confused, questioning my beliefs

[InnocentOdion]

Hi there, rebecca01.

I'm a convert to Christianity, after spending a long time looking for the true religion, I finally found it. I was asking myself questions like this about your age, too, and it was a struggle. My life was an absolute mess. I dabbled in Occult, and my life was a mess. I'd tried praying and I couldn't! I was too proud.

Somehow, I became Christian and my life has been great since.

To be a Christian, you don't have to be judgemental. I have gay friends, I'm Christian. I know homosexuality isn't something we choose. I try not to judge people, but I am guilty of it occasionally!
There are quite a few Biblical quotes on this, such as:

Matthew 7 1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

OR

John 8, 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.

I don't want to try to convert you, because when people used to try and do that with me, it would irritate me and I don't think it helped me in my quest, but I'd be more than happy to answer any questions, even though I myself am still a baby in Chirst.

• My personal take on why God doesn't like homosexuality is because it doesn't help create children. Something excellent. Without sounding like an anti-homosexual neo-Nazi, and just trying to explain one of the possibilities why: they didn't have means of safe sex. Which means they could've got anything, and passed it on. If a man decides to 'try' with another man back then, how does he know if he has an STD or not? And then if this man has caught something, and goes with his wife, and has children, the baby is born with it. And if the husband dies and the wife doesn't know she's got it, perhaps it's lying dormant, and she gets married to someone else... you can see where this is leading. And we know - not everyone uses a condom with new partners - and if they do, there's no 100% protection. Condoms can break, still, so does it make it any safer?

• I'm a father so I'm a bit biased, but watching my fiancée's stomach grow from nothing to a bump, and then to see a baby born from that bump is something. I watched what happened to my classmate and his partner - who had an abortion, without asking him what he thought. It really hurt him and put a strain on their relationship, and I saw abortion videos, which definitley put me off!

• I believe God gave humans free will, so we were given the option of sinning, and humans, being short sighted, and often quite naïve, took the bait.

• I believe homosexuality is just one of those things. It happen. I'd say that it's upbringing, but I don't think it is - although I think some people are gay due to upbringing, like two of my friends had bad experiences with women.

• God is all forgiving, I don't see why people say he isn't. I believe you have to forgive yourself and confess your sins to be forgiven by him though. The reason there is a Hell is for the Devil, and those who consciously and persistently refuse to know him. I don't think everyone goes to Hell. God isn't like that, but I think that those who don't know Christ when they die, will go to Hell -- until they decide to accept Christ as God's own.

• Well, in the Bible I read (see profile if you're interested peeps), it doesn't say "days", it says "æons" - a time. A period of time which can't be measured. Time is something God makes. I take Genesis 1:21 to hint at dionsaurs. As well as some other parts of the Bible which have been mentioned above.

• I've explained the last one to you already - see above.

I hope this helps your questions. Please feel free to message me if you have any questions about what I've said, or post on here for me and I'll check back!

IO

 

[junkmail]

What I suggest you do is make a prayer directly to God the creator of the Universe. Ask Him to open up your heart and show you the truth. Tell Him you want to fidn the Truth. God Willing he will answer your prayer

 

[rocklife]

What I suggest you do is make a prayer directly to God the creator of the Universe. Ask Him to open up your heart and show you the truth. Tell Him you want to fidn the Truth. God Willing he will answer your prayer

yes, but remember sin hinders your relationship with God. Sin blocks and separates us. God offers us the Savior of sin, Jesus. Learn of Him more especially from New Testament

 

[eoj]

Rebecca, hon, God bless you for coming here looking for answers. I will keep you in my heart and in all my prayers sweetie.

sending you some hugs today

EOJ

 

[JEBofChristTheLord]

All of the commandments below, are from God to the Hebrews under the Old Covenant. Christ gives us a new covenant, with new commandments. We are not under the old commandments, because even though I was born a Hebrew, Christ has said I should not even call anyone in the world "father" anymore, because the Father in Heaven is my father: I am born again, and the commandments which apply to my new being, are of the New Covenant, and not of the Old.

Heres a few reasons why i believe Christianity is WRONG

In the bible it says we should kill all who work on the sabbath day lets look at Exodus 31:15
ok now go down to Wallmart this Sunday and take a look at all the people working there, now most of them are Christian are we suposed to kill them? OF COURSE NOT!

Now lets look at 1 Corinthians 14

thats wrong.

Want to see something thats even more wrong?
Thats Leviticus 25:44

But wait it gets better
Thats Exodus 21:20-21

sure theres good stuff in the bible but who would want a book that approves of this kind of stuff....

You can decide for yourself.

 

[Dondi]

All of the commandments below, are from God to the Hebrews under the Old Covenant. Christ gives us a new covenant, with new commandments. We are not under the old commandments, because even though I was born a Hebrew, Christ has said I should not even call anyone in the world "father" anymore, because the Father in Heaven is my father: I am born again, and the commandments which apply to my new being, are of the New Covenant, and not of the Old.

I beg to differ. They are the same commandments, just under a new light.

Jesus said:

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:17-19

The difference is that the righteous requirement of the Law was met in Christ. His Death, Burial, and Resurrection took the penalty for sin, or penalty for breaking of the Law. Through Christ, God can be both Just and Merciful at the same time. That is called Grace.

But the purpose of Grace is not to get away from the Law, but that the Law may be written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit. All the Law and the Prophets are summed up in this:

"...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." - Matthew 22:37-39

We still follow the Law in principle, for it shows us how to love. Paul speaks of this in Romans 3:31:

"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law."

The reason Jesus said in John 13:34, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" was not to replace the law, but with the Holy Spirit given to us, we would now have the power to love as Jesus did.

 

[FrAnthony]

I beg to differ. They are the same commandments, just under a new light.

Well said and demonstrated.