Amore_Amibo

Been thinking lately, and I just wanted to discuss my thoughts on churches gathering again soon. Feel free to share yours as well. I have very mixed feelings about going back to church again when it's finally "safe" to do so. With church being a place where you're in such close proximity to dozens of people. It's just going to feel so weird and uncomfortable. Anyone else feel the same way? It's not that I don't want to interact with people, but it's certainly going to be very different. This whole thing has really affected me in the sense of trying not to get being physically close to people even though I really want to. I mean, we're living in a society where we're supposed to stay 6 feet away from people and can't even feel the touch of our friends and loved ones. How are we supposed to be touchy feely at church when we start gathering again? This pandemic is definitely affecting people mentally more than most would admit, and it'll be interesting to see if/how people will physically interact with each other when churches start gathering again. Especially because of how psychological this whole pandemic is. Makes me wonder if people will still be wearing masks in churches as well. Sorry that I'm rambling on, just wanted to discuss this and hear your thoughts.

He got rid of his cellphone, but he still uses a cheap budget flip phone every now and then. It's weird though, the way he uses it. Like, sometimes he'll text me when we're going to hang out and he says - "Where do you want to go tonight?". I immediately text him back with an idea of where we should go. When he later shows up at my house, the conversation goes something like this... "So, where do you want to go tonight?" "Didn't you get my text where I suggested where we should hang out?" "Nope. I turned off my phone"

Now that you mention it, my friend is very legalistic as well. He only listens to Christian-based music (refuses to listen to anything else), and only watches faith-based Christian movies like Fireproof and God's Not Dead. Next time my friend starts freaking out about having my phone out, I think I'm going to (patiently) call him out. It's abnormal for someone to get that bothered over a phone. Especially when you need to look at a GPS in order to get to your destination. It's just ridiculous.

Exactly. I mean, I can understand people who don't like technology and think it can consume our lives (such as when people at restaurants are so absorbed on their phones that they can't spend time with their family...I hate that). However, my friend's aversion to phones is borderline mental and so obnoxious. You would think I'm messing with an Ouija Board based on his reaction.

Hello, my name is Aaron. I'm creating this topic because I really need some advice on how to deal with this friend of mine. To make a long story short, I have a friend who has some very strong convictions about using phones, and it really gets on my nerves. His convictions are fine (and he makes some valid points about people being too absorbed in their phones), but it's very controlling how he doesn't want me to use my phone around him at all. He thinks phones are evil and destructive (He actually got rid of his phone and doesn't respond at all when I text him). If I have my phone on around him, he'll get very anxious and be like "Um...your phone is too bright, could you shut it off?" even when it's at the lowest brightness setting. It's very, very annoying. For example, there are times where he'll drive to a new destination (I come with him for the ride), but he refuses to use a GPS and instead has me use the GPS on my phone, to give him directions. The thing is, he's very controlling about it. Not only does he NOT want me to show him the actual GPS on my phone (the arrow heading towards said destination), but he also wants me to turn the volume down on my phone because he doesn't want to hear the GPS voice telling him where to go. My friend's all like - "Don't show me the phone at all, and turn the volume all the way down...I just want you to tell me out loud what direction to go when I have to make a turn". If I show him what direction the Google Maps GPS arrow is headed, he gets mad at me. Have you ever known someone like that, and what did you do? It's fine to have convictions about certain things (phones, movies, TV) but I feel like he's being completely overbearing and OCD about it.

I thought this would be an interesting topic to discuss. What's the scariest or maybe most realistic depiction of Hell you've ever seen in a movie/TV show/video game/etc? Is there a version of Hell you've seen in media that really frightened you and wasn't just a typical "demons torturing people" place? I mean, I'm pretty sure no version of Hell in the media could ever come close to how horrific the real thing is, but I thought this would be interesting to discuss. I'm interested in hearing your thoughts.

Thanks for your words of encouragement. And yeah, I definitely scared my friends without a doubt, and it doesn't help that one of them has bad anxiety as well. I know that some friends are only around for a season, so even if things had ended on a good note, it's not like I'd see them much anymore anyway. However, that doesn't mean I wanted things to end this way, though. If I really did lose them as friends (which definitely seems to be the case), I think it really shows how even when God forgives us for our mistakes, we often still have to face the consequences of our actions. In this case, the consequences appear to be that I lost their trust and possibly my friendship with them. It's just heartbreaking. I never meant for things to be like this. But you know what? I've done all I can do. Now it's up to them. If they want to forgive me, that's wonderful. If they don't...well then I'm just going to have to learn a very hard lesson from all this. All I can do is move forward.

For the most part, I really appreciate some of the advice in this topic. Such as how I need to let God work in their hearts. However... No offense, but 1t03, some of your advice here is pretty terrible, to be quite frank. Such as you telling me to leave it alone and let it be if they haven't responded. It's true that some friends are only around for a season, but what does that have to do with what happened? Even though they moved to another city (which isn't even in another state or anything), this definitely won't be the last time I see them face to face. They used to go to Thursday bible study group before they moved, and both of them even told me once, that they're going to stop by Bible Study again sometime in the next month or so to visit everyone. So even if I do leave them alone via text messaging (which I guess is a good option at the moment), I know that this incident will come back to haunt me again someday when I see them face to face again. I mean, just imagine how awkward it's going to be seeing them again for the first time since "the incident". I won't keep texting if they don't want to talk, but I'm going to have to face this again eventually whether I want to or not. You also sound quite judgmental in response to me saying that I was planning on telling them off. Me wanting to tell them off was more of just a thought I had, but I don't think I would've acted on it either way. It would just cause more drama, and would only increase tension between us, obviously. I've already ruined things bad enough anyway.

Considering that these 2 friends have been nothing but supportive of me ever since I first opened up about my home life (earlier in 2017), it's very unlikely they're put off by me revealing my home life. The girl in particular even shared with me (when I first opened up about my home life) that she grew up in an emotionally abusive home environment, and that she wants to be there for me. Both she and I even agreed that it's possible God had her go through that, so that she would be supportive and understanding of my situation. Am I saying that my friends are perfect? No, no one is perfect. But they're definitely not two-faced either. God puts people in our lives to help us.

Hello guys. Right now, I'm going through a very hard time in a recent friendship. I should note that first of all, it's all my fault that I potentially ruined this friendship. However, I still want to make things right. To make a long story short, back in early November, I was in the car with my friends when they were driving me home. I've had some pent up aggression about my current chaotic home situation. I was sitting in the back of the car, and out of frustration, I pounded the backseat of the car really hard. This really startled both of my friends who were sitting in the front (it also doesn't help that one of them has really bad anxiety). I told them how frustrated I was about where I've been in life, and was talking to them rather angrily and very harsh. The girl threatened to stop talking to me if I kept using that tone of the voice, and the guy (the one driving), gave me the cold shoulder when I tried apologizing to him 3 times. He understandably didn't respond at all. When I asked if he wanted to talk about it, he pulled up to my house just in time, dropped me off, and told me to get out. The worst part is that my friends moved to another city the following week, because of a new job offer. So I never got a chance to apologize and I haven't seen them since. It's heartbreaking that things ended on such a bad note. I know it's my fault, but that's not the point. I just want to make things right. Anyway, fast forward to one month later (back in early December), when I decided to wait until things cooled down before texting them and apologizing. I texted them two weeks ago, with a sincere heartfelt apology about how much I care about our God given friendship. However, it has been 2 and 1/2 weeks, and I haven't heard back from them at all. I like to give people the benefit of a doubt, because we all have busy lives and people aren't always going to respond to texts right away. However, I definitely think they're ignoring me. I'm really starting to get frustrated at them. I know I messed up, and I'm not excusing my actions in the car, but they could at least let me know they're not ready to talk. Even if they texted me back and said something to the effect of "sorry, but I don't want to talk now. Could you call me in a few weeks?", even THAT would be better than completely giving me the cold shoulder when I try to make things right. I'm thinking about calling them with a spoofed phone number (so they won't recognize me on their caller ID), but I don't know how they'd react if they picked up the phone and heard my voice. It's hard to know whether they're truly ignoring me, or if they just missed my long text message. I mean, after my friend ignored me in the car when I tried apologizing, all I can do is assume the worst. At this point, I feel like I've been slapped in the face by them. I know how wrong my actions were, but I never meant to hurt them! I'm thinking about sending them a text basically telling them off, and saying that I'm done making any attempts to reach out to them if they're really going to ignore me this like. I feel so hurt and confused.

There were some things I left out in my original post, such as why I was having a bad night in the first place. Also, she wasn't necessarily hurt because I was having a bad night and didn't want to play. There's definitely a lot more to it than that. Something had happened between us earlier that night, which is what led to my bad attitude on the couch. I definitely get what you're saying, though. Regardless of whatever happened that night, and whatever the reasons why both of us were upset with each other, life's way too short to hold onto this kind of stuff. Both of just need to move forward and let go of any anger/frustration/grudges we have. The next time I see her this week, I'm just going to have a heart to heart talk with her, and move forward once and for all.

Hi guys. I've been having a hard time forgiving myself for hurting a very close friend of mine recently. To make a long story short, at my Bible study group, we had a Game Night event about two weeks ago. I was mad at her and upset about something, so I sat on the couch the entire time not wanting to participate. She was playing games with the other Group members, and I would completely ignore her when she asked me to join. I also left the party early because I didn't want to participate. Through most of last week, this friend and I texted each other back and forth about what happened. During texting, she told me that she was very hurt by my attitude at the party, and that she found it hard not to take it personally when I ignored her. However, because we were just texting each other, I didn't get a clear understanding of how much I had really hurt her. After all, you can only convey so much emotion through text. However, when I met with her in person a few days ago so that we could go to Bible study together, I finally saw just how wrong my actions were. She wasn't merely "bothered" by my actions like I had assumed that entire time we were texting. No. I saw that she was truly, truly hurt by what I did. She said she had forgiven me, but that she wasn't over it, and was still very hurt from when I ignored her. I feel like an absolutely terrible friend, and am having a very hard time forgiving myself. I want to move forward, and am tired of beating myself up over this. However, she's a very close friend of mine, and it hurts me to see her hurting like this.

Hey guys, I don't post here much, but I could really use some helpful advice, particularly scriptures that pertain to my current situation. To make a long story short, I graduated from college about 4 years ago. Since then, I feel like my life is going nowhere...it feels completely aimless. I still live at home with my dad, I don't have a decent paying job or a car of my own, and I'm still not at grad school yet. I'm sick of it. I'm not satisfied at all with where I am in life, and I realize that it's time for change. I really want to move onto the next phase of my life once and for all, and I want so much more of what God has to offer. However, I don't know where to start. Not only do I need God's direction, but also some helpful bible verses that I can declare on a daily basis. The thing is so many Christians are sitting around waiting for God to move, when quite often, he's waiting on us to move. He's given us the power. It's time to start declaring his promises and the victory that I have through him. After all, the power of life and death is in the tongue. I'm ready for God to guide me and help me every step of the way. What are some helpful bible verses that pertain to my situation? Ones that I can declare and mediate on.

Add me to your prayers, please.

Well the difference between my floaters and the ones that people get at around 50-80 yrs of age, is that those floaters come "normally", while mine came from an eye injury. Not to mention I'm very young for someone dealing with floaters...only 25 years old. I guess the best I can do is just try to live with it and stay positive.

From what I know, Lyft is pretty different than most taxi services (especially when it comes to tipping and gas), but I get what you're saying about taxi services having to put up with crap. Like I said before, though, it wasn't an issue for me when the driver accused me of trying to scam him and told me to get out. Even though I cancelled by accident, I could see why he was frustrated at me. However, If he had just left afterwards or didn't get out of the car, that would have been the end of it. However, when he basically threatened to call the police on me and tried to turn the other driver against me, that's when I feel like he went too far.

I don't consider this to be a personal testimony (which is why I'm not posting it in that section), but more of an example of God's amazing grace. Just something I thought I'd share. Last night after I had went to see the new Power Rangers movie (it was OK), I called a Lyft taxi to take me home. When the driver was taking me home, I accidentally cancelled the ride when messing with the Lyft app. The driver got mad and thought I was trying to scam him by getting a free ride. I tried explaining to him it was a mistake, but he didn't believe me. He dropped me off at the nearest gas station, and told me to get out. Afterwards, I requested a new driver to pick me up at the gas station. As for the other driver, I thought he would leave after dropping me off at the gas station, but he didn't. Now, this is when things started to make me feel uneasy. Five minutes later, the new driver shows up and I get in the car to go home. As we're about to drive off, the guy (who was still there) gets out of his car and runs to the driver's window. He starts trying to convince this driver that I'm up to no good and that she shouldn't trust me because I'm planning to scam and cancel them. He even had the phone in his hand like he was seconds away from calling the police on me. This is where I think he went too far. It's fine to be mad that I cancelled the ride (even if it was an accident), but threatening me with the police and flat-out telling other drivers I'm going to scam them when all I want is a ride home, is crossing the line. Thankfully, this new driver just so happened to be a woman from my church. She knows me very well, and knows I would never do something like that. She just kinda dismissed his claims and drove off. It can't be a coincidence that this driver was a lady from my church. God was definitely looking out for me that night. If it had been a driver who didn't know me, they might have believed this guy, and things could have escalated even further. God's grace is truly amazing.

As annoying as my floaters are, thankfully I don't have a detached retina or anything of that sort. My eye doctor did look into my eyes, and he said my eyes are perfectly healthy (floaters aside of course). So even though I hit my eye, it wasn't damaged or anything like that, thank goodness. And for those who say eye floaters are perfectly normal...they are, but not when you have a mass of them after accidentally hitting your left eye, and not when you have so many that they're interfering with everyday things like looking at a white surface or enjoying a sunny day.

I did ask one of my doctors about surgery, actually. But he said they wouldn't be able to do so. They can't see the floaters in my eye (which are invisible in the fluid), and need to be able to see them in order to do the surgery. He also said they can't perform surgery because even though I hit my left eye, there's no actual damage to my retina. There needs to be some physical damage before they can take action.

Hello everyone, I don't post here much, but I have a question for you guys. Have any of you ever had to deal with eye floaters? For those who don't know, "floaters" are basically pieces of junk and protein that break off in your eyeball fluid, and you can see them floating around in your field of vision. A few years ago, I accidentally hit my left eye, and ever since then, I have a lot of them in my vision. I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but those who have bad floaters know exactly what I'm talking about. I've been to 3 doctors and they've all told me there's nothing they can do about it, and that I have to live with it for the rest of my life. It's very frustrating because I can't look at white surfaces or blue skies without seeing this junk and garbage flying around in my vision. Bright summer days are the worst. I'm still believing God for healing, but I am struggling and very frustrated. I've tried to talk to my family, but they think I'm making a big deal out of nothing. I feel alone. Has anyone else ever had to deal with these awful floaters? How were you able to manage them?

I haven't been able to respond to this topic, because I've been so busy. However, I have been able to read all the responses. Wasn't expecting to get so many replies. Anyway, at best, I think it's just time to let this topic die. It really seems to be going nowhere (as the above poster mentioned), and it's turning into an endless debate about which viewpoint about NDEs is "right" and which is "wrong". My final thoughts on this topic is that they (near death experiences) should be taken with a grain of salt, and as far as Howard Pittman's testimony is concerned, that definitely seems to be the case. At least in my opinion anyway. Anyway, how do I close this topic? Do one of the moderators have to do it?

Many of you may have already heard the story. In the late 1970's, reverend Howard Pittman had a near death experience in an ambulance. He found himself standing at the gates of Heaven, but God wouldn't let him in. To make a long story short, for many years reverend Howard thought he had been truly living a holy life, but in that moment, God showed the reverend just how woeful his worship life and service to Jesus had really been. For those who've heard this testimony before, what are your thoughts on it? Do you believe it's true, or does his near death experience seem sketchy to you? If anything, it truly makes me feel like I can never live up to God's holy standard, and that I have to walk on eggshells in my relationship with Him. I mean, with testimonies/near death experiences like this, it makes me wonder how someone could ever know they're TRULY saved in the first place.

Hell ain't no joke, that's for sure. It's absolutely heartbreaking to think there are so many people dying everyday and spending eternity in such an awful place. I bet the worst tortures on the face of this planet don't even BEGIN to scratch the surface of Hell's horrors.

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God created us as spiritual beings. However, to what extent do unbelievers have a spirit, if they even have one at all? Are they basically alive on the outside (flesh/body), but completely dead and empty on the inside (spirit)?