Am I A Christian?

[Gina_Taylor]

Psalm 139:13-16

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (NIV)

It is my opinion that the Lord knew what he was doing when he made each of us.


Very well said Riven One. This passage really spoke loudly to me, and it plainly said that even before I was born, God knew exactly what I am and what direction my life would be taking. I'm going to bring this psalm up to my friend and let her try and dispute this one.

Gina 

[lady amarant]

God gave us free will right?

One of the points of free will is to learn about cause and effect, action and consequence. God created the world, then he left it alone. That was the only way for free will to be free. If God had to keep interfering with the planet and fixing things and changing things, we would not have any free will because there would be no consequences.

So here's my point. First argument you'll get: God doesn't make mistakes. Nope, but then, he had nothing to do with my conception or birth. The systems He put in place did. Those systems are influenced by our actions, causing them to malfunction and break down. Witness global warming and mass extinctions. I am transgender because of an external influence in the system of mammalian conception and birth, and the variation is quite possibly the fault of my species for pumping the world full of industrial poison for a hundred odd years.

Sigh. Sadly hon, you'll find that people who don't want to be convinced won't be. The only people this kind of argument has any value to are ourselves, because they give US the means to overcome our social programming and regain the sense of self-worth that has been drummed out of us.

[Kate]

First argument you'll get: God doesn't make mistakes.

Yup, that's gotta be one of the stupidest "arguments" I hear them make. It means that once we're out of the womb, we basically have to just lay there until we die. No food, no water, no blankets... NOTHING. God gave us everything we need, so to do something like... gasp... EAT would be betraying how God meant us to be, wouldn't it?

No, God gave us hunger so we WOULD eat. God makes us shiver in the cold so we'll find warmth.

And God gave us GID so we'd transition.

There's that old joke about the guy drowning at sea, when a boat comes along and offers to rescue him. The guy waves them off saying, "God will save me." Then a submarine shows up. Same thing, he waves them off with "God will save me." Then a helicopter. But he refuses them, "God will save me."

He of course drowns, ends up in Heaven, and he's pretty mad when he gets to ask God, "What's the deal? My faith is unwavering! I told everyone you'd save me but you let me drown!"

God answers, "you idiot, who do you think sent the boat, submarine and plane?"

I spent four decades praying to God every night to "please let me wake up in the morning as a girl!" I FINALLY realized that He'd been trying to answer my prayers all along, sending me the miraculous path of transitioning: my boat, submarine and helicopter.

Luckily, unlike our drowned friend, I finally recognized and accepted His gift before I sank beneath the waves

~Kate~

[tekla]

Either:  God has a plan, knows & there is a divinity that shapes our ends

............................. Or ... ya'll got that free will stuff there goin' on, the ability to know right from wrong and choose.

I don't think you can have both.

See, if god has a plan for me stealing that car, or knows I will, or I'm being guided to it (the lord does work in mysterious ways), then I'm not responsible, no sin - for who among us could fight all destiny?  Heck, it wasn't even my thought to jack the car, because I've always jacked the car, I always will jack the car - the moment is structured in just that way.

[RebeccaFog]

God gave us free will right?

what?  you didn't have to pay for yours?

once again, I got ripped off.     

[Lisbeth]

First argument you'll get: God doesn't make mistakes.

My response to such people is, "That's absolutely right.  God did not make a mistake by making me a transsexual."

[Gina_Taylor]

Thank you Kate for that heart warming joke, but there is some reality to it as you've clearly shown. I don't want to be like our drowned friend either and so that is why I am taking the necessary steps to be who I should have been.

I have accepted the fact that God knew exactly where my life would be at exactly this moment years before I was even born, and I'm just catching up with Him right now to align things in a perfect way, and I'm fully aware of the consequences and the risks involved.

Gina