Sex Gambling and Religious Beliefs..I call on Reverends "Hache" and "Blue Edwards"

Journeyman · Jan 28, 2004

Its been talked about before , the gambling and religious lifestyle and whats right and wrong with it...

How do we not give in to these temptations, that deliver us 'to evil' so to speak?

And is there anything wrong with living for God while gambling daily and surfing porn websites nightly

I guess I will go to my grave a guy who loved sports , turned on ESPN out of habit and thought of females as sex objects...but how can I not, its on every channel...ESPN and sports is a way of life, is there anything wrong with this lifestyle in God`s eyes? (If there is a God)

The more time passes the less I believe in God, I want to believe more than anything but just cannot completely believe....
The further science reaches, the less likely it appears God created this JMDO (just my dumb opinion)

Then you have respected men like Joe Gibbs who always mention The Lord, and I am 'dumb'founded (notice the word dumb mentioned again) at why some are so strong willed about God and appear to have such a strong faith!?

One last thing I wonder , when you see these God fearing people...I often wonder if they just pretend to have this incredible faith...

Trent Dilfer comes to mind, his son died out of nowhere ...his family was on vacation his son started coughing , next thing his heart is infected with something that kills him...And Trent crying like a baby (as any real man would) believes he will see his son again someday and that he is looking down from above...And I am sitting there watching this wondering; Does Trent really believe this?

I got a little off topic but felt the need to share this

Mr.Jones · Jan 28, 2004

From the movie "Oscar and Lucinda" 1997

The Reverend Oscar Hopkins about to hear Lucinda's confession.

Lucinda: I confess to God Almighty and the whole company of Heaven that I have sinned.

Reverend Oscar: Uh-huh.

Lucinda: I have attended rooms in Drawry Lane, for the purpose of playing fantan. I have played dice on a train full of racing types. I did not attend the racetrack but I went on the train expressly to play dice. I tried to persuade a business colleague of mine to take me to a cock fight. He refused, but I would have gone. I set up the table here like this as a trap for the steward who I know to play poker. I wish to play with them.

Reverend Oscar: Where's the sin? We bet! We bet that there is a God. We bet our life on it. We calculate the odds that return that we will sit with the saints in paradise. Our anxiety about our bet wakes us before dawn in a cold sweat. And God, God sees us suffer. I cannot believe that a God whose fundamental requirement of us is that we gamble our mortal souls--it is true we stake everything on his existence. I cannot believe that he would look unkindly on a chap winning a few quid on the likelihood of a dumb animal c****ing the finish line first. Unless, unless it might be considered a blasphemy to apply to common pleasure that which is divine. Shall we play?

Lucinda: [eagerly] Yes!

Reverend Hopkins and Lucinda quickly begin playing poker at the table where he was hearing her confession.

Fishhead · Jan 28, 2004

Personally, I believe being spirtual is 40-1 over being religious.

Religion is the cause of many wars.

Before you jump down my throat, please note that I DO attend church on a semi-regular basis.

mvbski · Jan 28, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Before you jump down my throat, please note that I DO attend church on a semi-regular basis. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> going to church and praying for a winner doesnt count

Journeyman · Jan 28, 2004

LOL- I have never prayed sincerely in my life...Maybe I should start...And certainly NEVER asked for a cover..IMO that would be a certain reverse jinx situation...

lander · Jan 28, 2004

Actually,
I was hoping to see Blue Edwards ..
I have a moral dilemma (no, not a Danny May School of Scamming dilemma either) to discuss with him.

SSI · Jan 28, 2004

Jman, i believe whole heartedly in a God and not only that, i believe that Jesus was his son and came to this earth and died on the c**** for you and for me..... this i believe with my entire being and i am betting on it to be true. lots of people when they reach our age (mid 30's) aske these questions, for me it happened when i was 32, im 36 now... i look at it as a way of God speaking to me, he offered me a chance to accept his Son and have ever lasting life... I accepted and try to do the best that i can.. none of us are perfect and we all sin and fall short for there was only One which was perfect..

Jman, we are not here by accident, study the way an atheist thinks,,, atheisim is a religion. you must have faith to believe that the world and everything in it was created by mere chance, do the mathematics on it..

I could write to you endlessly on the scientific reasons that there is a God and you can prove it, however i will suggest a book for you.. Read a book called "The Signature of God" by Grant Jeffies, any book store will have it.. it gives many infallable proofs of God and not only a God but the God of the Bible..

Listen to the Lord Jman, read your Bible, it is the way that God talks to you. It sounds as though he is dealing with you now.. Please dont turn him away..

blueedwards · Jan 28, 2004

jman and lander, i am here. either one of you can email me at edwardsblue@yahoo.com with anything you want to discuss.

with respect to jman's first post...i struggle with the gambling thing on occasion but, only when it starts to "take over" other aspects of my life and causes me to feel disconnected. the porn thing in my mind is a definate thing to avoid.

also, i agree with fish...religion is not the answer. what ssi is talking about is not religion, it is the truth. there is way more evidence than most people think in favor of the existence of God and the reliability of the Bible.

lastly jman, i know exactly what you mean about hearing someone you may respect (joe gibbs, trent dilfer, etc) demonstrate a strong faith. that kinda stuff inspires me all the time. i understand what you mean when you say "is their faith made up or real" also. i guess you can never really know that for sure. but, my guess is that, if you ever met them and spent time with them one-on-one, you would be convinced that it is real.

kyhawk · Jan 28, 2004

I am convinced that the worst thing that could ever happen to the terrorists, holy rollers and many others would be for God/Allah to reappear. This would be worse than death for them. The last thing they would want would be to told they are wrong by their God/Allah. When you play the God/Allah card you are able to get away with murder.
Consider this hypothetical conversation between Bin and the 9/11 terrorists.
"Here is what I want you guys to do. Hijack a plane and kill 3000 innocent people. Why? Because I told you to." or
"Here is what I want you guys to do. Hijack a plane and kill 3000 innocent people. Why? Because your God wants you to and you will be rewarded with 40 virgins."

blueedwards · Jan 28, 2004

kyhawk, i agree with you. i believe that many who profess to do things in the name of God are way off when it comes to what He actually wants. many christians included.

Mr NJ Sports · Jan 28, 2004

Ever wanna really pee your pants. Turn on those "god" channels on the directv late at night. those are hilarious.

SubZaero · Jan 28, 2004

Don't do to others what you don't want others do to you.

That's my philosophy and i'd like to think that any God from any religion would agree.
I think it is a matter of what makes you feel good with yourself, if beleiving in a God makes you a better person then do it, if it doesn't fulfilled your needs then don't, but always, always respect everyone's opinion and live your life without doing wrong to anyoneelse.

HacheMan · Jan 28, 2004

J~Man, my response to your post a couple days ago has a lot to do with the fact that Ive lived the "religious" life years ago, thanks to a true friend, and I would like to make my way there again. Many people on here will scoff at this, but Ive lived both sides, and Im telling you, theres a difference when your living for God. Seems everything changed and things just began to always "fall" into the right place after I changed. I know the difference in that life and the way Im living now, and there's no way to describe it, you just have to experience it for yourself. I rarely go to church anymore, but Ive been trying to force myself into it, because not only to I want to change things again, someone is also reaching out to me once again. Its no coincidence to me that since my wife and I began talking about going to church on a regular basis again, that the next day, a pastor and his wife showed up at my front door knocking, from a church 20 miles away, trying to encourage me to come there. And get this.....the very next day.........another comes from a few streets down the road, and invites me to revival they are having....Coincidence...

..I say no way...I could run off many ...many.other "coincidences" like this that has happened through time.
The Lord works in mysterious way J~Man......take this into account.....Trent Dilfer, as religious as they come, struggles in Tampa for years, then gets released. He then returns TO TAMPA the next year to win a freaking Super Bowl in his old teams stadium.....Tony Dungy....another as religious as they come, gets the axe in Tampa......he returns to Tampa....and makes what is a MIRACULOUS comeback to beat his old team in his old stadium.....Another coincidence..most would say so......Im in your shoes J....Ive always played.....followed.....and watched sports.....and the gambling thing will always haunt us....Is that such a bad thing....well, bible says it is.....but is it bad enough for us to be punished for it? Problem is, gambling leads to too many other bad things...such as greed.....anger...cursing....etc......Maybe thats why its a sin.....Ive found myself questioning my belief lately also J~man, and thats when it gets scary. Ive always avoided reading scientific studies on our beginning, just for the fear of EVEN CONSIDERING that we were created from anthing other than God. When its all said and done....theres no way I'll EVER believe an explosion, or anything similar was the beginning of our existence. No way a single cell developed eyes over thousands or millions of years....then ears.....a mouth after millions of years.....then so on...and so on.......NO freaking way....its ridiculous to even consider it, I dont care what scientists say....Also, if thats the case, was there a a single cell.....molecule.....whatever their theory is.....was there one for EVERY SINGLE living thing that exists. Was there one for humans....dogs......whales....monkeys.....crickets.....so on.....so on......cmon.......

[This message was edited by Hache man on January 28, 2004 at 06:50 PM.]

TheFunkMonkey · Jan 28, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Hache man:
J~Man, my response to your post a couple days ago has a lot to do with the fact that Ive lived the "religious" life years ago, thanks to a true friend, and I would like to make my way there again. Many people on here will scoff at this, but Ive lived both sides, and Im telling you, theres a difference when your living for God. Seems everything changed and things just began to always "fall" into the right place after I changed. I know the difference in that life and the way Im living now, and there's no way to describe it, you just have to experience it for yourself. I rarely go to church anymore, but Ive been trying to force myself into it, because not only to I want to change things again, someone is also reaching out to me once again. Its no coincidence to me that since my wife and I began talking about going to church on a regular basis again, that the next day, a pastor and his wife showed up at my front door knocking, from a church 20 miles away, trying to encourage me to come there. And get this.....the _very next day......_...another comes from a few streets down the road, and invites me to revival they are having....Coincidence...

..I say no way...I could run off many ...many.other "coincidences" like this that has happened through time.
The Lord works in mysterious way J~Man......take this into account.....Trent Dilfer, as religious as they come, struggles in Tampa for years, then gets released. He then returns TO TAMPA the next year to win a freaking Super Bowl in his old teams stadium.....Tony Dungy....another as religious as they come, gets the axe in Tampa......he returns to Tampa....and makes what is a MIRACULOUS comeback to beat his old team in his old stadium.....Another coincidence..most would say so......Im in your shoes J....Ive always played.....followed.....and watched sports.....and the gambling thing will always haunt us....Is that such a bad thing....well, bible says it is.....but is it bad enough for us to be punished for it? Problem is, gambling leads to too many other bad things...such as greed.....anger...cursing....etc......Maybe thats why its a sin.....Ive found myself questioning my belief lately also J~man, and thats when it gets scary. Ive always avoided reading scientific studies on our beginning, just for the fear of EVEN CONSIDERING that we were created from anthing other than God. When its all said and done....theres no way I'll EVER believe an explosion, or anything similar was the beginning of our existence. No way a single cell developed eyes over thousands or millions of years....then ears.....a mouth after millions of years.....then so on...and so on.......NO freaking way....its ridiculous to even consider it, I dont care what scientists say....Also, if thats the case, was there a a single cell.....molecule.....whatever their theory is.....was there one for EVERY SINGLE living thing that exists. Was there one for humans....dogs......whales....monkeys.....crickets.....so on.....so on......cmon.......

[This message was edited by Hache man on January 28, 2004 at 06:50 PM.]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

If there is a God, I've always wondered if he really cares (or has time) to influence football games, baseball games, boxing events, etc. I'd like to think that God would concentrate his efforts on battling famine, plague, death, etc.

In the case of Indy @ Tampa, here are some things to consider:

1) Did God like Indy more than Tampa? I'm sure Tampa has lots of religious players/coaches too.
2) Did God prevent Tampa from defending the deep pass in the final 3-4 minutes? Seriously, how could Marvin Harrison be wide-open for a 40-50 yard pass?
3) Did God persuade the officials to blow the onside-kick call? Indy caught the onside-kick before it ever touched the ground or a Tampa player.
4) Did God convince the officials to call the little-known "leaping" penalty in order to give Indy another FG chance?

When Notre Dame plays Boston College, who does God root for?

HacheMan · Jan 28, 2004

Cmon Monkey, man......Your making it sound like a joke....I cant tell if your "cutting" on me or not....lol.... Everyone is going to believe what they believe, and some people are hard headed and will never change. Ive seen both sides, living good and bad, and Ive listened to both sides, the bible and science'
s theories, and I would say that anyone one that believes in the big explosion, or the theory I posted above about we as beings beginning from a tiny molecule and developing through millions of year...well...I say that is absolutely hilarious and ridiculous.....Its just totally absurd.......

TheFunkMonkey · Jan 28, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Hache man:
Cmon Monkey, man......Your making it sound like a joke....I cant tell if your "cutting" on me or not....lol.... Everyone is going to believe what they believe, and some people are hard headed and will never change. Ive seen both sides, living good and bad, and Ive listened to both sides, the bible and science'
s theories, and I would say that anyone one that believes in the big explosion, or the theory I posted above about we as beings beginning from a tiny molecule and developing through millions of year...well...I say that is absolutely hilarious and ridiculous.....Its just totally absurd.......<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wasn't trying to cut on you. Just asking questions, trying to create conversation.

I'm undecided on the issue. So I'm always willing to hear different opinions, ideas, theories, etc.

SSI · Jan 28, 2004

its all about choices,, you have a choice today. which way will you choose? God doesnt directly control these choices. For believers, no proof is needed, for non-believers, no proof is ever enough..

I think science does an excellent job of backing up the bible, historical finds are proving the bible correct and not disproving.

how and why is isreal now back on the world scene, after 2000yrs without a country. why is the EU simply a revised form of the old roman empire, why are Jews less than 1% of the worlds population yet excel and control upwards of 10% of the worlds money and various other fields.. these are not merely coincidences.. have you ever met an amorite or a moabite of course not, but you have met a Jew. they stayed as a people without a homeland, which is unprecendeted in world history. i could ramble on for days as to why the bible is historically and scientifically accurate.. the flood of Noah is a fascinating study.. Its the one great mystery that baffles the scientists..

blueedwards · Jan 28, 2004

monkey, i seriously doubt whether God cares about the outcome of a football game. it drives me nuts when players say "God helped us win".

HacheMan · Jan 28, 2004

blue......I believe monkey was referring, more or less, to my statements about Trent Dilfer and Tony Dungy. It's obviously "reaching" a bit, to say God made certain things happen to let a sports team win a game, but if you read above about the story I presented about Dilfer and Dungy, it does give a reason to believe that some paths are written before~hand, or can be altered for some reasons or rewards......

blueedwards · Jan 28, 2004

i tend to think that a lot of the things we place a high value on or interest in, God does not. not saying there is no way that God would alter the outcome of a football game but, it seems very unlikely to me.