A Young Boy's Search for God

[charleslouis]

 The Boy's Story
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI5dKMlrfzU

[Rob W. Case]

I watched your YouTube video charleslouis, and some thoughts immediately spring to mind. For one, as you anticipated serving the Lord in your church, you possessed a degree of awe, a sensitivity, a passion, and took that to action in following your ambition to serve God. This is a thing I think we need more of in our world, our society, and our country. There is way too much hatred, a cold disregard for human life and other people, and an ever growing strain of inconsideration and selfishness that makes people overly obnoxious in stepping on other people's toes. But it's not just that. People today are unteachable. They are unteachable because they are way too stubborn, prideful, and have their hearts set on what they want to believe... not caring about what is true, right, or fixing problems with solutions. And this causes a rottenness within our souls, our psychology, our relationships with others, and a disconnect from God.

I always say this now, because I include myself in this. God is more faithful to us, than we can ever be to him. God is also love (1 John 4:8), and He did everything He could do to open the doors of Heaven to us (John 3:16). Then He offered us a way to have a relationship with Him, and from that relationship, He sets us out on a path to fulfill the role that he has designated for us, and complete the mission He set out for us till He returns. IThis dynamic is brilliantly illustrated in Philippians 1:6 where it states....

I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

The task at hand, is to persevere, endure, and to never, ever give up. There are many struggles, both inward and outward (I have my share of them), but thankfully God stays faithful to us as long as we stay focused on Him, and the passions that He instilled within us with, and do not give up.

Your story is a tenderhearted one, one that documents observance, passion, and direction of which you look back on later in life, evaluate, and see what changed, in ways you cannot imagine, and if people look at it with a teachable and sensitive disposition, they will see that. Thank you for sharing.

[rampage]

Oct 25, 2023 13:34:35 GMT -6 Rob W. Case said:

 your ambition to serve God

Laudable.

Some thoughts to bear in mind.

Some presume to serve god while serving themselves. They avoid interference by quoting scripture and declaring it the will of god. A classic example, "spare the rod, spoil the child", used by some as an excuse for child abuse.

"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful." sometimes attributed to Seneca the Younger (c.3 BCE - CE 65) 

It may differ from one religion to another, but monotheists must acknowledge, to the degree various different gods differ, only at most one such religious description can be correct. They can't both be correct if they contradict.

Compounding that, irrefutably scriptural dictates are about religion. But god and religion are not necessarily the same.

  "Among life's perpetually charming questions is whether the truly evil do more harm than the self-righteous and wrong." Jon Margolis 

  - Trust those that seek the truth, distrust those that claim to have found it. - paraphrase of words attributed to the Buddha

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[Rob W. Case]

Nov 21, 2023 23:18:53 GMT -6 rampage said:

Some presume to serve god while serving themselves. They avoid interference by quoting scripture and declaring it the will of god. A classic example, "spare the rod, spoil the child", used by some as an excuse for child abuse.

I don't doubt Charleslouis's intentions, though I do agree that people have abused scripture to serve themselves. Jesus warned about this, as is recorded in Matthew 7:15-20...

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

The wisdom behind this is that if something outwardly professes to be something good, but actually does things that cause damage, cause ignorance (and in turn allow someone to be ruinously unprepared to meet a real threat), intentionally mislead someone, and lead people to destruction, that person is a false prophet, and they are "ravenous wolves" because they assure these bad outcomes by claiming to be something that is true or right, and in so doing, earn trust. This happened a lot before Israel was invaded by Babylon, and even after. Jeremiah records the warnings in Jeremiah chapter 23 and Ezekiel, who was in exile in Babylon, in chapter 34. The last Kings of Israel brought up among them "prophets" who told them what they wanted to hear, and in so doing, became more blind and more vulnerable to the Babylonian invasion, particularly in Judah.

Nov 21, 2023 23:18:53 GMT -6 rampage said:

"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful." sometimes attributed to Seneca the Younger (c.3 BCE - CE 65) It may differ from one religion to another, but monotheists must acknowledge, to the degree various different gods differ, only at most one such religious description can be correct. They can't both be correct if they contradict. Compounding that, irrefutably scriptural dictates are about religion. But god and religion are not necessarily the same.

I know this quote is commonly attributed to Seneca, but it is mistakenly attributed to him. How do I know this? In Volume 1 of "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", written by Edward Gibbon, he writes, "“The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord."

This is some extremely interesting stuff here, but first.....

The Romans were polytheistic, and worshipped many gods. The only way people could have a sense of tolerance in this is that the worshipper interchangeably worshipped a god for THEIR OWN USE, since "gods" in a polytheistic setting had a particular purpose or perceived "specialty" assigned to them. From their standpoint, there was no harm done, and none had the power to show that they were the truth, particularly in the form of a graven image. In other words, the worshipper who believed in these many "gods" worshipped them for a purpose to serve themselves, not be held under a standard of accountability to one God. The philosopher, who was considered the wise men of their day (especially the Stoics), were pondering how to navigate life and document "readings" and habits of human behavior that were so profound that we attribute and see how it resonates in human nature today. When the Apostle Paul conversed with the Stoics at Mars Hill, many were intrigued enough to hear what he had to say, so they let him speak. But when he spoke about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, some scoffed at such an idea of someone coming back from the dead, and some believed him. As for rulers in that time, they worshipped and relied on divinations and "strength" in these "deities" in making big decisions, particularly ones that affected the direction of a Roman province by a governor, or even by the emperor himself.

To your point about God and religion not being the same, I agree in many cases. In James 1:7, James, brother of Jesus states that....

27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

What does that mean? Well before the Babylonians leveled Judah and the temple, God gave numerous chances to a "rebellious and stiff-necked people" (Ezekiel 2:4) to repent and come to Him. One of the things they did was they exploited the widows and oppressed the orphans. But before I go deeper, I will explain the lead up to this point. In Exodus 22:22-24, as God is establishing a law for which his newly established people would be held accountable, God says that you should not afflict any orphan or widow. In Deutoronomy 27:19, he goes a step further and says "Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.” Fast forward hundreds of years later, and they have become so rotten that the act becomes so common (Ezek. 22:7; Zech. 7:10; Mal. 3:5). What this reveals is a real heart problem. When you become so bad that you oppress, exploit, and treat the least among you, the most vulnerable of people at that time, then you are so rotten that God is going to hear their cry and execute judgment on them. Fast forward several hundred years after that, when James says what "true religion" is. James is saying that when you keep in communion with God, and you have such a soft heart to care for the most vulnerable, and make it a point to look after them, that is true religion.

Nov 21, 2023 23:18:53 GMT -6 rampage said:

"Among life's perpetually charming questions is whether the truly evil do more harm than the self-righteous and wrong." Jon Margolis

- Trust those that seek the truth, distrust those that claim to have found it. - paraphrase of words attributed to the Buddha

People are people, and today, as I read and teach the Old Testament with history laid out in front of me, I am grieved to say that on the world's stage, we are becoming more and more of the "rebellious, stiff-necked people" that Ezekiel had to deal with before the Babylonians leveled Judah. Do I think that such a thing will happen again similar to that? Yes.

In Buddah's time I can see where he could make that claim. After all, he was an eastern philosopher and philosophers, especially ancient ones (like Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates) could never pin down the massive undertaking of trying to define truth because A. they had their limits and were not all knowing and B. truth has to be absolute, transcendent, objective, and universal. God holds these components in place, and Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). This is verifiable so long as one has the humility and ability to be teachable.

[rampage]

RW,

Your perspective seems conspicuously both well informed, and well intended. Your thoughtful posts are a pleasure to read.
While I agree with some of it, you may find a clarification more interesting.

"truth has to be absolute, transcendent, objective, and universal." RW #4

Wouldn't that be lovely!
I cannot deny the appeal of such a tidy simplicity. BUT !!
There are problems.

"there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known." St. Luke 12:2

"As the area of our knowledge grows, so too does the perimeter of our ignorance." Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson

In 1730 it was considered a scientific consensus based upon principles explained by Sir Isaac Newton's 3 laws of motion that:
Rate X Time = Distance
It's a formula so widely embraced by our globalized culture many know this formula even if they didn't know they know. Ask a layman:
If Bruce drove 60 MPH for two hours, how far did Bruce drive?
I haven't disclosed the answer. BUT ! you already know, 120 miles. Rate X Time = Distance

BUT !!

Introduce Relativity, and the simple Newtonian formula goes wobbly.

"truth has to be absolute, transcendent, objective, and universal." RW #4

In many cases, indeed.
But on the jagged periphery, it's not an absolute law.

“Gravity slows down time … speed slows down time ...” astrophysicist, astronomer, professor, author Bob Berman *

RW then thoughtfully, sincerely posted:

"In Buddah's time I can see where he could make that claim. After all, he was an eastern philosopher and philosophers, especially ancient ones (like Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates) could never pin down the massive undertaking of trying to define truth because A. they had their limits and were not all knowing and B. ..." RW

The ancients were technologically primitive (as are we !).
That is not the same as ignorant. Please consider this sample of ancient lucidity, application of logical reason:

“Is god willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him god?” ― Epicurus (341-270BC)

Please, please, please do not infer more than Epicurus implies.
This does NOT prove god does not exist. BUT !!
It does call into question the reliability of some religious beliefs. Detecting an inconsistency in a particular religion is not a refutation of god, but a reason for skepticism about that religious detail.
God and religion are not the same.

"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), U.S. president. Letter, 10 Aug. 1787

* @99% SOL time slows down (for those at that speed), & distance shrinks 7 ly becomes 1 ly
center of the milky way could be reached in a year. But after such trip (2 year) 45,000 years would have elapsed on Earth.
Due to aberration, the cosmos to the observer seems to concentrate, where at SOL the entire cosmos would appear to be a single bright dot in the direction of travel. paraphrase of B.B.
Rate X Time = Distance ? "truth has to be absolute, transcendent, objective, and universal." RW #4

Sometimes.

Congratulations rampage on reaching double digits here @ms.pro

"in time, all will be reviled." Wolf 2uk