₦airaland Forum

detruth:
@ JeSoul
Life is sweet! mostly when you are full of Light! . . . got you dear!

Glad to know alls well with you Continue in the grace of God and don't be a stranger!

Pastor AIO:
Not to mention the Chameleon which was the first to tread the earth. Till today the chameleon continues to tread ever so cautiously. Now if that isn't proof of the veracity of the story then you are just being willfully ignorant. Why else would the chameleon tread like it doesn't quite trust the solidity of the earth?

LOL I remember when I first heard these "creation stories", even with my small brain I was like which kin nonsense teacher dey teach me?

bawomolo:
do u want me to start it back up. i would think about it

hehe no way oh. please eh, ejo don't start it again

SeanT21:
Have different sections:

1. Olympic section: Everything olympics
2. Foreign sports: Sports like basketball, american football, etc
3. Matches- The hottest sports matches of the week or month

I don't think there's a need for an olympics section . . . it happens only once in 4 yrs.

Pastor AIO:
What a ridiculous notion! Everybody knows that ILE-IFE is the center of the earth. The first point of creation.

LOL . . . indeed. Wasn't it the 5-toed chicken that spread the dirt with its feet all over the earth?

Instead of seperating by foreign or local sports, I think there should be a seperate section for "Soccer" only (as its the most popular sport here) and leave all the other sports in another section. I tire of digging thru all the soccer threads for the NFL & NBA topics.

Since all the Arsenal and ManU people already discuss their games in the two main threads, creating a thread for each match will be too voluminous, perhaps you can only create new topics for the major matches? and then lock it few days after the match is thru?

Bawomolo,
are you tired of your "daily contradictions" thread?

Detruth,
hows everything with you over in Bangui?

Zino I picked only this portion of ur comment to respond to as the rest of it would be pointless reiteration.

Zino Ben:
lol@this topic too

Now most theists that love to harass atheists are mostly from the christian sect or organized cult who get aggrevated when ever they hear that not everybody is a zombie and doesnt follow some dumb stupid book that is filled with fallacies and contradictions enough to make the harry potter books green with envy.

Take one quick glance over the NL religion board and tell me who is harassing who. Take a quick count of the atheist-themed topics compared to the theist ones and you should have ur answer pretty quickly. Even in this topic it is explicitly clear from the get-go that this is a response to the atheists on this board who constantly 'harrass' the christians in here. Though we are not complaining . . . we will take your ridicule and everything else happily for the sake of Christ

@David

this isn't actually the worst I've heard. . .
one of those speakers on TBN was 'praying' and 'prophesying' how God was sending "Liposuction angels" to all the fat overweight people watching n listening. "Liposuction angels"? wonders shall never end

mazaje:
Thanks for your reply, hold strongly unto your faith if it makes you a better person and judge not.

Yezzur! will not. Thanks to you too for engaging with me, you're a pleasant person to talk to

omoge:
that thing when boiled can choke someone o

your throat must be wide enough to swallow not well chewed unripe boiled plaintain o

My thots exactly! Me I cannot eat boiled unripe plantain . . . I will most certainly choke on those stones.

mazaje:
really. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Yep
1 John 2:19
They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

You need to come and see what is going on in nigeria at the moment(i am presently in nigeria), Nigeria is dead because of religion and faith any thing that man needs and wants to do must be done by man himself not by prayer or faith, they never change anything. how can people be so religious and yet so morally bankrupt? how can people be so dependent on god and yet be so poor? it's completely unbelieveable,

Your concerns are on point sweetie, but you're mixing two seperate issues my brotha.
I'll be the first in line to say Africa as a whole is way behind in moral and social development, but this is not necessarily an indictment against Christianity. Like you said these people claim to be religious and love God YET by their very actions and lifestyle they contradict what the bible teaches - doesn't this prove that they are not really christians? Only a very small percentage of professing 'christians' fit the biblical definition of a christian - majority of the 'christian' leaders and other societal figures of authority are simply exploiting a means they have found is very productive in fleecing others for personal gain. They have taken the concept of God, corrupted it and used it for selfish purposes - this does not mean that God himself is false.
 
And the masses are not exempt from their own responsibility of using their heads. . . but too often poverty coulds the judgement of its victims - not that this is an excuse, but it is an explanation.

i don't know but if there is a god then he really does'nt answer prayers because if he does nigeria will never remain as it is, people spend hours praying for the country and its leaders and nothing happens while in europe people just tackle their problems head on with out believing and blaming god or the devil for what ever happens to them be it good or bad. people just take responsibility for their actions and they are by FAR better for it in every aspect be it morally, socially, traditionally etc.

You know I was just reading a couple of days ago in the book of Nehemiah how he was a man of prayer but also one of action. The bible does not advocate sitting on your behind and throwing hours of prayer up to heaven expecting God to come down and solve all your problems - anyone who does that obvoiusly does not know the word of God and I challenge them to show me verses that justify that laziness. The bible teaches us to pray AND act. I could have chose to be another religious figure head, sitting on my couch and praying for financial manna to pay my bills, but no I got up, went to school, and got a great job - along the way I prayed for God's direction and strength and that is how I accomplished it, by His grace and the brains and wisdom and physical strength He gave to me.

which is the true christianity? i told you before that my pastor once told me that catholics(followers of mary) and all the white garment wearing christains will end up in hell, he quoted so many bible passage to support his claims,

I spent the earliest years of my life in a white garment church, even growing up I saw many things that were against the word of God but will I make a blanket statment and say they're all going to hell? no. Because God cares about the heart, not outward appearances or actions. Now don't get me wrong, doing things contra-biblical is wrong, but if a person loves God and trusts in Jesus to save them, the bible teaches that that is the basic essential for salvation.

mormons believe they are the chosen ones, the jehova witness believe they are the true christains, deeper life believe that austerity is the only way of life that will take you to heaven, TD jakes, paula white, creflo dollar, olseen, david oyedepo, chris oyakilome etc all believe in prosperity gospel and faith, baptist, anglican, othordox etc( there was a time i visited an orthodox church in greece and ran way for my life becaue i could not understand the madness that was going on in there) so may christains are condeming and castigating the prosperity gospel preachers with valid evidence from the bible,  without mentioning that the prosperity gospel preachers get their inspirations from the bible too. the bible and the koran as i have come to understand supports everthing both good and evil. there are over 30, 000 sects in christianity most of them believeing that there sect is the only true sect and most fighting and castigating each other, why is that so? the only time christains come together is when people say that there is no god or when people question the bible and the divinity of jesus.

I commented on a thread once here on Nairaland where the whole point is that anyone at anytime can make the bible say whatever they want it to say, support whatever practice they want it to support. If you twist the scriptures long and hard enough, you can reach any conclusion your heart desires. BUT the bible is not greek or rocket science, if you take the time to hoenstly and genuinely read and understand it, you will find that all the lies and fluff around will fall away under its scrutiny. I hear you about the hundreds of sects and churches, that's why I don't belong to and exalt any sect above the others, I follow the bible alone.

this divisions have been in existance since the beggining of christianity, a good study of the history of the bible will show you how most of these divisions came about. do you know that there is a book called the  book of mary that was not included in the bible which clearly stated and supported the divinity of mary? i believe that that is where the catholics got their inspiration from, there are so many books that were not included in the bible and that has a lot to do with the bible and the religion as a man made ideology. there are so many versions of the bible each with a narrative to conform to the different ideas that each different sect holds. there is a documentary tittled banned from the bible part 1 and 2 i will like you to watch it, you will understand what i am talking about if you watch it. i later came to understand the islam was formed purely on the christain faith after watching the documentary , islam was an idea that was stolen from the jewish and christain religion.

It's common knowledge, especially in these forums that islam has no identity without christianity.
Yeah there are several other "books" floating around, dated to be within the same time period as the writings of the bible, why don't we consider them scripture? because they were not included in the bible. For me it is very simple: anything God wanted us to have, it is what we have in the bible - and I know this by faith (there's that word again)

if your faith makes you a better person then please hold tightly unto it, i have never advised any body to leave his/her faith infact i don't care, i live in a godless society and the people there are a 100 times BETTER than all the god(jesus and mohammed) foot soldiers that we have here in nigeria who are full of evil. i don't believe in god and i believe i am better for it. i don't fear and posses any guilt anymore(i live freely), i don't blame non existent and imaginary beings like satan, angels or god for my successes and failures in life, i take charge and hold myself responsible for everything i do weather good or evil and i am better for it. when i offend people i ask their forgiveness and i don't pray to any imaginary god to forgive me.

And I respect you immensely for that. At the same time I could not disagree more with you. You once believed until you came across certain philosophies and thoughts that caused you to cease, what was it that made you believe in the first place? do you think it was merely tradition and your upbringing? no my dear, it was something more, something inherent, something that unfortunately I cannot show or prove but hope that you will introspect, and re-discover the knowledge inside you. You're a cool dude Maz, I can feel and understand where you're coming from, and I hope and pray you come around to Christ.

all you need to do as a christain is believe in his divinity, resurrection and his sonship, live according to his principles and you will make heaven to be with him for enternity. ok what about some one living in sri lanka that has never heard about jesus? i have meet about 10 of such people in thailand who do not even know that there is a religion called christianity they have never heard about anything like jesus or mohammed(they were villagers that came to bangkok for medical treatement we spoke through a friend who translated for us ), they were shocked when i told them that i wasn't a buddist, what will happen to them when they die? will they rot in hell? what about all the moslems that have a distorted view of the bible because the koran told them not to believe in it and take it as a fallacy? will they also rot in hell for something that was'nt their choosing and decision? they were indoctrinated since when they were kids and islam is all they know. what about all the killings, lootings and enslavement that god ordered the jews to carry out on the non jews in the old testament simply because they did not believe in him (despite the fact that he gave them free will to choose) to the glory of his name in the old testament? will a good, merciful and loving good give out such an order? if moses, david, solomon, etc were alive today will they be seen as prophets or war criminals? why are people supposed to look up to these drunks, womanisers, and war criminals for spiritual guidence and moral support?

Like I had mentioned before, the bible teaches that God is just and righteous, He will not simply throw into hell someone who never heard of Jesus, who never had the opportunity to accept or reject Him, and I believe in this 'justness' of God that He will righteously deal accordingly with those people in a fair manner. I believe this because the bible says so, I believe it by faith.
  I guess we always come back to that point - faith - it is really where everything comes together or falls apart.

mazaje:
I was raised a muslim, i later converted to christianity back when i was in naija came to europe and realised that both religions in fact all religions were just meant to keep people's mind and soul intact. nothing more nothing less. most of the people here in europe are athiest and i was really suprised when i first came and discovered, the people here don't believe in any god or gods but as far as i am concerned they are a 100 times better and morally upright than africans who know nothing but god and religion, a little personal study on the history of christianity and islam(which were the only religions i knew) and religion anthropology which i did in rome made me to question my beliefs and when i did i realised that they were all man made, people use god and religion to help them answer the difficult questions in life and the pesky questions of what happens to a man when he dies, the origin of life etc. a good history of the bible and the quran made me to believe that all religions were really created out of the fear of the many and the cleverness of a few.

Thanks for sharing that. You know the bible says somewhere I don't recall now that if you leave christianity it basically means you were never really part of it.

  I know what you mean about this side of the globe being more inclined towards atheism. But the fact that they're more advanced make them right? not necesarily my dear. Truth be told Africa is extremely religious but yet we are held hostage to mountains of problems, why hasn't our spirituality led to our development? Maybe its because a lot of people only profess to know and follow God but deep inside they have not changed. They still hold on to their hollow and deceptive and greedy tendencies.
  This does not automatically negate the authenticity of christianity, just because many of its so-called followers are really liars and do not genuinely follow the way of God, does not mean that God doesn't exist.

  I say this because I've taken many courses n lectures that have taught against God and religion but instead of turning me away from God, they have only served to further solidify my belief that all this anti-God sentiment is really only a way of 'searing' off that nagging little voice in their hearts and in their heads about the truth that is God.

  I know there are many many questions about the world and the bible that remain unanswered, and might prob never be answered until this world passes away. But the peace and assurance that God offers through Christ is that we don't need to know the answers to everything, but instead to trust that God is just and faithful and always does what is best for those who love and hope in Him.

Mazaje,
sorry for the abrupt departure from our convo, I left on vacation n just got back . But I see others have picked up the slack and enagaged (though meeting little success) with you .
I hear all that you say and all your questions, but what I'm curious about is (and I hope you will indulge my curiosity) what made you leave christianity since you say your life was once centered around the bible?

mazaje:
I like your explanation, but you know religious arguments and discussions are like two people talking to each other in two different languages.

Unfortunately you are soo right right about this    I wish we "spoke" the same language.

we see things differently. your entire live revolves around the bible mine does'nt(mine used to)

What happened now? 
 

every body claims he/she believe in god, there have been many goods some have died away and some are still living because people still believe in them. but which is it? allah? buddah, shirsna, jehova, which? they can't all be true and i know they are all non existent. just by the way the nature they presented them selves to their followers.

Indeed they can't.
Having been nuthin other than a christian, I can't personally say what its like to be in the islam camp vs the Christian camp. I would use the testimonies of former moslems but there are also testimonies of former 'christians' claiming the same thing.
   But I can say though that the bible has several prophecies in the O.T. which were fulfilled by Jesus in the NT, hundreds of years apart. That alone lends a world of credibility to the God and writers of the bible.

mazaje:
you know little about evolution and i would'nt want go into that line of argument with you.

Sweetie I'm a scientist, I've been down that road of evolution and even going into the intricacies of proposed theories, they are still just that, theories. Regardless of how scientists have said it may have happened, to me, the complexities are still too incredible to have been as a result of chance.

but your explanation has nothing to do with the evidence of good.

We're weren't talking about the evidence of good, the verse says "his eternal power and divine nature" and I was just explaining that.
  About evidence of good we can get into that later as it's a whole nother issue that needs time and in-depth discussion.

the fact that there is an intricate cosmos has nothing to do with the evidence of a god.

and how do you suppose this "intricate cosmos" came to be? by accident? It has everything to do with the existence of God my friend, it in itself is evidence.

 

god to me means the laws of nature(gravity,seasons etc).

You are simply substituting my friend. you seem unwilling to bring yourself to say that these "laws of nature" are as a result of the handiwork of God. Why call those things god?

simple not some white/arab man with long beard sitting up in heaven and waiting for the end of time to destroy in eternity all those that do not believe in his son jesus or his prophet mohhamed.

You may have watched one too many movies about God because He is not a what you think He is, not some haggard, wimpy, dude waiting to unleash his fury on the world. He is not vengeful and indifferent towards man. Infact the bible says that "God is unwilling that any should perish but that all should be saved."
  And what evidence do I have the God of the bible is real? I'll say it again - faith. I cannot prove God to anyone because that's not the way He works. He reveals Himself to each person when then genuinely and honestly seek Him. So no matter how many times you ask whether na alla or Jehovah, no one can tell you, only God can reveal Himself to you.

Pastor AIO:
What, so if you saw a river flowing up hill you would believe in miracles. I don't think so, o sussicornian. I suspect (from what little I know of you) that you will first do some tests on a sample of the river water and then probably do some scientific tests on the hill itself. And if you come up with nothing you will invite other scientists to come and have a crack at explaining it. And if they can't come up with an explanation you will shelve the whole project as one of life's great unanswered questions still awaiting explanation. Pretty much like how the Egyptians built the pyramids still awaits explanation and how the early britons built stone henge still awaits explanation. Scientists are pretty damn good at pretending that things that they can't explain don't exist.

ROTFLOL . . . then stands up and gives a *Standing ovation*
AIO, this is by far the best comment/rebutt I've read from you! and you could not have said it any better!

Gamine:
I was born into a MUSLIM HOME.

i have my MUSLIM NAME!

There is only one Truth and that is JESUS.

go figure, when you have closed your mind to certain things how would you learn

wow Gamine PRAISE GOD for you!

4 Play:
http://thepmnews.com/2008/08/12/okereke-raises-n100m-at-obama-dinner
Prof. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and Chairman, ‘Africans for Obama 2008’, yesterday, raised over N100 million at an expensive dinner for Senator Barack Obama, the US Democratic presidential candidate, at the MUSON centre, Onikan, Lagos.

If only these affluent fools had the same kind of 'support' for their own people

If this is the way our "leaders" think then it's a small wonder why Nigeria is in a sad state of affairs

Anyways . . .
make I go find the contact info for who'll be distributing this fund to "africans in america that can vote" since I qualify . . . but on second thot, somebody(s) will probably chop this money before it even leaves the country

mazaje:
what are the things that are available to prove his existance? can you list them for us?

Romans 1:
19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
The verse is saying that nature itself, the world we see around us is proof of God's existence and greatness.

  I was walking in from the parking lot to my work building and I looked at the lush green grass, the perfectly crafted blade, the fine details on each piece, the deep shade of green, millions of them forming a lavish carpet across the lawn and I thot to myself - how can anyone say this happened by accident?by 'evolution'?
The complexity and intricate design of a simple blade of grass is infinite proof - to me- that there is a God who designed and created the world. It is not just by faith, it is the logical conclusion, that something complex, designed with incredible detail could not have just happened by accident.

  You cannot look at your laptop and say it evolved, there's too much detail, too much perfect 'coincidences' that all work together to run this machine to say it was an accident. Look at the human body, it is incredible the way it works, from every cell to every tissue, every organ, all the billions of things that happen in the body every day to keep it alive . . . it could not have come together by accident, it would be illogical to say that.

manmustwac:
@JeSoul
me reading a book is not going to convince me that there is a God. {thats not what i call physical evidence} I need to meet him in the flesh. Come on mehn call his cell number and tell him to come down from Heaven and pay me a visit. Seeing is believing

You didn't get me. The "physical evidence" you are asking for is already all around you
Romans 1:
19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

God has shown humankind everything there is to prove His existence, the problem is that we choose to consistently ignore and deny it.

bioye:
How well do faith and reason mix? Hardly. A religious person has to use reason while studying in school and while seeking her daily bread but she has to suspend it when it comes to religion when things start looking illogical.

I see your point but I wouldn't necessarily say faith and reason are mutually exclusive. There are many things in the bible that require judicious and diligent study, reasoning in order to understand (with the help of the Holyspirit of course). Faith takes over when our minds meet an issue that is beyond our grasp or control or reasoning or "illogical" as you put it.

Then there comes to issue of free will. Do we make our choices or are they predetermined by God?

We have free-will and so we make our own choices. At the same time God also causes certain things to happen/not happen in our lives.

Can we change things through action, prayer?

If you believe the bible, yes.

Interestingly, I believe Faith is very useful and has its place in society. But are the current approaches the best? Why is the majority of Europeans atheist while America and Africa revel in Religious extravaganza? Is something wrong with the Europeans? Do they know too much?

It's obvious certain regions of the world are more religious than others. I attribute the "atheistic" tendencies of the west to its arrogance, based on the fact they've developed so much, they've so to speak 'grown' out of religion. They have become so 'intelligent' that they have cut-off the basic, inherent knowledge of God within every human being. 
While Africa still remains under-developed, she will cling to the only thing she's ever known - religion, but oftentime she does it for all the wrong reasons. Instead of astriving and aiming to better herself, she riles in a terrible state of lowliness, expecting God to rescue her without her having to work hard for it.

Where do I stand? Do I believe in God? Christ? Religion? I seek understanding without offending anyone. But I still can't find that point where Faith and Reason can hold a productive argument. Somebody help me.

You wouldn't be the first one to struggle with faith and reason . . . and you won't be the last. I still do think though that all things being equal, faith and reason can co-exist. However certain issues cannot be thought or reasoned out and must be left to faith.

Confession time:
I once sneaked in Chinese food with a friend of mine . . . lol he stuff the styrofoam take-aways into his super baggy jeans. Chinese food and movies go very well together! I sneak in water/candy somtimes.

It is wrong sha . . . but at $4.50 for a bottle of water and $6.00 for a hotdog I ain't go hate on anyone who does it.

choongtin:
how can anyone say amercian gangster is crap

are u dizzy??

thats a good movie maan,

onyinye2:
That person obviously isn't into movies with wonderful plots and actors.

Plots? actors? please! there was nuthin particularly fascinating about it. So he rose to fame and became a feared ruthless dealer, got arrested, got released . . . end of story
please American Gangsta was a waste of time and money, na so so blood and kill and sex, nothing intellectually stimulating.
I expected more maybe that's why I was so disappointed.

onyinye2:
DAYUM!!! A movie ticket cost that much up North?

It's $10.50 here in beantown . . . they upped the price of a bottle of water to $4.50 . . . since then I make my boyfriend carry a bottle of water in his back pocket or jacket  

Dark Knight watever, PLEASE, Titanic is WAY better.
You can only watch Dark Knight once, then it loses its "zing".
While you can watch Titanic, numerous times and still pray the ship doesn't sink.

For where? I am buying the dvd soon as its available and watching it 100 times! The best movie of 08!

KarmaMod:
Meh. Overrated nonsense and Dark Knight is about to destroy Titanic's record. THANK GOD

If Kate Winslet didnt have such a big ass, she and Leo would have been able to share thank plank of wood. If anything she's a murderer
Abegi jare. romantic fluff.

ROTFLOL Gosh you just made me choke on my bar of snickers!

madamkoko:
Please let me know the last time these gods helped the poor ?

And why does it pepper you so much what other people are doing or not doing? why don't you focus on yourself and think about what YOU can do to make Naija better instead of expelling all this energy on others faults?

  If 1 out of 2 Nigerians did this I bet you things would be much better at home.

onyinye2:
I don't know about you but that is one of my favorite movies,next to John Q.

I give you props on John Q . . .

The end of the movie after he left the court and he son was flexing his muscles at him as he was driven away in the police car - beautiful!

RichyBlacK:
A true movie buff loves movies for too many reasons to walk out on any! However, movie buffs screen movies, to weed out the chaff before taking that glorious step of buying the ticket.

You don't make those kinds of mistakes - that's left to the starters to make.

What movie buffs do before going to the I-MAX:
1. Read the reviews from local papers or online joints
2. Actually see a preview of the movie (seeing the previews should be part of your DNA already!)
3. Call up your movie homies and ask them what they think of the movie (if two or more say "let's just wait for the DVD", just may consider fashieing the movie)
4. Choose a date to see it (opening night is preferable)
5. Buy tickets early for those gynomous blockbusters (The Lord of the Rings, Iron-Man, Spider-Man, The Dark Night, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.). Consider buying it online also.
6. Arrive early, support the local economy by buying expensive pop-corns and soda.
7. Get a seat, relax and savor the beauty of many hours of hard work by countless many artists, software developers, costume experts, sound engineers, etc. etc. etc.

Why would any self-respecting movie buff walk out on a movie?

what is all this tori & drama just to watch a simple movie?

onyinye2:
WHAT!!!!!!!!!
Napoleon Dynamite is CLASSIC!!!
I love that movie to the CORE.
I have watched a count of 57 times.
It is so HILARIOUS.
Especially the part with the tater tots. LMAO!

yeah classicly horrible! Some movies are stupid and come off funny, but this was plain stupid. Sorry.

If only we spent half then time and energy we use in criticizing these men doing something to help others or ourselves . . . Nigeria would be a different place.

Gamine:
hahaha

one mans pot of Banga na another man's. . . . .

hehe indeed my sista

Queenisha:
I've never walked out on a movie but one movie I remember that had a scene that took way too long was Titanic drowning scene
I almost walked out
I couldn't wait for the loverboy to drown so we could head on home for  some jollof rice.

wow you are cold girl, cold . . .

jack . . . jack . . . I'll never let go . . .