Guapo

There are many things. I can get into the occult and I can even get into the authority of Scripture with historical & scientific evidence, and even with personal evidence. It just depends, are you really going to listen to what I have to say or not? I don't want to write everything to you, and then you just ignore it. I'm not trying to be rude, I just need to know if you actually want to listen or if you just want to mock me. (it would have to be a separate topic as to avoid spam) Prayer isn't God, and prayer does not equal a miracle healing. Prayer is a communication tool that we use to talk to God. All you have to do is just start talking to God, and boom prayer. I don't see what that study has to do with what I said...but okay. Those results really aren't surprising :3

Where are those children now? (or will be?) & Do some outside studying on the cultures of the nations Israel attacked. I never said I can preform miracles. I said that I prayed to God, and Jesus chose to heal. And you cannot put God in a science lab. Considering the fact that God created the universe, you can't confine Him to it and it's laws.

I'm sorry JosephM, I'm new here xD Everyone, I am responding to PaulS but in a private message. If you have any questions feel free to message me:) Or start a topic in the appropriate forum. Thank you for telling me!

"I have given him rules to live by but if he doesn't follow the rule book then I simply have to disown him as my son". Christianity is not 'Do this, this, and this, or God will throw you into hellfire." We naturally go to hell, it is our natural place to go because we're born sinful. God saves us because He knows we are unable to save ourselves. We CANNOT work our way into Heaven, or earn it. It's not possible. And once you're saved, you're saved. The Holy Spirit lives within you. "I understand it's not his fault that he was born into iniquity - I mean he didn't ask to be but because one of his ancestors ate an apple, well that's just bad luck for my son" If you have a child, you know he will disobey you and be rebellious. Should you still punish your kid when he acts up? Yes? But you KNEW he was going to act up at some point, and throw fits. So why punish him for something that you knew he was already going to do? Ask yourself that. Or would you rather be an automonous robot without any freewill? "Subsequently I have chosen to put him in a place where he will suffer and suffer for all of eternity." no, sweety. Hell is naturally where we go, Hell is a place without God's presence. Yahweh has not said, 'You disobey me and don't follow these rules, then I'm going to just throw you in this fire for eternity!" Hell is where we naturally go if we aren't saved. Hell is a place without the presence of God. If we're not saved by Christ then that is the only possible place for God TO put us. God is love, God is peace, God is joy. If you're not with Him, what do you think the place you're going to is going to be like? "If my younger son is tortured painfully and then hung up on a cross to die, I will feel so much better." Jesus' sacrifice was necessary. It was terrible what He went through, words cannot fully describe it. But God died for us because of His great love for us. It shows how much He loves you, me, and everyone else. "If my older son is prepared to accept that his younger brother suffered all of this pain on his behalf, then and only then, will I spare my older son from that eternal punishment" Only through Jesus' sacrifice could we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. We are born sinful and cannot save ourselves. Yahweh is a righteous judge, He isn't going to let sin go unpunished. So either we suffer from our natural sinfulness in Hell, or we're forgiven through the blood of Jesus. "But his younger brother still has to suffer though, I couldn't possibly have it any other way" No other way is possible. "Does that make sense to anyone for me to do that to my beloved children?" Based off of YOUR explanation, no it does not.

Jesus does still heal people, I have witnessed it. Someone close to me was experiencing a narcotic withdrawal, and was shaking and crying and in extreme pain because of it. I laid my hands on them and prayed to God in Jesus' name for their pain to stop, I prayed for awhile, and then all of a sudden they stopped shaking. Their fever left, and they told me later that they had felt a supernatural warmth come over them, a peace that can't be explained. And they were able to rest and get some sleep. God does choose to heal some people and not others. Why? Because sometimes the best option is for someone to be healed, but sometimes it might not be the best option for them to be healed. I'll give a personal example with me and my OCD. Now that isn't as extreme as a case as sicknesses that others have, but it is like a constant battle in my mind everyday. I remember being in my bed crying to Jesus, asking Him why He doesn't just heal me when He has all the power to. But now I look back on that moment, and I'm thankful that I have OCD. God has used my disorder to teach me strength and endurance, and to teach me how to discern as to what are my thoughts and what aren't. He's still teaching me. So yes, people get sick and suffer. Sometimes it is best for them to be instantly healed in that moment, but sometimes it isn't the best option for them to be instantly healed. You have to remember that this life on earth is so temporary. Heaven is much more real than earth is. We may not understand in the moment why us suffering is being allowed to happen, but God is allowing it to happen for a reason. And always remember: Romans 8:28 (NKJV) "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. "

Hey I used to wonder the same thing when I used to be an atheist. Hopefully I explain myself well. Ever since the fall of man, we are sin. That's our nature, to be sinful. Scripture says how we are born into iniquity. Well, God is a righteous judge. He is not going to let sin go unpunished. So what Jesus Christ did on the cross was He took that punishment. We should be the ones up on the cross facing God's wrath, but we aren't because Jesus did it for us. Jesus Christ died for us to save us because of how much He loves us, He did it so that we could one day live with Him in Heaven. So that we would be able to experience His Glory and be able to worship Him for eternity, and live with Him. You'll see in the Old Testament how the Israelites would have to make a sacrifice as an atonement for their sins, it had to be a male animal that was perfect and without blemish. It didn't provide the gateway to Jehovah (the Father) like Christ's death did, but it did provide a temporary releivance(sp?) of sins so that the prophets could enter into the Holy of Holies without literally dying from God's Awesomeness & Glory. This is really foreshadowing Jesus Christ. Jesus is God, and is male, perfect, and without blemish. He is innocent and without sin, and took on the punishment that we deserved. His the gateway of the tabernacle, the door to Jehovah the Father. WE deserve to be on that cross, but Jesus took the punishment instead. He is the only One who could, because He is perfect. On that Cross, Jesus took ALL of God's wrath. He took the punishment for ALL of our sins, and felt all of our sins. All of the pain and suffering in the world, He felt it on the cross. The cross was not just a physical thing, but way beyond that. What Jesus did is Awesome, it is amazing. I want to cry right not just thinking about. Not out of sadness but out of happiness and just out of absolute awe. That God loves us that much. Not because of us, but because of Him.