"Or do you "Praise God!" for giving you cancer?"
The answer is "yes", I "praise God" for my cancer. It has changed my life for the better... and I am not afraid of death - we all face it anyway. Since I believe in God, I also believe in Satan, who is the ultimate source of suffering and evil in this world. God does not make evil things happen to people, although he may allow it to happen to strengthen our faith. If you don't believe that, Todd Augsberger is still reaching people and causing thoughtful discussion from beyond the grave - he is still being used by God as a witness to his faith in dealing with the adversity of ALS. My life does not end in a cemetery, it just begins there. All of us are just passing through this world and it is sad to think that some people believe that this is all there is. If that is the case, then why try to live a decent life? Get all you can, no matter what the cost to others - kill your competitors, hoard up money and live a pretentious lifestyle, because in the end you die. That is what is driving people like Bernie Madoff - the belief that there are no ultimate consequences to your actions, because you only live once and you might as well go out with a bang... Why be decent? "What you DO in life is all that counts..." Why??? If you don't believe in God or a life in the afterworld - what is the point in life and what is it that actually counts - how much money you earn or how big of a house you live in or what kind of car you drive or how many rare phonographs you temporarily own??? If I thought that there was no God - then I would definitely believe that life is a cruel hoax of an existence. Go to work daily, so you can earn a living to support a family that needs to be educated - so they can earn a living to support a family that needs to be educated... and on and on - only to end up in a cemetery, with absolutely NO purpose AND you can't take any of your stuff with you. > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Date: Wed, 11 May 2011 05:24:42 -0400 > Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Todd Augsburger > > He was ultimately a very old and successful man who left a legacy of great > comfort and happiness to millions of people. Nothing came from imaginary > gods, witches, ghosts, angels, or any other stupidity thought up by people > who want to control the thoughts of others. What you DO in life is all that > counts - preaching is just self-serving nonsense. There are no gods. None. > Or do you "Praise God!" for giving you cancer? That's some kinda evil > "god", if so. I'd rather understand the truth. Being too simple to > understand how Life was C-R-E-A-T-E-D is just sad, sorry to say. > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Vinyl Visions" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 12:41 AM > Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Todd Augsburger > > > > Apparently, Thomas Edison was a genius, but ultimately a fool: > Psalm 14:1 a “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” (NIV) > > > > He was too "smart" to realize that everything on this earth has been created > by a loving and wonderful God. This didn't just happen in some cosmic > explosion of swamp gas or whatever (and for anyone who believes that - where > did the swamp gas come from or where did the stuff that exploded originate - > how about it was C-R-E-A-T-E-D?). > > > I have been blessed as a cancer survivor and give thanks to God for my > recovery, so I definitely relate to Todd Augsberger, who has gone on to a > better place. I feel sorry for anyone who believes that we are only - "Dust > In The Wind" or finds some kind of comfort in the Peggy Lee song - "Is That > All There Is?" > > > Without God, it isn't possible for us to leave the world even a tiny bit > better than when we entered, as we have nothing to offer without HIM. > > > From: [email protected] > > To: [email protected] > > Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 21:43:06 -0400 > > Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Todd Augsburger > > > > > > I'm about at Edison's level of faith, less his occasional (and very real) > > need to protect his businesses by pandering to the religious crowd when > > reporters pushed him on the God subject. He saw no evidence of a kindly, > > merciful being which oversaw Nature and the world. (Think of Mina trying > > to > > get him to attend a service to thank God for victory in Cuba. "Shouldn't > > we > > also thank God for the yellow fever which killed our soldiers?", he > > asked. ) > > I see Life as an opportunity & obligation to get through our years without > > being nasty, cruel, thoughtless, greedy, etc - but we WILL be those things > > at some point, and can only try to make up for that & maybe leave the > > world > > a tiny bit better than when we entered. Being decent doesn't require a > > mythical father-figure floating in the sky. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.oldcrank.org
