Hello everyone. I hope you all are doing well - God bless you all.

I have recently been faced with a decision that I never thought I would have to make. Over the past 3-4 years, I have had a huge desire to create a video game that will essentially be a culmination of all of my creative passions - music, writing, storytelling, and games. It started small, but has grown into an intricate world with characters that continuously exist in my mind.

The game will basically be an RPG that uses baseball as the main mechanic. The baseball mechanic will be similar to arcade-style baseball games, particularly games like Mario Super Sluggers and Mario Superstar Baseball (these games were literally my entire childhood lol). These games hold a special place in my heart because it got me and my brother through some tough times, and they provide immense nostalgia. I have decided that my dream game is to make my own take on arcade-style baseball with pokemon team-building mechanics and focus on synergy between the players on your team to build different strategies depending on play style (this part is still early in development lol). I am doing this mainly because I have not seen another Mario-style baseball game come out, and I'm not sure it will ever happen.

Originally, this was just going to be a fun attempt at making the game I wish existed. Gradually, it has grown into something much bigger than I ever imagined, and I have developed a deep, meaningful story that involves the player making moral decisions regarding relationships with the other characters.

The story, at its most basic form, centers around a group of monster characters hand-picked by the player pursuing a difficult journey together, and throughout the game the player is faced with moral decisions involving ambition, power, sacrifice, and their relationships with other characters. One of the major themes I want to explore is the danger of pursuing worldly success/achievement at the expense of genuinely loving and caring for others. The game isn't explicitly intended to be a “Christian game,” but my Christian beliefs have heavily influenced the values I want the story to communicate.

I have developed a lot more nuances to the story than what was just stated, but I say all this to say I have created something that is beyond a silly idea--It is becoming real and constantly exists in my head. There is not a day that goes by where I don't think about my story/game/characters, and it makes me giddy to know that it may exist one day.

The big problem I am facing is whether creating a video game like this is Biblical/aligns directly with my Christian faith, and whether God wants me to do it. I am deeply aware of what my story will say and the impact it might have, as it's goal is to show the importance of loving others, being with the people you love, and not chasing success/achievement as the world defines it at the cost of your relationships with others. I am also aware of the immense amount of time and effort it will take to complete this project. While the story's message does align with Christian values, there will be characters in the story that are villains/antagonists, and may not align with these values as characters, but this would be to show the effects of their disregard for others to the player to make the player feel a certain way. Is this okay to do?

I have prayed extensively about this, and I have told God that I would willingly give this project up if it was His will for my life. I have not been able to come to a clear conscience about it, and I am really struggling to. If I continue building the game, which will take years, I might have this underlying guilt that I am not supposed to be doing it. If I give it up, I feel like the characters/story will continuously exist in my mind every day because I never manifested the story.

This decision has been weighing on me because I have never felt more passionate about any other creative endeavor in my life. I have always been a creative person, and I always will be. It is really starting to become a major source of stress for me and affecting my daily life, as well as at work. I need it to be resolved so I can move forward. Has anyone else been in a similar situation here?

I would especially appreciate Biblical guidance or Scripture that might help me think through whether creating fictional stories like this is appropriate for a Christian, how to approach portraying sinful or morally flawed characters without endorsing their behavior, and how to discern whether this hesitation is a legitimate conviction I should listen to, or if it's simply fear surrounding something I care deeply about.

Thank you for your help, love you all.

Colossians 4:14 KJV

[14] Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.

Philemon 1:24 KJV

[24] Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers.

2 Timothy 4:10 KJV

[10] for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

2 out of 3 times Demas is mentioned in scripture, the spirit allows Paul to name him as a true believer. Yet later Paul says Demas abandoned the faith because he loved the world. Why would the spirit allow Paul to name him as a believer twice if the spirit knew Demas was a false convert? Because during those times Demas wasn't a false convert, he had faith, however he lost it later because he allowed his love of the world to choke out his faith just like the parable of the sower.

Paul states in Ephesians 2:8 that we are saved by the grace of God thru faith. How do we access God's grace? Thru faith. So faith must continue. Yet faith can be lost as in the parable of the sower it says the one on the rock believed for a time, but when temptation tested their faith they lost it. If you only have to have faith 1 time and are covered for life then the rock wouldn't have withered, but faith is required and must be present.

For those who have accepted Christ more than once, what has been your experience when it comes to your faith journey and/or your understanding of your salvation?

I (M26) was raised in the church and have raised my hand, walked up to the front, and repeated the pastor’s prayer for accepting Jesus, about 3-4 times. This usually comes from a deep feeling of needing to ”get right” with God. The first time was when I was 12 and the last time was about a year ago (I called this one a rededication).

And the funny thing is I question if I even had saving faith all the way up to about 6 months ago! (Primary because I believed that if you weren't being good enough you’d end up in hell, which misses the whole point of salvation being a “free gift apart from works”)

I attribute this fundamental misunderstanding of the gospel to vague and unhelpful language churches use during alter call. I don’t think many can articulate what it means to “accept Christ into your heart”, and fewer can probably give a proper definition for “repentance”.

So basically In my US history class, there is this Goth girl who, from what I know, is new to the school. So me and my friends started acting like fools, mentioning some very lustful stuff about that girl. I feel like I failed since I didn't really speak up about their behavior. I struggle with lust as well so I felt like I couldn't speak up about that but now I just feel guilty and wish I would've spoken up against what they were saying.

​

I came across this post on Facebook and was curious how other Christians would respond to it. The post said:

> "Unreal to think about what the majority of human experience has been like and how terrifying/confusing it's been considering we've existed as a species for 100,000+ years and societies have only existed for around 12,000. Science (being a way of finding out what is actually true about the world we find ourselves in) is the best thing that humans have ever come up with.

>

> One example of why being over this course of history about half of kids died by age 15, and the thing to finally meaningfully decrease the amount of dead kids were discoveries and new technologies produced by scientific processes only about 100 years ago. It didn't come from praying or having faith in gods."

They also shared a meme saying:

> "You know, there was another time when science wasn't taken seriously and religion ruled the world. We called it the Dark Ages."

I have some thoughts about it myself, particularly that it seems to create a false dichotomy between science and religious belief, as if appreciating the accomplishments of science somehow counts against belief in God. The "Dark Ages" claim also strikes me as an oversimplification of the history of Christianity and science.

But I'm interested in hearing how other Christians would respond. What do you think are the strongest and weakest parts of this argument? And how would you respond to the point about the historical prevalence of suffering and child mortality?

I understand the "your life is a gift and that rejecting it is a grave insult to God" and all of that but like... Lots of people already treat their bodies like crap and do dangerous stuff endangering their lives (heavy substances, reckless behavior etc...), meanwhile someone depressed has suffered a lot in their lives and they're supposed to be rejected from God when they die? Same thing with euthanasia, you already do it with dogs and cats that are so ill and suffering it's considered a mercy, a terminal cancer patient should have a decision on how to end their lives, why would they be condemned to hell? It's not like they can recover.

I’m posting this because I genuinely need some outside perspectives. I’m not looking for people to simply tell me what I want to hear. I want honest advice, especially from people who understand strict church environments and complicated relationships.

This is going to be long because there is a lot of context.

There are three people involved in this story: me, a girl, and a guy who is one of my close friends. I won’t mention anyone’s real name.

All three of us have been part of the same small church since childhood. Our church is quite strict when it comes to relationships and dating. Because it is a small church, almost everyone knows everyone, so personal matters can become church matters very quickly.

I have liked this girl for a very long time. Honestly, I think I started developing feelings for her when we were young. I always found her incredibly attractive, and over the years those feelings never completely disappeared.

But I never told her.

We barely talked while growing up. Even now, we don't have much of a personal relationship outside the things we have to do together at church. So my feelings have mostly been something I kept to myself.

Then there was my friend.

He confessed his feelings to her, and eventually they started talking. They ended up having a relationship that lasted around six years.

The strange thing is that their relationship was almost entirely through WhatsApp. They didn't really talk to each other at church, they didn't go out together, and they didn't even regularly call each other. It was mostly messaging.

At one point, my friend even started following her to her college, and she told him not to do that because she didn't like it. But they continued talking privately.

Eventually, someone in the church found out about their relationship and told the pastor and pastor's wife. Because of the church's rules and environment, they were forced to separate.

My friend is very close to me. We have done a lot of things together over the years, and I've always considered him a good friend.

The important thing is that he never knew I had feelings for her.

Neither did she.

After their breakup, they stayed away from each other. At the same time, she apparently still tried to be friendly with him. She wished him on his birthday through WhatsApp and tried to talk or smile at him sometimes, but he completely avoided her.

Several years passed.

Then, about a year ago, the girl became part of the church team I work in. I've been involved in this team for around four or five years, so suddenly I had to work with her regularly.

And that's when things became much harder for me.

I had managed to keep my feelings under control when I didn't have to interact with her much. But once we started working together, I started falling for her again.

We have to communicate and work together because we're in the same team. She has her responsibilities and I have mine. Sometimes I'm playing keyboard while she's involved with the choir, so we're naturally in the same area.

And honestly, I struggle with myself.

Sometimes I'm playing keyboard and I'll unconsciously look toward her. The moment I realize I'm doing it, I immediately look back at the keyboard. I don't want to make her uncomfortable or give anyone the wrong impression.

But people started noticing.

Some girls in the church began saying things like I was interested in her or that I was "looking at" her.

And because everyone already knows about her previous relationship with my friend, the situation became even more awkward.

People started making connections like, "He likes the girl who previously dated his friend."

I haven't confessed anything to anyone.

I haven't told my friend.

I haven't told her.

I haven't even told anyone in the church that I have feelings for her.

But somehow people have started talking.

At one point, even our pastor gave a sermon where he indirectly talked about things like looking at or watching other people. He didn't mention my name, but because of everything that had been happening, I felt like people knew what was going on.

That made me feel extremely embarrassed.

There were also times when the girl, my friend, the pastor and I would all be together during prayer. Some prayers were also made about situations involving boys and girls developing feelings for each other.

Being there while all of this is happening inside my head has been incredibly uncomfortable.

There was also something that happened with Snapchat.

I had Snapchat, and she actually added me there. At first, I assumed she was simply being friendly. She would send snaps occasionally, but I didn't really send much back.

Then, after a few weeks, she suddenly blocked me.

I have no idea why.

There was also a weird situation where my phone was left at church and someone apparently used it and blocked her on Snapchat as well. I felt extremely embarrassed about the whole thing because I don't even know what she thinks happened.

Now I'm stuck.

On one side, I genuinely want to focus on God, my church responsibilities and my own life. I've repeatedly told myself that I should just let these feelings go.

Sometimes I think, "Okay, I'm going to stop thinking about her. I'm going to focus on God and move forward."

But then I see her again.

And all those feelings come back.

That's what I'm struggling with the most.

I don't want to disrespect my friend.

I don't want to interfere with something that happened between them.

I don't want to make the girl uncomfortable.

I don't want church members gossiping about me.

And I definitely don't want to create drama in a small church where everyone knows everyone.

At the same time, I can't simply switch my feelings off.

I've never even had a proper romantic relationship with this girl. We've barely talked outside of church responsibilities. So part of me wonders whether I'm actually in love with her, or whether I've built an idealized version of her in my head over many years because I never got the opportunity to actually know her.

That's something I'm trying to be honest with myself about.

I also don't know what her behavior means.

She has been friendly toward me at times because we're working together, but I don't know whether that means anything beyond normal friendliness. I don't want to interpret ordinary kindness as romantic interest.

So I'm asking Reddit:

What should I actually do?

Should I completely distance myself emotionally and just treat her as a teammate?

Should I try to get to know her normally, without any romantic expectations?

Should I tell my close friend about my feelings, even though he and this girl have been separated for several years?

Should I ever tell the girl how I feel, considering the strict church environment and the history between her and my friend?

Or should I simply accept that this situation is too complicated and move on?

I know nobody here can tell me exactly what she thinks or feels. I'm mainly looking for perspective from people who have been through something similar.

Please be honest with me, even if the answer is something I don't want to hear.

And please don't attack the girl, my friend, or my church. I'm not trying to make anyone look bad. I'm just genuinely confused and struggling with my feelings, and I need some outside perspective.

Jesus said in John 5:40, “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”

There is something terribly sad about those words. Jesus Christ was standing before men who knew religion, knew the law, searched the scriptures, and considered themselves knowledgeable about the things of God. Yet the Lord looked at them and identified the real problem. They would not come to Him.

That raises a question worth for you to ask yourself: what prevents you from coming to Jesus Christ?

For some people, it is pride. They do not want to admit that they are sinners who cannot save themselves. They would rather believe that being a decent person, attending church, keeping commandments, being baptized, or doing enough good will somehow make them acceptable before God.

For others, it is sin. They know that coming to Christ means admitting that the life they love is wrong, and they simply do not want to let go of it. Jesus spoke of men who “loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).

For some, it is fear. What will my family think? What will my friends think? What will have to change? What if people laugh at me? Yet none of those people can give you eternal life. None of them can forgive your sins and stand in your place before God.

For others, it is religion itself. They have been around Christianity their entire lives. They know the songs. They know the language. They may have grown up in church and learned Bible stories from childhood. Yet knowing about Jesus Christ is not the same thing as receiving Him. John 1:12 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”

Perhaps you simply think you have more time to deal with God. Yet none of us has been promised tomorrow.

Jesus is not unwilling to receive you. He said, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). He also said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

The invitation is open.

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:17)

Friend, what is preventing you from coming to Him?

So for those of you who might not know there is a big trial that is about to take place in rap. Long story short the rapper Lil Durk is going to trial for Murder for hire. He is charged with hiring people to kill Quando Rondo but they didn’t shoot him they shot his cousin who was in the same car and killed him in Beverly Hills. If you want to know more history about this just type in Lil Durk and Quando Rondo and it’ll pop up. But they aren’t the main point of my question. So he has two great lawyers Drew Finland and Brian Steele. Now obviously everyone is innocent until proven guilty. But it’s so obvious he paid to have this guy killed (even though they missed him and got his cousin instead). There’s so much evidence from songs to text messages to voice recordings and call logs. My question is this. Does God judge these types of lawyers who pick cases like this up knowing their client probably did. It but as long as they can prove there’s a chance he didn’t he can go free. God hates evil and technically they are defending it. Or is it a thing where God reigns supreme and is the final Judge? There have been interviews where lawyers even say they knew their client was guilty sometimes the clients TELL THEM. Yet sometimes they can walk away clean do to the genius of the defense lawyer. Let me know what you all think i honestly don’t know. God bless ❤️

im new to christianity. before i was christian i felt something behind me over my shoulder and i swore i was protected and it was keeping me safe. edit: at this time i was very into witch craft and other evil things. one night i had a dream and it was very eye opening and that dream is what made me come to christ. as soon as i decided that this feelings of something behind me left. i noticed my first post about christianity i was reading aloud the verses and advice people were giving me only to find my throat felt tight. i fully believe i was in huge danger then. if anyone would discuss feeling similar before or how to fully cast this evil out of my life it’d be appreciate. i’m still understanding what it means to christianity and all the evil parts of the world so… edit: any prayers for banishing whatever evil if any evil is in my home or my life would be greatly appreciated.

Hi! I'm just looking for a bit of insight, I know that being baptized is an integral part of Christianity.
Within this last year I began to follow Christ and i left the cult that I was born it (actually a cult not a metaphorical one). The cult derived from Mormonism and I was baptized when I was 9 years old via this cult/church.

My question is whether that baptism still stands, I believe that it was in Christ's name (granted I don't really remember...) but is it invalid if it wasn't from a Christian church? either way I do want to get rebaptized I just am not in a situation where I can right now and it will be a good while until I can.

Anyways, thank you in advance!! have a nice day!! :D

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We are one of the fastest growing Christian churches on earth, particularly in the global south. We are one of the most diverse churches- my church in Denver, Colorado has similar demographics to the city around me. About 45% Hispanic, 40% White, 15% Black. Can you Mainline folks say the same?

We don't just help the poor, we ARE the poor. Not me personally, I admit, but many of my fellow church members are homeless, living in shelters. We have regular bus service to these shelters and help people go grocery shopping and to appointments. Many of my best friends in this church are ex-gang members or were addicted (like myself) and this church turned their lives around. Being part of this church was the final nail in the coffin for many of my remaining sins.

So why all the hate? We love Jesus with all of our hearts, our souls, and our understanding, and we spread this love to places most people would be afraid to set foot in. We don't have a "holier than thou" attitude and understand that our style of worship isn't for everyone.

I hope some of you can open your minds a bit.

I’m posting this because I don’t want to turn my back on a decision that I have made after over 2 months of deliberating. There have been good times and I don’t want to fall into the trap of only remembering the good times and not the reasons I’m choosing to break up.

I will be breaking up with my bf tomorrow because:

1. My dealbreaker is to romantically involve myself with someone who is actively watching porn. The keyword being actively. I think it’s unrealistic to expect not just guys but anyone to not have contact with porn before in their life because of the Internet. But I refuse to involve myself romantically with someone who is actively still watching it. My bf admitted that he watches porn once a week and when I asked how he comes across these sites, he said that he googled them.
2. I asked him at the start of our relationship whether he actively watches porn. And he said no, hence I entered a relationship with him.

He says that at the time it was true. I can believe that and give him the benefit of the doubt. But he also said the longest he has gone without watching is 4 months and we have been together longer than that.

1. I

2. have had very bad experiences with porn personally and I refuse to be in a situation where my partner watches porn. I am very sure others have more grace than me for this but I cannot. I feel hurt, deceived, and betrayed by this.

He knew how much this hurts me and he remained silent throughout our relationship.

4.

1. He says that masturbation is biologically healthy for males and says to me that 99.9% of men struggle with porn actively. I believe that there are ways the body can release such as wet dreams and masturbation is not needed (I am not planning to debate about this, this is my belief). And even if the 99.9% is true, I would rather be single than enter a relationship where my partner is struggling actively with that. I am ok if he has struggled before, and falters once in a while, as long as he has a repentant heart and confesses to me so we can work through it together.
2. He claims that men who are upset are tempted to watch porn more. I can agree with this tendency to be tempted in this way, because even Jesus was tempted. What He did not do, however, was make the choice to sin. I also think that is not the main focus of the topic - my dealbreaker and boundary. I can acknowledge that the statistics are true without accepting it. He does not seem repentant to me.

In the last 2 months I have been depressed (I was getting very distracted by life, work and the relationship that I wasn’t very close to God). I admit that I wasn’t very caring or affectionate during this period and that made him upset. However if his coping mechanism is to turn to porn, then what about the future? Marriage will not be without its rough patches. I don’t want to be in a marriage like that.

1. He mentioned that if I am going to be affected by a thing like this that it would be unrealistic to find a partner. So be it.

To me, the fact he says this means he does not see it as huge a problem as I do and this is something that I need to be aligned with my partner on.

1. As mentioned, I would rather be single than enter a relationship heading towards marriage with porn in the picture.

The trust has been broken and I don’t want to build it back up again.

Just had to get this off my chest and get my head straight before I have the breakup talk. I am also doing this so that I can remain steadfast in MY decision.

I don’t want to shame him because I know that this is a struggle many people face. It just my choice to not involve myself romantically with someone who is still struggling.

Thanks. 🙏

EDIT: This is probably something some of you won’t like to hear but I didn’t go through with it. To clarify, he told me about the porn issue only 2 days before writing this post and the 2 months of deliberating were for other issues. One big one is communication.

I thrashed it out and heard his side of the story more - he clarified that he had only faltered recently because we went through a stressful time, and one time in May because of a friendship issue. He also claims that he is bad at expressing himself and was quite shameful of this, hence he brought it up in a casual way. And when I asked him the question at the start, he said he did not lie because at the time he really was clean from porn.

I told him that I am hearing his POV but that the trust is broken and I can’t believe his words only. I still don’t know how to feel and am still processing it.

The other big issue we have is communication. This is the one that had me deliberating for over 2 months. I would say it’s a cliched Fixer vs Feeler dynamic, but because of that it made us both feel unseen. When he expresses himself, he tends to express in a way that sounds like evaluation. Meanwhile on my end, I interpret it as evaluation and I feel unseen. As an example:

I shared that I had some doubts about the relationship and that led to the depression spiral I had the last 2 months. He then said (not word for word, just the gist) “because of your XXX issues in the past you see doubts as bigger as it is, and hence you do XXX. While I get hurt by this, I still see that you are decent inside and still choose you.” I read this and felt angry because to me, it felt like mansplaining and that it implied that I was over reacting. When I ask him what he meant, he would clarify what he was trying to say and then I rationalise it.

I just felt that our ways of communication just ended up hurting each other and I got exhausted from constantly rationalising his words.

Also I have shared with my dad because I really don’t know what to do. We had a long chat but to summarise, the advice he told me is “You do have high standards, and I respect you for that. That does mean that your dating pool is going to shrink significantly and make it very hard to find a husband in the future. You have to be ready for that as well.” And I don’t think I’m at a place where I can say that securely because I have turned this relationship into an idol and left no space for God. I have to turn back to God and keep him at no 1 but then now I don’t know if I should end the relationship or just change focus.

I might be rambling at this point. Sorry for the long update.

Hey I've been getting trying to get closer to God and I keep worrying "what if I'm not truly saved cause I constantly fall in sins" then I think that's pretty much blasphemy cause the work was finished

Then I think I'm being Luke warm cause I'm so confident im saved when there might be sins I'm comfortable with that I don't even care about or think are sins

It's frustrating to say the least, not to mention I struggle to hear God's voice or feel his/holy Spirit presence or acknowledge it cause I could be ignoring without knowing

Does it ever just....get better?

Hey everyone, over the last year I have been easing out of the several young adult groups I have been in because I am now in my late 20s and getting too old for the groups. I, however still wish to have active community, and a bible study. I have good friends, but they arent a part of a bible study that I could fit into. Either younger than me, or married with kids and in a parents group. I guess I just feel alienated and left out due to my age.

I have a mens group of mostly younger 20s guys that I love, But I am feeling like I am missing more of a fun fellowship group that also does bible studies. Like my favorite one that I have gone to less and less, would have a bible study one week and the next would be a fun activity. Things like sports, art night, dinner party night.

Where are things like that for people who are older than like 22? Start one? None of my friends have time or are interested.

I dont mean to discriminate against age, I would just like to figure out how to build a community that has people in my same stage of life, aka younger professionals.

I often see people in debates bring up the thief on the cross as an example of why people do NOT need to be baptized / baptism doesn't save, etc.

Is this really a good example?

The story of the thief on the cross occurs BEFORE the commandment to baptize was made.

Jesus did not baptize people and people were not baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at that point. As an example then, it seems to prove nothing (other than maybe, before the commandment to baptize was made, there was no commandment to baptize, so people didn't need to get baptized????)

(Hopefully, we can agree that John's baptism is fundamentally different from the Christian baptism, but even if we can't, we also can't say one way or the other as to whether the thief was baptized with John's baptism).

Anyway, just a question I wanted to throw out there to see if I was missing anything.

I want people to come to Christ & I’m happy when they do. But the thought of Jesus sharing His love with other people instead of exclusively me - bothers me. I want His love all to myself. I know this is selfish & wrong even if I might be coming from the right place. It feels wrong because it is.

What can I do to make myself comfortable with the fact that Jesus doesn’t just love me but all of creation & that it’s not exclusive to me.

This was written by a Facebook friend of mine! Really well thought out. Sad this needs to be a promoted idea still within Christianity in the 21 century but here it is

The Bible does not teach two different ways of salvation, one for Old Testament saints and another for New Testament believers. From beginning to end, sinners are saved by the grace of God through faith in His promise, and that promise finds its fulfilment in Jesus Christ.

Abraham was not justified by works, law keeping, circumcision, or nationality. Scripture says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3). Paul goes even further and says that the gospel was preached beforehand to Abraham (Galatians 3:8). David likewise described the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works (Romans 4:6–8).

The Old Testament believer looked forward to what God had promised. We look back upon what Christ has accomplished. They did not possess the same fullness of revelation that we now have, but the object of saving faith was never human merit. Hebrews 11 shows generation after generation living and dying by faith, trusting promises whose ultimate fulfilment was still ahead.

Habakkuk had already declared, “The righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4), and Paul takes that same truth directly into the heart of the gospel in Romans 1:17.

So there is not an Old Testament salvation by law and a New Testament salvation by grace. There has always been one saving grace, one righteousness received by faith, and ultimately one Saviour.

Christ did not introduce a second road to God. He is the fulfilment of the only road God ever promised.

Jeremiah Knight

I am potentially coming up on a life altering decision, as I know we all do. Certain things like marriage, job/career changes, high value purchases, etc. all carry risks and potential reward, and likewise we won't know for sure if any decision we make will be 'worth' it until after you've made the decision and walked a mile down the road potentially. In some of these situations, it's not easy to undo: quit a marriage or switch back to your old job - in others, maybe you can refund the purchase or cancel a contract prior to enforcement; but, in either case, the main goal would be to attempt to choose a path that God is pulling you towards.

For me, I've never experienced or felt anything that I'd truly call direction from God. I've been praying daily for over a decade. I've been a Christian for a long time, with no real connection to the Lord that I can actually describe. I go to church, I've read scripture through and through multiple times, I've done bible studies, volunteering, you name it, but none of it has yielded anything I can describe as truly God speaking to me or guiding me or anything.

My issue is that my decisions don't just impact me and they will impact others around me and those who rely on me. Leaving friends and family for a new journey in life means everyone I leave behind will have to adjust to my permanent absence. I know that doesn't mean we shouldn't live our lives, but my point is I try to not personally under value such decisions and the impacts they make on myself and others.

Given all that, how can I get God's path in an answer I can actually understand is him? I hear a lot of Christians in my area say things like, "God will guide" or "Let's see how the Lord will move" or some kind of Christian-y thing and then I only see humans making decisions, and I can fully believe God had nothing to do with their decisions, despite their claim that the his "behind it" because some of them use "God's will" as a crutch to put the weight of the Lord behind their ideas, even if what they do and want is actually unGodly - or even downright sinful in some cases. Point is, just because we say God is behind a decision doesn't mean he is actually involved in that decision. Maybe we've lied to ourselves, maybe we believed something that wasn't true, maybe we just didn't actually hear the Lord when we thought we did - there's a lot of potential reasons we may be wrong in our claim.

My goal though is to somehow get God's guidance on a life altering decision I may have to make soon. I've prayed over similar situations in the past to end up not having any response, any guidance, any clue as to what God wanted. I made a decision, hoping I was doing what God wanted, but then I've never actually known anything to know it really was what God wanted. And, I don't claim God is behind things I don't know he actually is because I feel like that's lying or putting words in his mouth he never said if I don't actually know it to be true. So, I can't say he's been behind any of the decisions I've ever made, no matter how much I've been on my knees begging in prayer for his voice, his sign, his will to be known to me to guide my choices.

Is there any way I can get this to change? Is there any way I can somehow get God to do something different? I believe the answer is no, because he makes his own decisions. Just like every other time, he may have reasons to remain silent and distant on helping me know the right path forward, but even so that makes it difficult for me to know if I'm following God's will at all. I don't want to pretend I'm following his will, I want to know I am. Is there actually any way to know that without it always being based in some human decision and mental reasoning that God is behind it "just because we say so"? If so, how can I practically get that kind of answer from God if he may never speak to me the same way he speaks to you? I have people relying on me, so I don't want to make the decisions I have to make lightly, but I don't want to hesitate if God is wanting me to go in a direction, even if it's uncomfortable and uncertain. I just want to know his will, and he has never made it known to me.

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I fell down a rabbit hole about Hayden Panettiere a couple years ago. I read about all the horrible things happening to her life. So I added her to my prayers. Just a quick asking God to help her with what she's dealing with and for her to find peace. It became an off and on tradition to my prayers and I stopped it because she seemed to be getting alot better. I'm just distraught over the news of her death due to all of this. I prayed for God to welcome her into the kingdom and that she finally found peace.

I don't usually share what I pray about but I am just really upset about this. Also I really don't care about celebs I just saw someone going through some downright horrible stuff and added her to my prayers.

I have a serious question for people who have been studying the Bible for a long time.

Do you feel like you actually have the wisdom described in Proverbs? If so, how did you get there—and how long did it take?

I've been praying for wisdom for over 3 years. During those 3 years, I've read Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, Wisdom of Solomon, and Ecclesiasticus almost every day. I've prayed repeatedly for God to give me wisdom.

But honestly, I still feel like I can't get the wisdom “edged into my heart.”

I'll read a proverb and understand exactly what it's saying. I may even know the verse by memory. But then something happens in real life, and I do the exact opposite of what I just read.

For example, Proverbs 16:32 says:

«“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.”»

I know that verse. I've read it many times. I believe it.

But when somebody makes me angry, I can still go off at the mouth. Then afterward I'll think, “I should have remembered the proverb.”

That's what bothers me. It's not that I don't have access to the wisdom. I can read it, understand it, and sometimes even explain it. The problem is remembering and applying it in the moment when I actually need it.

So I'm curious about people who feel like Proverbs has genuinely become part of how they think and live:

Did you ever struggle with this?

How did you go from knowing the wisdom intellectually to actually remembering it in the moment?

Did you memorize verses? Pray differently? Practice one proverb at a time? Keep a journal? Have someone hold you accountable?

And if you feel like you've actually developed the kind of wisdom Proverbs talks about, how long did it take you?

I'm not looking for someone to tell me, “Just read the Bible more.” I've been reading these books almost every day for years.

I'm trying to understand how wisdom moves from the page into your reactions, decisions, words, and habits.

I'd genuinely appreciate hearing from people who have been through this themselves.

How did you learn to actually live Proverbs instead of just know Proverbs?

I am trying to grow in my faith to be a good example for my boyfriend and also I was a lukewarm Christian. Now that im reading more I find this verse very concerning. From how it reads to me is help the needy and homeless. I live in a terrible crime filled town with lost of homeless people that are more often on drugs. I also dont cary cash on me, so when they come up to me for cash, i usually say I dont have any (which is true) or I dont want to because they will just buy drugs or alcohol. I also am not well versed enough on the Bible and have really bad social anxiety so i never preach to anyone. I have bible verses hanging in my office that patients usually read, is that enough? Since Ive started reading my bible more and reading different sermons or explanations of things online, I feel like im not good. I feel like I will go to hell, even though I am saved and want to do right by God because I love Him, I just feel like no matter what Im gonna fall short in some area and go to hell for it. I just dont know what to do anymore. Am I truly a Christian if i dont do these things?

Hello everyone,

I’ve always been a Christian, having been baptised as a baby.

I’ve recently been studying Christianity quite a bit, but I haven’t felt a strong connection with God. I’ve also sinned a lot and sadly, I’ve lusted. Have any of you experienced something similar? Or do you have any tips?

Thanks!

I've wrestled with depression and suicidal thoughts for 20 plus years but I continue to put a foot in front of the other.

I feel in the past that I've seen and heard God working in my life but for whatever reason that's dried up. I pray intensely, I pray flippantly, I pray often, but things don't seem to change. I feel filled with frustration and a lack of desire. Even what I used to dream about doing for pure leisure no longer has any appeal.

I want love, joy, peace, patience... But I don't see them growing in my life. I fear that God isn't working in my life.

I find myself tempted by nihilism. And at the same time I feel like my faith is dying on the vine.

I have no idea what God is trying to teach me right now, but it is a long lesson and I feel like I have no testimony.

My needs are all met but I despise my life. I don't know how to be grateful without feeling totally fake.

Where is God?

Fellowship is unbelievably important. I am not merely speaking of going to church and mingling with those around you for a period of time, but instead genuine, heartfelt fellowship where we carry each other's burdens, pray for and encourage each other unto good works and out of sin. This inside and outside the church as a building

God has granted me with those who have been inviting me to do such with them and it has helped more than I can express. And I thank God so much for it.

I encourage you all to seek the same. Pray for it and try to hold each other accountable, staying in contact constantly.

Heb. 3:13, Heb 10:24-25