Christians

say it lover-SAY IT.:

Okay, so i'm a christian, but i'm not like overly religious.
I have problem.
I like this guy, he's really awesome.
A good kisser and all that stuff.
but he's an atheist..
what do i do?

Dangerous waters there. =)
Then again, the best (and only) relationship I've ever had with a guy was with one whose beliefs differed greatly from my own. To an extent, I think it depends on you and the guy. Me specifically, I struggle with giving God His rightful place if there's a guy in my life, romantically speaking.
But you could be different. Pray about it, I would say.

^ I'm not necessarily wanting it to develop into
a relationship, because i know he doesn't want it to.
He's one of my best friends,
so what we're thinkin is that we could have one
of those relationships where we hang out
and make out and stuff.lol

^If all you want to do with him is "make out and stuff", then why is his faith (or lack of it) a problem then? If you genuinely enjoy his company but you don't actually want to date him, then I don't see why it could be a problem, to be honest.

^ I'm just concerned I guess.
Like if it does develop, I don't know what
I would do.

^Well, you could just respect his beliefs. He has his beliefs and you have yours.

^^ But make sure he respects your beliefs, too, though. :cute:

Yeah, I know.
I'll just talk to him about it sometime.
It's not a big deal I guess.
I'll just talk to him when it does
become a big deal.

:think:
I think I'm starting to lose my faith in Christianity.
Not necessarily in [the Christian?] God, but generally in our ability to follow His word. The Church is full of useless absurd social norms and ceremonies that are just so absurd and archaic they cannot be of godly nature, they were created by society to keep society under control, not by God.

An interesting question, does God interfere with those who misinterpret His words? [fanatics and extremists for example] If yes, how? if no, then how do we know that our religion is truly the one Christ [or God] wanted us to follow?

^So you're starting to lose your faith in supposed 'Christians'? Yeah, me too, but I've gotten over it. The problem is that man has decided it's important enough to change rules and procedures and do things its own way when it isn't.

I'm not sure if God intereferes, but He never lets them have their way. True, they may conquer a small corner of the world for a minute space of time (in compare with eternity), but their ideas always fade away eventually and the real faith continues.

kafka.:

:think:
I think I'm starting to lose my faith in Christianity.
Not necessarily in [the Christian?] God, but generally in our ability to follow His word. The Church is full of useless absurd social norms and ceremonies that are just so absurd and archaic they cannot be of godly nature, they were created by society to keep society under control, not by God.

An interesting question, does God interfere with those who misinterpret His words? [fanatics and extremists for example] If yes, how? if no, then how do we know that our religion is truly the one Christ [or God] wanted us to follow?

I'd like to address your second point first, if you don't mind. XD

I'm not sure if this is going to make sense, but I don't ever see God as "interfering," necessarily. I don't think God looks down at us and sees people going awry and thinks, "Darn it, those fanatics are at it again... gotta clean up." It's not as though God is surprised or knocked off course or pushed to Plan B. He's already accounted for our misinterpretations and sins and everything. There are a few Bible verses, though, that involve pretty unpleasant things for anyone who changes the Bible. Also, Mark 9:42 declares that leading others astray will bring punishment.

And for the first point!

This is a tough issue. I too find myself losing hope in a group of people who are supposed to be different. Honestly, I feel as though so many "Christians" aren't doing a very good job of representing Christ. I think it's important to go back to the word to understand what God has put on us and what society has put on us. Of course, it's important to be able to interpret the Bible correctly. You could ask a pastor for help or get a Bible Dictionary with Greek translations and the whole bit. God tells us "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:2). So really, we shouldn't be conforming to what society tells us but rather to what God tells us. There is a happy medium, though. Paul says in Romans that although we are not forbidden to eat meat that if it causes another one of our Christian brothers or sisters to stumble, we should not eat meat.

If you want to talk more, feel free to PM me!

The Velvet Heir:

kafka.:

:think:
I think I'm starting to lose my faith in Christianity.
Not necessarily in [the Christian?] God, but generally in our ability to follow His word. The Church is full of useless absurd social norms and ceremonies that are just so absurd and archaic they cannot be of godly nature, they were created by society to keep society under control, not by God.

An interesting question, does God interfere with those who misinterpret His words? [fanatics and extremists for example] If yes, how? if no, then how do we know that our religion is truly the one Christ [or God] wanted us to follow?

I'm not sure if this is going to make sense, but I don't ever see God as "interfering," necessarily. I don't think God looks down at us and sees people going awry and thinks, "Darn it, those fanatics are at it again... gotta clean up."

So we could be preaching heresies?

The Velvet Heir:

Of course, it's important to be able to interpret the Bible correctly. You could ask a pastor for help or get a Bible Dictionary with Greek translations and the whole bit.

How can I be sure that a pastor interprets the Bible correctly?

You seem to think that by society I mean the secular part of our world, on the contrary, I meant the Christian community as I live in an Orthodox country and in a world where Christianity is one of the major religions.

The Velvet Heir:

If you want to talk more, feel free to PM me!

I see no problem in discussing here.
:shifty

I'm not entirely sure what I believe, but I deeply respect and admire religious people.

I love hearing about what they believe, what they don't believe, and having religious debates. I love hearing Christian stories because it helps me to think and it makes me respect them because I grew up in a deeply Christian environment, especially in the church I went to. I used to yearn to be like them, touched by the holy spirit, as they seemed to be.

I guess in a way, I believe that they were touched by God, because how can you fake such happiness that they seem to have? However, I grew away from that faith because it never happened to me, no matter how much I prayed.
So that made me wonder whether you can fool yourself into believing it.

What do you guys think?

kafka.:

The Velvet Heir:

I'm not sure if this is going to make sense, but I don't ever see God as "interfering," necessarily. I don't think God looks down at us and sees people going awry and thinks, "Darn it, those fanatics are at it again... gotta clean up."

So we could be preaching heresies?

The Velvet Heir:

Of course, it's important to be able to interpret the Bible correctly. You could ask a pastor for help or get a Bible Dictionary with Greek translations and the whole bit.

How can I be sure that a pastor interprets the Bible correctly?

You seem to think that by society I mean the secular part of our world, on the contrary, I meant the Christian community as I live in an Orthodox country and in a world where Christianity is one of the major religions.

The Velvet Heir:

If you want to talk more, feel free to PM me!

I see no problem in discussing here.
:shifty

Yes, I think it's entire possible that some churches preach heresies (I'm going to answer all of your questions in a clump, if you don't mind). In my opinion, if it's not backed up by the Bible, it's heresy to preach something as the will of God.

Pray. It seems to be a rather simplistic answer, but I sincerely believe that if you ask God to reveal the truth of his word, He will. So pray for insight and ask God to guide you and to see if what your pastor tells you is the truth.

Ehh, sorry for not being clear on this point- I do mean the Christian community in addition to the secular community. A lot of Christian tradition has come from secular worldviews... and those secular worldviews have been adjusted and adopted to be "Christian." While not all of those traditions may be necessarily sinful, I don't think you should be feel repressed by non-Biblical standards.

Also, sorry if the PM thing was weird... in another forum I'm a member of, it's common for a discussions to slip off to PMs if the questions get specific. If that's not how it's done here, I suppose I'll stop. I'm perfectly fine with discussing it here! :D

merance:

I guess in a way, I believe that they were touched by God, because how can you fake such happiness that they seem to have? However, I grew away from that faith because it never happened to me, no matter how much I prayed.
So that made me wonder whether you can fool yourself into believing it.

What do you guys think?

I think it's possible to fool yourself into believing something, but I don't think that's what my faith is based on. I'm not sure what other Christians think, but it seems like it would be difficult to be a Christian living in a false faith. So much of my relationship with God is based on being true to Him and true to myself. I don't know exactly how long the foolery would work.

At most times, I'm religious. But I have a problem though, every now and then I backslide. Not really backsliding from Christianity but just... you know... failing to trust in Him at all times, and just get tired easily of praying for the same things over and over.
I know I shouldn't feel like that. But I just can't help it. I try to regain a strong faith as soon as I feel like I'm slipping but I guess I'm too weak (or my faith is).

ciar.:

At most times, I'm religious. But I have a problem though, every now and then I backslide. Not really backsliding from Christianity but just... you know... failing to trust in Him at all times, and just get tired easily of praying for the same things over and over.
I know I shouldn't feel like that. But I just can't help it. I try to regain a strong faith as soon as I feel like I'm slipping but I guess I'm too weak (or my faith is).

I don't think it's a sin to feel disconnected from God- we all do at some point in our lives (many points, in my life :( ) The Bible says that 1) we don't need a lot of faith.

Luke 17:6-- "So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, `Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.""

And 2) Jesus is the one who completes our faith. If you feel like you can't hang on to your faith, ask Jesus to help you out.

Hebrews 12:2-- "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Thanks, The Velvet Hair! :D

Hm, well, what I think is that unless you happen to be Jesus [which I'm pretty sure none of you are, haha!] you can never tell exactly what kind of religion you're mean to have. Like, God called the Hebrews his 'people', so shouldn't we all be Hebrews?

Humans change God's religion to try and stomp out other religions - for example, Christmas was a pagan holiday until the Church put Jesus' birth there [even though Jesus is thought ot have been born in September] to put an end to the pagan holiday.

And then, if you get past the Hebrew-ness and the fact that the Church alters religion for convenience, then what religion should we follow? Catholics and Protestants have fueded for centuries, and yet they generally believe the same thing. What is the point in that?
If you are a Christian, there are so many paths to follow, and most choose the way that suits them best. Religion isn't mean to suit you best, but what God says is right.

In conclusion: humans have altered religion so much that we're not sure what God's religion is anymore.

I'd love it if you answered all of this. :D I love religious debates!

Okay, so, Judas Iscariot.
I don't get it.
I mean, I know what the Bible says. I also know what the Gnostic Gospel of Judas says.
But I still don't get it.
If Jesus hadn't been crucified, then we wouldn't be able to be saved.
He had to die to take our sins upon Him.
So why is what Judas did a bad thing?
Shouldn't it be a good thing? Without Judas we wouldn't be able to be saved.

The Velvet Heir:

I don't think it's a sin to feel disconnected from God- we all do at some point in our lives (many points, in my life :( ) The Bible says that 1) we don't need a lot of faith.

Luke 17:6-- "So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, `Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.""

And 2) Jesus is the one who completes our faith. If you feel like you can't hang on to your faith, ask Jesus to help you out.

Hebrews 12:2-- "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Thank you so much :cute:
Those verses made me feel a lot better. :)

Ok, recently I've done a lot of looking into what actually makes someone worthy enough to get into heaven (I'd heard so many different versions...). And I've finally come across the whole "getting right with God" thing (I know, I know, I'm a bad Christian for only just discovering it :( ). Anyway, I've made it my goal to do this, since I really don't feel "connected" with God right now...
I just have one question (right now, at least :cute: ): part of "accepting Jesus" is being baptized. I've been wondering...can you be Christened instead of this? Or can you do both?? I'm pretty confused...

I'm a Christian but my faith is cold nowadays. But I do believe that there is God. It's just that my faith is not that strong as that of my parents. I curse, I read slash ( :tehe: ), and I do alot of things that might offend my religion but then I believe.

I'm confusing. :shifty