Alrighty. First off, thanks for being polite. We get a lot of people here who want to agitate the gravel! ;D I have always been a Christian personally. My parents raised me up in a Christian home, so that's always been my religion. I have pretty much always believed in God totally. Though I have studied some other religions to see what points other people might have. I simply believe what my perception of the truth is, much like everyone else! :) I respect other people's beliefs, but sometimes I can get a little snappy at theirs if the attack mine. @_@ I follow the King James Version of the bible, as I think it is the best translation. I believe everything it says in the bible, cover to cover. I would like to hear some more about other people's beliefs, though I have no intention of changing my allegiance from the Lord. :)

"I want you to know I totally respect everyone's religious beliefs, like I hope you respect mine."

The Christians on this spot are nothing if not warm and welcoming of non-Christians. I am neither Christian, nor Atheist, so I can't really answer your questions. I'm Agnostic. But you've asked some interesting talking points.

I know several Christians who have had doubts. Doubts about the existence of God, or Christ, or doubts about the veracity or definitive tone of the Bible. These doubts lead to questions and explorations and nine times out of ten, they only further help to solidify that person's faith. I've heard testimonials to this effect at a few youth groups I've attended (teenagers have a habit of doubting things).

This doubt tends to lead to education. People who aren't sure turn to their pastor or the Bible for answers and learn about their faith. Sometimes, it changes how they've interpreted their faith, but they still believe.

I used to be Christian. And I like to believe that I still try to lead lead what I perceive to be the ideal Christian lifestyle - being loving, forgiving and humble, embracing all walks of life, being open-minded, exploring, learning about the world and others who are different, and helping those less fortunate than me. Of course, I can't do this all the time, but I do try to live up to these ideals. To me, these are the ideals and most important aspects of, not just the Christian faith, but the majority of world religions. I have read the Bible, and have found several beautiful and inspirational passages within it. I am not sure about the divinity of Christ, and I am not sure if the Bible is a historical account of actual events or if it is a book of metaphors to explain highly complex ideas, but either way it's a beautiful book.

There are passages in the Bible that I disagree with, and passages that I find downright offensive and ignorant, but I don't let those color my interpretation of the religion as a whole. I try and focus on the good things it says, and the positive. I do the same when I read the Koran or the Torah.

"Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." James 1:19 is a magnet on my fridge.

"Mankind is naught but a single nation" Koran 2:213 is engraved in classical Arabic on a gold tablet i wear around my neck.

I love religion... because of its poetry. And because of the way that every last one of them speaks some truth about the human spirit. I may not be Christian, but I hope that helps you answer some of your questions.

Wow, that's pretty moving. You could give speeches, ya know? Anyway, I never looked at it that way. I always thought the bible and Koran and any other religious books kept people from sinning. But wow-those really are inspirational.And more valuable than I thought. Religion's poetry is beautiful and inspirational, even if you can't understand some of it or you're not that religion. It does help a lot, thanks. That might be more than anyone could give.

1.yes like bossmar I grew up in a Christin home
2.yes sometime's do have dolts but every Christin thinks that to
3.I do grew curies of other religion mosty Mulsims I snatch up want I can learn from them though mosty NCIS(yes am talking about the show)

....Muslim through a cop show? That's kinda scary....

LOL, InvaderStorm, I agree!

Though shows CAN sometimes be good lenses at understanding different cultures and people, they aren't all that educational. I'd suggest talking to a Muslim, or, if you don't know any, reading about Islam. Or, if you really want to learn from TV, watch a documentary about world religions and/or Islam.

lol, totally. How does a cop show even mention muzlimism...or..however you call it when someone is muslim? But there really aren't many educational shows.

A Muslim person follows the religion of Islam. I've found a few documentaries on it, but unfortunately they're outdated and dull. It looked like they were made in the 70s or 80s. I'll keep my eye open and let you know.

OK, try this one. I haven't seen the whole thing (obviously) but it starts out good. I'll watch it when my homework is done.

Looks interesting. I only have 40 minutes before I have to go to bed though, so I'll watch it tomorrow. Thanks!

well, i have always been a christian and i have this story to tell you. one day i asked my mom " mom it seems everywhere i go, if i would ever teach about Christianity, people probably would never listen. have you ever saved someone?" and she told me my dad didn't believe in god, and one day when they were coming home, he saw a bible on the table , and picked it up. mom told him how he could get saved, and a year later, he became a christian!

i just wanted to share that. :D

no there are a episode about a muslim ether a big one or just seeing one in a episode

BTW it is not a cop show.

Regardless, TV gets things wrong a lot. Just the other day I grew frustrated with how the television show Bones portrayed Wiccans. Like I said, they can provide interesting new perspectives, but they are not always accurate. After all, it is fiction.

I have to agree with Cinders. A lot of TV shows give bad perspectives on groups of people. I mean, they CAN do whatever they want. It's their show, and their money.

NVM about the above stuff anyway I like to help storm.

these is what I belive:
Verse in bible:
We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and the coming of our lord jesus christ.But we were eyewittneses of his magesty.

other verses:
For I trust in your word

In the beging god created the heavens and the earth.

for god so loved the world that he gave his begoton son for whosoever beleves in him shall not parish but have everlasting life.

I belive in the bible.God says he breathed the bible and God has never lied.

I was born into a Christian family so I have been a Christian my whole life. I've never once doubted that the Bible or God was a lie. Everyone's always told me that the Bible doesn't lie and I've always believed it. I think one of the things that made me believe that the Bible was true was the creation and how God just spoke things into existence. The theories scientists made up never really made since to me. I'm reading the Bible through right now and the things in there just amaze me so much. Some of the things in there are impossible with man, but they are possible with God and that's also another reason why I believe in God because things in this world happen and I know that man would never be able to do that.

Hi there invaderstrom! I have been raised as a Christian Catholic and had truely decided to be a Christian around the age of 9-sh to like 11-ish because I fully understood. Also I believe in God be cause I think that evolution is a really dumb theory (not disrespecting you) and yes I have thought what if it wasn't true, but then things just started to come into my mind like you've got nothing to lose, maybe a few freinds but they arten't your freinds if they don't respect your beliefs. Also I love being Christian and having faith and not being alone because it makes me who I am :)

I beleive in God because, no offense, all the theories about our exsistance make us an accident of the universe. I am NOT an accident.

1Corinthians 13:13 "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
my fav. verse in the Bible.

There is no such thing as always being a Christian because even though someone might be in church their whole life, you can't have a relationship with God you're whole life. If you're parents are Christians fine but it doesn't make you one. Yes when they die they'll go to Heaven. When you die you can't say," But my parents are Christians." He'll say," Go away I do not know you." Now addressing Storm's question. Like I said I have not always been a Christian. I found hope for life December 26,2010. I grew up in church. My dad was a Christian. I thought I was going to Heaven before. Until one day a lady from my church came in and told me that she too didn't know she hadn't already found hope for life. She realized after teaching a Sunday School class. The rest of the service I didn't really pay attention to the service. Towards the end, I found myself crying. I had done so much wrong in my life that it wasn't funny. I grabbed a trusted friend and just cried. When I could get the words out, I told her that I wanted to be sure I'm going to Heaven. I didn't want all the hurt and depression. I'm not saying my life is perfect now, but I know I can make it through Hell and back if God wanted it to be. Oh and yes I've been discouraged and doubts before about whether or not God is real. I believe this to be true because God has convicted me and has helped me through depression and many other things.

Whoa..."Go away I do not know you"?

This is not a God I want to get to know. I thought you were the same person who said it doesn't matter what you believe or what you've done, God will take you anyways.

I was once an atheist too. But when I was 12, some of my friends started to talk about God. I didn't understand how some guy I couldn't see could save my soul. my friends suggested that I read the Bible. I did, and some things made sence, others didn't. One day I decited to try and pray. I thought "why not, if God is there to hear me, great! If not, then I haven't lost anything." Many personal things happened that I am not ready to post all over the internet. But I love the Lord now, and I know that He loves me too! One night I gave my life to Christ and asked Him to come into my heart, and heal my sins. And that prayer was answered! Of course I will respect your beliefs and I understand where you are coming from. I used to think just like you. I am glad that you are asking questions about God, and you should keep searching the same way I did. You may just find what you are looking for! If you don't mind I would like to pray for you. let me know how you feel. Best of luck! God loves you and will Bless you!

I grew up going to a Christian church, but as a logical, scientifically-minded person, even as a young child, I did have many questions and doubts sometimes. As others have mentioned here, it is natural to feel this way. God created us with an inquisitive mind and free will. We are designed to think and also sometimes doubt - it is this that keeps us from following false teachings and evil. Some of the most faithful followers of God in the Bible had doubts about God and stumbled in their faith regularly. I would become especially confused when I learned about things like evolution and the Big Bang Theory in school. However, I came accept Christianity on my own. I've even read up on how Christianity and science fit together, just to clear up some of my own confusion and curiosity. I won't get into that now, but it is quite interesting. I have been a faithful Christian believer for 12 years now.

I have talked to many atheists and listened to many debates against my beliefs, but I have never heard anything from them that has been able to shake my faith. Bad things have happened in my life, but I've come out of them a stronger, more experienced person. Even in my darkest moments, I did not feel that God had forsaken me. I believe that God has allowed me to endure these situations because they have prepared me for future experiences and given me the ability to relate and connect to others who have gone through similar painful situations.

I believe that God has a plan for everyone and every event of our lives happens for a reason. As I look back on my life so far, I can trace the reasons for many of these events, while some I am still waiting to see explained. But I know answers will come, as I have prayed for them and have not been let down. While my prayers are not always answered in the way that I hope or expect, I believe they are answered according to God's plan, which may or may not coincide with my own plans. I believe that God knows what is best for me, better than I know, as I cannot see beyond the present while He can see the whole picture. Also, as my Creator, he knows me better than I know myself. He made me.

I suppose I could go on for quite some time explaining why I believe what I do, but I'm going to stop there for now. :)

Sorry I didnt get back to you. I was at camp and my internet was down. I was not the one that said that God will you into Heaven no matter what you believe. Imagine it like this. A wealthy man throws a huge party in his mansion. There is a guest list of all those who have served the wealthy man. It is a party for those who have served and believe he could make it in life. Everyone tries to get in but he sits there looking at the people trying to get in. Some who were not on the guest list tried to get in. However, the wealthy man looked them in the eye and said," All your life you kept putting me down. You never believed in me. When you had the perfect opportunity to redeem yourself but you denied me even further. Go away please."

Oh and at camp I learned a few things. I learned how to truely forgive. I usually don't struggle with the whole forgive and forget but one situation was different. It has taken me 8 years to finally forgive. The camp pastor had each of us take rocks. At first I didnt get it. He had a skit of a story in the Bible. The story goes like this. A servent owed a king millions of dollars and if he couldnt pay it then usually his wife and children would be sold into slavery. His house and everything else that belongs to him got sold. He would be put into prison until the debt was payed. He called the servant in. The servant knowing the punishment coming fell on his knees in hope that the king would give him more time. He said, " My king please be patient with me and I will give you the money I owe." The king knowing that the servant couldn't pay the money back decided to let the debt go. A little while later the servant went to one of his servant who only owed like a thousand dollars. The first servant started choking the second servant demanding the money owed. When servant #2 couldn't pay off the debt servant #1 threw servant #2 in prison. Another servant saw this and reported it to the king. The king yelled at the first servant," You evil servan. You owed me millions of dollars but I let the debt slide because I knew you couldn't pay it off. Then shortly after you go to your servant and show no mercy after being shown mercy." Then he threw servant #1 in prison to be tortured until he could pay off the debt. This story made me think. I have been forgiven of so much however I couldn't forgive someone for ruining (in my eyes at first) 8 years of my life. I looked down at the stone in my hands and the camp pastor said that the stones in each of our hands represented the grudge we had against somebody. If we were ready he wanted us to put the stones on the stage. It symbolized that we were letting go. My eyes watered at his next words. He said, "We mess up so big in life and we ask God to forgive us but the minute someone else wrongs us we get really angry. What we sometimes see as a huge deal, God sees a small piece of something bigger and better. I cried and when I went over to pray with him I couldnt even speak. I just kept crying. Finally when I could speak I told him that I had been trying to let this burden go but I never truely could. Until that night. I thanked him between sobs. Before I came to camp I thought I was a pretty good Christian but I will always have room to grow. I think that night I grew a little bit more because God made me realize that I never really truely forgave that person until I prayed with the camp pastor. Even after praying and going to church devotions, I kept crying. I wasn't crying anymore about me needing to forgive, but that the weight is off my shoulders. Of course, forgiving and forgetting is multiple steps. It is not just saying the words. I had to mean them to. Now it'll take time to forget but that is something I need to pray for.
bye 4 now

what I was going to say last time is we all have room to grow. No matter what age we are what religion we are. It doesn't matter how smart we were born. I don't care if you're a priest, all of us have room to grow. When we recognize that area in our life that we need to work on and we work on it, we'll grow that much more. For example cussing was a huge problem in my life. I talked like a sailor. I prayed "God today I may lie but I promise that today I won't cuss." I would keep that promise. Each day I would pray that prayer until cussing wasn't a problem. It was hard but I did it.