₦airaland Forum

does pastor Chris pray to Jesus Christ? does pastor Chris love Jesus?

Deep Sight:
[size=30pt]I happen to be dating a solid christian[/size]. For the peace and progress of the relationship I have since decided to place my objections in my pocket. Faith is what it is; and nobody can claim that it does not have its positive aspects. It does.

u and ur solid Christian, are u both involved se.xually? The obvious answer is Yes. This is Fornication. Since no true Christian fornicates . . . , would I be wrong to highlight ur unfounded and ridiculous generalisation of Christians. This is part of the dogma u have continued to brandish as wisdom.

Not all church-goers or bible-readers are Christians.

adegoketes:
speaking in tongues is a necessity for every christian because it's an evidence of the in filling of the Holy Spirit,. That is , you cannot receive the Holy Spirit and not speak in tongues. And we know that it's hard for a christian to live HOLY without the Holy Spirit for the Holy Spirit is the spirit of Holiness, and without holiness no one can see the LORD. (1 sam2:9) " It's not by power, nor by might but by my spirit", saith the LORD.

where did u get all these from?

mazaje:
Sure i understood what he was saying. . . .

ok.

What is this? That is why I have stated so many times that religion inhibits a person's moral growth and development. . . . .Religious based ethics or moral is always based on the "us versus them" or "We versus the world" idea as I aforementioned. The religious moral or ethics is always predicated on this very shaky platform. . . .Religion is actually stunting people's ability to fully understand real ethics by giving people false ideas about ethics. Aside from those kinds of meta-ethical issues, religion also gives people horrible normative ethical principles on issues ranging from freedom of speech, women's rights, child indoctrination and abuse, and gay rights which is the topic of discussion here. . .Secular ethics remain the BEST because it is comprehensive and tries to involve every body, The best societies and the most ethical societies in the world today are secular societies NOT religious societies. . . .America and Europe will not be as developed as much as they have if their societies had not thrown away the religious laws that used to guide them and developed secular laws. . .American and Europe will still have been like Africa or the Middle east if their laws were based on 'spiritual abominations". . . . .

Just like Ola, u are also entitled to ur opinion. but I do have a problem with ur opinion when u tend to pass them off as facts.

ehmn . . . .FYI the Christian ideology has never proposed a Christian state (at least not in this dispensation) so how did we come to the religious state versus non-religious state issue. also anti-religion has NEVER been the basis of development in ANY society. If Obama had openly called himself an atheist or muslim, would he have been elected president? Nope. This singular fact shows u that regardless of the societal and spiritual breakdown of Godly values, the worship and reverence of God is still held in high on the morality scale.

ehmn . . . And also Europe and America did not develop because they dumped the bible, (as a matter of fact they embraced Christianity long before Africa) but they developed because their leaders had foresight and selflessly pursued their visions which is a far cry from what is happening in Africa and the rest of the 3rd world.

thirdly . . , What u consider as civilisation is what many of us call spiritual abominations. can u at least respect our opinion, even though u have no logical ground to oppose such?

They have moved forward ethically since they have now fully accepted gays as part of them. . . .They have moved on to the extent that they now have a black man as their president something that could not have happened 200 years ago. . . .Do you really believe that a heterosexual can just become gay over night? Homosexualism exists even in the animal kingdom and it is well known, for example the prophet of Islam(Mohammed) says that any sheep or animal that is found engaging in homosexual activity should be killed and its meat is not supposed to be eaten. . . . .Do animals chose to be gays?. . . . . .

1. allowing a black man to be president is not a case of "moving on" how about giving back the original indians who own america, their rightful land.
The right to peacefully coexist cannot be expressed in the same light as the right to be an homosexual. Blacks and whites are humans and there is as such no natural, secular or religious reason for any form of segregation between them. That it took so long for a black man to be US president has no reflection on the US society but on the ability of the black man to have and follow a vision. there are many African-black states, how many of them work with a vision?

Homosexuality is NOT natural. and is devoid of secular, natural and religious laws and beliefs. while homos have every right to be who and what they are, they remain an abomination and Barack Obama's endorsement of this despicable act makes him an Anti-Christ.

mazaje:
SHUT UP!!. . . .The developed world has moved past your stone aged morality that is predicated on the "us versus them" mentality, that is why a black man has been able to become the president of the USA. . . .I doubt if a black man can ever become the president of the USA if most Americans reason like you. . . . We are not living in the biblical times where Yahweh instructs people to stone to death their disobedient children, stone to death people that have intimacy out of wedlock or with the member of the same sex or give injuctions on how people are to enslave each other or sacrifice people unto him.  . . . .The world has moved on and in places like America your religious beliefs are in their waning days. . . . .Deal with that and stop whining over nothing. . . .

As for the myth of the anti christ read the bible again,the name "antichrist" is only found in 1 John 2:18, and even in the bible it says that the anti christs had already come, no?. . . .

1 John 4:1-3 says, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world."

This passage was written over a thousand years old and according to the passage the anti christ or his spirit was already in the world. . . . .What the passage is simply saying is that people that go around saying that Jesus did not come into the world in the flesh(as a man) are the anti Christ, Even back in the days there were so many people that do not agree that Jesus came into the world as the christians claim, so the letter was directed towards those making such claims and the author tagged them as the anti christ. . .But as usual you end of day enthusiast have taken the passage out of context and gave it a meaning and life of its own to feed your delusions. . . .

you need to stop getting bitter and go for some bible lessons

1. Ola did not call Obama the BEAST, he only called him Anti-Christ. Obama remains an anti-Christ just like u (Mazaje) are. The bible clearly defines an anti-Christ, and just like Obama u (mazaje) also fit the description. The literal meaning of anti-Christ remains one against Christ. would Christ have encouraged homosexuality?

2. what does the allowance of spiritual abominations have to do with civilisation? u talk of America moving forward, how does that have to do with homosexuality? is homo a natural incidence? does it tally with the secular laws of nature?

Martian:
I wish I could meet you to so I can see what IGNORANCE looks like.

I wish I could also meet you to see what FOLLY and disdain for knowledge looks like.

where is mazaje?

so what happens if any one start spilling out heresies?

mazaje:
What is it with prayers and God's will,  What is it with God being mysterious? It seems people just love bandying things that makes no sense even to themselves. The God's will hypothesis and God work's in a mysterious ways hypothesis are examples of such. . . .I will begin with the God's will hypothesis . . . . .  Some thing personal just happened that has me wondering why people make endless excuses to themselves instead of just accepting reality as it is. . . .You hear answers like "Never mind how God responds to your prayer. May his will always be done".

The will of God is the plan of God. The will of God can be divided into two
A. God's general plan for all His creatures: that  includes the many "universes" in existence.
B. God's plan for our individual life as believers or non-believers.

Plan A is generally depicted in the bible as End-time prophecies. There is however a "problem" with plan B, because man also has freewill. God states emphatically His plans for us (individually) its a good and perfect plan to give us a hope, to give us abundant life, to make us prosper in all of our endeavours i.e mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally. While the will of God (B) is in existence, it is also by the ordinance of God subject to man's freewill. It was by free will that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and saw the wrath of God, it was by freewill that persons in the generation of Noah refused to enter the ark or believe his gospel for repentance. It was by freewill that people chose to believe John the Baptist and get baptised by him.

The plan B of God for all men is to come to the saving knowledge of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. He however gave us the liberty or freewill to come or not to.
Can one know the will of God concerning ones life? Yes we can. through the scriptures and revelations from God.
In my own case, I know the will of God concerning my life which has been revealed to me through several visions and revelations. I do not necessarily agree with the plan of God for me, but as an humble and obedient servant, I choose to let the will of God on me prevail. Just like Christ did and gave up His life at the will of the Father.

Now let us talk about ur understanding of the will of God. You were referring to personal incidences that happens in a persons life. First mazaje, u need to know that Christianity is not about going to church but a relationship with the Father. And in this relationship God ALONE is the BOSS. Many self-confessed Christians attempt to go into a relationship with God on an equal footing with God or as an adviser to God. This is heresy. For we know that faith is what makes a man pleasing in the sight of God. Faith is synonymous to obedience, because by obeying the impossible commandments of an invisible God, u have exercised hope and faith in the immortal. faith is obedience. . . and whosoever u obey is ur boss.

If that is the case then why bother praying at all? If people believe that their God is going to do whatever he's going to do, what's the point? Are people praying to their God so that he might change his mind about his already perfect will with regards to their lives since they believe their God has a plan and exerts his will with regards to everything about them?. . . .

Mazaje, I have repeatedly told u that u dont understand the meaning of prayer. Prayer is not an incantation u make to a magician for a request. Prayer is an incessant communication between two persons in a relationship (man and God). Prayer is a connection line between these two persons.

Take for instance, I as a person, I do pray a lot. but what are the things I pray for? 90% of the time I just worship, praise and meditate in His words. 9% of the time I pray for others, and the remaining 1% I pray for myself. Infact I hardly pray for myself or make any demands or requests for myself from God unless He asks me to.
why do I not make requests from God? Its not that I dont have personal impending challenges, I do have serious challenges, but whenever I look around I see God working through this challenges to establish me as the general He has called into His kingdom. I know for a fact that no single event happens in my life outside of the knowledge of God, So I always have a hard time making a request to God.

It is in lieu of the above that I realised that the most effective prayer a person can ever utter to God is the Lords prayer that Jesus taught His disciples.

What is this elusive will of God that people keep banying around? Well since God's will isn't any body's concern, or at least, unknowable to any body. Why pray to God since he has his will that people believe is perfect and he alone can has the right to do what ever he wants with his will? Are people trying to change the will of an already perfect God when they pray to their God for help or protection against danger or a good fortune for example?. . . . .

ur understanding of prayer is flawed. Regardless of the will of God, prayer along with faith and holiness are  the oil the lubricates our relationship with God.

The next one is that God is mysterious. . . . .I love it when people pull out the "unknowable" card. You hear it all the time as a response when they are being questioned and cannot produce a valid retort. Its always used to explain absurdity away. . . .

Atheist: If X is true, then how can God exist? Or if Y is true then why does God not do Z since according to you God is all good, all loving, all powerful, all knowing etc
Theist: God works in mysterious ways! God is unknowable!
Atheist: But you just offered me a 1500 page book which you say is the word of God in addition to 2 pamphlets, and a 5-disc DVD set with "everything I need to know about God!" You sure claim to know quite a bit about this "unknowable" being.
Theist: God is mysterious and I hope he opens your eyes to the truth so that you get to know him through his words.
Atheist: You just said God is mysterious and unknowable now you are telling me that I can know God through his word.
Theist: Yes God is mysterious and unknowable but you can know him through his words, read the books and watch the DVD to know God's will and plan for us.
Atheist: God is mysterious and unknowable but I can get to know him through is words eh . . . .Runs away laughing at the mental gymnastics and confusion. . . . . .

Lets use real life instances and stop using impracticable illustrations. what is X? and what is Y? and what is Z?

nuclearboy:
@Noetic:

Been awhile bro. How how? Meanwhile, the question you ought have asked is when God came down to complain to OP for his refusal to recognise/worship/acknowledge Him.

One would think OP (being miffed at this vaingloriousness) ought totally avoid any mention or discussion of "mr yahweh" - on the contrary, he goes around hyperventilating at the thought that "vaingloriousness" hasn't seen him fit enough to count him worthy of ANY mention/regard/consideration whatsoever and so throws insults in hopes of being acknowledged.

How "edifying" to be ignored by your greatest antagonist  We should considdr this thread title being changed to "I am bothered God does not seem to know I exist and it pains me, body, soul and spirit"

I am cool bro. I have been viewing posts and not really posting lately.

The OP is just a confused dude. he/she refuses to get involved in debates to highlight and address his/her concern in xtian issues. Any time his/her queries are answered, he/she runs away with her large tails behind her. The OP is an example of those who loves criticism but absconds from reasoning.

Deep Sight:
It is absolutely inconceivable that an entity said to exist transcendentally above all time and space, an eternal cosmic mind of omniscient powers - could be bothered about what humans chose to believe regarding IT.

We praise God becaus of IT's awesomeness. Not because God is bothered to be praised.

Another fallacy. Deepsight, whats the point u are trying to make here?

Mudley313:
https://i547.photobucket.com/albums/hh473/Redelephant47_bucket/Coleman_wtf.gif

u ever heard of a hypothetical question?

now i have to be bitter or sumone i loved have to die of an incurable disease because i dont believe in jewish myths. i laugh in guapanese. you christians really are one crazy bunch

how else would one explain ur disdain for knowledge and healthy debates? I laugh in korean

Mazaje and his christian bashing . . . . , .everything u have raised in ur cartoons have been addressed on this forum . . . . is it not contradictory that mazaje has chosen to abandon knowledge and stick to sentiments and blasphemy?

Mudley313:
i'm talkin bout the christian god; mr. yahweh himself. . .the egotistical jewish dude upstairs who seem so obsessed with the vainglorious act of being lavished with praise and worship more than anything else

Is this not a contradiction?

on one hand u question God's reaction to the fact that some peeps like u deny His existence . . . on the other hand u talk His being praised and worshipped. are u confused?
whats ur position? is it that He exists or not? sounds like u are very bitter and as such can hardly construct an objective argument here.

So tell me what happened . . , did someone u loved die of an incurable disease or what?

@ OP

this obsession with God is fast making u a nuisance. why are u so obsessed with someone u claim does not exist?

Mudley313:
If you created an entire universe, and due to you not physically being there, would you be bothered if they didnt believe you exist?

would you damn them all to hell?

smh, at god with a bigger ego than Kanye. There are humans that are more "godly" than god himself, you know, ones who are void of ego, forgiving, caring, compassionate, etc.

Angels that knew n lived wit the bible god denied him. Adam and eve whom he personally use to speak wit denied him. The damn dinosaures probably denied him. Hell, even when he himself came as his own son he denied himself on the cross, and asked himself why have you/i foresaken me/myself.

last time I checked billions of people living on this planet believe in a creator God . . . , so what are u talking about?

stop categorizing all jews together. The first generation of Christians were jews . . .and there are many jewish Christians today.

thehomer:
@OP

Well what are the signs? Please point them out.

are they not obvious? do u have a bible?

mazaje:
Same old drivel. . . .Noetic's evidence to show that God is good and loving is WHAT?. . .Does noetic loves his family? Will he allow any of them to loose his/her ability to work he has has the chance to prevent it?. . . .When then does noetic's God who is alleged to be all loving allow his "Children" loose their ability to walk?. . . .Where is the love?. . . . .

I am sure I stated explicitly that my opinion is a function of personal experience. why EXACTLY is mazaje ignoring this point?

1. You are simply spiritually ignorant. Affliction is part of the way a believer is strengthened. Abraham is called the father of faith, yet for 25 years he had no child of his own. Job was a man considered righteous before God, yet he was afflicted and lost all he ever had. David was a man after God's heart, yet he lived as a destitute in the wilderness for 3 years . . . .and many others.

Affliction is part of the christian faith to grow and get strengthened, . . .the fact that u are ignorant of this submission is no fault of mine but yours.

2. attempting to quantify God's love is just ridiculous. how about getting to know God first.

Mazaje did not even state if any God is good or not, all i said is that I find it perplexing when people worship and praise a God they already admitted is responbile for their misfortune.

Please spare me this crap. Is this the first time u are making such assertions about God. . . there are over 100 threads where u have asserted such. . . . the question is where is the EVIDENCE to back up any of ur assertions?
.

Your eternal years hyopthesis REMIANS a FANTASY that has no basis in reality. . . .Your evidence to show that there is any part of human consciousness that survives bodily death is what? I have been asking you this question for the past 2 years now, but you keep running around chasing shadows. . . .If even if we are to accept you fantasy as real, what has eternal life got to do with lack of protection in the here and now?. . .Why do christians pray for protection in the here and now, if the here and now is not important?. . . .Why do you pray for protection?

I laugh in japanese.

1. on what basis do u dismiss spiritual experiences. on what basis do u dismiss testimonies of those who have seen heaven and hell from all over the world.

2. on what basis do u dismiss millions of verified personal miracles all over the world? on what basis do u dismiss the promises of God? where is ur evidence that eternity does not exist?

3. You dont know God, u dont know the meaning of prayers, u dont know what it means to walk with God, u dont know how prayer works, u have no evidence to prove the non-existence of God or eternity.
My conclusion is simple . . , u are NOT qualified to pass a meaningful opinion on spiritual matters. . . . .u are spiritually dead.

[b]The accident is of no use to me [/b]because it causes unnecessary hardsip and pains, the family will loose a lot of resources as a result. I will protect him and not allow him go through such pains if i had the chance, every human will do the same to his friend whom he loves, But God always gets the speacial pleading. . . . .Very telling since God is imaginary. . . . .

and how did u come into this equation?

Give which god glory? he is about to be taken to germany where the doctors will try their best and see if they can make him walk over time. . .If he gets to walk again, it will be as a result of the german doctor's effort not some imaginary deity. . . .

who do u hold responsible if the doctors fail, and he dies in surgery?

Fear and love in the same sentence is that an oxymoron?. . . .Fear god and love him

did u actually read what I wrote?

So when you talk to your god before you travel its not prayers eh?. . . . . . . .Keep on chasing shadows. . . .

No thats not prayers . . . .God is not an alaadin jinn u can make magical wishes to. The sons of God are assured of His promises, they dont make incantations before they travel.

toba:
I do not think anyone can talk about the characteristics of someone exhaustively when he or she affirms that the same someone doesn't exist, except only if he/she knows the person very well and ignorantly pretends of no knowledge of same.

I haven't met seun of NL neither i have spoken to him, How can i speak about seun's character if hes wicked or a gentle man?

It is refreshing to see that no one subscribes to mazajes ill-informed fantasies. I still do not understand how any one can rationally create an opinion of a person they do not know. . . .its even more pitiable when such opinion is presented as fact.

Question: why is the above post so hard for mazaje to understand? why cant mazaje comprehend that it is not acceptable to construct an opinion of a person without knowing him/her?
Answer: Mazaje loves denial and delusion. This is not rocket science . . . .or is it?

I dont think science have ruled out the possibility of the above. Man is always a replica of the orientation he has/had. For man to be an intelligent designer to design an airplane, land cars, water boats etc means that the intelligence might have been deposited into man by someone more intelligent that man as a great creator that man cannot see

Dont say the above to mazaje . . . , he believes man is too "perfect" to be created . , .I wonder what intelligence drives his argument.

mazaje:
The fact is that people don't really understand the God hypothesis(You inclusive) as I aforementioned when it comes to God people just create reality according to their own thoughts, feelings, and actions.

This is leading no where, as u keep throwing up all forms of irrelevant sentiments. The points are simple.
A. Noetic knows God, and as such is capable of talking about God . . . . .Noetic says God is good and loving . , . .his opinion is based on experience and well established FACTS.

B. Mazaje does NOT know God, and is as such NOT capable of making an honest,objective, informative opinion about God. . . . . .Mazaje states that God is not good. This is simply character assassination. . . . .u are impugning the character of a person u do not know. To find out who God is, walk with Him.

It is your own understanding of love that is ridiculous and crazy. . . . .There is a belief men invented which they call eternal and endless life, A baseless belief that has no evidence for it at all, a fantasy and make belief that has no basis at all in reality. Love is love not your twisted idea of love, If you love your child you will protect him. You will not allow your friend to have such an accident if you have the ability to stop it, what more of an all loving and powerful God that can do all things. . . .It makes sense only if such a God is imaginary, which actually is the case . . .

.

blah blah blah . . . .

u criticised my understanding of love, but u are unable to come up with something insightful as an alternative. How long would a man live on earth, at most 130 years . . . .can u compare 130 years to over 1,000,000 eternal years? so why then do u come up ill-informed conception about the love of God? or do u have any scientific evidence that suggests that there is no eternal life?

That is what amazes me more. I said that I just cannot fathom how people can praise and worship some deity who by their own admission caused the sickness and sorrow they are praying against, How you guys do this i don't know. So your God allowed him to have an accident and loss his ability to ever walk again because he wants him to grow spritual?. . . . .Hmmmm interesting. . . .

why was the accident in ur self-elevating opinion an "unnecessary accident" since u seem to be more intelligent than God?

Will you allow God to tell people he loves them himself?. . . .Why is it that it is always people like you that are ALWAYS propagating this old mantra. Do you love your family? Will you allow any of them to have an accident and lose his/her ability to walk if you had the ability to stop the accident?. . .Love is love not the twisted idea of love you are trying to portray here. . . .

he has . , . , the only problem is that u are spiritually deaf and dumb and cannot perceive what He is saying . . . .so I say to u, .the LORD loves u.

He might be unable to ever walk again so how has God delivered him through his afflictions? Sometimes you really need to read what you are posting. . . .

If tommorow ur friend gets up to walk against all expectations . . , . .would u give God the glory?

I don't even remember God in anything I do, I just wanted to understand why people believe that their God loves them when there is no evidence for that at all. . . .So God was the one that was saving my friend all these while untill now eh?. . . .Hmmmm intresting. . . .

but u do remember Him when the going gets tough . . .right?

There is no evidence to also suggest that God does not love them. As a matter of fact God does. It is unintelligent and unspeakable to suggest that we intelligent beings are without a creator, and by communion with our creator we know that He loves us.

It is only religion and its very twisted ideas and way of though that will tell you that fear is a good thing . . . . Fear God, fear this, fear that. . .Its always about fear. . . .

Typical ignorance. The fear of God does not connote the lay man's fear of a lion. The fear of God is to love God and to love God is to do His will. Simple.

Learn to read I said he might have more faith than you, How did you come to the conclusion that he does not have faith? Is it only noetic that has faith? The way you sit behind the computer throwing away LAME and ridiculous apologies is really despicable. . . .

blah blah blah

What is prayer noetic. . . . .

Prayer is an incessant communication between man and God. Prayer is the evidence of a steadfast relationship between man and God. It is not a one-off event that happens when a man is hopeless . . . .u cannot start praying in fear or in the face of difficulty and expect a result. Prayer is to continually be in the spiritual presence of God.

Prayer is NOT an incantation u make before travelling . . . . .it is a product of faith and not fear.

mazaje:
Don't you think that the God loving people mantra has been over beating? I was not even talking about my self but about my friend who believes in a God that will guide and protect him like a father will protect his Children. . .How does your God love people? By failing to protect those that ALWAYS believe that he is always there to guide and protect them?. . .Will you allow your son whom you love to be involved in an unnecessary accident that might result in him not having the ability to ever walk again? Two days before the accident my friend was sing" On Christ the solid rock I stand all other rock is sinking sand" It only makes sense if this solid rock of his is imaginary. I KNOW VERY WELL that you will not allow your friend to be in the condition that he is if you have the ability to prevent it from happening  talk less of a good God that allegedly "loves people" that worship him. . .Where is the love. . . . .

1. This is rather LAME. You questioned the rationale behind the belief in a good/loving God. And I questioned the objectivity in u asking that question. how can u access the goodness of God if u DONT know God? . . . , how can I pass judgement on mazaje's character, if I dont know him?

2. Your understanding of love is deeply FLAWED. There is something called eternal endless life. A life without the ills and evil norms on our present planet. If the challenges we face in this limited world enables us to live in eternal life. ,  ,  .does that not impugn any malice u hold to the rationality of love?
how and why did u come to the conclusion that the accident was an "unnecessary accident"? since this accident has further propelled him to believe more in God and pray more, how then is this accident in your self esteemed wisdom unnecessary to his personal spiritual development?

3. Dude, God loves everyone and that includes atheists like u who do not acknowledge Him. . . . .the only problem here is that u have no understanding of what the love of God means.

Did you bother to read what you wrote down from psalm 34:19? Did you not see where it says he will deliver us out of them all?. . . .Last time I checked both Christians and non Christians suffer from the same harm and misfortune, no? Do your truly believe that a God that can do all things was with my friend and still allowed him to have that accident?. . . .How does loosing your ability to walk make you love and fear a God whom you believe is so powerful that he has the ability to protect you from all harm as my friend does?. . . .Like everything religious there is always a clause to explain absurdity away. . . .If my friend is not a Christian then NO body is a Christian. . . .

how does the above mantra impugn the truths contained in psalm 34:19? what your friend is facing is an affliction . . . . .the testimony of God through David stands that God will deliver the righteous from all afflictions.

God is good how? By failing to protect some one that VERY STRONGLY believes he will protect him and guide him? I was there when he was praying before he went on the journey. He prayed for God to protect him as he believes God always does he said in his prayers. . . .True he made some confession and offered some praises to his God but his main aim was to ask for protection in a God he believes is his father. . . .

What EXACTLY makes u think God did not answer his prayers? how about the millions of times your friend had travelled and was safe? did u acknowledge God for his safety? do u acknowledge God for the life your friend has lived before this incident? The problem with your half baked arguments is that u only remember God when events turn bad. . .but when they are good, u idolise your man made human-scientific-gods. This is rather lame and dishonest.

The way God answers prayers are different from what we can perceive in our human consciousness. One thing I know is that the thoughts of God are VERY DEEP (psalm 92:5) I am as such persuaded to believe that through this tragedy, God has a plan and lesson for the dude ,  ,  . .

What is this?. . .One minute you are talking about fearing God, now you are talking about having faith. He has faith, perhaps he has more than you. . . .That I am sure of. . . .

1. Dude, fearing God is the same as having faith. you cannot have faith in whom u dont fear. To fear God is to love God, to love God is to obey His commandments, to obey Him is to know Him and if u know Him u will fing Him capable and have absolute faith in Him

2. have u ever seen me in person before? have I ever made any contact with u outside of nairaland? so how did become so gifted to be able to discern my level of faith?
The way u sit behind a computer and type all forms of lies and innuendos with the intention of misleading/misinforming everyone is highly despicable.

I did not question the faith or spiritual status of your friend . . . .all I did was to highlight the connection between faith and answering prayers.

He does believe in all these, I repeat if he is not a Christian then NO body is a Christian, and am serious about it. . . .

what is this? . ,  . .and u dare accuse others of being dogmatic and deluded?

Actually I opened this thread based on what I observe and see going on around me, not based on what your definition of God or prayer is. . . . .

well if u dont know what prayer means . . . . dont u think u should ask?

mazaje:
How has prayer helped the nation?

what do u understand by "prayer"?

mazaje:
Liberate Nigeria eh?. . . .Am an atheist but this idea of your will not work my brother, What do you have to offer them? Do you have endless sweet lies and sweet mythologies to offer? The land is so FULLLLLL of poverty and lack, people don't reason rationally here in Nigeria any more. If you have money to offer them, then I will encourage you to ride on, Because the only God Nigerians worship is MONEY no matter how much they keep lying to themselves. What do you want to give  to them in return? Don't you know that lack of belief in religious and the god hypothesis takes a lot of intellectuality, exposure, intelligence and good reasoning? How do you expect a country that is full of illiterates, backward thinking traditions and culture to understand anything you are talking about?. . . .Nigeria will not be ready for your movement in the next 200 years IMO, you can only try to show them that it is OK to be an atheist, Even that is a very difficult task talk less of librating Nigeria from their various religious myths and delusions. . . . .It took Europeans over a thousand years of steady education and intellectual maturity to drop their religious beliefs and their belief in the Gods, They used to be like us too. The world is changing fast and one day we will all get there but sorry, Its will not be now. . . .

all the OP did was to make a simple "suggestion" . . . .so why the usual christianity bashing charade? If there is no God, if prayers dont work, what is the alternative?

mazaje:
I truly want to know why people pray or hold unto the belief that their God loves them. . . .

if u do not know a person, can u know how good or nice he/she is? same thing applies to God.
Since u do not know God, dont u think it is inappropriate to come to a conclusion that God does not love us. . . . . .do u not objectively consider urself unqualified to make such assesments?

A very good friend of mine(we kind of fell apart as a result of my atheism and complete disregard for religion and all it entails, but we still remain close because he feels he some how has the power to show me the "light" recently had an accident and I went to visit him at the family residence after he was discharged from the hospital, others came to visit the family as well. We were all assembled together to pray and two people volunteered to pray for him, one of them(the pastor) was asking their God to come and rescue the guy from his predicament and heal him quickly. He then concluded that the accident was a test from the same God they were praying to and asking for his help to heal the friend of mine, The second guy prayed along the same lines but quite differently. After the whole thing they started singing and praising their God and all despite believing that the same God controls everything including the ghastly motor accident that left him with broken bones and all. . . .

1. Those who prayed, prayed according to their understanding. but is their understanding wrong? . . .No. while God did not create an accident for the unfortunate dude, the accident was however in the knowledge of God. here is what the scriptures says.
. . . . .many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers us out of them all. psalm 34:19
. .  . . . .psalm 119:67&75 teaches us that afflictions draw us closer to Himself, to know and fear Him.
. . . . .though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil for thou art with us psalm 23
. . . . . Jesus said "I leave u my peace, not as the world gives it, but my peace that passes all understanding" . It is this peace that is beyond your human atheistic and supposedly rational understanding that persons of faith who face affliction experience,  . . .so that even when the tide suggests hopelessness, there is a shinning light inside from the Lord most high.


2. by praying, they make a confession to the ultimate one . . . . , because through it all, we know that God is good.

Firstly, I was there when the guy was about to travel, he even prayed in my presence for his God to protect him and grant him journey mercies before he embarked on the journey. . . . .

You have no understanding of what prayer entails or how it works. . . . the scriptures says if we harbour iniquity in our heart, the Lord will not hear us. . . . can u testify that your friends heart was without sin?
The scriptures says that it is impossible to please God without faith . . , so did your friend pray by faith or fear?

Secondly, I just cannot fathom how people can praise and worship some deity who by their own admission caused the sickness and sorrow they are praying against?. . . I just can not get it.

unfortunately not everyone who sings and dance praises or worships God. To entail in Godly worship involves a walk with God in holiness and purity.

It seems like when it comes to God people just create reality according to their own thoughts, feelings, and actions. Its completely beyond my comprehension why people do these things. . . . .

it seems to me that u find it inappropriate to confess your ignorance on God related matters. u dont know God, u as such have no basis for making the above innuendos.

and how did u come to the conclusion that prayers have failed the nation?

how did I manage to miss the cartoons? where are the cartoons that show the paedo "prophet" with 9 year old aisha?

Idrico:
Olabowale,you are the best.

Keep the flag of islam flying.Paradise is surely your reward.Insha Allah

in ur dreams

Mad_Max:
I refer to your surprise and amazement that someone displayed qualities completely alien to you.

You shattered my innuendos? I didn't notice.

You're Prehistoric School. Let me say it in Neanderthish / Grunt-ese so you finally understand.:Getti. Somma. Manners.

Enjoy ur merry-go-round

Mad_Max:
He reasons and is well-mannered. You must be amazed.

Trust me, I am deeply amazed. . . . .that inspite of ur obvious ignorance, delusion and character assassination of Paul, any rational and reasoning person will still be engaging you in a "debate".

Go over the thread again . . . .every of ur innuendos has been shattered, deeply because u REFUSE to use ur head and think for urself, but rely foolishly on a bunch of opinionated researchers. You must be disappointed that u met more intelligent people on nairaland, who refuse to accept the fallacy of ur submissions.

I am surprised krayola is still in this "debate"

has any one noticed a similarity between chakula and abuzola?

Great thread. I expect Ola to be here soon too

@ Jesoul . . .pls tell me the youtube video is a joke.