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Thagrastay · 03-18-2004, 08:50 AM

I consider myself a Messianist. I follow my Messiah, who is Yeshua, or Jesus of the Bible. I take the Bible literally where appropriately and understand that in those placees where it is stated as such, it is menat to be taken as metaphor or parable.
I was raised as a Methodist, which meant my family got all dressed up each sunday morning and we went to church and we had a marathon to see who could stay awake the longest as the pastor in his long robes droned on and on about things I had little to know interest in and I didn't see my parents do a whole lot about.
I always had known about God, but not in any real, cvoncrete sense, just that there was one and that He was around. By the time I was a teenager I had pretty much given up on church and stumbled upon the Boddhisattvas and was studying the Vedas and becoming a Hindu convert. However, much of the disciplines (I hadn't discovered Tantra yet) discouraged my friends and I missed out on a lot of parties, so I gave up on the studies for a while. But not completely. BY the time I entered University I had met a young lady who introduced me to the beauties of the Craft, and the similarities between hinduism and paganism was a very easy transition and soon I was a pagan and on my way to becoming a hedon as well.
Much of this time I had a lot of people evangelizing me, not the least of which were family members, but I had no time for that and thought that their attempts were silly and more than a bit backward.
I remained a Pagan for a very long time, and did much study in Virginia and at the Caycee center and in New Mexico and other places as well. Along the way, I founf the Tao, pardon the pun. and that helped things as well, but there was a hole somewhere needed filling.
Eventually, I met a man who challenged me intellectually to reconsider the Bible from a purely intellectual standpoint. He suggested that Christianity was a Thinking person's faith, and if the dogma and doctrine were removed, what was left was a picture that could not be denied.
I was intrigued.
I decided to approach the Bible from the same perspective as I had the Koran and the Tao and the Gitas and research it. He leant me a book called "Evidence That Demands A Verdict" by Josh MacDowell as a companion to the Bible he had given me, and I began my research.
It changed my worldview and my life.

In answer to the original question, I believe people place these fliers on cars because they want to get your attention, but they are not certain how to follow through and they are hoping that if you know about God, you probably already have heard about Jesus and will somehow know where to go to find out more.

I am very sorry about the bad experiences you had with the giant church you attended. I have had similar experiences as well. Unfortunately, the term Christain has come to mean just about anything anyone wants it to, rather than someone dedicated to Jesus, so I call myself a Messianist- one dedeicated to the Messiah. I know, whoop-de-do. But it clarifies things in my own mind. I fellowship in smaller churches and mentor those whom I am able on the streets. I love volunteer work, because that ius where the Lord lived and so I spend a loit of time doing that as well. On ocassion I will hand out fliers, but not the kind condemning people to hell. That does no good.
Either they will come to Messiah or they won't. I don';t know which are which, so I just treat them all like they are. Patience, tolerance, Love. But the Christian duty is at least to inform.

03-18-2004, 08:50 AM	#36 (permalink)
Thagrastay Crazy Location: Handrail, Montana	I consider myself a Messianist. I follow my Messiah, who is Yeshua, or Jesus of the Bible. I take the Bible literally where appropriately and understand that in those placees where it is stated as such, it is menat to be taken as metaphor or parable. I was raised as a Methodist, which meant my family got all dressed up each sunday morning and we went to church and we had a marathon to see who could stay awake the longest as the pastor in his long robes droned on and on about things I had little to know interest in and I didn't see my parents do a whole lot about. I always had known about God, but not in any real, cvoncrete sense, just that there was one and that He was around. By the time I was a teenager I had pretty much given up on church and stumbled upon the Boddhisattvas and was studying the Vedas and becoming a Hindu convert. However, much of the disciplines (I hadn't discovered Tantra yet) discouraged my friends and I missed out on a lot of parties, so I gave up on the studies for a while. But not completely. BY the time I entered University I had met a young lady who introduced me to the beauties of the Craft, and the similarities between hinduism and paganism was a very easy transition and soon I was a pagan and on my way to becoming a hedon as well. Much of this time I had a lot of people evangelizing me, not the least of which were family members, but I had no time for that and thought that their attempts were silly and more than a bit backward. I remained a Pagan for a very long time, and did much study in Virginia and at the Caycee center and in New Mexico and other places as well. Along the way, I founf the Tao, pardon the pun. and that helped things as well, but there was a hole somewhere needed filling. Eventually, I met a man who challenged me intellectually to reconsider the Bible from a purely intellectual standpoint. He suggested that Christianity was a Thinking person's faith, and if the dogma and doctrine were removed, what was left was a picture that could not be denied. I was intrigued. I decided to approach the Bible from the same perspective as I had the Koran and the Tao and the Gitas and research it. He leant me a book called "Evidence That Demands A Verdict" by Josh MacDowell as a companion to the Bible he had given me, and I began my research. It changed my worldview and my life. In answer to the original question, I believe people place these fliers on cars because they want to get your attention, but they are not certain how to follow through and they are hoping that if you know about God, you probably already have heard about Jesus and will somehow know where to go to find out more. I am very sorry about the bad experiences you had with the giant church you attended. I have had similar experiences as well. Unfortunately, the term Christain has come to mean just about anything anyone wants it to, rather than someone dedicated to Jesus, so I call myself a Messianist- one dedeicated to the Messiah. I know, whoop-de-do. But it clarifies things in my own mind. I fellowship in smaller churches and mentor those whom I am able on the streets. I love volunteer work, because that ius where the Lord lived and so I spend a loit of time doing that as well. On ocassion I will hand out fliers, but not the kind condemning people to hell. That does no good. Either they will come to Messiah or they won't. I don';t know which are which, so I just treat them all like they are. Patience, tolerance, Love. But the Christian duty is at least to inform. __________________ "That's it! They've got the cuffs on him, he's IN the car!"