first baptist featured on morons.com

[gatorback]

Vines is gone?

[second_pancake]

you two! 

Lol.  Well, the irony in all of the differences of opinion posted here, is that no matter our beliefs, NONE of us will be able to come back and say, I told you so

Are you sure about that?  I think when we meet up with our family in friends in heaven we'll all have a good laugh or two.

Dude, I said "come BACK", lol.  If I don't believe in ghosts or spirits than the odds of me seeing your celestial being stand before me laughing, is highly unlikely, and since those who believe in reincarnation never come back as another person, but as an animal that doesn't have the capacity to speak the english language, you could bark at me all you want but I'd never hear "I told you so", lol.

[gatorback]

Great!  Vines never really fed me while I was there.  With Vines it was about the man and not the lamb.  Kinda backwards huh?

stephen:  katrina, the war in iraq, and spending : that's  george bush

are you saying you have no confidence in this administration?

[Charleston native]

Stephen, I'm not saying that I don't believe you, but how do you know all this about Vines? I wouldn't doubt that the man might indeed be a "pharisee", since I have problems with the Southern Baptist Convention and its functions. There are also a few pastors who definitely have disappointed me in their witness, or lack thereof.

[Charleston native]

So are you in any committee meetings? Where is the information coming from? I don't doubt you, but I think juicy information like that would be hard to find in the SBC newsletter of FBC bulletin.

[Charleston native]

I see. Well, when we finally move down there, maybe I'll get to see some of this firsthand.

[Charleston native]

Is that church downtown as well? Where is it located?

Any other denomination (or non) churches that you would recommend? Does Jax have any EV-Free (Evangelical Free) churches?

[Charleston native]

Ah, I meant Evangelical Free, as in the denomination...not a denomination that is void of evangelicals, LOL. The denomination appears to be mostly in the Western US, but considering the size of Jax, I was wondering if there were any. I would actually prefer a church that is evangelical in nature, so it does not have to be Southern Baptist, but close to it. FBC will be my first pick to check out, though.

[shesanopenbook]

Delurking for a sec...

Charleston, there are a couple of Ev-Free churches in and around Jax but they're not in the downtown area. One is in Atlantic Beach (Sunrise Community Church) and the other is on Beach Blvd. near the Intercoastal (Eastside Community Church). I haven't been to either but I've heard good things about Sunrise.

My family and I go to the Church of Jacksonville (or CJAX) on the Southside. It's a fairly new (only about 5 years old now), big-ish church that is very diverse and offers plenty of good Word. It's certainly worth checking out.

... OK, back to lurking. 

[fhrathore]

Stephen, you are quite accurate in your statement about the lineage of Jews and Arabs. Yes, they both can trace their roots to Abraham, but the religions of Judaism and Islam are entirely different. Judaism has been around far longer than Islam; Islam was started around 700 AD. Muhammed himself traveled in caravans during the younger part of his life, and he picked up many bits and pieces from Jewish and Christian travelers. The God he calls Allah was actually the moon god out of the over 300 gods that were worshipped by Arabic pilgrims throughout Saudi Arabia.

As far as the sexual proclivities of Muhammed, you may be right...there is no concrete proof of his pedophilia, but I think you are being very disingenuous to the culture of some Arabic tribes, let alone the desires of man. You honestly think that there was no "hanky panky" going on? That's a little naive, IMO, especially when we are talking about a man with a huge ego and power trip.

That is incorrect. Allah was not the name of the moon god. In fact, the pre-islamic arabs never worshiped Allah directly. Allah was seen in the same light as the Hindus see god.

And to your second piont, there is no concrete proof show that Muhammad every actually did consumate his relationship with her, so why assume that he did?

[Charleston native]

shesanopenbook, thanks very much for the information. I'll take a look at those churches on Beach Blvd and in Atlantic Beach. CJAX sounds very good, too.

That is incorrect. Allah was not the name of the moon god. In fact, the pre-islamic arabs never worshiped Allah directly. Allah was seen in the same light as the Hindus see god.

And to your second piont, there is no concrete proof show that Muhammad every actually did consumate his relationship with her, so why assume that he did?

<sigh> Here we go again. You are incorrect in your correction. Allah may not have been the original name of the moon god that Arabs worshipped, but you just admitted that he wasn't worshipped directly, and the reason for that is the moon god was 1 out of over 300 gods that were worshipped.

As for my 2nd point, you needed to read all of the posts and not just find one to start up the argument again:

...Besides, the Koran has documented evidence (in context AND literal interpretations) of Mohammed's heresy, lunacy, and warped theology. That, along with documented evidence in the Hadith, indicates that the prophet did practice pedophilia with his marriage to a sexually underdeveloped girl...

Even if there was no documented evidence, there is nothing in the Koran or Hadith that states he didn't. And if you think that in Arab cultures, that men did not have intimate relations with all of their women (while they were considered 2nd class citizens), you're being pretty naive.

[Charleston native]

Read the Hadiths some time. They'll help you out. Check out the internet on the Ka'aba.

Even little trends like moons on top of all temples and in Muslim flags. It all comes together, like it or not.

[fhrathore]

Even little trends like moons on top of all temples and in Muslim flags. It all comes together, like it or not.

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. The cresent moon and star has nothing to do with Islamic tradition. It was first used by the ottomans on their national flag. So the cresent moon and star is mostly a turkish tradition than religious. The fact that other nations have adopted the cresent moon and star is not out of some religious context, but merely for evoking the image and history of the Ottoman empire. Furthermore, the cresent moon does not adorn every single mosque that is built. The one here in Jax doesnt have one. You cannot make a connection between the design of a mosque to some religious doctrine. Am I to believe that stain glass holds a special place in Christian theology because it is present in many a church?

[fhrathore]

Read the Hadiths some time. They'll help you out. Check out the internet on the Ka'aba.

I have read the Hadith, all of the Koran, and I have recently returned from the Ka'bah, and I have still not found any evidence that Islam accepts child molestation. Furthermore, I do not understand how researching the Ka'bah will help. What are we supposed to look for?

[Charleston native]

Listen guys, I know in my heart what is truth. Apparently, Stephen, you believe the Koran is truth. This is something we will continue to disagree with. And BTW, since when did Christian churches use Easter eggs and the Easter bunny as part of their worship or place of worship? Again (and again, and again, ad nauseum), we have another disingenuous argument. The bunny and eggs are secular creations that just about all Christian churches agree are not part of their doctrine or their place of worship.

Read some archaelogical and theological studies on this issue. You might be surprised. For example:

http://www.baptistpillar.com/bd0476.htm
http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/islam.htm

Many scholars agree on this issue.