BethFromVA

That was in a day and time when people were really about the church. I have seen more scandal and BS in church than I do most anywhere else. And where else can you meet a bunch of sanctimonious, clique-ish, hypocritical, judgmental people than in a church? Thanks but no thanks. Today's parishoner is not the type of person God was once talking about. Let me add this one other thing: Friends of mine who know my beliefs know that they can come to me for some powerful prayer sessions. The fellowship is there, just without all the added drama. There is your congregation.

Yes I can. The perfect church is on a mountainside or at a lake with my Bible and my God. Maybe just with my God. I don't need a building full of self-righteous hypocrites to be in church.

Hehe, thanks! Most people just offer me a tinfoil hat. :huh2:

I think that's really a shame. Because I have a problem with most denominations, I don't subscribe to one. I believe denominations have been created to make religion/God more palateable to certain groups of people. If/when I do go to church, I prefer non-denoms who just teach what is biblical rather than their spin on things. I can pick out things I disagree with and I believe are not biblical in most denominations. I don't condemn them or anything as I believe that that is God's job. I simply find groups that believe as I do. Do I have it right? Maybe not. But all I can do is do the best I can based on what I believe in biblically. One of my bosses at work is Catholic, and a topic came up that pertained to cry rooms at some churches (somebody said something we did at our work reminded them of the numbers that pop up in relation to cry rooms). She asked what we meant, and I explained to her what it is. She said, "Well, in the REAL church, kids are with us all through the service." I said that they are not without instruction, just that it's done in children's Bible studies. But she said, "In the REAL church, they stay with us in service, and then they have catechism to learn the other stuff." My co-worker and I just stood there, mouths agape. Show me one three-year-old that understands a THING about what's going on in service and I'll eat my words. :huh2:

Guess I need to check it out! Wish I had cable...

I think that was Nostrodamus' belief; but with the way things are going, he may not be too far off the mark! :wink2:

Hehe, then I guess I'm close. I believe the world was created in six days, but because it is said that a day is like a thousand years to God, it is completely likely that the world was created in six thousand years. I believe the flood covered the world, though I believe it could have simply been the world as it was known at that time. I absolutely believe in the rapture, as I do gifts of the Spirit, heaven and hell, and angels and demons. And I am not about the sins of others or hellfire. I have enough of a job keeping track of my own issues and problems. Unlike Patty, I certainly don't have the time to focus on the issues and problems of others. The difference with me is, I don't force what I believe on others. I realize that what I believe isn't even palateable to a lot of other Christians, much less non-Christians. I'm okay with that... I don't require others to believe as I do. But I have been called a fundie simply for what I believe.

SWOOSH!!! Nuttin' but net!

I look at it this way: Though I would never say prostitution should be made legal, the fact is, were it not for eating being made safe for you, you would still be practicing the sin of gluttony.

It seems that even the term "fundie" is subjective as well. I have known people who are atheists or simply non-believers who consider me a fundie as well because I am very staunch in what I believe. I do not, however, cram it down anybody else's throat. To some, simply not swaying in your religious belief is enough to make one a fundie. I say, whatever.

EXCELLENT!!! Methinks somebody ought to cast the log from their own eye before commenting on the speck in another's.

I never claim to be anything that I am not. Love for all others is not something I do very well. I have no tolerance for stupidity, including my own. I am more straightforward than most, and for some it's a breath of fresh air, while for others it is not even close to welcomed. However -- HOWEVER -- I feel that people's relationships with God is their OWN, not mine. I don't tell people how to raise their kids (though God knows I have a lot of opinions in that area), I don't tell people how to treat their spouses, I don't tell people how to act with their coworkers. I certainly have NO business telling people how to act towards their God (or non-god if that be the case). If you don't realize that your form of bleating runs people off, then there's not much I can do for you. Now, can you have ANY conversation ANYwhere that does not turn into this mess?

If I felt you could actually have a discussion without it turning into The Patty Show for Bible Thumpers, I would love to discuss with you. Are you only on this forum specifically to preach the gospel according to Patty? It seems to me that every thread you involve yourself in, you monopolize it with your skewed version of Christianity.

Can somebody explain to me why every time Patty gets involved in a thread, it becomes the Patty Green Hour of Power? Maybe you'd do better on a religion-only board somewhere.

And again, you make it sound like "I have an out to be a sinner, neener neener" :wink2:. To me, we are CALLED to be better. I expect MORE from my son than I would my servant. Because you say you are saved, you are supposed to have the Holy Spirit within you keeping you on the straight and narrow. Yet you, who is saved and supposedly have the Holy Spirit as your guide, STILL CHOOSE to sin! That is the difference, Patty. The way you PUT it makes it sound like, no matter what, you're safe and others aren't. And I know that technically that's the way it is, but the way you put it, it just sounds... so... superior.

Not only do I recognize it, I detest it. It is very unGodly behavior. There was an older man I befriended on another board who had turned away from God many years ago when his young son died. He said he would go into the pits of hell shaking his fist at God for what He had done in taking his son away from him. There was something about this man that I loved instantly. He was a good man who was just angry, but a good man nonetheless. There were two biddies on that same board that were exactly like Patty, and all they ever did was condemn him and bash him over the head with their scriptures and berate him for who he had become. I, on the other hand, showed him love and acceptance and told those biddies how angry they made me because all they did was bolster his reason for not returning to God. I'm not saying this to pat myself on the back -- only to say that while they were on their self-righteous attack on the front end, all I could hope was that I was reaching him through the back door by just loving him. Those ladies did far more damage than good, and I will always be angry at them for that. And sadly, Patty is no different than those other two Pharisees and the ones the Bible talks against. There are those who can read the words and follow the law, but when it comes to FEELING the words and LIVING the law, they can't -- or don't. And it is those types that I believe do more damage in the long run. I have known more atheists who were better people than these high-and-mighty, look-down-their-nose types.

No, sweet Kitty, do NOT thank me. You did all the hard work. YOU deserve the thanks!

Interesting... I don't know how they come up with that either. I guess you'll know what you feel comfortable at when you get there. I was showing my mom some of y'all's pics, before and after (BBK, you were one) and she was FLABBERGASTED!! Y'all was sellin' it, that's fo sho.

Patty, in order for me to be angry at you, you have to matter to me. With all due respect, you don't. How many times do we have to hear from you how you feel about prostitution in relation to your belief or in relation to God? We heard it. We got it. Enough already. Get off your throne already.

Good thing for you, eh? Okay then, God told me to tell you to get off your high horse. He's pretty ticked about the bad billing He's getting off of you.

Patty, first and foremost, you must be speaking about yourself being convicted as well since you said MY posts to YOU were nasty. In reality, it was simply "one Christian showing another where they have sinned." Yet you don't like it one bit, do you? The fact is, NOBODY PUT YOU IN CHARGE of doing the Holy Spirit's work!!! That is what is so flippin' arrogant about you! YOU think God made you hall monitor or something, when you are no better than those you are attempting to show the "err of their ways." You are an arrogant hypocrite who only knows the words of the Bible but who apparently doesn't know the CONTENT of it. Get off your freakin' high horse and do something productive. Pointing out the sins and mistakes of others never WAS the job of the Christian. They can spread the good word to those who do not know Christ, and they should do so by how they live (something YOU could stand to learn about) and show them God in a way that draws people TO you and makes them inquire about how you have such peace and love in your heart and life. You do not have these things or you wouldn't repel people the way you do -- other Christians included. You seem to think it's because you have convicted people. You are very wrong. It's because you are a hardened individual who hides behind the cloak of Christ and uses Him as your personal battering ram. Get yourself right with God before you try to tell others how they are screwing up. You are the worst type of representative for Christianity because all you do is run people off. I have dealt with your type way too often, and it's tiring.

Omg, that is FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!!! WOOT WOOT!!! I've been wondering where you were. You'd been so quiet on all the sites for a few days that I got worried. I tried calling last night, but maybe you were at the gym.

Good thing! It kinda freaked me out when I read what you said because I had just read about it the other day in the "bible." I would quote it for you if I had it here, but I'm at my folks' place until Tuesday.

I don't want to scare anybody unnecessarily, but remember that Lap-Band "bible" that people posted about last week that I wanted to buy? I just got mine in the mail the other day and I happened to browse the section on band erosion. It said that some people experience bad pain at the band site, but it also said that some people don't experience pain there but instead experience it at their port site as the infection travels down to that area. It says that if you experience inflammation or pain at your port site, to get the band checked. Again, could be nothing, but it is a sign that the doctor/author seriously recommends getting checked because of the infection that could harm us from stomach content leakage. :wink:

Now that's not something you hear every day! :sneaky: