Re: Why would anyone want to miss heaven?
 

Lady MOE, If you think someone may hurt you, it's hard, if not impossible to believe on, trust in, rely on, or have faith in, that person.

None of your pain is from Jesus. There are those on this board who would tell you that Jesus will hurt you, will make you, your spouse, or your children sick. They will also tell you that God has a good reason for it. The very reason Jesus came was to heal your hurts. (Acts 10:43) Basic truth and righteousness, also tells me that Jesus will not hurt you. God is a far better parent than I am, and I would never hurt one of my children, no matter how bad they have been. I tell you again, Jesus will not hurt you.

Re: Why would anyone want to miss heaven?
 

Re: Why would anyone want to miss heaven?
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bro-Larry
Lady MOE, If you think someone may hurt you, it's hard, if not impossible to believe on, trust in, rely on, or have faith in, that person.

None of your pain is from Jesus. There are those on this board who would tell you that Jesus will hurt you, will make you, your spouse, or your children sick. They will also tell you that God has a good reason for it. The very reason Jesus came was to heal your hurts. (Acts 10:43) Basic truth and righteousness, also tells me that Jesus will not hurt you. God is a far better parent than I am, and I would never hurt one of my children, no matter how bad they have been. I tell you again, Jesus will not hurt you.

Amen Bro Larry! You said it perfectly.

Raven


AMEN !!!

Re: Why would anyone want to miss heaven?
 

Tell it brother Larry!

Re: Why would anyone want to miss heaven?
 

Well said!

Re: Why would anyone want to miss heaven?
 

Bro. Larry,

It always means alot to me when people are willing to look past what I am saying (which they may find shocking or blasphemous or irreverent, etc.) to hear what lies behind it.

Because the first church that I ever went to was horribly unhealthy I ended up with a lot of skewed views of pretty much everything that had to do with the life of faith, and most especially the character of God. This was complicated by the fact that this distorted picture was easy for me to believe, as it matched my experience with human fathers / authority figures.

Eventually after years of struggle I reached a crossroads. Either God was every horrible thing I had come to think of Him as, OR I had no idea who God really was, or what he was really like. So I made a decision that seemed to upset a lot of people, to leave the UPC (and/or apostolic church in general).

Soon after, I went through what I like to call my "angry phase". I was so mad! At everything! I felt lied to. Betrayed. Deceived. Conned. Swindled. By God, by men, by church, by Christianity in general. I was also very angry at myself, for being decieved by others, and by even deceiving myself.

For months, I avoided everything that could trigger my anger. I wouldn't listen to Christian music, read any Christian books, and most certainly not the Bible. I left the majority of the Christian forums that I participated on (which was most likely a welcome relief for those who bore the brunt of my anger).
It was like religion was my siamese twin, and I had it surgically removed.

Though most wouldn't recommend that approach, it really helped me. I think the time away was needed to heal the gaping wound that was me. And I am past the anger now. But with your first line, you hit the nail on the head of what is my main issue. And many don't understand the impasse. They say 'Just develop a relationship with Jesus, this one will be based on love, and you can start to trust Him like you're supposed to'. But you tend to stay away from those you don't trust, and if you are in close proximity you are extra careful to protect yourself.

But I'm babystepping. (And any of you "heathens" like me who have seen What about Bob? will appreciate that I am babystepping towards faith, babystepping towards Jesus :D )

ETA: oh, and if this doesn't make any sense, it's because it took me 3 hours to write it in between work, phone calls from my Mom, My Hubby, and my Financial Advisor, and numerous requests from my boss!)