Welcome to Gaia! ::

And isn't it so true? biggrin

*reads teh last response* wow talk about a serious mib >.>...anyways chyeah I thought it was funny CAUSE ISH TRUE! >:3....but yeah at first I thought you were goin to talk about how in call of duty 3 one of the souldiers cried out "ALIBA!"

Although I do not believe that Jesus is completely analogous to Staple's "Easy Button" in the idea that He will solve any petty inconvenience in your life, I do believe that He is the answer to many important issues in our lives. Most importantly, He destroyed sin's reigning power by His sacrifice, providing anybody who comes to Him to inherit eternal life. Also, He is able to change our lives, and make us more like Him. In that way, He can solve many problems like selfishness, arrogance, pride, discontentment, etc. through the work of His Holy Spirit. In Him we also find peace to overcome anxiety, love to comfort and share, and joy to shatter the deepest depression. Although I do not believe that in all cases those things are always "easy" to receive, I do believe that they are, and that Jesus is, the answer to life's problems.

The life of a Christian isn't sopposed to be good, in 1st John it says "Do not be suprized if the world hates you". Sometimes life can suck, but in the end Jesus wins!


Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.
--David (Psamls 71:20)


God uses some situations to help us, puts Paul and Sillas in Jail so they can be his witness to people in jail, Paul gets stoned in lystra only to get back up and go to lystra again. God made David a King, and for the next few years Saul tries to kill David, Only to make David a better King.

That doesn't mean that God causes those bad things to happen, he counter-acts what satan does by using them for Good.

Micah

I know of some 'unexplained' or undocumented medical miracles. I SAW a broken leg healed (it was clearly visible), but as it wasn't documented in the first place that wouldn't count. I also know of someone with cancer who survived YEARS in remission with no symptoms and no chemo, radiation, or surgery after being given 3-6 months. The doctors did admit to 'no explanation', but never actually called it a miracle.

But as anyone who reads the Bible knows - miracles are not what win people for God! The Israelites saw the waters parted, and then they grumbled; they received manna from heaven, and then they grumbled; YOU GET THE IDEA!

As to the "easy button" - not a good analogy. God helps us through hard times, doesn't promise to get us out of them. I've also known good Christians who prayed for healing and never received physical healing. God will answer prayers just as parents do - by doing what's TRULY best for us (which is not always what we ask for!)

This makes me wonder if there's something that happened in your life that makes you think this way.
If so then you can pm me and talk to me about it
If not, then dont take offense to that remark I just made, just my brain workin the way it does ><

Either way, God gives us the opprotunity to solve problems WITH HIS HELP. Not on our own. I will now address the issues you've stated:

The single teen mother: God is the giver of all life - he created everything that has life. Why, then, would he give life to a fetus simply to take it away? That is his creation and he has a purpose for that baby. That is why that teen got pregnant - it should be seen as a blessing coming from something bad (ie, getting pregnant as a teen).

The Cancer case: My Pastor had everyone in my church pray that his kidney cancer would go away. It was pretty bad. Within a week the doctor could find nothing in his kidney - he's 100% cured of cancer. He had one kimo theropy session. One can't do that - that was God.
As for those who don't experience the miracle that my pastor did, it is not God's plan for them to live past the time that they die. Maybe someone will come to Christ through their experience. I know my auntie had breast and lung cancer from smoking, and died. We were all sad for the loss until my uncle explained to my grandma that my aunt had given her life to Jesus completely the night before she died. And no, she didn't know that was the night she was going to die.
God took her life on a day she commited her life to him, because He knows she had a very hard life and in Holland, the part of town where she lives would not accept her new found faith, and I dont mean in the same way you and I are not accepted. I mean that some people would shoot her. In her suffering, she gained.

As for the jumper, I'm going to take that as a little bit of sarcastic humor, no?

So, I hope that you can tell that this whole life thing - it isn't about what WE want in it. It's about what GOD wants in it. If His will is done, then we will all benifit in the end. Sometimes our loss plants the seed in another's heart. Sometimes our loss will strengthen our faith in God.
Sometimes we're given trials that we never learn from - not that we can tell at least.

But it's His will, not ours.

That shirt is funny, and it mos def is true. Call on Jesus - truely, with all your heart, mind, and soul - and He will come to your rescue ... whether you realize it or not.

I got a couple of shirts like that from my bookstore mrgreen

I love the one that parodies the T.V. show Heroes on NBC. It says "Hero" in the same font and has a cross on the background instead of an eclipse.



My family didn't exactly document it or write a memoir or anything that extravagant ^^; But my aunt did have leukemia at one point. She returned to the doctor to see if it can be dealt with, but it was gone.

Another family friend had the same thing happen to her when she found out she had breast cancer. And it stunned the doctors and nurses to the point where they all accepted Jesus.

This one may not sound miraculous in the magically-disappeared sense (I wish!), but my mom was operated of cancer THREE times. I know it doesn't sound Earth-shattering and amazing, but the fact that she's alive and well means so much to me. I'm grateful every day.