I'm done (heavy vent/semi controversial possibly?)

[theoneandonlypencil]

"(maybe not monopoly though...buying boardwalk brings out the worst in everyone, especially if you have also have properties built all over the board)"

LOL!!!!!!! I'm laughing so hard my stomach hurts and tears pouring down my face. I do find that sort of profound and enlightening too...it's good to remember just how ridiculous we can all be over the most trivial of things. it's a real humbling but with laughter. thank you

Hehehehe I'm glad I could make you laugh XD And exactly, I agree! Sometimes the most sincere lessons can be learned just by observing everyday occurrences from a different perspective.

...

Though I probably also understand it so well because... I was that person in monopoly. Suffice to say, I am highly disliked in that game.

 

[gentlejah]

We so often all feel like God is angry or disappointed with us but I often wonder how often he is laughing at our behavior. lol

I do know many of the great Catholic Saints, mystics, and nuns could be known for having quite a temper so we are in good company. I wish I could remember who it was..it may have been St Teresa of Avila who once complained she could be a much more spiritual person if it wasn't for all the people around her. lol

 

[Allen of the Cross]

Hello, I just wrote you a poem. I hope you enjoy it. God be with you.

There there, my friend.
The church has gone awry.
Don't be troubled, again:
For you the savior died.

Remember the gospel:
Believe and you will be saved.
Pray to the God of Israel,
For you the way has been paved.

When the corruption of man gets you down,
Remember the Lord is always with you.
Therefor do not wear on your face a frown,
The Lord will never forsake you.

You said heaven is not something you will seek,
But I urge you, pass through the narrow gate!
And when men trouble you, be humble & meek,
For the way ahead is narrow and strait.

Christ commanded us to be merciful.
He told us to love our enemies.
Doesn't this include the unmerciful?
Let us show them the power of turning the cheek!

So my friend, I hope with Christ you will always stay,
For He is good, and for your troubles, He will pay.
Never stop asking God for more faith,
Never stop seeking God; always pray!

I hope you stick with Christ because He loves you

 

[Dave G.]

This is exactly what I hope to gain the patience to do. I don't want to spend all of my short time here on earth bickering, nor is it even beneficial if I did. Not for myself, or anyone else. Practicing kindness and self-discipline, however? Can't ever have too much of those.



The virus is weighing heavily on everyone, so I understand completely. I'm ready for it to be over honestly lol.

I almost always use the NIV, but I read that the NASB is very easy to read as well and possibly even more 'accurate'? In terms of being written for the english language and staying true to the source material, that is. I'd really like to start reading psalms again; I love the array of emotions found in the passages.

Any bible you have that reads well for you is good. You can always check passages you question in Strongs lexicon online or compare bible versions at BibleGateway or BibleHub etc. online. Of those I've checked and compared, actually NKJV is about as accurate as English gets and still fairly smooth reading. It seems to strengthen some passages too, which gives a sense of authority compared to a weaker reading bible. But flow matters too. By the way, 1985 and older NIV bibles are probably the more accurate of the NIV series of releases.
Just sayin ! Don't throw out your bible if it's newer just check passages against other now and then. You might find some verses completely missing in later NIVs.

 

[Hazelelponi]

FWIW my method of survival here may not be perfect but if I see I'm in a thread and it looks like someone wants to argue with me, I post a standard old fashion smiley face and move on. There are a lot of new Christians around here who can use a fresh word, no need to be arguing with some crusty entrenched person that isn't about to change anyway or whose milk he weened off of was from a different doctrine than mine. That's a mountain for someone else to climb IMO. Meanwhile with a few grace words in between then we can get along.

I loaded a new NASB onto my Kindle Fire ( I'm a KJV/NKJV guy normally) been enjoying the easy read, it's very easy flowing. My spirit feels a little quickening and lite. It's for something a little different to kind of loose the binders of this corona stuff. Anyone had enough of that thing yet, I have !! I'm thinking with all the free time, we are seeing minds wander here in the forums, we need our eyes set on Jesus in these times, it's what He would suggest if here with us. So it came over me to just read a different version of the bible for a while. Been reading and studying in Joshua and really kind of caught up in it !

I made a post yesterday in a thread to someone where I was saying our motives matter in the things we do..

And I've been thinking ever since about my own motives.. how often I come here because I'm bored or how often I post because of an emotional reaction to a thread or post, or how often I'm learning Scripture because I want more knowledge...

And in the self examination I realized there are far fewer times than I'd like that my motive is purely God, or God's Glory, or just because I love God...

I've decided to put up a postit note that says "all for the glory of God", and stop doing things for any other reason....

 

[Dave G.]

I made a post yesterday in a thread to someone where I was saying our motives matter in the things we do..

And I've been thinking ever since about my own motives.. how often I come here because I'm bored or how often I post because of an emotional reaction to a thread or post, or how often I'm learning Scripture because I want more knowledge...

And in the self examination I realized there are far fewer times than I'd like that my motive is purely God, or God's Glory, or just because I love God...

I've decided to put up a postit note that says "all for the glory of God", and stop doing things for any other reason....

I like the post it idea. FWIW I edit a lot, I've typed out three paragraphs of what I want to say so so many times. To just turn around and dump the whole thing upon closer examination, asking myself What are you doing, who do you think you are lol !!!! And sum it up in a one liner somehow. We need to be connected with the Spirit when we post. It changes things ( edit) and if He gives a line or three or three paragraphs, He spoke through us. It's not all us.

 

[Hazelelponi]

We need to be connected with the Spirit when we post. It changes things.

Yeah it really does. I can always tell the difference in posts I make if I prayed first.. always...

Yet oddly I still make posts without praying; I can be such a dunce sometimes..lol

 

[Dave G.]

Yeah it really does. I can always tell the difference in posts I make if I prayed first.. always...

Yet oddly I still make posts without praying.. I can be such a dunce sometimes..lol

Amen, it's not just you !!!! We're human, we read from scripture we will be in our new bodies with glory one day !

 

[Zanting]

//this is not meant to flame anyone, this is a vent/rant//

I think I'm done being on here. I may lurk, but I don't know if I want to post here anymore

I once thought that communication with other Christians would ultimately be good for me, and in many ways, it has been and I have met and seen very many lovely people. But you know what? The general environment of the body of believers in this day and age has become borderline vile with the amount of division and resentment present within it.

I see how people treat each other when their faith is tested. I notice how they start to crack when the passive-aggressive insults start coming and it all becomes a game of 'winning and losing'. I know because I've been doing it too; I hate it. I'm not proud of it. But this environment only eggs it on.

And you know what else? I don't feel like I know God. I don't even feel like I can read the bible without someone else's words in my mind. I am grateful for all of the people who have shown me so many truths about scripture--how to look at the bigger picture, to get the historical context, and find out the real meanings to the words originally spoken. But all in all, I still feel like I'm no closer to understanding him as when I began this journey to reignite my faith.

I've also noticed how people treat the pre-conceived image of God, and you know what? I'll go ahead and say it out loud(mind you, this is not a claim I'm making);

I don't care if God isn't omniscient. I don't care if he has any regrets. I don't care if he has plain old normal feelings just like us. I don't care if he isn't controlling us all on puppet strings.

He created me. I owe my life to him and every breath I take is a gift. I would never, ever criticize God's actions simply because of the fact that he MADE me, and I will never be equal; just like a young child is not equal to their parents, I would not question God because he is our father.

I see so many people get so uptight over what God is or isn't. Can you really say you love him unconditionally if you can't even consider him 'God' anymore without all of the extravagances? I can't explain how infuriated I feel when I hear people say things like 'that isn't true, because God wouldn't be as [powerful/sovereign/etc]!" because it is NOT about HIM meeting OUR expectations. WE were created by HIM, not the other way around so he has every right to do things however he pleases.

I can't convince myself that God is just a puppetmaster who went through all of the trouble he has for us just to play with our lives like we were dolls and to get some kind of artificial love from it. It could be true--and if it is, I will surely play along just like I was programmed to do from the beginning. But I do not believe it.

I love God. I love God in my own stupidly weird way, even if I don't shout it from the rooftops and I can't seem to get anything right. I love him so much that even when I understand that I can't be the holy, ultra-righteous perfect child that knows every line of scripture and spends my whole life worshipping him the way everyone tells me I should worship him, I break down in tears at the thought of ever turning my back on him because even at my lowest--a point where I thought 'maybe the atheists are right, I felt him drift away. I started to feel that familiar presence that's been here for my entire life begin to fade, and I couldn't stand it. Metaphorically speaking, I ran after him again as fast as I could; and I'll keep doing that until the day I'm dead.

If I screw up and my sins send me to some kind of eternal torment, then I deserve it and I accept that fate. I just hope that he can still use me to reach other people that can hopefully do more than I can. As terrified as I've always been of going to hell, I really don't care if I get eternal life. Of course, I value God's mercy and compassion immensely, and it's a truly spectacular gift...but I don't want my life to revolve around whether or not I get to heaven anymore. I don't want to be saved if I don't deserve it, and I don't want my efforts to be driven by what I will gain from God instead of what I can give back to God.

I also don't want to feel the way I do about humanity. I truly appreciate God's ability to love all, because sometimes I honestly can't stand anyone on this earth(except for a very sparse list of people in my life)and I can't help but swell with immeasurable anger when I think of all of the stupid things that are done and said by both believers and nonbelievers alike. In fact, sometimes I feel like a lot of us believers are no better than the unbelievers--we're just the better actors. I've had many vile things said to me and witnessed others subject to the same by fellow believers, and it's sowed in my heart such a great amount of disdain that at times I don't even consider them my brothers or sisters in Christ at all.

I wish I had the patience to truly help and change people--most importantly myself, but I can't right now. I think the thing I need to do is to spend a good amount of time alone with God, and let him heal the damage that's been done. I also want to stop basing all of my judgments based on other peoples' interpretation of 'God wants/says this or that' because, at this point, I genuinely do not believe in ANY man's authority of God's word. No matter how much you try to convince me, the fact is that there is only one truth to everything God wants and has said & done; the fact that there are so many different answers and interpretations, none of which can be effectively proven to be 100% correct and fulfill every aspect of God' intent, shows me that in truth almost everyone has deceived themselves and I want nothing to do with it.

Of course, I will acknowledge that we have to do SOMETHING and that any attempt to understand and live faithfully to God is better than not(and I do think it's enough to be saved if you're genuine about it), which is why I will try to learn from others where I can(especially in areas I am not educated in)and I will still enjoy theology...but all of it will ultimately have to be approved to me by God, personally. Even if it takes me the next 50 years to listen hard enough to understand what he's saying.

I also will still consider myself a Lutheran, since it is where my home-church resides and I can at least connect with Lutheranism better than any of the other denominations.

I'm tired of playing this complex game with everyone and wasting my time away from God though. From now on, I'm going to try and do the one thing I have always been scared to do and let God be my only guide without the added opinions of other people involved(at least not in an ultimate-authoritative manner). I'm sure this will not be the end of my mistakes or sins, and I'm sure in my current youth I'll have many more hurdles to navigate...but even should it take my whole life to learn from these mistakes and grow, it will be worth it if I can eventually become something even slightly worthy of God's praise.

Anyways, I'm sorry to all of the people I've been rude/mean-spirited to and I wish you all the best. I also want to thank all of the people that have helped me since I came here and given me so many resources to learn from and help expand my knowledge.

I guess after getting all of this off of my chest, I still might post occasionally and I might even come back fully someday--but for now, I am burnt out and I do need a break.

God bless and wish me luck as I take this terrifying leap.

Your sentiment is so important and it speaks to/for many of us...and maybe more of us should do a bit a rant too...we gain strength confessing our inner most beliefs and feelings...it's cathartic.

And perhaps the reasons why so many are struggling so much is because, deception is the ruler of this world and we all know who the deceiver is. His deception is embedded in our schools and universities, in the film and music industry, in world governments, in science and medicine, and in our churches...it's everywhere. Some of us who have been around for awhile have watched it creep in bit, by bit, by bit, while most never noticed...or paid attention. Even so...we've all been deceived at one point or another as facts have become fiction, and fiction has become fact.

As far as speaking truth goes...well the deceiver is all about debunking truth and supporting lies, of making what is right wrong, and what is wrong right and destroying common sense...and it is evident here on CF too. All over the globe...truth it is riduculed, shut down, shut out and hushed up while lies have been allowed to run rampant.

And no...like everyone else...I am not perfect either...I get frustrated...I don't always do or say the right thing...still...I know I have a loving, merciful, kind and just Father in heaven who will forgive me...something we all can be thankful for...indeed humbled by the greatness of His Grace, and the blessing of His holy word to guide us, give us confort and peace, courage and strength.

The truth reigns in Gods army and we know God wins. His truth is alive and well...and His promise of a great awakening is happening in real time. More and more people, not just Christians, are seeing the truth and rejecting the lies that keep us in fear, and enslaved to a corrupt money loving world where the richest...and most wicked... make fools of the rest.

The deceiver is being revealed and his day of reckoning is fast approaching and it is so important to keep in mind Ephesians 6:12...For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Go in peace...walk in truth...and shine Gods light wherever He leads.

 

[bèlla]

My time away was replenishing. I’ve limited my participation to select subjects and avoid those that incite arguments or debate.

It’s not a wise use of time and does little for my spirit. And there’s a drawback to sharing ones opinion too often.

I’ve found solace in a community of like-minded women (mostly Christian) working to improve our character and life skills as a group. There’s greater transparency and a corporal presence of helpfulness and support.

We have no interest in debating methods or philosophies. We’re interested in the same outcome. Mutual growth and a pleasant home environment.

From my experience that’s usually found in paid groups. They attract a different demographic and foster a congenial spirit.

I hope your time away is edifying and restorative.

~Bella

 

[Tempura]

Good, you let it out. Well done sister. I like posts like these. They always come from a hard place, but they let people who struggle with the same things know they're not quite as alone with their frustrations as they think they are. Honesty is so good.

It's easy for many of us to just pretend we don't have any stones in our supposedly spiritual boots, we just trudge on. But it gets so hard to walk, and after some time we don't even know what the problem is and we can go a bit insane. I recognize some of myself in what you were saying. I'm anxious and confused by nature so I do it all the time. I get these stones in my boots and after a while I don't know whats happening anymore: "are the stones at fault? Am I an idiot for tolerating them for so long? Or did I take them out but now there are just more of them? Or do I just walk funny? Should I take walking classes, and if so, from who? They're all saying different things! Or do my boots suck? Is this ground I'm walking on worse than before? And what's wrong with all the others for walking in a weird way too? Now what's wrong with me for judging them? Where is God? Who's talking? EVERYONE SHUT UP I CAN'T EVEN THINK, NOW SOMEONE MAKE MY MIND SHUT UP I CAN'T STAND MYSELF THINKING"

...and then I just crash down and I realize I'm merely a child in spiritual matters, often quite an idiot, and that realization helps me breathe. I can embrace being simple again without trying to outrun my own limits, and I can have simple faith again, like a child I am, and trust my God with the faith I've been given, He knows how to grow it, He knows how to get me to maturity. It's a way of letting go, when I realize I lost my grip quite some time ago already, and I can breathe, focus and just go to Christ as I am. Not to say that this is what you should think or do, I'm merely telling you how I see it in my own case.

As you can see I'm heavily projecting, I might even be talking about entirely different things than you did, I'm not sure. But thank you though, threads like these often get people going and venting in a good way. And I think I'll remember you when I see you again, that's a good thing. Whenever that might be, God knows. Christ be with you.

 

[Quietus]

I feel almost exactly the same, and I resonate a lot with what you said.