Search results

  1. M

    Girlfriend is victim of sexual abuse

    Interesting. I had been using the word "victim" as a way of showing sympathy and support for my GF, but as you put it, it might actually be more harmful than beneficial.
  2. M

    Girlfriend is victim of sexual abuse

    No, as far as I know of, she hasn't told it to anyone but me.
  3. M

    Girlfriend is victim of sexual abuse

    My girlfriend (we're both 32, thinking seriously of marriage) is a victim of sexual abuse from a long time ago. There are many ramifications and effects that such a victim suffers, of course, but I don't want to turn this into a thread discussing 100 different issues all at once. I did want...
  4. M

    Fear of being harmed by spiritual witch/occult influence

    So I was hanging out with a Christian friend of mine today when she saw some sort of game exhibit featuring witches, things that looked occult-ish, etc. and wanted us to go in and participate. I said no, but she insisted and prodded, so, against my better judgment, I caved in and we went in and...
  5. M

    To what extent should "everything" be considered to be God's will/doing?

    OK, but then the only logical reading of this is that, if someone does cut you off in traffic and flip you the bird, that yes, that was indeed God's planning and execution.
  6. M

    To what extent should "everything" be considered to be God's will/doing?

    A topic that I've been thinking a lot of about lately: Most Christians, if you ask them if God is in control of everything, would say "yes" without hesitation. But lately I've been wondering just how much I should apply that to how I view the world. If for instance, if I am driving on the...
  7. M

    Romans 8:28 - what if I do not love God anymore?

    Romans 8:28 famously says, "All things work for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose." Problem is - I think we have all had times, maybe even years, in our lives, when we simply felt little or no love for God at all. Do things temporarily stop working for our...
  8. M

    The Hardest Group Of People To Reach For Christ...

    There is such a thing as "spiritual vaccination." If someone's first encounter with Christianity is a bad one, they will be vaccinated against Christianity. From that point on, any subsequent attempt to evangelize them will cause them to dig up their bad memories of Christianity, and reject it.
  9. M

    Married woman asked me if I loved her. I said yes, but..

    A strange update on the situation: Her husband knows that she loves me, and has told her to talk to me so that I can talk her out of it. I've never heard of someone using this approach before. I also feel rather used by both of them - that her husband is using me to get his wife to return to him.
  10. M

    Married woman asked me if I loved her. I said yes, but..

    I've heard of this sort of ad hoc logic. It sounds strange. Then anyone you marry is God's intended spouse.
  11. M

    Married woman asked me if I loved her. I said yes, but..

    This is what I had considered. But the church has an urgent shortage of pianists and needs me playing.
  12. M

    Married woman asked me if I loved her. I said yes, but..

    Thanks. I guess I should just say no next time. It hurts, though - loving someone and then having to force out the lie, "No I don't like you," through gritted teeth.
  13. M

    Married woman asked me if I loved her. I said yes, but..

    This might be a circular answer but her attraction just feeds my.....affection for her. We had liked each other before she got married. But she was pressured by circumstances into marrying someone else, a man she didn't want to marry. And we've still not stopped liking each other. We both regret...
  14. M

    Married woman asked me if I loved her. I said yes, but..

    I tend to be the kind of person who blurts out an answer immediately on the spot without thinking about the consequences. But now in hindsight I wish I had said "I won't answer that" or "no."
  15. M

    Married woman asked me if I loved her. I said yes, but..

    Ok, thanks. So......what should I do now? It's already happened.
  16. M

    Married woman asked me if I loved her. I said yes, but..

    Long story short: a married Christian woman has had a crush on me for a long time. Although I like her too, I have told her many times that we can't be together. She asked me again, today, if I still liked her. I replied, "Yes, but we can't be together." But, although that was the truthful...
  17. M

    Elisha telling Joash to fire arrows......seems passive-aggressive?

    So I've been thinking about the passage in II Kings where Elisha tells Joash, king of Israel, to fire arrows out the window, saying that the arrows symbolize victory over Syria. Joash fires 3 arrows, then stops, and Elisha gets angry, telling him that this means he will only defeat Syria three...
  18. M

    Christian churches supporting Trump

    While I agree with this, I wish many Christians would realize that this applies when it's a leader they don't like, either. Some Christians say "Trump is God's chosen leader for America" but somehow claim that Obama wasn't God's chosen leader for America during 2008-2016. (And ditto the other...
  19. M

    Christian churches supporting Trump

    To answer the OP: I didn't vote for Trump, but I easily understand why millions of Christians did. Because over the past few decades, our nation has turned into an "emperor's new clothes" society. We've become one in which those who say things like "there are only 2 genders" get vilified (when...
  20. M

    I cannot recognize the voice of God

    Well, my OCD (or some other quirk of my brain) reads Scripture but in a very harsh light. For instance, like mentioned above, the verse about "only those who do the will of the Father will enter the Kingdom of God" - my brain then interprets it as, if I don't do everything I sense that God wants...