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I Feel Like I'm Losing it. Question For Christians
It so hard for me to talk about these questions to people in person, mainly because I'm worried everyone will think I'm crazy. I totally feel like I'm going completely nuts, but there's something I can't get my mind off of.
Does anyone here believe testimonies of people who claim to have been to Heaven or Hell? I didn't really in the past, but there are these two girls who claim to have been taken on by Jedus on tours of hell and came back to tell about it. They both say some of the same things, like that they saw Michael Jackson there and children who watched cartoons.
The thing is that these girls messages may actually come from satan, or they may be making their stories up for whatever reason. Regardless, they are causing people to have intense fear about their eternity. They're making salvation seem impossible.
Some of what they say seems extremely random. Like, "Oh, God doesn't like blondes, God doesn't like people who own Chihuahuas, God doesn't like people who drive Ford's." They don't actually say those things, but that's how bad it can seem. Like we're all unknowingly doing things that can get a person sent to Hell. Like no one can know that they're doing anything that will condemn them later. Like we're all doomed and God tries to make salvation as hard as possible.
When one girl was giving her testimony, I thought to myself that if some of what she was saying was true, it didn't seem as if God could be the loving, gracious, and just God that some believe that he is. I know better than to believe that though. I know better than to think that he is a cruel God who likes to see people go to Hell and who makes salvation practically impossible.
I feel like God states everything you are and aren't supposed to do in the Bible, but some of these people say that you can get sent to Hell for things that the Bible doesn't mention and things that you'd never think of.
They claim that dying your hair, painting your nails, wearing makeup, and using perfume will keep you from having any hope of getting to Heaven, but my grandmother did all of these things and, at the risk of sounding crazier than I already do, I know she's in Heaven because she gives us this sign that she is and that she's watching us. I reject that these things will sent you to Hell.
The last reason I don't believe them is because their stories seem to contradict the Bible. For example, they say that they were taken to Hell and brought back to warn people, but doesn't the Bible say that if someone doesn't already believe, they still won't even if somebody comes back from the dead to tell them? Also, one girl sounds very high and mighty and says that God made her responsible for saving people, but isn't Jesus the only one who can save you?
There are plenty of other inconsistencies, but the majority of people seem to believe them. It seems like most people don't believe Colton Burpo, Alex Malarkey, or people like that, but they wholeheartedly believe these people. They say, "I don't see why any real Christian would feel the need to question this." Even though the Bible TELLS us to test these things. It's like people don't want to hear nice stories that give you hope,they only want to hear terrifying ones that make you feel hopeless.
I guess my question is am I right not to believe any of this? And also how do you KNOW you're going to Heaven?
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You are completely right not to believe them. You are totally right when you said that God sets out what is right and wrong in the bible because that is his way of communicating with us and he tells us these things because he WANTS us to be saved, if he didn't want us to be saved then Jesus would not have been sent down to die for our sins.
Remember when Jesus was on earth and the Pharisees were speaking contradictory and trying to mislead God's people? Jesus actually called them hypocrites
Now to answer your question about how to know whether or not you're going to heaven, I might have a different answer than majority of other christian faiths. I am a christian myself, but I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
I don't believe that everyone goes to heaven. The bible speaks of a "little flock" and the "great crowd" those who make up the little flock are known as the "anointed" and the bible speaks of a specific number that will go to heaven, in Revelation 14:1 it says "Then I saw, and look! the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who have his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads." But in Revelation 7:9 it mentions the great crowd "After this I saw, and look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands."
Of course the next question is if the great crowd doesn't go to heaven then where do they go? Well God's original purpose for the earth was for perfect humans to reside forever upon it. As we know from what happened with Adam and Eve that is not the case today. However, god still plans on restoring the earth back to a perfect paradise earth and even though we might be imperfect now, we will become perfect humans in the near future and we will be able to live forever in an earthly paradise without sickness and death (Revelation 21:4) (Isaiah 45:18)
The bible also shows that god promises a "resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous"
We have all lost someone we loved and cared about in death and it's a really hard thing to deal with, i lost my grandmother a few years ago and you'll never stop missing them but in John 5:28,29 shows us the hope for those who have passed away it says "Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, and those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment."
So we have the hope of seeing our loved ones again on earth. We'll be able to welcome them back and never have to worry about saying goodbye to them again
I'm sorry for my answer being so long but I hope i was able to answer your question and be of some help.
Also if you ever have the time you should check out jw.org it's a great website for those who believe and have a love for god and want to keep learning more about him.
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A lot of people have a lot to say about what God does and doesn't want, don't they? It's more complex than these being messages from either God or the devil. The world is a complicated place and there are very few things that are pure good or pure evil. People who claim to have been to heaven or hell may just believe that they have because they dreamt it. There are so many different denominations of Christianity, many with different beliefs. Any one of them could be right or wrong. Perhaps none of them are true...but aren't there good people in all of them? The whole point is that we don't know exactly how to get to heaven and are left to our own devices and our FAITH. The only thing that you can do as a Christian person who believes in God is to follow your conscience and what you believe. Live a good life. Do good. Help people. If in the end, when you face God for judgment, you can be proud of the life that you led, that's all that matters and all that means anything. Trying to hack the system and figure out exactly how to behave isn't possible and even if you could it's cheating. Live the best life you can and if you can be proud of the person you become, chances are, God will be too. :) It's hard not to stress over the unknowns of religion, death, and the afterlife. For some reason, people like to make it complicated, but it's not that complicated. According to the Bible, you need only believe in Jesus. Remember how just before He died, He told the criminal who was being put to death with Him that He'd see him in Heaven? Surely this guy lived a horrible life, but was welcomed simply because he believed. Don't let yourself become consumed by figuring out how to be perfect and trying to be perfect. God made you perfectly imperfect. It is impossible to live a life without sin, but that's the great thing about Jesus. Before he came along pretty much nobody got into heaven. Jesus made it so that all you have to do is believe in Him to get there. So take a deep breath, believe, and just try to be a good person. People who say that watching cartoons or straightening your hair is going to send you to hell are completely missing the point and focusing on weird stuff that doesn't even matter. God is much bigger than all of that. When you can get these worldly, insignificant worries out of you mind, there will be room for Him. Good luck!
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Don't listen to other people, its their experience, and one cant discount someone elses experiences...what does your heart tell you? what does your gut tell you?
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You're not crazy at all. The Bible instructs believers to test messages that people claim are from God. You have a responsibility to question tnem. What these girls say is completely inconsistent with the Bible and with logic. Why would God allow a breed of dog or a shade of hair to be created only to be destroyed in hell? These girls are either saying these things because they are desperate for attention or because they have some kind of imbalance. Be compassionate toward them for being foolish or confused and you will receive compassion.
People who are 100% honest with themselves will admit that there isn't any absolute way to know exactly what happens when we die, that's the role of faith. It's not easy, even Jesus on the cross felt God had forsaken Him. If it were for us to know, there would be concrete proof, but we have to use teachings, inspiration, and reason to do right regardless of whether or not we can be assured of a reward. What you believe in your heart about a loving, just God will guide you to correctly reject their foolishness.
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