BFP

It is very refreshing! We camp and spend many lazy days out at the islands here...I love being unplugged. I actually look forward to those storms that knock out the power for days on end...I love the quiet. Happy to hear you and your wife had a wonderful time...many these days are not willing to unplug for a while

Just ignore it. The more it is discussed, the more publicity they get, and that is what they are looking for. Paul tells us to avoid discussing these types of things. Yes, ignore it until it happens to you...at which point you will have no ideawhat to do with it I'm learning not to ignore or simply pass off issues that are severely hurting someone. I'm not great at it yet...but I am willing to do God's will...not what people think may be God's will

Having raised a son who would love to transgender if I were to support it...whom I am now pretty much disassociated with due to a mix of many issues (drug abuse...etc) I really believe I made MANY MANY MANY mistakes by trying to follow what Christian cirlces believe it is...SIN...and believing it should be absolutely not accepted and not tolerated. My son walks a life of female/male/twisted with drug addiction and "Christian views and judgements" Another gay man once told me that my son is the most homophobic homosexual he has ever encountered. I guess I did my job well then, huh? NOT! That article was awesome! Thank you for a great post. It really says it all when it says, "Sexual identity must be for us more than an abstract social issue. Real souls have endured real anguish over it.” And I will say as well, it comes from the mothers womb that way. Sadly...I never did learn to deal with it well and I am still very very confused as to how to deal with it. It has caused much anguish and pain on all sides. But I do know that i hurt him, he hurt us, and it is a big vicious cyleof anger guilt regrets and confusion.

Start with this: Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart Psalm 91:11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands I often used to picture Angels guarding my home all around it at night when I would go to sleep. Or picture myself hidden under the feathers of God's wings. Mind pictures of God's protection over me. OCD can be a gift if you can learn to use it, instead of fight it sometimes

Keep it simple Fez. Go there in faith. Claim the blood of Jesus over the business and this mans family. (I hope his wife is a believer) Ask for the spirit of the Lord to come into this place and cleanse it from any evil or harm. Claim the Blood on yourself and the others involved before you leave and on the way home so that you don't take any of it with you. Cleanse yourself in prayer. It is not something I have dealt with in many years, but in my case Jesus came in quickly when i repented, claimed the Blood, and asked for help and cleansing. I still cannot bring myself to talk about my experiences. I got caught up in some things and went under pretty quick. But Jesus was there when I was ready to repent and needed Him He is there with you all, and He will not let you down. Stand behind Jesus, and His protection....don't try and get in front of Him After all, it is not you cleansing this business...you are simply there to call in the troops. Jesus Bless You Tammy

Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. 1Chorintians 7:20

This post was so timely for me. I have a daughter who does this...expects me to run for her every bidding, support her, help her...and at the end of the day she plays games with my feelings and calls me judgemental if I don't completely agree with what she is doing. Yesterday I finally drew the line. Sometimes you just have to let people lie in the bed they have made for themselves for a while and let THEM decide to better themselves, and help themselves. You can only help those who do not help themselves for so long, and then it is called enabling. If you are doing things for others that in your heart do not feel right, perhaps that is God speaking to your heart and telling you that it is not what He expects you to do. He will lead you to those who truly need your help I think. Don't stop being a helper just because a few have hardened your heart.

I agree with Shiloh, it sounds like she maybe needs a health check up. Pay attention to her memory as well. She may be starting to "miss" things

For me, the depression, anxiety, scattered thoughts, inability to focus, and I even had a fear when I read the Bible....it was all related to diet. Once I cut sugar completely out of my diet, and started eating only REAL food, no junk, no processed, and no additives. That is when i found peace in my thoughts. My life did a complete turnaround. I hope you find yours. I know this is not a Biblical answer, but I found I couldn't find peace in any of the Biblical answers until i started taking better care of the temple.

By doing this to her you are in fact forcing her to keep many of her friendships secret. This never ends well. My husband and I both have friends of the opposite sex...one of them is in fact his first love. They don't spend time together or anything but we are friends with the family so their paths do cross and they do chat occasionally. I have never felt threatened or possessive, and neither does he with any of my friends. We do almost everything together socially, and we are best friends. We don't ever try to control the other in any way.

We were all chosen, but given free choice whether to accept the invitation or not. I just had a conversation about this the other day actually, because for many years I was stumped with this as well. It is up to us to accept Him, and the gift of salvation that He has offered to everyone. http://www.jba.gr/chosen-by-God.htm

Well, Alice Cooper these days preaches the gospel AND performs his shows. I have no idea...but I would be leaving that church. You cannot serve two masters.... Alice seems to think you can... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2051616/Alice-Cooper-REAL-life-A-satanist-No-I-run-Bible-group.html

Vanessa I just read another thread of yours. You have a two year old son and this started a year ago for you. Have you looked into postpartum depression? It can start a year after giving birth. Perhaps that is what went wrong. Anxiety and depression are hard to beat on your own. Have you seen a doctor for these issues. So many things can be at play here, from depression, to hormonal issues, to spiritual issues. And being a thinker as you are doesn't help. Just putting some ideas out there. I hope you find some answers and feel better soon. Will be praying for you

Were you injured? Suffer a head injury? If not...then here are my thoughts. Confess your sins, ask God to reveal the ones you don't know or recall. Claim the blood of Jesus over yourself, your family and your home property. Ask to be cleansed and believe that The Lord will deliver you. It sounds like you let something in, opened a door that perhaps you shouldn't have. Sounds very oppressive to me. God is Good! He heals and delivers. All we need to do is open our heart. Ask Him to show you what is causing the problem and He will. It could be an item you bought.... You will overcome this, and be back to yourself. Just ask your Heavenly Father to reveal it to you. Been where you are. Trust Him.

Ahhh, I used to be a doomsday prep per...and I still keep a well stocked pantry so I don't have to take trips to the grocery store. But my theory is this: If you are going to store years worth of food it will be taken from you by force when things go bad anyway...and you will likely be killed over it. And if we have the heart of Christ we will give to those in need and it won't last long anyway even if you don't get killed for it. Doomsday can mean many different things. What good is having a basement full of food if it gets destroyed by a flood or other weather related things? Or what if you are forced to leave it all behind anyway? To prepare for a harsh winter like I do, and to prepare for doomsday are two totally different things. I suggest that you do what God is leading you to, not what man is

Well I went no carb or sugars for 6 weeks. It wasn't to lose weight, but to get control of blood sugar levels. The weight loss was incredible though...went down to 115 pounds from 130 in three weeks...and it has stayed off. I do treat myself these days, but not with high sugars. I have a lot of great recipes for muffins and treats that taste great and are healthy. Cheese cake became my best friend. ( very little sugar in mine) Lots of protein, eggs, nuts, whole wheat, tons of trail mix to snack on. I was never a big meat eater, but I sure am these days. Replaced most of my carbs for protein. And the best part was that I guess i was feeling so bad that I had no desire for sugar. In fact I figured out that sugar was THE MAJOR contributor to my anxiety. And before now I was totally addicted. Donuts every day..candy...you name it, if it was sweet I ate it on an hourly basis LOL! These days i am very careful with sugars, but do eat some. A body does need some sugar, just not nearly what I used to have in my daily diet

As the mother of a gay/transgender, amoung other things...I can honestly tell you I don't know what it is other than a very strong attack on my family by something that definitely is not of God. Mental illness is also present. Anger and hate is also part of the package in our case. I don't think we have to worry much about our own kids who are normal having issues with gender identity, it goes a lot deeper than that, unlike the preoccupation these days with discovering whether you like your own sex or the opposite. What is this world coming to. I do know where the attack came from in my family though...I let something take root in my teen years when I walked away from God for a while and decided to explore other spiritual things. Transgenders are funny mentally, even my son says they are a very strange group, and he is one of them. The shame of the whole thing is exactly what Genisis says it is though....our kids are going to witness some pretty unheard of situations in coming years. My son was allowed to live in a women's shelter as a woman for a time during his "decision making" process. He was advised to do it by a psychiatrist. Funny how as a parent, when you live it...and you are seen in public with your son as a woman, and all the other stuff you go through, it really doesn't matter so much anymore. Nothing is shocking. Last summer I ran into another transgender at the beach while I was with my grandaughter...my grandaughter recognized it before I did and she was four. lol. She says "nana, how come that lady right there is like a mommy/daddy?" And she went to play with her/him and the child she/he had with him. In the car I explained to her that some people were very different, but that she was definitely going to still be a princess when she grows up!

I was always taught that babies of saved parents are under the parents 'umbrella' so to speak, so yes they do. Not sure about babies from unsaved families though. Now from a bible perspective...I am going to look into what I believe and see if it lines up.

Yes He will accept you. Don't worry. And your relationship will be even better now because it is something you truly desire.

I think what you did, was rebel for a time. I have too, and yes, during rebellion we do become angry. The Lord allowed you your rebellion and taught you a good lesson from it. The fact that you learned that lesson and came back to Christ is a great thing! Don't worry that you committed the unforgivable sin, if you had, you wouldn't be so concerned about it, you would.be blind to the Truth would you not, if The Lord was done with you? But He is not done with you because He has led you back to Him with more love for Him than you probably ever had. Some of us have to learn the hard way, but remember this. "He who has been forgiven much, loves much". Luke 7:36 - 50

Very wise words here.

Marriage, above all, is about commitment. I mean, do we all really wake up every morning filled with love and admiration for the person we are married to? I don't know about you all, but I have been through many dry times in my own marriage that I don't feel any of that. Once, for months. It was a long ordeal, but in faith, and because I had committed to this man, and God, in front of witnesses, I stayed. Sometimes asking The Lord to guard me and keep me from wrong. Some days during that period I woke up in the morning with this prayer "Father, today just help me put one foot in front of the other, to show love in action even though I am not feeling it" But above all I knew in my heart that God had brought us together, and sometimes it means work. Other times we are on cloud nine and soaring with feelings of love for each other. But the most important is that we are both committed to our relationship even when we are wondering what it's all for, and we feel like throwing in the towel. During the times I have wanted to throw in the towel I have prayed and asked The Lord to show me again why I love him, what is admirable about him. See the glass as half full, not half empty. And I also have to say this...the first fifteen years of our marriage was not easy on either of us, but we knew that we had both committed to God first, and each other, and took that very seriously. It was the glue that held us together. If not for my faith I would have left my marriage, I'm sure. My husband, on the other hand, was not a Christian back then, but he also knew that he had made a commitment and with commitment comes sacrifice. We have been together 23 years now, and our relationship is very solid and true today. We have both learned that "feelings" can be dangerous things at times. And more often than not, love is much more action than feeling.

Thank you! I was trying to say this...I have a cousin who met and married a man brought to her by God twenty five years ago. I was at thier wedding...thought it was insane! Her husband actually got up and said to everyone " I am marrying ------ because God brought her to me to be my help meet, not because I love her". And there was more. I was so angry about this loveless union at the time...but wow, to see what God has brought them too now! They are so much in love with each other and God! God came first in thier marriage from the beginning and it shows! Don't ever disobey something that is lead by God ever... Blessing flows from obedience. Tell your friend that! Man knows nothing about love...but God does have a plan

What God has brought together let no man get in the way of. I am sure that if He has led them to each other it is because He has a plan. Not all marriages start off with love...most start with lust and not much more, and even worse without God involved at all...so this union is still at a much better start than many. Love grows as two people commit to a life together.

First of all, thank you so much for your openness and honesty. I have a son who very well could be the one writing this, I think you and he have very similar beliefs feelings fears and lifestyles. He has also very recently been trying very hard to clean up from the drug scene. You are so similar! I believe that he thinks the same as you regarding he'll and how he is destined to go there perhaps because he cannot break the bonds of homosexuality, and has tried many times. I also know that he was born gay...and if not born gay, then the spirit came on him as a toddler, because it knew from the time he was two. The bipolar is another thing you both have in common. Honestly, no one really knows anything about how the whole gay thing comes about, but I know it starts very very young. And I don't know what Gods plan is through it all. But I know how difficult it is for you to break out of it. I also know that God meets us WHERE WE ARE! That is the wonderful thing! He loves you right where you are, and all you have to do is give your whole heart to Him and let HIM do the work in you! Trust him, you don't have to trust yourself. And you may fail time and time again, so do I, in different areas of my life. But when you do, pick yourself back up and try again. God loves you, because you are seeking His heart. He loves you right where you are. All I can say is keep seeking His heart and accept Him into your life. Pray daily, thank Him for everything, thank him for loving you, because He does. None of us here are worthy, NOT ONE! Jesus came that we might be saved from our sins. Claim His blood everyday. Just start there. He can release you from it. You have no power in yourself. None of us do. But the closer we get to Jesus the more He changes our hearts, our minds, our lives There is so much hope for you! Reach out and hold the hand of the one who came to save you, just trust. Eventually He will do the rest Much love to you! Tammy