I'd much rather that Christians spoke of "truth" rather than "God". Then we can discuss what is "true". Sadly, what most Christians call "God" is not true, and doesn't exist.
A lovely interview. I would argue that authentic intellect, working against confirmation bias, is drawn toward God and the Gospel. The true message of the Gospel is one of freedom. God gives us ultimate freedom because through Christ we are finally aware of the nature of the universe and we can freely choose to accept His Salvation and the Kingdom or reject is with full awareness of what we choose to pursue.
Awesome video. The reason I am a Christian, in the very literal meaning of the word, I am a "follower of Christ", not a follower of religion as many people might imply -- is that when I read the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, I came to the conclusion that no man is intelligent enough to make such a story up (for various reasons that I won't go into here). I recognised with my heart, not necessarily with my mind, that I was reading about the teachings and words of God, Himself. I recognised my master. As I continued to read the gospels and other books of the Bible, I felt satisfied in my heart. I do not open the Bible to try to understand it with my mind. The understanding I have from the gospel of Jesus Christ is understood with the heart. When 'so called' intellectuals want to debate me about the Bible, I do not entertain them. That would be like trying to debate the amount of colours in the rainbow to someone who has only ever seen the world through a black and white TV. Utterly pointless.
..also, I have to say that my relationship with Jesus gives me the utmost and FULLEST feeling of Freedom, because I am not afraid of death. The Bible says it is better to die than to be born. And I believe those words. I know that I will take as many breaths as the Lord God says I will take. Not one more and not one less. That's true freedom. Want to know what is not freedom? Walking around the earth never being satisfied and being afraid of death; being afraid of missing out on everything. I know that my Lord has gone to create a mansion for me. If it were not true, He would have told me so. I'm free as a bird... Praise Jesus
Thank you. You nailed it.... The evidence of His existence is acquired one drop of oil at a time through a personal relationship with the Divine. He reveals Himself to a heart courageous enough to open oneself to having that relationship. At the moment I knew in my heart the relationship I sought was real, THEN did I begin to trust and allow my mind to begin to recognize the physical evidences of His existence as they were revealed. Line upon line; precept upon precept; drop by drop until the body of revealed evidence to both mind, spirit and heart becomes a bulwark of knowledge allowed unto me through the exercise of faith that allowed the process to start. Faith that enabled me to start the process, and as it increased from the revealed evidences gathered, supported my desire to continue to learn. To the point that the process is known to be real and the desire to want to learn more evolves into a thirst for more... A deeper relationship; increased knowledge; and anticipation of continued acquisition of knowledge, love and association that His promises of continued growth becomes to my presence upon my passing into that place where faith is replaced by knowledge sure. I look forward with confidence that He knows the moment when my tutelage here is sufficient and when He knows I will advance joyfully forward to that presence to continue my journey of growth following Him.
May our ONLY EVERLASTING LORD/GOD JESUS CHRIST, THE GREATEST EVER AND MOST HIGH, bless and protect you, your Family, your Friends and your Loved Ones forever...Amen.
I asked God if He existed. If He was there. As three weeks went by I heard in my spirit, knew with my mind, I asked, I sought, He showed me. I was born again. God OPENED my eyes and my heart. If you are a doubter simply ask and ask and ask again. He will answer. Then you will know that you know that you know. Blessings J John.
I met an intellectual once, who didn't believe in God, I asked him how does he explain creation.... He said that science knows the universe came from nothing and I asked what about Our Planet.. he said that came from star dust...I asked are you telling me the Atmospheres, stratosphere etc, clouds water rock minerals, all came from star dust.. yes he said... I asked what about Life, he said that came from a mutating cell .. I asked where did that come from he said I don't know, I asked does anyone know, he said No, I asked how can you have faith in something you don't know nothing about, he said we know it happened but not how... I asked does that explain the millions of species? he said yes.. at that point I decided I never want to be an intellectual.
Seven Swords, Good on you INTELLECTUAL, for me is a not a nice word, I find most of these so called INTELLECTUALS are all hat n no saddle, bloody impostors [ sorry about the cussin' but.....]
People of different religions, different narratives ,all believe strongly in what they believe in ,i say good on them if what they believe gets them through this life ,makes it easier, makes death less terrifying as long as its tolerant of all other faiths & none believer's, & take criticism & ridicule in its stride, peace.
I've been to Christian funerals. You can't tell me there's no fear of death among the flock. None of them have ever acted like their loved one is now existing in eternal bliss with their deity.
That's interesting, because I've been to quite a few funerals and in pretty much all of them people were acting like their loved one was in heaven. Maybe you're just in the wrong places?
@Kevin_Solway You must have had a poor sampling. Who is God? God is who he is, he is the creator, author, supreme being, worthy of all praise & worship to name a few. We are because of him. Would you reject the only Son of God?
@@gavin_hill So you think God is some kind of powerful conscious being who goes around doing stuff? I see no evidence for the existence of such a God. That which I call "God" is altogether different to what you are calling "God".
@@gavin_hill That which I all "God" is "the All". It is all that exists. It is the Totality of all that exists. The Infinite. The Absolute. In the words of Ramakrishna, "God alone is real. All else is illusory". Thus, God is necessarily the first and the last, because there is nothing else. This is entirely different to the "God" that most Christians believe in.
@@KevinSolway To get back to the point of a "relationship" , you could either say God is within or without. God is beyond the blurry line of within vs without but we conceptualize "locality" because we are finite being. Some embrace the finite aspect of their being, others draw new lines of inquiry to get the conversation going. But in the end, it all relates.
Thank you John, I very much enjoy your conversations.
Spot on. Thank you both.
No freedom without the Truth
The truth will set you free
th-cam.com/video/sRliPatzLiI/w-d-xo.html
I'd much rather that Christians spoke of "truth" rather than "God". Then we can discuss what is "true". Sadly, what most Christians call "God" is not true, and doesn't exist.
@@KevinSolway I wouldn’t be so bold as to claim the gods don’t exist but I’ve never seen any good evidence to the contrary.
It is rational to believe things because they are likely to be true, not because they make you feel better.
May I recommend 'Surprised by Joy' by C.S.Lewis. A very rational person who came to belief and certainly did not feel better by it.
Dr Jensen is such a great guy
A lovely interview. I would argue that authentic intellect, working against confirmation bias, is drawn toward God and the Gospel. The true message of the Gospel is one of freedom. God gives us ultimate freedom because through Christ we are finally aware of the nature of the universe and we can freely choose to accept His Salvation and the Kingdom or reject is with full awareness of what we choose to pursue.
Awesome video. The reason I am a Christian, in the very literal meaning of the word, I am a "follower of Christ", not a follower of religion as many people might imply -- is that when I read the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, I came to the conclusion that no man is intelligent enough to make such a story up (for various reasons that I won't go into here). I recognised with my heart, not necessarily with my mind, that I was reading about the teachings and words of God, Himself. I recognised my master. As I continued to read the gospels and other books of the Bible, I felt satisfied in my heart. I do not open the Bible to try to understand it with my mind. The understanding I have from the gospel of Jesus Christ is understood with the heart. When 'so called' intellectuals want to debate me about the Bible, I do not entertain them. That would be like trying to debate the amount of colours in the rainbow to someone who has only ever seen the world through a black and white TV. Utterly pointless.
..also, I have to say that my relationship with Jesus gives me the utmost and FULLEST feeling of Freedom, because I am not afraid of death. The Bible says it is better to die than to be born. And I believe those words. I know that I will take as many breaths as the Lord God says I will take. Not one more and not one less. That's true freedom. Want to know what is not freedom? Walking around the earth never being satisfied and being afraid of death; being afraid of missing out on everything. I know that my Lord has gone to create a mansion for me. If it were not true, He would have told me so. I'm free as a bird... Praise Jesus
@@FederationOfLight
Praise God for your testimony brother, is there something that could convince you that God is not real?
@@gavin_hill Short of the majesty and awe of the entire universe? Absolutely not.
Two thousand years and not a shred of good evidence has ever been produced. You are deluding yourself because it feels nice.
@@FederationOfLight
That is good brother, I just wanted to ensure you weren't in the balance with evidence for or against God.
Thank you. You nailed it.... The evidence of His existence is acquired one drop of oil at a time through a personal relationship with the Divine. He reveals Himself to a heart courageous enough to open oneself to having that relationship. At the moment I knew in my heart the relationship I sought was real, THEN did I begin to trust and allow my mind to begin to recognize the physical evidences of His existence as they were revealed.
Line upon line; precept upon precept; drop by drop until the body of revealed evidence to both mind, spirit and heart becomes a bulwark of knowledge allowed unto me through the exercise of faith that allowed the process to start.
Faith that enabled me to start the process, and as it increased from the revealed evidences gathered, supported my desire to continue to learn. To the point that the process is known to be real and the desire to want to learn more evolves into a thirst for more... A deeper relationship; increased knowledge; and anticipation of continued acquisition of knowledge, love and association that His promises of continued growth becomes to my presence upon my passing into that place where faith is replaced by knowledge sure.
I look forward with confidence that He knows the moment when my tutelage here is sufficient and when He knows I will advance joyfully forward to that presence to continue my journey of growth following Him.
May our ONLY EVERLASTING LORD/GOD JESUS CHRIST, THE GREATEST EVER AND MOST HIGH, bless and protect you, your Family, your Friends and your Loved Ones forever...Amen.
Jesus is the only answer, I know it in my life every day, the hope he fills you with is overwhelming, give him a try
Good stuff John and Peter. Thanks for sharing. Jesus is indeed who he said he is.
How do you know that?
"I'm not a rocket scientists", you certainly give a good impression of one.
I asked God if He existed. If He was there. As three weeks went by I heard in my spirit, knew with my mind, I asked, I sought, He showed me. I was born again. God OPENED my eyes and my heart. If you are a doubter simply ask and ask and ask again. He will answer. Then you will know that you know that you know. Blessings J John.
@J_John
Praise God for your testimony brother.
All people know God exists.
How did you hear that in your spirit? I don’t understand.
I met an intellectual once, who didn't believe in God, I asked him how does he explain creation.... He said that science knows the universe came from nothing and I asked what about Our Planet.. he said that came from star dust...I asked are you telling me the Atmospheres, stratosphere etc, clouds water rock minerals, all came from star dust.. yes he said... I asked what about Life, he said that came from a mutating cell .. I asked where did that come from he said I don't know, I asked does anyone know, he said No, I asked how can you have faith in something you don't know nothing about, he said we know it happened but not how... I asked does that explain the millions of species? he said yes.. at that point I decided I never want to be an intellectual.
Seven Swords, Good on you INTELLECTUAL, for me is a not a nice word, I find most of these so called INTELLECTUALS are all hat n no saddle, bloody impostors [ sorry about the cussin' but.....]
I had kids, they are growing up, its all gravy from here
People of different religions, different narratives ,all believe strongly in what they believe in ,i say good on them if what they believe gets them through this life ,makes it easier, makes death less terrifying as long as its tolerant of all other faiths & none believer's, & take criticism & ridicule in its stride, peace.
@Tom_Suibney
There is no benefit in believing a lie.
There is only one God.
Would you reject the only Son of God?
It’s so strange that people still believe these Bronze Age myths in the 21st century.
I've been to Christian funerals. You can't tell me there's no fear of death among the flock. None of them have ever acted like their loved one is now existing in eternal bliss with their deity.
Of course they are sad they lost loved ones??
Even jesus wept.
We are all human beings, but did you ask them what they thought?
@Randy_Gault
Would you reject the only son of God?
@@gavin_hill sorry, what do you mean,
Would I reject jesus,
Never
@@gavin_hill I would reject anything supernatural.
That's interesting, because I've been to quite a few funerals and in pretty much all of them people were acting like their loved one was in heaven. Maybe you're just in the wrong places?
Hey, mate, DO YOU REALLY KNOW GOD?? He doesn't take away, in fact knowing HIM, gives you a supernatural freedom!! UNDERLINE THAT IN RED INK!!
A baseless assertion... unless you can demonstrate that your statement is accurate?
Algorithm
You mean algorithms are the results of resistance to disclosure ?
Christians never explain or define what they mean by "God". Missing this simple first step, everything else they say on the subject is meaningless.
@Kevin_Solway
You must have had a poor sampling.
Who is God?
God is who he is, he is the creator, author, supreme being, worthy of all praise & worship to name a few. We are because of him.
Would you reject the only Son of God?
@@gavin_hill So you think God is some kind of powerful conscious being who goes around doing stuff?
I see no evidence for the existence of such a God.
That which I call "God" is altogether different to what you are calling "God".
@@KevinSolway
What do you call God?
Of course, he is the supreme being, first and last creator of all.
@@gavin_hill That which I all "God" is "the All". It is all that exists. It is the Totality of all that exists. The Infinite. The Absolute. In the words of Ramakrishna, "God alone is real. All else is illusory". Thus, God is necessarily the first and the last, because there is nothing else. This is entirely different to the "God" that most Christians believe in.
@@KevinSolway To get back to the point of a "relationship" , you could either say God is within or without. God is beyond the blurry line of within vs without but we conceptualize "locality" because we are finite being. Some embrace the finite aspect of their being, others draw new lines of inquiry to get the conversation going. But in the end, it all relates.