I think I am still a Pagan Christian

OP: It is ten PM Eastern Time here where I am. I'm getting ready to go to Paschal Divine Liturgy. I have a suggestion for you that has nothing to do with your thread topic. If there is an Orthodox Church anywhere near you, then get in your car and go tonight. You will not regret it. In fact, I think it will be a huge blessing to you.

Hi Bluerose,
Truly some people walk a very difficult path in life... and my heart feels hurt that you have endured so much...
I am not sure if I would subscribe to our Heavenly Father being described as a "goddess" BUT I do know our God is a God of comfort...one to whom people of all cultures and languages have been able to turn to in their time of need.
The Bible is full of wonderful promises waiting
To be found and applied to your life in faith...
Psalm 23:4, 6
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.”

Psalm 147:3
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

Matthew 11:28
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Personally, I love the fact that Jesus cleanses us of our sins as well, there is no other god who has come even close to saying:
1John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

He even promises to renew our mind:
Romans 12:2. "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

And another wonderful promise to claim is:
Philippians 4:7 "
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will
guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"

I put these verses around my house to remind me of what He has promised.....blessings!

Paidiske said:

Yeah, no... that's not it!

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What do you think it is?

Paidiske said:

Yeah, no... that's not it!

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I went back to the original OP:

Bluerose31 said:

I think I am still a Pagan Christian but I worship a goddess who is not associated with bad things now. The goddess helps me feel better because of my rape. I think it is called Christopaganism. I have read some books on it. I feel it fits me well.

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Could it be that she thinks she's still a pagan Christian?

And can you explain what that means? Because it doesn't sound anything at all like CHRIST?

dup post

Becoming Christian isn't, for most people, something that happens in an instant. It's a process. It takes time to learn, to get used to thinking in new ways, to build new habits. It takes time to become part of a community of faith (and, given that the OP hasn't said anything about church, I'm guessing we're the closest thing she has right now; and we are not the easiest community of Christians!)

I think what she needs is encouragement, support and resources; not people telling her off for not being further along than she already is. Praise God that she is on the way!

Strivax said:

Dear miknik5, if you want to teach a Latino child geography, you don't begin by talking to them in English, but in Spanish. So it is with those new to our religion. Respect where they are coming from, and let them find out for themselves where they feel comfortable within the Christian communion. Not everyone needs to be a clone of me, or even you, to have a meaningful faith.

Best wishes, Strivax.

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Actually there is a theory that the best way to teach a person to be fluent in a language is to speak it alone to the learner consistently not to speak to them in the language they already know. Learning a language is however, nothing like holding to a religous belief so it really does not matter what method one uses to teach a language. Of course teaching Geography needs only a few words and some maps. I think Icould teach a young person quite a bit about geography and never say a word to them in their native tongue. But again that is so diffeent than speaking of a religious belief system that it simply is irrelevant. I also think it is not the duty of strangers on the internet to try to enforce orthodoxy upon anyone else posting in this forum. Nor is it their duty to encourage another person to cling to unorthodox views. A new believer needs to have someone more up close and personal to help guide them through the process of becoming familiar with the religion not strangers on the internet.

Bluerose31 said:

I think I am still a Pagan Christian but I worship a goddess who is not associated with bad things now. The goddess helps me feel better because of my rape. I think it is called Christopaganism. I have read some books on it. I feel it fits me well.

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Hello,

The Lord Jesus Christ said this:

Matthew 4:10

You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve

The Lord Jesus also said this:

Matthew 11:28-29

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Jesus can transform you into a new person. He can take the horrible thing that happened to you and cover it with His love and mercy, and as you heal He can even use you to help others who have been through what you have.

Jesus is the source of life and there is only one name under heaven by which men must be saved. You need to make Jesus both Savior and Lord. Lord means that you have surrendered your whole life to Him and you are putting your faith in trust in His name only.

seashale76 said:

Just FYI: Catholics do not, in fact, worship Mary.

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That may well depend upon how one defines the word worship.

miknik5 said:

What do you think it is?

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A suggestion, if I may - take notice of the posts the OP is responding to, and those she isn't. They don't include yours. Imho, if someone came into a thread where I'd expressed similar thoughts as the OP, and been referred to as "young man" (in my case), or had someone start a post declaring their "theology is correct", I don't think I'd answer either.

grasping the after wind said:

... I also think it is not the duty of strangers on the internet to try to enforce orthodoxy upon anyone else posting in this forum. Nor is it their duty to encourage another person to cling to unorthodox views. ...

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I cannot help but agree with this. The fact that something is orthodox does not necessarily mean it is right. But likewise, the fact that something is unorthodox does not necessarily mean it is wrong. So, Bluerose31 is coming at Christianity from an unconventional direction. That is not a bad thing. I came at Christianity from being a convinced and strident atheist. And I find still that many atheist criticisms of the religion are entirely valid. I suspect Bluerose will find the same, from her pagan perspective.

Whatever, I have come to the conclusion, lately, that God wanted me an atheist for a time, before I became a Christian, so that I could understand atheism and atheists, and maybe resolve some of their questions using the kind of concepts they are familiar with, the kind of language they use, and with full understanding of the kind of mental predispositions they are subject to. Perhaps God has something similar in mind for Bluerose.

We should never forget that life is a puzzle, and we all get one piece of that puzzle. To assemble a complete picture, we need to talk to each other, respectfully, with empathy, sympathy and due humility. Bluerose's piece of the puzzle is neither more, or less, important than mine or yours. But some will never gain it, because they hear the word 'pagan' and dismiss her insights as irrelevant. And their picture of the world will be forever incomplete, because of their prejudice.

Best wishes, Strivax.

....trolled?

The cross is the WISDOM of GOD made known

It wasn't hidden
It isn't a TRUTH that we have to run by or stand far off from

It's a TRUTH that we have to a approach and purposely come to

Each and every one of us
Must come to THE CROSS


Would you like GOD's WORD so that I am not accused of supplying my own theology?

1 Corinthians 1

THE W said:

....trolled?

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It seems so.

jimmyjimmy said:

It seems so.

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What does that mean?

Trolled?

Since this poster won't be responding to me can someone else ask where her parents thought she went for 6 months?

Where she was before she was abducted

And IF it was that she initially lived with her parents, how cone her parents didn't look for her since she wasn't allowed to come back home during this 6 month period

And HOW, after returning home, they didn't seem to ask and ask and ask where she had been?

How can what happened to her be kept from her parents

Considering she went to the police and has an order against these people who abuses her

How is it her parents don't know what happened

I am very confused by this
I can't believe that these things happen and they are kept a secret

And I can't believe if someone tells authorities what happened, authorities wouldn't consider this criminal behavior

section9+1 said:

I could go into a church and in 20 minutes get enough information to make a valid choice for Christ. After 164 posts she's still stumbling around with paganism. Don't make God so tolerant you turn him into a product of your own imaginations.

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I'm not so sure about this. As a child, I went to boarding schools from age 6 to 18. All of them were low-key Christian establishments, and in all of them there were daily Christian assemblies, and more extravagant worships on Sundays. And in class, there was RE, religious education lessons, focussing on the Christian tradition. And yet, though they inculcated within me a good deal of Christian attitude and ethic, for which I am grateful now (though I resented it then), they never actually succeeded persuading me of the existence of God, because they never actually addressed this question, just assumed it to be so. I came to believe of my own accord, later in life, when I was ready. So if, after 12 years of determined effort on an impressionable child, the British public school system could still leave me an atheist, I think we can allow Bluerose31 considerably more latitude than a mere couple of hundred posts.

Best wishes, Strivax.

miknik5 said:

My theology is correct

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miknik5 said:

Would you like GOD's WORD so that I am not accused of supplying my own theology?

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Romans 3:4b said:

Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written:
“So that you may be proved right when you speak
and prevail when you judge.”

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Theology isn't subjective. Neither is the (supposed) accusation.

ImaginaryDay said:

Theology isn't subjective. Neither is the (supposed) accusation.

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What you posted by truncating my post is both out of context and dishonest

That's what you did

If you aren't going to supply fully what I said in context, please don't offer bits and pieces and

And if you are the "young man" @al-Idrisi who I did speak to under that avatar, Your agenda is out of anger that you did not get from me what you had wanted

Please don't feel the need to follow me around as this "woman" is not interested in being flexible with THE TRUTH