BK1110

As others have said, God loves you, Ouroboros. That's where it all starts. John 3:16 ESV -- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. In the same way a parent corrects their children who have gone astray, so does God disprove of actions that harm us, those around us, and our eternal outlook. Parents disciple and set rules not out of hate, or anger, or wanting to make things tough for their children. It's because their children will destroy themselves, not knowing better. God disproves of actions which harm you and His plans for you because He wants the best for you; we, by ourselves, are too limited to really know what's best for us. Jeremiah 29:11 ESV -- For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. If we and everything else is created by God, then He best understands what we need. He created love between a man and woman as a symbol of His love for us, and to facilitate the raising of strong families that form the backbone of human society. Homosexual relationships run counter to God's design and creation, and only He holds authority over what is right and wrong. Hebrews 13:4 ESV -- Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous You'll have to ask yourself an important question; is the Bible the infallible word of God? If the answer is "yes," that has many implications for all of us, in all aspects of our lives. What you or I or any other human thinks about any subject becomes completely moot at that point. If God is real, if God is God, then we have to chose if we're going to act like it or not. He gives us that choice, because obedience without choice is meaningless. But He only allows us to choose actions, not consequences, and consequences have been laid out very clearly. Here is a great message, given by a man much wiser than I, that you may find of interest as well. God bless you in your seeking of the truth. I will pray for you! http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/let-marriage-be-held-in-honor-thinking-biblically-about-so-called-same-sex-marriage

SIC had it right in the first reply. Just to expand on it; when you start there with keeping things God-focused, everything else follows. Unconditional love follows, which means putting the other first will follow, and if the other responds in kind by putting you first, a close relationship free from selfishness can grow.

Where does the word "Amen" really originate from, and what exactly does it mean? What is it's purpose? Is it required? I imagine most, like me, say it out of habit. I'd love to know what it really is so I can mean what I say and say what I mean!

Our current system of welfare definitely has flaws but when caring for others, is it better to be so aware of cheaters that the law makes it harder on those with real needs? In my view, I would rather some cheaters slip by to make sure those who have a real need do not go hungry. The cheaters will be judged by God, but an overly tight fisted rule which harms the needed will be judged also. It is better to be more generous (higher taxes), to help the needed. I am going to assume that maybe 10% of the people in the U.S. are truly Christians. I am also going to assume that 10% of the people are poor and have real needs for food, etc. The few Christians are unable to support number of poor and are unable to locate all of the poor. That is why a central system is needed. I at one time was friends with a family with young children who had recently moved to our state. They found an apartment for themselves and 3 young children. The husband looked for a job but after several months had not yet found one. He was behind on his rent which was 1000 a month. And he had to wait to get federal assistance. I took him to some local churches to ask for some assistance with his rent. Two churches turned him down. The third church gave him $50. That was it. I did not have $1000 to give him. Thanks for the thoughtful reply. You've given me some new things to think and pray about. God bless!

Stay strong, CAB. Waiting for God's timing and healing might be one of the hardest things in life, because we don't know when it will come...or even if it will. It may take years, or it may be that there are issues we will have to deal with until the day we die. Pray to the Lord for healing and help, but above all, pray for His will to be done, even if that means difficulty for you. Ask Him for his strength to face problems, even if it's not His will to fix those issues. Ask Him to work good through your problems, even if it's just other people seeing your testimony via a positive attitude while suffering. I pray for you, brother. God bless!

Biblically, I believe in the Old Testament God provided for the poor to eat by gleaning left behind wheat in the fields, and He did command those harvesting to essentially leave a little behind for them. For people who were truly disabled and couldn't do even that (numerous people Jesus healed in the New Testament would qualify), it seems that giving alms was method there...but that was always from individuals, was it not? I cannot recall a single passage where it was commanded the people be taxed and the religious leaders take that tax and divide it among the poor, or something similar (if that is incorrect, please do correct me with scripture). As a conservative, I do care about the poor, but I cannot condone a system that seems to do more harm than good. The current system is easily worked and abused, and ends up creating as many problems as it solves. I would say the solution is that those who are truly disabled turn to their local churches. Even unbelievers will find aid there, if the church is truly doing God's work and will.

At the heart of this question, I would say, is what you believe about God. If you do believe in God, and that he is everlasting, omnipotent, omniscience, and is the end-all, be-all authority of the universe and everything in and out of it, then past, current, or future social norms should never be used as any kind of measuring stick. Nothing of man or of the world should be the measuring stick. It is only His word and His opinion that ultimately matters, no matter how the current social climate may shift or change. And frankly, from taking a look around, while technology has advanced, mankind really hasn't. The same issues dealt with in the Bible thousands of years ago are still the same issues at the core of our world today. Clearly mankind hasn't figured things out for themselves. 2 Timothy 3:16 ESV -- All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, Matthew 24:35 ESV -- Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away Thank you for your inquiry, and God bless!

Hello, and welcome! It does sound a little New Age, as RustyAngeL said, but from your description, it sounds like your heart is in the right place. The Bible tells us that it is through Jesus alone that we are saved... John 14:6 ESV -- Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ...so I would say you should just ask yourself; why am I doing this? If it is because you seek salvation through ritual, you would be in the wrong. But if you simply use it as a daily reminder of His word and sacrifice for you, to focus your mind and heart on Him, then I don't believe there to be anything Biblically wrong with it. And I would also echo Rusty's suggestion to get into that Bible on a daily basis; there's nothing better for growing your knowledge of right and wrong and finding out what God actually thinks of what you're doing. God bless! 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV -- All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.