After reading your OP Honeybee, I'm tempted to be a smart-ass and answer, "No, not really." It feels like you're trying to make your readers feel guilty for not loving God as much as they should.

That God grieves over our sins and stupidities I'm convinced. But I'm also convinced He rejoices over our triumphs and occasions of virtue (i.e., mirroring Jesus.) I think He laughs with joy at our foibles, that He takes joy in the wackiness of His creation: Man. I think He's happy when we allow the Spirit to flow in our lives and funnel His grace to the people around us.

I think God has a full range of emotions as we do since He made us in His image. He's sad but also happy, angry but also joyful, exasperated as well as proud.

Hello Ken, it seems you always try to be argumentive or negative about my religious posts that is not my intention and I refuse to argue over God's word. We all have our own way of believing as well as our own opinions.

Hi HB. There was one post of yours I wholeheartedly agreed with! So, I'm not entirely negative about your posts.

As for the rest of your posts so far, yes, I disagree with the doctrine expressed in them.

I used to believe much of what you express in your posts here. It wasn't until the years I spent as a growing believer, plus whatever wisdom God saw fit to grant me, changed the way I believed. Not at all at once, not without a fight, and not painlessly.

What disturbs me about your posts on this thread are three things:

1) The doctrine you express seems performance-based. In other words, we have to earn God's grace and approval by behaving in certain ways.

This is absolutely contrary to the Gospel--His grace is free, given without condition.

2) (I admit I write this one with trepidation) your doctrine is often immature, painting a faith that seems unreal, plastic, completely out of touch with real people with real problems in their lives and who have real souls. Real people are incredibly messy; think of a toddler still not potty-trained and running around the house without pants or diaper. We crap on everything. We get our fingers into everything, whether it's good for us or not. We don't learn from experience very well unless that experience is very painful.

3) I've dealt with people in pain and for them, there are NO easy answers, which are what your posts seem to offer. Your easy answers cannot survive the harsh conditions of real life in a fallen world. When easy answers fail--and they will always fail--they leave the holder of them bankrupt and bereft. He or she is has had their frame of reference (how the believer sees the surrounding world) ripped away, leaving the believer in shock from the spiritual and emotional trauma.

I'm not your enemy, HB. I don't hate you or dislike you. We believe lots of the same things: I believe in God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and God's only Son Jesus Christ--perfectly God yet also perfectly man, sinless, crucified for our sins and raised again by the power of God and in His blood we have our forgiveness of sins, our healing, deliverance provision, and all care.

If you and I sat down together over some barbecue and beer, we'd probably have a good time and discover more unites us than separates us.

I've seen the destruction easy answers cause. I've seen people turn away from God in bitterness and disappointment because the theology they were taught could not support the weight of real life thrown against it, and so they assumed God was no bigger than what they were taught, and threw Him away.

God knows my own theology is stained and torn enough. It has its share of blind spots and weaknesses. Yet I don't believe I'm mistaken in my insistence that easy answers, performance-oriented faith and an immature faith ought not be accepted without question.

If you're still reading this, these books may help you understand where I'm coming from, as well as assist you in your own spiritual growth:

"Disappointment with God" and "Where is God When It Hurts" by Phillip Yancey.

"The Ragamuffin Gospel" and "The Wisdom of Tenderness" by Brennan Manning.

"Holy Fool" by Harold Fickett.

Peace to you.

Forgot to add this:

Speaking strictly in practical terms, this is a message board. If you post something here, people will read it, think about it, and sometimes challenge it. This is as it should be.

People challenge me in my posts here, which I expect. If nothing else, their challenges force me to examine what I write and to examine whatever I believe that fuel the post(s) in question.

"As iron sharpens iron...."

It says in my Bible not to live by emotion; the closest thing to emotion in the Bible is compassion! And yes we are made in his image! Pride cometh before fall. "But he giveth more grace. Wherfore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."(James4:6)"him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer."(psalms101:5)My God(Jesus Christ) is not proud nor am I? a sister in the Lord.....Barbara M

Barbara, your response makes no sense to the quote you used. I said nothing about living by emotion and nothing I wrote in the entire post references pride, so I don't know where you're getting what you're responding to.

It's like you're answering a different post than mine you quoted.

Please go back and re-read the part you quoted and I think you'll see what I mean.

You did mention a 'full range of emotions', and you did state 'exasperated as well as proud' . . . thing is, while you used the words, I think she didn't interpret the meaning correctly. Barbara M seems to immediately jump into 'corrective' mode and attack with some sort of midguided attempt to 'teach' us how to be better Christians.

I understood what you meant. Personally I agree with you.

How sad to think that God doesn't have any emotions. I don't think I want to believe in the same God that Barbara M seems to believe in.