LifeChurchTV

[Dustbowl]

Dustbowl, there's no need to go digging hundreds of posts into this thread and bring up a bunch of inflammatory crap. All you do is call people names.

For someone with so much money from all your expert stock trades, you sure are a cynical, negative, debbie downer about EVERYTHING.

Look at what you just wrote above. You say I'm doing something wrong with an air of superiority and that I just call people names and then in the next breath do the same thing.
I'm going to let it go because you probably don't get it.

[Dustbowl]

Dustbowl -
When did you become the ruler of people's choice of beliefs? And who are you to call anyone stupid for those beliefs? Just because you don't believe that way doesn't make it wrong or stupid.

I am so sick of these existentialistic statements. They aren't even educated debates, they are just "you are stupid" "no, you are" 3rd grade arguments. Why do we as a society think that our way of thinking is the only way? Why can't you all be right?

You make a good point. I believe that all religions are dangerous because they require a suspension of reality and they discourage critical thinking. The followers are encouraged to believe that their leader is correct and they seldom question what is going on or even why they believe him. This leads to group-think and me- too'ism. Do I really need to go into detail of all the examples of the horrible human results of this type of thinking? I'm talking on a large scale, not just local examples.

Believe what you want to believe. I prefer to think with facts and review history for confirmation.

Why do humans have this desire to believe things that they can't prove? There is much new research in this area being performed by Sam Harris and others that shed some light on the subject. No, I'm not a blind follower of Sam Harris and the other evil atheists and agnostics. They would be the first to correct their thesis if proven wrong though. Can you imagine that happening in any religion?

It would be interesting if belief in a higher power were removed from human thought and people dealt with each other without all the dogma, guilt and indoctrination.

[kmf563]

Believe what you want to believe. I prefer to think with facts and review history for confirmation.

Why do humans have this desire to believe things that they can't prove?
It would be interesting if belief in a higher power were removed from human thought and people dealt with each other without all the dogma, guilt and indoctrination.

Again - you are assuming that we do not review history and are not educated because we choose to believe in a God.

Can you prove love exists? No. It's a feeling like faith. You learn what it is by experiencing it. Love is not tangible nor is it something you can explain in a dictionary. Do you believe in love?

I respect your right and choice to not believe in a higher power, I only hope someday you learn to re-evaluate the way you state your rights and beliefs to include respect for my choices as well. I don't think you are stupid because you do not believe, you should not think we are stupid because we choose to believe.

It's like this guy I met over the weekend who was telling my friend she was stupid because she lets her dogs sleep in her bed. "Dogs belong outside" he says. No, dogs belong wherever the owner of the dog chooses to allow him to belong. Just because this guy felt dogs belonged outside, he assumed we were all stupid if we didn't agree with his decision. I learned a long time ago that if everyone agreed on everything I thought or believed, I wouldn't have anyone to argue with and the world would be pretty freaking boring. I also learned you can tell a lot about someone when they make demanding statements like that. If he had said "I believe dogs are outside animals" or "my dogs stay outside" or "I prefer to keep dogs outside" that would have been him stating his personal opinions without projecting them onto us. But by stating "dogs belong outside" he let me know 3 things about himself. 1. His way is the only way. 2. He is always right. 3. Things in life have a place to him - and I'm pretty sure he has a preconceived idea of where women belong and what their role should be as well.

[jbrown84]

Look at what you just wrote above. You say I'm doing something wrong with an air of superiority and that I just call people names and then in the next breath do the same thing.
I'm going to let it go because you probably don't get it.

90% of your posts are riddled with insults against someone. That's the difference.

[betts]

It would be interesting if belief in a higher power were removed from human thought and people dealt with each other without all the dogma, guilt and indoctrination.

And yet, if we lead by example, your interactions with others on this forum does not demonstrate that the removal of dogma, guilt and indoctrination necessarily leads to admirable behavior.

[kevinpate]

Returning to post 641, and bypassing the detour of the subsequent 14 blocks,
it's an interesting Q to ponder, irrespective of your beliefs

> What would you pray if God would answer One Prayer for the Church at large?

[solitude]

Returning to post 641, and bypassing the detour of the subsequent 14 blocks,
it's an interesting Q to ponder, irrespective of your beliefs

> What would you pray if God would answer One Prayer for the Church at large?

Prayer, itself, is a bizarre concept. When a tragedy happens, everyone says we all need to pray; as if God won't heal that 12 year old girl hit by a car unless X number of people asks that she be spared. What's the magic number?

I don't mean that as a slap at any faith, but the prayer concept itself is - different.

[Dustbowl]

And yet, if we lead by example, your interactions with others on this forum does not demonstrate that the removal of dogma, guilt and indoctrination necessarily leads to admirable behavior.

Forgive me. I don't want to burn in a lake of fire. I'm scared and now I see the light.

[jbrown84]

Prayer, itself, is a bizarre concept. When a tragedy happens, everyone says we all need to pray; as if God won't heal that 12 year old girl hit by a car unless X number of people asks that she be spared. What's the magic number?

I don't mean that as a slap at any faith, but the prayer concept itself is - different.

I'm not going to pretend it isn't complicated. What I would say is that in a situation like you described, prayer is more for the person praying. God knows his plan, but by praying, we strengthen our faith. The Bible doesn't promise that our prayer will always be answered, but we pray anyway.

[jdsplaypin]

A daddy doesn't have to have his son tell him he loves him to know it. Hearing those words certainly doesn't hurt either. Get the point?

[metro]

Just an update on One Prayer 518 churches are now partnering in 17 countries with an avg. total combined attendance of 379,899.

One Prayer

[angel27]

Well I gotta say Dustbowl brings up a lot of good points, and there seem to be a lot and growing number of persons who follow his way of thinking. I always like to read him because you never know what's going to come out of his mouth. God has some answering to do someday because there are a lot of things that aren't right in the world. How can a loving all-powerful God allow the things that happen to happen? Ecclesiastes was the first book I read of the Bible and it sure put my doubts out there. I decided a long time ago that I don't want to follow a hate phylosophy even though the Bible may be against certain things. I decided that those are things He will someday have to answer for me. I don't understand war on religious basis, and yet... I don't understand how anyone can know which one is right - they can't all be right. But yet I do believe the promise that we shall one day know the truth. Its hard to know... that's why they call it faith. Catholics call it mystery. The reason I first started ever reading the Bible was because my neighbor and I had differing views. The debates we had! And we both came out more strongly convinced of our own position. The best part was when we used the same scripture to prove opposite points. Why don't we all just do good on our own without believing in God? Why indeed.

[metro]

angel, God has answering/explaining to do? Him giving us free will causes injustice in the world. If he wanted us to be robots, then yes it would be a utopia. When he comes back again soon, he will make the wrongs right and punish those who deserve so. I'm sorry you've had a bitter taste in your mouth about Christianity.

I encourage you to read the book of Habakkuk, it will help you with what you mentioned. It talks about WHY does God allow bad things happen to good people. Actually, better yet, we're doing a new series at LC starting this Saturday on Habakkuk and why does God let bad things happen to good people. Maybe you'll learn something? We have 6 services times over the weekend PLUS additional experiences online and in Second Life if your initimidated by the "in church" setting. Services are just one hour so it can be convenient for you to fit into your busy schedule. I hope you'll tune in!

[Blazerfan11]

A day at lifechurch dispels all arguments that the founding fathers may not have been deists. "God told me this...God told me that...God said do this...God said do that" That is what that place is all about, and not what our founders were about. At what point does this "it's not a religion, it's a relationship!!!" become a fancy tool of Satan to trick people into doing zany stuff that they like and pretending it is God's will, because of course he told 'em to do it!

[metro]

One Prayer: Big Announcement!
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By Bobby Gruenewald on May 13, 2008 in missions and one prayer. 2 Comments

We’ve felt that One Prayer is a unique opportunity for The Church to make a lasting impact on the world. Craig announced we would be receiving a special offering for a missions initiative when he casted the vision for One Prayer. Our team began to explore, discuss and pray about what causes/organizations we could collectively support with this offering.

The effort became even more challenging as the size and scale of One Prayer quickly exceeded our expectations and imaginations. Shortly after announcing the offering, we were approached by our good friends from Granger Community Church, who asked if they could help us explore those opportunities. They selflessly invested themselves and a very ambitious vision emerged that we quickly became VERY excited about.

The One Prayer missions offering will go to support planting 500 new churches in Cambodia, India, Sudan, and China! The local church is the hope of the world, and these churches will be able to make a sustainable, lasting and eternal impact on these four strategic regions. We explored many great causes and organizations that we could collectively support, but the vision of local churches from around the world uniting to invest in planting churches was the most synergistic with the vision of One Prayer.

We hope that you will prayerfully consider participating in the One Prayer offering to plant churches and spread the gospel of Christ throughout the world. If you are unable or do not choose to participate in the One Prayer offering, we strongly encourage you take this opportunity to contribute to an international missions effort of your choice. We can have far greater impact united than we can apart, and we are excited to see what God will do!

There is a lot more detail about the opportunity, the process, and the organizations involved on OnePrayer.com. Please be sure to check it out and also let us know if you have questions.

LifeChurch.tv : swerve

[solitude]

One Prayer: Big Announcement!
Digg This! • Add to del.icio.us • Email this • Subscribe to this feed

By Bobby Gruenewald on May 13, 2008 in missions and one prayer. 2 Comments

We’ve felt that One Prayer is a unique opportunity for The Church to make a lasting impact on the world. Craig announced we would be receiving a special offering for a missions initiative when he casted the vision for One Prayer. Our team began to explore, discuss and pray about what causes/organizations we could collectively support with this offering.

The effort became even more challenging as the size and scale of One Prayer quickly exceeded our expectations and imaginations. Shortly after announcing the offering, we were approached by our good friends from Granger Community Church, who asked if they could help us explore those opportunities. They selflessly invested themselves and a very ambitious vision emerged that we quickly became VERY excited about.

The One Prayer missions offering will go to support planting 500 new churches in Cambodia, India, Sudan, and China! The local church is the hope of the world, and these churches will be able to make a sustainable, lasting and eternal impact on these four strategic regions. We explored many great causes and organizations that we could collectively support, but the vision of local churches from around the world uniting to invest in planting churches was the most synergistic with the vision of One Prayer.

We hope that you will prayerfully consider participating in the One Prayer offering to plant churches and spread the gospel of Christ throughout the world. If you are unable or do not choose to participate in the One Prayer offering, we strongly encourage you take this opportunity to contribute to an international missions effort of your choice. We can have far greater impact united than we can apart, and we are excited to see what God will do!

There is a lot more detail about the opportunity, the process, and the organizations involved on OnePrayer.com. Please be sure to check it out and also let us know if you have questions.

LifeChurch.tv : swerve

Maybe planting 500 new churches can take a backseat after it looks like the city of Mianyang in China (population 5.5 million) has been devastated. The death toll from the earthquake stands at around 15,000 with close to 20,000 MORE believed buried in a neighborhood in Mianyang. It WAS a beautiful neighborhood - it's now rubble.

[yadillah nai]

saved from what? jesus was killed by the same forces that kill some one like martin luther king....so that history and memory can be freely manipulated by competing power structures wrestling for the advantage over the most for as long as can be milked...I is a cheap pleasure bought at casually inflated prices on credit borrowed from some country without a hollywood sense of itself...god bless and remember mohammed and jesus are homies

[oneforone]

I just had to post just because I wanted to pass the post count past 666.

[metro]

solitude, i'm sure this decision was made to plant 500 churches long before the earthquake in Mianyang. I'm sure it came with a lot of prayer and thought as well. Just think of how many people can be reached with 500+ new churches in some of the worlds most neglected and poor areas. Think about how many people they can reach and the people who will attend those churches who can reach out to even more.

FYI, a friend of mine I grew up with is a missionary in the region hit near Mianyang. He is indirectly supported by LC and people at LC as well as other missionaries and ministries in the region. Prayers are with him and his family and they remain safe thus far. Keep in mind, the offering stated above is a collective offering from 700+ churches in over 17 countries. This was not just an LC only decision.

[Blazerfan11]

The China Earthquake ain't nothing compared to the War in Iraq Groeschel advocated for LOL!!!!!!!

[kmf563]

At the Movies

The blockbuster event of the summer season is just days away! Join us on the weekend of July 5th and 6th for a high-flying, bone-chilling, hair-raising experience as we kick off our next series, At the Movies. We’ll plunge into Hollywood’s hot films to see where pop culture collides with spiritual truth. Each At the Movies experience is a live-only, first-run event, not available on DVD, podcast or rebroadcast, so don’t miss out. Check out the trailer below, share the fun with a friend, and we’ll see you At the Movies!

Preview for this ATM series:

LifeChurch.tv - LifeChurch.tv


PS -
Welcome home Brian Bruss!!! YAH!