Lack of faith...LOL
Lack of prayer...LOL


How about...

Lack of critical thinking

It's a miracle people still believe in the bible.

2 Cor 12:
9And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for (A)power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather (B)boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

I find it curious that miracles after the time of the OT/NT are so subtle. Durng the time of the texts, God wasn't shy about flaunting his power. There was none of this "just gotta trust me guys" attitude. God showed his power in real and deliberate ways. Big shows of power. Then the bible ends, and suddenly we're left with subtle unexplained phenomenon, a fair share of possible coincidences or the occasional whisper in the ear.

So starvation, war, poverty and illness are the result of said persons lack of faith? So why should we send any aid out or help these people if its there own fault anyway, lets just send out some missionaries instead.

Or are you saying that it is the people in powers lack of faith and lack of charity that is causing these 'real problems'? if so you are basically saying that people are enduring a lifetime of suffering in order to teach a rich kid a lesson?

I've thought that before as well (as a Christian) -

I haven't experienced one myself - but have heard often of people having visions in which Christ visits them - or having an experience where God has actually spoken to them (from people who did not end up being diagnosed with a medical issue).

They aren't, and we've been here before. There's nothing subtle about Padre Pio bringing a baby back to life, bilocating or some woman having all her burned off skin replaced overnight with perfect skin, or people who've been crippled and in wheel chairs being healed so completely and instantly they can get up and walk.

There was nothing subtle about the word "Peace" appearing in the sky over a mountain or Mary appearing for years over a Church and being filmed.

These are the special effects miracles so many seem to want. And they happen all the time. They just didn't happen to you. And they aren't the important ones, they aren't the constant sustaining Presence of God.

You want a nice miraculous cancer healing? Just read Super System 1.

Thanks! I kept meaning to go find this.

Maybe they are the result of your lack of faith. If you understood the most minor points of Christ's message, you'd know that we never blame the victim and are commanded to offer as much aid as possible to any in need. As we are expected to pray and have faith.

Now, if everyone stopped blaming everyone else and everyone helped everyone else - what would happen to starvation, poverty and war? And if everyone began to pray in faith, there would be no illness.

Uh huh. The post that got deleted addressed things like this perfectly.

I should also add that people who make claims like this cause a lot of suffering in this world.

ahhh religion, LO f***ing L

Well, from a quick read of the wiki article, this Padre Pio was a questionable sort, with plenty of accusations of fraud, and other stuff.

For the rest, do you have links?

Well considering most of the money of this world belongs to self proclaimed Christians do you think they have misunderstood Christ's message? do you yourself give away everything that isn't necessary so that others do not suffer?

Studies have shown prayer has no effect on illness, the test of 1800 heart bypass patients showed no correlation to Christian prayer and recovery. Further proof can be shown by the number of Christian people who fall ill compared to atheists and other faiths.

There was nothing whatsoever questionable about him and you deserve what you get if you read biased sources. We did a whole long thread about him and the one book that had like, three sentences that questioned him, was REDACTED BY THE AUTHOR, who wrote a new edition for the express purpose of correcting himself.

Note your skeptic sites didn't mention anything as objective as that.

Yes, I have links. Go read some books.

Before that, start with post 18 in this thread.

Source?

West has alot more money in comparison to the world(although starting to change), big % is Christian although I am talking more about the power to change as well though, U.S. president and most of senate for example. What about the other question I asked you?

Edit: Also how do you explain thoughts like this (from A Christian):
'It is not a sin to be rich. I read in the scriptures of Abraham, Issac, Jacob, King David, Solomon, Boaz, the Apostle Matthew, Zacchaeus, etc. All were blessed with wealth (Deut 8:18 & Eccl 5:19).'

I agree btw that the Bible (NT especially) advocates wealth as not a good thing, what im trying to get at is why do you think so many people are distracted from these messages?

MOST of the money in the world, including this country is in the hands of a relative few despicable morally bankrupt so-called people who have no acquaintance with God. 95% of the charitable $ that leaves this country or is used inside it, is donated by private citizens. A large number of whom are theists of one stripe or another and most of which comes through Churches or church-affiliated organizations. Who is it exactly that you think is running homeless shelters, free clinics, soup kitchens, clothing and food banks? You first, since I asked first:
hang on - I just got this:
Fear.

Jesus doesn't say wealth is a bad thing. Some of His best friends were wealthy. But if you value things more than people - then there's trouble.

It is my firm belief that the most important thing anyone can know for certain is that life is eternal. It's when we don't, when we doubt, then we value all this junk more than each other. We want all these things, bigger things, better things, because we really don't believe we'll ever have anything but these things.
'
We crawl over dead people and don't notice they are even there under our feet to get 20% off at Walmart.

We think death is a bad thing. We do anything at all to live just a bit longer. Starving a stranger to death because we have to have more and better to live longer, we deny our own part in the life of our brothers and sisters.

And if we do care, the problem seems insurmountable. And we let go of doing because we don't believe in life, or prayer, or God, or anything at all but the stuff we can grasp. Which is why despair is considered a sin. It is lack of faith.

Mother Teresa said something like, "Don't worry about helping everyone, just start with the person closest to you."

Or here. Buy a gaggle of geese, today!

You know what the worst thing is about lack of faith?

It's not knowing the tremendous power for good inside yourself. You, that is. You can change a life, many lives. You can start now.

CFCA

You can just be kind to someone. You can put someone else first. You can walk a dog at a shelter. You can say something loving to whoever is in the room with you. You have the power.

Its funny how you need faith to do these sorts of things and I do them everyday without a care in the world and knowing that nobody else sees it. Sad really.

It is this kind of arrogance that drives atheists crazy. Sure there are non-believers who don't give a **** about other people, but there are plenty of theists who fit that bill.

In fact, if you are an atheist, then you likely believe that all the goodness in people lies within them, and does not derive from an external source. And the atheist doesn't do good just to please some supernatural being, or avoid being punished in the afterlife. The atheist will do good because it makes them feel good to help others, for the betterment of society, knowing full well that that is all the benefit they will ever receive for it, and its not a quid pro quo that do good now for everlasting reward when you die. Many atheists realize that for society to thrive, we all have to work together and do our part.

Your post is just plain insulting and condescending.

It's also ironically vary unkind.

And this is some of the atheist ignorance that can drive Christians crazy. Not me, but some. Because no one earns their way into heaven doing good deeds. And my post wasn't about that at all.

You read arrogance and insult to atheists where there is none. If you look back at the exchanges, you'll see I was asked why Christians don't seem to live the message of Christ. Lack of faith is not an atheist issue in this case.

But to address what you did say. The atheist believes the good is part of their human selves to express as and when they choose. The Christian knows, or should, that all that is good is from God through Christ and the Holy Spirit, and it is that Spirit that is inside each of us, and each of us is, by definition, holy.

The potential power for healing and charity, (say - making food for many from a meal hardly enough for one) is resident in every person, including you. There is nothing Jesus did that we could not do. Barring the perfection of Jesus, and the willingness to give up our entire lives for another, there is still great power at our disposal.

freedom is slavery

Actually, there were times when Jesus refused to do miracles. Here's one example from Matthew 12:38-40.

38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, "Teacher, (A)we want to see a sign from You."
39But He answered and said to them, "(B)An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;

40for just as (C)JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will (D)the Son of Man be (E)three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/...0&version=NASB