That meant to say:

"While I'm an atheist, please keep this in your thoughts: my grandmother continues..."

I will be praying for your grandmother!!

Thank you. :)

I am very sorry to read that about your grandmother. I lost my grandfather to pancreatic cancer last year and I understand how you feel. The treatment was so hard on him. In the end he was so frail and weak from all of the chemo and drugs. It was so sad to watch and I still miss him every single day. I will be keeping you, her, and your family in my thoughts and sending you positive energy.

It's weird how much I've grown - because I would have lashed out at all of the disrespectful comments on here. Praise God I have good bloop members and friends to do it for me. :) Honestly though, I'm just going to pray for the people who have went against this thread. I didn't start it for that purpose, I started it so that those who believe in God or don't can come here and leave there thoughts, prayer requests and even praise reports. I mean it's nice to have a thread where I people can know that others are genuinely thinking of them and their situations today.

God has heard our prayers, and he has not forgotten even those who are not Christians who ask for prayer.

1 Kings 9:3
The LORD said to him: "I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

I guess my current pray request would be for me aunt and uncle who just lost their son due to suicide. I know hes not in a better place but just for them to get over this hill. It was still their son.

I am curious as to why you say that you know he is not in a better place?

i Believe anyone who commits suicide doesnt go to heaven..I dont care if that person asks for forgiveness right before that person still goes to hell..and from what I read hell isnt a better place. I believe commiting suicide isnt a act of God..its a act of person.

Out of interest (and I'll try and keep this brief, as I realise it isn't the purpose of the thread), do you believe God would allow someone to go to hell for killing themselves even if they'd been mentally ill at the time? (As many are) Even if they'd been psychotic and delusional (and for example believed their death to be necessaery to save the world)? I believe God is more compassionate than that. I do not believe he would punish someone for being ill.

And I will pray for your family AND for your cousin, and I really hope he is in a better place.

Im sure this is going to start some drama but this is only what I believe. I believe those things being mentally ill are deeds of Satan. I believe God would not make a person like that? He only wants the best for his children and if he want those things then why would be make someone psychotic etc? It doesnt make sense to me and I do believe God has a lot of compassion for people. Like I said I believe no matter what state of mind the person is in killing yourself isnt a act of God. God didnt take that person from this earth..the person did. So yes I do believe if someone was mentally ill and killed himself then he/she would go to hell. Like I said I cant only speak for what I believe. But thank you for your Prayers.

Here are some verses I found about it...

1 Corinthians 5:17
Do you not know that you are God's Temple and that God's spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy and you are that temple.

Ecclesiastes 7:17
Be not overly wicked,neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

Of course John3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Those are just some i have off the top of my head..But im sure there are ton more about the subject

But neither the second or third make any reference to any sort of punishment, and as for the first, I think it depends how you interpret it... I'd interpret it that it's talking about murder, not suicide. But you've interpreted it to include suicide. Some may even interpret it to include use of drugs, alcohol, caffeine... But it doesn't actually say God will destroy someone who kills themselves. And even then, much can be read into the word 'destroy'... it could mean make someone suffer, in life... it doesn't actually say 'he will go to hell' when he dies.

I don't believe your cousin is in hell, and I certainly hope he isn't.

Thats fine if you dont believe hes in hell..everyone is in entitled to their own opinion

I don't want to start drama in here either. But I'm genuinely interested... you believe mental illness is a deed of satan? And if that is the case... if Satan is creating those hallucinations and delusions, why would God punish the person who has the disease? If they are thoughts and images planted by Satan, and outwith that person's control?

As for why would God make someone psychotic... well, why would God make someone have cancer? If someone has cancer, and God has allowed it to happen, does that mean he doesn't have compassion for them? I don't believe it does. And so why should mental illness be any different? They are both medical illnesses, and we do not know why God has allowed that person to suffer from them (it goes beyond what we can understand), but that does not change the fact that they are suffering, and are often not aware of reality when they make the decision to kill themselves.

I don't want to start drama... but I'm just wondering, have you thought about it like that? I find it sad that you can't bring yourself to pray for your cousin who was quite possibly in greater pain than you can imagine. But I have prayed for him.

I never said I didnt pray for him. I did and have. But I dont believe he is in Heaven. You would have to know the whole story about him and what made him do this. Satan is going to try and take as many people in this world as he can..and its sad but im sure he has more then 90% of this world. I believe a mearly 10% are going to die and go to heaven when its their time. Or when Jesus comes back. Iv read many things about the end times and yes we are there.. I believe Jesus is coming back and I believe its soon. How soon im not sure of but I know its soon. God doesnt want anyone to suffer. If you call to him and believe what his word says then you wont suffer weather it be cancer or a mental illness..If you call out to him and have faith and believe you will be healed he will do it. It just depends on how strong the person faith is. If they have a weak faith or are new then yes it might take longer for them, or seem its taken longer then for someone who has a great faith. And lets say the person does have cancer and prays for God to cure it..Do you think the devil is going to let God just cure it? Just like that? No because if it was that easy then everyone would believe in God and Satan would have no on to follow him, then God would have won the battle and the devil doesnt want that.

You're right, I don't know anything about your cousin, so I shouldn't comment in him personally.

However, many people who commit suicide are suffering from mental illness and some are so delusional that asking God into their lives, or asking him for help, wouldn't even occur to them. I've met schizophrenics who believe THEY are God. So given how strong that belief is (which is a symptom of the disease and not their own doing), why would they pray? They don't believe there's anyone to pray to because they believe they are God. (This is of course just one example to try and explain what i'm saying)

So would God punish that person (who may have been a dedicated good-living Christian before their psychosis kicked in)? Punish them for being sick? For not praying to him because their illness didn't allow them to?

And I'm not sure what your reference to curing cancer is about. I'm not suggesting God cure cancer... or cure mental illness (I realise there are other forces, and things we don't fully understand)... but I'm just asking why would he punish someone for having a disease that takes their life, such as a schizophrenic who kills themselves while acutely psychotic? Why would he send that person to hell for not being able to call to him?

Romans 10:9
Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

People who are commiting suicude and are not thinking about calling out to God are not getting saved. God doesnt have compassion for those people. You just dont go to heaven for saying " I believe in God" You have to walk that life. It would be like someone saying yeah they believe in God and then there they are committing adultery or murdering people..which are part of the 10 commandments. God isnt going to save someone who is breaking HIS rules. Why would he? He has clearly put all the rules in one book..the Bible. Like I said..I believe being mentally ill is the devils work. Not Gods.

You are not understanding... people who are mentally ill (such as the example I described above of someone who may have delusions which make them believe they are God) sometimes aren't well enough to make the choice to call out to God. If someone is psychotic and delusional that is due to an anatomical and biochemical abnormality in their brain. It's not a choice or decision which they've made, to turn away from God... it's an abnormality in their brain. Why would God not have compassion for someone becaue of an abnormality in their brain which is preventing them being able to find him?

And devil's work or not... why would God punish someone, and send them to hell, because the devil has given them such a cruel illness?

Let me put this another way... sometimes people who have severe learning disabilities harm themselves. These may be people who simply do not have good enough brain function to understand the concept of God or Christianity, never mind invite him into their lives. Now if one of these people was to harm themselves to the point that they actually died... would God send them to hell? Bearing in mind that they do not have sufficient brain function to allow them to form a relationship with him?

Because the situation with severely mentally ill people, such as schizophrenics is very similar. The principle is the same.. their brain abnormality may prevent them being able to find God... so would he punish them for that?

yeah........ think I will let you take this one on.... I will just sit back and pray that God speaks to her heart and mind for now..... and bite my lips together and possibly bind my hands so I don't speak ill of anyone

I think some people just don't understand the power of mental illness and how it can control someone. I can't believe God would ever punish someone because of a disease though. Hopefully I've at least made her think of some things she hasn't thought of before, and perhaps she'll discuss it some more with someone who she knows better than me, like her minister. I should really ask my dad about his opinion on this though (he teaches theology). The thing about the bible is that usually passages can be produced to support totally different opinions of the interpretation.

So wait. Are you saying that the good, Bible-carrying Christians who have died of cancer weren't cured by God because their faith wasn't strong enough?

I never said I didnt pray for him. I did and have. But I dont believe he is in Heaven. You would have to know the whole story about him and what made him do this. Satan is going to try and take as many people in this world as he can..and its sad but im sure he has more then 90% of this world. I believe a mearly 10% are going to die and go to heaven when its their time. Or when Jesus comes back. Iv read many things about the end times and yes we are there.. I believe Jesus is coming back and I believe its soon. How soon im not sure of but I know its soon. God doesnt want anyone to suffer. If you call to him and believe what his word says then you wont suffer weather it be cancer or a mental illness..If you call out to him and have faith and believe you will be healed he will do it. It just depends on how strong the person faith is. If they have a weak faith or are new then yes it might take longer for them, or seem its taken longer then for someone who has a great faith. And lets say the person does have cancer and prays for God to cure it..Do you think the devil is going to let God just cure it? Just like that? No because if it was that easy then everyone would believe in God and Satan would have no on to follow him, then God would have won the battle and the devil doesnt want that.

I never said I didnt pray for him. I did and have. But I dont believe he is in Heaven. You would have to know the whole story about him and what made him do this. Satan is going to try and take as many people in this world as he can..and its sad but im sure he has more then 90% of this world. I believe a mearly 10% are going to die and go to heaven when its their time. Or when Jesus comes back. Iv read many things about the end times and yes we are there.. I believe Jesus is coming back and I believe its soon. How soon im not sure of but I know its soon. God doesnt want anyone to suffer. If you call to him and believe what his word says then you wont suffer weather it be cancer or a mental illness..If you call out to him and have faith and believe you will be healed he will do it. It just depends on how strong the person faith is. If they have a weak faith or are new then yes it might take longer for them, or seem its taken longer then for someone who has a great faith. And lets say the person does have cancer and prays for God to cure it..Do you think the devil is going to let God just cure it? Just like that? No because if it was that easy then everyone would believe in God and Satan would have no on to follow him, then God would have won the battle and the devil doesnt want that.

thats intresting.. But it throws out all of the verses where we are told to judge no one and nothing before the appointed time of Christ's return.
Even the catholics have re-thought the theory that if you take your own life you can't go to heaven.