The SimTropolis House of Worship

[thesonofgray 0]

I guess the wolves have already gotten to me. 

While I nor my parents nor my friends nor most people that know me wouldn't consider myself a bad or unfair person, I would imagine the Pope or any clergyman would consider a homosexual-athiest as that little lamb eating the greener grass and being knawed on by wolves.

Of course humans do it, too!  You're eating the (what you think is) greener grass of Christianity and I'm eating the (what I think is) greener grass in Athiesm.

Fooooood.  I'd kill for good food.  I just wouldn't risk my life for it either. _{(j/k - the killing thing)}

These parables are funny.  I'm really hungry now.

[TheCrybKeeper 301]

Haha. Actually yes the book I had about sheep, shepherd and people made me laugh some also.

Well, I have eaten in both fields and several others. After tasting so many so often; you tend to realise which one tastes the best and doesn't cause indigestion afterwards.

I do not just think I am following Christ, I know He is leading me. When I jumped the fence to athiest, I know for a fact, I was leading myself. I fell in many holes in the athiests pasture. Wolves didn't knaw me too awful much, but once your at the bottom of a deep ravine, on your back with belly exposed; you will bleet for the shepherd also. At least I sure would.

[TheCrybKeeper 301]

Haha. Actually yes the book I had about sheep, shepherd and people made me laugh some also.

Well, I have eaten in both fields and several others. After tasting so many so often; you tend to realise which one tastes the best and doesn't cause indigestion afterwards.

I do not just think I am following Christ, I know He is leading me. When I jumped the fence to athiest, I know for a fact, I was leading myself. I fell in many holes in the athiests pasture. Wolves didn't knaw me too awful much, but once your at the bottom of a deep ravine, on your back with belly exposed; you will bleet for the shepherd also. At least I sure would.

[TheCrybKeeper 301]

Haha. Actually yes the book I had about sheep, shepherd and people made me laugh some also.

Well, I have eaten in both fields and several others. After tasting so many so often; you tend to realise which one tastes the best and doesn't cause indigestion afterwards.

I do not just think I am following Christ, I know He is leading me. When I jumped the fence to athiest, I know for a fact, I was leading myself. I fell in many holes in the athiests pasture. Wolves didn't knaw me too awful much, but once your at the bottom of a deep ravine, on your back with belly exposed; you will bleet for the shepherd also. At least I sure would.

[thesonofgray 0]

Okay, if someone came into the middle of this conversation, they would be so confused.  Shooting sheep and wolves knawing at us and eating grass.  Yikes!

Anyways, if you are in fact in Ohio...and if I am truely in Texas, then we are both up way too late.  So I'll save a meaningful reply till I can actually think.

Goodnite...

[thesonofgray 0]

Okay, if someone came into the middle of this conversation, they would be so confused.  Shooting sheep and wolves knawing at us and eating grass.  Yikes!

Anyways, if you are in fact in Ohio...and if I am truely in Texas, then we are both up way too late.  So I'll save a meaningful reply till I can actually think.

Goodnite...

[thesonofgray 0]

Okay, if someone came into the middle of this conversation, they would be so confused.  Shooting sheep and wolves knawing at us and eating grass.  Yikes!

Anyways, if you are in fact in Ohio...and if I am truely in Texas, then we are both up way too late.  So I'll save a meaningful reply till I can actually think.

Goodnite...

[jglei701 8]

Since we're talking about sheep and shephards... What do you think, TSOG, about the analogy of Jesus being the lamb of God?

[jglei701 8]

Since we're talking about sheep and shephards... What do you think, TSOG, about the analogy of Jesus being the lamb of God?

[jglei701 8]

Since we're talking about sheep and shephards... What do you think, TSOG, about the analogy of Jesus being the lamb of God?

[thesonofgray 0]

Well, unless God chopped up Jesus and grilled him for dinner, I'd find it rubbish.  Just like the sheep-shepard analogy.

Or God could be a sheep.  Spreading His fluff for all to wear!  And "baaah"ing everytime someone sins!

Something like that.

[thesonofgray 0]

Well, unless God chopped up Jesus and grilled him for dinner, I'd find it rubbish.  Just like the sheep-shepard analogy.

Or God could be a sheep.  Spreading His fluff for all to wear!  And "baaah"ing everytime someone sins!

Something like that.

[thesonofgray 0]

Well, unless God chopped up Jesus and grilled him for dinner, I'd find it rubbish.  Just like the sheep-shepard analogy.

Or God could be a sheep.  Spreading His fluff for all to wear!  And "baaah"ing everytime someone sins!

Something like that.

[moganite 4]

ROFL TSOG

i have just done the calculations on frndofyaweh's mass lost and it comes out to be aproximately 9x 10¹⁰ Joules of energy released if a soul was pure energy. That is enough energy to  Flash vaporise a human explosively and cause  fires in the emediate surroundings if this was true you would not want to be anywhere near a dying person. It could be dark energy but there is not any hard evidence i have seen for it and the same applies to dark matter and extra dimensions in space time, It only exists in hypothesis.

Also As far as i know there is no set of scales that could weigh anything as heavy as a human with that level of precission (plus or minus hallf a milligram) . That equates to one flake of dead skin  or a few hundred cells at most. It is also impossible to get an mass that accurate for a human or any animal of comparable size as the changes in mass due to respiration will be much larger on the order of about half a gram or so. Then there is fluids and evaporespiration. Finally the method of death counts as you cannot add or remove any mass without also weighing it. That rules out a lot of means apart from natural and that has a much larger error due to depresurisation/pressurisation of the lungs and loss of fluids as a result of death.

As i grew up on a sheep farm how do you know that a sheep will keep doing it after all they all look the same to a human anyways.  It could be different Sheep what would happen you would quickly have no sheep if you left them in a bare paddock with no feed and i mean bare as in they have already eaten all vegetable matter. Sheep can survive on a ploughed paddock you know.

Once one sheep learns it, it will never ever stop escaping for the greener grass and the whole fold will begin to break down fences. This is absolutely true also. Just go research sheep farming. quote>

You need better fences thats all. Cows are much much worse on fences.

Humans do this also follow the leader: Even I do it whether I like it or not. Good or bad habits, we all choose something and usually it's because we see others doing it and we want the experience also. quote>

Only partly true and there will always be people who want to do things differently. Isnt that what a lot of rebellions are started by someone who thinks things can be done better or something is unethical/ morally wrong?

You may bleat for a shepard but will he be in time?

bessides i am not a sheep as i have opposable thumbs and no tail.

I would argee with TSOG on the analogy  bunkum

[moganite 4]

ROFL TSOG

i have just done the calculations on frndofyaweh's mass lost and it comes out to be aproximately 9x 10¹⁰ Joules of energy released if a soul was pure energy. That is enough energy to  Flash vaporise a human explosively and cause  fires in the emediate surroundings if this was true you would not want to be anywhere near a dying person. It could be dark energy but there is not any hard evidence i have seen for it and the same applies to dark matter and extra dimensions in space time, It only exists in hypothesis.

Also As far as i know there is no set of scales that could weigh anything as heavy as a human with that level of precission (plus or minus hallf a milligram) . That equates to one flake of dead skin  or a few hundred cells at most. It is also impossible to get an mass that accurate for a human or any animal of comparable size as the changes in mass due to respiration will be much larger on the order of about half a gram or so. Then there is fluids and evaporespiration. Finally the method of death counts as you cannot add or remove any mass without also weighing it. That rules out a lot of means apart from natural and that has a much larger error due to depresurisation/pressurisation of the lungs and loss of fluids as a result of death.

As i grew up on a sheep farm how do you know that a sheep will keep doing it after all they all look the same to a human anyways.  It could be different Sheep what would happen you would quickly have no sheep if you left them in a bare paddock with no feed and i mean bare as in they have already eaten all vegetable matter. Sheep can survive on a ploughed paddock you know.

Once one sheep learns it, it will never ever stop escaping for the greener grass and the whole fold will begin to break down fences. This is absolutely true also. Just go research sheep farming. quote>

You need better fences thats all. Cows are much much worse on fences.

Humans do this also follow the leader: Even I do it whether I like it or not. Good or bad habits, we all choose something and usually it's because we see others doing it and we want the experience also. quote>

Only partly true and there will always be people who want to do things differently. Isnt that what a lot of rebellions are started by someone who thinks things can be done better or something is unethical/ morally wrong?

You may bleat for a shepard but will he be in time?

bessides i am not a sheep as i have opposable thumbs and no tail.

I would argee with TSOG on the analogy  bunkum

[moganite 4]

ROFL TSOG

i have just done the calculations on frndofyaweh's mass lost and it comes out to be aproximately 9x 10¹⁰ Joules of energy released if a soul was pure energy. That is enough energy to  Flash vaporise a human explosively and cause  fires in the emediate surroundings if this was true you would not want to be anywhere near a dying person. It could be dark energy but there is not any hard evidence i have seen for it and the same applies to dark matter and extra dimensions in space time, It only exists in hypothesis.

Also As far as i know there is no set of scales that could weigh anything as heavy as a human with that level of precission (plus or minus hallf a milligram) . That equates to one flake of dead skin  or a few hundred cells at most. It is also impossible to get an mass that accurate for a human or any animal of comparable size as the changes in mass due to respiration will be much larger on the order of about half a gram or so. Then there is fluids and evaporespiration. Finally the method of death counts as you cannot add or remove any mass without also weighing it. That rules out a lot of means apart from natural and that has a much larger error due to depresurisation/pressurisation of the lungs and loss of fluids as a result of death.

As i grew up on a sheep farm how do you know that a sheep will keep doing it after all they all look the same to a human anyways.  It could be different Sheep what would happen you would quickly have no sheep if you left them in a bare paddock with no feed and i mean bare as in they have already eaten all vegetable matter. Sheep can survive on a ploughed paddock you know.

Once one sheep learns it, it will never ever stop escaping for the greener grass and the whole fold will begin to break down fences. This is absolutely true also. Just go research sheep farming. quote>

You need better fences thats all. Cows are much much worse on fences.

Humans do this also follow the leader: Even I do it whether I like it or not. Good or bad habits, we all choose something and usually it's because we see others doing it and we want the experience also. quote>

Only partly true and there will always be people who want to do things differently. Isnt that what a lot of rebellions are started by someone who thinks things can be done better or something is unethical/ morally wrong?

You may bleat for a shepard but will he be in time?

bessides i am not a sheep as i have opposable thumbs and no tail.

I would argee with TSOG on the analogy  bunkum

[jglei701 8]

Moganite,

What do you mean by the statement "I would agree with TSOG on the analogy bunkum?"

An analogy is a word picture used to describe something else. In this case, it is used to describe one of the attributes of God. It is not the end all answer (in other words, if you don't think God is a shephard, then he must not be anything). You may not agree with the analogy, but then if you think the analogy isn't true, come up with one that you think DOES fit God. I mean, I'm not too sure how accurate you can get, seeing as God called Himself the Good Shephard, but...

[jglei701 8]

Moganite,

What do you mean by the statement "I would agree with TSOG on the analogy bunkum?"

An analogy is a word picture used to describe something else. In this case, it is used to describe one of the attributes of God. It is not the end all answer (in other words, if you don't think God is a shephard, then he must not be anything). You may not agree with the analogy, but then if you think the analogy isn't true, come up with one that you think DOES fit God. I mean, I'm not too sure how accurate you can get, seeing as God called Himself the Good Shephard, but...

[jglei701 8]

Moganite,

What do you mean by the statement "I would agree with TSOG on the analogy bunkum?"

An analogy is a word picture used to describe something else. In this case, it is used to describe one of the attributes of God. It is not the end all answer (in other words, if you don't think God is a shephard, then he must not be anything). You may not agree with the analogy, but then if you think the analogy isn't true, come up with one that you think DOES fit God. I mean, I'm not too sure how accurate you can get, seeing as God called Himself the Good Shephard, but...

[thesonofgray 0]

You may not agree with the analogy, but then if you think the analogy isn't true, come up with one that you think DOES fit God.quote>

Okay.  I'll take you up on that challenge.

I'd compare God to Santa Claus. 

God is like Santa Claus because:

-he provides incentives to be "good" in everyday life,

-he works in mysterious ways and does impossible acts,

-he has majic little elves that do things for him,

-people write letters to him to ask for gifts or assistance,

-he is celebrated on certain days of the year,

-he comes in all flavors, depending on the culture,

-the only way you can recieve his gifts is to not ever find actual proof of his existance,

-and he is completely fictional - thought up by creative imaginations.

Now see if you can butcher that up and spit on it like I did the shepard analogy.

Moganite, maybe that's why people randomly explode (supposedely).  I guess spirits are highly combustable?  I should sue someone, since I didn't see any warning in my manual. 

[thesonofgray 0]

You may not agree with the analogy, but then if you think the analogy isn't true, come up with one that you think DOES fit God.quote>

Okay.  I'll take you up on that challenge.

I'd compare God to Santa Claus. 

God is like Santa Claus because:

-he provides incentives to be "good" in everyday life,

-he works in mysterious ways and does impossible acts,

-he has majic little elves that do things for him,

-people write letters to him to ask for gifts or assistance,

-he is celebrated on certain days of the year,

-he comes in all flavors, depending on the culture,

-the only way you can recieve his gifts is to not ever find actual proof of his existance,

-and he is completely fictional - thought up by creative imaginations.

Now see if you can butcher that up and spit on it like I did the shepard analogy.

Moganite, maybe that's why people randomly explode (supposedely).  I guess spirits are highly combustable?  I should sue someone, since I didn't see any warning in my manual. 

[moganite 4]

i missed a word being and bunkum means  nonsense

It was derrived from the equation E=mc² the conversion of matter into energt i plugged 1x10^-6 kg (1mg) for mass and used the speed of light as 299729485 m/s this resulted in about 10¹⁰  Joules or The same ammount of energy as about 10 tonnes of coal.

The energy released would be so great anything in the immediate vicinity would likely also explode or catch fire if it is at all flamable.

The heat flux across a surface close to the body would be in excess of 1000 MW/m² per second and that is enought to  make even some metals catch fire instantaneously. This is very likely to burn anything closer than about 100 m. Then there would be the over pressure shock wave ect. ... it would be like a mini nuke possibly even a mushroom cloud though i am not sure there would be enough heat to make the convection collum.

most of the reports of spontaneous combustion  say that none of the surroundings was harmed or scorched which is an oddity in itself and probably didn't happen

[moganite 4]

i missed a word being and bunkum means  nonsense

It was derrived from the equation E=mc² the conversion of matter into energt i plugged 1x10^-6 kg (1mg) for mass and used the speed of light as 299729485 m/s this resulted in about 10¹⁰  Joules or The same ammount of energy as about 10 tonnes of coal.

The energy released would be so great anything in the immediate vicinity would likely also explode or catch fire if it is at all flamable.

The heat flux across a surface close to the body would be in excess of 1000 MW/m² per second and that is enought to  make even some metals catch fire instantaneously. This is very likely to burn anything closer than about 100 m. Then there would be the over pressure shock wave ect. ... it would be like a mini nuke possibly even a mushroom cloud though i am not sure there would be enough heat to make the convection collum.

most of the reports of spontaneous combustion  say that none of the surroundings was harmed or scorched which is an oddity in itself and probably didn't happen

[TheCrybKeeper 301]

Lambs are sacrificed to atone for sins. Jesus sacrificed Himself, so you wouldn't have to be the sacrifice. He went to Hell/Sheol for three days and then arose.  Accept that He did this for you and you do not go there also. Sheol: side of the pit.

Ironically, It is a Hebrew method of determining death; "Must be dead three days to be considered officially dead"

The Shepherd who cares for His Sheep lays down His life to the wolves, so the flock can escape death.

Jesus comes with a spiritual sword first and conquers the spirit kingdom for us. Ultimately by dying for us.

I'd compare God to Santa Claus. 

God is like Santa Claus because:

-he provides incentives to be "good" in everyday life, NO God does not.

-he works in mysterious ways and does impossible acts, Santa Claus is fictional and the Mystery part does not bare the evidence.

-he has majic little elves that do things for him, God has Children; us and our equals who are called messengers or angels

-people write letters to him to ask for gifts or assistance, God does not give gifts just because you want it, He gives solutions when you ask for one. Problem is not many folks listen correctly.

-he is celebrated on certain days of the year, God specifically requests 10% of your worth and time and talent. The rest is all yours; your time and goals are 90% yours, daily weekly and yearly.

-he comes in all flavors, depending on the culture, that was just plain insulting and not well thought out.

-the only way you can recieve his gifts is to not ever find actual proof of his existance, actually the opposite of this

-and he is completely fictional - thought up by creative imaginations. Show me proof that He is fictional and around we ago again.

Now see if you can butcher that up and spit on it like I did the shepard analogy. Empty boast what exactly did you chop up besides lamb shank? Got any mint jelly? quote>

Moganite: Okay, now I am laughing myself silly. Just something I heard repeated and shouldn't have repeated. I think the one doing the chopping is you Moganite. heehee

[TheCrybKeeper 301]

Lambs are sacrificed to atone for sins. Jesus sacrificed Himself, so you wouldn't have to be the sacrifice. He went to Hell/Sheol for three days and then arose.  Accept that He did this for you and you do not go there also. Sheol: side of the pit.

Ironically, It is a Hebrew method of determining death; "Must be dead three days to be considered officially dead"

The Shepherd who cares for His Sheep lays down His life to the wolves, so the flock can escape death.

Jesus comes with a spiritual sword first and conquers the spirit kingdom for us. Ultimately by dying for us.

I'd compare God to Santa Claus. 

God is like Santa Claus because:

-he provides incentives to be "good" in everyday life, NO God does not.

-he works in mysterious ways and does impossible acts, Santa Claus is fictional and the Mystery part does not bare the evidence.

-he has majic little elves that do things for him, God has Children; us and our equals who are called messengers or angels

-people write letters to him to ask for gifts or assistance, God does not give gifts just because you want it, He gives solutions when you ask for one. Problem is not many folks listen correctly.

-he is celebrated on certain days of the year, God specifically requests 10% of your worth and time and talent. The rest is all yours; your time and goals are 90% yours, daily weekly and yearly.

-he comes in all flavors, depending on the culture, that was just plain insulting and not well thought out.

-the only way you can recieve his gifts is to not ever find actual proof of his existance, actually the opposite of this

-and he is completely fictional - thought up by creative imaginations. Show me proof that He is fictional and around we ago again.

Now see if you can butcher that up and spit on it like I did the shepard analogy. Empty boast what exactly did you chop up besides lamb shank? Got any mint jelly? quote>

Moganite: Okay, now I am laughing myself silly. Just something I heard repeated and shouldn't have repeated. I think the one doing the chopping is you Moganite. heehee

[thesonofgray 0]

Chop Chop Chop Chop.

-he provides incentives to be "good" in everyday life, NO God does not.quote>

How does God not provide an incentive to be "good"?  If you're good you go to heaven and if you're not you go to hell.  I'd consider that an incentive.

-he comes in all flavors, depending on the culture, that was just plain insulting and not well thought out.quote>

  I can see how that could be taken the wrong way.  I meant to point out the differences in Santa Claus's character and appearance (like US version vs. German version), just like God (not necessarily the Christian God) has different characters and/or appearances to different people around the world.  I did not mean to offend.

-and he is completely fictional - thought up by creative imaginations. Show me proof that He is fictional and around we ago again.quote>

And around we go again...weeeeeeee...

Now see if you can butcher that up and spit on it like I did the shepard analogy. Empty boast what exactly did you chop up besides lamb shank? Got any mint jelly?quote>

I was actually poking fun at myself for nit picking at such seemingly simple religous analogies.  And no, unfortunately, I do not have any mint jelly.

I like moganite's chopping.  He goes from human spirits to mini-nuclear explosions.

[thesonofgray 0]

Chop Chop Chop Chop.

-he provides incentives to be "good" in everyday life, NO God does not.quote>

How does God not provide an incentive to be "good"?  If you're good you go to heaven and if you're not you go to hell.  I'd consider that an incentive.

-he comes in all flavors, depending on the culture, that was just plain insulting and not well thought out.quote>

  I can see how that could be taken the wrong way.  I meant to point out the differences in Santa Claus's character and appearance (like US version vs. German version), just like God (not necessarily the Christian God) has different characters and/or appearances to different people around the world.  I did not mean to offend.

-and he is completely fictional - thought up by creative imaginations. Show me proof that He is fictional and around we ago again.quote>

And around we go again...weeeeeeee...

Now see if you can butcher that up and spit on it like I did the shepard analogy. Empty boast what exactly did you chop up besides lamb shank? Got any mint jelly?quote>

I was actually poking fun at myself for nit picking at such seemingly simple religous analogies.  And no, unfortunately, I do not have any mint jelly.

I like moganite's chopping.  He goes from human spirits to mini-nuclear explosions.

[TheCrybKeeper 301]

Chop Chop Chop Chop.

-he provides incentives to be "good" in everyday life, NO God does not.

How does God not provide an incentive to be "good"?  If you're good you go to heaven and if you're not you go to hell.  I'd consider that an incentive. You do not go to Heaven for being good. You do not go to Hell for being bad. That is not what God is even close to being about. Like I said it is a relationship between Parent(God) and Child(you) You do not send a child to Hell just because they mess up. You do not give a child the best gifts simply because the child does something good. You give That child a way to be home with you, because you love them. God the Father Loves us. RELATIONSHIP is all it is. I have said this over many times in here friend.

-he comes in all flavors, depending on the culture, that was just plain insulting and not well thought out.

  I can see how that could be taken the wrong way.  I meant to point out the differences in Santa Claus's character and appearance (like US version vs. German version), just like God (not necessarily the Christian God) has different characters and/or appearances to different people around the world.  I did not mean to offend. Yes I see your point here. But I believe that Jesus' profile is not important, but the character of Him is very very important. Some cultures change Jesus' character as well as His appearance. It can be a touchy subject.

I like moganite's chopping.  He goes from human spirits to mini-nuclear explosions.  

Haha me also! Leave it to me, to say something lame enough for Moganite to sink his axe into.

Meanwhile, one of our more intelligent Canadian members here at Simtrop, has become a member of AllPhilosophy.com, where I am a moderator. Making my life interesting, to say the least. I  Will not say who exactly this person is, but the person is so smart and educated, yet at the same time making some truly foolish and igorant posts over there. Making themselves look kind of,..ummm well ignorant.

Nobody understands, that wisdom comes in small packages also and intelligence has absolutely nothing to do with spiritual wisdom.

Let me say one more, off-topic, sort of thing: If you are a homosexual, you may still go to Heaven. Going to Heaven is soley based on belief that God loves you and accepting His Son can deliver you there. That is simply all of it, in a nutshell!

That is why I love you also and do not care if you are gay or not, or a sinner, or an alcoholic. I still will treat you as a brother or sister, based on the fact that you are family to me.

God is exactly the same. He loves you unconditionally and wants everyone in Heaven. It is ourselves that send ourselves to Hell, it is God our Father who is offering us the best of options to get rescued from it.

[TheCrybKeeper 301]

Chop Chop Chop Chop.

-he provides incentives to be "good" in everyday life, NO God does not.

How does God not provide an incentive to be "good"?  If you're good you go to heaven and if you're not you go to hell.  I'd consider that an incentive. You do not go to Heaven for being good. You do not go to Hell for being bad. That is not what God is even close to being about. Like I said it is a relationship between Parent(God) and Child(you) You do not send a child to Hell just because they mess up. You do not give a child the best gifts simply because the child does something good. You give That child a way to be home with you, because you love them. God the Father Loves us. RELATIONSHIP is all it is. I have said this over many times in here friend.

-he comes in all flavors, depending on the culture, that was just plain insulting and not well thought out.

  I can see how that could be taken the wrong way.  I meant to point out the differences in Santa Claus's character and appearance (like US version vs. German version), just like God (not necessarily the Christian God) has different characters and/or appearances to different people around the world.  I did not mean to offend. Yes I see your point here. But I believe that Jesus' profile is not important, but the character of Him is very very important. Some cultures change Jesus' character as well as His appearance. It can be a touchy subject.

I like moganite's chopping.  He goes from human spirits to mini-nuclear explosions.  

Haha me also! Leave it to me, to say something lame enough for Moganite to sink his axe into.

Meanwhile, one of our more intelligent Canadian members here at Simtrop, has become a member of AllPhilosophy.com, where I am a moderator. Making my life interesting, to say the least. I  Will not say who exactly this person is, but the person is so smart and educated, yet at the same time making some truly foolish and igorant posts over there. Making themselves look kind of,..ummm well ignorant.

Nobody understands, that wisdom comes in small packages also and intelligence has absolutely nothing to do with spiritual wisdom.

Let me say one more, off-topic, sort of thing: If you are a homosexual, you may still go to Heaven. Going to Heaven is soley based on belief that God loves you and accepting His Son can deliver you there. That is simply all of it, in a nutshell!

That is why I love you also and do not care if you are gay or not, or a sinner, or an alcoholic. I still will treat you as a brother or sister, based on the fact that you are family to me.

God is exactly the same. He loves you unconditionally and wants everyone in Heaven. It is ourselves that send ourselves to Hell, it is God our Father who is offering us the best of options to get rescued from it.

[jglei701 8]

A big fat amen to that last part FOY. That's one "point of emphasis" that churches around the US have really gotten wrong. Does the Bible say that these things are sins? Yes, it does.  But...

I think I mentioned this before, but... in Brennan Manning's book "Ragamuffin Gospel," he writes, "Any church that will not accept that it consists of sinful men and women, and exists FOR them, implicitly rejects the Gospel of Grace."

He also goes on to say this:

"And though it is true that the church must always dissociate itself from sin, it can never have any excuse for keeping any sinners at a distance."

The enscription on the Statue of Liberty, "Bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free," should be the enscription above the door of every church.

From the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark:

15While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

"I have not come to call the righteous." This means the self-righteous. Those who don't think they NEED a savior, those who believe that they can earn their way into heaven by their wonderful deeds. They think they've got all the right answers, and so it's easy for them to point fingers about why everyone else is wrong.  After all, in their minds, they're all set!  But if we could earn our way into heaven, how much would be enough? Would we have to be like Mother Theresa? Would we need to smile every single day and not pretend like we're human, that we have bad days?

Because, at the same time, what wouldn't be enough? Where is the fine line between earning your way to heaven and just not compiling enough brownie points to make it?  If you teach Sunday school and give half your wages to the church, but have murdered 3 people... does the good outweigh the bad?

If we could just earn our way, then Jesus would not have had to come. But, the fact of the matter is that, due to our human nature, due to man's proclivity to sin, we DO need help, we need that shephard to watch over us, the parent figure who wil guide us along the way. We need the bridge of the cross to span the gap that our sin has created between ourselves and God.

But, some think that just because Jesus came, that we're all scott free. They think that we can go on living the way that we want to, doing whatever we please. But they have been deceived! Just like Wormwood's "patient" in the C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters," more disasterous than grave sin is apathy and routine, letting the status quo rule the day.

But Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." That means we must die to ourselves, take up our cross, and accept the gift that is so freely given, that was paid at such a costly price. God came down and died the death of a criminal, that we, "may have life, and have it to the full."