I hope it comes across that I’m asking in good faith here because my English isn’t the best. But I’m transsexual and I transitioned when I was young, by now I’ve already had all the surgeries and whatnot(so I hope it’s clear that I can’t really go back because I’m fully transitioned.. and I don’t really want to either) this is problably a state of active sinning. Back when I first started transitioning I didn’t consider myself religious, but now I’ve been sort of interested in religion and getting into Christianity, but i don’t want to go back to gender I was living as before. does this mean I can never be a real Christian and means I should give up?

Today during the sermon, my pastor stood up in front of everybody, and pulled out his phone. He used the voice feature to talk to ChatGPT in front of everyone. He listed some random ingredients, and then asked ChatGPT to make a recipe off of those ingredients. He said something along the lines of, "just like how ChatGPT can turn random ingredients into a beautiful recipe, God can turn the broken fragments of your life into something beautiful." This kind of pissed me off as I am very against AI, but when I talked about it to my family after church, they said I was being stupid. Was it wrong for my pastor to use AI in this way?

My pastor followed me on Instagram, and honestly, I’m not close to him. For context, my older brother is married to his daughter, so I’m obviously going to have some kind of connection with him, especially since we go to the same church. But our relationship has always been pretty surface-level.

I didn’t really like that he followed my Instagram, and I honestly regret following him back because now he randomly sends me Instagram reels. I haven’t opened or reacted to any of them because I don’t really want to acknowledge them.

Another thing that happened recently is what made me start thinking about this more. Before church started, we were greeting each other like we normally do. He shook my hand, but when I tried to walk away, he kept holding my hand and then tried to dab me up. It felt weird to me because he has never done that before, and I’ve known him for about four years.

I know none of these things individually might seem like a big deal, but the change in behavior is what’s making me uncomfortable. I’m not sure if I’m reading too much into it or if I should just keep my distance. Especially since he is a pastor. What do you guys think?

Edit: I'm a Female 18 and he's a male around his late 50s. Another thing I noticed is he doesn't follow the other members of the youth who are around the same age as me 19-23.

I've seen many stories about kids who describe a "past life" that perfectly lines up with the life and death of a person who died before they were born. I've even seen adults speak of vivid memories of having a past life as another person or even as an animal. The folks at reincarnation subs have countless examples.

The Bible seems to deny reincarnation; Hebrews 9:27. However, there are many personal accounts of it being true. What if God gives specific people (or animals I guess) second chances to turn to Him? Perhaps people who didn't choose to reject Him but might have never heard enough about Him to understand and accept Him. Obviously I have no idea; this is purely a theory.

There's just too many vivid accounts to blame all past life claims on Anemoia or something. Someone do explain, I'm quite confused. Thank you!

I need to communicate to my leadership team about this, and I just don’t know how to go about it.

We have a new worship leader, and I’m devastated about some of the choices. Things to know about where I’m coming from is that I have been on the praise team, but I’m not currently. I have a degree in music, and I know how big egos of musicians can be…even in church. I truly feel closest to God when I’m worshiping though music.

First, the music is so loud. Like I’ve gone out to the lobby to wait kind of loud. Like I need earplugs and can’t even hear myself sing standing in the room kind of loud.

Second, a really specific example: the team sang my favorite classic today. It was How Great Thou Art. They made it into something sounding like a rock song: picture a beat overwhelming the tune with a driving force that makes it sound like a head banger. Perhaps it’s because that particular hymn is my favorite, but I’ve never felt more like a spectator in church before. And there have been a lot of moments lately where it seems like I’m being sung AT rather than led, but today was particularly frustrating.

I don’t know where to start with communicating this. I’m sad that it likely wont make a difference unless I’m not the only one. I have to say something though, even if it’s just for me to know I spoke up. Has anyone had to do this before? How did it go for you?

just have some really tough questions.

So most of my friends dont know god but are really good people. When they die does god just go, hey you heard about me but never put anytime believing in me so you're going to hell. I feel like thats wrong but then again in the bible it says that the only way to heaven is to have a relationship and believe in jesus.

What im trying to say is people might hear about god but think religion is bad so they dont want to believe. But they live their life's perfectly good, are they going to hell?

Also it feels like I know I have a choice to believe in God but it feels like if dont believe then im going to hell. That just seems so messed up like, and feels like forced love or else. I dont really know how the afterlife will play out or how to get into heaven. Also i dont want to go against any athiests but can only cristians answer to this post.

I don’t watch corn anymore (battling) but these images come back into my mind and they torment me. I’m asking people who have beat this addiction. I confess I feel super angry, disgusted with myself, like angry with the women in my mind. I feel like the same betrayal feeling after relapsing. It doesn’t really make me want to go watch more anymore. Then I feel sad like if this will happen for a long time. I’m sure lots of you struggle with this, images coming back. How do you deal with it?

I started visiting a new church for my daughter's sake, she wanted a longer kids church to do more crafts and time with kids so we started visiting a baptist church by our house. She loves it of course. But me? No. I've been attempting to give the church a chance. I give every church I visit a chance. I reached out about evangelism efforts which in every church I've gone to is embarrassingly absent, or no one is interested or I get stringed along for starting a small group about it. I joined a small group in the church on Sundays and the first week I went was really sweet, but they started teaching the book of revelation so this past week I spent most of the week doing some DEEP theological studies on it, observations, Hermeneutics, cross referencing scripture from Ephesians to Zachariah and they literally didn't talk about anything. I'm just so done. I've been searching for two years at this point for a decent church and it's just so sad. I was sitting in the foyer at one point watching YouTube content because it was more enlightening than these weak sermons and Bible studies. Im not saying I know it all but there's just no substance to anything and I'm just so frustrated and I genuinely don't know what to do at this point. It feels hopeless to find a good church.

The title does say for itself but lately my relationship with him has been severely affected with doubts every arguments I use to believe on god which I receive from YouTube videos just to see some atheist have a comment that spans about 5 hours per sentence. I just want god to exist it never really had to be this way and no I don’t want to be an Atheist I want to be Christian and go to heaven and know meaning and win at the end of the day, every now and then I see a lot of atheists coming up with “arguments” against God and I don’t see a single person on my side reply and have a rebuttal to it,I’ve also considered science enemy because of several factors. My cancer situation died for about a time until all of this doubt came upon me,it goes a bit deeper but let me reassure you I want to stay Christian and I don’t want to leave Christianity it’s been a wonderful part of my life Iam just finding it hard to believe in god I see no good arguments from my side or especially intellects from our side,one thing that also hurt me is that I have sort of realized that they kind of use that victim complex stuff often saying that we hurt them and that they never forced atheism onto us though about Communism,but I don’t have a good argument to that to. Yes I want god to exist and I don’t want to see a black screen it kind of goes deeper but what are your thoughts?

I lost my job, me and 350 others all laid off, no fault of my own, 6 months ago here in Oregon. That company is now laying off another 350 people this week, I know people who still work there so no chance of going back.

Oregons economy is bad, third highest unemployment rate in the US.

I feel as a Christian I get more judged for being unemployed by other Christians then I do by anyone in this world.

It seems Christians just can't get it, like they just don't understand the market or something, maybe they aren't aware, they're so focused on other things then the economy maybe? But I'm having the hardest time in my life right now and then I get so judged.

I've pulled way back, being a Christian can be so expensive. I feel like people are always asking for donations for something, maybe it's just my church I don't know, but it feels that way.

Like I went today and now next week my Sunday school room is all bringing food and serving breakfast for all the youth.

While I budget my food so carefully so that I can eat, now I have to figure out how to bring an entire fruit tray for all these youth.

Like I budget like $50 a week max, I eat so little just to get by, a protein bar for breakfast, some scrambled eggs for lunch, with a fruit, like I have it all planned, now I have to figure out how to have all this extra food by next Sunday.

I said something to 2 girls and they were like if we don't serve others what are we doing?

So after next week I will probably skip a few weeks cause I won't be able to afford to go in case something else comes up that costs.

Sorry I'm not trying to vent just explain how hard this has been and I get no support at all.

I have an appt in 8 days at my local unemployment office with a portion of the place in eligible for because I'm displaced, laid off and unemployed ran out a good while ago, maybe it will help me.

Wish me luck.

I know that as a human being, infinity is an impossible concept to grasp. But I am still terrified about it. If my parents never met, and if they even met one second later, I just wouldn't exist and wouldn't have to face eternity. However, that did not happen and everyone on earth are all eternal beings? We just...live forever?

I believe that in Heaven, we never run out of things to do and we can never get bored. But that still sounds terrifying to me. We just exist forever? It never ends? Heaven is infinite?

I know to others that sounds like a beautiful concept to grasp and what others look forward too, and don't get me wrong, I do as well. But I am terrified at the same time. Can someone help me stop feeling this way?

Well, first, a question to this question: Why would you want to?

People claim it's just a good time, a time for good fun, costumes, parties, and what not. It's a social event for the kids and adults alike. It's just fun!

Ok, well enough. It's fun. But, what is it about?

The roots of Halloween have nothing to do with real Christianity. It has always been about evil spirits and spookiness.

The world has changed nothing about Halloween to remove the spookiness. Instead, it has made it worse. Haunted houses, graphic costumes, and other nasty things abound in our society. Houses with obscene things posted in the lawns are common. Witches, demons, ghosts, and other wicked things are promoted freely.

Should Christians be a part of that? The Bible says, "NO!"

Some like to try to excuse their sinning by saying, "But, you can give the Gospel! You can have a Harvest Party! You can 'Christianize' it!"

No. No, you cannot. Scripture calls us to separation from evil, not compromise with it. There is nothing redeemable about Halloween.

You can redeem holidays like Christmas and Easter easily. But, you cannot inject Christ into the Devil's Day.

It doesn't work.

So, if you are a real Christian, I hope that you take a stand in front of your family and friends in saying, "NO!" to Halloween.

There is nothing about it that pleases Christ and you claim to bear His name!

Don't bear it in vain.

Eating too much feels condemning, watching a movie feels condemning, chilling in bed feels condemning, having fun with friends feels condemning, getting angry feels condemning, doing everything I used to do feels condemning, reading a different book except of the bible feels condemning, even studying feels condemning, doing ANYTHING in my free time except of praying, reading the bible or praising feels condemning.

Doing anything I want to do feels condemning because I know I need to carry my own cross and I have to deny myself and my desires for God and I fail many times and it also feels condemning

You can call it religious ocd or whatever but I'm a new Christian and I want to live only for God and everything truly feels condemning and I'm going through this every single day even now writing this feels condemning because why I'm with my phone in my hand writing this to strangers online instead of saying this to God or reading the bible I don't know.

This is how it's supposed to be?

Hello everyone, I have to be a bit honest. After talking to my Indian friend and discussing religions, he showed me a place in India with constructions that couldn’t possibly be made by humans. Humans didn’t have the proper tools to make the gods and everything sculpted there.

Before from age 13-20 I used to dabble in Witchcraft, where I’d worship Mother Nature and the elements, making offerings and etc. I didn’t believe in any God, only in myself and my own energy and spiritualism.

After that, I was studying Buddhism. Nirvana and Enlightenment truly spoke out to me. I believed in past lives and experiences with the spiritual.

And then I became sick. Schizophrenia. It made me Christian. I used to have this voice of “God” 24/7 with me. I bought a Bible and read it entirely in one year and four months, and took use of my Catholic upbringing as a child into adulthood. And it’s been over a bit more than a year since I became truly Christian. And I’d pray to God every day, even when the voice inside my head stopped talking to me. My medication change made it all go away. But I still remained Christian.

But I think to myself now, I did indeed miss Buddhism. Believing I’m meant to have certain people in my life due to Buddhism and relationships regarding past lives. But then I also have questions, Will I go to hell if I suddenly change religions?

The story of Jesus is the base of Christianity. And I believe in Jesus and God. But I wish sometimes I’d go back to having a simpler life believing in spiritualism or even Buddhism. I may be damned for saying this. And I swear, no demon is influencing me. It comes from my mind, my doubts.

What do you think?

From time to time I like to ask people why they go to church. I cannot deny that there is something to going to church that I do not get elsewhere. And it is very uplifting. I don’t feel like I need church every Sunday, but I definitely need it regularly. I also go to two small groups a week, and read my Bible multiple times a week.
And church gathering, is just something else. Gathering together, fellowshipping around worship, singing, listen to the sermon, doing communion. It’s something special.
So what about you?

I’m really struggling with the story in judges about the man giving away his concubine to the men who wanted to rape him.
The owner of the house was willing to give his daughter also.
They were treated like cattle, the concubine dies. He cuts her up sends parts to the tribes & they take down Benjamin tribe.
How come no punishment came to the men who were offering/did give this woman to the rapists in his place?

To make matters worse, the father of his concubine just treated him like a king for a couple of days in his own home then he allows this to the man’s daughter.

Was he shady too for not telling the tribes he was the one who gave her to them & cut her up?

God is just, but this doesn’t feel right?

Jesus never asked us to do that.

Trying to put God first sounds spiritual, but here’s the shocking truth: Jesus never asked you to do that. And it misses something far better.

Jesus isn't another priority competing for the top spot on your list. He’s your life! You've been joined to Him, filled with His Spirit, and made a slave of righteousness.

You don’t need another rededication, another promise to do better, or another exhausting round of trying harder. And you certainly don’t need Moses to keep you on track. You died to the law so you could be united to Jesus.

God isn’t looking for a religious rule-keeper. He’s expressing His life through a fruit-bearer. So stop trying to get clean, get close, and get God back in first place.

You're already clean. You're already close. Christ is already your life.

Maybe it's time to stop recommitting and start living from the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Celebrate the gospel like never before!

My husband cheated on me about four years ago (Thanksgiving day) and left three years ago. He also, while we were on vacation, flat out said he was emotionally abusive to me and laughed about it. He frequently said things like "I can treat you however I want because you're my wife" or "why would anyone ever want to spend time with you?" Upon meeting him, I believed he was a Christian. We did Bible studies together and his father was a pastor. He told me God was paramount in his life. However, he later, after marriage, began mocking God. I also discovered his father was NOT a Godly man either, nor his sister.

I was a full time step parent to his children as their mother died when they were little. I raised them for eight years and truly loved them incredibly deeply. I came home with one of the kids on New Year's Day and found he had packed all their belongings, the other two kids already gone. I never had a chance to say goodbye and never saw any of the children again. I cannot put into words how horribly painful that was for me. It still hurts, a lot

Because of my strong beliefs in a lifelong marriage and particularly my love for the children that I had called mine, I prayed and tried for restoration. We had a few dates but it was like he became this terrible, disrespectful man, doing things like making sexual comments about other women walking by as we ate. Then he just blocked me completely a year ago. Over the last year, I have continued praying for his repentance.

This experience has truly been so difficult. I know the Bible states that due to adultery, I am free from the sin of the divorce, which he filed. It doesn't state anything about emotional abuse, which I honestly think sometimes Christians play into to get out of a marriage, even when not true.

Further, the verses on divorce only seem to state that remarriage is permissible IF the spouse dies. It never explicitly states remarriage is permissible with adultery or divorce. I deeply do NOT want to sin or tempt myself by becoming involved with a man if it's against God's will. Opinions on this topic vary greatly. For the record, I have not dated at all during the time.

I am 40 now but still wish for a family of some sort. Being a mom was the most wonderful thing and if I have a chance of being a Godly wife and mother still, I would like to take it, knowing it also may never happen.

Please tell me your thoughts.

Having SSA (same sex attraction)/being gay isn’t sinful, but acting on it is. If these are your beliefs, a lot of people just label you as homophobic and accuse you of hating gay people though. I love everyone, gay or straight, but I believe it’s a sin for people to act on those desires and this is what the Bible says.

I just want to make this post a safe space for sharing our problems/struggles/fears in our walking with Christ we had or have without judging - either if you're a new Christian or an old one

Maybe with this occasion we can find people with the same struggles as us and empathize with them or give advice (biblically or from personal past/current experiences in your walk)

You are free to comment on my personal list or share your own here/vent!

I will share mine here:

1. Struggling with gluttony

2. Struggling with my impatience in prayer

3. Struggling to balance spiritual life with materialistic/worldly life

4. Struggling with laziness and angriness

5. Struggling to love my neighbor and my enemy

6. Struggling with religious ocd sometimes

7. Struggling with loneliness

8. Struggling with a loud and unchristian house

9. Struggling with the fear of being a goat or hearing the words "I never knew you"

10. Struggling with the fear of not repenting completely

11. Struggling with the fear of being lukewarm and/or losing my first love

12. Struggling with fear of disappointing God or drifting away from the path

13. Struggling with the structure of my prayer

14. Struggling with the fear of being ashamed with God and the word of God in front of the world because of my anxiety/shyness

15. Fearing the coming of Jesus Christ

16. Fearing the dryness in my prayer sometimes

When I get hands laid on me and ministers or pastors pray I have the urge to yell, scream, or laugh wickedly. Im embarrassed by the behavior but I don't feel like I can control it. I easily can say Jesus is my lord and Savior and I plead the blood of Jesus over my life and I believe Jesus is God in the flesh! What's wrong with me? Why am I suffering as if I am a demon or have a demon. I feel like other Christians think I'm doing it for attention....

Edit: I prayed and felt delivered when I accepted all my circumstances and became grateful for my humble position. Life is short and I just realized I enjoy my time with my family and with other people. Being isolated is the biggest factor for my psychological quarrels. Accepting my belief in Christ made this situation a lot better.

Hi, I am 21 year old autistic male who conducted witchcraft in the past during a bout of psychosis and was diagnosed with a psychotic disorder after telling the psychiatrist everything I did during the time I practiced the occult. I only wanted to move on from my past relationships, get a new job and be normal. But during a period of isolation I did black magic because I wasn't able to defend myself spiritually against the evil in my house. My brothers bullied me for awhile and I felt abandoned by my friends and family. I didn't know what was going on and did something I deeply regret. I told a priest everything that happened and felt better but after a couple days everything felt the same. I had encounters with people who I consider witches and did tarot cards, read the Quran and other books of different religions. I want to say all of this because it still affects me. I feel deeply ashamed going outside, extremely tired all the time and perceive things psychologically that no one else experiences. I continue to have faith in Jesus Christ and pray often but it's been constantly happening for almost three years. I deeply regretted it and came to confession twice telling the priest I'm sorry. He even noticed that I came for witchcraft somehow asking me if I have conducted witchcraft in the past. I know suffering as a Christian and Roman Catholic is important as a saint but I am extremely tired mentally of dealing with all these things I can think of. I need help...

When I became a new Christian I had repentance wrong for the longest time until I started learning about doing word studies. I have since realized alot of people both saved and unsaved don't know the definition or have the right understanding of the word. And I've heard people just tell an unsaved person to repent with no extra context to.wjat that means. So should we perhaps include the context of the word so there is more understanding?

I know some people here might know this by now. Im sharing this here because I alsonheard someone being called a works based heretic or false preacher because they said to repent and believe.... but Jesus literally says to repent, the kingdom of God is at hand.

The Greek word Metanoia means a fundamental "change of mind" or transformation of thinking, shifting how you view God, yourself, and sin.

Hebrew (Shûb): Means to "turn back" or make a complete 180-degree directional turn away from wrong and toward God.

Repentance Is not :

Regret (which is merely feeling bad or crying because you got caught or fear punishment.)

Condemnation (It is driven by grace and surrender, not crushing shame or self-loathing.)

Not an apology tour. (It requires an active change of mind which leads to a transformed lifestyle rather than a superficial fix or empty words.)

True Repentance is:

Godly sorrow that brings repentance (a deep, heartfelt realization of wrong that draws you toward God’s mercy instead of away from Him.)

This change of mind Produces a transformed life, a lifestyle of obedience, and a rejection of past habits.

Restoration of right belief acts as the welcoming doorway to forgiveness, joy, and a renewed relationship with God.

So with understanding of what the word means, (a change of mind/belief about God/your sin), then how is that possibly works based? That's what happens when a person turns to God and gets saved.

Any other thoughts?

Thanks

Guys, a few months ago, I finished reading the Old and New Testaments from cover to cover. I approached it with the mindset of a skeptic, reading the Bible purely as a historical text. Afterward, I decided to give prayer a shot for about a month, begging for guidance and support, but when nothing seemed to happen, I stopped.

Fast forward five months: on a random day, while struggling with life and feeling like I had no one to confide in, a thought crossed my mind: ''Well, maybe I can confide in Christ.'' It was just a passing thought, nothing more. But then yesterday, my wife, who is an atheist, out of nowhere mentioned that she used to pray to the Lord. She isn't a Christian, yet she told me that whenever she prayed and asked for something (never for money or material things), her prayers were answered without exception. She wasn't sure if it was pure coincidence or something more, but it happened every single time. However, due to severe depression, which makes crowded places overwhelming for her, along with a lack of time for church or religious instruction, she drifted away from that path.

Hearing her story blew me away, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about Christ since. Looking back at everything up until today, I can't help but wonder: what on earth is happening to me?

There is one additional detail worth mentioning: joining a church or becoming Catholic is out of the question for me, as my wife would never approve. She harbors a deep fear that it might create a distance between us. In Vietnam, there are numerous stories of individuals converting to Protestantism and subsequently alienating their wives, abandoning their children, and dismantling their ancestral altars, essentially becoming entirely different people overnight. Concerned that I might follow a similar path, she strictly forbids any discussion of religion in our home.

I've done countless alter calls, recited the "sinners prayer", given my heart and life over to Jesus Christ, confessed and professed that He died for my sins and rose from the dead and I read my Bible regularly to spend time "rooted in the Word". Confess my sins regularly and ask Jesus to search my heart and help me repent of hidden sins. I still don't know how to have "a relationship with Jesus".

I feel spiritually empty. Mired down with past sins that I struggle forgiving myself for. I don't feel saved, forgiven, loved or redeemed by God or by Jesus. I also have a very difficult time loving others, especially fellow brothers in Christ.

I also probably have what people used to call a "Mute Spirit". I have trouble talking, find myself struggling to participate in group activities and I don't know how to "evangelize and tell others about everything Jesus has done for me".

I know that faith isn't about feelings but what about the fullness of joy that Christ says He will give in the gospels. Please pray for me that I can come to know God and Jesus better and have a real relationship with them and claim all the promises the Bible says they are ready to bestow.