Jane,
I'm in no hurry for a reply. Just curious.
I never look for a fight. I'm just on a path of discovery.
Can I share something I wrote when I was 18 years old. This is from a term paper that I wrote my freshman year of college:
The Study of Faith in The New Testament
Love is God: therefore one who loves shows that he is begotten of God. God is love which makes love his very being.To love God is to know him and to to share his life with your own. Jesus shoed us through his life a great love for people. His very act of redemption, dying on the cross was the greatest act of love ever performed and ever will be performed. This is why, to have faith, we must love, and to love we must act in the manner of Christ our savior. Thus we can logically perceive that faith is necessary for every living human. Man must be responsible for himself and his actions, as he is toward God, and his faith will lead him to this responsibility. In the first Epistle of John, chapter 5, verse 12 and 13 say "No man has ever seen God, yet if we love one another God dwells in us, and in his love is brought to perfection in us. The way we know we remain in him and he in us, is that he has given us his spirit."
This is the way I perceive the world. Positive. Loving people. Enjoying life. Taking joy in watching others live. Life itself is so wonderful - why would I want to dwell on evil ugliness and disaster?
Evil is not my cup of tea but you and others such as Emile seem to spend a lot of time and effort dividing people from people, segregating those who are not "within" your spiritual model of the world.
Tom
PS - my Bible quote seems to be off. Does anyone know if John ever said this or did I make it up? |
