If you have any doubt of........

[bluehorizonx10]

God's power in your life click The Rope (http://www.ticz.com/homes/users/bob/The-Rope/The-Rope.htm).


I got this from a good friend and she made me stop and think today.

[bekahbeans]

*blinks* I don't get it.

[DoubleEdgeSword]

oooo! pretty pictures!

[tiger_rascal]

I get it. :)

[Sinister]

Believe or die you inferior human. Blah, blah.. :rolleyes: Hmm, sounds like, you're either with us or with the terrorists.

[DoubleEdgeSword]

If I were God, I would have said, "Cut the rope. You're only 10 feet from the ground. If you hang here, you'll freeze to death."

I mean, you really think God would play games like that with a human being, let him die just to prove a point?

[Steggy]

God wants you to have faith in Him and to trust Him. Would it really be faith if He told you all the statistics and outcomes of His will? He can save you and tell you what to do, but it's your choice whether you do what He says or not. His way leads to life, the other way leads to death. Ths point was excellently illustrated in this story. Also this illustrates how we, as humans, put ourselves in the hands of worldly things (the rope) instead of God.

Thanks for sharing blue.. that was extremely touching.

[bluehorizonx10]

You're welcome Steggy. :) And you explained it perfectly imo. It's all about faith in God. There are no games with God. Those belong to the devil himself.

[bekahbeans]

No, I get that part. :) I don't understand why holding onto the rope killed him.

[bluehorizonx10]

He didn't let go because of fear. He didn't trust God to save him. So he lost his life in fear of the unknown when God tells us to let Him guide us and give us all we need. So he was almost at the ground and didn't know it; he stayed there in fear of falling when in fact he froze to death instead of getting down and finding warmth to save himself. He didn't trust God take care of him.

[bluehorizonx10]

Originally posted by Sinister
Believe or die you inferior human. Blah, blah.. :rolleyes: Hmm, sounds like, you're either with us or with the terrorists.

Believe it or not James, but that faith is what gets me through each and every day of my life right now. I'd sink otherwise.

[Sinister]

"Now the world don't move to the beat of just one drum. What might be right for you may not be right for some."

Sorry Gail.. :) The "Different Strokes" theme song just seemed like the perfect fit. What'chu talkin' bout Willis?!!

[bluehorizonx10]

I loved that show!! Too bad Gary had to grow up. And yeah, I know we all have our own way of coping. But without God I couldn't cope.

[Sinister]

Originally posted by bluehorizonx10
I loved that show!! Too bad Gary had to grow up. And yeah, I know we all have our own way of coping. But without God I couldn't cope.

Although they're light years away from me, I probably couldn't cope without my family.

[bluehorizonx10]

James, I'm really glad you do have someone to hang onto. Light years away?? :confused: I have to agree though, my son seems light years away right now. :bluesad:

You see, I love my family more than I can possibly explain. But even they let me down sometimes. God doesn't. Yes, I get disappointments, but if I look at it the right way He never lets me down no matter what happens.

[Sinister]

Originally posted by bluehorizonx10
James, I'm really glad you do have someone to hang onto. Light years away?? :confused: I have to agree though, my son seems light years away right now. :bluesad:

You see, I love my family more than I can possibly explain. But even they let me down sometimes. God doesn't. Yes, I get disappointments, but if I look at it the right way He never lets me down no matter what happens.

How do you know God's a he? :p:) I'm glad that you have a special relationship with God, I just can't grasp the concept. But I have seen people completely turn their lives around because they found religion, I guess I just haven't seen the light.

[Bif]

That's really nice. :)

[God of Wonders]

I hadn't gotten a chance to post a reply to this. It really made me think. Was that a true story? That is so true what you said about family, boy do I know what that means right now. God is the only one who hasn't disappointed me and cares about me more than anyone.:)

[smackers]

Well, I think we can all agree that that guy is a real genius.

[bluehorizonx10]

I don't know any details about the story Risse. My sister just forwarded it to me. I doubt it though. I'll say a little prayer for you and your family too.


Hey Smackers! Nice to see you. :) Really though, if the man saw only darkness and he had the feeling of falling and didn't think he was anywhere near ground we all would have a hard time trusting to let go. But in the end we have to save ourself by listening to and believing God. That's the answer to the parable.

[bekahbeans]

I still don't get the logistics of this fall. If he was really high up, wouldn't his back have snapped or something when he fell and was still holding on to the rope? If he had let go, wouldn't he have smacked into the cold hard ground and been killed anyway? I get the point about faith...I'm just not sure the example really works. heh...

not only that, but weren't there any wild animals around to hunt him down? bwahahah! :p

[smackers]

Nevermind.

[bluehorizonx10]

Bekah, remember God shut the mouths of lions for Daniel and He can hold us in His hand at anytime, and does, to soften our falls. :wink: Think past the worldy reasoning. :)

[bekahbeans]

hmmm...true...still...:p;)

[Sinister]

Originally posted by bluehorizonx10
Bekah, remember God shut the mouths of lions for Daniel and He can hold us in His hand at anytime, and does, to soften our falls. :wink: Think past the worldy reasoning. :)

He sure didn't stop those people from falling on 9-11. :confused:

[bluehorizonx10]

He can James, but sometimes he doesn't because there are things that happen to humble and teach us all lessons. It's not that He wanted those to suffer nor us that morn them, only that He sometimes allows big things to happen for many reasons. Out of that tragedy there were many glorifications of God and many souls saved and humbled to be in the position all of us were in because of 911.

Gosh I know it's hard to understand; I don't either. But that's where my faith comes in. I saw on TV all the support and love and coming together of America which many people quickly forgot. I feel He wanted each one of those that died, home with Him for one reason or another. He accomplished much by the total picture of what happened that day. The main point is we should try to learn from it and humble ourselves closer to God. It's all about faith and love and it's so hard for me to explain to anyone that just hasn't yet grasped the meaning of God and deep love He feels for us. God doesn't hurt us, He only loves us and gives us grace for all the things we do as children who can't see past our eyes in and of the world.

[Queen Stephanie]

Nice clip.

I think the message is about having faith regardless of the situation. I can understand the man's dillema since that is often hard to do.

[Mattio]

Originally posted by bluehorizonx10

1. He didn't trust God take care of him.


2. He can James, but sometimes he doesn't because there are things that happen to humble and teach us all lessons. It's not that He wanted those to suffer nor us that morn them, only that He sometimes allows big things to happen for many reasons.


3. I feel He wanted each one of those that died, home with Him for one reason or another. He accomplished much by the total picture of what happened that day.


1. But in the story (which has no meaning whatsoever), it says that god doesn't take care of you.

2. How convenient!

3. Would you then oppose punishment of the people who hijacked the planes? After all, they were doing god's work.

[Miss_Sunshine]

Originally posted by Sinister
Believe or die you inferior human. Blah, blah.. :rolleyes: Hmm, sounds like, you're either with us or with the terrorists.
couldn't agree with you more James....

[butterfly]

Thanks Blue! I get it, and what you said about 911.

It's so hard to explain to people when they haven't seen the light, and it sometimes comes across as smugness (or so I've been told), but we just have to try.

If I was posting in this thread before I found God, I'd have pointed out that surely if God existed, it wouldn't matter if the climber died or not, because he'd go to Heaven anyway. But that ignores the grief experienced by his friends and family at his loss, and the years of separation that would ensue.

Letting go has always been something I've found difficult, particularly letting go of the past, as I love nostalgia. But hanging on to material things, and to destructive memories and grief, is very unhealthy. In the end, the only thing you have left to hang onto is God.

I've been consistently let down by members of my family, especially my mother, and my thieving uncle. But God has never let me down, even when I didn't believe in him, he was still looking after me. If ever I need him, he's always there.

Btw, if anyone has a problem with the he/she thing, there is an alternative in the form of GNPs (gender neutral pronouns). Instead of saying he or she, you can say "zie", and his/her is "zir". They're a bit cumbersome in verbal conversation though. I know this because one of my very best friends is a "zie", someone who considers zirself both male and female (zie was born physically male, changed physical sex, doesn't regret the op, but doesn't feel completely female). In fact, Alison (for that is zir name) was the person who helped me accept Christ as my saviour. God is a zie, but it's easier to say "he". Hey, it's quicker to type!

[Sinister]

Originally posted by bluehorizonx10

Gosh I know it's hard to understand; I don't either. But that's where my faith comes in. I saw on TV all the support and love and coming together of America which many people quickly forgot.

The coming together of America? LMAO! Yeah, until King George decided to invade Iraq under false pretenses.

[Miss_Sunshine]

couldn't the guy just look around for himself and decide what he wanted to do?

God never speaks to me so I guess I'm gonna die then, right?

[tiger_rascal]

We all die, its how you choose to live your life.

[Sinister]

Originally posted by Miss_Sunshine
God never speaks to me so I guess I'm gonna die then, right?

God told me to eat a pizza puff about ten minutes ago. Some taste God has, blah..

[tiger_rascal]

Whats a pizza puff?

[Sinister]

God didn't tell you about the infamous pizza puff (http://www.iltaco.com/fsp/if.html)? Sheesh.

[Miss_Sunshine]

Originally posted by Sinister
God didn't tell you about the infamous pizza puff (http://www.iltaco.com/fsp/if.html)? Sheesh.
we used to have pizza puffs in elementary school, but they probably weren't like that lol

[Sinister]

Yeah, our school had them back in the day too. Nasty, lol..

[bekahbeans]

Pizza. Puff.

Weird.

[butterfly]

God doesn't speak to me that often. Not since about 2 or 3 months ago. He said "You will overcome your fear." Those were the exact words. God doesn't waste any words. For all I know, He may never speak to me in words again in this life, but He's still there. I'm lucky to have been spoken to at all. He never spoke to me directly for the first 26 years of my life, so why should the next 26 years be any different? I don't think there's anything He needs to add that I can't figure out for myself or from what He's already said anyway.

[shining star]

Originally posted by butterfly
It's so hard to explain to people when they haven't seen the light, I've seen the light, it just happens to be a different light than yours.

Statements like that are so arrogant and obnoxious. It's comes off as you talking down to those who don't believe the way you do. "Aww, the poor things, they don't know what we know."

[butterfly]

It's only language, if someone could teach me the words to say it better, I could say it that way.

Actually, what you said is quite true, I have become more arrogant and obnoxious since I had that stupid vision. I've lost friends, and I've become incredibly up myself. I don't even really want to go to heaven, I just want to sleep. I wish I'd never had that vision, and I wish I'd never been born. But life goes on.

I will take my leave of you fortunate people now, and do some serious wallowing in wretchedness.

[tiger_rascal]

Words can be tricky to convey your message in an online message board.

Basically, its like speaking of the Bible to someone who has not read it and explaining to them its hard to explain it when they have not read the Bible and have an immediate offense to it. That is not talking down to them, that is just the simple fact of the matter.

[butterfly]

If people think they're being talked down to, they're being talked down to. I've had a third of a lifetime of saying the wrong thing and I don't think I can face any more.

It upsets me to know that even after all that's happened to me, I still can't get anything right. I just can't get the language part of my brain to behave normally. Everything everyone else says just seems so eloquent. Isn't Asperger's syndrome just a fancy term for brain damage? Can any experience I perceive with my damaged brain be relied upon to any extent? Of course I have visions, I hear voices, I'm probably insane, ask anyone at dotmusic refugees.

I can't function in society, I can't work, except for a horrible voluntary factory job I have to suffer through every Tuesday. Even Alison, the friend who convinced me to become a Christian, suffers from bouts of depression.

Every time someone criticises me even slightly, I hate myself, and suddenly I find everyone hates me.

I have to go now.

[tiger_rascal]

Go if you must, its good to get away from the board.

I hope you come back to read what I have to say.

Just because you have visions or hear voices, that does not mean you are insane. I had visions too. I hated them, they literally made me sick all over. One vision though foretold the near future and that was cool, in a weird way. I cant say I ever heard voices, but I have had some strange feelings. I once thought that perhaps I was insane. I prayed about the visions and what was happening to me, and everything stopped. For the time being. I slide once in awhile, sometimes it feels like my body is drained of energy when I pray almost non-stop, and when I stop, thats when it hits me. Im still struggling in this Christian life, thats the way it is. A good friend once told me that if we are struggling in life, we are doing something right.

If you need to talk, PM me.

[bluehorizonx10]

Chad, I hoped you would tell Butterfly that. :)


Butterfly, our words here do get confused sometimes by others. Christian's do say things sometimes that don't make others feel quite up to par. It's only because we have so much love we feel for others that we want them to feel it too. But you can't let what others say bring you down. I'm far too guilty of that myself when really I've done nothing wrong. We all have experiences to share with whatever beliefs we have. Some sound far fetched, but real just the same. That's why we should all try to use common courtesy when on this board or anywere for that matter. Hurting other's feelings will not accomplish anything.

[oldernow]

butterfly, You are doing an excellent job in expressing yourself. You have not said one unkind word in this forum. Please dont be do hard on yourself being a christian and expressing it to others who dont agree often feel that we are self righteous, and sometimes it does come off that way. But you said nothing wrong. Nothing at all.

[butterfly]

Thanks ever so much to all of you. I really thought I'd overcome my overreaction problem. I just have this terrible fear of offending people. I think it may be a genuine phobia. I have a few psychological problems that I had hoped would get better now that I have an awareness of God in my life, but I suppose I only feel secure in the knowledge that my ultimate future is taken care of, the present is still just as frightening as ever.

To say I wished I'd never been born and that I wished I'd never been blessed by the vision that God gave me is something I'm finding it hard to forgive myself for, but I know I must.

I think I define myself according to others' opinions of me, specifically whoever thinks the least of me. It's because I find it harder than most people to look at myself objectively, which I think is part of having Asperger's. There's me, and there's everyone else, and I can't make the right connections between the two.

I really thought that something that happened a couple of weeks ago would help, but it obviously hasn't, and that's been a blow to me.

There is hope though, because this is the first time that this has happened and people have tried to help me instead of kicking me when I'm down, and I know that's because of your Christian ideals, and that helps me in my faith in myself, my faith in you and my faith in God.

How could I have said those things? God made me for a reason, probably many reasons, and my not being born would be contrary to His plan. I'm sorry, and I'm glad that I'm alive. My psychological problems are there to challenge me and for me to overcome, and in doing so I will become wiser and stronger.

I'm so lucky to have had that vision, and for my creator to have actually said "I love you" in so many words. It doesn't happen to everyone, and I'm sorry I said I wished it hadn't happened. Again, it happened for a reason, and that reason was that I could be saved.

Finally, I'm sorry for saying I wanted to sleep rather than go to Heaven, because that just isn't true. I love being alive, I love existence, and I was just feeling self-pitying and unworthy. I've said some terribly sinful things tonight, and I'm truly sorry.

I pray that I won't let myself get into this state again.

Thank you all once again. I'm back, and I'm staying. I may have a lot of loneliness and regret in my life, but I have so much to be thankful for too.

[Miss_Sunshine]

so wait...those of you that have said "God has spoken to me" actually hear him?

[Sinister]

Didn't I tell you that he recommended the pizza puff? ;)

[bluehorizonx10]

Finally, I'm sorry for saying I wanted to sleep rather than go to Heaven, because that just isn't true. I love being alive, I love existence, and I was just feeling self-pitying and unworthy. I've said some terribly sinful things tonight, and I'm truly sorry.

You need not apologize to us. That's between you and God. I have to be honest with you butterfly, committing yourself to being a Christian isn't easy. It's a job daily to keep in His will against all the odds that the devil throws out there. And most of the time we do blame ourself for our failures, but that's exactly what the devil wants us to do. Why should he work to defeat us when we are defeating ourself? Do you understand what I mean by that?

The best advice I have is to pray as much as you can and don't ever be afraid to ask for prayer from others. I think that's really important because scripture tells us to ask for prayer. As long as we stay in continuous fellowship with God, the devil can't sneak in there to cause so much doubt. And remember we have guardian angels always with us sent directly from God. As our pastor said tonight (we are in Bible study in Daniel, tonight chapter 10), there is a war that we don't even know about, the war between the devil and God. The devil has his angels out there too and they are in continuous battle against the good of God's angels. Afterall Satan was one of God's most powerful angels before he was sent away from Heaven. So many scriptures tell us the devil has his angels of this world, and he is always out to lead us away from our Father. But if we belong to Jesus, Satan can't take us from Him.

[bluehorizonx10]

Originally posted by Miss_Sunshine
so wait...those of you that have said "God has spoken to me" actually hear him?

There are times when yes, I can hear or feel Him with my heart. It's a feeling deeper than love. If you've ever had that much love for anyone, you'll understand what I mean.

[oldernow]

Didn't I tell you that he recommended the pizza puff? :D :D

[oldernow]

Butterfly, we all fall down at times. Life is not always easy, and if you fall down again you will get back up with God's help. Keep praying and know that we are praying for you also.
It's good to have you back.

[Mattio]

Originally posted by Miss_Sunshine
so wait...those of you that have said "God has spoken to me" actually hear him? In the case of butterfly, YES. butterfly also claims to have had one-on-one meetings with god and that he/she is god.

[bekahbeans]

I don't think Butterfly has ever claimed to be God.

[Mattio]

Well then you are wrong.

[K@ne]

"butterfly" has a long & colourful history.

And you are his/her new audience, you lucky, lucky people.

[bekahbeans]

Yes, I know. I saw her posts from before, but I never saw her say that she was God.

[Mattio]

The claim wasn't here.

I hope things work out for butterfly though.

[Slyguy]

Originally posted by bekahbeans
Yes, I know. I saw her posts from before, but I never saw her say that she was God. I can assure you that she has written long essays elsewhere on being God.

[butterfly]

OK, I knew something like this would happen. I've been misunderstood, as usual. I was just saying that I felt that we were all part of God and that God was part of all of us. It's just that some people don't get it. John Lennon never got any of that kind of harrassment for the opening line of 'I Am The Walrus', did he?

And at least I admit to being less popular than Jesus. ;)

Oh, and if I am God, how can I have one-on-one meetings with myself? Surely they'd just be one meetings? I suppose the latest theory is that I have multiple personality disorder and both of me think they're God. I can just see certain people saying "That would explain a lot". See what I have to put up with? God bless them though.

Gail, I wasn't really apologising to anyone, just expressing regret, although I did apologise to God, because it was wrong of me to say those things after He's been so good to me.

Yes, I understand what you mean about not blaming ourselves. I've prayed a lot, and cried a lot today, and I can see things a lot more clearly. I'll just have to keep hoping that one day I'll learn how to be more in control of my emotions.

I'm not sure how I feel about the devil, as he's never spoken to me directly, and I don't really know the full story on the devil. I ought to start reading the Bible really. I want to get one that's a bit easier to understand than the one I've got first though. I've got one of those King James ones which is a bit olde Englishe for me.

I do try to keep the Lord in my thoughts all the time, and I seem to be managing it except when I have these moments of panic. I think I'm getting better though, I'm not lashing out at other people anymore, just myself, although, as I alluded to previously, we are all one people and if I hurt myself, I also hurt others, and vice versa.

As for the thing of being spoken to by God, I don't physically hear it with my ears, and it's not like when you think for yourself in words, it's like something in between the two. The words come into my head, but I know it isn't my brain that they're coming from, they're coming from somewhere else. If that explains it.

I also physically feel His presence very often, and it's the most wonderful loving, calming feeling. Sometimes it feels like someone putting their arms around me, especially when I'm upset about something, as I was about all this business.

Thanks for all your support!

[butterfly]

Actually, I just realised what these guys are talking about. In my original vision, God appeared to me as me. I believe the reason for this was to help me see myself as though I was another person, and to realise that the person I've sinned against most is myself. I beat myself up about stuff all the time, the evidence is here in this thread, and God knows it isn't good for me or anyone else. I would never treat another human being the way I treat myself. I'd be in prison if I did.

Yet I still do it, because the habit is so deeply ingrained. I think I have the same problem as many non-believers, in that God's message seems too good to be true. It's like someone who has been in prison for many years and is then freed takes a long time to get used to the idea of being free. I need to get used to the idea that although I am a sinner, I'm not a bad person, and I'm worthy of God's love and eternal salvation through Jesus Christ.

I need to learn to love and forgive myself as much as I love and forgive anyone else.

[K@ne]

You make it all up as you go along. You said God *hugged* you, & the sexual thing, which I won't go into here out of respect for the people who do actually believe in God, & not a personification of themselves moulded to fit whatever flights of fancy pop into your head.

[oldernow]

Butterfly, there is no need to explain what you have said or done in other forums. What I see going on here is a childish and petty group of people who have nothing better to do than ridicule others. They can take there game somewhere else because we aren't about to play along.

[K@ne]

Believe what you want, there is a whole other online community who can testify that what has been said here is true. You'll find out sooner or later, when this poster goes through it all again here with a brand new audience.

[oldernow]

Excuse me, but we dont play the kind of game you are playing. I dislike when people bad mouth others whether there is any truth to it or not. This forum is not for that. We all have baggage, and I personally think that what you are doing is very immature and totaly out of line.

[K@ne]

And you're not "bad mouthing" me & others at all by declaring us immature & childish & petty & playing some kind of game despite having absolutely no idea who we are?

[bluehorizonx10]

I respect both sides of this argument. But I feel it's possible that people can change. I KNOW that when I accepted Jesus I was a new person. Some would not have recognized my thoughts then as being the same person. So for that reason and the reason that God tells us to love everyone and not to judge I accept butterfly and what's she's telling me. I know in my heart that if we don't lift a new Christian up and don't trust in their belief of their faith it hurts. So please, I ask all of you to support her decisions whether you believe in Jesus or not. Just like we all have been saying RESPECT is the word of the day.

[butterfly]

Brad, you're making it up as you go along. Either that or you were just speed reading everything and missing out vital details. What's wrong with being hugged? And the other thing wasn't sexual, I made a point of saying it wasn't, because I know you lot and your dirty minds.

Sorry about this, I had thought that Brad was going to let me get on with my life. I have sinned an awful lot in the past, but I want to put it in the past and leave it there so I can live a good and worthwhile life in the future instead of being a prisoner of guilt for the rest of my life.

Thank you for having faith in me Gail and oldernow, it does me a lot of good to know there are people like you in this world. If the things I say seem a bit eccentrically worded, it's because of the different way I look at things, not because I'm looking at anything different. God bless you both.