Bob Marley and the Bible

 Okay, so Bob Marley and the Bible. Not 2 things that you would normally put together. Maybe Bob Marley and dreads, but not the Bible, he was a Rastafarian, right? But looking into his life and legacy, he was a man of peace and love. He wanted all people to be equals. We are going to look at some of his famous quotes and how they can relate to what is in the Bible and also we are going to briefly look into Rastafarian"ism".

 __________________________________________________________________

 Bob Marley once said, "Don't gain the world and loose your soul, wisdom is better the silver or gold".The first thing I thought of was TobyMac's song: "I don't wanna gain the world just to loose my soul" then I was quickly reminded that it's a verse in the Bible. Was Bob Marley quoting Matthew 16: 25-26  For whoever wants to save his life will loose it, but whoever looses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the world, yet forfeits his soul? Sounds pretty similar to me.

Another quote he has said is. "When one door is closed, don't you know that many more are open" There's no Bible verse I have found the come out and says it like this, but it is similar to Revelation 3:8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. This thought is taught over and over again in Sunday school. God doesn't shut one door without opening a window, or two! He tries to lead us in the direction he wants us to go. That one closed door wasn't meant for us.

"The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively" Bob Marley sums up a few verses in this phrase,
Proverbs 10:2 Ill gotten treasures are of no value, but righteousness delivers from death.  Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others. 

 

Our God is love, Jesus is love. Bob Marley says, "Love would never leave us alone" and "There will never be no love at all" He's right!  He loves us unconditionally, he will never leave us or forsake us; Hebrews 13:5 Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6...for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.Therefore, if God is with us always, love would never leave us, and God will always be.Psalm 90: 2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. He was there in the beginning, here is here now and he will always be.

 

 "Overcome the devils with a thing called love" Bob Marley. When he says "devils", he's talking about our struggles, our sins. What the devil uses to get in the way of our relationship with God. The only way to defeat our "devils", is to grow deeper in our relationship with Christ. He alone can defeat our sins. He became sin on the cross when he died. His love for us and our love in return for him is the only way to stop Satan. Satan hates any good, happiness, love. When we love God we obey his commands, we resist temptation and turn from evil. Love is the only way to defeat our "devils".

 

 Another great quote from Bob Marley is "Live for yourself and you will live in vain; live for others, and you will live again". You will find that this is a common message in the Bible. Jesus taught to serve your neighbors, don't be proud or greedy. Jesus called his disciples to leave everything they had to follow him. If we are following Jesus he wants us to serve him by serving others. 

__________________________________________________________________

 So we've just looked at how alot of the things Bob Marley believed in was closely reacted to the Bible, but was Bob Marley a Christian? No. Sadly not. Even though I love his music and (some) of his beliefs, he was a Rastafarian. When I first looked it up I had no idea it was an actual religion, well it is. It has similarities to Christianity and Judaism, though. 

Rastafari--it is a religion and way of life.

*they speak out against poverty, oppression, inequality (religious and global).

It was founded in Jamaica in the 20's and 30's by Marcus Garvey (they think if him as the second John the Baptist). The date generally said to be November 2, 1930, but based off a movement in the 1920's. 1930 was the year that Haile Selassie I was crowned emperor of Ethiopia. 

 

 Rastafarians believe in the Judeo-Christian God, they call him Jah. They believe Jah was manifested on earth as Jesus, who Rastas believe was black. They refer to Haile Selassie as His Imperial Majesty, or H.I.M. They worship him as divine.

Haile Selassie- previous name Ras Tafari Makonnen (he was a devout Christian and rejected

 

TEXTS: Holy Piby- the "Black Man's Bible (a version of the Christian Bible that has been altered to remove all the deliberate distortions that are believed to have been made by white leaders during it's translation into English. The Ethiopian national epic, Kebra Negast, is also respected but less than the Bible.

What do they believe? They honor Old Testament prophets. They do not believe in an afterlife, they call Africa ZION (heaven on earth). They believe they are immortal, physically and spiritually (everliving). Babylon- white power structure of Europe and the Americas. They seek to resist Babylon, they believe it is the white political power structure that has been holding the black race down for centuries. Rasta sees that the shackles of slavery held down blacks physically; now they feel they are being held down through poverty, illiteracy, inequality and trickery by the white man.

Practices/Symbols: probably best known for their use of marijuana. They use it during their Rastafari rituals, they think they have found scriptural support, found in Psalm 104:14, Genesis 3:18, Exodus 10:12 and Proverbs 15:17, that proves that God made "grass" for man. They also use it for medicinal purposes. Wearing their hair in Dreadlocks- symbolizes to them; the biblical command not to cut ones hair (Lev 21:5) the appearance of the lion's mane, rep. strength and the Lion of Judah. Naturalness and simplicity and Rastas roots in Africa. Common colors affiliated with Rasta are red, gold and green. The Lion of Judah represents Haile Selassie as the King of Kings, Africa and strength. Most of them are vegetarians or vegans, they follow a dietary law called Ital. The food is completely natural and eaten as raw as possible. And they reject the use of alcohol.

_________________________________________________________________________

 Was Bob Marley a Christian? No. He was a Rastafari, they have some similar beliefs like Christians, they believe in God/Jesus, they believe all people are equal, they want to live according to the rules in the Old Testament. He was a man of peace and love. The kinda that only comes from God. He may have believed in some "questionable" things, but I still believe that God could have used him. But I would not go into the slums of Jamaica; they are holding a grudge that "whites" are holding them down, they probably would not accept us in their home. We could probably follow some of their eating guidelines, they are probably very healthy, no canned items, no bleached sugars, flours, breads. I've never smoked the ganja before so I can't really have an opinion on that. Alot of people say it brings you closer to God. Prayer brings me closer, and pot can get us into too much trouble since it's illegal, so I don't know if it's worth it.

 

In the word's of Bob Marley:

 

*I don't stand for the black man's side, I don' t stand for the white man's side. I stand for God's side.
*My  future is righteousness.
*Open your eyes, look within. Are you satisfied with the life you're living?
*You ain't gonna miss your water until your well runs dry

Do People Believe in Hell?

I believe in Hell, this will be yet another blog about everybody else, of course this is a blog that I am writing so you will get to hear what I think, as well as what I get straight from my Bible, and what my friends, families and co-workers!

I believe if you truly repent then someone as perfect as Jesus will accept. He's not tied by the errors of humanity.

                I think that in some way or another everyone will either have the chance to hear about Jesus and accept him, or Jesus will look at his heart. Its scary, I want to believe there's not a hell, but i cant pick and choose what i believe out of the Bible, so I'm kinda obligated to believe in hell. I just hope everybody gets a fair chance.

So when i put this question on facebook these are the responses I got:

________________________________

 Ya its in the Bible there's most definitely a Hell. I actually read a book once I believe called Divine Visions of Hell where God actually had someone experience it to warn ppl about the terrors of Hell. Some of the things he said was your ...always burning. Your skin and such will burn off and you feel every last bit of it and then it would all come back just to burn off again. And demons would terrorize you continuously. 

_________________________________

I do believe in hell. Jesus talked about hell and I think He described it pretty well and I know I don't want to go there. Sinners are going to hell...but for the grace of God, that would be me. But He sent His Son to make a way for me to have eternal life with Him even though I sin. 

_________________________________

personally i view hell as a place tats goin to b diff for everyone. i think we'll all go to same place but every individual will experience somethin diff. everyone might not necessary burn iternity by fire like its widely believed but inste...ad burn by fear r a burning agony of somethin they consider to b the worst thing to happen to them. for example if lets call it a 'livin hell' to someone would b fear of drowning they might feel a iternity of drownin same if someone worst fear was bein buried alive they might go through an iternity of bein buried alive. hell to me is a place of ur worst fear so as another example if i went i might go through iternity of drowning.

_________________________________

I don't think that death is a finish line after which God closes the door on us forever. If there is a hell, I believe that the door OUT of hell is always open ~ and outside that door God waits with love and open arms for ALL of us ALL the time FOREVER :)

 ___________________________________

I as a person - do not believe in hell. The idea of hell is the most wicked people go there and non-believers. While - I agree wicked people should have a punishment - eternal damnation is too much and doesn't fit in with concept of a loving and caring super deity. People are products of their environment and their genes. However, I believe in the good of people and given the right tools people can be moral. Maybe not given in the constraints of our society and laws but moral nonetheless.

___________________________________ 

The way I look at it. I don't deserve heaven, and neither does any sinner, but the fact that God would even consider giving sinners a way into heaven is something that all of mankind should be grateful for. Its like giving a friend a ticket, and that friend throws the ticket away and still wants to get in. Its unfortunate that good people go to hell, but in the grand scheme of things... every good person I know is still a sinner.

___________________________________

So as you can see, most people think there is a hell, the beliefs they have about differ somewhat though. I cannot be the one to magically change your mind or open your eyes to the truth, you have to find that through God. We can ultimately read the Bible to find the predictions Jesus made about hell. 

I'm actually supposed to be speaking to the youth of my church sometime this month and this was my topic I chose; Sheep and Goats. We talk about unbelievers going to hell, what the Bible says hell will be like and how can we be saved from hell?

People argue saying "if God is so loving why would he send people to hell?" The answer: BECAUSE WE DESERVE IT. We have free will and we choose over and over again to sin and do wrong in the eyes of the God. God has the power to change our minds, to take away our free will. But he lets us choose. He is the master, the creator, not the puppeteer. Though he can and will use those of us who let him, he will use us for his will. He will use us to save his people, to love the unlovable. 

So what does the Bible say?

If you read in Matthew 25 ( verses 31-46) He explains how, on judgment day, we will be separated like sheep and goats. (The sheep are believers, the goats non-believers or those with superficial faith). The sheep will go to the right *to eternal life* and the goats will go to the left *eternal fire*. In verse 46 Jesus clarifies that hell was not meant for us but for Satan and his fallen angels. 

So is there really a hell?

According to the Bible, and Jesus,  yes, there is. It specifies it more as being condemned, or eternal damnation, a second death, eternal punishment.  2 Peter 2:4 For God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons. In Revelation 21, hell is described as being a fiery lake of burning sulfur, the second death.

Will Jesus accept someone if they repent on judgment day? 

I don't know. I haven't found anything to support or dismiss this question. I think Jesus knows the heart and he will look at our hearts, but when we have such a close and personal relationship with him he knows us better. I don't want to risk spending eternity in hell with gnashing of teeth, I want to do what I can today and tomorrow letting Jesus know that I'm his, he's my savior, I know I'm not worthy of heaven. My advice, find him today, live for him today! Don't be the test-dummy! 

________________________________________________

Hell is the absence of God. God is good. If there is no good, there's no God. Hell is a place without any good. 

Our Coming Judgment

Those of you who were lucky/unlucky enough to hear me talk tonight (im not sure what everyone thinks, but i hope it's nothing too bad) anyways, I had a meltdown. I am so passionate about Jesus' love for us, I couldn't help but to cry. He is so much to us, and he should be the biggest part of our lives, I just wanted to stress that to everyone. He IS our reason for being. But this is the outline of what my talk was supposed to be about;

Do we live with today in mind? Or tomorrow?

Do we live for eternal gratification?  Or instant satisfaction? 

Are we living like sheep? Or goats?

2 Undeniable truths: one day we will die and one day we will be judged

Matthew 25:31-33, 41,46   Sheep and Goats

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.....Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels'.....Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

Sheep (on the right) are going to heaven- these are true believers, people who have a personal relationship with Christ, the sheep are forgiven, therefore they are saved.

Goats (on the left) are going to eternal punishment. Hell. They are those who mocked, ridiculed, reject Jesus, and those who have superficial faith.

We will be judged based on if we are forgiven or not. If we are forgiven we should be living like sheep. Following the shepherd.

Who will be the judge on judgment day?

2 John 5:22

Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,

This verse tells us that God has appointed Jesus to be the judge. How perfect, he gets to choose who will live forever. When Jesus Christ died for our sins, he suffered through hell. (He descended into hell- its in the apostles creed.) I think he knows who should go there. We all deserve it because we are sinners, but that's why a relationship with him is so important.

Will all the goats go to hell?

1 Peter 4:18

If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

Without Christ, the Bible says no one can be truly saved from the punishment for his sins, hell. With man's own efforts salvation is impossible, but with God everything is possible.

With God- Possible          Without God- Impossible

If you're not living FOR God today, why would he want you to live WITH him tomorrow?

What does the Bible say hell will look like?

(2 Peter refers to hell as a gloomy dungeon.)

Matthew 8:12

But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be  weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Revelation- the lake of fire, fiery lake of burning sulfur

Also, in Revelations it talks about the lake of fire being the “second death”

            Revelation 21:8

 

After we physically die (our first death) our hell would be a spiritual place since our bodies are not physically thee.

            The lake of fire is the future hell. It is the second death that will come after our judgment; after we are separated like the goats and sheep in Matthew 25. This hell will be a physical hell.

1^st death – spiritual hell  

2^nd death- physical and spiritual hell, for eternity

How do we go from a spiritual hell to a physical hell?

            John 5:28-30

Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out- those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

 

Jesus will rise everyone’s physical bodies up from the grave- everyone, forgiven or not, will be given a resurrected body. From there we are judged. The forgiven (sheep) will live and the goats will be condemned.

Rev. Tom Brown puts this hell into perspective for us: “today hell is like a jail (spiritual only). In the future, the jail will be thrown into security prison- the lake of fire (spiritual and physical).

Can we, or how can we, be saved from hell?

            Luke 23:42-43 (One of the criminals being crucified next to Jesus)

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

 

Jesus thought anyone who truly repented could be saved. So the only way to eternal life is through the blood of Jesus Christ that was spilled through his physical death when he was crucified. We are to repent for our sins and ask his forgiveness.

Ephesians 2:1.8.13.18

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins....For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith....But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ....For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

We are spiritually dead from our sins and are condemned to death, but in Jesus we have life again.

            Look back at Matthew 25:41:

Hell was not meant for us. He chose us to be with him, and He gives us the free will to choose him back. 

We call ourselves Christians, we claim to have Jesus in our hearts; then why don’t we take his word more seriously?

He has threatened us with hell as punishment if we reject him. Why do we reject him? Do we think he will back down on his word? God follows through with his promises! If we lift him up he wont let us down!

-          Internal and external change (when you accept Jesus)

Make sure if you’ve been calling yourself a Christian; make sure you share those changes with others. We are called to be servants to our neighbors. We should be reaching out to save everyone. Hell is a place that was not meant for us, let’s make sure we don’t go there.

Some non-believers think they will have to give up so much to get so little, or they will have to work too hard at it. They are so wrong.

If you accept a life with Jesus he will do the changing. And it’s a changing for the better.

What a Life with Christ looks like or means for us?

            When we have a life in Christ we are looking at persecution for our beliefs and trials to make us strong, but we also have faith and a life of meaning. We have faith knowing that Christ will always have our backs. We have faith knowing that our lives are not meaningless. We have a creator that loves us. He can give us a life of gratification. When we fall into our temptations we only get instant satisfaction, we will always be looking to the next thing we can get. It’s a sad, lonely, meaningless life.

         Psalm 18:46-50   -----look up

            Psalm 37:27-28   -----look up

No one said being a Christian was easy, or that it made life easy. You still have problems, you still go through rough patches, but it lets face it; without God you have nothing. Nothing to look forward to, no one to lean on. With God, you know that there is a bigger picture that we cannot see; you know that he is always with you.

If being a Christian made life perfect, everyone would be a Christian, because everyone wants the easy way out.

He is a God of promises and he stands by those promises. He is our shield, our savior, our guiding light.

Remember: if you live for today, you’re living for instant satisfaction, if you live for tomorrow, you’re living for eternal gratification.

Stay Strong, Be Courageous

The Lord commands Joshua   (and so he commands us)

I was reading in Joshua last night, in between dancing and filling up juice cups with Bella, and thinking, "why in the world did i want to talk at youth? what am i thinking?" The truth is, is that I'm scared. I feel like I have so much to say and so much passion about Jesus and I'm scared I will go up there and be boring. I stutter when I'm nervous and reading out loud, and I know what I have to say I don't want to be so scared that I have to read my notes. I do have to use them as a guideline, I get off topic easily or loose my train of thought. Anyways, here I go again!

After Moses had died the Lord went to Joshua (Moses' aid's son) and told him he was to lead God's people across the Jordan River to take over the land that God had promised them. God tells Joshua that he will be with him like he was with Moses. Everything he promised Moses he will also promise him.

Joshua 1:7 Be strong and courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave to you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

God will give us everything he promises, all we need to do is obey. Go and do his will. We will be living a a life of purpose and meaning. We can only have true strength when we have God. We can't be strong on our own. We have emotions that complicate our life's situations and we so easily fall into temptation.

Don't think that the Lord stopped commanding or promising with Joshua. He has made promises to us and we can only receive what he has promised when we obey him, when we obey the Commandments. We are not forced into believing in Christ and accepting him as our savior, but if we don't, we loose everything God has promised to us!


So Wednesday night here I come. I have been commanded not to be afraid, but to look to God. I will be strong and I will be courageous; because I know that wherever I go, there you are.





(If you haven't read the book of Joshua, the people wanted what God promised, but O so quickly they fell off his path. They disobeyed, they had to be put back on the path. But don't just take my word for it, read it yourself, it makes a huge difference in the way you believe!)

Do all roads lead to God??

Do all roads lead to God??

If a friend gives you a map to their house and the map tells you turn right on this street, through two lights, then you're second left at the third light,  straight for two blocks then right again on this street. Who will try to find another way?

Why don't people follow the path mapped out for us? God gave us clear instructions how to get to Him, why try another way?

Maybe there is, maybe there isn't another way to God, I don't want to be the one to test it out.

Choosing to LOVE---the Love Dare

So my husband and I started to do the Love Dare book, and although we got lazy and kinda stopped, at least we started and we will finish, but I'm going to go ahead teach what the book taught. It's really an amazing book with alot of good points I really didn't think about! (and for the record; the book helped us alot).

Love is built on 2 pillars:   Patience and Kindness
(All other characteristics are extensions of these two attributes)
                Patience
"Love should make you a patient person, when you are patient you respond in a positive way to a negative situation. Patience brings an internal calm during an external storm." When you have patience you allow your spouse to be human.
                Kindness
Something I never knew was the kindness is an action. Patience and kindness are both acts. Patience is how love reACTS to minimize a negative situation, kindness is how love ACTS to maximize a positive situation.
The book says, "Patience avoids a problem; kindness creates a blessing. One is preventive, the other proactive. Love makes you kind. And kindness makes you likable."
*the breakdown of kindness:  1 gentleness    2 helpfulness    3 willingness    4 initiative


The word Love is the opposite of Selfishness. We are all selfish. "Almost every sinful act action ever committed can be traced back to a selfish motive. It is a trait we hate in other people yet justify in ourselves." The only way we can  satisfy love to to act UN selfishly. You cannot love and be selfish at the same time.
*Do I truly want what's best for my husband or wife?
*Do I want them to feel loved by me?
*Do I believe I have their best interest in mind?
*Do they see me as looking out for myself first?

How many times to we do what we want and put the needs of our loved one behind us? I'm bad about this, I do this alot. I want a tattoo, Kyle hates them, I got 2 anyways. I didn't want to give up what I wanted to make him happy. It's been hard for being a young mom, first I had to give up the things I wanted for Bella, now I'm being told to give up my needs for Kyle. But really, being generous can make me even happier when I give it a chance.

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfish or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves"

Love is not Rude.
*How does your spouse feel about the way you speak and act around them?
*How does your behavior affect your mate's sense of worth and self-esteem?
*Would your husband or wife say you're a blessing , or that you're condescending and embarassing?

I am pretty bad about this. I come home and gripe and complain about how bad my work day was, how much weight I've gained, etc. When I complain I'm being rude to Kyle. He doesn't want to hear how bad my day was, or how bad my life is, it just brings him down, puts everybody in a bad mood. "are you as considerate to your spouse as you are to strangers? co-workers?"  
two main reasons people are rude: selfishness and ignorance.

"The only way love can last a lifetime is if it's unconditional. The truth is: love is not determined by one being loved but rather by one CHOOSING to love. The Bible refers to this kind of love by using the Greek word agape."

3 Types of Love:
*Phileo (friendship)         - phileo and eros are responsive and can fluctuate depending on feelings
*Eros (sexual love)
*Agape                          - only true love- Unconditional love.
God's love is a choice. We don't deserve his love. We receive it from him and share it with others.
"We love because he first loved us" 1 John 4:19
*Do we base our love on circumstances or feelings or on commitment?
When you have agape love you will not say any more, "I love you because," rather "I love you, period."

Note: This is just a sample of this book, it really takes you on an amazing journey, discovering yourself with your spouse.Check it out! It's called The Love Dare.

Arguing for Christ: how to convince unbelievers?

(DAY 1) I can't say that I can give you a totally convincing argument for Christ, because it is what it is. It's faith. I have faith. I know I cannot, nor will I ever completely understand everything; some people just have the drive and desire for knowledge and if they cannot comprehend it, it must not be. I am in the middle of a "debate" if you will, with someone I graduated with. He is very intelligent, and seems to have no faith. From what I've seen, people that are exceptionally smart miss out on Jesus, they cannot understand it. If evolution and science is what you base your life on, what about the people who accept Jesus and change? Is there any scientific proof that there is a change in their heart? I don't understand science, maybe that's why I can have faith. Today I start my journey; science vs Jesus.

I believe that we were created by God, he created us with free will. We were tempted and we fell, hard. He allows us to have free will. We create sin because people are greedy, needy, nasty, jealous, rebellious, sexually immoral, etc. He sent his son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. He was sinless. He endured the punishment we all deserve. When we ask him for forgiveness he will save us. We will not be perfect. We will still sin, but if we truly want to be forgiven he will change us, it will change our lives and hopefully the lives around us. Judgment day will be a sad day. I would rather live my life knowing Jesus is the Christ, he will be the one to judge us, than to live as if there is no God and find out in the end there is.  (this is what I wrote).

http://www.parentcompany.com/csrc/basics.htm

 

(DAY2)  Okay, so I spent 3 hours in a discussion, (we both decided we wouldn't have a nasty debate). I'm getting frustrated because I'm so passionate about Jesus and what the Bible says and it hurts when someone says I have blind faith. Faith isn't blind.

 OPPOSITION:

I don't really care. I figure my actions speak louder than words. Don't shove it down my throat about God and I won't shove science down their throat, Buddhism, Wiccan, Hinduism, Druidism, hell, even that Scientology. Everyone's entitled to their opinion - oppressing others well that where you get problems. Do good and get good. Simple and easy. If any religion is right and has a benevolent, caring deity - that superpower would probably give more weight to those that better society - not those who cause problems.

I'm starting to believe some people just don't want to believe. They will listen to history and science and take it all in as truth but won't stop to think there are things we just can't understand. That miracles exist, we cannot control everything nor can we create everything. I don't think they will be ever to completely create a human, they may clone one, but they cannot take nothing and create such a complex system. God created Adam out of dirt, what can we make?

 OPPOSITION:

Is it not true that different denominations have different books in their bible? How does it stand to argue for the Bible when there's different ones? I believe the Catholic one has 77. 

The different denominations may have some different beliefs, but the Bible's message is clearly the same. The Catholic Church and Protestant Church do have different Bibles. But between Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, you can use a King James or NIV Bible and it will be the same.  (check out tbm.org  under Bible answers read "Why do Catholics and Protestants have different Bibles?) 

OPPOSITION:

Evolutions can be seen in embryos. Look at conception through birth. You'll notice initially a lot of creatures appear similar through the stages until it divides up into whatever they end up 

In the end they are still birds, right? Evolution and adaptation are two very different things. Evolution thinks we came from apes, adaptation is like a mutation, it helps a species adapt to their changing environment. That's why we have different colored skin, eyes, hair, that's why our bodies are different, it's more now due to people mixing races. But we started out one way, then our bodies changed to fit our climate.


OPPOSITION:
Birds - yes. However, it shows evolution on a small scale. There were no dogs many years ago. Some wolves slowly changed into dogs from human interaction. They're part of the same family but they're different like humans and apes and other hominids. Things take time to change. You can argue that birds are still birds and that we're just hominids.

I'm pretty sure there were pictures of cats and Italian greyhounds (a type of dog) in the Egyptian pyramids. We might not have had all these different types of species we have today, but that's because we like to play God and we interbreed to try and create a more desirable breed.   

Some people think that people who have faith or are part of a religion are weak, they use it as a crutch, I'm here to say "it's my wheel chair" without a "divine being" we are nothing! God created us in his image, he gave us free will. It's up to us to choose him, he chose us already.
"To each their own. I'm not going to argue that it may be comfort for some... but personally, had it been comfort for me, I would have given up my faith a long time ago. "

I can't seem to have the right words at the right time. If I don't completely understand science and philosophy, how can I argue it's wrong?