It brings great sorrow and grief every day to me. Did you ever go on a safari through thick deep jungle with wild beasts present ? Even without a guide, that is safer than living in a city in the United States today , I think. I believe God Loves People, and He Hates Religion.
Without a doubt, we know that Jesus watches over both of us, keeps us safe and keeps us as healthy as possible. We pray everyday for these things and we know he is right there for us. That is all we have to know.
It has always been clear that there is a God. (whether some don't believe this or not) Even the bible testifies that this is so: (Romans 1: 18-21) 18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. I know, we can't prove that God exists. But I know God is there, just as I know the sun will come up in the morning. Not only that, but I know from my experiences that He is there for me. That's enough knowledge for me.
The bible speaks to what faith is. I won’t quote the verse, but it is the confidence, trust and belief that God will fulfill His promises, just as He has always done. It is the substance or assurance of things we hope for, and is also the deep-rooted trust that what is not seen—the invisible spiritual things, do exist. Jesus said to many who sought Him that it would be done to them according to their faith. He said this, for example, when He entered the house of a blind man and asked: “Do you believe that I can do this?” The blind man said: “Yes, Lord”. And Jesus said: ”According to your faith will it be done to you.”
If by "religion" you mean some organized, proscribed, reward and punishment system based in a multi-authored collection of mythical stories with a cultural bias and intolerant deity / deities, causing adherents to behave in hypocritical, cruel, and socially obnoxious ways, then religion is of no importance to me whatsoever. If by "religion" you mean an internal spiritual yearning for a felt sense of alignment with the Great Mystery -- an undefined dynamic energy of something larger than oneself -- that brings out and encourages individual unrequested acts of kindness and selflessness, that prompts seeing the good in all people and their differences, that helps achieve a state of equanimity and inner peace by which interactional and international tensions can be resolved, that needs no authority or deity to accomplish these ways of being, then that kind of spiritual living is indeed important to me.
I do not have a relationship with religion...I have a relationship with God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Man made religion and doctrines mean nothing to me. My relationship with my Creator, my Lord and Savior, and my Counselor, teacher, etc. mean everything to me.
Many people relate religion with Christians, Catholics, Mormons and on and on. As for us, SIL, niece-her husband-their daughter...........we all consider ourselves Christians. What everybody else thinks, or is, is entirely up to them.
I was taking a seminar and the speaker was saying that those from the Middle East view the label "Christian" as having political attachments, whereas being "a follower of Jesus Christ" was better received.
All I can say is that if you ever see me choking on food that got stuck in my throat, please try using your hands to perform the Heimlich maneuver on me before you try praying that I be relieved.
Religion is not at all important to me... as in "organized religion." I do enjoy discussing people's beliefs, however.
I have often been of two minds on religion, on the bible, and on what men believe. Like other fields of study, psychology or war, men who become versed or knowledgable in a subject or group of subjects also want to be leaders in that field. Thus the reason for professors and generals. It is no doubt the same with the study of religion or the bible. The reason we have preachers and teachers, know it alls in their field of study. With some it doesn’t take much study to declare themselves fit for leadership because they don’t aim very high. Too, I have wonder how we should feel when someone says we are in their prayers or they are praying for so and so or such and such. Should we be grateful or insulted, all knowing of course, God does not, can not answer prayer. Of course we should not be insulted because such a comment is made as a condolence for our predicament or situation and is meant to be sympathetic. Sometime I have wondered if Stephen King got some of his ideas from the bible and if not, why not, but that is rather preposterous because ideas are everywhere. I think it was Somerset Maugham who supposedly told a young writer here in this country, “I have to go all over the country to find a story but here in your country there is a story on every block. And we are free to believe any and every thing about any and every thing and the bible is no exception. If you err, there is a preacher or teacher from hundreds of denominations to set you straight. And it’s okay to say, “It’s a jungle out here.” No doubt some have it right and some have it wrong but which is which? Suppose there was no bible or that it was fake, each book written for profit or written because so ordered by some master. I suppose it all comes down to what religion means to each of us and whether one considers the bible to be ordained and declared to be the Word of God by some creator. As for me, I am of two minds and have no idea.