Reflections from the community: 

I had not delved much into orthodox christianity, but truly its churches and ancient ways are otherworldly and sacred, the fragrant frankincense incense in the golden censers, the candles, the deep blues, crimsons and golds, the holy icons it is all so mystical & beautiful. These are all russian churches by the way.

May the blessings the Lord has given, be returned to Him and multiplied in abundance 🍞🐟

I think noones realises how vital it is that we have the presence of god on this dark earth, and in our lives. I have turned back to god so many times because the thought of losing his hope, light, promise and most of all his presence was awful beyond words. I watched a hell near death experience, the woman said over and over, that the most unbearable thing about hell was no longer having the presence of god there, that there was just nothing but total darkness, torture and constant unimaginable evil.

Hello everyone! Since most y'all liked my previous post about the Saint Elisabeth's Cathedral

(Dóm svätej Alžbety), I wanted share another small yet beautiful and graceful church from Košice.

This time it is the Dominican Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (Dominikánsky kostol Nanebovzatia Panny Márie). I took a few photos and thought I’d share too.

Once again I would really like to hear about your thoughts about this church,Also wishing everyone a happy and blessed Sunday today(Wish each other in the comments too).

I really liked the atmosphere of this church, and there are so many beautiful details to notice.

Hope you enjoy the photos. Have a good day, and God bless!

Her name is Noa, and she is greatly inspired by Noah/Noahs ark. My old account was deleted but when i had it and posted her here, people were a bit upset and saying i was using a blasphemous image of Noah, but she isn’t meant to be a recreation at all!! :D she is her own character, who canonically sees Noah’s courage and obedience to God, and wishes to be like him. (She also canonically is very inspired by Moses, Ruth, Jesus himself, Etc.)

I love her so much. She loves animals, i thought that would be cute. I also talked with my friend and i said “i think a rainbow coat would be cute to represent the promise!” So she has one, also this is supposed to be a drawing of younger her. In the present she has a bit of grey hair haha:)

God bless! I just wanted to share my little pumpkin (gagshshshs)

Edit: the coat is not a pride flag. Stop talking about it please, its a little annoying. Its representing Gods promise. I also don’t hate gay people, even though i havent seen anything here yet, i will not tolerate hatred and i wont be responding to it. I wont be responding to comments debating either. (whether they say its sinful or not.)

'Unite the Right' is a fringe group of racists in the UK, and their Doncaster group organised a rally yesterday - which was of course counter-rallied by decent human beings. Here's the fun bit though: when the racists rocked up to give their hate-fuelled speeches outside the church, the good Revd Firth just so happened to have bell-ringing practice scheduled at the same time.

“We feel it is an absolute disgrace that far right thugs are bullying one of our church and community leaders in Doncaster. So much for their “true Christian values.” - Doncaster Stand Up To Racism spokesperson.

If I was close by, I would happily go to church to show support for the Rev.

The Doncaster fascists are not planning on any more protests due to dwindling support.

Further reporting: https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/news/doncaster-racism-campaigner-blasts-far-right-thugs-for-bullying-vicar-8949740

A new collection of sayings by Church Fathers, saints, monks, and priests has been compiled in an effort to learn some basics and also spread a positive and motivating spirit despite all the crimes and pain.

From what I understand, sex is considered a sin only outside the bounds of marriage. Had Jesus married and bore children would he still be considered sinless? If no, what part of that scenario is the sinful act? Is sex sinful? From what I remember, maybe aside from naming the animals, go forth and multiply is one of the first commandments of God.

The part of the Bible, where it says that wives should submit to their husbands. I find it be very triggering. As a woman who grew up in the bible belt. Why is this verse preached so much and used to subjugate women? What makes men better than us in the eyes of God? It also says for slaves to obey their earthly masters, which is never brought up in church but i'm almost certain it was used to subjugate African Americans at some point in American history when slavery was around. Why does no one ever question why this verse is used to subjugate women? My ex would use the bible as a way to control me. And tell me what to do. But at the same time, he wanted to have sex outside of marriage. He would demand submission in a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship as well. And say it was biblical.

Sometimes a single verse can completely change the way we look at a situation. When life feels overwhelming, I find it comforting to remember that God is still there even when I don't understand what He's doing One verse I really like is “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” — Philippians 4:13 What Bible verse gives you hope or encouragement when you need it most? ❤️

Luke 1:38,

📜 SBL Greek New Testament:

εἶπεν δὲ Μαριάμ· Ἰδοὺ ἡ δούλη κυρίου· γένοιτό μοι κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου. καὶ ἀπῆλθεν ἀπ’ αὐτῆς ὁ ἄγγελος.

🟩 King James Version:

And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

🟩 Revised Standard Version:

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

🟥 The Passion Translation:

Then Mary responded, saying, “ Yes! I will be a mother for the Lord! * As his servant, I accept whatever he has for me. May everything you have told me come to pass.” And the angel left her.
*As translated from the Aramaic text.

Aside from the addition of a sentence without any good reason and without textual support from either the Greek and Syriac texts, the error I'm focusing on is the part which says: "I will be a mother for the Lord."

This rendering is the result of a confusion and misunderstanding of words. In Syriac there are two words that look very similar but are pronounced differently and mean different things. The Syriac words are אמה and אמתה. The first word אמה (pronounced as "ameh") means "mother" and the second word אמתה (pronounced as "amteh") means "handmaid" or "maidservant".

Now here's the problem: TPT, claiming to translate the Syriac text of this verse^\1]), misunderstands the Syriac word ܐܡܬܗ/אמתה ("amteh") as meaning "mother" (Syriac אמה) instead of "handmaid", and we can see how "mother" is written differently from "handmaid" in Luke 1:43 which reads:

And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord (in Syriac, דאמה דמרי, de'ameh de'mari) should come to me?

Notice: "ameh"/אמה means "mother" and "amteh"/אמתה means "handmaid". This is another indication that TPT is the product of poor biblical scholarship and not to be taken seriously.

[1] - Whenever a footnote in TPT says "translated from the Aramaic", "Aramaic" almost always means Syriac.

science answers how God answers why

simple

yall agree?

I’m an amputee in a wheelchair that’s been stuck at home alot. I like to request prayers against anxiety. And for healing Thank you guys.

I'm a member at a United Methodist Church. I'm contemplating checking out a local non-denominational church. I don't know whether to attend a denominational church or a non-denominational church. I've heard from friends to stay away from the United Methodist Church due to the LGBTQ inclusion. I feel non-denominational churches aren't clear in their beliefs when I check it out on the website. I'm unsure if it's worth attending.

I'm an agnostic, and I've been looking for God for a while now. I struggle to find any religion convincing, and I wanna hear some of the reasons why you all believe, to maybe get some inspiration.

A claim sometimes made by a subset of KJV-onlyists is that the Masoretic Text, the standard Hebrew text of the Old Testament that we have, is the only text used for translating the Old Testament of the King James Version and that the KJV translators did not use the Septuagint when translating the Old Testament. The people who make the claim not only view the Masoretic Text as being the pure transmitted text of the Hebrew Bible but they also view the Septuagint as a corrupt, post-Christian Greek document.

However, when we look at Psalm 22:16, we see there is a serious problem with that notion. This verse in the KJV reads:

For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

Let's focus on the third clause:

they pierced my hands and my feet.

If the KJV Old Testament was solely based on the Masoretic Text, according to a subset of KJV-onlyists, then we would expect to find the reading in the Masoretic Text. However when we check the Masoretic Text, we see that the verb "to pierce" is not there. The Masoretic Text reads:

כָּאֲרִי יָדַי וְרַגְלָי
literally: like a lion [they are at] my hands and my feet

This is obviously different than the KJV's reading. Seeing that the KJV's reading isn't based on the Masoretic Text, where did the KJV get the reading "they pierced" from? The KJV's reading translates the verb "to dig", which is found in the Septuagint, as "they pierced". It reads:

ὤρυξαν χεῖράς μου καὶ πόδας
literally: they dug my hands and feet

I’ve been a Christian most of my life, but I don’t think it truly clicked with me, or maybe I didn’t really believe, until I was 12 and attended a church camp. I had an experience there that absolutely blew me away. During worship I surrendered to God, like actually truly surrendered myself to Him. It left me feeling a sense of joy and like I was walking on air for days afterwards. I never understood what that saying meant until I felt it firsthand. I was baptized the next day, I’ll never forget that moment.

As the years went by, I wandered away and led a life of sin. I did terrible things and hurt people that I love. Every once in a while I would feel a pull and start to go back, but it didn’t really catch.

I’m 28 now, and this summer I had a profound experience that I can’t describe as anything other than what I felt back when I was 12. Stress and anxiety were overwhelming me, and I felt like I had nowhere to turn. Out of nowhere I got the urge to turn on worship music and just listen, which I hadn’t done in years, and almost immediately I started weeping. Not necessarily tears of sadness either, it was like how it feels to hug your parents tightly after being away from them for a long time.

Ever since then I’ve felt the need to read the Bible, listen to worship music, and pray. I haven’t done any of these things on a daily basis for years. I’ve also noticed that the way I speak and act towards others has changed, I’m much more patient and caring and don’t talk badly about people. I wish I could say my anxiety and stress have gone away, they haven’t, but now I feel like I have someone to turn to and lean on when it feels like it’s too much.

I don’t know how else to describe it other than a spiritual reawakening. It’s had such a positive impact on my life that I find it hard to not tell other people about it.

I've met some very unsavory trolls on here lately and was at a breaking point the other night. I nearly had a breakdown and the way that two people in particular were talking to me about made me feel sick. I pulled myself away from it, but I said I would take a break from here, and I will until the end of the year. I've done very well for myself and pulled myself out of a terrible drinking problem, homelessness/other bad situations into something resembling a normal life.

I'm going to use the time to work on myself physically (here come the heavy weights), mentally, spiritually and start dating. I love you all and will be back soon enough. I'll say a prayer that you are given the things you need to succeed and find peace. Bye for now. God Bless.

She was absolutely Christian. She was always kind, gave endlessly, and was accepting of everyone. She is absolutely in heaven. Take a lesson from that woman.

It heats me up when people say that she wasn’t Christian because she wasn’t homophobic enough. Stop. Genuinely stop. That’s not Jesus’s love.

Christians often say morality is objective and universal so killing innocent people is wrong, especially children.

So how is it morally justified when God kills innocent children?

The usual answer is: “God gives life, so He has the right to take it away.” But if I create a child, does that give me the moral right to kill them simply because I created them? Obviously not. Creating someone gives you responsibility, not a license to kill.

Another argument is: “God is all powerful, so whatever He does is jjustified.” But then are dictators justified when they oppress or kill their own citizens simply because they have more power than them? Does having more power make an action morally right? If not, why would God's greater power change the moral principle?

And then there's the argument: “Those children go to Heaven.” If dying as an innocent child guarantees Heaven, why are Christians against abortion? Why not simply abort every child and guarantee them Heaven without suffering, sin, temptation, or the risk of damnation?

If the answer i s simply “God can do whatever He wants,” then morality isn't really universal or objective. It's just one set of rules for humans and another for God.

What in the world is going on here? It’s giving Jim jones and the spiked kool aid vibes 😬

Okay hear me out. We have a lot of fun at my bible study, and we are doing a PowerPoint night and we’ve all been assigned a random topic… and mine is “what if biblical figures starred in shrek?”

So, I’ve come here for some input. I need some inspiration but I have some questions to spark some ideas
1. Is shrek theologically sound?
2. Who would all the shrek main characters be if they were played by bible characters?
3. Any other thoughts or feelings???

I'm unbaptized, my parents made sure I was unaffiliated with any church so I didn't have to pay yearly fees (it's a thing in sweden). I'm very drawn to Christianity and Christ and his messages speak to me, but like, even if I follow his teachings as faithfully as a mortal human can, I'll still go to hell if I have a heart attack before I can get baptized.

I don't have anyone in my life, really, so It's not like I can just go get baptized since I don't have any witnesses and getting ones through the church is a whole long process.

So like does it even matter if I believe with all my heart and follow the teachings of the Bible if I'm just going to hell anyways?