kodischild

Ain't it the truth!!!

I believe it is important to get married in the eyes of God and the church. And I think having a pastor there to do the ceremony is a good idea. My reason for including the pastor is so that he can tell everyone that the people had the ceremony. Otherwise every teenagers out there would come back with "it's ok, we made vows to each other in the back of the car just before........" I can see where sometimes it is better not to get a government license. I had a couple friends of mine who were married in the eyes of the church but not by government standards. They were retired, or on SSI, or she was getting surviving spouse benefits.....something. Anyway, they would have lost most of their income if they had gotten married legally, so they were just married in front of the church. I realize that brings up the idea of taking money from the government by not being completely honest. So whoever is thinking about saying something like that, I agree in theory that they should have been honest with the government. In real life they couldn't afford their meds and take the pay cut at the same time. Until the day I have to choose between medication and food I'm not going to tell anyone else they should have to make that choice.

Which end of the teenage spectrum are you on? I would say if you are 13 then just stay friends, but if you are 19 then you should talk to him..... Is he a Christian? I personally believe that Christians should only date Christians. We shouldn't get our hearts wrapped around someone who doesn't share our faith. If you are on the older end of the teenage years, and if you are a Christian, then I suggest taking it slowly. Teenagers tend to get very physical in their relationships. Then that physical intimacy becomes the focus rather than the emotional intimacy. You don't want that to happen and you lose a great friendship because of it.

Well the important thing is that we all keep our priorities straight in times like these. Ok, sure there are jobless, homeless people......but at least they can gamble.

Oops! I got rid of most of the post you were responding to before I knew you were responding. Sorry! Now I'm just too lazy to put it back

Well knowing my church they would all be very nice to their faces, gossip a lot behind their backs, and we would all get a sermon on gossip and accepting people the next week. Ok, not really. My church is really good about accepting people. Ok, one of the men might take his suit coat off and offer it to the prostitute so she is covered and doesn't tempt the young men in the church. Still, they would accept these people, invite them downstairs for coffee and act like they didn't see anything wrong. Eventually someone would talk to them and explain where their lives could be more like Christ, but not before a solid base of love, understanding, and respect were built.

Ephesians 2: 8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.

There ya have it, guys. Now you know where all the nice young girls are...............with Mongo!!!!

Then when something really horrible happens we look at the news reports and don't believe them because we have heard it all before. Sad.

You go girl! This makes me one of the nice ones! I'm here behind the computer typing because I am so sick of men judging based on what I look like instead of who I am now. *sigh* Ok, done feeling sorry for myself. Maybe volunteer work would be a good place to pick up a girl. I know that the places I volunteer are almost all female. Of course they are mostly much, much, much older females.

Dramamine will help with motion sickness. One of my friends said it made her sleepy, so maybe it will help you rest on the plane, too. Don't forget to swallow while the plane is going up and coming down. You'll be an ole' pro in no time.

One more lesson in why we shouldn't over eat. So now instead of telling people not to make a pig of themselves we should tell them not to make a python of themselves or they will explode.

What wonderful posts! I agree wholeheartedly! I think it is amazing the amount of time most Americans can spend in front of a tv or in front of a computer but then we say we don't have time to read the Bible, or pray, or help around the church. I think the way a person spends his/her time says a lot about priorities!!

When I was first reading your post I thought you said Crap machine. I had to read it a second time because I couldn't figure out who would name it that!! I also understood that sleep apnea was when you stopped breathing in your sleep. My father has it. He finds that sleeping in a chair sitting up helps him, but he is stubborn and won't go to the doc for a machine or anything. As a family member it used to scare me to death when he stopped breathing at night. I would hear him struggling and be afraid that he wouldn't wake up and start breathing again. I always tried to be asleep before him or else I spent the night running downstairs to make sure he was ok.

I considered adding my own reply to this thread, then I realized how expensive it is getting to post here!

Yep, those are the ones that point at others. They don't understand that I gained all this weight WALKING PAST a bakery while they sat in there eating donuts and not gaining a pound.

Oddly enough I think I might agree with most of this post. I'm not sure thought because when I read it I feel like I am being attacked personally because the post keeps saying "you" do this and that. I know the post isn't pointed specifically at me. Still, I think this post would have been more effective with slightly different wording. It isn't what you say, it is how you say it.

I think you sound very level headed and mature to even ask a question like this. I'm sorry to say that I know a couple of adults who wouldn't even wonder if they were being superficial. I agree with the advice that has been posted so far. It doesn't sound like you really like HIM, it sounds like you really like the way he looks. Get to know him awhile before you decide that you really like him.

I don't consider myself a fanatic, but I also watch very little tv, never go to a movie, and read mostly Christian books and listen to Christian music. I don't consider my faith weak, but I find the closer to God I grow the harder it is for me to tolerate all the violence, sex, and horrible language that is usually on my tv. I listen to Christian music because I find that songs go around in my head all day, and I want the things wandering in my head to glorify God. I think this is a 1 COR 10:23 issue. "Everything is permissible"-but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"-but not everything is constructive. I don't consider most mass media these days to be beneficial or constructive. But I wouldn't tell anyone else that they should agree with me. Phil 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. I would encourage limiting tv/movie time because most of what comes our of Hollywood is not pure or lovely. Finally I know this is Biblical, but GIGO. Garbage in, Garbage out.

After going to Nazarene churches all over the country I think it is safe to say that something being one denomination or another doesn't totally prepare you for what you are going to get. The Nazarenes and Wesleyans both appear to be making a transition from very, very conservative a few years ago to pretty nontraditional now, but not all of them. So with those two denominations I'm not even going to try to say what you are walking into. In Texas I went to a Wesleyan Church where everyone was very dressed up, they sang very tradtional songs, and the was firmly grounded in the Bible. I moved to where I am now and they wear jeans, don't even own hymnals, and keep preaching from lots of books and occasionally mentioning the Bible in passing. (Not that I'm saying those things go together. I'm not against jeans in church, I was just trying to set up the diffferences.) Right now I am attending a Disciples of Christ church. They were originally a prarie church set up as a bridge church for people from many different denominations. They celebrate communion every week, believe in adult submersion baptism, and most of them tend to be pretty informal when it comes to dressing up. I've moved a million and 1 times so I know all about searching for churches. It drives me nuts! I suggest making a list of things that are important to you, then getting out a phone book and calling and asking questions. Write down what you get and then you can pick a church. Go ahead and ask them what the appropriate dress is, or what kind of music they sing, or how long the service is, and if they have a vital youth program, or whatever it is that is important to you. At first I was embarrassed to call around to a bunch of places like they were businesses offering services. Then I got over it and decided it was better than showing up at a church for a month before learning that it was the wrong one and starting over again.

Well said

That is where I am going wrong. I didn't realize you were God! You are right. God's judgements often seem harsh to us. On the other hand, I'm not God so the judgement and punishment aren't my job.