A certain woman came to my door and invited me to her church. I politely declined. She asked where I attended church. I told her that I didn't. She then insisted that I come to hers.

I said, "God is omniscient and omnipresent, right?" She agreed.
I said, "God is love, right?" Again, she agreed.
So I said, "Well, then if God is omniscient and omnipresent, and God is love, then the whole world is a cathedral!"
She backed away like I was a disgusting heretic, and quickly left my property. I chuckled and returned to what I had been doing prior to the interruption.

Here's my take. I hated established religion when I was younger, all the while feeling truly spiritual. I used to also despise zealots and do-gooders. Now, I realize that they are trying to help and most likely really believe that what they are doing to be good. I may not believe what they do or show it in the same way but to each his own. As long as they aren't bombing buildings or killing Drs or hurting others, I actually enjoy their show of Faith.

"Omnipresent" means that He can be everywhere He wants to be... But He will not be where He is not invited. As BadBikerBob and QuestCap already mentioned, you have to invite Him into your heart.

DJR

I don't think that's correct. In Psalms, David writes, "Where can I go that Thou are not? Yea, even though I descend into the depths of Sheol, Thou art there."

I guess I didn't realize that this was a Christian website... To be perfectly blunt about it, I'm a little tired of hearing about the fire insurance prayer, or the magic spell that stamps a gold ticket to Heaven.

I've known people who've lived like hell, their entire lives, and at the last minute, accept Jesus, and voila!! They are guaranteed to go to Heaven. If God is perfect, God's justice must also be perfect, and there's no such thing as sowing wild oats on Saturday and praying for crop failure on Sunday. If God truly created a place of eternal torment, with no hope of reprieve, it would be a perfect God's admission of failure -- a cosmic wastebasket. It would also be a travesty of justice. No one, not even the most hideous serial killer, deserves eternal torment, and I find the entire concept ridiculous.

Also, which heaven? Paul writes, in II Corinthians, that he knew a man, (whether in the body or out is unknown) but such a one was caught up into the third heaven and heard things that were unutterable. A third heaven? This implies a first, second, and possibly a fourth or more.

I tried Christianity. With all my heart. For YEARS. It didn't work for me. I sought God everywhere. I wanted that close personal relationship that people stood up in church and boasted about. I would sit there and wonder what was wrong with me, or wonder if I were somehow defective.

Rumi, in the 13th century, wrote, "'Lo, I am with you always,' means that when you look for God, God is in the look of your eyes, nearer to you than yourself, or things that have happened to you."

When I read this, thirteen years of passionate, aching searching came to an end.

God is love. It says nowhere, that "God is love except when he's busy shoveling souls into Hell."

Frank_W wrote:
A certain woman came to my door and invited me to her church. I politely declined. She asked where I attended church. I told her that I didn't. She then insisted that I come to hers.

I said, "God is omniscient and omnipresent, right?" She agreed.
I said, "God is love, right?" Again, she agreed.
So I said, "Well, then if God is omniscient and omnipresent, and God is love, then the whole world is a cathedral!"
She backed away like I was a disgusting heretic, and quickly left my property. I chuckled and returned to what I had been doing prior to the interruption.



When I see them coming, I throw on the ole' shirt. I never get invited to church...

Gotta' get me one of them, Tampa!

I've actually pulled a fake Turrets Syndrome on one of them. The one where you scream obscene words at the top of your lungs, seeming without control. Oh, yeah. They want to be the one's that invited you to their church...

Patiently waiting for my PM from the Moderator...

Yeah, I'm sure I've got one coming, too.

Expressing opinions without direct attacks are ok. No pm needed Frank

Steven

Thanks... I don't have any particular ax to grind with any religion. I think that God meets us wherever we are, and reveals ITSELF in the way best suited to the individual.

I don't think anyone has a monopoly on truth, and the God I Know, is greater than anything that could ever be contained in any book. It may be that eventually, my earnest quest for truth will bring me full-circle to Christianity. I'm okay with that. I'm glad the church or path that people have chosen is working for them. That's a wonderful thing.

When religion is used as an excuse for a lack of common respect, as a way to judge other people, or adherents become so consumed with the letter of the law that they forget things like compassion, goodwill to their fellow man, or free will, then something's wrong.

What would religions look like, and what would our relationship with God look like, if the fears of death and Hell were removed from the equation?