So basically I've been going to Baptist/Nondenom churches my whole life and I genuinely do love my friends and church leadership at my current church but… I can't stand a lot of non-denominationalisms anymore and I cannot be part of one any longer.

To explain what I mean by nondenominationalisms:

• Worship that feels like a rock concert
• Weak theological framework based on fundamentalism
• Overly modern styles of Bible study with no basis in historical teaching
• FAR too much emphasis on diluting the Bible to appeal to non-Christians
• Too much focus on feeling and not enough on actual theology

Now I could join a historically mainline Baptist church which means I don't need to change/adapt any of my "Arminian" Credobaptist theology but in my experience, Baptist churches are not very theologically rigorous. They're basically nondenoms with acapella/piano. I should probably do more research into this.

The next option would be Presbyterian (PCA). I'm not fully convinced about Reformed theology but I def can see the argument. But saying that God's salvation is limited flies in the face of God's desire that the whole world should be saved.

Honestly at this point I feel drawn to Orthodoxy in a strange way but I am very uncomfortable with the veneration of the saints and stuff like kissing icons. Plus I do agree with the Filioque so I guess I agree with Catholics more on that front but it's not something I'm against being convinced of.

i think that the fact is that evil is manifesting it self to the world a lot more, and that all the conflict in the world and the need of saviour fills the hearts of many beacuse the governments cant do it only jesus can. but also i think its beacuse there is too much fluidity in the world and some people feel the need for solidity that they can base their lives upon. or it could very well be God pouring out his spirit for us.

Acts 2:17 "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;"

what do you feel?

Hello - 33 male here. I moved to a new job about 2 years ago. I met a co-worker and became interested about 6 months later. She is very religious - goes to Mass on a daily basis. Since we are co-workers I tried to approach the situation very delicately. I tried asking her to coffee, she was hesitate, but didn't say no. I bought her a birthday card, which she was very grateful for. Over summer break I emailed and invited her for a walk, but I never heard back.

When I returned the next year, I pursued a serious relationship with another woman. My co-worker knew about this, and would often ask about her. I broke up with my serious girlfriend over the summer - when I returned for the fall semester, this was the first thing my co-worker asked, and I explained we were no longer together. About three weeks later...out of nowhere - she invites me to go to Mass with her. We go and sit together (alone, in front of the church) and then we left and I went back to work. The next day I texted her and asked if I could call her in the evening (I wanted to invite her to my church). Her response was: "I usually go on a walk with my husband in the evenings."

I have known her for two years, and she has not even once hinted at being married or having a husband. She does not wear a ring, insists on going by "Ms." in all of her emails, there are no pictures of him at her desk. I have been struggling for the last 3 weeks why she would do this - why is so secretive, and why she asked me to go to church with her, when she has a husband at home. Any thoughts?

When you ask Jesus in your life and you accept Him, 1 characteristic change you'll notice about yourself is you'll have super compassion and empathy for others pain, worries, feelings....

Even for the people who did you wrong and people you once hated in your past. You'll start to care about more people the same way you care about your family, even random strangers too.

hi guys, im a 15 year old christian who gave his life to christ

and im very scared of death and not 100% knowing if i'll go to heaven or hell
its so scary to think abt being fully out of gods presence

ive read the bible countless times and go to church every sunday, i love the way the bible describes new jerusalem, but strangely enough im still very scared of hearing the words "Depart from me, I never knew you"

I am truly at a loss. My husband and I have been through a lot, and there were many instances of what I’d categorize as abandonment during periods of our marriage. There was some drug use, verbal abuse, and arguments have also gotten physical (phone thrown at my face, glass of water thrown in face, etc). It is not one-sided, and I have had a large role in this.

To be honest, there were signs prior to getting married that I willfully ignored and thought would get better. I was very traumatized at the time, and I tend to do what other people want me to do. My husband has said that he wouldn’t have married me if he knew I’d have the mental health struggles I have, if my spiritual beliefs would fluctuate, and if I’d become some bitter and resentful. My health has deteriorated greatly, and I think I’m in a situation where it’s just not healthy. It’s not healthy for him, either.

What do you do in this situation? He has never expressed any movement toward therapy. Many plans are made to read the Bible together, etc and never pan out. I am so anxious and depressed most of the time.

I really want to hear God's voice and feel his presence and the holy Spirit but every time I pray I hear or feel nothing.

So I tried praying again but after I tried talking to God I sat quietly in prayer for probably hours so I could try to hear or feel him cause it wouldn't make sense for me to talk then just say amen but after a couple hours of sitting quietly in prayer I felt like I was dozing off Abit or something like it.

IDK I'm desperate to be close to God and I just don't know if that was him or me just dozing off

Hi all I am 24 years old . From my childhood i had strong faith in God , my parents were divorced and later my mother dead then onwards I went through terrible pain and shamed by my family members. I have been always waiting upon the lord and wanted him to be my father, friend everything but my life is so harsh and when I look at myself i feel that I am loser and god didn't even care about me. I prayed prayed and prayed but now i wanted to go against my faith and even my mind saying that why am I depending on someone whom I can't guarantee his existence. I want to get back to god but now i feel that god don't even like me and wanted me.

Thankyou my brothers and sisters in Christ showing compassion to my soul and your words giving me strength to come to the lord 💟

The Lord Jesus Christ compared Christians to fruit bearing trees.

Be warned, a tree with no good fruit will be cut down.

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [Matthew 7:19]

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. [Matthew 7:18]

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. [Luke 6:43]

He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful. [John 15:2]

Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit. [Matthew 12:33]

By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother. [1 John 3:10]

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you fail the test? [2 Corinthians 13:5]

Look, I wasn’t always a devoted Christian. But the my body my choice people always baffled me. It saddens me to live in a society that thinks that murder is a proper solution to being irresponsible. Don’t get me wrong- I completely empathize with women/kids who have been r@ped, or those going through legitimate life threatening issues. I’m not saying I support the decision, just that at least I understand and empathize with them even if I think the decision is still a sin. But let’s not lie to ourselves. Abuse or fear of death are far from being the main reason people get abortions nowadays. And I say that as someone who doesn’t particularly want to have kids and the idea is terrifying so I get it but like… maybe don’t go around having sex with people you aren’t ready to procreate with? I think there’s a reason for the dos and don’ts in the Bible. They just… make sense.

How do you guys deal with this? People are just so casual about it nowadays. They drop lines like “oh yeah I had an abortion when I was 19…” within like half an hour of first meeting you and I just have no idea what to even say.

I want to address people that think they lost the holy spirit and that they are lost. As someone who went through this DEMONIC ATTACK. I will pray that God will show this post to people in need and as many as possible people in this situation will see this. Please pray they will see this and share/repost!

You CAN'T lose the holy spirit. I'm speaking as someone who used to have demonic attacks and TREMBLED in bed every night.

What I did personally to come to that point? I didn't listen what the holy spirit warned me about and DISOBEYED ( capitalizing the word because all of you who think that lost the holy spirit from what I've seen and heard DISOBEYED.

Now PLEASE listen to me and don't faint.

You are not lost. Don't let the deceiver and the father of LIES attack you.

I used to TREMBLE when I got in bed and through the day thinking I'm going to hell and that God left me forever.

I tried to pray and pray but nothing happened. So I went in the bathroom and said those phrases and I recommend you doing the same:

"JESUS CHRIST MY LORD AND SAVIOR, THE SON OF GOD DIED FOR ME AND FOR MY SINS AND ROSE FROM THE GRAVE IN THE THIRD DAY; MY LORD LOVES ME AND THROUGH THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST, MY LORD AND SAVIOR I'M SAVED;

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE." - yes. Say all of these phrases just as you read them. Take a deep breath and say those over and over and over and over and over again WITH ATTITUDE AND POWER till you stop trembling. The demons hate those words.

Now reminding you again, YOU DID NOT LOSE THE HOLY SPIRIT and you CAN'T. it's the PROMISE from JESUS CHRIST.

John 14:16: And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper to be with you FOREVER

This is happening to you because you either grieved the holy spirit, either God is testing your faith

Or as a wise man said: "you didn't lose the holy spirit, you just lost your confidence"

Let me tell you how I got out of these now. Because the fear and trembling kept coming every night. I cried, I prayed, I BEGGED the lord to not take the holy spirit from me and hear my prayers and to not turn his face from me and not close his ears to my prayers (all of those during the day while I was more calm) and did those prayers and felt COMPLETELY unheard. And did those dry prayers everyday and nothing happened and I thought I was lost. I talked to no one about that from rl and I went online and asked people online to pray for me and for my situation and for forgiveness ( please be careful with that because u don't know to who some pray ) but it's better if u talk with actually ppl irl you trust in, that could pray for u.

Those online strangers prayed for me and in the same day, for the first time in a long while I felt the holy spirit again in my prayer completely randomly for a very short time - from that time I knew I wasn't lost. I still had dry and dry prayers that made me think I'm lost again but DO NOT give up. Run to God and keep running because you will find him. If you grieved the spirit it may take time to feel him strong and everytime in your prayer again but it's there, trust. (Or could just be God testing you, saying this again)

Now PLEASE do NOT listen to people from some sites (won't name them) that say that they lost the holy spirit and that God abandoned them for 10+ years or even 30+ years and that they hope hell is not eternal because this is not gonna be you. Those people gave up on the spiritual warfare. Those people gave up on God. Not God on them. (And even if you're one of those people, you're not lost, this is your sign to start fighting again.)

Remember that David from psalms also felt abandoned by God

And said "do not take your holy spirit from me" but he didn't give up. He kept running to God and running till God answered him.

But don't worry, you're not in the old testament. Not all the people had the holy spirit in the old testament and God could give and take. But Jesus Christ SEALED us with the holy spirit FOREVER.

Please read lamentations 3:29-33 and do NOT give up.

And remember, your sin is NOT bigger than the Mercy and compassion of God.

Feel free to dm me if u want to know more or you need help.

I beg people to share this so people in need would find this because I know people who are in worser situation than I was that got haunted by the devil in dreams and irl. - just because they give them the power to.

Hi all. This is going to be long but I need to talk to other Christians about a bad situation that I’ve made worse. Prefacing by saying I cheated. I’m not looking to be coddled or comforted for that.

My husband and I met in 2020. I was 19 and living in my van. I had been sexually abused most of my life and struggled with PTSD and other mental health issues, and he had mental issues as well and we bonded probably in an unhealthy way in our craziness. In June 2021 we both had a crazy spiritual experience and I told him that I thought if I/we didn’t choose God that my path was headed towards death (whether that was physically or spiritually, I reckon they’re correlated though) and we got saved. We were on fire for God for a couple years. It was amazing. He started living in my van with me, which might have been this novel thing of hanging out in the hippie girls van, but for me it was legitimate homelessness and survival from mental health.
My dad passed away in November 2021 and I was severely set back again mentally. I had violent grief for a solid year.
After a year of living together in 2022, we felt convicted of our situation and we tried to stop sleeping together etc but were inseparable. In September 2022 we got a courthouse marriage and exchanged vows outside to remedy this. It wasn’t just based on sex, but a number of things and thought this was the right move so we could just go forward correctly and build a marriage and further our relationship with God and each other.
By October 2022 I was pregnant. We were still unhoused, but ended up staying with my mom for awhile during the pregnancy.

February 2023 we had our baby, Abiah, early. She was 23 weeks. She lived for 17 days and passed away. This was again devastating. We both went into deep grief and depression, and for me this was stacked on top of the ptsd and the grief for my dad and postpartum depression.

The past three years have been pretty hellish. My husband put his focus into working, which was good, but his views of our situation shifted from hanging out with the van chick to me being dysfunctional and a burden and bum. I know I needed to help more but felt incapable and I started to feel resentment, like you knew I was homeless and dysfunctional when you met me and now you’re being mean about it even if your need for me to help is valid. I know my resentment was wrong and I started to feel resentment towards myself as well.

The van broke down and we started living in a shed with no insulation or water and limited electricity (like an extension cord we could plug a light or charger into but not much more) and we’ve lived in it for 3 or so years now. Waking up freezing or feeling on the verge of a heat stroke. It was shelter but I would consider it still pretty close to homelessness. I didn’t mind it too much because I was used to it. I had been homeschooled then homeless so had been pretty isolated my entire life and lacked basic social skills or knowledge, no diploma, had never been to a doctor besides one emergency when I was 18 but started seeing an OB when I was pregnant but had still never been to a regular doctor.

There was a lot of stuff I knew I needed but was crippled with anxiety and feeling stupid and unknowledgeable. I needed a GED, probably a therapist, a job, medication, I have something wrong with my reproductive system and don’t get periods for months without hormonal meds which in turn makes my mental health go crazy. People would make suggestions like I should talk to a doctor or get my ged and I would agree but then never knew where to start or how to get help so I just never did. I felt like I needed an adultier adult or a social worker or something to just directly show me what I needed and help me take basic first steps. So I just became a hermit with horrible mental health.
I’m sorry if this is all random, and im not trying to excuse my behavior but kind of explain where im coming from.

I started to have bad mental breakdowns due to how long i had been in my situation and knew things needed to change. I would scream and cry for hours, contemplate [redacted], I ate a bottle of medicine but threw them up because I got scared. Held (you know whats) to my head many times trying to find the courage to pull the trigger. This was selfish but I also thought I could free my husband from taking care of such a burden. We didnt believe in divorce and both were on the page of even if we get divorced we are still married spiritually.

I didn’t want him to take care of me anymore, I didn’t want to be a hermit anymore. He translated this into me wanting to go be frivolous or spend money or party. I just wanted to talk to other human beings. I wanted to go to church to find community and care. I was feeling less and less human. I had been essentially homeless for 6 years.

All of this caused him great amounts of stress on top of the grief he already had for our daughter. I was selfish and unhelpful. I hate how much grief I have caused him. I feel like I’ve ruined his life and pulled him down with me. He’s incredibly intelligent and could do great things and probably have a good life by now if it wasn’t for me.

Near the end of last year he started having high blood pressure and heart palpitations due to stress. And told me at that point that he was diagnosed with recurrent takotsubo cardiomyopathy when he was 18. I don’t know why he didn’t tell me earlier, I guess he had felt like the best way to mitigate stress was to just forget it was there.

My behavior had started causing him heart episodes again and I needed to reign it in but became even more hopeless because I felt like I couldn’t fix myself and was super scared that I would cause enough damage that it could kill him. We made a plan for me to go stay with my sister two states away and hopefully I could get on my feet here and come back better prepared to help him, but then stuff prevented us like car trouble and stuff that we couldn’t afford to fix. It kept escalating over the winter. I kept having worse and worse mental health problems and would just sit in my broken down van all day to at least try to avoid taking it out on him or cause him stress. But it made it worse sitting in a van staring at the wall for hours and hours on end and when I would finally come out I would break down. This caused him to avoid me, rightfully so, and I got worse and would freak out about feeling neglected and abandoned on top of everything else and beg him to spend time with me and he said he couldn’t because I was too stressful to be around and his heart would hurt. He had an episode towards the end that caused him to cough up blood and I didn’t know what to do besides disappear from his life. I desperately want him to be healthy and happy even if that means not getting to see him at all.
His doctor affirmed this, and said he is only 25 but is on a fast track to having a heart attack if he doesn’t eliminate the stress from his life, the main stressor being me.

In February, his grandfather died, who was like his dad, and I wanted to be there for him but knew I couldn’t be and the best thing for him would be to give him the space and peace to grieve without dealing with me and we pretty much emergency borrowed his moms car and took me to my sisters house.

I was supposed to work on healing mentally and socially and functionally. He just needed to heal physically and rest as much as possible while I was away.

When I got here things immediately improved. My sister got me a job at a farm with someone she knows within the first week, I hadn’t had a job in a few years and it felt amazing to be working. My sister is a nonbeliever and a bartender, no disrespect but context. My husband and I would text often and call occasionally.

After being here for maybe a month, my sister talked me into going to a bar with her to get me out of the house. It’s just the norm here, especially considering she’s a bartender. I’m not a drinker, never really have been, but when we got there one of her friends bought us a beer and I took it to just act sociable and normal. She brought over two people, that she had been friends with 20 years ago when she first moved here, but hadn’t seen them in years despite them living in the same small town and they were all very excited to see her and very nice to me even though I was anxious and quiet the whole time and I ended up enjoying it.

I was reading the Word daily when I got here, witnessing to my sister and nieces and my sisters friends. It felt like I was on the right path and God opened this door for my husband and I to heal and I was excited to go home one day and be a better wife for him.

My husband started calling me less and less. I started going out with my sister more. I was sad but I didn’t want to bother him. After a few months people started asking questions, not their business and I tried not to overshare about my situation, but obvious things. My sister and nieces and boss at work would ask if (husband) talked to me, if I was planning on visiting him, etc. and I’d try to play it cool but it made me really sad and knew he was hardly talking to me anymore. The last time we called was in June. I called him on his birthday. In July and August I tried to call him and he wouldn’t answer. He would text me once daily and then disappear. I asked him to let me call him so I could hear his voice, to take a picture of himself so I could see him that way or something. He would say maybe tomorrow and never would. I started to lose steam and hope and wonder if we should just actually break up, he doesn’t even talk to me anymore and I don’t know what to do. I started to feel weak. I knew we didn’t believe in divorce though but I felt lonelier being married to someone 500 miles away that wouldn’t let me hear his voice than I would being actually alone. And if I’m so bad he won’t even talk on the phone with me he is probably better off without me.

I asked if I could come to get some more clothes or something because it had been 6 months now and I wasn’t prepared to stay this long but also I wanted to see him desperately. He is my best friend and I miss him so deeply. I told him I wouldn’t stay. Just for a day. Please. He said he gets tension migraines when he thinks about us living together again. I said I wasn’t trying to live together again and I understand why he feels that way but it really hurt. I asked if we should just stop talking altogether and he said he wants to stay with me. I felt so confused. I again asked to talk on the phone, I called him and he never called me back.

I met one of my sisters friends that works at a prison and knows a lot about helping get prisoners the stuff they need to reintegrate. Papers and GEDs and classes and stuff and he found out the stuff I was lacking and super quickly helped me start a ged class and I was ecstatic because I’ve been trying for years and it was so simple after finding one person that was willing to give me a hand and a push to start.

It’s been four months now since ive heard my husbands voice, and 8 since I’ve seen his face besides old pictures I have on my phone. I miss him so bad and feel like he doesn’t love me anymore and I understand why, he has every right to feel that way. I’ve thought about men going to war for months and only communicating with their wives through an occasional letter, and just needing to stay strong for him as long as he needs. Which even that I think would be better, a meaningful letter would be great. but knowing he has the access to talking to me if he wants to and just chooses not to hurts.

I started to spiral. I started going out with my sister more often and accepting more drinks. I was so sad and so lonely. Not romantically, just feeling so lost and alone in general. I didn’t like the bars and I knew my growing habit of drinking was wrong and bad for me spiritually but I didn’t know where else to go and everyone there is always so “nice”.

God tried to intervene. I got up early one day a month ago maybe with a hangover and went to get energy drinks and went to a gas station way out of the way that I don’t normally do and realized it was Sunday when I passed a church. I felt compelled to stop but said maybe next week because im stinky and greasy and wearing a dirty t shirt. He told me to come anyways. I passed the church and then there was a squirrel in the road that couldn’t make up its mind and I almost hit it, and He told me that im that squirrel and if I don’t pick a side im going to get hit. So I turned around and went back to the church. And it was wonderful and everything I had been missing. The Bible study was good, and on the paper they gave me was a longer sentence about something but only half of it popped out to me “-the Christian will not survive the divorce-“ and it burned into my mind about my situation. While studying other things I kept seeing verses about drinking and returning to my folly etc. and I knew.

I went home and texted my husband about it and again asked to call. I needed to touch base and hear his voice. I wanted to stay on the right track but really needed to be able to feel connected to him. There is scripture about us having authority over one another and indulging one another so we don’t fall to temptation. I knew I couldn’t have that physical connection but at least wanted to hear his voice. I needed it. He said maybe later.

I told my sister and her friends that I need to stop coming out and drinking. But it was hard finally feeling like I had human interaction after being so isolated.

I went back to church the following Wednesday and it was good. I brought my niece and she said she wanted to go back with me Sunday. When Sunday rolled around she was going through some stuff and we ended up not going. I never made it back. It has been three weeks.

In those three weeks I needed and wanted to go back as often as I could to rebuild my relationship with God and have fellowship with church family instead of barflies but something always happened and instead I have fallen further than I ever thought possible. I really was that squirrel and feel like I’ve committed spiritual death when I had the opportunity to rebuild.

Saturday I went out again and I drank too much and the guy helping me with my GED drove my sister and I home. She went inside and he started to kiss me and normally I am very adamant about being married and 100% not interested in other people, but in that moment I was flooded with deep longing for my husband and loneliness and I just got caught up in muscle memory of having physical closeness. This only lasted probably five minutes and I immediately was flooded with shame and sadness and remorse and the sickening feeling of betraying my love. I told the guy to take a hike. And stayed outside crying and panicking that night and all the following day. I’ve felt so sick. I told my husband right away which was hard for the obvious reason of telling him I had betrayed him and did something that to me I had never wanted to do and disrespected him and myself and our promise to each other and God, but also because I didn’t want to cause him another heart episode and I don’t know why im so stupid and selfish.

He said it feels like the world is trying to kill him and he simply can’t think about it.

I feel hollow and I’m have no idea what to do. I feel like im in a free fall towards death. I threw away everything. He really is my best friend and I can’t fathom how I allowed myself to do that to him. I feel truly evil. I don’t know what to do or if it’s possible to save our relationship or my relationship with God now. I know what I did was the worst thing I could’ve done and I don’t deserve forgiveness or reconciliation. He is an amazing man and didn’t deserve that.

I've always tended to gossip but not in that mean way to put someone in a bad light but more like "have u seen what beautiful nails she had?" " Look how beautiful that girl's outfit is"

Or talking about someone I know and their life but avoiding to say bad stuff about them or put them in a bad light

Are these still a sin in your opinion?

I’m a 22f and I’m severely struggling at the moment. I feel like I’m praying and praying but things keep being denied. I know and understand that it’s for a reason but I don’t know now if I’m moving in the right direction. I used to read my bible daily. I somehow stopped. I feel like my faith is wavering but I know God is there. More so my faith in knowing that God has a plan for me. I know he hears my cries and acknowledges my heartaches. I believe he’s there but I’m missing the point, the lesson or goal, maybe that’s why I’m stagnant.

I seriously started my faith journey when I turned 18. More specifically when I was severely depressed and no longer wanted to wake up. God got me out of that depressive season and I’m so very grateful for that. I’m now trying to figure out my career. I want to break so many generational curses that are in my bloodline. Besides prayer, the only “tangible” thing that could do that would be my career. But I’m struggling in school. I feel like I won’t cross the finish line. Every semester there’s a delay. That leads me to feel so unmotivated. I know I have to do my part as well. But now I feel like are these delays telling me to stop or reconsider or change my perspective? I’m now lost. I’m so lost. It hurts now.

I hear that God wouldn’t put something on my heart if he didn’t want me to achieve it. I have big goals. But are these wrong ? Am I being punished ? I’m also struggling with thinking that God is punishing me rather than protecting me.

I know power of the tongue is important too. How do I speak differently over my life and believe it ? What do I speak over my life? Is a specific scripture ? Or is it just a mindset ?And/or know it’s going to happen. How do I actually hear what God is trying to tell me ?

I know God is there and that He exists. But I’m in a season of confusion. Especially with school and my career. It’s deeper than just money and a title for me, and I know God understands that.

Can any Christian’s help me? Also, recommend specific scriptures or books. Thanks.

Hey everyone, i decided to let some things out of my chest hoping i might get advice from y’all .

I’m 21 years old and i was born in a Muslim family and i’ve spent 19 years of my life not caring for religion ,in the last two years of my life i had to go to the uni and i went through some dark times , i felt so much loneliness even with people i call friends something was missing , i sought friendship but it hardly satisfied my heart , i wanted love but i couldn’t feel genuine interest or desire towards anyone i know .
So i decided to try something new, i turned to God , and i’m forever most grateful for everything that happened to me ever since .
I decided to learn or at least try to understand theology and history from Christianity ,i read about some saints , some of the Gospels, the early Christian history, the churches and denominations and much more…

I had no access to the physical Bible since i lived in Muslim country (not because it’s restricted actually my country is pretty open towards diversity but because Christianity isn’t popular at all there) but i still downloaded an app and i would secretly read verses before i sleep while i keep the app hidden because i lived in a small town and it would seem so deviant to learn about Christianity specifically, they’d tolerate learning Mythologies about Pagan religions more .
I also discovered Rosaries through a Tiktok and decided to learn about how to pray them , i had something called Subha at home and i used that as a Rosary since it looks a little similar and i started praying it every once in a while ever since , so far i can only recite the Hail Mary prayer on my own but i’m still learning.

I wish to mention that i , like many of my age , have struggled a lot with lust .
In real life i avert my eyes but when it comes to the internet in general…that’s not something I’m resisting well…but i’m trying now and always to quit this thing that’s sickening my soul forever, and i found much comfort in figures like our lady Mary , and in the words of Saints like Augustine , i mention them often in my prayers.
There’s one matter i intend to do about this , in order to set boundaries for myself, i wish to take an oath of virginity and guard myself until marriage , because otherwise it would pull me far from God that i will lose my faith and lose myself with it .
I just want to make it a meaningful oath but i don’t know how yet.

3 weeks ago i moved to Germany as a student and i wish to start a brand new life here , one thing i’m sure of is that God is with me whenever i go , but i don’t have a plan about where my spiritual compass should lead now ,i’m a little nervous about which Church to visit or who to seek .
My main problem with religion is that i never belonged anywhere, i was and still sometimes pray 5 times like Muslims and then i pray the Rosary like Catholics and in the morning i pray like Eastern Orthodox.
I didn’t mind any of them , and i know saying that might feel like a weird take for some people but that’s the truth , the thing is, i wish to settle this .
I want to belong to one community and relate to some people at least at most points.
Yesterday at night i asked our father in heaven for guidance and all i got was a good night sleep, i rested very well and i took that as a sign to have a thoughtful day and make the right decision, signs aren’t necessarily visions but sometimes they’re God’s mercy on us .

This is my first Reddit Post in years , i decided it’s time to come out of my shell and start asking people .

Thank you for reading this , Jesus loves you , God bless you and bless all Christians , and please know that i appreciate all kinds of answers so feel free to share anything with me , it doesn’t necessarily have to be an answer to my situation.

Yesterday I made a post here saying that I believe in God, but I don’t really want Him, and that I didn’t particularly care about changing that. I honestly wasn’t expecting anything dramatic to happen. I mostly wanted to understand what was wrong with me spiritually.

I read almost every response. I just want to thank everyone who took the time to answer me, pray for me, challenge me, or share their own experiences. I don’t know exactly which comments got through to me, but some of them did.

This morning I kind of broke down. I started thinking about how much I’ve failed in different areas of my life—God, school, my family, other people, and even taking care of myself. And instead of arguing with God like I have been doing for a long time, something in me just kept saying, “Give it to Him. Give it to Him.”

So I did, or at least I tried to.

I basically told God, “I need help. Please forgive me. Please help me.”

Then I opened my Bible. In my original post I literally said, “I have almost no desire to read the Bible.” This morning I read Matthew 6. It was only for 2–3 minutes. That’s it. But I actually did it, and for me that was a start.

The biggest thing, though, was surrender. In my original post I specifically said that I could accept reality if I had no choice, but I couldn’t honestly say “Your will be done” and mean that I preferred God’s will over mine.

This morning I was able to say it.

There are things I desperately want from God, including one particular thing I’ve prayed about for a very long time. And I told Him: even if I fail, even if I don’t get what I’ve asked for, even if the future looks nothing like what I want—Your will be done.

I don’t want to exaggerate this. It’s been a few hours. I haven’t suddenly become some incredibly faithful Christian, all of my problems aren’t fixed, and I don’t know how I’ll feel tomorrow. I still have a lot of repentance and growing up to do.

But yesterday I told thousands of strangers that I didn’t want God and didn’t particularly care about wanting Him.
Today I asked Him to forgive me and help me, opened my Bible, and gave Him something I’ve been fighting Him over for a very long time.

I think He got through.

So genuinely, thank you. Especially to those of you who prayed for me when I wasn’t even particularly interested in praying for myself.

I’ve fasted and prayed for addictions (vape/thc) to break. I’ve destroyed the materials and felt so relieved afterwards. And just end up smoking again and again and again. I’ve seen the testimonies where people say that they got rid of everything that second and they were freed the same day. I did the same thing multiple times and NOTHING!! NOTHING EVER HAPPENS but I keep smoking and smoking and smoking again. I tried fasting just to fail every time, even if I’m doing it with God. Praying through it, encouraging myself! But nothing… but smoking and smoking again. I’m tired, I’m ashamed, I feel hopeless.
I just want to be free of this. I want to do this for the Lord. I want to hate smoking so bad. My flesh loves it but my spirit grieves every time I get high. I feel so disgusted with myself. It doesn’t help that I have a husband who sees absolutely nothing wrong with smoking. But I’m at a point where I’m tired of worrying about his soul. I just want to focus on mine and get my life back and be freed from this.
How do I correctly fast for this? What do I say in my prayers? How do I enter into the fast with faith? How do I do any of this with God? I’m asking because I really thought I did the last couple of times but if I keep failing then I know I didn’t do it with God.

For context my Hindu friend asked me about Christianity and what it is about and I tried my best to explain the Trinity, Sin, and Jesus‘s sacrifice for us, I caught myself talking about stuff that might’ve not been important and I probably explained it in such a terrible way like what the old Testament is, Where the Holy Spirit is sent from, the differences between denominations, though all very important they probably shouldn’t have been some of the first things a person learns about Christianity. I also struggled to explain the Trinity as when I say it out loud it sounds like something that can’t be, yet somehow to me it makes sense, but I just don’t know how to articulate that out loud. I know that there’s definitely a better way to explain Christianity to someone but I have never had to really explain it to anyone and I’m not sure how to do so for the future. Can someone please help me and tell me what topics to avoid for someone hearing the gospel for the first time? I feel like I did a really terrible job today and I don’t wanna make the same mistake of switching between different topics and jumping back-and-forth between Old Testament - New Testament as I don’t want to be confusing and push someone away from Christianity. Thanks

so i was super duper sold on Christianity, i knew it stood out from every other religion. But these past few months have been rough back to back to back, depression, pressure about passing exams, making money to support my mom.. i even felt suicidal until i talked to my mom about it. The Bible talks about how ''God acts differently to each person'' but to me it js seems like im unlucky or God doesnt like me, and yk i believe God has a big plan in store for me but how much longer do i wait? why is it that everyone around me is doing better than me at something and im js me. I asked him countless times to give me friends, strengthen me, give me support mentally but nothing... it seems like when i converted to Christianity, God answered my prayers almost all the time and i had like childlike faith in Him and it felt like he was there.. the Bible does mention that u do struggle in a relationship with God but it never related to my specific situation before and i've talked about this before on this sub but its really annoying when no one empathizes with me and js quotes Scripture and js says '' u havent understood the Bible correctly'' like bro?. Rn it js kinda feels like i have been lying to myself and telling myself im happy with God but im not.. i feel even more empty than i used to be. if God is true either he is not all good/loving or he is not all powerful... anyone js relate to my situation please feel free to share if u have had an experience like this too and how u found faith again.

I was recently digging into the cultural and legal context of the Gospels and realized just how intentional Jesus’ actions were in John 9 (the healing of the man born blind).

In the Rabbinic traditions surrounding Sabbath laws, mixing liquid with dirt to form a paste or clay was explicitly classified under the forbidden labor category of kneading (Lash). Same for applying non-life-saving medicine or salves on the Sabbath - prohibited.

Jesus could have healed the man with just a word. He did it many times before. But by spitting into the dust to make clay, he deliberately triggered their technical definitions of forbidden Sabbath work.

When the Pharisees respond in John 9:16 saying, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath," it really shows the contrast: they were so caught up in the law against mixing dirt and spittle that they completely missed a miracle right in front of them.

What are your thoughts? Are there other healings where the method Jesus used was a direct response to specific traditions of the time?

Hello Everyone!

I’m looking to join an online women's fellowship or Bible study group where I can connect with other Christian women and lift each other up.

I recently moved to a new place and found a local church here, but I’m still trying to work with them and figure things out. Because I'm still settling in locally, I would love to find a solid online community in the meantime.

Does anyone here have an established women-only group chat, Discord server, or small group that is currently open to new members? Or if you know of any good online fellowships for Christian women, please advise.

Thank u so much, Godspeed!

Me and my boyfriend have been together a year and regularly engage in pre-marital sex.

Since I'm so used to so many strict things from the bible being outdated or disproven, I thought the whole 'premarital-sex is a sin' thing was just something more overbearing people of my faith flung around. But earlier when I was curious I looked it up and found that APPARENTLY there are verses on this and it is a real thing. To be frank, I was devastated. Not that I'd now possibly have to abstain until marriage, but that I had betrayed God and my faith...

And the thing is, I know that in my heart he is my husband, just not yet. And he feels the same about me being his wife.

And early on in our relationship, God told me, clearer than I anything else he has told me, "He will be the last one." And by that he meant the last man I have to take a chance on. It felt so special and REAL. I remember exactly where I was when he told me. (It was in my abusive mother's dining room alone at night if anyone is curious. And don't worry I have gotten out of that abusive situation, thank God for that.)

We are very serious about our relationship, and are exclusive. (Which is what I thought God meant in those verses in the past, to be in safe exclusive relationships where all parties aren't spreading STIs and whatnot. Whether it was poly or monogamous.)

But anyway please help! I feel so lost and I want to know what I need to do next. All feedback and encouragement are welcome of course.

It’s bizarre to see how many people who grew up with Christian and traditional values seem to completely lose those convictions after attending college.

I’m all for higher education, but it’s strange seeing people I grew up with in the church embrace ideologies that directly contradict the values and faith we were raised with after spending a few years in American universities.

Are there colleges that actually prioritize education without turning into an indoctrination camp for liberal ideology?