you don't have to be perfect to be in the presence of God, He takes you as you are sin and all and changes you to be the more perfect virsion of yourself so in the end you will not want to sin.
Jess, you may have forgiven yourself of past things and it is good that you have changed for the better but the sins are still there, you must Confess your sins to God so that he may wash them away.
It's like grease on your hands, you can pour water as much as you want but you won't totally get it all off unless you use some kind of soap or degreaser of some kind, even though you might have some of it off the smell and grease will still cover most of your hands.

Forgot to add that I am in no way perfect but just wanted to get that out there.

Josh wrote:
” Jess, you may have forgiven yourself of past things and it is good that you have changed for the better but the sins are still there, you must Confess your sins to God so that he may wash them away.”

With all due respect Josh, I’ll never understand the sentiment that you have just written here. If you have confessed your sins to yourself you have automatically confessed them to God, that’s a given. This is what it means to confess a sin. It MEANS that you have recognized it and addressed it.

The only way that you could not confess your sins to God is to deny that your actions are indeed sinful, or to admit that they are sinful and you don't give a damn.

Once you’ve recognized that your actions are sinful and addressed them then you have automatically confessed them by that very act.

Roy,

Thank you for sharing your experience with the resident. I can identify with you as if I had been there in person. I really miss the social aspect of working. I need to get out and mingle with people again. Unfortunately I just don’t live in an area that has much to offer. That might seem strange considering that I live in Pennsylvania. You might ask, “Where is there any place in Pennsylvania where it’s that desolate?”

Probably only at my house.

I purposefully picked an out-of-the-way place to live. But I may have picked a place that it a little bit too far out of the way.

Not really abracadabra, Just because you confess them out loud does not mean you have confessed them to God to ask Him for forgiveness, It is the relationship with God that is relivent not just speaking out and changing on your own.
If I wronged someone and I said sorry to myself without the person being there in tie that I have no relationship with them what power would my appology have if I only spoke out to myself rather directly to that person?

Josh,

Obvioulsy we view things quite differently.

But that's ok. This is the essence of life.

Thanks Josh, for the advice, however, I don't require salvation, nor do I require absolution...

We have different beliefs, and as I clearly stated I don't follow the Christian faith.

I follow my faith...no god, no deity, no nasty naughty chair at the end of the run, just healthy clear morals that work well for me.

Shame on you Jess!

You naughty naughty girl!

When you die you're going to be made into a dust bunny and swept into an everlasting fairytale with a cherry on top.

And Roy will be your clumsy resident Cheshire Cat.

Ok. Works for me!

regardless of weather you think you need absolution or salvation, truth is truth and when it comes down to it in the end you will have to explain to God not me, your actions.
being good is not enough, because what one persons defonition of good is anothers not so bad, good intentions are currupted and destorted by many, "if you say something long enough it becomes true" that phrase is not true in the least.
if you are in the ocean and someone throws you a lifesaver and you tell them "no thanks, just being out here wading in the water is fine for me" don't be surprised if you wind up drowning when you loose all your energy and a storm comes.
if you have no absolutes then there is no real way to judge what is really truly bad outside of having no standard.
A person could say "Well I believe that murdering innocent people is ok to do" or "I think stealing isn't bad"
anyone can consitter anything ok and picking what is "right for them" but not everything that is right may be comfortable for everyone.
it's more about getting right with God not about being comfortable.
We as humans don't want to be told how to live even if they are to protect us from ourselves.
God says don't act in premarital sex the consiquences being you can catch something.
God says Don't steal, the consiquence being that it doesn't belong to you, you hurt others and go to jail.
God says don't get drunk, the consiquences are that you can hurt yourself,get raped, die, or maybe just have a hangover. {To only have a hangover would be a best case senario}

I am not trying to judge because that is Gods job in the end of it.
Just because you don't believe doesn't mean you have everything to lose.
Just something to think about.

Again Josh, and if it soothes your heart, by all means whisper to your god for me..

I have no faith in Christianity, nor any religion, organised or disorganised.

I have faith in dis-orders of disorganised philosophies though.

Josh wrote:
"when it comes down to it in the end you will have to explain to God not me, your actions"

Sounds good to me. And I'm totally prepared to meet my maker whenever she's ready to take me home.

Josh wrote:
"being good is not enough"

But wait a minute? Didn't you just say that in the end this will be between a person and God? And now you're trying to claim what God's response will be?

Hmmm? Where's the scratching head icon?

celtic,that brings up a question for me.i was raised Baptist and although i no longer go to church,i still follow the beliefs i was taught.anyways,why do the Catholics believe you need to confess your sins to another person?God can hear you when you talk to him,he doesn't need a middle man!.


just something i've always wondered

I am mearly stating that Jesus said I am the way the truth and the light, no one comes to the father but through me.
If it were mearly just that you had to be a good person then there would be noone in heaven because as I stated before either in this thred or another one, everyones defonition of "good" is different.
some would like "good" to be something at the shallow end, others would like it to be a very high standpoint and yet others think that just living they're life is "good" even when stealing, doing drugs, drinking your brains out and other activitys.
the point is that just living how you want to live is not any constitution for being "good" in any aspect.
You can go to church and consitter yourself "good", live a moral and upright life, have no relationship with God and still go to hell.
some think all you need to do is go to church every week and they'll be "fine".
I keep pointing out that it is the relationship With God the FATHER and HIS son Jesus that is the key to heaven.
what would have been the use in Jesus dieing for our sins if the way to heaven were just to be "Good"?

Dear Lee,

I’ll soothe your heart with whispers
and kiss your sins away
blowing them like ashes
on a windy void cliché

The creator of the universe
the pervader of the sea
the rainbows and the Cheshire cats
are fleeting potpourri

When all is said and done
and philosophies are pun
the sun will shine like ruby wine
as spirits comes undone

Manifest in Playdough
colored with the light
of you and me in a mango tree
on a starry summer night

Confessing all our love
for the fleshy sins of life
appreciation of all creation
with no desire for its strife

God can only smile
and see that it is good
just as it was written
but seldom understood

Cheshire cats and Wiccan bats
and Harry Potter’s dreams
are all a part of God’s intent
to implement her schemes

Let the demon preachers preach
and glorify their hell
let them sanctify their malice
with the blasphemy they yell

Buy Roy a cat and name it Brat
and put it in his hat
And never tell the blasphemers
where the feline thing is at

~~~

Josh, who are you responding to?


I am happy for you, that you feel so strongly, in your faith.

IT'S NOT MINE.

No fairytale endings, no glamourised icons to worship and to redeem to.

Just basic humanity, and always with intent to be more than I was yesterday.

I don't have a set of pre-requisites on how to be human and to be HUMANE.... I understand the concept clearly, in it's purest form.

Josh wrote:
"I keep pointing out that it is the relationship With God the FATHER and HIS son Jesus that is the key to heaven."

And we keep pointing out that we aren't Christians and we don't believe in those stories.

James, thankyou.

Im a lapsed hedonist ...

What do I have to do to become un-lapsed?