Cyoder

Alcohol isn't the problem, it's addiction. If alcohol was bad, Jesus would have never turned the water into wine. The Bible warns of being a drunkard, it doesn't condemn alcohol. Being addicted to anything is pretty much like worshipping that thing as a false God. I used to trust in beer to relax me, help me sleep, relieve anxiety, make me more "confident". Now I pray to God about these things. I haven't had a drink since 2015 by the grace of God. I no longer care about drinking. I am so grateful.

Any addiction of any kind. They are all the same thing. They all come from the same place.

In my limited knowledge of the Bible, I've learned something. Jesus talks about hell more than any other person in the Bible. All the feel-good quotes come from his disciples. Jesus talks about the narrow path, few find it. Here's another quote: Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Does Jesus ever say if you just believe in him that you will have eternal life? Jesus, not Paul or Timothy or anyone else. He expects us to pick up our cross daily and follow him. Not just believe and do what we please. Of course, we will fail. I know we can never earn our way to heaven, but he expects us to do the best we can and to repent when we can't, asking for his help the entire time. When I read John 3:16 I don't think it sounds like what Jesus would say. It almost seems out of context. Yes, we must believe but it's more than that. If not, why was Jesus so adamant about warning us about hell? He taught so much wisdom and how to live properly and what he expected of us. Why not just tell us if you just believe in me, you will be saved no matter what you do? I think this is a message of way too many modern churches. Gay marriage, abortion, mutilating children to "change their gender" it's all ok depending on what church you go to, just believe and it's ok. It's not ok. I'm not saying any of this to be disrespectful or blasphemous in any way, just my thoughts. If I'm wrong, please tell me how and why. Thank you.

It's .5%. So that's .005.

Nonalcoholic beer by law cannot have more than .5% alcohol by volume. I don't think you have to worry about people getting drunk on it, but I absolutely agree it can be a problem. I had a drinking problem, and I tried nonalcoholic beer when I would get a craving. I eventually figured out it was just torturing me and made it harder to quit. I put it in the same category as actual beer and stay away from it. By the grace of God, I hardly think about drinking at all anymore. I think alcohol has ruined more people's lives than any other drug. It's so widely accepted, and you are constantly offered it anywhere you go.

Have you ever watched one of those goofy ghost hunter shows? I never realized that the only thing they could possibly find are demons according to the Bible. I honestly didn't know that the dead are either in heaven or hell and there's no communication either way. I don't watch them anymore. Having said all that, I had something very strange happen the other night. On those shows, I have seen videos and images of orbs floating. They claimed they were "spirits" which is nonsense. I never even believed the images were real. I have a trail camera setup about a half mile into the woods and the other night I got three images of what looks like a white orb floating about the size of a baseball. The first two pictures, you could tell it was moving from the slight blur, the third picture it was almost a perfect circle, so it appeared to be still. A deer happened to be walking by at the time, and I think that is what triggered the camera. I can't think of anything to explain this. Pictures before and after this have no white spot anywhere. The camera has been in the same spot for about a month. It is truly bizarre. I've never seen anything like it on one of my cameras in probably 4 years of using them. It's not a light, flashlight, animal. Nothing in nature is a perfect circle. If it was a camera malfunction, I would expect the white spot to be in the same place, not moving across the screen. This camera is in the middle of nowhere so I seriously doubt someone was playing a joke and I don't even know how they could have created the results. I am totally serious. Any thoughts?

Mint chocolate chip ice cream.

I remember watching the cartoon Speed Racer and I wanted to be a race car driver. Now I work a monotonous job in a factory repairing machines. I feel like I am wasting my life here, but I don't know what else to do. There isn't really anything else around that even pays close to what I make, and I am the primary income. I excel at fixing things; I know it's what God put me here to do. In my industry, there are only a few people that I've met over the years that were better. I don't know why God gave me this talent, but he did. I want to figure out a way to use it to give back. I do try to thank him and give him praise every time I fix something, especially when it's difficult. I finally understand that I can't do anything without him.

It won't cost me any of those things right now, which is good. The more I learn and believe the stronger I will get.

I knew what the outcome would be, I didn't need to watch it. I have no idea why he agreed to do it in the first place. It was a no win situation. The first debate was fair, only because they were trying to get rid of Biden. I never really understood how bad things were until I started reading the Bible a few months ago. I didn't know how wrong it was to have everything be I. I did this, I did that, I bought, I'm going to do. I realized none of us can do anything without God. Hardly any acknowledge that anymore. I only started to recently. I knew it, but never thanked God or acknowledged him unless it was something huge. I had so much pride in my ability to repair things at work. Not once did I think my ability is a gift given from God. I try to praise him all day for that. I think so many people just don't think about it or know any better. People worship themselves, celebrities, athletes and stuff. I used to do the exact same thing.

When you allow millions of people unchecked to come across your border eventually you will go bankrupt or become like the places where these people left. Not to mention all of the horrors these people endure trying to get to these places. Hundreds of thousands of children are being trafficked under the guise of immigration. This is not compassionate. True compassion would be making the third world countries a better place to live so they wouldn't want to leave in the first place. With all the trillions we spend on wars and corruption, we could have made a huge change for good in this world.

I think we have at least ten more years maybe a little longer depending upon how the election goes in November. The kind of world government described in Revelation isn't ready to happen yet. People in the USA will have to suffer a lot more before they are willing to commit to that. We will need a complete financial collapse and possible war before we would allow a world government to "rescue" us. You are even seeing people rebel against this in Europe right now. The other technology predicted exists now for the first time in history, so I do think we are getting close. Only God knows.

I never thought about how it started. When I was very young, I don't remember being angry. My mom divorced my father when I was 5. I stayed with him and lived with my Grandparents. At the time, my father was suffering from severe mental illness. I was only 5 but I vividly remember my mother asking me if I wanted to go with her. I loved my Grandparents, but I remember understanding that if I left, my father would have nobody, and he was so bad I thought he might kill himself. My mother slowly stopped talking to me. I think it was mostly out of fear of my father the first few years and struggling to survive with her low paying job. I didn't understand that at the time and that made me angry. My dad spewed nothing but hate about her which didn't help. I remember in second grade telling kids on Mother's Day that my mom died, and I made something for my grandmother instead. How awful is that? My dad was so terrifying to me that I was a pretty meek child. I compared him to having a monster under your bed. When he got angry, he got a look in his eyes that reminded me of Charles Manson. I would get spanked, sometimes with a belt but only if I was being punished for something. I wouldn't say I was abused physically, just verbally and I guess psychologically. I always gave him a pass because I knew something was wrong with him. Back then, you didn't go to a therapist or take psych meds. Anger turned into almost a super power to me. If I got angry enough, I wouldn't care. I could say anything to anyone, I had no fear. I had a lot of hopes and dreams and then I ended up married with a son at 19 yrs old. I quit using drugs. All I did was work, and drink and not appreciate God's greatest gift, a child. I had a second son two years later and my kids became more of a burden to me than a blessing. My kids and ex wife never wanted for anything. I was an excellent provider, but not much of a father. I never realized this at the time. I don't know if this was the part of my life that didn't go as planned that started that anger. If it is, it's stupid, I made every one of those choices myself. I never thought that way at the time. Never poor me, just worked. Always looking for more money, promotions. To be somebody important. What a bunch of nonsense. I would literally give my right eye to go back and do things over.

First, thank you all for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it. Second, I am praying, and I am sorry. I have hurt so many people in my life with this and I am truly sorry. I have tried to look back at my life and apologize to God and beg forgiveness for specific things not just a blanket, "I'm sorry for being angry". I say that too, but I know in my heart that alone is not good enough if I am truly repentant. I don't really know why I'm angry or so easily angered. I know it's wrong, So many passages in the Bible refer to one who is quick to anger is a fool. Me, a fool? Me, the one who judges everyone? The one who used to think he was a good person? Even just writing that I thought I was good makes me cringe now. If I really think about it, I think it comes down to two fundamental issues. When things go differently than the plan I have in mind it snowballs into rage. The second is if I think someone is doing something to disrespect me or to be ungrateful for something I've done for them. Most of these things are expectations I have, not something I've asked them to do. An example is my adult step son (he's 24) doesn't contribute hardly at all to daily chores in the house. I've told him about this several times. I never leave a note or ask him to specifically do something. I just expect him to do it and when he doesn't I resent it. I take it as blatant disrespect instead of thinking maybe he just forgot. I'll let things go for a few months, then explode on my wife about it instead of just dealing with him personally. He is old enough that I really shouldn't have to ask, but I shouldn't take this so personally and be offended. I do this with others too, not just him. Looking at it, I think I'm extremely self righteous. Like, how dare you disrespect ME. I am so awful. Here's my plan so far: Repent and pray to God for help. I do this several times a day. Give things over to God and let his will be done. Try to accept whatever that will is in a positive way or see a lesson in it. Put myself in the shoes of others. Realize that I have done so many awful things and I am no better than anyone else. I need to be kind, giving and understanding and stop being resentful and judgmental. I pray so often about taking away my judging spirit. It's a really terrible trait to have.

Anger has always been in my life. Ever since I was a child, I remember how angry my father was. Screaming yelling, throwing and breaking things. Especially when he got frustrated working on something. Like father like son, I guess. I've thrown things, smashed things with hammers, you name it. What really gets me crazy is when I lose something. Especially if I just had it. Sometimes I'm so angry I can be looking right at it and not notice it. Another amazing thing I do is let little things build up over time, never mention it to the person then finally just start yelling at them about it. When I get angry it's consuming. A visceral warm feeling in my chest, my hands start shaking. It's pretty ridiculous. I don't let it turn physical but what does that matter? I would rather take a beating than to feel the hurt of words sometimes. Looking at it, I think a lot of it stems from wanting to control things. If something doesn't go according to MY plan. I just recently understood how arrogant that is. How dare I question God's plan? I've tried therapy, exercise, self-help books but I never looked to God really until now. It has got to stop! I've been praying about this a lot. I remember the Bible mentioning Moses being an angry person, wasn't that why he was banned from the promised land? It gave me a little comfort to see a great man have the same struggle. Since I've turned to God about this, I've had so many things at work testing my patience. Today I had to go back and work on the same machine I think five times for insanely stupid reasons. Normally I would have been yelling obscenities and throwing tools. When I was finally done with the machine, it was brought back to production and it alarmed 30 seconds later. I had to look at it again! I've had similar things happen on three different machines the last two days. I actually started laughing at one point and said out loud "I get it God". I figure he's either going to break me of it or I'm going to quit. With his grace, I won't quit. Does anyone recommend a particular scripture or prayer to help with this? This is what I believe to be my biggest fault and is causing so many problems in my life. I don't want to be this way. Thank you.

The sermon on the mount is what made me question if faith alone saved us. This is not an apostle or prophet. It is the word of Jesus himself. Read it and explain where he says you are saved by just faith he is the Christ. He does not say that at all. In fact he says few will find the path. Few, not everyone with faith.

I still wonder do I believe. I know. Do I believe? The Apostles didn't truly believe until they saw Jesus rise. Even John the Baptist had his doubts. We have to believe with only God's word from 2,000 years ago. The more I learn, the more I research, all I find is truth. Also to love with all my heart. I love my children, my wife. I know that feeling of love. How do we feel that for Jesus? I hope for that. I get very emotional thinking about Jesus suffering for me and all the rest of us sinners. I try to follow his word and I fear God. That's the best I can do for now.

Your answer makes so much sense. I had this thought pondering my own question. Since I started this journey, I went from doing things to "be a good person" to doing things just because I'm drawn to. I just don't want to disappoint God. I want to please him. The more I learn, the more I really just want to follow the rules as much as possible. Some things I didn't even know were sinful until I learned, like gossip for example. Just repeating conversations to other people when there is no need. Once I understood that, I thought about it and realized I always had a little bit of a bad feeling about that and I wasn't exactly sure why. With my limited understanding, I was thinking forgiveness was all about intention. So, if for example if someone was earnestly trying to quit drugs and failed 1000 times, that would be forgiven. If they didn't care, and just continued to do drugs that would not be forgiven. In reality the first person would have faith. Feeling bad, trying to please God but failing. The second would most likely not have faith, even if they might have thought they did. Thank you for taking the time to explain.

This is something I have trouble understanding. I see so many say all we need is Faith in Jesus to be saved. Reading the sermon on the mount, Jesus does not say this at all. It seems like his sermon would have been thirty seconds. Have faith I am the Christ and you shall be saved. The end. I understand works will not get you to heaven but like a qoute I read, even satan believes in Jesus and I know he won't be in heaven. Jesus laid out a specific path for all of us to follow to the best of our ability with the help of God if I understand it correctly. I know it's impossible to follow perfectly and that's where Jesus comes in and from what I would think repentance? If all we need is faith, does it matter? Can we just live in sin, without repent, have faith and be good to go? This doesn't sound right to me at all. But then the thief of the cross next to Jesus was saved. He just believed and I'm guessing repented. Say he was let down and lived five more years. If he went back to stealing without any regrets, would he still be saved? I am just kind of writing what I'm thinking so you understand where I'm coming from. I've seen both sides of this argument and I don't exactly know what to think. I'm still working my way through the Bible for the first time.

I wanted to thank you all for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it. I know I have to figure these things out for myself and work at it. I know Jesus wanted us to study the word of God. All I can do is my best. I have already had several things in my life that I've struggled with for years just become so much easier to stop. It just happened, I'm not doing anything different other than turning to God instead of trying harder to stop. It was so subtle it just slowly dawned on me that I don't need to do it anymore. I'm still tempted but it's manageable. That has to be God and I am so very grateful. As things get better I look to my next issue and pray about it. I just get overwhelmed and I still have trouble letting go of the horrible guilt I have. I know it will get better in God's time so I will do my best to be faithful to him. Also I understand works will not save you but I'm just called to do something for others lately more than ever. Not to show others how "good" I am but to let people know they are loved and to hopefully please God. Thank you, God bless you.

So much of this confuses me. I am very new to this, and I really want to understand. So many talk of feeling the Holy Spirit. I don't feel anything. Do I believe? That is a very difficult question. I know the Bible is true. I understand Jesus is real, was crucified and has risen, but even the Apostles had to see Jesus rise before they truly believed. I believe as much as I can is the best answer. Everything is so cryptic, and scripture can be very difficult to understand. I've been listening to the Bible for several months and reflecting on my life. The Bible in a Year has been helpful in explaining things. I just finished the Gospel of Luke. This whole experience has gotten me very emotional and changed me. I've been reflecting on my life and trying to repent for every sin I can remember. I've gone to church a few times. I am trying to obey God's laws the best that I can and have been praying for help to stay true to them. I have been more charitable and helpful to those in need I come across in life. I am making God more of a priority in my life. I am not saying any of this looking for praise or approval just wondering, is this what a relationship with Christ looks like?

I've seen a few now. I think a lot of companies are against this, but they are pressured by investment companies like Blackrock and some are highly "encouraged" by the current government. Like I said, I appreciate the responses.

This was very helpful. Thank you so much.

This is in my opinion the scariest verse in the Bible I have read so far: But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Only few find it. These are the words of Jesus himself. This doesn't sound promising for so many people. There are many things I can do with God's help to turn away from sins, but I was worried about contributing to things I know are wrong. I gave my job as an example. One of the things they are constantly pushing is the LGBTQ agenda. Emails about pride month, support groups etc. This is pretty standard in all of corporate America now. By working for them, am I supporting this? I help them succeed with my work. This is what I mean by being a hypocrite. It would be extremely difficult, maybe impossible to find a job in my industry that is different. I'm not trying to judge these people and I'm learning that I need to pray for them. Is that enough?

Here is something I've been struggling with, and I think it's relatable. So many are against the woke agenda. I believe it's wrong and against what the Bible teaches and yet I am complicit. I work for a woke company. I buy products from woke companies, watch programming and movies. I do try to avoid this but it's difficult to somewhat impossible. Aren't we all hypocrites? Will we condemned for this?