mlssufan01

lol you're free to do as you please within the site's rules. Regarding feminism--I grew up in the same town as Elizabeth Cady Stanton...I'm extremely well educated in feminism.

The problem is not that I'm nt being truthful...the problem is they keep everything vague and confusing. I have an email or 2 to prove this but I wouldn't think it wise to post...but nothing he ever says or does makes sense. I have explained it as best as I possibly can. If I was trying to lie, I wouldn't have told anyone I texted with the pastor's daughter, I am fully aware that alone can look bad even if nothing bad happened.

To expound...we did text, but not against the wishes of the parents..to my knowledge..then the incident happened; I talked to the pastor/father twice after that, and that is all the interaction. Also, the girl is not a minor, nor was she at the time of the incident, however we did text before she turned 18. I think we're missing the point that I have tried to let them go but then they waltz right back in. To me, this is not ok. You can't come to someone, call them barely tolerable, end the friendship, and 4 months later just pretend like everything's ok. I don't understand what's so hard to see here in that I have respected their wishes yet they have not respected me...at all...both in their actions and the worded insults. Once I knew the girl and I were not welcome to text, for whatever reason, I no longer texted. I HAVE done my part...so idk why everyone's making me out to be the bad guy.

The thing is, I DO wish to work things out with them. They just won't have me. It's like I'm not allowed to contact them but they can do whatever they want, and this is the upsetting part. I'm happy to talk things over...but at this stage, I've done all I can and I don't want to risk them claiming harassment by me contacting them....they blocked me on insta but then like my fb stuff...it is extremely confusing. I feel like I'm the bad guy if I just block them and remove them.

I wouldn't say that...I've been attending a Calvinist church but never became a member...I go with believe the Bible, love God, love one another. That said, there are many things I've learned under Calvinist teaching that have been quite helpful, and many teachers whom I understand regarding the Bible happen to be Calvinist.

Ok, this is not exactly what they said. The pastor's exact words were this :If someone doesn't want relationship, respect it, and embrace them when they come back." And later on, said, if I came to church I would need "give her the space she needs to process." So those exact words were never used. Besides, I stayed away and have completely left them alone...THEY are the ones liking and commenting, NOT me!

I'm almost positive she is intentional about...she has actively commented on my profile before (though just a birthday wish) and liked photos and other comments. I'm about 95% sure it was intentional. In regards to the kids, I still don't have any clue who wanted to end the friendship. The best I could gather is one of the kids wanted to end the friendship...but again, I have no idea. The problem is I feel like I'm not allowed to interact, but then they feel free to interact in whatever way they please...and to me this is the part that is very confusing. I HAVE respected their wishes--COMPLETELY!

Once again...I have NOT contacted them in any way shape or form. THEY are the ones doing the liking and commenting, NOT me.

I want to, they don't...I believe people can repent and change...sometimes this plays out differently...but Paul makes it clear: Shall we go on sinning, that grace may abound? By no means! This is the essence of repentance..to turn from our wicked ways..not as a means of salvation, but as evidence of our salvation.

Well, I did, but I've moved so am looking for a new one again. In either case, just because I don't attend their church doesn't mean we can't reconcile or make peace.

I believe I've posted before regarding this subject, involving a major falling out with a pastor's family from an AofG church some time ago long story short they broke off their friendship with me and would only allow me back in a limited capacity, despite not knowing if I did anything wrong and their family coming to me and insulting me directly...But I noticed the mother of the family, also a pastor of the church, liked my recent facebook post--basically in the post I basically just shared a thank you to the local reformed baptist church I had been attending over the past 1.5 years that was honestly one of the better churches I've attended. But her liking this bothered me. I have always been open to working things out. While I don't think we necessarily have to go back to the way things were, I also think the Bible calls us to reconcile with fellow believers as long as we're repentant. It just makes it hard when I keep seeing their name pop up but I'm at a loss for what to do or say. If I need to move on, I can't when I see their names on my screen. If they're willing to sort this out, I can't because I've already reached out twice before with no resolution and don't want to come off as harassing. I have no idea how I should regard them...as fellow brothers/sisters in Christ as well as an authority figure or false teacher. I dearly loved them, but this whole situation has completely shattered me left and right and I don't know what to do. If need be, I can explain the original story through PM.

Decided to strat blogging.journaling my devotions after quite some time--fair warning, my beliefs changed some over the course of a year+, but just wanted to share and get other people's insights. :-) Happy reading! https://jesusthoughts.webnode.com/l/let-go-and-let-god/

I use a lot of wix and webnode, generally for my poetic and gaming hobbies...but was considering starting one for theology-related concepts. I don't feel tremendously spiritually equipped, but I do read my Bible, and my hope in this is that people would kindly correct where I am erring in study, or support a concept or thought maybe they had not considered. Perhaps there are others like me, who really desire to serve Christ but struggle to understand doctrine...a place I am definitely at in my life right now. What do others think--is this a good endeavor? I will say, I would prefer to share these links on worthy Forums as I feel my current Calvinist church may come on a bit too rigid. I also think that if people see how I'm viewing and interpreting, perhaps they can guide me to a denomination that may be better suited, if need be; or if there is a serious doctrinal issue, in regards to salvation particularly, they I may be corrected.

I do understand this sentiment, where grace should be shown...however we must not let grace mean a tolerance of sin, both of our own and of others. If all sin were permissible, then Paul had virtually no reason to visit Corinth. The whole point of the majority of Paul's voyage was to a). spread the Gospel; b). correct false gospels and c). rebuke those living in sin. As far as I can see, the most descriptive example of how we show grace is exemplified by the incestual and immoral man in Corinth, who is rebuked, but whom also repents, and Paul instructs Corinth not only to forgive, but COMFORT, and reaffirm their love (this word reaffirm is the Greek is exemplified by actions, not just a restoration of membership, as most churches today would do).

"Of those 80 percent of Christians who said they have had sex before marriage, 64 percent have done so within the last year and 42 percent are in a current sexual relationship, said Relevant writer Tyler Charles, analyzing the study that did not look into religious identification initially." -https://www.christianpost.com/news/are-most-single-christians-in-america-having-sex.html Christianity is the most adhered to religion in the United States, with 65% of polled American adults identifying themselves as Christian in 2019.[1] This is down from 85% in 1990, 81.6% in 2001,[2] and 12% lower than the 78% reported for 2012.[3] About 45% of those polled claim to be members of a church congregation.[4] The United States has the largest Christian population in the world, with approximately 167 million Christians, although other countries have higher percentages of Christians among their populations.[5] -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_United_States Let's not get started on the arguments on doctrinal issues as well. But I want to point out that 65% of people call themselves Christians, and of that 65% of American Christian, 64% promote and engage premarital sex. of those 65% professing faith, 45% are actual attenders. I would imagine there would still be 64% of that 45%, perhaps the percentage might be lower, maybe theorize 50% of the 45%, which would lead me to believe that roughly half of the "devout Christians" are only devout in attendance, but not devout in their relationship with Christ. Granted, we are all saved by grace, but for people to renounce one of the most basic behavioral (non-salvific) doctrines is quite alarming. Could you imagine, half of the single people in your church were engaged in premarital sex? But yet, there is hope if they repent. but it must be said...what are they being taught that is either leading them falsely, or what is not being taught, that they might refrain from such sin?

https://www.christianpost.com/news/the-bachelorette-widespread-premarital-sex-among-christians.html Not by much....61% admit to regularly doing it while 80% said they would do it https://www.christianpost.com/news/the-bachelorette-widespread-premarital-sex-among-christians.html And this from a CHRISTIAN source!

67% of women professing to be Christian engage in premarital sex actively and promote it. so 67% of professing Christian women are not really Christian?

I am in no way criticizing believers for their "past" failures prior to conversion. I am specifically referring to those who profess to know Christ and claim they are devout followers, yet "willfully engage in continuous pursuit of the bad boy."

I wasn't trying to sum it up, I was just making a correction in one statement that this particular sin is not limited to men. Many times Christians have this idea that men are the only ones that struggle with lust, and that just isn't true.

I mostly agree with this..however I would note that females have just as strong desires as the men.

You must take into account that I myself was secular for 20 years, so would have had secular knowledge. Not only this, but there are many testimonies of female Christian's, on the internet admitting to willfully pursuing the bad boys for sex. However, they usually do feel guilt afterward,. The percentage is 80% of female christiand having sex before marriage, and that's just the ones that admit it. I am not smearing..those are facts. I only seek to understand why, and explain why I feel like a failure for being good but not desired.

lol I don't claim to know a lot about the opposite sex...only what I've read from multiple sources. And they are in agreement...secular sources cite bad boys bragging about the Christian women they bedded..Christian sources espouse the woman regretting her taste for bad boys. The problem is if you truly want a God-honoring, saving herself for marriage Christian woman who also desires a goody goody Christian man who prays, read his Bible, and is generally kind...I have rarely found that woman...and if I have...she was already married. Yes, we're all sinful...but once we're regenerated, we are not to live in accordance with the flesh. And let's remember we're talking about devout Christian girls here...not the secular girls whom later converted.

What I typically find is that most Christian women have a "wild bad boy phase" and will ultimately land the Christian man once their innocence has been robbed. I find truly devout Christian women are not a majority, but a rarity. I wish I had some statistic on this, but I don't think you can measure a person's heart.

This isn't a one-off church...this is mostly referencing what I've seen posted from secular sources, both prior and after conversion...and also somewhat experiential from what I've seen over several churches. I would like to stress that there are always exceptions...but it is very rare. I do have a couple friends who married good Christian girls with good morals. In fact, one girl from one of my churches married Brett Harris... author of Do Hard Things and the son of Josh Harris...but that brings about a whole other tangent which I don't even know how to talk about.