Submitted by melmel, 3/14/2006 10:12:54 PM [profile]
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This is one of the best explanations of why God allows pain and suffering that I have seen. It's an explanation other people will understand.
A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects.
When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists."
"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.
"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."
The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and un-kept.
The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."
"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"
"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."
"Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is, people do not come to me."
"Exactly!"- affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens, is, people don't go to Him and do not look for Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."
- unknown
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Submitted by yourbrokenpromises, 4/5/2005 8:24:14 PM [profile]
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You say you will never forget where you were when you heard the news On September 11, 2001. Neither will I.
I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who called his wife to say "Good-bye".
I held his fingers steady as he dialed.
I gave him the peace to say, "Honey, I am not going to make it, but it is OK... I am ready to go."
I was with his wife when he called as she fed breakfast to their children. I held her up as she tried to understand his words and as she realized he really wasn't coming home that night.
I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a woman cried out to Me for help, for the very first time in her life.
"I have been knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!" I said. "Of course I will show you the way home - only believe in Me now."
I was at the base of the building with the Priest ministering to the injured and devastated souls.
I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven.
He heard my voice and answered.
I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer. I was with the crew as they were overtaken.
I was in the very hearts of the believers there, comforting and assuring them that their faith has saved them.
I was in Texas, Kansas, London... I was everywhere.
I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news.
Did you sense Me?
I want you to know that I saw every face.
I knew every name - though not all know Me.
Some met Me for the first time on the 86th floor.
Some sought Me with their very last breath.
Some couldn't hear Me calling to them through the smoke and flames; "Come to Me... this way ... take my hand." Some had never heard my voice before. And a few chose, for ! the final time, to ignore Me.
But, I was there.
I did not place you in the Tower that day. You may not know why, but I do. However, if you were there in that explosive moment in time, would you have reached for Me?
September 11, 2001 was not the end of the journey for you.
But someday your journey will end.
And I will be there for you as well.
Seek Me now while I may be found.
Then, at any moment, you know you are "ready to go"
...I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.
Love,
God
- anonymous
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Submitted by twpgroovy, 1/24/2006 1:23:46 AM [profile]
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1. Isn't it strange how a 20 dollar bill
seems like such a large
amount when
you donate it to church, but
such a small amount
when you go shopping?
2. Isn't it strange how 2 hours seem so long when
you're at church, and how
short they seem when you're
watching a good movie?
3. Isn't it strange that you can't
find a word to say when
you're praying,
but you have no trouble
thinking what to talk about
with a friend?
4. Isn't it strange how difficult
and boring it is to read
one chapter
of the Bible, but how easy
it is to read 100 pages of
a popular novel or ZANE GREY book?
5. Isn't it strange how everyone
wants front-row-tickets
to concerts or
games, but they do whatever
is possible to sit at the last
row in Church?
6. Isn't it strange how we need to
know about an event for Church 2-3
weeks before the day so we can
include it in our agenda, but we can
adjust it for other events at
the last minute?
7. Isn't it strange how difficult it
is to learn a fact about God to share it
with others, but how easy
it is to learn, understand,
extend and repeat gossip?
8. Isn't it strange how we
believe everything
that magazines and newspapers
say, but we question the words in the
Bible?
9. Isn't it strange how everyone
wants a place in
heaven, but they don't want
to believe, do, or say anything
to get there?
10. Isn't it strange how we send
jokes in e-mails and they
are forwarded right away,
but when we are going to send
messages about God, we think
about it twice before we share
it with others?
- Unknown
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Submitted by allyboo715, 1/26/2008 3:57:19 PM [profile]
Submitted by vanna12, 9/20/2005 7:49:01 AM [profile]
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The university professor challenged his students with this question.
"Did God create everything that exists?" A student bravely replied, "Yes, He did!"
"God created everything?" The professor asked.
"Yes sir", the student replied.
The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God is evil".
The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with him self and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?"
"Of course", replied the professor.
The student stood up and asked, "Professor does cold exist?"
"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?"
The students snickered at the young man's question.
The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is
what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."
The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"
The professor responded, "Of course it does."
The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's prism to break white light into colors to study the various wavelengths of each color. You can not measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."
Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"
Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."
To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light." The professor sat down.
The young man's name: Albert Einstein
- Unknown
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Submitted by angelina, 8/4/2004 1:00:10 PM [profile]
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One day there was a scientist speaking to God. The scientist said. "God, we dont need you anymore. we can make everything and anything." God said, "Alright then, perform this." God picked up some dirt with His hands and blew at it. Out came a beautiful bird. The scientist said "is that all?" so he started to pick up some dirt, and God said "no, pick up your own dirt."
- A preacher
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Submitted by Katherine_:), 1/13/2008 11:56:13 PM [profile]
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A teenage girl about 17 had gone to
visit some friends one evening and
time passed quickly as each shared
their various experiences of the
past year.
She ended up staying longer than
planned, and had to walk home alone.
She wasn't afraid because it was a
small town and she lived only a few
blocks away.
As she walked along under the tall elm
trees , Diane asked God to keep her
safe from harm and danger.
When she reached the alley, which was
a short cut to her house, she decided
to take it.
However, halfway down the alley she
noticed a man standing at the end as
though he were waiting for her.
She became uneasy and began to pray,
asking for God's protection.
Instantly a comforting feeling of
quietness and security wrapped round
her, she felt as though someone was
walking with her.
When she reached the end of the alley,
she walked right past the man and
arrived home safely.
The following day, she read in the
newspaper that a young girl had been
raped in the same alley just twenty
minutes after she had been there.
Feeling overwhelmed by this tragedy
and the fact that it could have been
her, she began to weep.
Thanking the Lord for her safety and
to help this young woman, she decided
to go to the police station.
She felt she could recognize the man,
so she told them her story.
The police asked her if she would be
willing to look at a lineup to see
if she could identify him.
She agreed and immediately pointed
out the man she had seen in the alley
the night before.
When the man was told he had been
identified, he immediately broke down
and confessed.
The officer thanked Diane for her
bravery and asked if there was
anything they could do for her.
She asked if they would ask the man
one question.
Diane was curious as to why he had
not attacked her.
When the policeman asked him, he
answered, "Because she wasn't alone.
She had two tall men walking on
either side of her."
Amazingly, whether you believe or
not, you're never alone. Did you know
that 98% of teenagers will not stand
up for God?
PS: God is always there in your heart
and loves you no matter what.....and
if you stand up 4 him he will stand up for you.
- umm...
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Submitted by lucky21, 5/6/2005 1:26:15 PM [profile]
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THE INTERVIEW WITH GOD
I dreamed I had an interview with God.
“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.
“If you have the time” I said.
God smiled. “My time is eternity.”
“What questions do you have in mind for me?”
“What surprises you most about humankind?”
God answered...
“That they get bored with childhood,
they rush to grow up, and then
long to be children again.”
“That they lose their health to make money...
and then lose their money to restore their health.”
“That by thinking anxiously about the future,
they forget the present,
such that they live in neither
the present nor the future.”
"That they live as if they will never die,
and die as though they had never lived.”
God’s hand took mine
and we were silent for a while.
And then I asked...
“As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons
you want your children to learn?”
“To learn they cannot make anyone
love them. All they can do
is let themselves be loved.”
“To learn that it is not good
to compare themselves to others.”
“To learn to forgive
by practicing forgiveness.”
“To learn that it only takes a few seconds
to open profound wounds in those they love,
and it can take many years to heal them.”
“To learn that a rich person
is not one who has the most,
but is one who needs the least.”
“To learn that there are people
who love them dearly,
but simply have not yet learned
how to express or show their feelings.”
“To learn that two people can
look at the same thing
and see it differently.”
“To learn that it is not enough that they
forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves.”
"Thank you for your time," I said humbly.
"Is there anything else
you would like your children to know?"
God smiled and said,
“Just know that I am here... always.”
- aine
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Submitted by MaCkY, 7/17/2004 11:36:37 PM [profile]
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there was an atheist couple who had a child. the couple never told their daughter anything about the Lord. one night, when the little girl was 5 years old, the parents fought with each other and the father shot the mom right there in front of the little girl....then he shot himself. the little girl watched it all!!! she was then sent to foster home. the foster mother was a christian and took the child to sunday school...the foster mother told the teacher that the little girl had never heard of jesus and to have patience with her. the teacher held up a picture of the lord and asked "does anyone know who this is?" and the little girl said "I do, that's the man that was holding me the night my parents died."
- Unknown
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Submitted by Rocky, 1/13/2008 3:02:59 PM [profile]
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