Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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No monkey wrenches in God's plans. Please show me anywhere in the bible where it says you have to be a Christian to become born again? It's not there because it has NOTHING to do with being saved. Everyday all around the world there are people from all walks of like, all religions (including Islam, Buddhist's, Jewish folks, etc...) that are being saved by accepting Christ. They don't have to be Christians to accept Christ. No contradictions.

Being saved from eternal death has nothing to do with what religion you are. If people would quit listening to what the world says about it and really find out for themselves, they would be surprised. Most people think that if they get saved it means that they can't have fun anymore, they can't associate with their friends anymore, and that they live this boring, meaningless, poverty stricken life. This couldn't be any further from the truth! Knowing your eternal salvation is sealed with Christ by the Holy Spirit is the best thing in the whole universe! You can live with freedom & joy. You don't have to worry about anything anymore and you can just live life to the fullest knowing it will only get better after you die!

On the flipside, you can have all the fun you want (sin & strife) in this life, and then spend eternity in Hell knowing that you had the chance to give your life to Christ and denied it. Then on Judgement Day you will stand before Christ knowing your fate and He will say "Depart from ME, I never knew you!" I just hope that some of you will one day take the time to study the bible, and then make your own decisions based on research and not just what you think you know.

As for your percentages on World Religion, that looks pretty close to what is reported by most groups. I don't exactly know what you are trying to point out or prove by the numbers. I haven't said anything about Christians being the largest anything. It really doesn't matter what religion you are or what the numbers say or anything. None of that has anything to do with your eternal salvation. That is just the world keeping non-believers confused and diverting them from the Truth.

The bible teaches that few will enter into the gates of Heaven, however, it is God's wish that all would return to him. He did give us freedom of choice though, so it's up to each individual to decide.

One funny side note to the statistics. I noticed after doing some reading on a couple of the different sites that it is common knowledge that over 75% of people in North America claim to be Christian (based on Census reports), but yet these sites take it upon themselves to say that a more realistic number is about 35%. I guess they just figure most of them don't mean it? LoL! Which might be true? I know a lot of people who say they are one thing or another, but don't really mean it or live like they mean it, so who knows? I just thought that was funny.

I really hope anybody who cares about their eternal destiny just takes some time on their own to do the research. Don't take my word for it, or anyone else's for that matter. Study the bible, the koran, the book of mormon, learn about buddhism, or other religions and make your own choice. You will ultimately be held accountable for your decision anyway, so be informed. God Bless.

SprintFreak - What your not understanding and I don't think I will get you to understand or you would already is: That is YOUR belief of what YOUR religion says it takes to enter YOUR heaven. The point being made with the statistics is that over 2/3rds of the world believes differently. I will put it another way. Let's say (hypothetically) my religion teaches that Jesus Christ is not the savior, in fact he was a simple mortal that did outstanding things. My religion also teaches a path to heightened elightenment achived through a spiritual centering with the universe. No heaven, no hell. How can I then accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior without abandoning what I beleive to be true? If I do accept him as my personal savior how can I not be a Christian as this on of the most fundamental beliefs of many Christians?

There are many types of religions and as pointed out above the vast majority do not see it the way you do. You stated earlier "Choose Wisely". Are you sure you did?

That is why I said to research many different religions if you like, then make a wise decision.  I have studied many different religions, and the only one that has no errors, no contradictions, nothing that has ever been proved wrong, is the bible. 

I am still waiting for you to point out anything that is contradictory or wrong in the bible.  Haven't found anything yet?  That is because there is nothing.  Scholars for centuries have been looking for the errors or contradictions in the bible, and they still haven't found any, wonder why?  Could it be that there just hasn't been anyone smart enough yet?  Or is it because it was inspired by God?

All other religions past or present have had errors, contradictions, or leaders who were merely mortal, died and never rose again.  Even scientists have not been able to disprove the fact that Christ rose from the dead.  It is funny that science puts its faith in theories that by their own admission have almost no chance that they ever happened, but yet refuse to believe that a Divine Creator created the entire universe and everything in it.  How sane is that?  Some of the brightest minds in science have said many times that divine creation has a much higher probability of happening than any other theory out there in terms of mathmatics & laws of probability.  But yet, many in the world still refuse to even investigate it.

If someone in the world had the cure for cancer, everybody in the world would want to know about it, right?  Well, what Jesus Christ offers is better than that, He offers eternal life!  And the whole world deserves to at least know about it, right?  Each person can make up their own mind, but like I said before, we all we have to stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ and give an account of ourselves.  Please at least give it some time & research.  I am telling you, study different religions and then make up your own mind.  Who doesn't want to spend eternity in Heaven and not Hell?  Many will never make a choice and suffer for it.  Just remember that you have until your last breath.  God is a gracious & merciful God and gives you plenty of time to make your choice.  But it is still up to you to decide, and you can never say you didn't know you had such a simple choice.  God Bless.

On a lighter, more topical note, is anyone going to Dixie for WoO race tomorrow night? Its in the bible belt you know? LoL! You might actually have to sit next to some bible believing Baptists (oh no! ghasp!). There are lots of them down here you know?

Seriously though, I am very excited to see the Outlaws run Dixie. It looks like a very racey joint. High banked, red clay, about 3/8 of mile, maybe 4/10. I have seen videos of late model shows there and it always seems to slick off during the A-main, but the action seemed good. Lots of 2-3 wide racing with the late models. I am hoping to see at least 35 cars and some 2-3 wide racing of the winged variety!

For anyone who has never been there, you will be surprised if it is your first time. The track is right in town, right off of HWY 92. You turn onto a little industrial park drive and go about 1/2 mile and the street dead ends in the parking lot of the track. There is a land fill on the other side of it and during the week the trucks actually go right through the pits to get to the land fill. You are literally about 1/2 mile from shopping plaza's and a four lane HWY. I am surprised they have never been forced out. Probably some grandfather laws at work. Plus, we are talking about the Deep South here, and they love their racing! Anyway, should be a good show for anyone within driving distance.

"the only one that has no errors, no contradictions, nothing that has ever been proved wrong, is the bible."

Please explain the inconsistencies between the four gospels. I could go into a long drawn out process of pointing the inconsistencies out but, I want you to honestly say that you don't believe that there are any.

Ah yeah. Nevermind.

Point them out, please.  Many people blindly say that they can find errors or contradictions, but never seem to be able to bring any to light.  As said above, you could be the first!  Scholars for years have tried and never been able to show or prove any, but you might be the one? 

I was on another site last night where people were debating Divine Creation and this fellow had several posts on there talking about all the science behind the "big bang" theory, and how electricity sparked an explosion and over billions & billions of years we evolved from water into human beings.  He said he had "science" to back himself up.  Someone else asked him if he could prove anything about the theory?  He shamefully admitted, "NO, but scientific theory is stronger than what the bible says." was his response.  So the other poster asked him if he believed that science is 100% correct?  "Yes, things are proven through science." he said.  What about all the times over the centuries that science has been wrong, asked the other poster?  Theories about the stars, about the earth being flat, about gravity, about the age of earth, about thousands of things?  The other gentleman finally agreed that science is only as reliable as what you know at that particular time.

On the flipside, the other poster asked how many things in the bible have been proven true?  Both were in agreement again, all of them!  Anything the bible has ever made claims about has been proven true.  So, once again I ask, which is the more sane choice?  Something without error that can be proven true, or theories, religions based on humans or animals, etc...?  Just do the research, then make your decision.  I can't tell you what to believe, and you may end up choosing something different, and that is your choice.  Just get all the facts first.  God Bless.

He will never understand my point which is that the pit area of a race track is not the place for a revival tent full of holy rollers hassling people as they walk by. They can believe whatever they want including interpreting the text at John 3:3 as applying to all religions that do not accept Jesus. I fail to understand why I should concern myself with these things at an 8 hour sporting event. Like I said, I don't have a problem with an invocation asking for a safe night of racing or Christian racers getting together to say a prayer before the races. Matter of fact, I'm not one of those people who's going to whine to the ACLU because there's a nativity scene in the town square or a Christmas tree at the court house. When I drive past they're not going to grab me by the arm and try to preach to me. A "portable church" does not belong in the pit area of a race track, that's my point. If it's a multi day show there are plenty of churches in the community, I'm sure they would open their doors to campers from the race track.

I won't say what I believe, that's my personal business. For other Sprint fans to be so arrogant regarding their faith that they presume I'm condemned for not sharing their beliefs is going way beyond my concerns about fellow racefans. Like I said, I don't sit in section C, row 15, seat 10 worrying what religion the guy in section B, row 21, seat 3 is. Actually, I stand in the infield with a camera and don't interact with the fans most nights but you get my point.

Stan Meissner (Check out the photo gallery and blog)

Website
www.gotomn.com
Photos
Blog

I hate to even get involved but......................Here you are Sprint Freak - 101 errors in the bible:

http://www.answering-christianity.com/101_bible_contradictions.htm

God I love religion!

Would you like the answers, or the falsehoods of all 101? It will take a while, but I will get them all if you are truely interested? I have already looked through most of them, and I do not claim to be an authority on all biblical text, but many of the 101 contradictions that are pointed out are not even talking about the same things, in other words how can they be contradicting each other if they are talking about separate things? How many of these have you looked up for yourself? It might be a good practice to actually see what the Truth says and to see that once again, there are no errors or contradictions.

Just let me know if you're serious and if you are we will take all 101 one by one. God Bless.

#1 Who incited David to count the fighting men of Israel?

First of all, it was not the fighting men of Israel he was counting. He was taking a census of all the men of Israel & Judah, so lets get that correct. Census' were based on the total count of men who were military age. Second, the Lord's anger was what moved David and the Lord allowed Satan to be used to carry out Judgement.

David conducted the census out of selfish desires, which are not of the Lord, that is why Satan (actually in the context used here it's literal translation was "adversary" was allowed to be used to further God's will because Satan is not allowed to carry out evil intentions without God's will allowing it for His ultimate glory. The Lord can use evil for purposes of Judgement or discipline as referenced in I Kings 22: 19-23.

Now, on to #2!

2. In that count how many fighting men were found in Israel?

• Eight hundred thousand (2 Samuel 24:9)
• One million, one hundred thousand (I Chronicles 21:5)

After doing research on these passages I found that the different numbers in each passage is to keep with historical context of each author. Original transcripts did not use numbers, but notations for the representation of the actual numbers, which by all accounts were only round numbers attempting to reflect the enormous size of the population of men living in Israel & Judah at the time.

3. How many fighting men were found in Judah?

• Five hundred thousand (2 Samuel 24:9)
• Four hundred and seventy thousand (I Chronicles 21:5)

See the answer to #2.

Jesus Christ people - GIVE it UP! God Dam it you aren't going to resolve this here. For the love of [enter name of invisible friend of your choice here] LET's GO RACING!

4. God sent his prophet to threaten David with how many years of famine?

• Seven (2 Samuel 24:13)
• Three (I Chronicles 21:12)

Once again, the numbers in Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles are just representations of actual notations in the literal transcripts.  Most biblical scholars believe it was seven years.

5. How old was Ahaziah when he began to rule over Jerusalem?

• Twenty-two (2 Kings 8:26)
• Forty-two (2 Chronicles 22:2)

Same answer as above. Most biblical scholars say he was actually 22 when he became King.

Maybe if we ignore him he'll stop

I studied the bible extensively for 25 years, served as a volunteer minister which included giving sermons and still have a library that includes a concordance as well as an interlinear translation of the Koine Greek of the first century among other reference works. Nevertheless, I still don't give a d*mn what the religious beliefs of the other racefans are. Now sit down and enjoy the races.

Stan Meissner (Check out the photo gallery and blog)

Website
www.gotomn.com
Photos
Blog

After doing research on these passages I found that the different numbers in each passage is to keep with historical context of each author. Original transcripts did not use numbers, but notations for the representation of the actual numbers, which by all accounts were only round numbers attempting to reflect the enormous size of the population of men living in Israel & Judah at the time.

There you have it - Based on the context of each author. That puts the bible in the same realm as every other book of short stories. But face it - It should be on the NY Times Best seller list as:

- Last year Bible sales accounted for nearly $400 million in its various versions

That is some major money going in someones pockets.

The bible, if the true word of god is based on many many years of translation. Do you remember the game kids play where they stand in a line and whisper one sentence to each other and as it goes through the line it changes. Same thing here.

The thing you need to realize Sprint Freak is that no one is questioning your beliefs. No one here is saying your religion is wrong. It's what you believe in, but that does not give you the right to put undue pressure on people to believe what you do. And this is what you are doing with your nonsense.

Remember Obama for President

Jesusfreak...err I mean Sprintfreak, we get the idea you love your omniscient being in the sky with loads of fervor. The part you fail to see is NOBODY gives a rats butt about it! Bottle that thumping up and keep it inside you when you are in the company of others. Nothing worse than having a racing experience ruined by a thumper experience. I agree with Stan Meissner about the revival at the racetrack....pure BS. That kind of garbage will drive away race fans in droves. Anyone seen the drug free zone signs in cities? They are usually near churches and schools and such. I think we may need religion free zone signs at race tracks.