Read up on Ephesians about putting on the whole armor of God. Then take some time and meditate on it and find out anything you can about each part of the armor. It sounds like you don't have on the "helmet of salvation".

Excerpt:

Take the Helmet of Salvation

The last piece of armor a soldier would put on was his helmet. It was made of bronze and leather, and its importance was obvious: if you're hit on the head, you're out. So immediately before going into battle, an attendant would bring a soldier his helmet and help him fasten it securely.

There's an obvious allusion in this metaphor to the security we have in our salvation, our new birth when were justified by grace through faith and delivered from the kingdom of darkness. But the focus in this verse is on our present deliverance from sin. There are many senses of salvation in the Bible - from enemies, from sin, and from captivity, for example - and 3 tenses of salvation in the New Testament: we have been saved (sanctification as described in 1 Cor. 1:18) and we will be saved (glorification as described in 1 Cor. 3:15, 1 Peter 1:5). We're used to hearing about salvation in the past tense - the moment we come to Christ. That's when we are freed from sin's penalty and its power in our lives is broken. But the word itself literally means "deliverance" and it is more often than not used to mean salvation from a threatening enemy (you can find numerous examples in the Psalms.) We can live in the confidence that God is accomplishing victory for us today. We can experience deliverance on a daily basis.

The helmet of salvation, then, is the certainty of deliverance from sin and the protection of our minds in battle. The helmet of salvation may be seen as the ability to reason logically and wisely from a biblical worldview, no matter how that worldview comes under attack. It is not something we can do for ourselves. We must choose to receive it, but the passive voice in this verse implies that only God can make it happen.

To see how that works look at Romans 12:2 - the same truth from a different angle. The mind is again the focus. In this verse, Paul instructs his readers not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds. The verbs are in the same passive voice - "do not {allow yourself to} be conformed," but {allow yourself to} be transformed." We allow it and participate in it, but God actively does it in us with our cooperation. It's his work.

Why is God so concerned about our minds? According to Scripture, that's where the battle is. Many Christians believe the invisible war is primarly about their circumstances, their behavior, their work or their relationships. Its true that all of these things are relevant, but none of them is the priority. We noted earlier that most of the battle is in our thought life - that's where Satan can manipulate people toward his ends discreetly and invisibly. If he can distort our thoughts, our emotions, and our knowledge, then our behaviors and relationships will fall the way he wants them to. And even if he doesn't manage to turn us to overt evil, a little bit of distorted thinking can neutralize us and render us practically ineffective......Human thinking is ground zero in this war, and if we haven't been diligent to fill our minds with God's truth and operate out of waht he teaches us, we lose. The helmet of salvation guards the most influential organ in the invisible war.

That's why God is so concerned about our minds, and its also why Satan is so concerned about them. They are a threat to him, and verse after verse emphasizes how critical protection is to this area. An obvious example is 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. It describes the weapons of our warfare as spiritual, not physical and then applies them directly to "speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God." The goal is to take "every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

See also verses:

John 17:17
Romans 8:6-7
2 Corinthians 4:4

Excerpt from Chip Ingram's "The Invisible War".

We all go through trials of faith. Even the disciples who were with Jesus for 3 years were called "ye of little faith" by Christ.

Perhaps if you gave us some of your background and also some specifics of what on this forum is causing you difficulty. There is much falsehood here and if you spend a lot of time reading and thinking about it without a firm foundation in Biblical doctrine you can easily be deceived. There are many, many resources available which we can provide if you can give some indication of what's giving you trouble.

And we will pray for you, of course - probably the best solution.

I think you hit it on the head with "if you spend a lot of time readin and thinking about it without a firm foundation in Biblical doctrine you can easily be deceived." That is it in a nutshell. You, Splendour, Prax, Pletho and others seem to have so much more knowledge about it than I do and therefore can read something and know the Biblical passages that address it.

I read somthing from many of thhe atheists and it sounds very logical and a lot of times well thought out. And since I don't have the knowledge to fall back on, doubt starts creeping in. The biggest one is the whole discussion of suffering and why God allows it to go on. Also, the discussion about "if thhere really were a God that wanted everyone to love and acknolwledge him, then why wouldn't he give more signs to us to prove to the believers and non-believers what was true?"

I think I need to do a lot of reading of the Word to regain my confidence because it has definitely been shaken.

Thanks for the thoughts/passages and prayers.

Steve

Lord, hear our prayer...

-------------------------------------------------
I don't know if you are familiar with "The Dark Night of the Soul." I took this excerpt from wiki:

I'll add your intention to the thread for this month. God must love your prayers very much for you to be experiencing this.

I will say that whenever people come together to pray or do the work of God, we can expect two things: Great Graces and spiritual attack. I don't ever like to give ad space to darkness, and I also know that God, Himself, can send these Dark Nights for our own benefit.

It means that what you and we do here is valuable. More prayer.



Beloved Father, strengthen us now, surround our brother shorn in the Light of Divine Mercy and Protection. Call us, Lord Jesus, ever more strongly to You, to Love, to Hope, to Faith, to prayer. Bless us abundantly, O Lord, through the Grace of the Holy Spirit as we reach out to one another, to You.

Amen.

The problem of evil is without doubt the most difficult problem for Christians. Though the logical difficulty is fairly simple to deal with there is an emotional aspect that is much harder. We should not ignore the reality of this emotional anguish - pain hurts and can sometimes seem unbearable and unendurable. I had a heart attack a few years ago and the pain grew so intense I actually asked God to either kill me or heal me. And I've seen loved ones suffer even more - Christians, who had much difficulty in the midst of their suffering, but all of whom continued to have faith and hope - even until death.

Here is a link to Craig's website:

http://www.reasonablefaith.org/site/...odcasting_main

There are 2 series of podcasts, "Defenders" and "Reasonable Faith". He discusses the problem of evil in both series. If you have time, all the talks are well worth listening to as he gives very good overviews of much of Christian doctrine - I find very little in them with which I disagree.

If this site is really giving you trouble I suggest you read the Bible and associate with other Christians, as well as read and listen to good evangelical theology. You might want to take a break from here until those issues are resolved. I'm not suggesting never listen to atheists but rather arm yourself, as Splendour mentioned, with the full armor of God. As you read and pray you will find there are adequate answers to your questions - God promises that if you keep asking and seeking, you will find. Over many decades I've found that God keeps this promise.

Words to begin:

• Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
  
• I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.
  
• Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Peace be with you.

NotReady-

Thanks for this and the link. I haven't had a chance to listen yuet, but I will. I appreciate the thoughts and prayers.

I will continue to pray for guidance and strength. I will also say prayers for all of you on this thread as well as the atheists in this forum.

I like the way my APstor ends each Worship service so I will do that here.

"The best news of all, each and every day, is that the Lord is with you."

Steve

I'm sorry to hear about your heart condition NR. For some reason I tend to categorize Psalm 4 as a "good for the heart" prayer so I will print it here. Its a very calming prayer:

Psalm 4 (New International Version)

Psalm 4
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.

1 Answer me when I call to you,
O my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
be merciful to me and hear my prayer.
2 How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame [a] ?
How long will you love delusions and seek false gods [b] ?
Selah

3 Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
the LORD will hear when I call to him.

4 In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
Selah

5 Offer right sacrifices
and trust in the LORD.

6 Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.

7 You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.

8 I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.

(I like the highlighted verse. I feel God can start to remove any anger or root of bitterness here. Its a "heart work/purifier" prayer because Jesus himself recommended never to go to bed angry. Undoubtedly one of the wisest things I've ever read.)

Peace be with you.

Adorable Presence!
Thou who art within and without,
above and below and all around;
Thou who art interpenetrating
the very cells of our being-

Thou who art the Eye of our eyes,
the Ear of our ears,
the Heart of our hearts,
the Mind of our minds,
the Breath of our breaths,
the Life of our lives,
and the Soul of our souls.

Bless us Dear God,
to be aware of Thy Presence
Now and Here.
This is all that we ask of Thee;
May all be aware of Thy Presence in
the East and the West,
and the North and the South.
May Peace and Goodwill abide
among individuals as well as among
communities and nations.

This is our Earnest Prayer.
May Peace be unto All
Om Shanti! Peace! Shalom!

Invocation from the World Parliament of Religions

Peace be with you.

Prayer is Faith.

Every act of prayer is an act of faith. Above, I briefly referenced the Dark Night of the Soul, the times when we think there's no one out there and our prayer is a waste. To inspire us all, to help us pray every day, even if only for the moments we spend here, I share this about Mother Teresa - who went through 45 years of nothing in terms of any "feeling" of God's Presence. This is what she said in a letter to a friend:

But she never stopped living the life of poverty and service. She never stopped praying.

If we pray for others it has to be, I think from Love, the kind that means we have no expectations for ourselves, even the assurance we are heard and that it matters.
---------------------------------------



Bless us abundantly, O Lord. Bless all who pray here, read here or even scoff here. Bring us Your Peace, help us bring Peace to one another. Send the Holy Spirit to us, to this broken world to bring us Light and Hope and Wisdom. Help shorn in his journey and all of us in our own moments of darkness. Bring us together, Father, to see ourselves in one another, and Christ's face on everyone.




Peace be with you.

Life Is a Story

I spoke to the prophets,
gave them many visions
and told parables through them.

-Hosea 12:10

Life, you'll notice, is a story. Life doesn't come to us like a math problem. It comes to us the way that a story does, scene by scene. You wake up. What will happen next? You don't get to know - you have to enter in, take the journey as it comes. The sun might be shining. There might be a tornado outside. Your friends might call and invite you to go sailing. You might lose your job.

Life unfolds like a drama. When it comes to figuring out this life you're living, you'd do well to know the rest of the story.

You come home one night to find that your car has been totaled. Now, all you know is that you loaned it for a couple of hours to your teenage daughter, and now here it is, all smashed up. Isn't the first thing out of your mouth, "What happened?"

In other words, "Tell me the story."

Somebody has some explaining to do, and that can be done only in hearing the tale they have to tell. Careful now - you might jump to the wrong conclusion. Doesn't it make a difference to know that she wasn't speeding, that in fact the other car ran a red light? It changes the way you feel about the whole thing. Thank God, she's all right.

Truth be told, you need to know the rest of the story if you want to understand just about anything in life. Love affairs, layoffs, the collapse of empires, your child's day at school - none of it makes sense without a story.

An excerpt from the book of daily medititations by John Eldredge's "Knowing the Heart of God."

The Story of Our Heart

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek; that I may... gaze upon the beauty of the LORD.

-Psalm 27:4

Communication with God is replaced by activity for God. There is little time in this outer world for deep questions. Given the right plan, everything in life can be managed...except your heart.

The inner life, the story of our hearts, is the life of the deep places within us, our passions and our dreams, our fears and our deepest wounds. It is the unseen life, the mystery within - what Buechner calls our "shimmering self". It cannot be managed like a corporation. The heart does not respond to principles and programs; it seeks not efficiency, but passion. Art, poetry, beauty, mystery, ecstasy: these are what rouse the heart. Indeed, they are the language that must be spoken if one wishes to communicate with the heart. It is why Jesus so often taught and related to people by telling stories and asking questions. His desire was not just to engage their intellects but to capture their hearts.

Excerpt above from John Eldredge's "Knowing the Heart of God".

(A wiki quote on Frederick Buechner: Throughout Buechner's work his hallmark as a theologian and autobiographer is his regard for the appearance of the divine in daily life. By examining the day-to-day workings of his own life, Buechner seeks to find God's hand at work, thus leading his audience by example to similar introspection. The Reverend Samuel Lloyd describes his "capacity to see into the heart of every day," an ability that reflects the significance of daily events onto the reader's life as well.[23] In the words of the preacher Barbara Brown Taylor: "From [Buechner] I've learned that the only limit to the revelation going on all around me is my willingness to turn aside and look.")

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Buechner

Peace be with you.

He Thwarts Us

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth; where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

-Matthew 6:19-23

God must, from time to time, and sometimes very insistently, disrupt our lives so that we release our grasping of life here and now. Usually through pain. God is asking us to let go of the things we love and have given our hearts to, so that we can give our hearts even more fully to him. He thwarts us in our attempts to make life work so that our efforts fail, and we must face the fact that we don't really look to God for life. Our first reaction is usually to get angry with him, which only serves to make the point. Don't you hear people say, "Why did God let this happen?" far more than you hear them say, "Why aren't I more fully given over to God?"

We see God as a means to an end rather than the end itself. God as the assistant to our life versus God as our life. We don't see the process of our life as coming to the place where we are fully his and he is our all.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

What Does Our Pain Reveal?

The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and all your soul.

-Deuteronomy 13:3

Until God has become our all, and we are fully his, we will continue to make idols of the good things he gives us. Whatever else might be the reason for our current suffering, we can know this: "The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deut 13:3). We are so committed to arranging for a happy little life that God has to thwart us to bring us back to himself. It's a kind of regular purging, I suppose. A sort of cleansing for the soul. I have to yield not only all my hopes for this fall, but my basic approach to life as well. Of all tests, I do not want to fail this one.

Now, I am not suggesting that God causes all the pain in our lives. I don't believe he pushed me off my horse to make a point. In fact, I believe he saved my life. But pain does come, and what will we do with it? What does it reveal? What might God be up to? How might he redeem our pain? Those are questions worth asking.

Don't waste your pain.


2 Excerpts above from John Eldredge's book of daily meditations "Knowing the Heart of God".

2304 Respect for and development of human life require peace. Peace is not merely the absence of war, and it is not limited to maintaining a balance of powers between adversaries. Peace cannot be attained on earth without safeguarding the goods of persons, free communication among men, respect for the dignity of persons and peoples, and the assiduous practice of fraternity. Peace is "the tranquillity of order." Peace is the work of justice and the effect of charity.





Peace be with you.

Peace be with you.

Blessed be all who commune here. May we always be guided by the Lord and each of us be pleased to serve Him in our own way, but always for the sake of His son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Getting stronger all. Thanks for the prayers and thoughts. Next few months will be tough as I have been seated on a Grand Jury and selected foreperson as well. So, I will get to see firsthand many of the evil deeds of this fallen world. I pray that I may have strength and justice in my heart at all times.

Steve

That's huge. In terms of a spiritual life as well as a daily reality. We will all keep you in our prayers as well as those you serve with.

My prayer time here now includes the pray-ers who open this thread and do the spiritual work we all so desperately need, everyone who posts or lurks, special prayers still for atheists and for their loved ones both here and who have passed that they obviously don't pray for themselves. And for this month I pray and pray for Peace. Peace among us here, peace in our hearts, peace to be spread through the world.


Lord, hear our prayers.


Peace be with you.

Peace be with you.

Peace be with you.

Deep quote Prax.

George Fox was an early founder of the Quakers.

from his wiki:

Unique beliefs begin to form

Fox had more than a little experience among "English Dissenters", groups of people who had broken away from practices of the state church because of their divergent beliefs. He had hoped that the dissenters would help his spiritual understanding, as those in the established church could not, but they did not: he fell out with one group, for example, because he maintained that women had souls.[12] From this comes the passage from his journal:

But as I had forsaken the priests, so I left the separate preachers also, and those esteemed the most experienced people; for I saw there was none among them all that could speak to my condition. And when all my hopes in them and in all men were gone, so that I had nothing outwardly to help me, nor could tell what to do, then, oh, then, I heard a voice which said, "There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition"; and when I heard it my heart did leap for joy. Then the Lord let me see why there was none upon the earth that could speak to my condition, namely, that I might give Him all the glory; for all are concluded under sin, and shut up in unbelief as I had been, that Jesus Christ might have the pre-eminence who enlightens, and gives grace, and faith, and power. Thus when God doth work, who shall let[13] it? And this I knew experimentally.[14][15]

He thought intensely about Jesus's temptation in the desert, which he compared to his own spiritual condition, but drew strength from his conviction that God would support and preserve him.[16] In prayer and meditation, he came to a greater understanding of the nature of his faith and what it required from him; this process he called "opening". He also came to what he deemed a deep inner understanding of standard Christian beliefs. Among his ideas were:

Rituals can be safely ignored, as long as one experiences a true spiritual conversion.

The qualification for ministry is given by the Holy Spirit, not by ecclesiastical study. This implies that anyone has the right to minister, assuming the Spirit guides them, including women and children.[3]

God "dwelleth in the hearts of his obedient people": religious experience is not confined to a church building. Indeed, Fox refused to apply the word "church" to a building, using instead the name "steeple-house", a usage maintained by many Quakers today. Fox would just as soon worship in fields and orchards, believing that God's presence could be felt anywhere.[17]

Though Fox used the Bible to support his views, Fox reasoned that, because God was within the faithful, believers could follow their own inner guide rather than rely on a strict reading of Scripture or the word of clerics.[3][18]

As the Bible makes no mention of the Trinity, Fox also made no clear distinction between Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Poetic Awakening

Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow...yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.

-Matthew 6:28-29 NLT

We've heard ad infinitum that men are rational beings, along with the supporting evidence that our brains work differently than do women's, and this is true. Spatial abstractions, logic, analysis - men tend to excel in these because we are more left than right-brained, and the commissural fibers that connect the two hemispheres appear in women in far higher ratios than in men. Women have an interstate uniting both sides of the brains. Men have a game trail. Thus men tend to compartmentalize, a capacity that allows men to handle the atrocities of war, and administrate justice. It also makes them excellent chess players and auto mechanics. And yet...

I don't buy it. Too many men hide behind reason and logic. A man must grow beyond mere reason, or he will be stunted as a man, certainly as a lover. No woman wants to be analyzed, and many marriages fail because the man insists on treating her as a problem to be solved, rather than a mystery to be known and loved. David was a cunning tacitian as a warrior, but he was also a poet of the first order. And when Jesus says, "Consider the lilies of the field," he does not mean analyze them but rather, behold them, take them in, let their beauty speak, for "Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are" (Matt. 6:29 NLT). He appeals to their beauty to show us the love of God. The lover is awakened when a man comes to see that the poetic is far truer than the propositional and the analytical.

An excerpt from the book of daily meditations by John Eldredge "Knowing the Heart of God".

Bless us abundantly, O Lord, that we find this success. Bless every soul we encounter, send the Spirit to us, with Light and Hope and Truth.



Peace be with you.

From my daily devotions for today. I pray that we all follow this here on this forum, and in the world. Amen.

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
By Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker of The Lutheran Hour®



"No Church For The Nones"
October 12, 2009

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

Do you know somebody who is a "Nones?"

In truth, I didn't know what a "Nones" was until I read the Dallas news story which spoke of Americans who don't identify with any religion. The "Nones" get that name because when they're asked about their religious affiliation they say, "None."

The rest of the article gave the explanations of experts as to why someone might be a "Nones."

One scholar said "In the news media "Christians" are routinely depicted as narrow-minded bigots bent on keeping out anyone who is the slightest bit different. They are defined by what they are against, not by what they stand for. Love is rarely talked about while judgment is always talked about.

Another said, Christianity has been used historically as an excuse for pogroms, wars, crusades, Inquisitions, and others terrible things.

Yet another suggested, 'over the last 50 years (is that) people are finding supportive communities in many forms, from book clubs to rugby clubs, and religion seems not only "outgrown" but unnecessary.'

One final expert (that I'm going to share) said, "Religion has done a poor job generally of answering the difficult questions about the mysteries of human existence and the meaning or purpose of life in the face of a world that has lost its imagination."

According to these experts, Christians haven't done much of anything right. And if they're right, that's a shame.

Maybe that's why St. Paul encouraged Timothy (and us) to do our best, to become, by the Holy Spirit's power, a worker who needs not be ashamed, rightly sharing God's Word of truth and eternal life.

St. Paul was right. All too often, and unfair as it may be, unbelievers judge the Savior by what we His servants do and say.

That's why, as we take seriously the job Jesus has entrusted to us, we need to be good mirrors for our Redeemer, doing our best to accurately reflect the gracious sacrifice of the Savior to those "Nones" who constantly are looking for reasons not to need or believe in Him.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, for the sacrifice You have made, I give thanks. Now may I, in word and action, show to the "Nones" the wonders of the salvation Your life, death, and resurrection have given. In Your Name. Amen.