QUESTIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF IDEAS ARE WELCOME

QUESTIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF IDEAS ARE WELCOME

QUESTIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF IDEAS ARE WELCOME

Some people say they don’t believe in God.
But everyone does.
Except that atheism does not approach belief in God in the manner that theism/conventional religion does.

The Higher Being
Every living person knows they have no control over some systems in the world and which no other human being has control of. Some examples will include the planets and their movements; the sun and it’s rising; the seasons; growing and aging; etc. The sophistication of these systems leaves all men curious and marveling. We all recognize that something higher than us is responsible. The grand phenomenon is called by different names. Theism calls Him/It, God, in many languages. Atheism calls It Energy or Force or any such name. But they refer to the same thing.

Like all other religions, atheism claims superiority often attacking perceived/assumed weaknesses of other religions. Like atheism, all other religions have pockets of unresolved questions which binds to the non-stop pursuit to know more.

God, Energy - similarities
It cannot be made nor destroyed.
We obey His/It’s laws whether consciously or not: for example we have no choice but to grow to maturity; food air and blood pass through different track in our body; physical laws like gravity.
We interact with Him/It but cannot see Him/it.
Spiritual laws guide our physical lives too for example religion says "what you sow, you reap"; atheism formulated that action and reaction are equal and opposite (Newton’s law). The similarities are endless if ones avoids the 'temptation' of superficiality.

Seek and you shall find
We don’t understand all of this great Being so we keep striving to know. Religion seeks more in churches and similar organization using faith and inspirational documents passed from generation to generation while Atheism seeks to understand it in labs by conscious observation and analysis using logical processes (SCIENCE).

Conclusion
The conclusion is that God loves everyone. However you seek him, you are welcome.
Theism approaches God as a higher being that human logic alone cannot interpret. Most times, logical reasoning is skipped entirely so that faith takes preeminence. A lot of questions are left unanswered, just like every answered scientific question in Atheism leads to many more questions that need answers. Atheism may not have the structural complexities and peculiarities or conventional religions with worship centers, modes of worship, religious leadership, hierarchies, etc but it is none the less a religion for 'believers' who do not want to adhere to theology without proof.

Humans' continued search will one day lead us to TRUTH. That time, only one Religion will be practiced: LOVE.
So which ever you follow, never stop seeking the Truth.
And you will be free indeed.

So don't allow yourself to be tempted.

Are you sometimes tempted to this or that? Yeah I know. But I don’t think so. Temptation is the desire to do or have something that is bad or wrong, or a thing that makes somebody want to do or have something that they know is bad or wrong.

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
But temptation is just choice, nothing more. Let me explain using a food analogy.
Do you eat glass? I am sure more than 99.99% of humans don’t. What if someone who is very hungry were presented with a beautiful plate of colourful sharp-edged broken pieces of glass? To make it more ‘tempting’, the dish is garnished (and disguised) by the best chef and served with mouth-watering appetizers and desserts in the ambience of a 5-star restaurant. I can bet no one will eat the glass regardless of the intensity of their hunger. So we cannot be tempted to do what we do not want to do.

IT’S ALL ABOUT CHOICE
The word temptation creates the impression of an external force pulling or pushing us into what we do not want. But it’s a big lie. We decide to do what we do except that we have not found sufficient reason(s) not to. Using that word, temptation, only empowers our powerlessness.

CAN WE OVERCOME TEMPTATION?
If it exists, yes we can. There are 3 steps:
1) Choices
You don’t eat glass but you can eat burger, rice, spags, chilala, and a host of other choices. So create or discover other healthy alternatives you can choose from.
2) Get to know
If we know why we shouldn't do a thing, it is a easier to avoid it. So educate yourself. Find out why it is bad. And what makes the other alternatives better. Should we want anyone not to do something, furnish the person (even kids) with logical reasons why. Unfortunately in this part of the world, we tend to just say it to them (or command it).

3) Choose.
You are the king/queen of your world. NOTHING makes you do anything but yourself. It's your life/world, own it.
Choose what you want.

Deuteronomy 30:19
The choice is even made easier. You already know the 'temptation' is a bad idea.

Modified

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IMPERFECT HUMAN WITH IMPERFECT FAITH
Faith as proclaimed by most people is an insult to human intelligence. Human faith, like human beings, has it's limitations. There are so many issues that need urgent attention yet all the faith in the world presently seem powerless before them. Our Chibok girls, militancy crimes, eradication of diseases (ebola, polio, HIV etc), global inequalities and hunger, and many more, will benefit from a proper use of faith from any body - not limited to Christians. So we can conclude that there are no perfectly faithful people on earth. At least as at this present stage in human development.

SOME HONESTY PLEASE
Maybe we should be more truthful about our assertions. Faith works, but there are limits to what it can actually do. No one can physically go to Heaven and come back regardless of his/her faith. We haven't seen mansions that just appeared without being built. Established laws still apply in the realisation of prayers (otherwise super faith can shorten human pregnancy to days or minutes and so on).

ACCEPT THE OBVIOUS
So go easy on trying to make yourself/ people feel they haven't done enough to attract God's presence. Man is imperfect, simple. He keeps working toward perfection. He may eventually attain perfection in a thousand/million/ billion years of existence. Maybe then he can actually physically move mountains. But for now, we are imperfect. That's how God made us. And we will never stop striving for perfection.

LOVE IS ALL
So enough of this guilt-trips on faith this, faith that. Jesus was more interested in the Love shown to our neighbours. Remember the only commandment He left us with - to love God with our all and to Love our neighbours as ourselves. Remember also 1Corinthians 13: 13: "There remain then, FAITH, HOPE, LOVE, THESE THREE; BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE".

By the way, big ups to Bill and Melinda Gates foundation for what they do in trying to eradicate polio in the world. They are investing in a new synthetic drug research expected to be more potent. Bill and Melinda may not be religious ( not that I know) but what they do typifies the Christianity Jesus preached about.

We should be proud of the outpouring of love and charity from Nigerians for confirmed health and social needs.


THIS IS A REPLY TO A THREAD, 'FAITH', BY SOMEONE.

Now corrected.

Thanks for the observation. ( You know you)

Op is certainly high on something.
I don't know what but I certainly know it aint the Holy Spirit. If songs are interpreted this way then a great many of them don't worship God and so are sinful.

@idilight

I agree with your definition of prayer and it is captured in my write-up as one of the needs for prayer. But one might then ask, 'why do people want to be close to God?'. To impress Him I guess. And naturally obtain from Him due rewards. What would those rewards be? Only spiritual things like peace? Well, that is if you already live in Heaven. On Earth, material provisions enhance peace of mind. Ask all leaders of religious organisations. I don't know of one who lives like a monk inside a single room without pleasant earthly provisions.

I need to state, by the way, that I am not referring to prayer in Christianity alone.

On the other matter of time frame to prayers, please consider every passage of the Bible that talks about faith. It is ALWAYS based on our desires, with absolutely no limits attached. An example is Mark 11:24, "Therefore I say unto you, WHAT THINGS SO EVER YE DESIRE, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (KJV). So, emphatically YES, there is a time frame in the Bible since a desire could be for a simple thing to happen immediately or within any specified interval. Aside from this, most demands are time specific anyway. Imagine a chaste lady with plans to have 5 adorable kids seeking a husband without a time frame. I doubt she will be very grateful if that prayer is answered when she gets to 70years (no disrespect to Sarah at 90).

Faith as proclaimed by most of you is an insult to human intelligence. Human faith, like human beings, has it's limitations. There are so many issues that need urgent attention yet all the faith in the world seem powerless before them. Our Chibok girls, militancy crimes, eradication of diseases (ebola, polio, HIV etc), global inequalities and hunger, and many more, will benefit from a proper use of faith from any body - not limited to Christians. So we can conclude that there are no perfectly faithful people on earth. At least as at this present stage in man's development.

Maybe we should be more truthful about our assertions. Faith works, but there are limits to what it can actually do. No one can physically go to Heaven and come back. We haven't seen mansions that just appeared without being built. All prayers for money still come physically (unless you have seen an untraceable billion dollars in any bank account or a room).

So go easy on trying to make people feel they haven't done enough to attract God's presence. Man is imperfect, simple. He keeps working toward perfection. He may eventually attain perfection in a thousand/million/ billion years of existence. Maybe then he can actually physically move mountains. But for now, we are imperfect and that's how God made us. And we will never stop striving.

By the way, big ups to Bill and Melinda Gates foundation for what they do in trying to eradicate polio in the world. They are investing in a new synthetic drug research. Bill and Melinda may not be religious ( I don't know them) but what they do is an example of the Christianity Jesus preached about.

I am also touched by the outpouring of love and charity from the TeHN crew and all the Nairalanders (and non-Nairalander) in the DJDola (RIP) case.
That was love as preached by the Lord.

Can the good Lord heal our prayers?

@tos4u
Interesting
But if u read it well, u'd see I wasn't complaining

I got a message from someone
prayer is good
i just question the way conventional religions and practices go about it
a prayer without a result was no prayer in the first place
maybe we should join the apostles in demanding from Lord to "teach us how to pray"
thanks (you know you) for the message

Rexbrita@gmail.com

[size=14pt]Introduction[/size]
Before i present this for your esteemed insights, I need to state clearly that I am not an atheist by any stretch of the imagination. I am just concerned that too many people (including my humble self) have been 'sold' a notion which may be disturbingly deceptive.

[size=14pt]Need for prayer[/size]
we've all heard many reasons for prayers but the major reason seems to be the control of the physical manifestation of wishes and expectations. others may include answers to questions and the need for godliness. Careful examination of most other reasons, though, will link them back to the stated major reason.

[size=14pt]History[/size]
No, not with dates and quotes. A look at the natural human progression from ancient to modern civilization shows how man consistently tried to control events and outcomes in his favour. His studies in the field of outcome-management led to different interests like the horoscope, dream interpretation, sun worship, many forms of 'fetishism' (voodoo, occult, bizarre rituals), religion in all its many forms, and then science.

[size=14pt]Spread of religion and practices[/size]
Since different religious practices promise the faithfuls some expected results, it is not difficult to see the corelation between new forms/ patterns/ sequences of prayers and the the supporting new doctrines, all in the same attempt to achieve predetermined outcomes. Hence the different religions/ practices with their many shades of denominations all promising to do better than the others.

[size=14pt]So do prayers realy work?[/size]
You be the judge. Has all of yours been answered? But before you hasten to reply, think of this:

1) What do you pray for?
Are they things that can ordinarily happen, or things that are seemingly improbable and/or impossible. Although the definitions of both may not be very categorical, prayer is supposed to answer the latter but just to 'belong', a lot of faithfuls parade the former as miracles.

2) When is your prayer answered?
Every prayer should have a time frame. most christians (I am one too) will say God's time is the best but this is in direct contrast to Mark 11: 24, with particular emphasis on the word WHATSOEVER used in the verse.

3) Differences
People all seem to want the same things regardless of religion. We all want a happier, easier life on earth although what constitutes 'happier' and 'easier' may differ. It is usually some form of possession or the other that improves us. That is being mild because in most cases people want what makes them stand out so as to directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously, oppress those who do not 'belong'. You may not agree but it is embedded in the practice of testimony sharing in churches, and flaunting of our best stuffs.

[size=14pt]Science and Prayer[/size]
The word of God in Mathew chapter 7, starting from verse 7, says we will receive what we ask for, seek for, etc.
Science is the act of systematically seeking to find, recording these findings and analyzing the results all in a healthy attempt to establish truths. Technology simply employs science to address human challenges. So science and religion are not at war. The Lord created both. Science answers a lot of our prayers with a lot more certainty and timeliness. In our respective lives, a number of issues can be addressed by simply observing with purpose and objectively analyzing our observations. Examples abound even in your life. Faith is the key to answered prayers - be it in science or in our religious applications.

But religion, as projected (especially in Africa) seems to numb the perceptive faculties. It makes most of us unwilling to employ our observatory capabilities. Limited use of our mental capacity shrinks our mental ability. Doesn't religion tend to teach only TO ASK without TO SEEK and TO KNOCK? Maybe that is why somewhere in the book of James, the Bible says the reason men pray and fail to receive is that they pray amiss.

FAITH
Frankly, I will love to know how to pray and get results. I know it has all to do with the application of faith. But what is Faith? Is there an established scientific method for applying it with 100% certainty? I reckon that a lot of people in the world want to be among the 1%. A lot of us want to see peace in many parts of the world. A number do have very pressing questions that need urgent answers. It will be nice to get the rewards we seek. Don't tell me your pastor has an answer. He probably wants to be richer than JayZ Or Bill Gates.

There is also a corelation between the described practice of praying by Africans (and other third worlds) and our ineptitude in the sciences.

No racial colouration was intended pls

You do have a point ^^
But one might argue that the Liberian got there quite on time

This thought got ignited after this SL surgeon died in the US. Remember that all American Ebola patients flown back to the US from Africa all recovered.

I am just wondering if it is just a co-incidence that African Ebola patients die in the US but US Ebola patients survive.

http://m.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30085116

I am not pointing at anything. Just a thought.

http://swissramble..com/2013/05/uefa-prize-money-rhapsody-in-blue.html?m=1

The above site tells the whole story, guys ( and babes).

In terms of money, chelsea made more; in terms of reach and significance, chelsea was continental; in terms of number of competitions entered into, chelsea was in more competitions (which, btw, took a tolls on them and affected their overall performance - 65 matches, I think. Whew!)

So I don't see why the obvious is being debated. I do understand ManU's fanaticism which is all part of the game. But then, face the facts and just congratulate us for a beautiful season.

rexbrita@gmail.com

Goodbye.

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May the soul of the Delhi, India, rape victim rest in peace.

Sad.

Violence against women is a crime against humanity. I support the protests in India against a female student that suffered violence in a bus. My thoughts and prayer go to her.
A lot more is required globally.

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