I’ve always found it fascinating how different religions praise God, give credit to God, and claim God has answered their prayers. Some of these people, such as Jews, Muslims or Jehovah Witnesses flat out don’t believe in Jesus Christ as God in human form. Yet, they still feel incredibly closely connected with God and give God the praise and credit deserved.

For example, for those who like the UFC, consider the crew from Dagestan (Khabib, Islam, etc). There’s no questions these gentlemen believe God is in their side. But as a Christian, you can’t help but believe they are far from God if they haven’t accepted Jesus Christ, as the Lord and Savior.

So how is this possible? Does anyone have a reasonable answer how many people from other religions can truly feel as though they are connecting with God, or that a specific success or accomplishment is due to Gods help, yet - they are rejecting Jesus all at the same time?

Apologies if this post isn’t making sense. Feel free to ask follow up questions if need be.

im not saying that everything is a joke and you should commit blasphemy but it seems others always have something to say whenever someone makes a joke (sorry for bad english its not my first language)

If sin exists and always will exist, how does the flood change anything?

I’m Christian btw, I just had this question pop into my head

A Homily Prepared For Sunday May 19, 2024

The Collect

O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Gospel

John 7:37–39a

37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

38He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Commentary on Today’s Gospel Selection;

In our Gospel selection for today, Pentecost Sunday, we look at an event which takes place on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as Feast of Booths, and Sukkot. The event takes place in September/October, and celebrates the fall harvest of grapes and olives. It lasts seven days with a holy convocation on the eighth day (Leviticus 23:36).

Jewish law specifies that, during the Feast of Tabernacles, Jewish people “You shall dwell in booths seven days. All who are native-born in Israel shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 23:42-43). It also characterizes this feast as a fall harvest festival (Exodus 23:16; Deuteronomy 16:13).

It was during this feast or celebrations that:

“Jesus stood and cried, saying,If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (vs. 37-38) To understand the context of the situation in which Jesus stands and makes this pronouncement, you have to understand the daily rituals which took place during the festival.

During the first six days of the week long event, a priest would go to the Pool of Siloam and draw a pitcher full of water, then march in procession back to the temple with the people repeating from a verse found in Isaiah 12:3, “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”

Then upon returning to the temple the priest would pour out the water in an offering to God, commemorating the water that poured from the rock that sustained the ancient Israelites (Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 20:1-13) as well as the rains that sustained Israel during the year just passed.

Everyday for six days, the people had been celebrating the water that had given their people physical sustenance; Jesus now tells them that he is capable of satisfying their spiritual thirst.

“as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”(v. 38b) Just as we today think of the heart as being the center of emotions, (e.g. from the heart) in those times, they believed that the belly was the place where warm kindly benevolent feelings were generated. Jesus is saying that those who believe in him will receive these spiritual waters, waters of spiritual blessings, salvation.

When lost in the desert, the children of Israel thought the waters from God that materialized as flowing from a rock, were a blessing, a salvation in the physical sense for those who faced death from thirst (dehydration.) At the core of Jesus message to them that day, lies the fact that instead of worshiping an event that took place hundreds of years beforehand, a miracle that only provided physical sustenance for a brief time, they should be paying attention to his message which offers an eternal spiritual sustenance.

This verse brings to mind Jesus’ words to the Samaritan woman, “the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).

Jeremiah 2:13 also contains a reference to spiritual water: “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” Likewise we see in Jeremiah 17:13  “O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.” Perhaps Jesus recognized this disparity which could be seen in the religious rite in which the people celebrated his Father’s gift of water for physical thirst while remaining obvious to “the fountain of living waters” that God offered them.

In writing this Gospel, John the Evangelist, adds a note to the reader in verse 39; “But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Here we find an explanation as to why these verses were selected for Pentecost Sunday, the day that the Holy spirit descended upon the Followers of Christ. Water and the Spirit are connected elsewhere in John — for example, when Jesus tells Nicodemus that “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (3:5). In Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman, living water is the symbol of the revelation of God in Christ which satisfies all spiritual thirst (4:10-15). “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14)

This living water that springs up into everlasting life, as promised by Jesus, is water that satisfies one’s spiritual thirst. A water that traditionally has been found through attendance and membership in the church, where one learns about the message and teachings of Christ, the essence of the water itself.

Unfortunately over the last decade, we have watched a great exodus from the church; in particular the old main-line churches. Those churches hemorrhaging membership most excessively, are those who in recent years have spent less time on—if not totally abandoning—the Gospel of Christ, while embracing a social gospel that may be based on good intentions, but none the less fails to address the people’s spiritual thirst.

Indeed, when questioned by pollsters attempting to gather information regarding this great exodus, a large number of people say that they identify as “spiritual but not religious.” Assuming that these people are indeed spiritual, then we can also assume that they are not finding in these churches, the water and spirit, with which to satisfy their thirst.

Ironically, we find the Hebrew people in chapter 7 attending a great celebration, one in which the observances commemorate important events in their history as a people chosen by God. Annual celebrations that for them, were certainly fun and wondrous to participate in, but yet—as Jesus noted by his crying out—they were failing to receive the spiritual water of God and instead they were focusing on recreating an event of centuries past. I say this is ironic, in that today we find the churches focusing, not on recreating events of the past as a commemoration of the importance of the event, but rather on progressive social ideologies that often conflict with the word of God itself. A so called social gospel that often drowns out the message of the Gospel of Christ.

Instead of uniting together as brothers and sisters in Christ seeking the water and spirit that Jesus spoke of, our churches are inculcating, not a gospel of the spirit that unites us in the name of Christ, but rather an ideology that divides us along social constructs and identities.

People who readily identify—when asked—as spiritual, seem to have an innate thirst for authentic spirituality, and apparently are not finding a cure for that thirst in these churches that are no longer churches of Christ, but which are now, for all pratical purposes, churches of progressive ideology.

But yet, if you really seek through the news media diligently, you will see signs that the Holy Spirit is descending again, in some ways, just as it did during that event we commemorate today.

The principalities of this world work to suppress the news of the spirit moving, but yet reports are emerging of young people filling the pews at revivals, mass baptisms, even the conversion of formerly reprobate celebrities who have now found Christ and are trying to turn around their life, to be as born again. We also are witnessing an increasing number of celebrities who are speaking out, unapologetically affirming their Christian beliefs and advocating for traditional family values and lifestyles. The Holy Spirit has touched the hearts of these individuals, compelling them to ignore their fears of persecution or their aversion to being called out as not being politically or socially correct.

As we observe the day that the Holy Spirit descended upon those in that room, let us be cognizant of the fact that there are many people in this world today, who are hungry for authentic Christianity. Those who thirst for authentic water and spirit that satiates the spiritual thirst. Those who can be characterized as being the least of these.

The “least of these” is a phrase that originates from Matthew 25:31–46, a passage often used in these modern times, to guilt Christians, causing them to embrace this false social gospel that is emptying the churches. Christians are not leaving because they do not want to help others, but due to the fact that they instinctively know that this passage, and others, are used out of context in an effort to guilt them into accepting what they know in their heart is wrong.

Matthew wrote this at a time, in which most likely the least of these, the needy, those imprisoned and persecuted, those that Christ called his bothers, most likely were his brothers and sisters, as it was a time in which Christians were discriminated against and tortured for their beliefs. Matthew was preaching to a congregation that knew all too well what the conditions Jesus spoke of were like.

While we are always to help the financially impoverished, a careful reading of Matthew 25:31–46 and its historical context demonstrates the need to give aid to the spiritually impoverished as well. When we look at how this passage was taught prior to the emergence of the social gospel a century past. We find a rebuke of the minsters who teach such false doctrines in these words of Jesus: “For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me ”

There are yet those who are spiritually hungry, spiritually thirsty, naked in spirit, they are treated as strangers by the modern church because they hold traditional values dear. There are those who speak out against all sorts of abominations and now find themselves in prison, sick and isolated. But yet the churches of social gospel turn a blind eye to them.

The rest of us must keep the spiritually hungry and thirsty in our prayers, reach out to them and help them find the spirit that is once again moving today as it moved two millennia ago.

Benediction:

O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Savior, the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Recently came up on this argument. The problem of Evil Kind of ties into this.

I understand some of the topics he covered were archaic, and extreme - but why has this been front page news for the last week?

Churches should let staff with children bring them to work on weekdays and allow them to "homeschool" their kids there.

Children do best when they are raised by their own parents, not other people for most of their waking hours of the most influential years of their lives. By outsourcing the education of children to "professionals" we are effectively outsourcing most of the raising of them. Why then are we shocked when they turn out like the metaphorical Romans when it is the Romans who raise them? Churches should be leading the way in this and every other possible initiative turns parents back towards their children and children back towards their parents. It can be done. Build the family. Build the home.

Matthew 27:24-25 Thessalonians 2:14-16 John 5:16-18

Why are people so adamant about the Romans when the Bible specifically mentions who is responsible?

I have noticed a Lot just Say they are results of demon Activity and just Say go to church and pray, i am not saying miracles can't happen, but it just doesn't work most of the time, they also reject any kind of psichology and also therapy and stuff cuz they Say it never works and all that, why is that?

I had this sermon yesterday, and it helped me collate my thoughts

For the everyone, Christianity isn't a self-help or a religion that makes you feel good. It is a faith that is real. Sharing the word and preaching may not turn the hearts of others. You need to clarify the non-believers' doubts. However, this is for everyone to read.

Science doesn't argue that God isn't real. God and science aren't enemies. They are in fact allies. God made science and science proves of God is existence.

1. Faith and science are complementary.

John 4:21-24 describes the Samaritan woman asking Jesus which is mountain/temple is the right place to seek God. Jesus instead tells her how God is spiritual. Heaven and hell are not physical locations, but a spiritual location. Therefore you need to connect to God spiritually.

Science cannot prove about why the existence of any number. For example, why is 7 seven and not 1 or 2 or 3? Science only assumes numbers. What about right and wrongs? We know that they are real things. We believe they are factual. But right and wrongs differ from person to person. Science can not scientifically prove what is right and what is wrong. Science is used to prove the physical and not physical world. But science also cannot prove science. For example science cannot prove where an atom is from. People say the Big Bang, but what caused it to happen(explained later)? God is beyond the physical world. So science is to study the physical world, whereas faith is to know the spiritual world.

2. Faith provides a basis for science

Science is to prove a principle of a law. But you need to assume that this law exists in the first place because if it doesn't then results are unattainable. This is a hypothesis. If the experimental results are achieved, then the law is true. However, when the results cannot be obtained, the law either is false or needs further proving. But He separated the dry land from water as can be seen in Psalm 105:5-9. The waters flowed over the mountains, went into valleys and He set a boundary they cannot cross and would never again cover earth. Same again in the story of Noah. And also can be seen in Genesis 1 when the world was just water. Before He made these boundaries, the waters were chaotic and with no order. God gave order.

In fact there are also many many famous scientists out there who used the Bible for their hypothesis and so far they are all correct. Johannes Kepler said that he was was merely thinking God's thoughts after Him. Isaac Newton said he studied the Bible to prove scientific theories. However, what the Bible says that is in the later part before the end, that cannot be proven yet. Other than that, God made the world follow a fixed law. Therefore, Christianity is a faith with science to prove that it is true. This leads to the last point

3. Science provides evidence for the Christian faith

Romans 1:18-20 says ‭" [18] For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, [19] because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. [20] For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse". This shows that there is so much evidence of God in the world like science and the miracles done. So how can God not have the rights to condemn someone to hell? It isn't because He remained hidden and they didn't have the opportunity to know Him. They closed their hearts and believe in His works but not Him. They have everything around them to prove God exists, but they do not heed.

Psalm 8:3-4 shows us the magnitude and power of God. But there would be critics who disagree because we jump into conclusions and "assume" it's right. What if there is an argument to prove that it is right and it in fact is God's powers?

Kalama Cosmological Argument states:

1. Everything must have a cause.
2. The universe began to exist
3. (if the first 2 points make sense which they do, then) Therefore, the universe must have a cause

The Kalam Cosmological Argument can be used on Islam and Christianity but the Christian God is the true God. In Islam, Muhammad was not the Son of God. He was just a prophet. Neither did he die on the cross for the people to redeem their sins. And I don't need to talk about the kids he married. It's pedophilia and there's no argument that that is very wrong. God is righteous and His son should be righteous as well. We know Jesus was righteous and has never sinned. He bored the cross for our shame and suffered to redeem us. This is the real Son of God. Therefore, only our Christian God is true. The gods of other religions cannot exist because of the Kalam Argument that we can agree is true.

The Big Bang, which people argue that this is how God doesn't exist, was only proven in 2003. Do I believe in the Big Bang? Yes. But you see, science is to study the physical world (definition: the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation, experimentation, and the testing of theories against the evidence obtained). Science only can be used to study the physical world. So the world cannot make the world because the world is science but science cannot make science. In that way, something external must be making the Big Bang happen. So who is this Someone who is external?

Using the Kalam Argument, we can come to a conclusion that

1. The Creator must be extremely powerful to create the world.
2. The Creator has to be non-physical for the world cannot make the world reason.
3. The Creator must be eternal. If not something else would have made Him, thus He would have a beginning. But He cannot have a cause, but cause a cause unless the cause is a person which cannot be true. Complicated to read but try to understand.

This sounds like our God that we read about in Gensis! People don't believe because they don't want to, not because they didn't have more than enough evidence to know of God's evidence.

Next, God can use something natural and unnatural to create something. For example, the Red Sea turning red was proven to be because of sediments in the water. And so were the rest of the plague. But the destroyer was a curse (a really bad miracle) and isn't natural. So was Jesus when He went around to heal the sick, blind, deaf, mute, lame, and the possessed. A miracle = cannot be proven by science and totally unrelated to science. Who else can create miracles but by Someone not in the physical world? The consistency in the miracles cannot be a chance. It is the God factor. This can be proven by the Teleolgical Argument.

The Teleolgical Argument says that:

1. The fine-tuning of the universe is due to physical necessity or chance or design (proven by biology, physics or scientific experiments multiple times and would be explained after this)
2. It is not due to physical necessity or chance because unless the universe has a mind then it knows its necessities. And chances are so hard to come by (said later)
3. Thus the universe has to be designed (by God)

Like y=mx+c or other formulas with a constant inside. Gravity, speed of light in vacuum and other laws are also constant.

Now to answer "Can it be by chance?" The answer is 99.999999% no. But let me add that little 0.000001 to prove the God factor. Stephen Hawking said if time at the beginning slowed by 10¹⁰⁰ seconds, the universe would be dead. How can a chance be so accurate? How can there be a chance with such an unspeakable number without a design given? For example, you find an iPhone in the desert and you say its because the winds and weather conditions had assembled and put it together, and Steve Jobs picked it up. So with LOGICAL CONCLUSION, it can be said that there is a Designer to design the universe. According to the first law of thermodynamics, something cannot exist without being created from existing energy. The law states that energy cannot be created or destroyed and Einstein established that energy and mass (the two essense of existence) are essentially the same. But why does God not need a creator? Because the creator would be greater than God. Then won't we worship that creator instead? But thermodynamics only apply to our world. We often forget that God is of a spiritual world and He is eternal, hence, He doesn't need or have a creator.

In conclusion, science and faith are not compatible. That's too weak a word. Science and faith are complementary. Thus, do not disbelieve in God and only believe in science or vice versa. You need something that you can rely on that doesn't change. A constant. Then you might ask why do we believe in a book? We don't believe in book. It's the faith we believe in that is true. As science cannot prove science, the Bible cannot prove the Bible. But so far all the things the Bible was true, even before science had proven these. And those not of science are miracles or not proven yet. If you cannot debut these reasonings, then it only means God is true and that you should start believing in Him. Psalm 8:1-9 shows the magnitude and power of God. Science isn't something we should use to doubt God but to marvel and appreciate the works, even to the finest detail, of God and His designs. Gensis 1:26 says "[26] Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ". We have dominion over the world as through science and the manipulation of science helps us understand God at a deeper scale. Your faith must have a deeper intellectual evidence. What reflects God's words or existence? I know that all He has said and still says has come true and thus will also come true. I know this because I see His works through History, Science etc. Build a faith with facts and knowledge but also with belief. You can further read things to strengthen your faith, like Reasonable Faith(or William Lane Craig, his youtube channel if you hate reading a lot, but since you got this far then maybe you do like reading), or books from Timothy Keller and C.S Lewis.

I would say that faith by knowledge is to accept in God and faith by feelings is to strengthen our love for God. I pray that we would have more brothers and sisters as well who would come to God through all these factors and we would have the brothers and sisters we lost to come back to God. In Jesus's most precious name I pray, Amen.

I cuss a lot and am a Christian. Many of my Christian friends, their parents, my Christian teachers believe cussing is immoral, and do not allow it. However, many are perfectly fine with substitute words like; frick, crap, darn, heck. All of these are filler words that are used to convey the same message as the original cuss word.

Psalm 34: 13-14 "Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."

There's many verses like this that clearly say you should not speak evil, many referring to cursing in particular. I interpret cursing as using the Lord's name in vain, wishing misfortune/damnation upon others, forsaking.

Cuss words can certainly be used to curse, like saying "fuck you" or "damn you". They can be used to insult, forsake, degrade, etc. I believe these things to be immoral, but I also believe there are many contexts in which cuss words can be used without causing harm or cursing.

So, do you believe cuss words can be used without being immoral? If not, do you think filler words can be?

*I'm new to Christianity and religion in general so please forgive any ignorance!

Within the last year or so, I've found myself wanting to find my faith. I've always believed in a god but it wasn't until recently that I've really leaned into and committed to Christianity.

However, one thing that I've been curious about is the topic of exorcisms. Even before finding my faith, I've always believed in spirits and demons. I've even had an experience myself where my sister's previous homeowners regularly practiced witchcraft. My sister said that she frequently had supernatural experiences in the basement, and one day I decided to go down into the basement and the feeling was surreal. It was a very cold, empty, and ominous type of feeling that I can't really describe more than that.

Anyways, everything I've seen regarding exorcisms is always done by Catholics. This is probably where my ignorance kicks in but I'm curious as to why (although I do lean into Christianity) Catholics are the ones who can exorcise spirits/demons.

Are Christians able to perform exorcisms as well? If not, it does seem interesting that Catholics have the capabilities/connection with God that allows them to perform exorcisms and get rid of evil spirits.

Thank you for your insights and answers in advance, brothers and sisters!

We live in an age where people are bitterly divided due to social media.

Algorithms feed people information that gets them angry, and brings out the worst aspects of them.

Many otherwise nice people fall into this trap. They will occasionally use social media, and be inundated with examples of the "other side" doing something extreme and stupid.

If you're a conservative, you'll open up twitter and see a bunch of blue haired college kids yelling something extreme.

Hence, why many go on to support a Demagogue in the political sphere.

It's not about him per se, it's about stopping the "radical left" (those posts you engaged with on Facebook or Twitter).

Pure tribalism.

It's not like in the 1930s Germany, where people were deliberate in their support for a demogogue.

They are being led around by social media, unwittingly.

In a way, that makes more innocent. At least in my opinion.

But, there's no doubt that Trump represents a reactionary, anti-democratic element within the country.

If you read the Gospels, particularly the Sermon on the Mount, Trump is about as opposite to that as you can be.

Yet, American Christians are the reason he was elected in the first place. And by the look of it, they'll vote for him again.

I'm not saying you can't support Trump for policy reasons: his stance on China, foreign policy, tax cuts.

But that's not why people support him. It's because they want to stop "them".

"Them" being immigrants, the far left, the cultural elites. It all circles back to social media.

weird, small question here for you all: can i be a jew and believe in jesus christ?

i don't want to be a "messianic jew" because that whole thing has always just seemed really weird and culturally illiterate. my family is ashkenazi jewish, but secular. i am the only one who has gone out of my way to connect with the heritage.

i somehow stumbled across teachings of christ which drew me to the new testament, and i think both the old and new are important. this is not something jews are supposed to care about, and a lot of the jews i've talked to get angry when you bring up the new testament, which has always scared me away from it.

i do not really have much of a jewish community to be "expelled" from, but i want to retain my culture and heritage while also adopting the teachings of christ. i want to celebrate both and wish to keep being a jew because that hasn't changed.

Hi all, recently my friend has found Christ, which is awesome because I found Christ not long ago either. So randomly I thought about whether he was baptized (I was baptized as an infant, became atheist then reverted to Christianity), and he said he was never baptized. So of course, I told him he should get baptized as soon as reasonably possible. He said he doesn’t care to, but I told him it was necessary for salvation. I showed him John 3 and Matthew 28 and explained how Christ himself commanded his disciples to be baptized. He said “why would a priest need to be baptized by a priest when Christ baptizes me every day”. Not gonna lie, I thought that was kinda corny. He maintained that baptism was allegorical, like how Jesus told us to tear our right hand off. I think that’s an obviously unfair comparison.

Long story short I told him that to be a believer of Jesus means to be baptized, but he’s always had a loose interpretation of the Bible and sort of maintains the idea “it’s just about loving Jesus bro”. Which is certainly true! But there’s a whole book of guidelines telling you how to love Jesus called the Bible. Not gonna lie, Christians who totally muck up scripture with their own interpretations annoy me a little.

So after a little back and forth I got kinda annoyed because of his lack of seriousness in his walk with God, but does anyone have other scripture they can point me to or just advice in general to make sure this man gets baptized? Thank you all and God bless

I’ve been thinking about this and my own journey with stepping away from Christianity and part of me kind of wonders if burning the Bible would be therapeutic to my healing and deconstruction of my faith. But I wonder how poorly it would make others feel, and I’ve been told it’s disrespectful because a lot of people have strong feelings for it.

I’m fine if others believe in the Bible, but it contributed heavily to PTSD for me. There’s probably better outlets to break my bridge with Christianity than burning the book, and there’s a little fear actually going through with it. I imagine it’s the indoctrination I was raised with.

The other part of my head thinks it’s just words in a book, and the Bible’s word is supposedly eternal so is it even morally wrong? I know Christian’s who burn witchcraft books and the book of acts talk about it, so part of me wonders since Christianity is okay burning books why can’t I burn Christianity’s book?

What are your thoughts on the ethics and legality of someone burning the Bible or any other religious text?

An analysis of the will of God for our lives and the ramifications of our choice in holiness.

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.” ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬-‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The will of God according to 1 Thess 4:3-8

• Abstaining from sexual immorality
• Control of our bodies
• Mindfulness in action
• Devoid of pride or pretense
• Motivated by love, honor, righteousness
• In all these, alignment and to walk with the Holy Spirit in life

It is the will of God for us to abstain from sexual immorality, pride, revenge, and to be controlled by passions. We are to be directed by the Holy Spirit in all things. We know this to be true by the Spirit of Truth within us, but the “why”, I think is quite important.

Firstly, we need to recognize who and what we are. Then we can take a look at how we operate in our identity.

If we take a scripturally based Kingdom view to who we are, we can agree that we are sons and daughters of the Most High, heirs to the Kingdom and throne of God. (I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:18) For our great benefit, we have a pretty awesome account of what it looks like to be a son (or daughter) of God in the Bible with the depiction of the life of Christ. For brevity and to be succinct I believe this verse in particular captures the purpose of a son (or daughter) of God quite well in Colossians 1:15: 15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Here we can see a clear picture of who we are in the Kingdom, and what that looks like. We are sons (and daughters) of the Most High, and our purpose is to be the image of the invisible God in the visible world.

So, how is this accomplished? To be the image of the invisible God to the visible world is undoubtedly beyond or power and ability. Fortunately for us, this is where sonship and being an heir to the throne of God comes in. We do not attempt to do this through our own power and ability, but rather in submission to the Most High’s Kingship - His Kingdom, power, wisdom, love, and all that resides within Him flows through us to the level of our submission to His Spirit. This can only be accomplished by our willing submission because the Spirit in which all love resides, does not insist on its own way.

Revelation 3:20 (NIV) Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

We are doorways more than we are beings. Sentient doorways that allow things to come and go, ascending and descending, based on our agreements and alignments. If we are controlled by passions, anger, sexual immorality, revenge, pride, and other earthly minded motivations - we are choosing to birth these into this world. In this we have chosen them instead of our God, in this we have chose to quench the Spirit, in this we have chose the outer darkness.

Luke 13:25 (NIV) Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’

Therefore, whenever a temptation is set before me it might be to my benefit to realize that the choice I am about to make holds a gravity that spans between words. That the choice of choosing something other than the Holy Spirit to walk by is in essence choosing death, choosing blindness, choosing deafness, choosing muteness, and choosing violence against myself and my fellow man.

Matthew 12:29 (NIV) “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.

We may be tempted to rationalize it, but beware. The Holy Spirit may never insist on its own way, but all others do. Once we decide to open our doorway to something other than His spirit, we may find that it lingers. Once inside, holding the door open as it poisons us so that we become weak. In this it may rule over us so that it may come and go when it pleases and we are left hollow and empty. Such is the outer darkness.

Stay vigilant. Do not run out of oil as the night presses in. The King is coming. The King is here. Matthew 25:1-9

MARANATHA

It is hard for me to repent because it was never sincere. I found out I still love my family much more than I will ever love Jesus

Someone mentioned it was invented in the 1600s. I'm curious to understand this

I apologize in advance, as this may be quite long. For some background, I was raised a Christian in a very broken home. My life turned upside down and I used to blame all of my trauma on God. I used to ask myself daily why would he let this happen, what he was doing all this time, and when things would get right. I lost faith. I grew a dislike for him. I stopped believing. This went on for a while, I would talk to god and yell and cry and tell him I was angry at him. I would tell him I feel like he didn’t care, that he messed me up somehow. I tried to take my own life on multiple occasions throughout the years. Overall, I was in a rough patch. Recently, I started thinking about God again, like something was pushing me to speak with him, but I was too guilty. I started seeing small notes stating “god loves you” in the smallest of places. I thought to myself “well, that’s just a coincidence.” I sat in bed a few days later and thought to open a bible and read, then thought to myself not to do it. As I sat on my phone mindlessly scrolling, the random YouTube video I had on to fall asleep to had a man on it that said “go read the Bible. God is good.” I looked up and noticed it was a video about how pens were made. I opened my bible the moment I heard it without thinking. I started with Matthew. I felt guilt, shame, confusion, everything. I thought I was a fraud. I thought to myself “how could god still love me? I’m terrible.” I prayed that night, speaking to god for a while, telling him everything. I told him every bad thing I’ve ever thought, done, and how I was selfish. When I was done praying, for the first time in a really long time, I felt calm. I fell asleep right away. I remember even when I was angry with god I still prayed when I had a panic attack, begging him for peace and a few moments later he would calm me. The truth is, I still struggle with doubt, guilt, shame, you name it. I’ve realized I’m not perfect. I’ve realized I have a lot to learn. Fast forward to today, I feel like I’ve been getting jabbed at by the devil. For the first time ever I was yelled at by a client at my job, who had said something so ignorantly personal there was no was satan himself didn’t fabricate this act towards me. I get clients that take their anger out on me at work daily, but this response was one in which I was unprepared to answer for. For the first time in my life (and this may be sad to say) I stood up for myself in the kindest way I could. I didn’t yell, I didn’t scream, I didn’t argue. I let this person know that I am not garbage, and that they couldn’t speak to me that way. So why is this included? Because that was out of character for me. The person I used to be would yell back nasty things. But I felt horrible that they felt so angry. I felt terrible for what I said thinking it over and over again. That I could’ve said something with more love. For the first time in my life I said I wasn’t garbage even though for majority of my life I felt I was. The Bible taught me God doesn’t create garbage. What was I even thinking? I calmed myself down shortly after and it hit me. So here I am to ask: is this the start of the spiritual warfare everyone speaks of when you reach out to god after being in a dark place? This may sound minor to most, but to me this incident won’t get off of my mind. And to follow this with another question, when you got in touch with god, did you also have a million emotions flowing through your mind?

I had a hard time corelating God and Evolution.

Otherwords we "can" corelate Evolution and Bible but there is begining of the bible where it describes the begining of human race. We can understand that God planned evolution to go the way God wanted but how we can comprahend that bible described entire begnining where Adam and Eve came to earth.

i thought there was 2nd phase of begining of humanity

We know a time after there was a flood that eliminated all humans except Noe but then children of Noe keept on living. That means the humans continued to exist

So how can we reconcile both, Bible and Evolution, any ideas?

Update : Jesus said that he fullfilles the law of Moses, Old Testament is written mainly by Moses, but many of Bible scholars says that Genesis was myth, so when Genesis isn't reliable, the entire Old Testament isn't reliable becouse it's written by same person?

I started reading the Bible diligently every day for the past month. The process has made me question the assumptions and beliefs that were ingrained in me and have been guiding my actions and behaviors until now. Many of these beliefs are attached to the people I spend the most time with. Particularly my friends and my close friends. I feel a need to distance myself from them in order to grow as a Christian and person. And then I stumbled upon this art piece. It depicts God's pillar of fire guiding the isrealites at night in the desert. They escaped a life they were used to in order to find a life they could be proud of living. Does this speak to anyone else?

Here's a link to the art piece in case anyone is interested:
https://5ca00b-f8.myshopify.com/products/exodus-the-pillar-of-fire

Give examples would be pointless because if something doesn’t prick your heart watching past session 1, there something wrong.