praying before trip

[Buddy L]

Thanks for your thoughts but it will change absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of my life or yours.

Life will take its inevitable course whether you pray or I dont!!!

[Anchors Away]

Buddy L:

 

Whether you believe it changes anything or not, your Creator would love to hear from you.

 

Joy

[Buddy L]

I speak to my creator on a regular basis...they're called my parents!!!

[newbiejay]

HappyStamper -

 

God always answers prayer- it's just that sometimes the answer is "no"!

 

You got that right!

[ColoradoJuli]

partisan,

why pray? what is going to happen is going to happen. i am not trying to be mean or cruel or anything like that. ( i started not to post at all in reply), but why do you think your prayer will make any difference in reference to a cruise? for those who reply that feel they must flame, go ahead, i have thick skin and i know it makes you feel better (especially those with better than thou attitudes).

Really have no desire to 'flame' you but...if you are familiar with the story of Moses and the Isrealites. There is a time that God has told Moses that he will no longer be with the Isrealites because they have turned from him. Moses prays and pleads with God and tells him that how will the world know that they are his people unless He goes with them. Because of Moses prayer God changes his mind and does continue to lead the Isrealites. I feel that this is proof that prayer does change things. God is only waiting for our request.

 

:::stepping off of soap box:::: feeling much better. :-)

[Buddy L]

Not wanting to `flame`back, but, when you say `I feel that this is proof`etc, sorry, but the only proof you rely upon is the written word, and if everyone relied upon the written word, we would all believe Aesops fables or the Brothers Grimm or anything else that is written, but has no other factual references to back it up other than some people having total belief in it!!!

 

Sorry if I upset anybody with these comments.

I look at recent events in my life and I look at the world in general over the past 10 years and if there is such a thing as a loving caring God he has one strange way of showing it.

You people in America should understand my point more than anybody!

How can anybody justify a God after the dreadful events of 9/11? Brought upon by people who also believed in a God!!

Religion causes more deaths in this world than anything and whilst the basic premise of `love thy fellow man` sounds perfect in theory, it very rarely works in real life.

So carry on with your beliefs and faith and I'll stick to the realities of trying to get through this world in one piece!!

Jeez!! How big is that soap box???

Once again, I dont mean to offend anybody, Its just my take on the situation.

Sorry.

[doule]

yes buddy L, we will pray for you and your salvation. i don't want to pass you as you ride the "down" escalator. God is faithful.

[Buddy L]

Just exactly `who` is God faithful to?

Every victim who dies every single day because somebody believes in a different `God` to themselves?

And the suicide bombers that believe in their God and are willing to kill innocent people just because they believe in a different God!!!

No amount of praying will bring back all those innocent victims and the family grief their death has left behind.

And, no amount of `praying for my salvation` will alter my view.When we go we will all be equal, six feet under!!

[North Carolina Cruiser]

Only when Jesus draws you will you understand, until then I will pray for you also. Will my prayers change your mind? No, only Jesus can change you, but He listens to His children. It must be an awfully sad and anger filled life without God.

[Buddy L]

It must be a sad life if you need a belief in a fictional entity to get through it!

And, why on earth do people want to pray for me?

Why not pray for the murderers in Iraq who kill innocent people like Ken Bigley and the other 2 Americans?

You dont need to pray for them because they have their own God and they pray everyday to it. And they have total belief and faith, just like yourselves but it doesn't stop the killing!

You could also ask, how many are atheists? and there wont be a single one!

So then ask how many non believers have commited murder in the Iraq war? and your answer will be none!!

So who is right?

A murderer who believes totally in God or an atheist who kills no one???

[BluexMoon]

Buddy,

 

Isn't there even a very small part of you that worries, when your time comes, will you be wrong? What if there is a God? What if he tells you, "Sorry, I never knew you". Then will you say "You showed me no proof"? Do you think that will change his mind about your destination?

I believe with all my heart there is a God. I believe that the world that surrounds us is proof. No, not the violence in our world, that is the proof that God gave us free will. I mean the natural world. Is it easier to believe an explosion created all creatures and the balance between predator and prey, large to microscopic. How our whole world is based on ecosystems that keep us alive.

And don't forget, death may cause grief to the living, but to the believer, death brings us to our Lord, which is what we strive for all our God given lives.

[Buddy L]

Bluexmoon

Dont really want to `flame` anybody here but what you are saying there is that, when my time comes, because I dont talk to God he will choose my destination, which will probably be hell, even though I have never harmed anybody, and only tried to bring good to the people in my own small world.

But, on the other hand, because Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussain and all the other murderous tyrants, believe in God, and talk to him every day, they will be welcomed with open arms?

No?

So instead they will be judged, and placed with me in hell, and my refusal to talk to him places me on a par with mass murderers?

Or, he will say, I was a good man, and tried to do the right thing, and welcome me in to heaven?

If the latter is the case, I still dont need to pray.

If its the former, why should I pray to such an unfair, cruel and heartless God?

If he is so incredible, he will see me for what I am, and the quality of my values.

 

Yes, it is easier to believe the theory of how this Earth came to be because there is factual evidence of our past. There is no factual evidence of a God. And you can quote all the wonderful stories of miracles and wonder as written in the Bible but you still cant give me factual evidence.

 

Death, in all its forms, causes grief to so many yet we should be thankful we have free will?

Its a bitter pill for people to swallow when their children are killed by a bomb or a bullet and somebody tells them, It was the murderers `choice`, his `free will` Gods `choice`.

So that makes everything understandable then!!

 

If there was an all powerful God, he could change things in an instance, and all for the better. He could show himself to the world and tell us, you haven't quite worked out the `free will` thing yet, but then you would have no faith, because faith is a belief in something you have no proof of, and your bubble would be well and truly burst if that happened.

I think we both know that will never happen.

This is not a pleasant world, there are some things that give us pleasure, like our holidays and such, but look around, its not a pleasant world!

If he did create this universe, he has long gone and left us to fend on our own, he wont be back because its too far gone to fix.

CYNICAL OF ENGLAND!!!

[dublin]

I take prayer and my God on every trip I take.

 

Everyone marches and prays to a different drummer.

[Tweek]

Buddy,

 

The only way to get into heaven is through Jesus, he was/is the son of God and He is a living God. When you speak of Bin Laden his God is Alla and his belief is that of Mohammed (sp?). Mohammed is dead. Jesus overcame death and rose from the dead so that by us believing that He is the Christ and the Son of God, we too can have eternal life in heaven. Look at it this way, you are going to spend eternity somewhere - Heaven or Hell. Heaven is paradise - hell is HELL.

 

Peace be with you.

 

Tweek

[BluexMoon]

Amen Tweek.

 

Buddy,

You tell me that I believe in something that I have no proof of, but yet you have no proof that there is no God, but you believe it anyway. So, what makes your faith right and mine wrong? We both believe something through faith, my belief is wonderful and fills lives with hope and peace. What does yours give? Dispair and want. How does one live a happy life if they believe that once they die, that's it?

[Buddy L]

Tweek, he is not a living God, he exists only in your mind, and if that helps you get through life, thats fine but I need tangible proof. My point about Bin Laden etc is the belief in a God whatever form you think it takes still kills more people than anything on this Earth and has done for centuries!!

 

It seems strange to me that eternity is either heaven or hell and nothing in between.

So because I dont believe or pray I am going to hell? What kind of justice is that?

I am a good person, I harm nobody yet I am doomed to spend the afterlife in Hell? Of course that all depends on your belief in a life after death.

Bluexmoon

No I cant prove he doesn't exist but Its harder for you to prove he does exist than the other way round. Thats like looking at an empty glass and you insisting its full. If you have total belief nothing will convince you otherwise no matter what I do.

Yes I agree faith can be wonderful and it does help people through life but I dont need it. And I dont go through life with despair and want, I try and do the right thing and if I do that I am very content within myself.

I have no fears about death, recently I have been very close to death, I had no worries, I had no need for prayer, I was totally comfortable and ready.

I only need myself and the love of close friends to get me through this life, I can see them, they are always there for me, I dont need storybook fiction.

I know it helps others and I'm happy for you, just dont pray for me and dont try to convince me, just be yourselves, I'll be me and we can both co-exist in our own contented lives.

[Tweek]

Buddy,

 

One question: How did anything in this world, universe and beyond come to exist? Where do you believe it all started? OK that's two questions.

[Buddy L]

Tweek

 

Its an unanswerable question.

The big bang is the closest theory to a definitive answer because at least we have some evidence that it actually occured.

There is no evidence for a supreme being but again its very open ended.

Until I'm shown some concrete evidence I'd rather not speculate on whether he exists or not. And you cant answer that either!!

I choose not to believe, and my disbelief strengthens every day with the way man behaves to man.

We also have volcanic eruptions, Hurricanes, Flash floods and all manner of freak weather conditions that kills thousands.

So God gave man free will?

How does that work if you live and work to feed your family, in somewhere like Haiti, and you are killed by a Hurricane, that leaves your children to fend for themselves?

How much did free will help then? How much did free will help the devastated families left behind?

Is it Gods way of culling the population?

Surely if he is as wonderful as you say he is he could find a more merciful death for his subjects!!

But he doesn't, and he wont, because he can't.

Look at this Earth!! The death, corruption, immorality, murderous dictators, corrupt governments, greed, unfairness of it all, and think about this...

...perhaps your prayers haven't worked...perhaps with all thats going on you have been put in the same boat as me...and we are already dead!...and this is the afterlife...and this is hell!!!

Its an intriguing thought, and not without some credibility dont you think?

[Tweek]

Buddy,

 

Who do you supposed made the "BIG BANG" happen?

 

And no, this isn't hell. Life is a gift, that's way they call it "the present".

 

I truly wish you all the best in this life. Whether you want me to or not, I will continue to pray for you. As a Christain, it is my responsibility.

 

Peace be with you. I'm done preaching to you.

 

Tweek.

[Buddy L]

Tweek

 

I appreciate the sentiment and although we have different beliefs I genuinely wish yourself, and all fellow men a happy life.

We are so far apart in some respects and so close in others.

I know we both want the world to be a better place than it actually is, and we all strive for that, regardless of our beliefs.

I've enjoyed the debate, may your God go with you, whilst I travel alone. Take care.

[debvm]

God created the oceans, the beaches, the beautiful landscapes and everything we enjoy on a cruise,......even the food! hehe.

He deserves a prayer of thanks for being so giving to bless us with so

much that satisfies our desires here on earth.

The Bible says "the earth is the Lord's and everything in it" and I believe

He takes pleasure when we enjoy His earth.....and He takes pleasure in you too as He created you for His pleasure.....

so enjoy your cruise, and don't forget to thank the Lord for the wonders

He has made!

 

off to western carrib next week! Debbi inIndiana

[BluexMoon]

debvm,

Thank you for that. I allways feel guilty when I treat myself to something like a cruise, feel selfish, or like a glutton(sp?) I like your take on it much better:)

I guess I need to rethink my attitude:confused:

[makeda]

thank you, Lord, thank you

[OhJinkies]

partisan,

why pray? what is going to happen is going to happen. i am not trying to be mean or cruel or anything like that. ( i started not to post at all in reply), but why do you think your prayer will make any difference in reference to a cruise? for those who reply that feel they must flame, go ahead, i have thick skin and i know it makes you feel better (especially those with better than thou attitudes).

My prayer (usually just before the plane takes off) is for my safety, that of the crew, and the rest of the passengers. But it continues with the request that if something bad does happen, that my family will make it through okay. I know that even if the worst happens, I WILL be "okay" because I'm going to a better place. I also know from past experiences that we have no control over what happens, and that bad things DO happen. But I have felt God's hand (and seen it in others) in how I respond to that situation. I feel that God has given me a "peace that passes all understanding." And THAT is why I pray!

 

Cathy

[Buddy L]

Here I go again!!!

Why, do people who `believe,` go to great lengths to tell `non-believers,` like myself, how lucky I should be that God created such an incredible, wonderful, amazing, beautiful, World/Galaxy/Universe, and I should be eternally grateful to be part of such an amazing creation; and then say, "if the worst happens, I WILL be "okay" because I'm going to a better place."???

What could be even better than this? If its so incredible I cant comprehend what could be even more incredible!!!

Free Johnny Rockets burgers? and you never put on weight?...an infinite supply of Budweiser?...Man Utd win every game?...my wife is dressed and on time for the taxi?...Hang on!! this sounds great, maybe I could be converted? :)