Greetings everyone

My name is Ridwan Chin and Chin is my Chinese surname. I am an ex-Christian and now a Muslim.
I have been to CARM forum and have written mostly in their Islam Forum, where I came across
A. Ben-Shema and I found his response very interesting.

I followed his link and came here. Thank you, Admin for the nice welcome message.

I have always experienced and enjoyed spirituality which must come along with a religion.

Best Regards
Ridwan

Ridwan Chin wrote:My name is Ridwan Chin and Chin is my Chinese surname. I am an ex-Christian and now a Muslim.
I have been to CARM forum and have written mostly in their Islam Forum, where I came across
A. Ben-Shema and I found his response very interesting.

I followed his link and came here. Thank you, Admin for the nice welcome message.

I have always experienced and enjoyed spirituality which must come along with a religion.

Best Regards
Ridwan

Hello Ridwan, and a very warm welcome to this forum. I am "A. Ben-Shema" from CARM, but just call me Bob. Perhaps you can tell us a little about why you changed from Christian to Muslim. Do you know anything of the Mystic/Gnostic/Spiritual tradition of Islam known as Sufi? I look forward to hearing about your various experiences in your Spiritual journey which led you here.

Peace, Love, & Understanding ~ Bob

Admin wrote:

Ridwan Chin wrote:My name is Ridwan Chin and Chin is my Chinese surname. I am an ex-Christian and now a Muslim.
I have been to CARM forum and have written mostly in their Islam Forum, where I came across
A. Ben-Shema and I found his response very interesting.

I followed his link and came here. Thank you, Admin for the nice welcome message.

I have always experienced and enjoyed spirituality which must come along with a religion.

Best Regards
Ridwan

Hello Ridwan, and a very warm welcome to this forum. I am "A. Ben-Shema" from CARM, but just call me Bob. Perhaps you can tell us a little about why you changed from Christian to Muslim. Do you know anything of the Mystic/Gnostic/Spiritual tradition of Islam known as Sufi? I look forward to hearing about your various experiences in your Spiritual journey which led you here.

Peace, Love, & Understanding ~ Bob

Thanks, Bob.

Your post at CARM was deleted. I became a Christian as a young boy along with my parents, not knowing much. I felt there is one God but I was not convinced that Jesus was God. I read the New Testament and ended up with confusion upon confusion because I could not find one sentence that says Jesus is God. When I studied other religions like Sikkhism, Hinduism and Islam, I found the Muslims to have a clear conception of One God, the Supreme.

It took me some time but since I was looking for God, I found Islam gave me the direct access to God. I am a new Muslim with not much knowledge but I am learning.

All Christians at CARM believe in one God but finally it is Jesus who is the God according to them. I believe God is not the author of all that confusion and you put it rightly by saying that pagans took over the church.

If I want to look at God, why do I have to search God among men? I think it is the belief in God and the purity of heart and mind which leads one to unusual experiences extra-ordinnaire and that is how God spoke to humanity through those upright men.

Thanks for the welcome note. I appreciate your bold stand at CARM.

Ridwan Chin wrote:Thanks, Bob.

Your post at CARM was deleted. I became a Christian as a young boy along with my parents, not knowing much. I felt there is one God but I was not convinced that Jesus was God. I read the New Testament and ended up with confusion upon confusion because I could not find one sentence that says Jesus is God. When I studied other religions like Sikkhism, Hinduism and Islam, I found the Muslims to have a clear conception of One God, the Supreme.

It took me some time but since I was looking for God, I found Islam gave me the direct access to God. I am a new Muslim with not much knowledge but I am learning.

All Christians at CARM believe in one God but finally it is Jesus who is the God according to them. I believe God is not the author of all that confusion and you put it rightly by saying that pagans took over the church.

If I want to look at God, why do I have to search God among men? I think it is the belief in God and the purity of heart and mind which leads one to unusual experiences extra-ordinnaire and that is how God spoke to humanity through those upright men.

Thanks for the welcome note. I appreciate your bold stand at CARM.

Yes, and I was also banned for one week from CARM (I have actually lost count of the number of times that has happened - probably more than twenty!). I only go there to try and spread the word about this site - which is SPIRITUAL in nature - unlike CARM.

So I am very glad to see you here - I am sure you will find what you are seeking if you just open up, and try not to let your past ideologies (religious indoctrination) hinder your progress.

I am sure you will find everyone here truly loving and understanding, so don't be worried about what you say.

Peace, Love, & Understanding ~ Bob

Ridwin Chin ... A heartfelt welcome to you Brother for being just as you are, which is were we all must be from this point on. Having the openness of Heart and acceptance of mind within the clearity of truth is courage indeed each one of can find a degree of personal Salvation to build upon.

I look forward in Sharing the workings of the soul brother for the understanding in the parallel journey`s we are living together in.

So much welcome again My friend...

Brother Thomas

Hello, glad to have you here ,cant wait to hear from you . i hope you enjoy the freedom of expression here!
sopherim

Blessings, Chin! So glad to have you here!

You are right, Yeshua (Jesus) was NOT God, and even HE didn't claim to be, saying His Father was 'greater than I'.... God is not a man, or a woman, or anything of flesh or of the material world...

But if you TRULY wish to find God, I can ASSURE you THAT is found from within.

Gnothi Seauton, (know thyself).

Religion convinces you that GOd is something OUTSIDE of you, something that exists seperate from you. That is so they (the preistcraft, wether they be ministers or clerics) can control your relationship to God.

God is inside you right now, but you are trying to find God on the OUTSIDE and that may be why you haven't found God yet, cuz ya gotta go INSIDE, and you WILL find GOd in you. I promise!

DarkChylde wrote:Blessings, Chin! So glad to have you here!

You are right, Yeshua (Jesus) was NOT God, and even HE didn't claim to be, saying His Father was 'greater than I'.... God is not a man, or a woman, or anything of flesh or of the material world...

But if you TRULY wish to find God, I can ASSURE you THAT is found from within.

Gnothi Seauton, (know thyself).

Religion convinces you that GOd is something OUTSIDE of you, something that exists seperate from you. That is so they (the preistcraft, wether they be ministers or clerics) can control your relationship to God.

God is inside you right now, but you are trying to find God on the OUTSIDE and that may be why you haven't found God yet, cuz ya gotta go INSIDE, and you WILL find GOd in you. I promise!

Thank you, Dark Chylde

Well said. The priests and the clergy want everyone to follow the God as they see. People are told that God dwells in them and yet no one encourages people to do some soul searching and discover God themselves.

That comes from real enlightenment, I believe.

Peace

sopherim7 wrote: Hello, glad to have you here ,cant wait to hear from you . i hope you enjoy the freedom of expression here!
sopherim

Thank you for the welcome note. I am sorry for delay in responding to your welcome. Freedom of expression leads to expression of thoughts. If stifled, one cannot express the beauty from one's mind. Free flow of thoughts should be like a beautiful stream bickering down the valleys. Sometimes noise can be beautiful too, if one can listen patiently and enjoy.

Peace

Prism1111 wrote:Ridwin Chin ... A heartfelt welcome to you Brother for being just as you are, which is were we all must be from this point on. Having the openness of Heart and acceptance of mind within the clearity of truth is courage indeed each one of can find a degree of personal Salvation to build upon.

I look forward in Sharing the workings of the soul brother for the understanding in the parallel journey`s we are living together in.

So much welcome again My friend...

Brother Thomas

Thank you, Brother Thomas

We have an ancient saying that God wants man to try to reach God. How does one that?
Anyone with nobleness, purity of heart, mind and soul can find God and reach the heights.

Peace

Hello, Bob

I read your note at CARM. Hope more members from CARM come and write here expressing their own spirituality if they found any. I am not talking about text book spirituality.

The Hindu sadhus (saints) say,"Kill the devil within you first and you will find God."

Thank you once again.

Peace

Peace be with you Ridwan Chin. I, too, have contemplated becoming a Muslim. That was, though, in a stage in my life when I really wanted to limit my Spiritual search to a specific doctrine, and stick w/ it. I found much truth in Islam, and in a way I am a follower of Islam in that I have SUBMITTED to Our Lord.

I no longer limit my Spirit to specific doctrines, but I have come to see that Truth can be recognized everywhere. Though, I am a Christian. I do believe Christ was, and is God. I also believe, though, that we are God's Perfect Creation, perhaps even God, as Jesus Christ is God. But these are just words and I don't intend to blaspheme and raise my self. It is His job to exalt His Creations, not the creations job.

You mentioned you are Chinese. How do you feel about Chinese philosophy/religion. I, myself absolutley LOVE the Tao te Ching and I feel it really jibes well w/ Christian Theology.

Hope to share much Truth and Love with you, Brother

Don't Give Up the Search, Yer Almost There!!!

"And when you seek, you shall find. When you've found it you shall be troubled(marvel), when you are troubled, you shall rule. When you have ruled, you will rest."-Jesus Christ.

I definetely suggest reading some gnostic scriptures, whatever is in the Nag Hammadi Library or check out gnosis.org. An excellent book, if you've never read, is the Gnostic Bible(there is one Islamic Gnostic Scripture in there, pretty interesting)

Ridwan Chin wrote:Hello, Bob

I read your note at CARM. Hope more members from CARM come and write here expressing their own spirituality if they found any. I am not talking about text book spirituality.

The Hindu sadhus (saints) say,"Kill the devil within you first and you will find God."

Thank you once again.

Peace

Hi RC

I see that CARM has now, once more, deleted my note!

Apparently, as I am neither a Christian nor a Muslim, I am not allowed to post ANYTHING AT ALL on the ISLAMIC forum. Those are their (CARM's) rules. ONLY Muslims and Christians allowed to post.

Never mind, I am happy to see you here, where there are no such rules - everyone is equally welcome as long as they behave as reasonable, responsible, adult human beings.

PLU ~ Bob

Iam- Blaspheme, PLEEZE blaspeme!!! Heh heh...


Bob- You are far more christian than those who are on THAT site, far more like the Christ than them. Probably why they don't like you, just as the priestcraft at the time of Christ persecuted Him....

RC- That is a beautiful (and very accurate) saying, I hadn't heard it before, thank you.

Shalom Ridwan