"I seek God to help me overcome the sin.  It is in humility that we find real strength from God to help us overcome the sin".

So have you over come your sins yet? Not totally - as I grow in God, He reveals new things to me that before I would not have understood.  It is a gradual growing process - God reveals new things to me more often than you would think, either by directly speaking to me, or through visions. Or do u struggle with it every minute of the day? No - it is much better than before - it used to be a monumental struggle not to be consumed with depression and anger, before God touched me. I suppose to reason i dont take such experiences as evidence anymore, is because i see no real difference between one versions Gods transformations and a non believers desire to better the human species and follow the humanitarian virtures of simply being good to one another. Transformation doesn't happen 100% immediately - that contradicts anything the Bible teaches.  What it teaches is that there is a gradual transformation - "here a little, there a little".

To me, true transformation would logically mean you are cleaned of sins and stop sinning since you have a new nature and the old is said to have passed, yet as i said, conversion or no conversion doesnt seem to change the fact , that not everyone goes out of their way to be bad to others while some do seem too.  When you ask Jesus for forgiveness, the old slate is wiped clean.  However, you still have the old man, the carnal man, to overcome.  This is a process, and it is not an overnight one either.  However, that is why the grace of God is so important - to help you grow daily.

 "That does not mean that your standard for good will ever match up to His standard".

To me, his standards are far from good to be honest. There are some things he allows and endorses that i would deem immoral. I am skeptical about any morality that is derived from a primative civilations attitudes and more importantly, about any desire to follow an authorities without first evaluating whether they are moral. After all if this authority says its ok to have slaves or to rape woman and then marry them  later, who would argue? If we deem them to be the moral authority? You get my meaning? Ian, there are things in God's OT law that used to confuse me terribly.  However, when God sheds light on the real meanings of the law, and not just the literal meanings, it makes so much sense.  As far as the slavery for instance, that speaks of being a slave to Christ.  He purchased me through His vicarious sacrifice.  Instead of taking on my own punishments for my sin, I have accepted His atonement in my life.  From there, He has given me so much.  If you knew me before God truly brought transformation in my life, you would be shocked to see how far I have come.  Suicidal thoughts, hatreds, addictions - so much of it was so painful.  Life was hell. When God finally came into my heart and began the transformation process, it has done so much for me.  Unless you experience it, it is hard to explain.  I feel that maybe when you were saved, you never felt God's presence.  If you have ever drank tequila, it is one of the best ways to describe it.  It is a warm feeling that encompasses your whole being, and fills you with joy that is hard to describe.  You feel all bubbly on the inside, and warm - that is the Holy Ghost fire.   The peace...ahhh....I can actually feel it while I am writing to you, because I am thinking about it, and giving Him praise in our conversation.  If you ever experienced it, it would be hard put to deny it.  If you ever want to experience it, it is there for you, Ian.  It is there for anyone who truly wants to feel His presence. 

I get my morality from my family, from the understanding that life is short and all things are precious. I get it from knowing that hurting people emotionally or physically hurts myself in the long run as well and like wise doing good things makes you feel better and tends to make your life better over all.  God has given us all a conscience, a moral compass, to lead us to the Light, which is Christ.  I see that your compass is still running good ;-).  Most atheists I talk to on here are good hearted people.  That is surprising to many Christians, who are hurt when they talk to atheists, not understanding them.  I have had many conversations with non-believers, but as you said, we all come from one blood.  As Christ put it, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".  The KJV has a slightly different wording, but the meaning is exactly the same - Matthew 7:12 - "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."

I must also apologize to you on being to confrontational in previous blogs. I think its because of the nonsense i delt with and the understanding you require pure faith to believe the miracles are truly from God and other such claims, that i forget my manners. Again i apologize for that. No matter how much i may disagree i should strive to be more civil in my approach. I'm glad for you this faith gives u purpose and helps you strive to be moral. But i tend to think you would be moral with, or without God.  Thank you for that Ian.  Honestly, without God's intervention in my life, I fully believe right now I would either be dead, high on drugs or in prison.  My life was totally going down the tubes, and I was on my last leg when He stepped in.  As I said, what He has done in my life is unbelievable.  So many miracles in my own life.  I know in the other conversations, I spent a lot of time talking about miracles others have witnessed, such as ears restored to normal, legs growing out, a foot being turned supernaturally,  etc.  In my own life, I have seen God raise one person from the dead via prayer - my uncle.  He was on His deathbed, and I begged God to not let him go to hell.  He awoke from his deathbed, was alive for three more weeks - long enough to accept Jesus and get baptized, and then he died right after.  I have seen my son come to being - my wife was told by many doctors that she was unable to conceive, yet we prayed for months, and here he is.  I have asked God for many miracles that I have seen come to pass - money come in, long lines instantly taken care of...I even prayed one time for a hail storm as a sign from God, and Kentucky had a state-wide hail storm that caught the weathermen off guard.

Ian, you may not believe in my God, but He is real.  I have witnessed His power, I am filled with the Holy Ghost with evidence of speaking in heavenly tongues.  I hear God's voice (most of the time, it is a still small voice, as what Elijah heard).  I have never seen angels like some have, but I believe I have seen them in human form (like in Hebrews 13:2).  I saw my wife in a dream months before we got together - the dream was prophetic of exactly what she was going through before it happened.  There are so many things I could tell you Ian - these are just a handful of them.  God has proved Himself to me over and over again...no matter what anyone else thinks, I have no doubt.  

You are welcome to your belief, and I appreciate friendly discussion.  I don't mind discussing different outlooks, as long as we do it in a friendly manner - that I am totally okay with. 

"I seek God to help me overcome the sin.  It is in humility that we find real strength from God to help us overcome the sin".

So have you over come your sins yet? Or do u struggle with it every minute of the day? I suppose to reason i dont take such experiences as evidence anymore, is because i see no real difference between one versions Gods transformations and a non believers desire to better the human species and follow the humanitarian virtures of simply being good to one another.

To me, true transformation would logically mean you are cleaned of sins and stop sinning since you have a new nature and the old is said to have passed, yet as i said, conversion or no conversion doesnt seem to change the fact , that not everyone goes out of their way to be bad to others while some do seem too.

 "That does not mean that your standard for good will ever match up to His standard".

To me, his standards are far from good to be honest. There are some things he allows and endorses that i would deem immoral. I am skeptical about any morality that is derived from a primative civilations attitudes and more importantly, about any desire to follow an authorities without first evaluating whether they are moral. After all if this authority says its ok to have slaves or to rape woman and then marry them  later, who would argue? If we deem them to be the moral authority? You get my meaning?

I get my morality from my family, from the understanding that life is short and all things are precious. I get it from knowing that hurting people emotionally or physically hurts myself in the long run as well and like wise doing good things makes you feel better and tends to make your life better over all.

I must also apologize to you on being to confrontational in previous blogs. I think its because of the nonsense i delt with and the understanding you require pure faith to believe the miracles are truly from God and other such claims, that i forget my manners. Again i apologize for that. No matter how much i may disagree i should strive to be more civil in my approach. I'm glad for you this faith gives u purpose and helps you strive to be moral. But i tend to think you would be moral with, or without God.

Ian, you are correct.  Every Christian has sinned.  This message is not for the regular Christian who does have sin, but strives to overcome those sins.  It has to do with those who know the truth, yet willingly embrace their sin.  According to the Bible, not one of us is perfect - we all have sin.  That includes me - I admit I am not perfect.  However, the sin in my life, I pray for forgiveness, and not only that, I seek God to help me overcome the sin.  It is in humility that we find real strength from God to help us overcome the sin.

To you, the Holy Spirit idea may not mean much, but for someone (like me) who has genuinely experienced His transforming power (literally overnight in my life, and in many others who have really experienced God), I know of His transforming power.  You can strive to do better, even not believing in God.  That does not mean that your standard for good will ever match up to His standard.  I can always try to do my best, but on my own, it will never match up to God's perfection.  That is why coming to God through Jesus is so important.  His grace (which makes up the gap between our best and what is required by God), plus His ministry in our lives, helps us grow up in God's standard, not man's.

That is the point here - whose standard do you use for "good"?  If you use man's, it will always fall short of God's standard. 

I haven't met or been a Christian that hasn't sinned or made mistakes in life.

But i suppose you are talking about those who don't really put much effort into it ha.

To me it demonstrates this holy spirit idea of being a new creature doesnt seem to change anything in any real way. Good people strive to do good and bad people don't. Wether they believe in a god or not.

I have continued to use Blogger.com to begin sharing and storing my messages - there is a new option for anonymous posting there now, if you like to leave a comment.