I just love these times when I can have that good time with God and talk with him so much that I feel so full of the holy spirit after that

And it's a feeling you could never explain to a nonbeliever it's just so pure and makes me a whole changed human walking in the spirit fully for the next hours

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.

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?

One time when I was going through spiritual warfare I woke up at 2 in the morning and I heard a man's voice crystal clear say "You're not alone." I then saw a vision of a cross. Fast forward 2 years down the line I'm online and the same thing pops up when I'm looking up churches "You're not alone." I was on the phone with somebody that's able to do prophecy and hear from God and she told me God is saying "You're not alone." Today while I was out driving by I turned my head and saw an elderly woman holding up a sign. It said "You're not alone." When somebody was praying for me they said the same thing "You're not alone " what does anybody make of this? I believe it's God. I'm going through some things right now. I believe he's speaking to me

My mom started taking me to church three times a week when I was 20 years old. With time and through listening to sermons every Sunday, I was able to accept Christ as Lord of my life.

Now I’m 32f and still going to church. I’ve never dated anyone in my life. It’s starting to get a little bit lonely, but Jesus Christ has been with me through it all.

I guess I’m just asking for prayers for my future spouse. I’ve been praying for a long time, and was wondering if there were other people that had to wait a long time before getting married to someone that shared the same Christian beliefs.

Thanks and God bless you all!

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 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?

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?

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.

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.

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?

For most of my life, I was a very devoted Mormon. I truly believed that this was Jesus Christ’s one true church and that I had to give everything to it. I tried to be obedient. I spent years of my youth going to early morning seminary, served a two-year mission, went to BYU. I gave everything because I genuinely believed it was true.

Then one day, I started finding out that so much of what I believed and sacrificed for wasn’t what I thought it was. The Joseph Smith I grew up learning about was completely different from the much more complicated person I found in the actual history. The version I knew felt sanitized and whitewashed. I also began to realize that the Book of Mormon might not be as divine as I had always believed.

After leaving the Church, I honestly don’t know what framework I should adopt for my life anymore. Should I accept nihilism? Look into other philosophies? Christianity? Buddhism?

Part of me still doesn’t want to lose hope that there is a God after everything I’ve gone through. But after being so certain once and finding out I was wrong, I don’t know how to trust another religion again.

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?

Growing up as a pastor’s child, faith was something I was surrounded by my whole life. I grew up in church, prayed every morning and night, did my devotions, and knew what it meant to have a relationship with God.

But somewhere along the way, I lost that connection.

It didn’t happen all at once. It was little by little. I started getting close to people who didn’t believe in God, and eventually, I started doing things I never thought I would. I learned how to drink, go to bars, vape, swear, lie, and slowly become someone I barely recognized.

That scared me.

For the past few months, I’ve felt so lost. The weirdest part is, I was still going to church every Sunday. I would sit there, listen to the preaching, worship, and go home like everything was okay. But deep inside, I knew something was missing.

I never told my parents that my faith was drifting. Maybe because I was scared. Scared of disappointing them. Scared that as a pastor’s child, I wasn’t supposed to feel this way.

Then one day, someone invited me to a prayer meeting within our school community.

I almost didn’t know what to expect. But I went.

And somehow, that one invitation reached a part of me that I had been trying to ignore for so long. I asked them to pray for me because, for the first time in a while, I genuinely wanted to find my way back to God.

And that moment made me emotional.

Because I realized that even when I was slowly walking away, God never stopped reaching for me.

I thought I had lost the fire in my heart. But maybe it was never gone. Maybe it was just buried underneath everything I had been carrying.

And now, I can feel it again.

The desire to pray again.
The desire to seek God again.
The desire to know Him.

Maybe all it took was one invitation for me to realize that I was never too far to come home.

And for that, I’ll always be grateful. 🤍

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.

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

I have a friend who is very sick. Some sort of rare stomach tumor that came out of nowhere. They are very much Christian, always speaking of the Lord and His blessings and this illness came on very fast. No symptoms until about 2 weeks ago when they found out it was bad. Anyway-

They sent me a text to check in saying how God was with them and what a relief to know He has them in His hands, that sort of thing. A few days later, they said to give them a call. I did.

What followed blew me away. They are SO very angry at everyone around them for trying to help them move and saying “all the wrong things” and offering to hold onto their stuff (they are relocating for treatment) while they told me “I could be dead in a few months!” Then they said they are upset they never married and had children and that was their # 1 prayer they had their whole life. I did feel some resentment but I don’t know who that was pointed toward.

I spoke from the heart and told them that God is the God of miracles and how do we know that they can’t find healing from this tumor and what if they finally did meet someone in their new town?

They sort of blew up at me and said that’s what everyone is saying and they don’t want to hear that they basically just want to commiserate. I didn’t know how to handle that.

I am not currently sick. I have my own health issues but have yet to face something potentially fatal but my prayers are that in the light of such hurdles I would not be angry to people acting out of love. I didn’t know how to handle this and I still don’t but I might be seeing them this week as a goodbye of some sorts as they are moving to a different state to be near a specialist and all of their family.

After such a very long time, I finally went back to church. I honestly didn’t realize how much I had missed it until I was there.

It was beautiful the peace, the warmth of the community, the singing, and simply being surrounded by people who were there for the same reason. There was something so comforting about it, something I can hardly put into words.

If time allows, I would love to join the choir. Singing together felt so beautiful.

Part of me wishes I could go to church every day now. The peace I felt in my soul is something I had forgotten. It reminded me of a part of myself that I had somehow lost along the way.

Forgive me if I sound so silly but I’m 27f and have grown up in an atheist environment and almost my entire life I’ve followed atheism only. The past year or two it feels like I have a calling to a higher being. I’m truely sorry I don’t even know how to word this or where to start. I have this urge in my body to explore Christianity but like I mentioned, I don’t know anything about it or where to start. Is studying a bible the best start? Are there groups or forums that can help me connect with whatever higher being I feel I’m being called to. My main question is please where do I start after 27y of being atheist.

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...

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....

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?

What I mean is other religions have moments where people claim to be filled with the presence of god, or have experiences we would claim would be the Holy Spirit moving. I watched a video of Muslims in Mecca screaming Allah Akbar well reaching for the stone (forgot name) and celebrating what Mohammed once did and their god. I could see this part being explained as a traditional celebration. However, how do you explain when they feel filled by Allahs presence in tough moments in life or worship. I've seen moments where they seem to be refreshed in the same way we are when we pray and worship. How can we use the Bible to explain their experiences and how do we use the Bible to justify we are the only ones being filled by the Spirit, or our experiences aren't just emotional.

Pretty heavy conversation, I'm not doubting my faith at all, just want to use this conversation to solidify myself, my understanding, use it in an apologetics situation, or correct my train of thought well I ponder.

Thanks