How to get to heaven

[Shadow girl]

If you don't like Christianity don't read forward this is just for those that are interested and to help find other Christians so we can chat and what not.

I don't want to deal with atheist on here right now so really just read if interested and if not don't read any farther.

ARE YOU 100% SURE THAT IF YOU DIED TODAY THAT YOU WOULD GO TO HEAVEN?

There are some things that you should know:

1. Realize that you are a sinner and in need of a Savior:

Ro 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"

Ro 3:10 "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:"

This all began with the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. God created them perfect, there was no death or sorrow. God told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They disobeyed God and as a result, sin entered into the world. The pain which this world sees is the result of sin.

2. Because of our sins, we die both spiritually and physically, but God sent His Son to die so that you can have a chance not to have to go to hell by accepting what He did on the cross for you:

Ro 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Ro 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. for us."

Every person who has ever lived is a sinner and is not righteous because we do bad things. A sin is a crime against God, just as if you steal something at the store, it is punishable by going to jail. It's the same thing with sin. Even if we lie one time, the punishment is hell, which is a prison for those who commit crimes against God. No matter how well you live your life from then on, you have already committed a sin which will be punished if you are not pardoned. If you commit a crime, and then live as a good citizen you still will go to jail for the crime you committed. Right? Just as the president can pardon a crime so you won't go to jail, Jesus can pardon your sins so that you do not go to hell, and can go to heaven when you die.

3. If you will confess to Jesus Christ that you are a sinner and in need of a Savior, accept Him as Lord and Savior and believe in your heart that He died on the cross and rose from the dead you will be saved.

Ro 10:9,10 "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.."

Joh 1:12 Joh 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name”

You cannot get to heaven by being a good person, going to church, baptism or any other way other than by turning to Jesus and asking Him to forgive you for your sins and save you. While these are good things to do, some people believe that they will get to heaven if they do these things, but the bible says that there is only one way to heaven and that is through receiving what Jesus Christ did on the cross for you.

Will you do that today? If you will, you can be 100% sure that you will go to heaven when you die.

Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead for your sins? Are you willing to turn from your sins to Jesus Christ for Salvation?

4. If you are willing to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior please pray this prayer to God from your heart:

"Dear LORD JESUS, I believe that YOU died on the Cross and Rose from the dead for my sins. I ask you to come into my heart and forgive me for my sins, take me to heaven when I die. I now receive You as my Lord and Savior. Thank You for saving me. In Jesus holy name, Amen."

If you prayed that prayer from your heart to God, and meant it with all of your heart, you are now a child of God and will go to heaven when you die.

Now that you are on your way to heaven, you should attend a bible believing church and follow in baptism.

You may also download sermons on iTunes so here is a church I recommend www.brookwoodchurch.org

You may also get materials from the site on my signature.

[AVENCakes]

If you don't like Christianity don't read forward this is just for those that are interested and to help find other Christians so we can chat and what not.

I don't want to deal with atheist on here right now so really just read if interested and if not don't read any farther.

You'd get more luck if you postd this stuff strictly on christian forums- rather than a forum with varied and diverse religious views.

[Shinnok]

Edited because when it comes to Christianity, I guess I get too aggressive when I try to stand up for it

[AVENCakes]

It's just....I know how AVEN is...inevitably people are gonna start posting in here who are gonna badmouth this post. Nothing against AVENites but come on....isn't it some kind of rule in this country to respect other people's religions or something?

1. I didn't realize that AVEN was a country or that AVENites were all from the same country

2. Didn't people face a ton of problems for being muslim or of middle eastern descent after 9/11? How was that respectful?

3. It's "freedom of religion" and "separation of church and sate"- you can't stop anyone from believing what they want or put anything into law, either. That doesn't mean you have to respect it. You just have to acknowledge their right to believe what they want. How many people even know enough about all the religions out there to really respect them?

[Shinnok]

Too late. I was coming back on AVEN at 4 in the morning to try and edit that post before anyone saw it :/

Whatever...my original intention was just to side with Shadow Girl which I hope she knows I do. I should've PMed her instead of posting here

me and my dumb ideas..

[Shadow girl]

Too late. I was coming back on AVEN at 4 in the morning to try and edit that post before anyone saw it :/

Whatever...my original intention was just to side with Shadow Girl which I hope she knows I do. I should've PMed her instead of posting here

me and my dumb ideas..

Hey don't worry about it at least I know I'm not alone. You can post wherever or mail whatever. It wasn't a dumb idea. Never be afraid to speak your mind you can do it here.

[Anti-stud]

1. Realize that you are a sinner and in need of a Savior:

2. Because of our sins, we die both spiritually and physically, but God sent His Son to die so that you can have a chance not to have to go to hell by accepting what He did on the cross for you:

3. If you will confess to Jesus Christ that you are a sinner and in need of a Savior, accept Him as Lord and Savior and believe in your heart that He died on the cross and rose from the dead you will be saved.

4. If you are willing to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior please pray this prayer to God from your heart:

Nicely condensed into 4 bite-sized pieces.

Now give the folks the fine print...

[thylacine]

My idea of how to get into Heaven is simple: be a decent person, don't do any major bad stuff like murder & etc. Don't waterboard people, don't steal little kids off the playground, don't nuke the Earth, stuff like that... I think Hell is for really crappy people like Hitler & Ted Bundy & Jeffrey Dahmer. I don't think you end up in Hell for skipping church like twice in your life or something, or eating a hamburger on Friday. I think God is bigger than that. Comments, anyone?

[Cirdan]

I think God is bigger than that. Comments, anyone?

A great deal of Christian theology states that you have to believe in Jesus to go to heaven. That you might be able to go to heaven without this faith is considered by many people a heresy.

Hence although I think of myself as a Christian, and go to church, I am also a heretic. For other reasons also.

[mackat5]

I'm Christian, but I think that God is much bigger and more inclusive than any of us can comprehend.

[thylacine]

I don't think you go to Hell for being a Hindu, or anything like that... i.e. for just "not" being a Christian. I think to go to Hell, you need to be really, really bad. I would think most people get to Heaven.

[Cirdan]

I don't really believe in hell as such. My beliefs in heaven (and God for that matter) are as much about them being metaphors as actual realities (which to me is less important or an issue).

So I think that if people lead a good life then they can die content knowing that they have made the world a better place. If that is your last thought then you can hold that for all eternity. If being pious and certain in your beliefs is that important to you, and you have lived up to your own expectations then I am sure your last thought will be that you are going to heaven.

[Anti-stud]

I don't think you go to Hell for being a Hindu, or anything like that... i.e. for just "not" being a Christian. I think to go to Hell, you need to be really, really bad. I would think most people get to Heaven.

That's my biggest gripe with Christianity. I you go by the Bible, everybody that doesn't believe in Jesus goes to Hell. Period. No middle ground, no grey area.

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me

Leading a good life, serving your fellow man, leaving the world in a better state than you found it, but not believing in Jesus = being just as bad as a murderer / rapist / paedophile because God thinks you deserve to tortured with them for eternity once you die.

That just doesn't fly with me.

[jrackula]

To me that seems like just the first step, not the absolute ticket. Even if you embrace Him as your savior, I think it requires a good deal of prayer too because even with the best intentions a person will still sin. And to go to heaven I believe a person must have those sins taken from them, or heaven wouldn't be any different from Earth.

When a person dies, the way I see it, is that they either go to hell or if they want to be forgiven for thier sins (or they just weren't at all bad people) they go to purgatory where they can get their slate cleaned completely so they can then go to heaven. I know a lot of people don't share in my ideas though and that's cool too, I was just wanting to get my thoughts out there too since mine are of a very different spectrum of Christianity than most.

[Sally]

This kitten's going to Heaven.

[BunnyK.]

Too late. I was coming back on AVEN at 4 in the morning to try and edit that post before anyone saw it :/

Whatever...my original intention was just to side with Shadow Girl which I hope she knows I do. I should've PMed her instead of posting here

me and my dumb ideas..

Hey don't worry about it at least I know I'm not alone. You can post wherever or mail whatever. It wasn't a dumb idea. Never be afraid to speak your mind you can do it here.

Oh, so it's ok for her to speak her mind, but it's not ok for atheists to come in here and speak theirs?

My idea of how to get into Heaven is simple: be a decent person, don't do any major bad stuff like murder & etc. Don't waterboard people, don't steal little kids off the playground, don't nuke the Earth, stuff like that... I think Hell is for really crappy people like Hitler & Ted Bundy & Jeffrey Dahmer. I don't think you end up in Hell for skipping church like twice in your life or something, or eating a hamburger on Friday. I think God is bigger than that. Comments, anyone?

You know, they've done a study on serial killers, and they found that *every single one* had horrible abuse in their childhood. I'm not excusing what they did, but I think it's possible to hurt a child so badly that they really can never recover and lead a normal life. I wouldn't myself feel comfortable sending them to hell forever because they were literally so broken that they went insane. That's why, if I ever decided to follow a religion, I'd pick one that involved reincarnation - it seems like the kindest thing to do is let people keep trying until they get it right.

[Shinnok]

Too late. I was coming back on AVEN at 4 in the morning to try and edit that post before anyone saw it :/

Whatever...my original intention was just to side with Shadow Girl which I hope she knows I do. I should've PMed her instead of posting here

me and my dumb ideas..

Hey don't worry about it at least I know I'm not alone. You can post wherever or mail whatever. It wasn't a dumb idea. Never be afraid to speak your mind you can do it here.

Oh, so it's ok for her to speak her mind, but it's not ok for atheists to come in here and speak theirs?

I don't think Shadow minds if Atheists post here. She just doesn't want them flaming the topic

[Snap-Dragon]

I don't think Shadow minds if Atheists post here. She just doesn't want them flaming the topic

Really? I can come in?

*tiptoes cautiously into the thread*

Okay, I just want to point out that this is a bit of an odd thread to address to Christians. I mean, don't they generally know all that stuff, and, er, already believe in Jesus? And are already baptized, and have already "accepted Christ"? It seems rather pointless to go off on a whole lecture like that when the only audience you want to hear from has already heard and accepted that...

[thylacine]

All kittens go to heaven, because kittens are lovable & precious (I'm a cat lover, can you tell?).

[mackat5]

Watch it!! For God has broken loose out of the boxes we put Him in and is out among the people!!!!!!!!! We cannot control God!!!!!!!!

[Parth]

To be honest, if I had a choice between heaven or simple atheist death without any part of me living on beyond, I'd choose the latter. Heaven just doesn't sound like a place I'd want to be.

[Sally]

All kittens go to heaven, because kittens are lovable & precious (I'm a cat lover, can you tell?).

All good people are cat lovers. Except for the other good people who aren't.

[AVENCakes]

To be honest, if I had a choice between heaven or simple atheist death without any part of me living on beyond, I'd choose the latter. Heaven just doesn't sound like a place I'd want to be.

Truthfully, if I had to choose between HEaven and Hell- I'd choose Hell. From what little I've read of the bible and what I've heard from christians, that is.

All kittens go to heaven, because kittens are lovable & precious (I'm a cat lover, can you tell?).

All good people are cat lovers. Except for the other good people who aren't.

All good people are cat lovers... they just haven't realized it yet.

[Shrine Maiden]

I've always had this question: Heaven is considered eternal, right? So, the eternal soul stays for an eyeblink in human form on Earth and then drifts off to Heaven or Hell. So, if it is eternal, where the heck was it before getting to Earth?

And another thing: Around the middle ages christianity was the "hot stuff" in Europe the rest of the world was pretty much worshiping whatever they wanted to worship. Did these people all go to hell? bit unfair, don't you think to send people off to hell for not knowing there was a hell.

[Næt.]

And what about those people who died before Jesus supposedly came along?

[AVENCakes]

I've always had this question: Heaven is considered eternal, right? So, the eternal soul stays for an eyeblink in human form on Earth and then drifts off to Heaven or Hell. So, if it is eternal, where the heck was it before getting to Earth?

And another thing: Around the middle ages christianity was the "hot stuff" in Europe the rest of the world was pretty much worshiping whatever they wanted to worship. Did these people all go to hell? bit unfair, don't you think to send people off to hell for not knowing there was a hell.

On that note- did everyone go to hell before christianity was even invented? That hardly seems fair- casting everyone into Hell just because God hadn't sent his son down yet.

[Anti-stud]

To be honest, if I had a choice between heaven or simple atheist death without any part of me living on beyond, I'd choose the latter. Heaven just doesn't sound like a place I'd want to be.

Agreed.

That said, Hell sounds rather unpleasant to me. If it were real, it's not a place I'd like to end up. That said, following a religion just because you don't want to be punished is not a way to live your life either. I'll just continue to live life, trying to be a decent person. If that's not good enough for The Big Guy, then so be it.

[AFlyingPiglet]

Yes, I'm a Christian. The 'Heaven debate' part of this thread, I'm keeping out of at the present time.

This is just for those that are interested and to help find other Christians so we can chat and what not.

That is more of interest to me right now. I became a Christian in my early 20s and since then, I've always identified as a single Christian. As of the start of this year I now idenfity as an Aromantic Asexual Christian - It makes going to a Church, which is becoming increasingly young family based, seem fairly alienating at the moment. This may be partly because of the church but also me coming to terms with my asexuality. So, yes 'finding' other Asexual Christians to 'Chat and what not' for support sounds right up my street.

[Shinnok]

It's nice to see another Asexual Christian post

[Shockwave]

Yes, I'm a Christian. The 'Heaven debate' part of this thread, I'm keeping out of at the present time.

This is just for those that are interested and to help find other Christians so we can chat and what not.

That is more of interest to me right now. I became a Christian in my early 20s and since then, I've always identified as a single Christian. As of the start of this year I now idenfity as an Aromantic Asexual Christian - It makes going to a Church, which is becoming increasingly young family based, seem fairly alienating at the moment. This may be partly because of the church but also me coming to terms with my asexuality. So, yes 'finding' other Asexual Christians to 'Chat and what not' for support sounds right up my street.

In that case I would recommend one of these threads. Philosophy, Politics 'n Science is not a great place for meeting people, it's more for debating.