Paper mache

Please pray for me. I feel like God's telling me to do something, but I'm afraid I may be too much of a coward to do it. More specifically, I feel like God's trying to tell me to talk to someone that is no longer in my life. He might be telling me to reconcile with that person, but I'm very afraid of being rejected by that person, so I haven't yet, and I don't know if I can. I don't know how I should do it or what to say. 

This person is very important to me. I want them back in my life, but I don't think God will give them back to me unless I actually step out of my comfort zone and do something to fix the relationship.

I feel like I need to do it. But I'm afraid of being rejected. So please pray for me. Pray that I'll gain the courage. If this person doesn't come back into my life, I'm sure I'd be okay eventually, but my life won't be the same. 

I know the Bible tells us to obey our parents, but are there some scenarios where it would be better/acceptable to disobey your parents?

For example, you and your parents are walking down the sidewalk in a busy city. There's someone sitting off to the side, begging for money/food. You ask your parents if you could walk over and give him/her $20 (out of your own money, you wouldn't be taking any from your parents). Your parents say no, because they think he's/she's homeless because he/she chooses to be, and that he/she doesn't deserve help because of this.

Would it be acceptable to defy your parents and walk over to give the person $20, or should you still obey them?

Thanks!

1 hour ago, Yowm said:

I think 'religion' is bound up in the heart of every man, they want to 'experience God' in one way or another.

God wants our walk to be of faith according to His Word so that even when the bottom is coming out of our lives our trust is in Him and His Word and not in the smells and bells, sacred spaces, holy faces or even in our good deeds.

 Can you 'do the religious thing'? Sure, but if you have a propensity towards such things be careful you don't get re-entangled in them and become once again blinded to the living God.

1 hour ago, HAZARD said:

Looks like your being drawn by the wrong spirit, 2 Cor.  11:14, And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

This angel of light will devour you if you let him;

1 Peter 5:8, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Keep praying to the Father for your desires, in the Name of Jesus and try and forget the trappings of other religions,

John 6:44, No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

1 hour ago, BacKaran said:

As a former rcc, I can tell you it's the deceit of something different. A friend of mine said the same thing, I like the rituals. Only problem is the rituals are being done and not explained to you biblically as to why they are not needed.

Four things were explained to the apostles.

Fellowship

Prayer

Worship

Breaking of bread

That's it's. Yes we need Jesus but there's no need for useless repetitive useless prayers to the dead or Mary.

Please see out a biblical exposition preaching church that used hermanuetics. The rcc will never use these as it exposes the deceit of their false religion while giving those who listen discernment.

Please pray with your friends, do not get caught up in any false man made religion.

Always ask questions... Why does the priest use incense? There's no need for it, she's on the forehead, no reason for it, rosary beads, no reason to have it.

Please check out Mike Gendron at www.pro-gospel.org for more info on the rcc.

Blessings

Karan ?

Thank you all for your answers! They do make me think.

The first step to getting saved is to feel guilty about your sin. All have sinned. Including the sweet old grandma down the road that always donates to charity. Christianity is so focused on sin because sin is what damns us all (before we get saved). Because of sin, everyone deserves death. Sin is a serious issue. That's why it seems to be a major point of focus.

I do see your point, though. In a Christian's life, worship and love are very important. God did create us for His glory, after all.

But, the reason we focus so much on sin and why it's bad is because without repentance (turning away from and therefore feeling guilt for) from our sins is necessary for salvation.

To start off, I want to make it clear that I know that doing rituals and being religious doesn't save us. I believe we are saved by the grace of God, and only by the grace of God. It is the relationship with God that saves, not the religion (the rituals we do, going to church, etc.), although a healthy relationship with God will most of the time cause us to be religious towards Him.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get to the point of this topic. I wanted to ask, is it alright to want to be more religious? As in, wanting to do more rituals? For some time, I was drawn to the Roman Catholic Church. Not because of their doctrine, but because of their rituals and religious practices. Something about the way they did their rituals was attracting me, and I still feel a pull even today. I disagree with a lot of Catholic doctrine, but I am still drawn to their rituals. I'm drawn to their Rosary beads even though I don't believe in praying to Mary/the Saints (I pray directly to God for everything that I need). I'm drawn to their Sacrament of Confession/Penance even though I believe we can go directly to God to get forgiveness. Lots of things like that.

If it's okay to want to be more religious, then how can I become more religious, without necessarily adopting Roman Catholic rituals such as praying the Rosary or going to Confession? I read my Bible and pray, although I admit that I don't do either as much as I should. I go to church twice on Sundays and once on Wednesdays, most weeks (we seem to be missing more frequently due to illness these last couple months). If it's not okay to want to be more religious, then why do I feel this way? I know that rituals don't save. But I feel the urge to do them.

There are a couple of reasons why new denominations are formed.

1. Somebody thought their denomination was corrupt and that it didn't follow what the Bible really said, so they broke off and formed a new denomination that they thought would follow the Bible closer and more accurately.

2. Somebody wanted to hold a position of importance and decided that the best way to gain power was to create another denomination.

In other words, new denominations are either created because 1) someone genuinely thought their denomination was corrupt and tried to fix it, or 2) somebody was greedy and didn't really care for true Christianity, they only wanted power.

I have this odd feeling that I can't seem to shake, like God's trying to tell me something but I have no idea what. I have my Bible, I've been flipping through it to see if God will point out something to me, but the feeling hasn't gone away. Maybe God's trying to tell me something, maybe not. Maybe it's just my emotions or body acting up. Please pray for me. I don't know what to do. I feel confused, and I feel other things too, but I don't know what those other things are. 

What do you do when you go to a church that teaches a lot of what you think is false doctrine, even though that false doctrine is held by almost all churches?

I don't believe in eternal torment, or that a person goes directly to heaven/hell right after dying, or that the soul is separate from the body, or the rapture (Christians being taken up before the second coming of Christ). And by the way, none of these are up for debate here. I continually research these subjects, and if I find sufficient biblical evidence to change my views, I do just that. 

Anyways, the church I currently go to teaches all these things and I'm not sure what to do. Should I keep going to that church? If you think I should look for another church, what if there are no churches that teach what I believe in? 

Just a side note, I know the church is the body of Christians. But, you know what I mean. 

Do not keep your faith from others. The Bible tells us to tell others about the Gospel. But also do it in a loving manner.

3 hours ago, Leonardo Von said:

As for what you said, sister Brittany, I'm sorry, but I do not agree.

Then we'll just have to agree to disagree. I do believe that we should give God our time, and make Him first in our lives. But can you give me a single Bible verse that supports that people who do not read daily will go to hell?

Universalism is the belief that every man will be reconciled with God eventually - that people don't go to hell (permanently, at least).

I myself am not a universalist, though with reading the Bible, I am finding more support for it (or possible something that just seems to support the doctrine).

So, I'm not making this thread so that I can debate others, but so others can give me their reasoning for being universalist or for not being universalist. So, do you believe in universalism? Why/why not?

This thread is to help me understand more about universalism. I personally will not be debating, though others are free to debate, and I may ask a few questions from time to time.

God bless!

There's no set time you have to read the Bible, or how much you have to read it. As a Christian, it is strongly recommended that you make time to read as often as possible, since the Bible is basically our roadmap to a good relationship with God. But, if for some reason you can't read on a certain day because you're very busy, you're not going to be damned to hell for that. Now, if you have time but you choose to do other things instead, that might imply that you are putting other things above God, and that'd be a problem.

I don't think reading the Bible is considered a work like helping the poor or helping a lady cross the street. It is very beneficial to our souls to read out of God's refreshing word daily, but it's not the same kind of work as mentioned.

Hi, Person17. First off, I wanna tell you that you're not alone in this. I have very few friends, and the friends I do have are atheists, aside from one Catholic and my boyfriend, who is a Christian as well. I don't talk to people usually, and although I used to enjoy it, there have been times when I've felt extremely lonely. I've considered suicide at one point in my life as well, and let me tell you, that was not a fun time. I went about 4 years being totally depressed, to the point where I actually became numb to everything for quite some time. I'm out of all this now, thanks be to God. But, I know what you're going through. I'm 16, I'm really bad at math, and I never talk to people.

So, the whole point-of-our-existence thing. To begin with, we (and everything else that exists) were created for God's glory, as we see in Isaiah 43:7 and 1 Corinthians 10:31. That's why God made everything; for His glory. Well, then Adam and Eve went and screwed it up. That's why there's suffering in the world. That's why we have to work for what we need. That's why there's sin. That's why not all of God's children are always rejoicing. Because sin brought pain and suffering. Now, aside from glorifying God, we have another job as well - to try to point others towards the spring of living water who is Jesus Christ, God's only Son.

One thing I've learned during my time in high school is that, if you wanna talk to people, you usually have to initiate the conversation. You have to be willing to let people know that you are okay with talking. Because if you always sit in the corner all by yourself and you never make an attempt to socialize, people might think that that's how you prefer it, thus not wanting to bother you. That was the case with me. I actually found out that I seemed to others that I'd rather not talk. A lot of people thought I disliked them because of how closed off I was, even though I didn't mean to come across that way. So, step out of your comfort zone! YES, it will be uncomfortable. YES, you will feel weird at first. But that's how you get comfortable, by stretching your boundaries a little bit!

If you feel that your prayers are going unanswered, here are some possible reasons from the Bible why this may be happening:

1. Maybe you're just not being patient enough. Maybe God plans on answering "yes" to your prayer, but He has a certain time for it, and that time just hasn't come yet. We need to trust in God's timing, because it's perfect. The first verses of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 says that there is a time for everything.

2. Maybe you have some sin in your life that you just keep hanging on to and refuse to let go of, or maybe you're disobedient to God. These things may cause God not to listen to your prayer. Read Psalm 66:18 and 1 Samuel 8:18.

3. Perhaps you don't have faith that God will take care of you. James 1:6 talks about how a man's prayer without faith is like an ocean wave, tossed around by the wind. Another good verse to read is Matthew 21:22.

4. You may also be asking for the wrong reasons. If you're asking for selfish reasons, you won't get it. An example would be a million bucks or a fancy car, or maybe even good looks and fancy clothes. Read James 4:3 and 1 Timothy 2:1-2.

5. You could also be asking for something that's not in God's will. Something that's not in God's will won't happen, and if it's not in God's will, THERE'S A GOOD REASON! Even if we don't see that reason at first, there's a good reason. Read 1 John 5:14.

Have you been reading your Bible? If yes, keep on reading, and praying that God will help you to understand what you're reading. If not, START! There is a LOT in the Bible that actually encouraged me when I was in the same place you are now. There is something in the Bible that will help you.

Also, the Bible tells us that we are going to be hated for Christ's name. If you go around talking about how certain things are sinful and how unsaved people aren't gonna make it to heaven, it's natural to get some backlash since people are going to get offended. Though, if you're doing it hatefully, that's a problem. If you're doing it with love, however, then keep on doing that! Since the Bible tells us that we are going to be hated for Christ's sake, there would be a problem if everyone in your school liked you, unless you went to a strict Christian school.

I'm not usually good with giving advice, so I'm sorry if this doesn't help you much. But, I'll pray for you, and I encourage you to read your Bible and keep on praying and trusting in the Lord! We won't always understand why He does things the way He does or why He sometimes seems to wait so long to do those things, but there is a good reason behind it all, and if you endure until the end, you will reap the rewards and be given a crown of life.  Hang in there. God loves you.

James chapter 2 talks about how our works perfect our faith... I'm having a little bit of trouble understanding exactly what that means.. could someone who understands please explain in a way that a kindergartner could understand it?  

I've already seen the Abraham + Isaac and the Rahab the harlot examples, but I still don't really understand.... do our works make our faith bigger, or fuller, so to speak? Or do they just prove that we have saving faith?

44 minutes ago, OneLight said:

Good works through the eyes of men, but they are not the same in the eyes of God. 

Ah ok, thanks!

6 minutes ago, OneLight said:

We cannot do good works unless we have Christ, so both are correct.

Ephesians 2:8-10

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

I've seen quite a few atheists do good works though...?

thank you both for your replies!

Hebrews 12:2 says Jesus is the perfecter of our faith.

James 2:22 says good works are the perfecter of our faith.

I'm just really confused... which is it? or am I misunderstanding the meanings of these verses?

On ‎1‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 10:19 AM, Kate said:

Our most Loving God,

in The Precious Name of Your Beloved Son, we ask you to send your love to the parents and family of this missing child in this most difficult time. Please guide them and comfort them. We pray for the safe return of the child.

In Your Holy Name,

Amen

17 hours ago, shanee said:

Praying now

16 hours ago, *~*Honey*~* said:

Father please hear our urgent heartfelt prayers for this missing child. 

Please place Your healing hand upon this situation and grant her safety and protection form harm.

Please guide those searching for her to find her.

Comfort her very anxious family as they worry for her safety.!

Amen??

16 hours ago, Abby-Joy said:

Praying!!!

12 hours ago, FresnoJoe said:

Praying~!

8 hours ago, BK1110 said:

Praying!

8 hours ago, brakelite said:

Prayed....

4 hours ago, ladypeartree said:

any news on this little one ??? praying

Yes. The mother actually lied about the child and is being charged with falsification. The mother's car was stolen, and the mother falsely claimed that her child was asleep in the backseat at this time in order to have her car found faster. Her children were taken into protective custody. Thank you all for praying, and I thank God that the little girl was alright after all.

a young girl in an area near me has been abducted this morning. I saw the Amber Alert. please pray for her safety, and for her family.

On 1/26/2017 at 0:52 PM, ravindran said:

Abortion in general is wrong. I think there is no question on that. However, there are going to be some special cases. What is the life of mother is in danger? Do we apply blanket rule and say abortion is wrong no matter what? I don't think so. It is not an easy choice for the mother, but it would probably be the best choice. And it should be allowed in such exceptional cases. I don't think rape should be a reason for abortion. These exceptional cases are not large in number. Today we see abortion being so common. Women want to abort their babies because they feel it would disturb their career or studies. Or simply they are not ready to parent! It is a sad sad thing

I think there is another tricky situation which I don't think anyone has brought up. What is the mother knows the child is going to be born with some disease? Most common would be down syndrome. I think medical field is advanced enough to find if the child would be born with down syndrome or not. Even there are other conditions which doctors would be able to find very early. Should the baby be born and face pain on earth every day it faces? Or should abortion allowed in those cases? Personally I believe abortion should not be done in those cases also. Pain and suffering are consequences of fallen world. We cannot take remediation into our own hands by terminating life. A person becoming totally sick cannot take his or her own life. Same applies to babies also.

one of my issues with abortion when the mother's life is in danger is that, 99.9% of the time, abortion is not the only solution to the problem. emergency c-sections can be performed. abortion is never medically required, although abortion is in some cases the convenient solution.

42 minutes ago, soonsister said:

I think the extremist view that believes a woman's womb is not her own, while stating without exception that a pregnant woman should have to die when her pregnancy presents as a terminal complication is defeated of its own purpose in espousing a pro-life ideology. When the life of a mother is to be extinguished because the baby inside her is going to otherwise kill her without the mother having an abortion so as to have her life saved, the argument for the sacredness of life is extinguished without exception.

There's nothing that will augment such a view. No alternative ideologies will register. It is simply untenable to argue a woman's life must be surrendered because a life saving procedure is unacceptable. That makes then the extremist perspective about the procedure Not in any way about the sacredness of life.

 

Further and lastly, the extremist pro-life anti-abortion platform can never be argued from the articulated God ideology in order to sustain the extremist view. Because God did not forbid abortion in the scriptures. And beyond that God did not exemplify the higher order or role model of pro-life ideology.

To argue that abortion is immoral and against God is to demonstrate a lack of continuity with the scriptures that report God slaughtered those in the womb himself.

He drowned innumerable pregnant women during the deluge. He ordered the first born of every house in Egypt, which in that era would have counted as 'first born' those in utero being families referred to those babies as that promise.

While he also ordered the Hebrew armies at his disposal acting at his behest, his command, for his glory, by his predetermined will, to slaughter pregnant women at Samaria. Hosea 13:16 as one example.

The argument that God is God and can do as he will often comes in rebuttal of such observation in scriptures. However, the rebuttal to that is simple. Women died by numbers when abortion was illegal. Laws forcing women to remain pregnant against their will while making that argument about God's ability to kill life in the womb says that man is to be forced by law to uphold a higher moral standard for life than does the giver of the law being argued.As well as life; God.

To think man made laws are righteous to preserve life in the womb, when arguing a woman's life is to be extinguished because she should not be able to have an abortion to save her life no matter what, revokes the pro-life standard.

These type threads go on for pages. In this particular case it is a kindness to observe the author has already made their declaration concerning their point of view. No thing will be accomplished in countless more pages because the extreme has already declared it will not be moved. All anyone to the contrary is doing is arguing their own reason for holding to their own immovable perspective.

If God can slaughter life in the womb because he's God we cannot argue for a higher standard in ourselves by man's law concerning life in the womb.

Pro-life is pro-life. When God isn't pro-life the extremist view is arguing for suppression of and death of women. As the OP does when stating no matter what a woman should never have an abortion.

 

My perspective. I'm here because my mother was pro-choice. She was date raped and could have chosen to abort but didn't.

And for the record I'm pro-life. Which means I'm pro-women's life too.

 

God never mentioned abortion directly, but there are verses that mention God knitting us together in the womb and knowing us in an intimate way before we are born. 

Also, the times God has killed have been for justified reasons. Killing an innocent baby for no reason is not OK. 

11 hours ago, JTC said:

There is another reason to consider an abortion that hasn't been mentioned yet. This brings up another issue that is a terrible thing in and of itself. I'm talking about a baby that going to be born addicted and especially to Heroin. There are women that are addicted to heroin and then they go ahead and get pregnant and some do it to then sell the baby. There were posts on a drug board about 4 yrs ago by such a woman. This is how i know. We don't know what kind of life a child born addicted will face but maybe it's not something worth living. Btw, the woman who did this had done it more than once and she intended to keep doing it. She was then banned from that board. But babies that are coming into this world already addicted maybe should be aborted. Because even though the baby is weaned off the drug I wonder if it creates a predisposition in that person for that drug. So if the baby was addicted to Heroin what will happen if as a teenager the person breaks a leg. The Doc gives them some pain killers and then for an unknown reason the person can't stop using opiates. They often say things like they feel like they went home. Maybe it's because since the day they were conceived they had an opiate in their blood. That's a horrible life to live.

I also think we need to stop women who do this from ever getting pregnant again. That may sound barbaric but there are so many wonderful women who can't get pregnant. We don't know why these things happen but they do. I just don't like women who allow themselves to get pregnant while they are addicted. They have no respect for life, much less for God. I think we should prevent such women from ever getting pregnant again.  

Would you support killing just anyone who got addicted to something? I disagree with you here. 

But I do agree on the part that we should keep women like that from getting pregnant, if possible. 

Alright, so, I'm against abortion completely. I don't believe a woman should ever have the right to kill her own child. Even in cases of rape, and when the mother's health is affected. I believe that when a woman gets an abortion, she is being selfish and is giving up. Now, I don't hate women who support abortions or have had abortions. But, I hate abortion with a burning passion.

I just wanted to open a discussion about this because I was curious about other viewpoints.

Do you think abortion is okay at all times? What about when a baby is the result of rape? When the mother's health is in jeopardy? Please also include your reasoning, whether you answer yes or no.

Here's my reasoning for being against abortion: God forms us in our mother's womb, and He knows us even before we're born, and has a purpose for us (Jeremiah 1:5; Psalm 139:13). Okay so, what about in cases of rape? Well, sometimes we need to just get over it (although I'm not saying it'll be easy to just, poof, forget the trauma). We are told that there will be tribulations, and that we need to endure to the end. Life on earth isn't going to be perfect. But we can rely on God to get us through at least until we have accomplished our purpose. And as for when a woman's life is in jeopardy, I like to look at John 15:13 to answer this; "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." When a woman is willing to risk her own life to try to birth a baby, she is showing almost the greatest love (I say "almost" because God is the one who showed the greatest love when He sent His Son to die for us). Abortion, therefore, is not a loving decision.

I'd like to hear your guys' thoughts!

BUT PLEASE REMEMBER TO BE RESPECTFUL TO EACH OTHER, EVEN IF WE HAVE DIFFERING VIEW POINTS.

Do you have that one sin that you just keep doing over and over, even though you know it's wrong but you can't seem to stop doing it?

I commit this same sin often. It keeps me from praying and reading my Bible, because I don't feel worthy enough. After I commit the sin, I don't want to pray because I don't want to face God, and I don't want to read my Bible because I feel like God won't want someone as sinful as me reading His Word. 

What should I do? I know I'll probably end up committing the sin again, so if I promise to God that I won't ever do it again, I'd just be lying... 

please give me advice if you have any... I feel distant from God because of the sin and how it keeps me from Him. But I don't know what to do about it. 

I know that men and women are both supposed to support the family in different ways, but my boyfriend (we plan on getting married eventually) is so worried that I might get a job that pays more than his. Not because he wants a lot of money, but because he feels like if he doesn't do most of the financial supporting, that he's failed.

Is there anything in the Bible stating that the men in the relationship have to do most of the financial supporting (I already know that the husband/father (hopefully the same person) are supposed to be the spiritual leaders, but my question is about financially)?

I'm planning on working as a nurse, and he wants to be a missionary.