Big questions on my mind..

[Eon]

The truth is a three edged sword - Your Truth, My Truth and the Truth as seen by an objective observer. Truth is subjective, you see, it's quite easy to be telling the truth and be utterly wrong.

Okay, so I did mention Karma... LOL

But I don't believe in Karma as in the Buddhist sense of a huge bank balance stretching across several incarnations - I simply use to the term to refer to a debt that isn't material, but spiritual instead.

And, as you say, God might not shy away from GIVING a huge gift, but I sure as hell shy away from taking one. I'm not for sale, you see.

 

[Kidan]

from reading another topic, and If I've read this other topic right, the Havamal is basically the collected writings of the Asatur (sry bout the spelling, it was a long nite and turning into a longer day

) telling the stories of Odin and the rest of the Asgardians.  As such I have read some of it, though not all, I just didn't know the name of the collected writings.

And I understand your usage of Karma as well.  Makes sense, good description for the term spiritual debt. Though it does have the baggage of being misinterpreted when the subject matter isn't fully comprehended as was my case

Now the problem with this concept is that salvation is not a HUGE gift.  It never was.  It's merely a friendship.  Salvation is God saying 'Won't u be my friend?'  While the overall thoughts and conception that we see, when we see the term 'salvation' appears as some huge gift from God, when you strip away everything, the gospel boils down to God wanting a relationship with you.  That is the essense of the Good News.  That's what Christ's death was ultimately for.  So it's not a large grand thing God's givng you. It's a friendship.

 

[Eon]

Let's see, supposedly you can either live in eternal bliss or else you can be eternally tortured in a lake of red hot fire.

1 Guy controls the seating arrangements.

His favour would have to be considered an enormous gift, wouldn't you say? I mean, if saving someone's life is considered to be a big deal, then how big a deal is saving someone's AFTERLIFE?

And please, extend your metaphor slightly so that you can see it from my perspective. It's God saying, "Be my friend or I'll burn you alive forever". Don't you find that a bit... ..creepy?

 

[Kidan]

but that's the thing. 1 guy doesnt control the seating arangments.

When it comes down to the final judgment, God isn't sitting there, saying 'ok, yer one of the pretty people, you get into heaven.'

You control the seating arrangment. Basically you get to decide whether you're going to buy the first class seat, or coach.

And I understand that your prespective takes the friend metaphor to a creepy level. Your faith is based upon works. If you fight the good fight, and die trying, you could be picked by a valkyrie. If you fight the good fight, live a long healthy happy, life, treating others right, you get a fairly nice place in the afterworld. If your scum, you get sent to Hel's (or is it Hela? ) domain.

My faith is based upon grace. it's God saying, here be my friend. and once you become His friend, He then says 'Hey let me have that coach ticket, I just bumped u up into first class.'

 

[Eon]

But when the plane lands, you find that you end up being his pool boy forever. I'll admit that to some people this beats being a brickette forever - but I still rate it as a pretty crappy choice.

But I'm willing to admit that I'm hopelessly compromised in favour of a works based salvation. Sorry guys!

 

[Malohaut]

My 2 cents:

Seek first God and his truths. Find out who He is and who Jesus is and follow their teachings of wisdom.

Once you have become a Christian, you are 'newborn' with a new Christian heart of love and compassion.

Now, life's journey is ahead of you. Yes, God has the desire and the plan to prosper you and to make you grow. And God may use you to help others along the journies of life. But what you want to do in life is up to you. As many people here have said, your life is your choice.

When people get pets, like a hamster or a dog, sometimes they just sit and watch to see what their pet will do. And sometimes they do the silliest things, and other times, the most wonderful, loving things.

God is not much different. He created us, but He doeesn't force us to do this or to do that. He watches us, waits for us to seek Him, and blesses us. He will allow us to also choose our own paths in life. You want to be in computers, God can help you. You want to minister in far away lands? God can help you. You want to just have a quiet life and have a Godly family, God can bless you there too. And this has been shown in the bible.

There was an Israel king who was about to die, but he asked for an extention to his life. God gave that to him. The Israelites, after living in the promised land for a while, asked God for a king (they had none at the time), and even though God knew it wasn't the best for them, he gave them one.

God loves all his creation, especially those who love him back. And he lets each of us choose our path in life.

So if God lets us choose our paths, then which is the right one?

Look at your heart and see what you want to do. Look at your interests and your talents, combine, and succeed.

But what's the purpose of life? Solomon covers this in the book Ecclesiastes. For the most part, life is meaningless. You can spend your life to gain wealth and possessions, but when you die, all that will just go elsewhere. Solomon, the wisest king in the history of Israel, decided that the purpose of life was simply to enjoy the fruit of your labors. Work your job with satisfaction, and enjoy the results of your work.

That's what makes life meaningful. Not to satisfy pleasures. Not to accumulate wealth. Not to try and life in luxary. But just to seek God, work and pay your dues in whatever field you strive for, and to enjoy the fruit of your labor.

So first, seek God and seek Jesus so that you may be blessed with whatever you desire to do. Then, seek what is in your heart: computers, medical, helping others, the armed services. Then spend your effort doing that and trust in God to guide you, open doors for you, and richly bless you.