There’s a lot of people on here that have completed seminary work and can explain it to you. But It all led up to all of us being able to have the grace of forgiveness so we can enter the kingdom of heaven without being condemned to eternal hell for our sins. We live in a fallen world. That was the trade off sort of speak.

They still happen. My daughter was miraculously healed from a very rare autoimmune disease. Her friends prayed and played hands on her. She stopped taking her meds and she’s been fine ever since apart from a few little flareups. 9 months prior to her being healed she spent 32 days straight in the hospital while they tried to figure out what was wrong with her. I’ll be honest, her faith was greater than mine at that time. Both my kids have taught me a lot about faith.

I've only prayed for a miracle twice in my life the 1st one happened the day after I prayed and the 2nd is in God's hands...I'm talking sure enough no other explanation

I was as much a drug addict as anyone ever has been for 12yrs or so i guess. I had tried for years to get clean with no success. I gave my life to the Lord and asked him to fix me. Ive nevr wanted to get high again since that moment. There was alot more to it, leading up to that point but i promise you he ripped drug addiction out of me like it had never happened. Thats my big one. I could tell you quite a few others but that was the biggest thing. That in itself is a miracle, isnt it? Have you ever heard of anything like that happening?

I could even tell you about some sure enough impossible things that happened. Some of that parting the red sea kind of stuff, just on a much smaller scale. I have witnesses, others who saw it. I wont get into all that here, yall already thinknim a lunatic, but Trailertrash, if you want to hear about some of it, call me sometime if you still have my number

I don't know if Gensis a scientific and literal account of the beginning, but once I began to read it as allegory and figuratively nothing ever seemed more true to me about God and our human condition. I think we do ourselves and the deeper meaning of these ancient stories a disservice by focusing on the literalness of it.

I believe the Bible so strongly I’m a young earth person. Everyone thinks I’m crazy when I say it but I firmly believe the creation account and lineage from there to Jesus word for word

Ok. So here is a huge question. Do you believe in the concept of randomness? Is there a reason for everything or are some things in life, such as car accidents, kids dying of cancer and all the other terrible things that happen on this planet just a crap shoot? The older I get the more I think some things just happen because they happen. No reason whatsoever. Just a random deal in a jacked up world.

I feel like God has spared my life on many occasions. That’s a pretty big miracle to me. No explaining it. Multiple occasions I should’ve been dead. From childhood to now.
Now i could go out and get greased by a chicken truck tomorrow. But as Shadrack, Meshak and Abednego said: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

Me too. Nothing to me about the earths geology is supported by anything but a young earth account. I get some strange looks when it comes up. The earth can’t possibly be as old as some think. I believe in the literal account of Biblical creation and the evidence proves that to be the case IMO.

With that said, it’s not an issue I split hairs over with fellow Christians. I believe it’s important as it sets the foundation for everything I believe. Your mileage may vary.

I agree with most of your post but I'm not following the part about time starting when when Adam and Eve sinned. What about the six days of Creation? What about the time between creation and the time Eve was deceived by the serphant? Did God not already exist when He started His work of creation? I do believe that time as WE know it didn't exist before creation, but God was clearly there before that for Him to be able to perform the act of creation. We are also promised ETERNAL life if we follow Christ, so therefore time doesn't end either. God's view of time is clearly not the same as ours because He said that a thousand years is as a day to Him. I know that He says, "I Am that I Am." and I don't question that. But sometimes our finite human minds get to thinking about stuff that is way over our heads such as infinities such as time, space, and Gods wisdom and power.

I'm not trying to be contrary. I'm just trying to understand how you came to those conclusions. Sometimes a deeper study is needed and I may need to crack open Genesis again, but from my studies, it appears to me that time has always been, just as God has always been and will continue to be forever.

ALL things work together for the good for those who are called according to His purposes. There is nothing random. Now we are autonomous beings with a will, but ultimately God is sovereign and we are instruments to carry out His purposes. Sickness, disease, accidents, etc are consequences of living in a fallen world with sin. It has corrupted all of creation.

Iguess its not time but time as we know it. There was day and night after creation, even during creation. But the repercussion of timestarted when they ate the forbidden fruit. Thats when they got an expiration date. They were also cast out of the garden. Without death, time doesnt really mean anything. I want to believe that if they hadnt sinned, they would still be in that garden today walking with God but i cant reconcile that with them reproducing. Seems it was that sin that made reproducing necessary because that was leading to Jesus, the solution for that sin. Alot to think about there and i dont understand it all. But as far as God and time, i dont believe time exists with God, he isnt bound by it. I really believe time was made for us. And it says in heaven itll be one long day, no sun, Jesus will be the light. No darkness at all, so no night. Thats hard to fathom as well.

We did "The Bible Recap with Tara-Leigh Cobble last year: which is reading the entire bible every day for one year. The reading is in chronological order which is a great way to understand when each section of the bible was written and helps to understand the bible when read this way. You read the assigned section then listen to her review each day. Here is a link to her reviewing Gen 4-7 and discussing possible meanings for Gen 6.

I agree that all those things you mentioned are a consequence of living in a sinful fallen world and none of us escapes the effects of that. Hence we all die.

I also agree that God knows the end from the beginning and knows how and when each one of us will die and the decisions we will make before we make them.

What I wonder about for example is the 18yr old girl who was my daughters best friend and called me ‘Dad’ because hers was a piece of shucks (random?) had epilepsy (random?) then contracted a rare form of cancer that killed her in less than a year (random?). Why did all that happen to her? I know she didn’t do anything to deserve it. I know a loving God doesn’t put that on people. Then why her? The only answer I can come up with is there actually is no answer to that question. It just happened to her because it happened to her. Seemingly random.

No doubt there is a lot to think about and much to study. ^^^^ That clears up your first post a good bit.

Now think a second about God being omnipresent, oreverywhere, in other words. If God is everywhere, theres quite a bit were missing, or not seeing, isnt there. I have tried real hard for quite a while now to try and see God in everything, all around me. He is the reason things are happening the way they are. Not talking about the crazyness but the natural order of things, flowers blooming, clouds drifting around and such as that. I believe he has his hand in all of it.

Well fellas, ive trully enjoyed this conversation. I love talking about the Lord and the bible. If i came off like a knowitall, i am sorry because i surely dont. Thats just part of my personality according to my wife. If we dont agree about some of this stuff, thats just fine. Im not mad at you a bit. Good night

Isaiah 55 8-9 evidence we can’t understand it all.

Malachi 4 Gods plan for the evildoers.

Many of our leaders think they are immune from Gods punishment. They hate God because he is infinitely more powerful than they will ever be.

I couldn’t tell you the number of times that I have watched clouds passing by and just stopped to thank God for the beauty of His creation.