I am wondering if anyone has seen a prayer group lifting up our brothers and sisters in ICE detention? I’ve had a heart for them, and pray that as they suffer they look to our Redeemer, and to help keep their hearts soft as they suffer…

I use the Enduring Word Bible commentary when reading my Bible and I don’t know if it’s bad but I always have this aesthetic feeling when I write notes I mean, I memorize what I write and learn much from the commentary, but is it bad that I feel aesthetically pleased? Like after I look back at my notes and my handwriting, I like how it looks, but is it bad that I feel like that? Is it bad that I’m focusing on that cause I wanna focus on God and His word

Just finished my 3rd bible read through and instead of going through it again was thinking about what would be a good series to listen to every day. Was looking for something walking through scripture and showing Jesus in our everyday lives and not just people talking about Christ to boost their platforms. Thank you!

I have always heard people say that they have given their worries and frustrations to God, but what does that really mean? I overthink a lot so much so I’ll stay up late at night thinking. I even sometimes think about the past and get angry. I want to let go and give it to God, but how do I do that?

​

Im a teenager and I've been growing my faith I've decided Baptist Christianity just makes the most sense, like basically everything about it. I've decided not to get Baptized yet tho because I'm still very sinful and have too many bad habits and if I did get Baptized I would feel like im lying to myself about being Christian and feel guilty. But yeah, as I've looked into Baptist Christianity a bit more people seem to have very explicit feelings about it and they consider it 'one of the absolute worst branches in Christianity' and holding it to the same level as JW and mormanism. I don't know y people act this way about it, all I'm getting out of it is that there is no pope like leader but clearly it's deeper than that but I don't knowwww

I’ve always wanted to get married, but lately I’ve been convincing myself to let go of the idea of romance. The problem is that when your sex drive is through the roof, that’s incredibly hard. I don’t want to have sex with anyone, and I won’t, but I’m not even sure I want to get married anymore.

How does anyone control that?

Hi, so, for past few days my gluttony has gotten worse…
Everyday, multiple times, I fall into this stuff. And apparently from my discovery, I lost self control.
What should I do? I hate this.

How should Christians approach motivational content?
I sometimes listen to speeches and videos about ambition, discipline, success, and overcoming adversity. Some of them are genuinely inspiring, especially when people share how they overcame poverty, hardship, or difficult circumstances.
At the same time, I wonder how Christians should filter these messages through a biblical worldview. How do we appreciate ideas like hard work, discipline, and ambition without allowing success, money, status, or achievement to become our identity?
How do you distinguish between healthy inspiration and pressure that makes you feel like you’re never doing enough?

Hi everyone just a little introduction I'm 24 Y/O Male First born son and have a sister also and just am looking from further guidance from people in the community that can guide me in the right direction. My relationship with God has been a rocky road and didn't really start getting close to him up until a breakup that initiated it for me to get close to him because of the pain.

But over the years I realised I've been protected by God in so many ways that I didn't realise. I've been in a total of 11 car accidents since I started driving when I was 18 y/o some of them were minor and some of them catastrophic where at one point the car was flipped upside down and I always walked away without a scratch not a cut bruise nothing. I've also been guided away from people which later on in life ended up in prison or started drinking heavily or drinking.

Even as for sexual sin I withheld for almost 18 years since birth till I met one woman I genuinely couldn't resist atall it was like a magnetic pull its so hard to describe but it was definitely real and we fell in love and the relationship lasted almost 5 years and the pain from that relationship initially is what made me get a lot closer to God even though he was always present in my life the entire time without my knowledge. I only have a body count of one was I know what sex does unfortunately and it creates a soul tie which I believe I've broken by now because its been almost 2 years since the initial breakup and when I see them I don't get the same drop in my stomach that I used to like going down a roller coaster. from my understanding its my nervous system warning me of a threat which was her. I don't wish her ill will or anything even though I was put through a lot of pain. I ultimately did forgive her but I never let her back into my life since then.

I'm an empathic person by nature and I get easily drained by random people or big crowds or events I genuinely feel like I don't fit in even among my friend groups I just have an inner knowing I don't fit in.

Any hoo after I got closer to God while also being on Semen Retention crazy things started to happen. I got so close to God because of how much pain I was in from the relationship. I did everything correctly I was always there etc etc and I wanted God to take away the pain because I couldn't function. I couldn't work without breaking down or crying at random even when at home because I was discarded and in the end I found out the person did what they did because they've never experienced real true conditionally love the same love a dog gives you and sabotaged the relationship including me.

But after I started getting closer to God even before all this happened I was also becoming more spiritually aware and getting into astrology 2 years before this event even happened. It's in my karmic blueprint Spiritual Teacher. Anyways everything was going well. I was in the gym, working away doing no problem and building towards my goals while also praying to God and keeping him apart of my life.

After a few weeks my body started to fail, I have disc bulges and I cannot preform any manual handling jobs as I'm in pain in my left shoulder blade. (Inner Scalp) and haven't been to work in over 15 months because of this because diagnosis is inconclusive, I have been to Private doctors, Chiropractor, Physio etc you name it everything and the pain is still there unfortunately and hasn't been fully restored to the way it should have been.

I've applied to countless jobs to try and remove myself from that environment to try something else thats not physical in nature and have been denied from every single place I've applied to.

I did almost get one job but a few days later I got stopped by the police and they ended up giving me penalty points for something I didn't even do and I didn't end up getting the job because of it. It was a driving job, and you'd be wondering why didn't I challenge this in court and the simple answer is because I was already under enough financial strain that it wouldn't of been possible to afford lawyers as I was out of work and trying to manage my health at the same time.

I am being paid but im not being paid enough to mange everything unfortunately. Even during this time my own best friend was becoming envious of me I can read his energy and I couldn't comprehend why. I was struggling and yet he had more than I did and yet he was still envious or jealous.

But this is with random people too in different friend groups they're just envious of me for no reason or jealous or try and fish out information about me or talk about me to others. I do have very vivid dreams so if someone talks bad about me I'll dream it or I'll be told one way or another even through another person.

I can read people very well even their energy and also I have the gift of discernment and clairovoyance idk if this helps but I also saw my aura if you know you know but it's White/Clear

But what I don't understand is, after getting a lot closer to God to the point if he tells me not to do something I won't and I ACTUALLY obey him, my life gets worse and not better.

an e.g would be me being otw home from me being at my friends or out and about driving and I'd get a text from a woman asking me to come over and my first initial thought would be Don't do it, you'll regret it. I've been tested by so many woman since I left that relationship is crazy keep in mind I'm on Semen Retention and the urges do get a lot harder but I have enough will power and respect to say no because for once after holding out for so many years besides that one woman, I wanted a woman from God. I was also being tested even before that relationship where a woman would just undress herself at a party and asked me to fuck her even though I had the same thought in the back of my mind. Don't do it.

Even after removing my ex and a few of my friends from my reality and they still show up every now and again which is something I don't understand. On a daily basis I also see the following on license plates, times, receipts YouTube Short likes or comments
111,222,333,444,555,777,888,999 sometimes I would see 2222,3333,4444 or 9999 It would depend on. the moment.From my understanding im currently going through The Dark Night of the Soul and I have gone through it a few times now but this one oh wow its a lot more intense

I also do mediate every now an again to remove negativity from my chakras and open up my third eye but what I'm getting as is for more information from people who have gone through something similar because the people in my reality as of right now are not aware to the same level as I am and I can feel it.

I also don't drink alcohol or do drugs and I'm very healthy cook my own food and have a good physique so is there a reason I'm being attacked so much after getting closer to God ever then before if someone could give me guidance I'd appreciate it so much.

God is great :)

Do you ever find yourself imagining the worst-case scenario in life?
A couple of years ago, I started thinking about life after high school, and I would imagine things going wrong, losing my job, losing my home, making a major financial mistake, getting into an accident, or somehow becoming financially trapped.
None of these things had actually happened, but I kept mentally preparing for them anyway.
How do you deal with thoughts like this as a Christian? How do you prepare responsibly for life without constantly imagining everything that could go wrong(and no, I am not talking about if it turns out the way you wanted)?

Hello,

I have recently (3 months) committed a major sin related to my marriage. I would consider it adultery, although I did not have sex with the individual, nor was she married. I have confessed to my wife about 3 weeks ago. I confessed to God, asking for forgiveness probably a month after it happened. My wife has forgiven me. I’m having a hard time with forgiveness. Mainly, forgiving myself, but also feeling forgiven by the Lord.

It has trigged a mental disorder called real event OCD, where I constantly think and replay the event in my head and seek reassurance, confirmation or shame myself. I have repented, apologized and prayed at least a hundred times and it honestly has not changed my feelings much.

My main concern/fear is this: We are trying to have a baby. We have tracked cycles and attempted the last 3 months unsuccessfully. I have went to scripture trying to find evidence of the Lord forgiving someone for adultery, and it brought me to 2 Samuel 12 where David committed adultery. While in verse 13, it states “The Lord has taken away your sin”, however, David’s son was killed as a consequence. Another example in the Bible is John 8:1-11 where Jesus forgives a woman committing adultery. I guess my fear is that we are going to be unable to have kids because of what I done.

We are continuing to pray and have hope, but we are also seeking medical help for the fertility as she had medical issues the past year that could cause us issues. I know what I did was wrong, and I will never do it again. I haven’t ate right in 3 weeks and it has caused me to isolate myself at work and even at home some.

Can someone with similar experiences help me with some of this?

Hello!

Newish Christian here. Scripture is pretty clear that, when you fast, you are to do so in secret to keep your rewards in Heaven.

I'm in this exceedingly blessed place where my family constantly offers me meals AND will notice if I don't eat.

If I'm trying to keep fasting a secret, what do I say when they ask "why aren't you eating?"

God bless!

The bible says that Heaven is a place of eternal life with Jesus on a new earth where sin is not there.
Other than that I see people interpret things or have different ideas of heaven more often, for example the universalist take that all souls go to heaven.
It also makes me question what truly is the soul?

When we go to the new heaven, in a blink of an eye, I wonder are we going to go to the afterlife and forget our experiences on earth? Or is it like a continuous consciousness that doesn’t end when you die?

Are young children who died in heaven? Even if they were grown up in a different religion?

Will there be any animals that will also be in heaven with us or just humans are saved?

What’s purgatory? Do you believe this to be a legitimate waiting room after death, and would there be any non christian’s/ people that never heard about Christ being judged based of their beliefs or their actions ?

Idk why but it feels like after all 120 billion people to ever exist on the earth I don’t think that just christian’s would be in heaven, like what about the people of the old testaments?

I'm looking to buy my first Bible soon to get a deeper understanding of the scripture and ideas conveyed. I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations for which to go for? For reference I live in the UK and am looking to gain an understanding of what passages mean so maybe an older English style might not be appropriate?

Very grateful for any recommendations :) thanks!

Hey all!

Just wanted to post this here I wasn't sure if this was the right forum BUT.....the scientific consensus is that non-avian dinosaurs became extinct roughly 66 million years before humans appeared. However, some creationist models propose that dinosaurs and humans coexisted, often citing biblical passages or flood geology. What evidence best supports this position?

We have a weekly tradition here in r/Christian that we call “TACObout it Tuesday.” Each Tuesday we share a post dedicated to discussion on the writings of an author whose work is considered “spicy.” (You know...like good tacos.)

This week is Martin Luther.

Luther's (authored or co-authored) Top Ten most popular titles are:

The Bondage of the Will

On Christian Liberty

Ninety-Five Theses

Small Catechism, With Explanation

Commentary on Galatians

A Simple Way to Pray

The Book of Concord

Three Treatises

Large Catechism

Commentary on Romans

Have you read any of Luther's work? Let's TACObout it!

In the comment section I will be sharing 10 quotes from Luther, for you consideration and to (hopefully) spark discussion.

If you're enjoying this post and want to see more like it, just click the post flair to see a list of past TACObout it Tuesday posts in r/Christian.

These weekly polls are meant to give everyone a picture of the community’s general makeup. Poll options cannot capture every nuance, so discussion is welcome and encouraged.

My youngest child attended a church preschool/daycare M-F. We decided to start attending the church and have been going there for 2 years. My eldest adult daughter just recently took a position at the same church preschool. Within the first week of working she witnessed a teacher bite one of the two year olds as a punishment. It was reported to the preschool director (pastors wife), who ran the preschool, by way of a a phone call, written statement and photos of the injury. After allowing the teacher that bit the child to continue working for 7 more days, my daughter asked the preschool director when child support services would be coming to investigate. My daughter reminded the preschool director that she is a mandated reporter and it should been reported to CPS as well as the parents of the child. The preschool director reluctantly called her "CPS friend" to show my daughter "how it works" but then asks for the statement to be changed because the delay in reporting puts her in a bad light. My daughter refused. Anyways, the investigation occurs and the teacher is fired.

From that point forward my daughter's hours went from 7 hours a day 5 days a week to 1.5-2 hours 3 days a week. Additionally the pastors wife and the pastor himself have stopped talking to me on Sundays. We used to speak each Sunday before service and ask how my other kids were and how my aging parents were doing. I tired smiling and greeting them both twice during VBS and they looked right at me and just walked away.

My daughter is like whatever about it, she is looking for a new job and moving on. I however am wrecked because I have been so in love with this church and so on fire for God and really feeling like I was getting so much from the Sunday sermons and women's groups, etc. Now I can't move past it, I look at him when he is preaching and see that he is no different than any of us and that I shouldn't put him or his wife on a pedestal but it just rocks me to my core that these people would be willing to turn a check to child abuse. And make me or my daughter feel bad for having one of their teachers fired for BITING A CHILD!. They could loose their license over things like this and now that her hours have been cut, that a whole separate legal issue if it wanted to be. How do I forgive, how do I put this behind me, or is it over and it's time to go and seek God elsewhere? How do you tell your church family your leaving? How do confront the hurt that has been caused?

Please tell me if I'm just blowing this out of proportion but gently I ask because my heart is tender.

I’ve been carrying this around for about a year, and with camp starting this week, it’s all come flooding back.

For two summers, I served as a Bible teacher at a Christian summer camp. I loved it. Teaching Scripture, mentoring kids, and seeing God work in their lives was one of the highlights of my year.

After my second summer, after asking about year three, one of the program directors texted me and said they didn’t want me in a leadership role anymore. They said they believed I was a solid Christian, faithful to God’s Word, and that they loved having me at camp. But they were concerned that because I have short hair and dress more masculine (I’m a woman), campers had questions about whether I was LGBTQ or transgender.

Their concern wasn’t my theology or my conduct. It was that my appearance might “send mixed messages” to campers, so they felt I could only serve in behind-the-scenes roles like kitchen or maintenance.

I responded respectfully, explaining how much it hurt to be removed from teaching because of my appearance rather than my character or doctrine. I shared that I wished I’d been talked to before assumptions were made. I quoted 1 Samuel 16:7 about God looking at the heart rather than outward appearance.

Their response was essentially that while they believed my faith was genuine, they still felt my appearance could be a stumbling block and encouraged me to pray about whether God wanted me to present myself differently.

That conversation ended there.

What made it harder was that when I told a few of my closest Christian friends, their response was basically, “That really sucks… but they have a point.”

I wasn’t really looking for everyone to agree with me. I think I just wanted someone to say, “I know you, and I know your heart. I’m sorry this happened.”

Now it’s a year later.

Camp started this week. My social media is full of friends leading there.

I genuinely believe I’ve forgiven the people involved. I don’t hate them. I pray for them. I don’t think they’re evil people trying to hurt me.

But if I’m honest, I still grieve.
I miss teaching.
I miss the campers.
I miss feeling like I belonged there.

And sometimes I still hear that little voice asking, “Were they right? Is there something wrong with me?”

For those of you who are Christians, how would you process something like this? Have you ever experienced being excluded from ministry, not because of your beliefs or character, but because of how you were perceived?

I’m not looking to start a debate about gender or sexuality. I’m trying to understand how to move forward when a place you loved serving becomes a place associated with deep hurt.

Has anyone else walked through something similar? What helped you heal?

EDIT: please don’t share, thanks!

How do i find joy or maybe not joy but move on from the things that God said He will do but He didn’t do it,its kinda scarred me trusting anything else He is saying He is going to do.God speaks to me through dreams and i had a vivid dream and i questioned why He even showed me the dream if He knew it wasn’t going to happen.

And now i am kind of refraining from asking God for anything,because i get in expectation mode and then i feel like ,i will always be disappointed. So i have resorted to not expecting anything and that way it preserves my relationship with God. He has shown me dreams that could have changed my life immensely but a spirit of backwardness or something always arises and everything just dies down.

hello! I graduated last year and I’ve already done a six month DTS with ywam! Is was the most incredible experience and I feel so driven to continue doing things of that sort. Maybe not with ywam, but something like it. I’ve thought of young life, or circuit riders, does anyone have a tips or encouragement? Ideas? I’ve really truly been having the hardest time since being home. I feel so set apart but I’m just not where God wants me to be!

There is a man not many know of called Elon Musk who wants to make humans a multi planetary species capable of interstellar space travel.

Would God support, oppose or be completely indifferent to this goal?

Which path would be best for humanity in your opinion?

I want to be close to God but I always fail, I feel like a fake christian.

I prayed for the intercession of saints and yet after my prayer, I waited without patience, getting angry for not getting what I wanted instantly.

I don't even know how to repent! I apologize and ask for His forgiveness and yet I fail. I don't read the bible, I don't even go to church correctly. I always say I go but I don't! I lie to my own Father! Jesus shouldn't have died for someone like me.
How can't I hate my heart after this?

Words cannot explain what I feel.

I feel like I shouldn't, but idk if that's religion speaking or my love of books speaking? But I like putting sticky tabs in it so my favorite verses or passages are easy to find; I've tested it and so far they haven't removed text along with them. I like to highlight the odd verse here or there that really speaks to me and is useful, but I have to restrain myself or else I'd be highlighting a lot. I think that would look bad. I need to find a happy medium.

What do you all do? If you mark in, highlight in, or do anything like that in your bibles, what do you do? Any ideas or tools you can recommend?