Thanks Frankie. A lot of folk aren't as kind as this.

Here is something to consider. If the God of the Bible isn't the only God, and doesn't live up to what He said in John 14/6 "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by me".

Then He is either

A. Correct and there are none before Him or His equal. He is the only God ( and there are many other scriptures to verify this truth as well)
or
B. He is liar and not God at all.

As a follower of Christ, I have to take Him at His word. He's never let me down. For this reason, I'm going with A

I consider myself a very simple person when it comes to Christianity. Our pastor always says at the opening of every sermon, “the Bible is our guide on all matters of faith and worship.” - if that statement is true, and if the Bible is the written Word of God - which I also believe is true - then In my opinion faith becomes very simple.

It is easier for me to believe what is written in the Bible, with guidance from leaders and other believers (as long as it follows the teachings of the Bible) than for me to attempt to put God into a box. I simply accept and believe - without question. Does that mean I never stray or have an evil thought - only multiple times every single day. But with God’s help - perhaps I will be better today than I was yesterday and will one day be fully mature in Christ.

in many many ways i alien with the Christian beliefs but im not one .

I hope you don't mind my edit ! Would love to have you in the family Frankie.

God has shown us the blueprint for being a good person and living a happy life. Even those who do not believe should be able to see the wisdom in that blueprint. Do not Kill, Do not steal, Do not lie, marriage is between a man and a woman, etc. Strong nuclear family structure is essential for a strong stable society. Mother, father, and children.

Yeah , got to many now trying to blur the lines of good and evil , right and wrong . Lot of straws are getting put on the camels back theses days .

Most ever religion is basically good but ever religion has that dark side .

BPI. I never understood why some have such a fear of Christianity but yet seem to fear no other .

Jesus, “They will hate you because they’ve hated me.” That’s why Christianity is globally hated and feared by all peoples who don’t believe it. Darkness hates light and truth.

Well, I guess the short answer is that once someone is truly born again, and surrenders to God's word and will for their life, there is nothing to fear but God alone. Of course, that doesn't mean we are supposed to be arrogant chest pounders, the way some "Christians" behave. Jesus never behaved that way.

It looks to me like the more accurate historical records in the Bible really starts later on in Genesis or maybe even later.....and the attempt to explain “the beginning” is more like Greek mythology and early man’s lore that was passed down and their best attempt at explaining something they had little to no real understanding of at the time ……I think its most likely true that we evolved from a more primitive animal that split off from the herd and became isolated under unique conditions……… but still that whole process is fascinating and miraculous in and of itself…..AND….. the tale at the beginning of Genisis is still pretty dang accurate in what its trying to describe even though it is in a ancient “story” or “tale” type format.

BPI ,,,, Matt

You look at most beliefs the core values are the same . You take away the extreme side of each they pretty much fallow the same moral rules .

Christian ,,, seems to catch all the criticism

You're right that we do catch it. Because we are supposed to, as Matt was saying. Jesus said to love your enemies, be longsuffering, patient, turn the other cheek, etc. I know not everyone does this that claims Christ, but that's what we are supposed to do.

But the core values are entirely different.

Every other religion on earth says that you are justified by your works. All of them.
Christ said our works are as filthy rags and that we are incapable of "earning" grace or any kind of merit before God, because we are all, at our core, sinners. We are justified by one and only one thing. The merit of another. Jesus. When we submit to His authority in our lives we are then, and only then justified before a Holy God. No other religion teaches this. They are performance centered and man driven when you look beyond the exterior.

I thought that we were supposed to bear fruit though and those who dont "never knew him"......or something like that

Good stuff right here.

uh oh, you bout to get it stirred up now. What I took away from those debates was, Jesus saved the man on the cross, so works arn't necessary for salvation. IDK really.

As a Christ follower that's a byproduct of Christ in us and not in and of our own ability. That's the difference between a moral person and someone following Christ.. There are a lot of "good people" by the worlds standards and that's why they are some of the most reluctant people to accept Jesus as Lord. They are "good".

God says there are none that are good... not one.

lol

I believe about all the other religions started some time after creation. Most of them have some human as their god or leader. In other words, the real God made them and theyre likely in hell right now and all of their followers will get to spend eternity with them. And some time before they found themselves in hell, they stopped off in front of God Almighty and confessed that he is the One true God.

One question I heard was, no matter if you believe in God or not how did any of this happen? Something had to start from somewhere, if not how did it get here? How can something exist as forever with no origin? To me that points to God as creator of all, and some things we just aren't meant to understand.

maybe but he gives people free choice to believe or not , fallow or not .