♣Jim♦

This Email version HAS been a little doctored up for dramatic effect, but it's all true:)

http://library.temple.edu/collections/special_coll...

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A little girl stood near a small church from which she had been turned away because it was 'too crowded.'

'I can't go to Sunday School,' she sobbed to the pastor as he walked by.

Seeing her shabby, unkempt appearance, the pastor guessed the reason and, taking her by the hand, took her inside and found a place for her in the Sunday school class. The child was so happy that they found room for her, and she went to bed that night thinking of the children who have no place to worship Jesus.

Some two years later, this child lay dead in one of the poor tenement buildings. Her parents called for the kindhearted pastor who had befriended their daughter to handle the final arrangements.

As her poor little body was being moved, a worn and crumpled red purse was found which seemed to have been rummaged from some trash dump.

Inside was found 57 cents and a note, scribbled in childish handwriting, which read: 'This is to help build the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday School.'

For two years she had saved for this offering of love.

When the pastor tearfully read that note, he knew instantly what he would do. Carrying this note and the cracked, red pocketbook to the pulpit, he told the story of her unselfish love and devotion.

He challenged his deacons to get busy and raise enough money for the larger building.

But the story does not end here....

A newspaper learned of the story and published It. It was read by a wealthy realtor who offered them a parcel of land worth many thousands.

When told that the church could not pay so much, he offered to sell it to the little church for 57 cents.

Church members made large donations. Checks came from far and wide..

Within five years the little girl's gift had increased to $250,000.00--a huge sum for that time (near the turn of the century). Her unselfish love had paid large dividends.

When you are in the city of Philadelphia , look up Temple Baptist Church , with a seating capacity of 3,300. And be sure to visit Temple University, where thousands of students are educated.

Please note this precludes the old Testament; Jesus hadn't been born yet. In the OT, the Bible does record God commanding Joshua to be the aggressor in a few minor wars, often when the people wouldn't make peace with the Israelites. Let's not blow it out of proportion.

We have the crusades, the spanish inquisition, the infamous witch trials that began in the middle ages, the corruption of the catholic church, people being burnt at the stake for heresy. We have a few extremists that say they're christian bombing abortion Clinics. Did Jesus really tell them to do that?

But, did Jesus command these things? Wasn't he the guy that disappointed those in Israel that wanted the Messiah to slaughter every single Roman?

We have the dark ages, that began when barbarians conquered the Roman empire. But, did the Catholic church really suppress the learning of these peaceful, gentle barbarians and those they conquered?

Where is the evil in true christianity???

For about the 30'th time I saw the statement, "Even if God was real I wouldn't worship him. He promoted Genocide, sexism, slavery, war."

I have answered this by saying those were rough times and the presumed 'worst thing' in the Bible was much more merciful than the other 'gods' required at that time, such as 'making children pass through the fire'. And we know that God told Joshua to destroy nations that did these terrible things. While this is true, it may not be the best answer.

What do you say?

The christian idea is to turn the other cheek and return good for evil, not evil for evil. Christians shouldn't retaliate against rudeness, but there's so much of it here some of us do retaliate.

So does anyone have any other suggestions? Should we all just ignore inflammatory questions?

I've been typing for years, using both hands. However, I never learned to type numbers right, so I've been taking this online course here: http://www.typing-lessons.org/lesson_4.h%E2%80%A6 . I also found I've never been using the shift keys right. I guess you're supposed to hit the shift key with your little finger opposite of the one hitting the other key. I have always used mostly my left hand for the shift key. I tried doing it right, but it is very difficult at this point. It might take 3 solid weeks! Do you guys think I should try relearning it anyway, considering I need to learn the numbers right too?

I'm not a secretary or anything, but my job requires me to type on the computer quite a bit.

I've been typing for years, using both hands. However, I never learned to type numbers right, so I've been taking this online course here: http://www.typing-lessons.org/lesson_4.html . I also found I've never been using the shift keys right. I guess you're supposed to hit the shift key with your little finger opposite of the one hitting the other key. I have always used mostly my left hand for the shift key. I tried doing it right, but it is very difficult at this point. It might take 3 solid weeks! Do you guys think I should try relearning it anyway, considering I need to learn the numbers right too?

Are these the modern day pharisees?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theistic_evolution

Has God given us clear evidence of himself in what he has made? (See verse 20) or are there honest atheists that truly see no evidence for God? Personally, I think at least some atheists are honest when they say they see no evidence for God. But, Paul says we are all without excuse. What do you think?

Romans 1:18-20

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 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 people are without excuse.

This verse is frequently posted by atheists seeking to discredit the Bible. It's the one where Elisha curses the children and bears come out of the woods and maul them. I was a bit upset by it myself, so I searched yahoo answers and found this answer which I thought was pretty good (see below) . Does anyone have anything to add?

"Elisha did not curse “little children,” as the KJV translates the phrase (2 Kings 2:23). The Hebrew expression frequently connotes young, unmarried men of any age up to about thirty. This was evidently a gang of young hoodlums, instigated by the heathen priests of Baal to ridicule Elijah’s successor. The jeering exhortation to “go up, thou baldhead,” (2 Kings 2:23) was both a sarcastic reference to Elijah’s supposed ascension (which they disbelieved) and a personal insult to God’s chosen prophet. This challenge to Jehovah and the authority of His prophet could not be excused, so God made good on a warning issued long before: “And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children” (Leviticus 26:21, 22)."

I actually asked this question about a year ago but was told there are no real ex-atheists. Since then, I've seen about 4 people on here say they used to be atheist but became christian. I am hoping one or more of these people will let us know what changed their mind.

To quote this source, admittedly from 1997 the answer is 40%:

"According to a much-discussed survey reported in the journal Nature in 1997, 40 percent of biologists, physicists and mathematicians said they believed in God - and not just a nonspecific transcendental presence but, as the survey put it, a God to whom one may pray "in expectation of receiving an answer." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/national/23belie...

Anyone have anything more recent or authoritative? Please leave source or it is not an answer.

I'm aware that the popular opinion is that it can't be, but this guy says his changed:

http://leavingthedarkness.blogspot.com/2009/12/can...

The best site I could find was narth.com . There's a lot of information on it and I confess to not studying it for too long, but here is a statement from it: (The translation is NO, it is not unavoidable, people can change).

"Science Supports The Malleability Of Homosexuality

The current volume on ex-gay research, without the political commentary, adds to the growing body of studies which point toward the fluidity of non-heterosexual expressions of human sexuality. From the recent research by Diamond, Schechter and others, one can only conclude that sexual orientation is far from fixed in those individuals who are not exclusively heterosexual. "

http://www.englishchick.com/grammar/grindex.htm

(or similar ones)

Some 'christian nudists' go so far as to say you SHOULD be a nudist if you're a christian, because originally Adam and Eve were nude in the garden of Eden. In any case, there is a definite 'christian nudist' movement. Other christians say it's a sin. What do you think?

I'm not even talking about the laws of the land. Jacob 2:24. book of mormon: "Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord. "

Yet, Joseph Smith himself probably was a polygamist and Brigham Young, an early leader, was definitely one. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormonism_and_polygam... Everyone knows early mormons practiced polygamy. How did they publically get away with it? What excuse did they come up with so people would swallow it, when the BOM says it's abominable to God?