Random Thoughts Thread

[BoneSnapDeez]

track & field

what events?

[brunoafh]

track & field

what events?

Shot & discus, so emphasis on the field part.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Interesting. I did not have you pegged as a thrower.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

The whole idea of "yeah, we're imperfect, but we try hard" seems to be the general view towards the idea of sin nowadays.

I think that's one of those universal truths every culture has known. It's pretty much how humans work. That said, our view of God's view of sin varies wildly, and it's the dynamic between sin and forgiveness that really defines each religion. Contrast the concept of karma with a religion like Islam, which allows you to earn your way to heaven, although "whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it and whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it."

It's also what makes Christianity so special. Everyone is born with sin in their nature, and everyone has committed innumerable sins. God won't allow sin into heaven, but loves us so much that he took our punishment himself and offers salvation us for free. You've only got to pray and accept that gift. After all, it would be impossible for us to earn it! Trying to do so is actually offensive since it treats Jesus' sacrifice as insufficient. Sin is more serious than in any other faith, but so is God's act of love and mercy. Compared to all other belief systems, it's incredibly radical.

[dsheinem]

Compared to all other belief systems, it's incredibly radical.

You sound like my old youth group leader.

"Christianity is AWESOME, dude!" "God's love is SO PURE and PERFECT!" "We are SO LUCKY to be His!" etc.

[MrPopo]

Compared to all other belief systems, it's incredibly radical.

You sound like my old youth group leader.

"Christianity is AWESOME, dude!" "God's love is SO PURE and PERFECT!" "We are SO LUCKY to be His!" etc.

High on God, or did your youth group leader discover pot?

[Valkyrie-Favor]

"Christianity is incredibly radical" is not a radical statement. There really is nothing else like it. And honestly, wouldn't you prefer an excited youth leader to one who wasn't enthusiastic about serving his God?

[Xeogred]

Probably like 90/10 for me thesedays with the indoor/outdoor thing. I was joking with some people last week about how some say it's best for kids to get all dirty and do a lot outdoors to build up immunity to things, well I was outside a lot but hated getting dirty as a kid haha, now my allergies suck as I get older so it's funny to wonder if there's any truth behind that thought.

But yeah I never got into sports much, aside from having to play from time to time in PE or whatever. I only had to take PE one year I think in high school and it was kind of a hilarious joke, we'd all just go outside and get groups together to do stuff, I usually just played frisbee with some people haha. Other than that I was outside a ton growing up and really into bikes, probably up until jr. high when we moved into bigger suburbs and I had to remake friends. Feels like that from that point on I stopped going out much.

For you guys that grew up in religious homes, do you still practice in any way? I pretty much consider myself agnostic at this point. I always had a miserable time growing up in church, never fit in or made any friends and my grandparents were crazy along with my dad. Fast forward to now and my dad is about as open as they get and more liberal thesedays, he totally regrets some (most) of the stuff he did with my upbringing and it's kind of joke with us now. He was a lot more lax with my sister and she had it so much easier in someways, haha. At this point I really can't stand church at all though, but we still have to suck it up and go once a year or something for Christmas with my grandma. It's definitely uncomfortable and I can't stand it, but oh well. Don't want to sidetrack the thread too much since I'm sure I and others could go into way more detail here, but yeah I think youth wise this nails everything on the head:
http://marc5solas.com/2013/02/08/top-10 ... ve-church/

[Valkyrie-Favor]

That marc5solas post is great. Everyone should read it. I've experienced all this stuff firsthand.

As for me, I've just become an adult and I haven't left my home yet. My parents raised me on Bible stories, and I went to Sunday school, but I basically stopped following God during middle school. Since then I've a lot of thinking, studying, talking, and reading, and basically
I have no intellectual doubt that the Bible is true. In addition to that, it's become really obvious that it offers the best living advice there is. When I see God's effect on other people's lives, I have a little trouble doubting.

It often feels like my prayers are bouncing off the ceiling. For me, obeying God is the wisest way to live whether he exists or not. People have often mistaken me for someone who really loves God since I know his word, I know the church culture, and I'm both open and intelligent enough to talk about it. Really, I've been struggling since day one, but my knowledge about my own need for God is one of the few things that always remains clear.

Another thing: Why do people not capitalize God? Whether you treat it as a name or a title, it's a proper noun. Disbelief in him isn't a good reason either; everyone capitalizes Allah and Buddha and even Molech. The only explanation I can think of is scorn Christ and Christians. And that pisses me off.

[brunoafh]

Another thing: Why do people not capitalize God? Whether you treat it as a name or a title, it's a proper noun. Disbelief in him isn't a good reason either; everyone capitalizes Allah and Buddha and even Molech. The only explanation I can think of is scorn Christ and Christians. And that pisses me off.

The word god doesn't have to refer to the Christian one, and in that context it's not a proper noun.