overcome superstitious religion to let us know earth isn’t the center of the universe. And once we accepted illness as caused by biochemical processes instead of wrath of the magical man in the sky, we made huge scientific advances. Both astronomy and medicine have struggled to overcome twisted and simple-minded religious thinking.
In this case, I’m concerned for the unknown sick woman. My posted link is scientific evidence that praying is more likely to make her sicker. If you want to really help people, reliance on platitudes and self-inflated ego won’t go very far. It will make you feel you’re better than everyone else, judging by your post.
By Marty
November 20, 2007 10:45 AM | Link to this
It would appear that those who cannot believe in something larger than what is right in front them also possess a great deal of animosity towards those who do.
Why?
Is it that terrible that someone has strong beliefs and relies upon them? NO.
If you don’t believe, that’s fine..but remember that more people believe than don’t believe!
By Aquagirl
November 20, 2007 11:10 AM | Link to this
It would appear that those who think their beliefs make them superior have no problem saying so. Blogs are full of self-righteous posts like Dave’s. You think he doesn’t show any animosity? There’s a big load, combined with a god-snobbery which strongly resembles country-club thinking.
BTW, if you dig science so much maybe you’ll take it seriously and not ignore studies like Katie cited.
If we’re voting on a supreme deity, we’ll have to jettison Jesus in 50 years or so. With the increasing populations of Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu populations Christianity will be outnumbered. Vishnu be praised.
By Dave
November 20, 2007 11:20 AM | Link to this
Marty, you have it dead on. AguaGirl, you have been relying on too much Hollywood as your foundation of “If God is real, why won’t he fix all the bad in the world?” God gives us everything to make our lives good and grand. It’s what you DO with what he’s given you that defines your life. Man can take anything in this world and use it foe good or bad. He gives us the freedom of personal choice. That’s why you haven’t seen a burning bush or a person with wings hovering over you. Even though it happens, just because it hasn’t happened to you in that way, doesn’t make it real. You just chose to ignore every single sign he is presenting you with or just dismiss it as coincidence or “So what?”. I am not better than you or any other person. I am just secure in my own experience. He has done WAY too much for me to just dismiss it as coincidence. He gives us the intelligence to make all of these scientific breakthroughs. You just attribute it to he’s just smart. You are the one with all the arrogance, trusting on just yourself to handle everything in your life. Sometimes the answer to prayer is, indeed, NO. You just take it out by saying “If he didn’t give me that, he must not exist.” If you ask for bravery, does he just give it to you or give you the opportunity to brave? It’s your choice with what he gives you and we don’t always make the correct one. In your view, it’s “What works for me.” Personal choice is the key, but there are consequences for making the wrong one.
By Katie
November 20, 2007 11:23 AM | Link to this
Dave, thank you for your ‘christian’ tolerant attitude. I believe there is much more to the world than what I can see, touch, taste or smell but that does not mean that there is a God. You are the type of person who spouts off your beliefs yet spend no time listening to others, therefore, I have no use for you. Aquagirl, you couldn’t have said it better!!
By Aquagirl
November 20, 2007 11:37 AM | Link to this
Dave, that last sentence in your post says it all. Consequences for making the wrong choice, right? That’s what underlies so many rants like yours… the idea that you will go to fairytale land while watching the heathen masses burn. And the literal holier-than-thou attitude that accompanies it. One that you enjoy in this earthly life, while telling yourself you’re the nice religious guy. You bet I rely on myself. I would rather go visit the sick in a hospital rather than ask god to look out for them. Imagine that. How unChristian of me.
He gives us the freedom of personal choice. That’s why you haven’t seen a burning bush or a person with wings hovering over you.
You have? Honey, take your meds.
By Joni
November 20, 2007 11:55 AM | Link to this
Dear Rick, I’ve been reading the comments and it’s, as usual, an argument between those who believe and those who don’t. Notice how the ones who don’t believe are calling names and saying hatefull things. I can feel how much they hate. No amount of debate can change these people but I know prayer can because I used to be as hateful as them until the Lord told someone I greatly offended to pray for me and befriend me. Years later, I became a believer and since then, prayer has been an improtant part of my life. I have seen thousands of prayers answered and so no matter how hateful the unbelievers get, I won’t be swayed to go back, ever. There are two sides to this debate, but there is no need for the believer to ever be hateful in thier comments. Katie, AquaGirl, and Mark will be judged by God and I will pray for them for they do not know Who they mock and, God willing, He will begin a good work in their hearts just as He did for me so long ago.
By Bruce Wilcox
November 20, 2007 12:05 PM | Link to this
The First Amendment gives the Right to all “The People” to believe, not to believe or stand somewhere in the middle.
It is ignorant to bash religion as much as it is arrogant for the believers to look down their noses at others.
Whatever works for the individual, that is freedom and that is something to be thankful for.
By Sandy_G
November 20, 2007 12:21 PM | Link to this
John 12:47 I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it.
This is what Jesus had to say about non-believers when he was alive and walked the earth. He says we should not judge those who do not believe as we do. Judgment belongs to God and God alone. The bible also says, that we should not judge others, lest we be judged ourselves, which is a pretty clear indication that judging others for their non-belief is a sin before God.
Believers are told that they are “in the world, but not of the world”. It does not mean we are better than anyone else, it simply means that unless you believe, have a spiritual connection with God and have the completely different perspective that the Holy Spirit brings to your ability to view the world, then you don’t understand and you will never understand without that belief.
Trying to explain to a non-believer what it is like to have the overwhelming peace and joy that a spiritual relationship with God brings to your life is like trying to explain the taste of apple pie alamode to someone who has lived on a desert island all of their life. If they truly want to experience it, they just have to try it.
As far as prayer is concerned, the bible exorts believers to “pray without ceasing”, but to make prayer a private and personal thing between the believer and God. Most times that Jesus prayed to his father, he did it in private, as prayer is not to be made a “show” or as a way to draw attention to one’s self. We are to pray when we are sad, happy, hurting, joyful, in other words, no matter what is going on in our lives.
Does God always answer prayer? I believe he does if we are sincere, if we do not hold others in judgment but forgive others sins against us and come to him with an open heart and mind.
Does he always answer the way that we think he should? No. Our own “wisdom” with regard to our lives and the lives of others is meaningless when compared to God’s wisdom. This is where faith truly comes into play. Believers have faith that even if God’s plans for our lives are different than our own, that his plan is based on his unconditional love for us, he will never abandon us and he will be with us to the end.
Believers try to live their lives following the will of God, but we are human and he gave us free will and the ability to believe or not believe, to do good or to do evil, as we choose. God does not create illness, poverty, crime, etc., man does. Either through ignorance or through lack of love for our fellow man, we perpetrate a lot of evil, sickness and death in this world and then expect God to “fix it”. God has the power to fix all of these things, but he chooses to exercise that power through us. When we allow him to use us as his instruments in this world, he can answer prayers, heal the sick, feed the hungry and cease wars and crime.
As a line in a movie recently explained it, “When you ask God for something he doesn’t always give it to you, but he always gives you an opportunity to have that which you ask for.” If you pray for peace, he may give you an opportunity to create peace in your life or an opportunity to deal with something that prevents you from feeling peace. If you are in need of healing, he may or may not physically heal that person, but they may experience a healing of the spirit. We don’t always know if and whether prayers are answered, we only know that he tells us to pray without ceasing and if we are believers, we do.
By Mark
November 20, 2007 12:29 PM | Link to this
Like I posted before,Anyone who believes in a magical man in the sky is either a child, or a retard. In Dave’s case I feel it is the latter. If and when a “god” appears before me, then I will believe. Until then, he’s simply a figment of a weak and feeble imagination.
By Dave
November 20, 2007 1:55 PM | Link to this
Mark, you sound just like all the other people who think they have things all figured out(or don’t care if they don’t). Problem is, when they found out how off base they were, all they could come up with was “oops”. Hopefully, it won’t be when God actually does appear before you. If that is the case, then the train will have done run, sambo.
By T
November 20, 2007 2:10 PM | Link to this
There are no Atheist in foxholes.
It’s so easy to write a few words of hate and intolerance these days. It’s harder to take a stand a say what you believe.
Death is a very real part of life, everyone will face it.
The people I have personally witnessed that have the hardest time with death are like some of these people in this Blog. They hate the idea of God. They hate the idea that people believe in God.
They will go out of this world pleading, begging and regretting everything they have ever said against God.
How sad …
By Mark
November 20, 2007 2:40 PM | Link to this
dave
Has “god” ever appeared before you?
You are not a logical man.
By Dave
November 20, 2007 3:15 PM | Link to this
Mark, you mean as the “old man with a beard with a big G on his chest”? No, he hasn’t. But he has appeared to me in my heart, my mind and every day I get up I see the different things around me from nature to my conscience to the feeling of peace to the answers to all of my prayers, even sometimes the answer is no. It is a feeling of freedom and happiness. I see small miracles over and over that someone like you wouldn’t care to see because you didn’t get that pony you prayed for as a child and from that, you concluded that there is no god. You need to have a physical presence that you can touch in order for you to believe. I need the feelings from all that I just described to you and in the things he does for me…small things that you wouldn’t notice. You seem to be an arrogant man, full of hate and detesting anything that has to do with the possibility of a deity above yourself and one that you will have to answer to, whether you believe it or not.
You have an over rated opinion of yourself and your existance. You believe in nothing and you stand for nothingness. If you keep this mindset, one day YOU will be one of the ones muttering “ooops” and you will have no one to blame BUT yourself.
By Aquagirl
November 20, 2007 3:41 PM | Link to this
Dave, I’d be a lot more for god if his professed followers weren’t such azzhats. Really, can you end a post without saying “god’s going to get you” in a gleeful squeal?
And you accuse others of being arrogant and hateful. First, you presume to tell everyone off because of something “you saw in your heart” Um, okay. Maybe the meds aren’t enough, you need a tinfoil hat too. Second, every single post from you has ended with the invocation of your imaginary big white daddy who will come and stomp all the kids who are being mean to you.
Arrogant. Self-centered. Bully-by-proxy, because you aren’t man enough to stick up for yourself. Sadly enough, you typify today’s modern christian in a nutshell.
By Mark
November 20, 2007 3:46 PM | Link to this
Dave
As I stated above, you are not a logical man. Let’s just agree to disagree, and leave it at that. I have no need to have a p** contest with an xtian lemming….
By Sandy_G
November 20, 2007 3:55 PM | Link to this
Has “god” ever appeared before you?
You are not a logical man.
To Mark: Were you present on the moon’s surface the day that man first walked on the moon? Probably not. Were you there when Auschwitz was liberated? Probably not. Yet, you most likely rightly believe that both of these events happened beyond a shadow of doubt and you would be correct. You believe these things happened because you believe in the veracity of the people who related these events, there is plenty of evidence and plenty of witnesses to these events and so, logically, you have come to the conclusion that they did happen.
Belief in God and the fact that his son walked the earth 2,000 years ago is as logical as that because of the millions of witnesses who were either there when he walked the earth or have personally experienced his presence, the multitude of evidence and the irrefutable logic used by Jesus in the Bible as he repeatedly was asked to prove who he was by doubters.
Scientific discoveries have repeatedly shown that the theories of earth’s history developed by man’s logic are wrong. Every year we hear of new archeological discovery that completey disproves years of excepted scientific thought and all of our theories of how life began on earth have to be rewritten. So, a logical person would deduce that scientific thought does NOT answer all questions and very often, is wrong, so to base your belief in science, means that your beliefs will not be absolute, but always subject to revision, refuting and debunking.
Also, every year, there are scientific discoveries that lend credibility to the stories of the bible and the fact that the characters written about in the bible actually did exist. When you look at the preponderance of the evidence, belief in God IS logical and much more so than pure belief in science alone. All of the great Greek philosophers, especially those that utilized logic to ascertain truth, believed in God as do many of our respected philosphers, researchers and scientists today. Belief in God transcends, social status, education, nationality, ethnic origin, gender, and age.
I was raised in a fundementalist faith all of my life and was the child of a minister. However, when I became an adult, I too had many of the same doubts as you do, wondering if what I had been taught was really the truth? The answer for me came in studying the world’s religions and religious texts. The one thing that shone through for me was that they all had the same central truths of the existence of a higher being, that we would be held personally responsible for our immoral behavior by that higher being and most of all, that our one true purpose on this earth was to love each other.
Pure survival of the species has no need for us to love each other or treat each other with kindness. In a pure Darwinian world, the strongest survive, the most physically and mentally capable will reproduce and further the species, so what is the logical purpose of love? What is the source and reason for people to love each other so much that the strong among us would willingly go against logic and reason and give our own lives to save those that are weak, sick, etc.? Where does this love come from that would enable a young, healthy stranger to risk their own lives to pull an elderly woman from a burning house, or a person living in comfort to feel the need to collect food or money so a child who is homeless and hungry in Africa can survive another day? You are right! This type of love is completely and totally without logic or rationality by science’s standards. Yet, it exists. To me, this is the proof of the existence of God. Love for each other that causes us to act so irrationally and in direct opposition to the laws of nature and the “survival of the fittest” and our faith in and love for a higher being is proof to me that God exists. There is no other explanation for the emotions of compassion and love that are so strong that they compel us to put the survival of others who are weaker than us above our own survival.
By Aquagirl
November 20, 2007 4:14 PM | Link to this
Sandy G, with that babbling post you’ve won a free ticket to a private viewing of “Judgment Day”. You’ll be treated to seeing other creationist idiots making complete fools of themselves.
As an added bonus, you’ll get to see them reamed out by a Rick Santorum nominated/ George W. Bush appointed Christian judge. These wonderful religious folk lied… that’s right, lied under oath. They did so in a fortunately vain attempt to advance the fecal matter you’re shoveling.
Warning: learning you don’t know crap will be tough. One of the head religious nuts dropped out and hooked himself on oxycontin when he didn’t get his Jesus-fix. Apparently god wasn’t enough to sustain that fool.
By Seagreen
November 20, 2007 4:40 PM | Link to this
Me, I believe I’ll find out who is right when I die. Until then, I’m reserving my decision and generally aim to be the best I can in my own secular way.
It’s kinda fun watching the fur fly in the debate about it though.
If that’s enough to send me to see old Louis C. Fer instead of St. Peter, so be it.
By Dave
November 20, 2007 4:46 PM | Link to this
Aquagirl, why don’t you just get to the root of the problem? You don’t believe, you aren’t going to believe and no one is ever going to say anything to make you believe. Your mind is closed, your heart is hardened and anything someone says to the contrary, you are just going to spout out more hatred and venom towards anything that even approaches faith and god. Your hatred for this knows no bounds. Your ignorance blinds you towrds even having a debate over it. I have not issued one iota of hatred towards you or any other non believer. I’ve just stated my opinion based on my faith and the bible. You just look at anything that revolves around faith in god and the bible as “lemmings”, “intolerance”, “religious nuts”. Let’s just say you think I’m wrong, I thing (know) you’re wrong. You shovel the fecal matter you do because you feel like it makes you important and “individualistic”. After all, no one is going to tell you right from wrong, good from bad. Have a good life.
By Sandy_G
November 20, 2007 4:55 PM | Link to this
Aquagirl, The bible warns us of false prophets who will appear in sheep’s clothing but will inwardly be “ravening wolves” and that they will deceive many people. The bible tells us that these people will bring about their own swift destruction and that they will not enter the kingdom of God.
The bible also tells us that there is a way to discern these false prophets and that is through their lack of love. A minister who lies, is sexually immoral, adulterous, lift himself up for personal glory or makes himself rich from money given to the church does not have the love of God in his heart and should be shunned by those that do. Again, love is the true test of the presence and existence of God.
1st John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son[b] into the world that we might live through him.
By Aquagirl
November 20, 2007 5:25 PM | Link to this
Ah, Sandy, I see…If they don’t win, you just kick ‘em off the team. Your christianity is so inclusive! I didn’t know y’all worshiped Vince Lombardi.
As far as spouting hate, yes, I do spout hate towards those who use religion and god as a big ego prop. Dave, there are actually people I admire for practicing their faith…but they don’t act like you. They don’t have a personal bodyguard god who exists only to confirm how great they are and how awful everyone else is. Gee, ya think that could be the difference?
And get your god to help out with the use of the English language. You “thing(know)” I’m wrong? Were you trying to say something and Satan garbled your tongue?
Have a nice life in your secure god-agrees-with-dave universe. It’s a table for one. No disturbance for teeny minds. You’ll enjoy it immensely, like a toddler with his Cheerios.
By Sandy_G
November 20, 2007 5:38 PM | Link to this
Ah, Sandy, I see…If they don’t win, you just kick ‘em off the team
Well, Aquagirl, I don’t have the authority to kick anyone off of God’s team or decide who is on it or off of it. What the verse means is that these people were never “on the team” to begin with. Anyone, no matter how they have sinned or come up short, can come to God with a repentant heart at any time during their lives and be loved and accepted unconditionally by him.
I don’t decide who enters the kingdom of heaven, only God does. God wants us to follow him and his teachings, that’s why he warns us against following those who might lead us astray.
I can pretty much guarantee you that those of us who make it into heaven will be shocked and amazed by the people that will be there that we never expected to be. Even more so, I think we will be shocked and amazed at the people who are not there. Only God knows what is in a man’s heart and thus, only God has the authority to judge.
By Aquagirl
November 20, 2007 5:54 PM | Link to this
Well, Sandy, you don’t need to explain that to me. Go tell it to the false prophet Dave, who claims to be on your team and is tabulating the ethereal scorecards. Me, I stick to entirely earthly judgments, like telling people they can’t handle a keyboard. Things for which there is concrete evidence. Whatever happens when we die, happens. I don’t decide.
While you’re at it, could you drop a note to Creflo Dollar, Earl Paulk, and about a zillion other people who cheapen your faith? They sure do speak for more people than you who call themselves “christians”.
By AntiAtheist
November 20, 2007 6:03 PM | Link to this
Oh look, the atheists are at it again, repeating the same old same as if it means anything… If you atheists were truly smart, you would “Think for yourselves” and “Think” of a new insult…But you can’t… Why? Cause, you are idiots. It’s obvious… And it is even more obvious that you people a have no lives, at all.
You go now and repeat the same old “Fairy tale” and “Man in the sky” and “Santa Claus and Easter Bunny” crap, OK? You rant now…Try to sound smart, even though we all know you’re not…Pretend to be something you are not…”Some scientist or engineer…” You’re not… We know… You have nothing in life but a forum and dumb insults… Now rant about my comment. I give it to you as I’m kind and charitable. I throw you dogs bones every now and again to give you something to rant about so you’ll have something to do as I am kind… Here doggies, go fetch!
By Sandy_G
November 20, 2007 6:12 PM | Link to this
Whatever happens when we die, happens. I don’t decide.
Correct, none of us has decision making power over what happens to others when they die. We didn’t create heaven and hell and we don’t determine who goes where. The only decision that we have the power to make is whether we believe and accept God as our father and Jesus as his son. And that’s the only decision that truly counts at the end of our lives.
I sincerely hope that you find your way to that truth someday. As passionate as you are about your lack of belief and as vigorously as you defend it, you’d make a great “religious nut” if you were equally as passionate about a faith in God. Maybe I’ll see you in heaven one day where all of these questions will be answered. Godspeed, Sandy_G
By Aquagirl
November 20, 2007 6:49 PM | Link to this
Maybe I’ll see you in heaven one day where all of these questions will be answered.
Now there’s an afterlife with appeal.
By Jake
November 21, 2007 12:04 AM | Link to this
Perhaps some of the posters here would do well to pray for Aquagirl and Mark. (Mind you, not about them, or over them, but for them and to ask God to reveal himself to them). He is powerful enough to, in His own way, reveal himself to anyone.
BTW, Aquagirl has revealed one nugget of truth with her posts: the greatest threat to Christianity is not Christ, but those who profess to love him with their lips, then disavow him with their actions. It appears she may have met too many like that.
Aquagirl, please realize that the majority of Christians (or at least the ones that I know) do strive to live by a higher standard and to fully love others as Christ commanded; the fact that they and I often fail to reach that standard does not make one a hypocrite. To perhaps flagrantly live in defiance of that standard one professes to live by is another story though. (It is late, and that last part makes since to me, and hopefully to all who read this).
By Katie
November 21, 2007 5:49 AM | Link to this
You religious folks are part of a larger flock, baaaaaa baaaaaa baaaaaa. You lack the ability to think for yourself, you can only spout off biblical sayings and what others have told you to believe. You are definately providing me more entertainment than anything else right now. Dave and Sandy have their little panties all in a wad because two of us don’t smoke crack and share their beliefs about a little fat, bearded white man who lives in the sky. Hey guys, what’s God breathing up there?? There’s no oxygen so…….
By Mark
November 21, 2007 12:12 PM | Link to this
AntiAtheist
You believe in a being that doesn’t exist, and you call us idiots??
Why do you need a false man in your life?
What’s the matter? Didn’t your daddy love you? ( or did he love you too much? wink wink)
Now go read your buybull, little boy.
By Laura
November 21, 2007 3:25 PM | Link to this
I am somwhat surprised. I thought most intelligent people believed in a power greater than themselves but I guess not always. Must be an EGO thing.
Personally I believe in the power of prayer and a higher power, whom I choose to call God. Whether or not you have the same belief system is of no matter to me. I will pray for you anyway.
By Mark
November 21, 2007 3:36 PM | Link to this
Intelligent people do not believe in a “god”. Ignorant ones do.
Better be nice. Santa Claus is coming to town!
By Aquagirl
November 21, 2007 4:54 PM | Link to this
If you’d venture out of the trailer park, you’d discover not everyone belongs to the First YeeHaw Church of Inbreeding.
Brace yourself…some of us don’t have velvet paintings of Elvis either. It’s a big world out there.
By D.Bheemeswar
November 22, 2007 12:33 AM | Link to this
The text is interesting to read. For prayer the answer need not be yes always. The prayer, meditation can help only to boost the mental stamina, unless the mind is made up to face the consequenses the body may not accept. Since each and person has brain, the prayer and meditiation helps to energieses it.
By Michael H. Smith
November 22, 2007 11:13 AM | Link to this
It is usually better to stay away from these public theological debates for the very self-evident reasons on full display. As always the discourse normally breakdowns – in a tawdry fashion - along the traditional lines of “the believers” Vs. “the so-called non-believers” haggling over what exist or does not, in “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.
Fact is the arguments on both sides of the divide take a goodly bit of faith to accept their conclusions. From: Our Father that art in heaven…. In the beginning God created. To: Our father that art matter, the passing gases that hath formed the masses…. Ka-BOOM!
So you see; either way, members on either side, fervent “believers all” as they may be, must rely on the silliness of “their faith” and a great deal of incredibly unbelievable “magic in the sky”.
To the God fearing: Enjoy Thanksgiving Day your day of prayer with plenty of turkey, cornbread dressing or stuffing and lots of coronary gravy all over everything.
To all the rest: Go get a hamburger at a fast food joint and some greasy fries, this too shall pass.
By LB
November 23, 2007 1:23 PM | Link to this
After reading these posts it makes me admire the lady for having the courage to ask churches for prayer. It’s faith and courage like hers that will be honored by God.
I have asked for prayer many times myself and my prayers have been answered every single time. There are times I have to wait long periods of time for answers but they come. There are other times in life when things are going great and the very thing I enjoy so much is somehow zapped from me and I don’t understand why. It’s those times I go with the flow and learn later that the “good” situation I though I had turned sour and I was removed from that situation without having to watch a good thing deteriorate.
There is a situation I have prayed for every single day for almost two years. There is a troubled teen who makes life miserable for everybody he knows. I pray nice things for this teen every day even though others tell me to give up. Even the teen’s own dad said he gave up trying. I see many people who know this guy and I ask them to just let the guy know I’m believing the best for him. Nobody will even give this boy a message because they have been offended by this guy. Personally, I am not giving up on him. I still pray daily and speak about him like he’s my own child. Right now it might seem like Charlie Brown waiting on the Great Pumpkin but I know without any doubt this boy will make something out of himself. All it takes is prayer from one person.
The Bible speaks about a man in the old testiment who prayed for no rain and it didn’t. The prayer of a righteous man/woman availeth much. As for the lady who has the courage to ask for prayer, she will get her answer because she knows where her answers come from.
The posts above, positive or negative do not change my viewpoint of what I just wrote. I believe and I am loyal to myself. I will not let my own self down by giving in to laughter or ridicule from anyone choosing another viewpoint. I stand by what I know is true. THE BIBLE.
By Bruce Wilcox
November 24, 2007 4:24 AM | Link to this
LB, no one is trying to change you, some are acting like jerks. Some write,”It is usually better to stay away from these public theological debates for the very self-evident reasons on full display”, BUT and babbles on. Live and let live, that is the answer. It is also what the very first amendment was written for, to have the freedom to believe or not to believe. Peace.
By Michael H. Smith
November 24, 2007 7:55 AM | Link to this
The Constitution protects us from government denying our freedom and liberty. It doesn’t protect anyone from the vain babble of others.
As again, is made self-evident.
By Fair Critic
November 24, 2007 3:08 PM | Link to this
One finds that those who would attack (via an anonymous blog) others who have a religious belief would never have the courage to do so in person.
Why all the negativity? What are you so unhappy about?
Little or nothing has been established by bashing others. Prayer is a healthy thing many times!
There’s a reason it’s called faith!
By Michael H. Smith
November 24, 2007 4:08 PM | Link to this
And faith is seen as silliness. However, it is the only thing GOD ever honors. HE uses our faith to confound the wise, to bring down the haughty and save the humble.
Yep, I believe in the magic of the ALMIGHTY. HE, “the magic man in the sky” moves in mysterious ways.
By P.K. Vineyard
November 27, 2007 8:56 AM | Link to this
There certainly is scientific proof that prayer works. You can find it everywhere in Science and Medical journals.
Did you know that CS Lewis set out to disprove Christianity. This si what he found …
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” C.S. Lewis quote
I ask you - if you are sick or a loved one is ill - do you pray? Will you ask for prayers?
This is not a sense of supperiority because of my faith - it is a sense of knowing that our Father loves all of us. All of us.
Peace
By gigi50
November 27, 2007 9:20 AM | Link to this
There are three kinds of people: those who have sought God and found Him, and these are reasonable and happy; those who seek God and have not yet found Him, and these are reasonable and unhappy; and those who neither seek God nor find Him, and these are unreasonable and unhappy.
Blaise Pascal
Snarling at other folks is not the best way of showing the superior quality of your own character. He is blind who thinks he sees everything. The observant man recognizes many mysteries into which he can not pretend to see, and he remembers that the world is too wide for the eye of one man. But the modern sophists are sure of everything, especially if it contradicts the Bible.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
A man says to me, “Can you explain the seven trumpets of the Revelation?” No, but I can blow one in your ear, and warn you to escape from the wrath to come.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
As Christians we accept one foundational truth - God - and everything else makes sense. An atheist denies God and has to accept incredible explanations for everything else. It takes more faith to deny God than to believe in Him.
John MacArthur
In this modern world of ours many people seem to think that science has somehow made such religious ideas as immortality untimely or old fashioned. I think science has a real surprise for the skeptics. Science, for instance, tells us that nothing in nature, not even the tiniest particle, can disappear without a trace. Nature does not know extinction. All it knows is transformation. If God applies this fundamental principle to the most minute and insignificant parts of His universe, doesn’t it make sense to assume that He applies it to the masterpiece of His creation, the human soul?
Dr.Werner Von Braun
There are but two essential requirements: First: Has anyone cheated death and proved it? Second: Is it available to me? Here is the complete record: Confucius’ tomb - occupied. Buddha’s tomb - occupied. Mohammed’s tomb - occupied. Jesus’ tomb - empty. Argue as you will. There is no point in following a loser.
G. B. Hardy
If I profess with loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at the moment attacking, I am not a confessing Christian.
Martin Luther
As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand.
Josh Billings
People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come in to the mind of others.
Blaise Pascal
The unattended garden will soon be overrun with weeds; the heart that fails to cultivate truth and root out error will shortly be a theological wilderness.
A. W. Tozer
It is of primary importance that the preacher should be clothed with the garment of salvation; that he should be filled with a sense of the immense worth of the truth, the guilt, depravity and danger man is in; the unsearchable love of Christ in the bloody purchase, and his ability and willingness to save redeemed penitents. Without this robe, he will preach a distant Jesus, by an unfelt gospel, and with an unhallowed tongue.
John Leland
Humanism was not invented by man, but by a snake who suggested that the quest for autonomy might be a good idea.
R. C. Sproul
The modern world detests authority but worships relevance. Our Christian conviction is that the Bible has both authority and relevance, and that the secret of both is Jesus Christ.
John R. W. Stott
Without absolutes revealed from without by God Himself, we are left rudderless in a sea of conflicting ideas about manners, justice and right and wrong, issuing from a multitude of self-opinionated thinkers.
John Owen
Someone once asked Billy Graham, “If Christianity is valid, why is there so much evil in the world?” To this the famous preacher replied, “With so much soap, why are there so many dirty people in the world? Christianity, like soap, must be personally applied if it is to make a difference in our lives.”
Billy Graham
For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.
Robert Jastrow
God is everywhere. His truth and his love pervade all things as the light and the heat of the sun pervade our atmosphere. But…God does not touch our souls with the fire of supernatural knowledge and experience without Christ.
Thomas Merton
If our culture is to be transformed, it will happen from the bottom up - from ordinary believers practicing apologetics over the backyard fence or around the barbecue grill.
Charles (Chuck) Colson
One response was given by the innkeeper when Mary and Joseph wanted to find a room where the Child could be born. The innkeeper was not hostile; he was not opposed to them, but his inn was crowded; his hands were full; his mind was preoccupied. This is the answer that millions are giving today. Like a Bethlehem innkeeper, they cannot find room for Christ. All the accommodations in their hearts are already taken up by other crowding interests. Their response is not atheism. It is not defiance. It is preoccupation and the feeling of being able to get on reasonably well without Christianity.
Billy Graham
Truth is truth, whether it’s spoken by the lips of Jesus or Balaam’s donkey.
George Macdonald
A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.
John Calvin
Charles Spurgeon was once asked, “How do you defend the Bible?” “Very easy,” he responded. “The same way I defend a lion. I simply let it out of its cage.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
the fool has said in his heart , there is no God….can’t remember where in the bible it is.