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Well I'm clearing out of worthy boards guys. At least for a while. I've been on the brink of this for the last two years and I've finally decided to just pull back a bit. Honestly I'm tired and worn out and I just need to be with myself for a while. Mostly at church, people consider me a good example of christ and I just need to get out of that light and have a little room in my own skin. Because I've stepped back from the church I feel like somewhat of a hypocrit posting on these boards as a Christian (although I am a Christian) when I'm where I'm at with my faith. So thanks for everything! Thanks for the advice and the encouragement! Don't take this as anything personally to the boards. They are great, just not for me right now. If you want to talk feel free to email me at the address in my profile. Thanks again!! -ink

Congrats... I don't remember the day that I was born again. Well I remember it just not what day it was. Ok I don't even remember what month...it was during sixth grade though...lol sad

I'll be getting drunk!!!!! ok no I'm only kidding...I promise!!!! Really though... I'll be spending the day with my mom and her boyfriend and the night at one of my best friend's, Lindsey's, house. Her parents are having a party so we get to hang out too.

I don't really like their taste but I love to read my fortune. It's not like I really believe it or give it a second thought. It's just fun. And nowadays they are less about telling someones future and more about morals. The ones I usually get tend to say things like...live each day to the fullest, exc..

Sometimes prayer doesn't seem like enough. I am born again. I haven't spent time in an atheist forum. I've come up with these thoughts on my own and that's what really scares me.

I'm not so sure I need help...just a place to rant and bit. I've gotten to a place where I'm really questioning all this God stuff. There are times when I'm so sure God is real but lately they have been far and few. Lately I've been really questioning the truth in this God stuff. Is it possible that there is no God? Or not the God of the bible anyway? Is it possible that we're all being fooled here? I've started to wonder if the purpose I have in God is really much of a purpose at all. I guess in my head I know I should believe in God but, now at least, I don't feel it. I love God but there are times when I look at the bible and the world and feel that the God I know shouldn't let people suffer like this. I don't really know how to vocalize exactly what I'm feeling right now about God. I don't really know what to believe anymore. I'm not sure Christianity is worth it.

I don't think we should ever just completely discredit a source w/out looking further into it. Ok so i'm getting a little off topic, but my view of science is that God put science and scientific reasoning in this world to be used along with faith and His word. I don't think you can have good science w/out some faith and good faith w/out some science. Well now that I've completely digressed....lol

I agree that gays need to be told the truth about God...but there is a certain way to go about it. We can't just say, even though it might be true, that being gay will send you to the lake of fire. The way I see it is in this world there is no reason for a Gay person to become straight. Being gay is too widely accepted as the norm. What I mean is murderers, they are more likely to change their ways without God because our world and culture says that it's wrong. But being gay is seen as ok by the world's standards. So the only way they'll really have a reason to change is God. Instead of trying to fix the sin, why not try to bring that person to christ first. (I've probably said this before) But then they'll probably see how wrong the sin is on their own. If they don't believe in God or sin then telling them their sin will send them to hell is useless. They have to know God and understand what sin is before they will have a desire to change it. First tell them about God, don't act condeming or mean. Show them the love of God and make sure they know about God and what He can do in their lives. Don't talk to them as a homosexual talk to them as a person who needs God. And always keep them in prayer. Prayer can be very powerful.

I don't know if this is necessarily a good punishment or if it's lawful (although the courts say it is) but it's better than prison and I doubt weather he'll ever steal mail again (let's hope anyway)

I agree. If you look at the Bible as a way to prove your point then you're sure to find a loop, but you'll rarely find truth. We should instead approach the Bible looking for truth and nothing more. No justifications and no expectations for the ball to roll in favor of a bahavior we probably already know is wrong. Read the bible w/ an open mind and heart....only expecting to find God.

My parents were never legally married...but they did have a religious ceromony. They professed their love to a group of people and promised to be faithful under God. At the time marriage wasn't an option because of where they were (in africa). When they got home they never legally married because they had lived in Africa for many years as a married couple. They had their ceromony and religious leader declare them a couple. I don't think it even crossed their mind to get anything more. I feel that God honors that commitment. That's how I see being married under God. It's not just a certificate, although that too is important. But I don't think people understood what I was getting at. Legal marraige is very important. In this day and age if you have the option of being legally married then take it, take it, take it. That's the most logical and Godly thing to do. But some don't have that option, like my parents, (When I used the slave example it was just an example...i know people don't have the road blocks that slaves had w/ marriage...that was just an example) But if you don't have that option then I don't think it's un-Godly or any less of a marriage then one that happens in a chaple with a pastor and family.

Yes, because as I said above, the Bible says that you are to obey those in authority over you. If you love someone, why not get legally married? If you don't love someone enough to sign on the dotted line, what makes you think you are married in God's eyes? This whole "married in God's eyes" thing is a sham. It is code for, "Why can't I just shack up with someone just so I can have sex with them, and then ease my conscience by pretending we are married in God's eyes?" If you are not willing to make the commitment, and put your name to it, you don't deserve to be married. Being married in God's eyes isn't always just "shaking up". You can go in front of a religious person and have a ceremony. This can yield a very long, loving, committed relationship. People don't always like the idea of having a certificate (for various gov. conspiracy theories and how they use this info) so they opt for this route. Not getting legally married isn't always about not being willing to make a commitment. Anyway, the bible says to follow the authority...but there's no law saying that to live together or love each other you must be legally married. It's an option (legally I mean) but it's not like speed limit laws that say you MUST obey the speed. So it's not rebelling against authority. Don't get me wrong though...I'm not against marriage. I do agree that marriage is important and a very real show of love. It's just not always a good option, or an option at all (like I said slaves in the old south, people of other cultures, exc...) for every one.

I still agree that justice should be served and that he should be punished. I know he did horrible things and he should be held accountable for that...but I also hope Saddam is saved. I hope he spends eternity in heaven.

I've always had that question too. If two people live in a comitted relationship w/ another person for a long time and they are not legally married how does God see that. I mean in the old south slaves couldn't get married so they just had celebrations and jumped the broom and then they were married and that was supposed to be fine in God's eyes. Do we need to get married legally if we're married in God's eyes?

There's no doubt that Saddam is a bit crazy and absolutely horrible....but I still like to pray for him daily. I pray for him to come to Christ and to repent before he dies. It seems a little strange, but I don't know, I just like to pray for those kinds of people. I don't like to think about people ever going to hell...even those who deserve it.

The Islamic, Jewish, and Christian God do all come from Abraham. They all are based on his story. Islam just takes a different turn...turning them onto the path of a god no where near the God that we know. It doesn't mean they follow the same God, just that they are rooted in the same story of Abraham. No they do not all come from Abraham. First of all, Arabs are not descendents of Ishmael. We can find the ethnic ancestors of the the Arabs mentioned in Genesis 10, and they predate the birth of Ishmael. The descendents of Ishmael were the Midianites, and they are extinct as a people having assimilated into other people groups. The Seven Cushite nations mentoined in Gen 10:7 were all in Arabia: "Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan." These peoples/nations are where the Arabs came from. They did not come from Ishmael. Islam does not go back to Abraham. Islam goes back to centuries after Christ. It has nothing to do with Abraham, and has no ties to the Bible whatsoever. I don't mean they're a descendant of him just that their religion came from the story. I'm good friends with an Islamic woman and she's told me all about her faith. They do believe, weather or not they are right, in the Abraham story with a twist. They say a differnt son was the one planned to be sacrificed. Islam isn't much at all like Christianity but it does come from that story of Abraham... Hence Abraham is called the father of three nations, as we learned in school not too long ago. (Jews, Christians, Muslims)

You do have a point there. God does condemn sins. But I don't think the best way to bring people to Christ is by showing them the perverted nature of the sin and then offer a new life in Christ. I think, in my expierience, that it should be the other way around...although there is no one-and-only-one-way to bring people to Christ. I think we know we need Christ without nessicarily understanding how bad sin really is. In my expierience, at least, I've noticed that people are more likely to want God because of that feeling that they have. That need for a God that was built into us so long ago. We all know on some level that we need something more and we can show the unsaved that fullness. After they accept and know God then their eyes will be opened to the sin. They will see for themselves that they are living against God. Then, because they have expierenced and loved God, they will want to change. I don't think, gays at least, will see any other reason to change. By the world standards homosexuality is ok, whereas murder is not, that's why it's easier to show people the evil of murder vs. the wrongness of homosexuality. That's why I think we need God's help on that front. We need God to show them how wrong it is.

I'm not saying to over look the sin...I'm simply saying to come about it a different way. God wants everyone to be saved, to know Him. When we treat gays like dirt or like they have the plague then what is the chance they'll want to listen to us talk about the God we claim to love and live like. If we call what they see as their entire lifestyle a "disordered lifestyle", even if it is, is not likely to feed that need they have for love and purpose. It's not about accepting the sin or supporting the lifestyle. It's about loving the people and bring them to God while showing some form of respect for how they feel. Also (and I mean this for all Christians, including myself) before we pick at other people sins we need to examine our own.... Matthew 7:3- Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? I tend to be judgemental so as a Christian this is a very important verse for me.

The Islamic, Jewish, and Christian God do all come from Abraham. They all are based on his story. Islam just takes a different turn...turning them onto the path of a god no where near the God that we know. It doesn't mean they follow the same God, just that they are rooted in the same story of Abraham.

I am sick of the way many christians handle homosexuality. It just doesn't make sense to me. I know it's a sin. I know it's against God. I also know that many homosexuals never turn to God because they never feel welcome. There is this perpetual feeling in many churches and the christian community that God is an all-loving God for everyone....but gays. We put to much emphasis on the sin and not enough on the salvation aspect. To truly love and live with gays as, I believe, christ would have wanted would be to focus more on the persons need for christ and not so much on their stains. The only people Jesus outright called out on their sins we're Pharisees. The other sinners, like tax collectors and prostitutes, he engaged in conversation with them...not about their sins but about the meaning of life and love and the fact that there is a loving God. He showed them respect while still showing them that there is a better life than the sinful one they were leading. If you ran into a liar at church you wouldn't (hopefully) say that they are going to hell for lying and that they are living a sinful, evil life...even though they might be. No, you'd (hopefully) talk to them kindly, with respect and compassion. That is the kind of conversation that leads people closer to Christ. Homosexuality in our eyes (including mine at times) has suddenly become this horrible sin. Which it is, but all sins are horrible. I used the liar example above, well in God's eyes telling a lie is just as bad as being gay, or stealing, or being disrespectful to your parents, or using God's name in vain, and the list goes on. It's a sin, but one of many. It's no worse or better than any other sin. And it shouldn't be treated as an extra horrible thing. If anything it should be handled more delicately with more respect and care for what that person must be feeling.

the problem isn't that I don't have a relationship with christ. I do. I talk to Him. I study his word. I have a spiritual relationship...the problem is I still feel hopeless and sad all the time. I know it's wrong. I know that this isn't how it feels to be filled with God's love but I can't help it. It's just how I feel. Every time I try to get help with this my friends and family think it means I'm not a good enough christian but I don't know how to make things better.

I'm a christian. I love God and try to follow Jesus. I go to church, have fellowship with other christians, I pray, and ask for forgiveness...why do I still feel so empty. God is suppose to "make all things new" and change us and shape us to be more like Him. Well then, why do I still feel so sad all the time? I'm a christian and christians aren't supposed feel this way. So what's wrong with me?

Lately I've been toying with the idea of homosexuality. I know in my head that it's wrong but I'm still struggling. I'm not really sure what kind of advice I'm looking for but I've gotten to the point where I just need to tell someone. I really need help on how to deal with this whole issue.

I want to get married really bad. Problem is I don't have a boyfriend or anything close. I also know it's not time for me to even be worried about that. I know God has His timing and all that. But every time we have a sermon about marriage or anything related to it I get this ache in my stomach and I just can't stop feeling lonely. I want that wonderful relationship with a guy who just cherishes and loves you. I want have that intimacy with another person. I just want someone to share a bed with at night. I don't want to be one of those ladies that is obsessed with marriage. I don't want to move too fast when I do start dating. And I definitely do not want to just settle for anybody. But I'm afraid I might. I don't know how to handle this or get past this need for human companionship. (I do have a relationship with God and I want to focus on that.)

I believe in God. But at times I forget He exsists. At times I feel very...empty...or just not the way a christian should feel. I feel like crying for no reason. I just have this void. I don't know what to do anymore...what do I do when even God doesn't fix this?