Doubting Thomas - A Real Hero ! (page 2)

BeelzeDub

I also have joined the church of St Thomas. We are supposed to have been created in god's image, yet I wonder why is god such a poor communicator?

I think about my own father/son relationships with my children and think how would it be for them if I just hid from them, they never saw me, they never heard my voice, they could talk to me but I never answered, they just had to have faith that I existed and loved them.

If god is love as advertised, I am convinced he would not treat his own children worse than I, an imperfect human would my own sons.

Is it not god's will that we have faith? So for us imortal humans like Thomas who need some proof, would it not be the loving thing on god's part to give us this proof?

Such a simple act could effect millions of people who are searching for god, yet millions are still waiting.

TR

Hell, my name IS Thomas for Christ's sake.

Would a REAL father that loves his kids keep hidden? A REAL father interacts with his family on a DAILY basis. One on one. No, not some words written down thousands of years ago.

Great post, Amazing.

TR

nowisee

just curious, has anyone here read "the case for Christ: a journalist's personal investigation of the evidence for Jesus" by lee strobel? he was an atheist, former legal editor of chicago tribune, has a master of studies in law from yale law school. his investigation brought him from atheism to faith in Christ and his book answers many of the questions raised.

"a skeptic's search for God" by ralph muncaster, also a former atheist, resolved many issues for me.

if you are really searching for answers you should be willing to look at the evidence for as well as criticism of, imho.

acts 17:26,27

Shakita

Can I join the doubting Thomas' club? But, I will only join if women are considered EQUAL to men in every capacity! That would be a first!

Amazing,

All my life I lived with faith. Faith is what I leaned on when I questioned things that were illogical to me about religion and the bible. The Bible is a book of faith, without faith you can not trust what it says to you anymore. This is where I am. I do not trust the bible, I do not have faith that it is the word of God, I do not have faith or trust in God at all. I do not blame this entirely on the JW organization. September 11 was very traumatic to me, I will never forget the visions that day of people jumping from some of the tallest buildings in the world to their death. I will never forget the vision of someone I know who watched as the towers fell, clutching his head and saying "no" over and over to collapse on the couch knowing his friend was inside one of those towers. I can not logically have faith in the father figure of God who lets atrocities like this happen to his children. I have given up on God stepping in, I fear we are all alone to try and save ourselves from annihilation. I have lost all faith in God, and it is his fault.

Mrs. Shakita

Francois

Be careful what you ask for.

I did the exact same thing back in 1983. And I didn't ask for much. Just some kind of minor proof that He existed.

It wasn't long after that late one night when I was engaged in meditation that He made himself known to me. Rather, I stopped standing on my end of the "hose" that connected Him with me. I realized in that short burst of communication that all along it had been ME that had kept communications at a standstill, that God had always been right there waiting for me to knock.

My experience was that connecting with the indweller was a matter of what I stopped doing rather than what I began doing. Thus it is true that the yoke of the Master is easy and his load light. I was amazed. Still am. Still have a really hard time putting it into words.

I have had three of these experiences, what I call experiences with the "Light" and the last one was quiet a few years ago.

I've never had a conversation with God. God doesn't and didn't speak to me, and he didn't speak to me when the above-described transaction happened. I don't have words to properly describe it. It's nothing like AGuest claims, nothing at all. But I'm inwardly certain that I touched the Divine Lover that lives within my heart/mind and it really did impart a peace beyond understanding and many other things.

And I'm just as certain that you, any of you, can have this very experience if you really want to. It does take a high level of sincerity of pursuit, but it is available, and that's what Jesus meant when he said, "the kingdom of heaven is within you." Yep. It's there alright. And you can touch it if you like. But it isn't going to happen like you think it should; it's not going to fulfill some time-limited, space-bound product of the imagination. Remember what you're trying to do: make contact with the existential creator of the Universe of Universes, the maker of ALL that we call real. It ain't like getting a telephone call from your Aunt Fanny. But if you want the experience you can have it. I'm living proof.

Go for it.

Shakita

Francois,

My brother also had a "light experience" years back. He swears he saw Jesus Christ. I believe that he believes he saw Christ. How can you refute an experience you were not a part of. My brother was not a church goer at the time and still is not super religious. But, this event has effected his life and he does not hesitate to tell others how it felt. In a way I envy him. But, until God shows me a sign....I would take anything at this point, I will continue to be a doubting Thomas.

Even though my faith is almost nonexistent, I will occasionally ask God for some direction. I will keep you updated and let you know if he answers me.

Mrs. Shakita

Almost There

I was a doubting Thomas until about a month ago.

I had been attending this church with a friend of mine and really enjoyed the services. I would see the people praises Jesus and would sort of laugh inside. (This is an african american church and they take their worship serious)

My friend told the associate pastor about my agnostic views and my JW experience, so he asked me to visit with him to answer any questions that I may have.

I told him I believe the Bible was a great piece of literature and had some good princicples that you can live by. But not necessarily inspired by God.

He read a few scriptures and I don't remember them because I was thinking, Oh' Boy here we go again with this Bible flicking.

He then ask me if I believed Jesus was my Savior and had I asked him into my life. I was turning to answer him (because I had turned around to look at this picture) and I felt this inner peace that I had never felt before and a voice told me that I believed.

If you would have told me this story a month ago, I would have laughed inside and said WHATEVER.

But believe me God has revealed himself to me. Because my husband of 10 years came out of the blue about a week and a half ago and told me he did not love me anymore and handed me divorce papers, then pack his things and left.

I know if I did not have Jesus (oh my goodness I sould like a Jesus freak), I would have been taken to the hospital. I suffer from SEVERE depression and was hospitalized in December 2002. But since I have been communicating with God through prayer. I have been stronger and happier that I have been in my entire life.

Kenneson

"Lord, I believe. Only help my unbelief."--Mark 9:24

jst2laws

Jim,

Years ago I had a moment, as a 14 year old, where I made a promise to God and knew I had connected to something. It was real, it was good for me and helped make me a better person for others. Strange thing is that I was a Baptist at the time.

About 6 years latter I was at Bethel and had another REAL moment where I connected. Strange thing is that I was JW then. And since then there have been more such moments, leading to my leaving the JW's. More recently I have felt closer to this sense of "connection" as a result of studying quantum physics and even eastern mysticism.

I know you have had this connection too, after all you felt you were of the anointed while a JW. It was real wasn't it? The only thing I see that has changed is the CERTAINTY is gone. We thought we knew everything and what we knew was absolutely right. Now we don't know ANYTHING FOR SURE. We don't even know who God is for sure, or if their is a God for sure.

However, as François conveyed, we do know what we have experienced, it was real and it was good for us. We have "connected" to something and yet we do not even know what it was. I guess we have to accept that and quit expecting anything else.

As for 'doubting Thomas', just think how Jesus brought us down from a thunderous, earth shaking, meddling, vindictive, jealous god who was more concerned with his personal reputation then the plight of humanity to a 'father' who cared about us. That was quite a leap for humanity brought on by one man. Now maybe humanity is taking the next step in this spiritual journey and accepting this reality. My experience tells me there is something beyond this physical reality that cares and loves but does not meddle. I expect no miracles or spine tingling communications. Maybe He is there and communicating all along but in a different way, more intuitive. After all isn't that how we have each experience this so far?

Steve

Satanus

jst2laws

Yah, the connection w something practically undescribable. I've felt that very clearly a few times. Lately, it seems to be there always, in the background. It doesn't care about one's religion, if one has faith, or if one is good or bad.

SS

Doubting Thomas - A Real Hero !

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