An agnostic who goes by the name Taylor Benge narrated how God saved him from death at the Las Vegas concert

On Monday evening, a huge crowd converged in Las Vegas for the last day of the Route 91 Harvest Festival of country music. a 64-year-old man named Stephen Paddock smashed two windows in his luxury suite on the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay Hotel, picked up a rifle and started firing into the crowd below.

There was pandemonium. People stampeded. Shooting lasted for a few minutes, by the time it ended, 58 innocent people were dead and nearly 500 were wounded.

A young man has given an astonishingly honest interview on CNN, recalling how he managed to survive the Las Vegas shooting, and describing the spiritual epiphany he experienced as a result of his horrifying ordeal


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jsyc_V7GGY


Taylor Benge says he was in fight-or-flight mode as Stephen Paddock rained bullets down on a country music festival in Las Vegas early Monday morning.
"If it were over here, and I took cover, there were still bodies on that side of people just laying in pools of blood," Benge tells CNN. "I still didn't know if that was safe or not."

But during the worst mass shooting in U.S. history in which the death toll currently stands at 50 with more than 400 injured, Benge says he had a change of heart.

“My sister, being as noble as she, she actually threw herself on top of me and was saying, ‘I love you Taylor, I love you.’ And I’ll never forget that," Taylor recalled. Then, as the interview was wrapping up, he said something extraordinary.

“I was agnostic going into that concert and I’m a firm believer in God now,” Benge told CNN on Monday morning. “Because there’s no way that all of that happened and that I made it and I was blessed enough to still be here alive talking to you today.”

Jesus is alive, God is alive

Come to him today, you might not be as lucky as Benge was; Taylor would've been in hell right now had God not protected him from the bullets; some of the dead might be agnostics who didn't make it

Only Jesus saves

Lalasticlala, Mynd44, help move to frontpage so other atheists and agnostics can also have a possible change of heart

Interesting

this deserves FP

A welcomed idea

These people haff come again

I’m seeing a ton of "Pray for Vegas" posts, obviously. Just one question; Are you praying to the same God who, while this massacre was occurring:

A. Didn’t care to stop it?

B. Was unable to stop it?

C. Didn’t know it was happening?

D. Was responsible for it?

A simple, single letter answer is sufficient. no sermons

Why is God unable to stop things like this from happening?

TheSonOfJesus:
An agnostic who goes by the name Taylor Benge narrated how God saved him from death at the Las Vegas concert

On Monday evening, a huge crowd converged in Las Vegas for the last day of the Route 91 Harvest Festival of country music. a 64-year-old man named Stephen Paddock smashed two windows in his luxury suite on the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay Hotel, picked up a rifle and started firing into the crowd below.

There was pandemonium. People stampeded. Shooting lasted for a few minutes, by the time it ended, 58 innocent people were dead and nearly 500 were wounded.

A young man has given an astonishingly honest interview on CNN, recalling how he managed to survive the Las Vegas shooting, and describing the spiritual epiphany he experienced as a result of his horrifying ordeal


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jsyc_V7GGY


Taylor Benge says he was in fight-or-flight mode as Stephen Paddock rained bullets down on a country music festival in Las Vegas early Monday morning.
"If it were over here, and I took cover, there were still bodies on that side of people just laying in pools of blood," Benge tells CNN. "I still didn't know if that was safe or not."

But during the worst mass shooting in U.S. history in which the death toll currently stands at 50 with more than 400 injured, Benge says he had a change of heart.

“My sister, being as noble as she, she actually threw herself on top of me and was saying, ‘I love you Taylor, I love you.’ And I’ll never forget that," Taylor recalled. Then, as the interview was wrapping up, he said something extraordinary.

“I was agnostic going into that concert and I’m a firm believer in God now,” Benge told CNN on Monday morning. “Because there’s no way that all of that happened and that I made it and I was blessed enough to still be here alive talking to you today.”

Jesus is alive, God is alive

Come to him today, you might not be as lucky as Benge was; Taylor would've been in hell right now had God not protected him from the bullets; some of the dead might be agnostics who didn't make it

Only Jesus saves

Lalasticlala, Mynd44, help move to frontpage so other atheists and agnostics can also have a possible change of heart

He went into the concert agnostic and came out a firm believer in God.

Glory Halleluiah. Beauty still can come from ugliness. Joy will always remain the opposite of sorrow.

OP thank you for this.

Tahra:
Why is God unable to stop things like this from happening?

God already stopped it from happening through the available salvation of Jesus but it takes those who walk with Jesus to refuse such impulses.

You should rather be asking, why wasn't the shooter able to stop himself even after the first shot and the first dead body?

Can a slave to evil nature stop himself from obeying his master?

If believers were among the dead, glory be to God. To live is Christ and to die is great gain. It's a win win for a believer.

GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST THE LIGHT OF MEN!.

Lemme relax here even tho baba god for heaven enjoys watching human beings slaughtered like laiya ram

butterflyl1on:


God already stopped it from happening through the available salvation of Jesus but it takes those who walk with Jesus to refuse such impulses.

You should rather be asking, why wasn't the shooter able to stop himself even after the first shot and the first dead body?

Can a slave to evil nature stop himself from obeying his master?

If believers were among the dead, glory be to God. To live is Christ and to die is great gain. It's a win win for a believer.

Let's assume the shooter didn't commit suicide.He gets arrested by the police,he's charged to court.Gets a life sentence.After spending 3years behind bars,he turns a new leaf.Surrenders his life to Jesus and becomes a pastor.Does that mean the sin he committed against humanity will go unpunished by the merciful God?

adepeter2027:
Lemme relax here even tho baba god for heaven enjoys watching human beings slaughtered like laiya ram

slaughter on earth is even small thing compared to dying Without accepting Jesus as saviour....
Hell is worse

Well, good for him that his life saving god decided to allow dozens of people perish so that he may be convinced of its existence.

Tahra:
Why is God unable to stop things like this from happening?

Freewill, friend. Freewill.

just in case

Hmmm.

Tahra:
Let's assume the shooter didn't commit suicide.He gets arrested by the police,he's charged to court.Gets a life sentence.After spending 3years behind bars,he turns a new leaf.Surrenders his life to Jesus and becomes a pastor.Does that mean the sin he committed against humanity will go unpunished by the merciful God?

yes it will go unpunished in the eyes of God. Gods way of judgement and justification is far different from ours.

Repent and ask him for forgiveness from a broken and a contrite heart and he will not despise you. He will forgive you, clean you up, adorn you and present you to the world as a brand new man who is full of love and not hate, peace and not war, tolerance and not intolerance and use you who was once evil as a witness to people who are still the way you used to be.

AgentOfAllah:
Well, good for him that his life saving god decided to allow dozens of people perish so that he may be convinced of its existence.

what a marvellous god!

DoctorAlien:


Freewill, friend. Freewill.

You mean those that died wanted to die so he just let them, right? How compassionate.

Tahra:
Let's assume the shooter didn't commit suicide.He gets arrested by the police,he's charged to court.Gets a life sentence.After spending 3years behind bars,he turns a new leaf.Surrenders his life to Jesus and becomes a pastor.Does that mean the sin he committed against humanity will go unpunished by the merciful God?

No.He will in one way or the other pay for it.

felixomor:


slaughter on earth is even small thing compared to dying Without accepting Jesus as saviour....
Hell is worse

That place is terrible. I will not wish my worst enemy to go there

asuustrike2009:
That place is terrible. I will not wish my worst enemy to go there

you've been there before?

butterflyl1on:


God already stopped it from happening through the available salvation of Jesus but it takes those who walk with Jesus to refuse such impulses.

You should rather be asking, why wasn't the shooter able to stop himself even after the first shot and the first dead body?

Can a slave to evil nature stop himself from obeying his master?

If believers were among the dead, glory be to God. To live is Christ and to die is great gain. It's a win win for a believer.

An all knowing god definitely knew the killer would turn out to be a homicidal SOB, why did he create in him in the first place? Umm okay lets assume that was a mistake. an all knowing god definitely knew of his intention to go on a shooting spree, why didn't god strike him dead before he could? He's quite an expert at that .. Oh wait, perhaps god just let dozens of people die so one man would be saved? Lucky bloke!

asuustrike2009:
That place is terrible.

You seem to be certain. Have you been there before?

OliviaPope:
You mean those that died wanted to die so he just let them, right? How compassionate.

Are you a first class graduate of Strawman Construction?

I mean, the Vegas shooter did what he wanted, of his own freewill, to do. The Vegas shooter was created by God with freewill i.e. he could do anything he wanted. But it is sad that the Vegas shooter chose to kill other people, when God had advised him "Thou shalt not kill." Exod. 20:13

Anyone who chooses to listen and obey what GOD said in Exodus 20:13 will never do what the Vegas shooter did.

OliviaPope:
An all knowing god definitely knew the killer would turn out to be an homicidal SOB, why did he create in him in the first place? Umm okay lets assume that was a mistake. an all knowing god definitely knew of his intention to go on a shooting spree, why didn't god strike him dead before he could? He's quite an expert at that .. Oh wait, perhaps god just let dozens of people die so one man would be saved? Lucky bloke!

This is the thing about freewill. He creates you then gives you options to freely choose from.

Option A: serve me with all your heart/mind/strenght and love humanity and get the just wages

Option B: Refuse to serve me and refuse to love humanity and get the just wages for that.

Knowing about his intention to go on a killing spree does not mean the ones shot at have also not been given the same Option A and Option B.

If they choose right or wrong the way they die would not matter. All that matters is the just reward. The boyscout motto says, BE PREPARED .

Death is unavoidable but ones state of preparedness at death is achievable. Just like you right now. You could step outside and get struck by lightening or run over but that wouldn't bother me a bit. I would rather bother about your state of preparedness when death does come based on either OPTION A or OPTION B.

Interesting. Disaster pushed him to God.

DoctorAlien:


Are you a first class graduate of Strawman Construction?

I mean, the Vegas shooter did what he wanted, of his own freewill, to do. The Vegas shooter was created by God with freewill i.e. he could do anything he wanted. But it is sad that the Vegas shooter chose to kill other people, when God had advised him "Thou shalt not kill." Exod. 20:13

Anyone who chooses to listen and obey what GOD said in Exodus 20:13 will never do what the Vegas shooter did.

actually she's not strawmaning you at all, you're the one that's caught in a catch-22 by looking at freewill through a one-sided and narrow lens

you said god couldn't stop it because of freewill, meaning god respected the shooter's freewill to do what he "wanted", the victims however didn't want to be shot by sniper bullets at the festival, their will not to be killed by someone else's freewill was not given the same respect as the shooter's; same way a child molester has his will to do what he/she wanted to do, Rape a child, while his/her victim did not want to be molested, the molested isn't accorded the same freewill the molester was

hopefulLandlord:


actually she's not strawmaning you at all, you're the one that's caught in a catch-22 by looking at freewill through a one-sided and narrow lens

you said god couldn't stop it because of freewill, meaning god respected the shooter's freewill to do what he "wanted", the victims however didn't want to be shot by sniper bullets at the festival, their will not to be killed was not given the same respect as the shooter; same way a child molester has his will to do what he/she wanted to do, Rape a child, while his/her victim did not want to be molested, the molested isn't given the freewill while the molester is

Can you prove that the freewill of the victims of the Vegas shooting were violated by God? How did He violate their freewill?

Death in this world is not by choice. One can claim that he doesn't want to die just like everyone must die. But there is nothing he can do about it. If you say you don't want to be shot by sniper bullets, then don't be shot by sniper bullets. What is the role of anyone in the decision you've made?

Your argument is like one saying that his freewill has been violated just because he fell sick, when he didn't want to fall sick.

butterflyl1on:


This is the thing about freewill. He creates you then gives you options to freely choose from.

Option A: serve me with all your heart/mind/strenght and love humanity and get the just wages

Option B: Refuse to serve me and refuse to love humanity and get the just wages for that.

Knowing about his intention to go on a killing spree does not mean the ones shot at have also not been given the same Option A and Option B.

all this talk about freewill , sigh.

Isaiah 46:10 King James Version (KJV)

10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure

Isaiah 46:10
New International Version

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please

If god has foreknowledge of all things, then he knew those that were predestined to choose either A or B, so how is freewill still relevant? Now you're talking predestined freewill

If they choose right or wrong the way they die would not matter. All that matters is the just reward. The boyscout motto says, BE PREPARED .

Death is unavoidable but ones state of preparedness at death is achievable. Just like you right now. You could step outside and get struck by lightening or run over but that wouldn't bother me a bit. I would rather bother about your state of preparedness when death does come based on either OPTION A or OPTION B.

DoctorAlien:


Can you prove that the freewill of the victims of the Vegas shooting were violated by God? How did He violate their freewill?

Did they want to be killed by someone else's freewill?

freewill has to be choosing what you want to do and doing it

The shooter wanted to shoot people while the people shot didn't want to be shot! its very simple

Death in this world is not by choice.

not necessarily

many deaths are by choice, suicide for instance

One can claim that he doesn't want to die just like everyone must die. But there is nothing he can do about it. If you say you don't want to be shot by sniper bullets, then don't be shot by sniper bullets. What is the role of anyone in the decision you've made?

Freewill has to cut both ways, all she did was point out the level of myopia your freewill post is exuding

Your argument is like one saying that his freewill has been violated just because he fell sick, when he didn't want to fall sick.

No! not at all!!

The point is that the shooter's will to shoot people was granted while the guys shot didn't choose to be shot!, the people shot simply "chose" to enjoy the concert and go home, that's the choice they made
something has got to give, freewill has to be on a level playing field, if it tilts one way then its a catch-22 and a philosophical problem

I don't know how else I can break this down

OliviaPope:
all this talk about freewill , sigh.

Isaiah 46:10 King James Version (KJV)

10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure


If god has foreknowledge of all things, then he knew those that were predestined to choose either A or B, so how is freewill still relevant? Now you're talking predestined freewill

It' doesn't matter what we think or say,, If they believe in the bible then it matters what the bible says. The bible is very clear that there is no god given free will. It's just that Christians need to lie about how evil their god is so they automatically blurt out "FREE WILL" and hope nobody looks it up. Nowhere in the bible does it say anything about god giving free will. The reason god given free will is bullsheet is because Christians believe that god is all powerful, all knowing, the creator of the universe who made all the rules and has perfect knowledge of the future. The bible says,,, "The Lord has made everything for his own ends, even the wicked for the evil day, Proverbs 16:4 & I the Lord make evil , Isaiah 47,7. God has a plan, Jeremiah 29:11. Nobody can change his mind, Proverbs 19:21. No one comes to Jesus unless the Father draws them first (John 6:44). Makes all the rules , Exodus24:12>13. Made the flaws in people, Psalm 139:12, Can do anything, Mark 10:27. Knows the future, Isaiah 46:9>10. "The Bible repeatedly claims to be God's word. See 1 Corinthians 14:37; 2:10-13; Ephesians 3:3-5; John 16:13; Matthew 10:19,20; Galatians 1:8-12; 2 Peter 1:20,21; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy3:16,17; Luke 10:16. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, Ephesians 1:11, If their god had the power to make any universe he wanted, and knew everything from the start to end, then you CAN NOT have all those things and god given free will. NOW,, That their own bible proves there is NO god given free will ,, who are they going to blame? If you are a christian reading this, then you must own up to the fact that you worship a god who is a violent murder of all most people. Why do you worship this god?


Freewill is even paradoxical when dealing with Omniscient Omnipresent and Omnipotent being