i was born a christian, i became an atheist since 2006 when doubts about the existence of God began to creep in, now after years of atheism and deep thoughts i can confidently say that i believe that there is a God now.
i dnt really know to explain it but it happened in a twinkle of an eye, God may not be a big white male with overflowing bears sitting on a throne in the sky, but God surely exists, he lives in every one of us, he is everywhere, he is everything, he is the "source code" for creating the universe, he is that energy from which everything emanated,
the mistake that atheists make is trying to personify God, "why did he do this and that? why is he even called a HE and bla bla bla"", but we fail to realise that God cannot be put in a box, how can we tell him how to run his own world, life is exactly how God wants it to be whether good or bad, we should realise that it could have been worse you know. God is not man, God is not a thing, God is everything! There is so much i wanna say but let me stop here for now,

FYI; as of the moment, i dont call myself a christian, i call myself a believer, God is bigger than religion
Goodday!!!

@OP you say God cannot be put in a box. but you are calling it "him". Have you not put God in a box by assuming God is male?

I am of the same school of thought as you bro.

Ascony:

i was born a christian, i became an atheist since 2006 when doubts about the existence of God began to creep in, now after years of atheism and deep thoughts i can confidently say that i believe that there is a God now.
i dnt really know to explain it but it happened in a twinkle of an eye, God may not be a big white male with overflowing bears sitting on a throne in the sky, but God surely exists, he lives in every one of us, he is everywhere, he is everything, he is the "source code" for creating the universe, he is that energy from which everything emanated,
the mistake that atheists make is trying to personify God, "why did he do this and that? why is he even called a HE and bla bla bla"", but we fail to realise that God cannot be put in a box, how can we tell him how to run his own world, life is exactly how God wants it to be whether good or bad, we should realise that it could have been worse you know. God is not man, God is not a thing, God is everything! There is so much i wanna say but let me stop here for now,

FYI; as of the moment, i dont call myself a christian, i call myself a believer, God is bigger than religion
Goodday!!!

Ascony, What made you change your mind?

@knowjack, nIGERIA is referred to as SHE, is nigeria a woman??/

@ jesoul. nothing magical per say happened, like i said i dnt really know how to explain it but i will take time later today to narrate it in details the best i can, 
i just came to realization that God exists whether we like it or not, , its  a personal discovery, everybody has to discover God on his own, no preacher can ever convince you if u cant convince yourself first

@OP no Nigeria is not a woman, but traditionally ships,  countries, and oceans have been referred to using the feminine pronouns. The origins of this practice are not certain, and it is currently in decline.

The point of my question is that the Christian god is referred to as a He, so it is just curious to me that even in your aim to quantify God outside of religion, the religious framings still exist.  The pronoun is important here as you are telling us you believe there is a God.  Is this God male?  No contention, just an honest question.

Ascony:

i was born a christian, i became an atheist since 2006 when doubts about the existence of God began to creep in, now after years of atheism and deep thoughts i can confidently say that i believe that there is a God now.
i dnt really know to explain it but it happened in a twinkle of an eye, God may not be a big white male with overflowing bears sitting on a throne in the sky, but God surely exists, he lives in every one of us, he is everywhere, he is everything, he is the "source code" for creating the universe, he is that energy from which everything emanated,
the mistake that atheists make is trying to personify God, "why did he do this and that? why is he even called a HE and bla bla bla"", but we fail to realise that God cannot be put in a box, how can we tell him how to run his own world, life is exactly how God wants it to be whether good or bad, we should realise that it could have been worse you know. God is not man, God is not a thing, God is everything! There is so much i wanna say but let me stop here for now,

FYI; as of the moment, i dont call myself a christian, i call myself a believer, God is bigger than religion
Goodday!!!

Congrats my friend on whatever conclusion you have arrived at regarding devinity as long as it makes you a btter and more reasonable human being, then the universe is better for it.
However what i want to point out is that we all try to make sense of existence through what we percieve either through our senses or what we imagine in our minds. So u had some sorth of an epiphany and percieved the existence of god? So now god exists for you, in your mind and in your world, right? Now, can you argue with me if I say, that god exists in your mind(head), and since god does not exist in my mind, the god of your mind is therefore immaterial and not part of the reality that you and I share outside the prescintcs of your mind?

Now head to the nearest bible believing church

He did not say he believed in the God touted by "bible believing" religionists. Just because he has now come to the realization that there is a creator of the universe does not mean he now believes in Mr. Yahweh/Jehovah/Jesus. Am i correct, Ascony?

Mr. Globe:

Now head to the nearest bible believing church

op lm happy 4u ooo. yours isnt the first on nl. ln dec 2009, a certain atheist started a thread similar to this and sudden changed his belief  from atheism to theism. l gave him an advice here on nl which i would also give.

Try to study your bible more and then establish a relationship with God.
it is well with your soul

I can sense again the ire of the god haters , why they are always angry is one trait of them which I am struggling to understand

Kudos to the author of this article and let me and us for that matter hope that while we must do away with the hypocrisy of religion we must never do away with Christ , otherwise to whom else shall we turn .

@frosbel  the OP has never mentioned Christ.  never.  he said a God.  not the God of the bible.  If you are so impressed by him for finding God, then you should be just as impressed by muslims, buddhists, and the rest who also believe there is a God.  not necessarily the God of the bible.  just a God

Ok OP, God exists, before he can exist, he must have a character, a definition. And how did you understand this. Also, is he/she/it life and singular?

@knowjack
maybe my mistake here is using HE as d pronoun. wat if i retrace it?  wat if change it to IT? will it make sense then?
u see dts why i  said it will really be hard to explain (jeez! am now sounding like d christians, lol),  am still in d process u know so i dnt have all d clear answers now.
@ plaetton. i  must confess,  lol. u just loosed a nut in my brain now haha , maybe u r right, maybe wrong, but if u really understood my post, when i say God is everything, i dnt know d kind of thought it sparks in your head,  but like i said am still in dis journey of discovery,  ii never claimed to have all d answers now

@Mr Globe
i could even go to the mosque or d buddhist temple. wherever i feel d presence of God. dats why i said dat i prefer to call myself a believer for now.

@ everyone
I just believe there has to be a God, eventhough am not able to make sense of God yet. but I mean look at it dis way, the chaos and order, it may all be a big drama, a big theatre, and we r all just acting. u do your part and sooner or later its end of movie, u r dead.
maybe the only gift we really get from God is life, and we all hav to live it fully and take watever life gives. maybe dats why some folks say that we are nothing but pencil in the hand of the creator, maybe we just have to take watever God sketches and be content and grateful with it eventhough it seems its not enough . . .or maybe God is like a tool or a power source that we can use to our benefits ? maybe God is not actually omnipotent. maybe God needs us to be complete, maybe dats why we were created  
maybe am right, or maybe am just going bananas  :/  :/

@Ascony thank you for sharing your experience. it is a wonderful journey to be on. but posting something like that here is dangerous because some get excited and think you are talking about the God of the bible when you are simply saying you believe in a God, a creator, a universal energy, etc. Not the God of the bible. Not Christ or christianity. That at least you should make clear. i think you have though. all the best on your journey.

chowbaby:

@frosbel  the OP has never mentioned Christ.  never.  he said a God.  not the God of the bible.  If you are so impressed by him for finding God, then you should be just as impressed by muslims, buddhists, and the rest who also believe there is a God.  not necessarily the God of the bible.  just a God

I asked you a question in another article to which I am sure you have not answered.

If all religions are right, then how on earth can it be philosophically possible for them to have originated from the same being seeing that they contradict each other on almost every level , have different practises and tradition and exhibit very divergent views.

If then you believe in this god, is he not most confused, common , an intelligent creator who made the universe and man will not let them build a tower of babel which leads them to spiritual confusion.

Only an enemy could be responsible for this confusion and that is no other than SATAN.

It is your choice not to believe , but allow others to hold on to their faith. It's what makes them happy.

if Richard Dawkins or the Nebraska man excite you I respect that

@ascony
So I guess your a deist now?

@frosbel my apologies, I never saw your other question. But the same confusion you speak of can be found throughout Christianity with all the denominations and beliefs that are derived from one book, the bible. I do not know the answer to your question, I wish I did, no one does really, people just choose an explanation that works best for them, nor have I said i am an atheist, and the name dawkins has never been written here by me. But you were proclaiming glory to Christ for this thread and the OP saying there is a God, and the OP has said he even goes to mosques and budhists temples, he is not a Christian and he is not talking about the God of the bible. That was my point.

@ jenwitemi. yea u r absolutely correct
@ toba. ii will study d bible ( i've always been), but dats not d only book ii will study. . .

chowbaby:

@frosbel my apologies, I never saw your other question. But the same confusion you speak of can be found throughout Christianity with all the denominations and beliefs that are derived from one book, the bible. I do not know the answer to your question, I wish I did, no one does really, people just choose an explanation that works best for them, nor have I said i am an atheist, and the name dawkins has never been written here by me. But you were proclaiming glory to Christ for this thread and the OP saying there is a God, and the OP has said he even goes to mosques and budhists temples, he is not a Christian and he is not talking about the God of the bible. That was my point.

I can assure you I read through the lines and knew that the implication was a belief in God and not Christ.

I never said glory to Christ.

Let me quote again what I said ;

Kudos to the author of this article and let me and us for that matter hope that while we must do away with the hypocrisy of religion we must never do away with Christ , otherwise to whom else shall we turn .

Thank You !

@frosbel but the OP has done away with Christ in the sense that you mean. This statement was posted and the OP stated it is accurate.

jenwitemi wrote
"He did not say he believed in the God touted by "bible believing" religionists. Just because he has now come to the realization that there is a creator of the universe does not mean he now believes in Mr. Yahweh/Jehovah/Jesus." Am i correct, Ascony?

the OP responded:

@ jenwitemi. yea u r absolutely correct

Ascony:

@knowjack
maybe my mistake here is using HE as d pronoun. wat if i retrace it?  wat if change it to IT? will it make sense then?
u see dts why i  said it will really be hard to explain (jeez! am now sounding like d christians, lol),  am still in d process u know so i dnt have all d clear answers now.
@ plaetton. i  must confess,  lol. u just loosed a nut in my brain now haha , maybe u r right, maybe wrong, but if u really understood my post, when i say God is everything, i dnt know d kind of thought it sparks in your head,  but like i said am still in dis journey of discovery,  ii never claimed to have all d answers now

@Mr Globe
i could even go to the mosque or d buddhist temple. wherever i feel d presence of God. dats why i said dat i prefer to call myself a believer for now.

@ everyone
I just believe there has to be a God, eventhough am not able to make sense of God yet. but I mean look at it dis way, the chaos and order, it may all be a big drama, a big theatre, and we r all just acting. u do your part and sooner or later its end of movie, u r dead.
maybe the only gift we really get from God is life, and we all hav to live it fully and take watever life gives. maybe dats why some folks say that we are nothing but pencil in the hand of the creator, maybe we just have to take watever God sketches and be content and grateful with it eventhough it seems its not enough . . .or maybe God is like a tool or a power source that we can use to our benefits ? maybe God is not actually omnipotent. maybe God needs us to be complete, maybe dats why we were created  
maybe am right, or maybe am just going bananas  :/  :/

I think you are doing extremely well so far, rather well! I'm sure you will find that which you seek --- and with it, peace.

@manmustwack, i never said so bro. ii dnt even know wat ii am,

@frosbel. @ chowbaby
yeah, maybe am not christian. but i am not putting christianity aside. i come with an open mind. God is my mission not religion

@enigma. thanx man. wish u d best too

@Ascony,

What happened to all those atheists quotes? I've got one for you and its from the book of Psalms and it goes like this:

". . . there is no God" (Psalms 14:1)

@ascony: You seem to be a sensible person. I think you are on the right track on a long journey. I'm glad to see that you have an open mind to study different religions so that you can take the good precepts from the different religions. Pls avoid fellowship and all that crap. You are intelligent enough to read and understand books on your own. Dont let anyone try to interret this or that scripture for you. Embrace knowledge and dont cling on to any beliefs, otherwise , you loose your freedem and become a hostage to such beliefs.
Good luck.

My question for you Ascony is HOW did you Know there is God? Have you had a direct experience of HIm?

Great advice for u, ascony. Never allow any one single religion to entrap u in it's box. Really bewre of that.

plaetton:

@ascony: You seem to be a sensible person. I think you are on the right track on a long journey. I'm glad to see that you have an open mind to study different religions so that you can take the good precepts from the different religions. Pls avoid fellowship and all that crap. You are intelligent enough to read and understand books on your own. Dont let anyone try to interret this or that scripture for you. Embrace knowledge and dont cling on to any beliefs, otherwise , you loose your freedem and become a hostage to such beliefs.
Good luck.

@kay17. if u really took time to read my posts u will see av already answered ur questions,
nothing magical happened as u might be thinking. it was just a thought process that lead me to where i am now. simply put, IMO there just has to be a God, watevr it is dat sets this whole universe in motion, wat other name is fit to call that but God? i dnt know wat or who God is yet (am still getting there, maybe i may never get there), just understand that IMO God isn't some thing in some location, God is d sum of everything that IS, both d ones seen and unseen, u can call it nature or the universe but the term GOD just encompases it all.

@plaetton, @jenwitemi
thanx for ur advices. i refuse to be guided by sentiments at dis critical time of my life, dats why i won't cling to any particular religion, but like i said am not putting any religion aside, i will tap and learn from all of them cos i believe there is some element of truth in all of them

Ascony:

@kay17. if u really took time to read my posts u will see av already answered your questions,
nothing magical happened as u might be thinking. it was just a thought process that lead me to where i am now. simply put, IMO there just has to be a God, watevr it is dat sets this whole universe in motion, wat other name is fit to call that but God? i dnt know wat or who God is yet (am still getting there, maybe i may never get there), just understand that IMO God isn't some thing in some location, God is d sum of everything that IS, both d ones seen and unseen, u can call it nature or the universe but the term GOD just encompases it all.

@plaetton, @jenwitemi
thanx for your advices. i refuse to be guided by sentiments at dis critical time of my life, dats why i won't cling to any particular religion, but like i said am not putting any religion aside, i will tap and learn from all of them cos i believe there is some element of truth in all of them

The Supreme Being

[size=13pt]<sup>There's no God why don't u just go out there and enjoy yourselves. . . . , ?

If there is a God that is responsible for the creation of the World he should show a deep concern about the evil things that have been happening in diverse places . If he can't stop them that's means he doesn't exist !</sup> [/size]

There is a creator of this universe, ogaga. No creator, no created. As simple as that. The belief in the existence of the creator of the universe does not stop one from enjoying all the good thing life has to offer, ogaga4luv. Only religions try to stop one from doing that. This is not about any religion. God is infinitely greater than all the religions put together.

Ogaga4Luv:

There's no God why don't u just go out there and enjoy yourselves. . . . , ?

The creator does not have to show any concern whatsoever, ogaga. That is the main worry task of all the sentient beings living within this physical reality. The creator has given us all the tools we'll ever need to either make this reality a paradise or a hell. We just have to be grown up enough to make the right choices.

Ogaga4Luv:

[size=13pt]
^{If there is a God that is responsible for the creation of the World he should show a deep concern about the evil things that have been happening in diverse places . If he can't stop them that's means he doesn't exist !} [/size]

[size=13pt]<sup>We know Satan to be the True Father and Creator God of humanity.

We know "Yaweh/Jehova" of the bible to be a fictitious entity, and the people behind coercing this lie , to be the true deceivers of humanity and the masters of lies. This is evident in the many contradictions within the Judeo/Christian Bible, revealing this text to be the work of human beings who had occult knowledge and infused it with power to make it credible, and to incite fear in order to control.</sup> [/size]

Jenwitemi:

There is a creator of this universe, ogaga. No creator, no created. As simple as that. The belief in the existence of the creator of the universe does not stop one from enjoying all the good thing life has to offer, ogaga4luv. Only religions try to stop one from doing that. This is not about any religion. God is infinitely greater than all the religions put together.
The creator does not have to show any concern whatsoever, ogaga. That is the main worry task of all the sentient beings living within this physical reality. The creator has given us all the tools we'll ever need to either make this reality a paradise or a hell. We just have to be grown up enough to make the right choices.