the worst christian ever

[Fuwari]

He's not angry with those who have put their faith in Jesus - and He is all about people putting their faith in Jesus:

This is why i think he is angry with me, i do not think that i have enough faith for him not to be

 

[Sketcher]

Just come to Him. Pray that He will assist you with the faith that is needed. God does not want to push you away.

 

[bethdinsmore]

Hello
Maybe i shouldn't post post in a non christians area if i have a christian icon, but i tried to be a christian and i wasn't any good so i gave up. and now i'm scared that God is angry with me. maybe he will smite me, i might get hit by lightning.
maybe i never was a christian in the first place. lots of people alk about being changed and being filled with the holy spirit. i don't think this ever happened to me. why is the gospel called good news? surely it is really bad news? it is really scarey.
i think i have a lot more to say, but it is the middle of the night and i have to go to work tomorrow. maybe god will be angry that i'm going to work on a sunday. i think he will definatly be angry that i'm not going to church. i intend to go to church tomorrow, but really i don't think i will.

lots of love, from the worst christian ever

Fuwari, I am so sorry you feel like such a bad Christian because you "gave up".

To reply to the things in your post that are highlighted, in reverse order:

The Gospel means "good news". It is called that because God loves us so much that, though we all are sinners, He sent Christ to die for us to pay for all sins for all time, so that we could be in a loving relationship with Him forever. It is a gift we received just by making the decision to rely on Christ alone to be our sinbearer and to get us to Heaven one day, without good works of our own. And eternal life means just that - we cannot lose our salvation. For example:

Rom 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(NIV)
Rom 11:29
29 for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.
(NIV)
John 10:28-29
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
(NIV)

(Not even we ourselves can snatch us out of God's hand - which is not scary, but I'll get to that later.)

As to "Maybe I was not a Christian in the first place" - was there ever a point in time when you made the decision to trust in Christ alone to save you? If you can't remember for sure, ask yourself this question, " If I were to stand at the entrance gates to Heaven, and God asked me, "Why should I let you into Heaven?" what would I tell God?...... Please think about the answer before you read on.

If your answer included anything about your good works, that means that you don't understand the plan of salvation. Please read over the first of my post again, or read "How to Be Saved" in my website listed on my profile page.

If your answer to God's question indicated that you are relying only on Christ and his death on the cross for your sins to get you to Heaven, that is saving faith. You don't have to have a certain amount of faith to make that decision. If you haven't already made that decision, I pray that you will soon.

Now, leading up to the first part of your quote that I highlighted - I'm scared that God is angry with me.

God hates the sin but loves the sinner. To Him we are a human BEING, not a human DOING.

The Bible says "God is love". But He didn't just say that - He proved it by giving God the Son to die for us, so that we could be with Him now and forever. If you don't believe the Bible, I suggest you investigate Christian evidences.

As I said, we can't lose our salvation once we are saved, but we will be punished when we sin unless we confess it and stop it. But we are punished by a loving father.

Heb 12:5-11
5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!
10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (NIV)

But what about when the Bible says we are to "fear God"? The Bible in the original language is using fear there in the sense of "have reverential awe", and not in the sense of "be afraid of."

So are we to fear our loving Father? Not according to Scripture. But let me say this, after I was saved I did fear and hate Him. As I studied Scripture, I realized that my feelings were not based on the God of the Bible. Through Christian counseling, I realized that I had been transferring my feelings for my earthly father to my Heavenly Father. This is not that uncommon. That realization helped me to eventually become deeply in love with God. It's been 33 years now, and He's never let me down. (You might like to read "Personal Testimony" in my website to see many of the ways God has shown me He is loving and is no one to be feared.)

Jer 29:11
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV)

I'll pray for you - aloha in Jesus, friend

 

[MikeMcK]

well, i suppose if you are a christian you are saved and in which case you will go to heaven. but i feel if i died right now God would not let me into heaven
(although generally i am known among my friends for thinking and feeling stupid things which i have no real justification for. so...)

Why not? If you're seperated from God by sin, you can be reconciled.
If you're not, if you're saved, then you're a new creature in Christ and we are accounted as righteous because of our faith in Him.

it says that we have been saved from God's wrath by Christ dieing for sinners
does this mean he is not angry with anyone?

Yes, it does say that but you missed the part I really hoped you'd get.

This verse also tells us, "by this, God demonstrated His great love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the Ungodly".

Try reading it this way: "By this, God demonstrated His great love for Fuwari, in that, while Fuwari was yet a sinner, Christ died for Fuwari."

Now, does that sound like God is angry at you?

or he is just not angry with those who have put their faith in Jesus?

The Bible tells us that God has taken His wrath out on Christ, when He died on the cross.

 

[whatseekye]

How long have you been feeling like this? I think one thing that we tend to do as Christians is try to keep up a front like we are really doing well in our faith. But God sees in to our hearts, and we can't really hide from him. We need to go to God in prayer often and really confess everything that is going on in our hearts and minds, without any fear. Because God is not angry with you. The condemnation you feel is from the enemy, a.k.a. Satan. God's character is so pure and holy, so faithful and loving, we can't even imagine what that's like. But we can trust that God loves all of his people, whether they believe in Him or not. But we also know that to be in relationship with God requires a turning of our hearts to Him and faith in Jesus Christ. So being confident of the work that Jesus Christ did on our behalf by being crucified and bearing the full weight of all sin, we can just turn to God boldly in prayer and really tell him the whole truth. Don't be afraid to do that. An example of someone turning to God and spilling the beans like that was King David in his psalms. He often complains of sadness, anger at other people, talks of feeling distant from God, etc., but he just turns it all in to prayer, asking God to help Him. God wasn't mad that David shared his whole heart with Him. In fact, we call David, "a man after God's own heart" because of his open heart to God. If you can really spill out all these feelings and thoughts you are having in prayer, you can also come to a point of Godly sorrow where you just are crying out to God for Him to help you and comfort you. God will! This is all a totally private thing, and maybe it will be gradual for you. But crack open your heart and see that God will comfort you.

 

[Tehara Deirdre]

Almost two years ago i went to a special christian worship meeting. The leader even started speaking in (i assume) tounges, part way through. It was awful, i felt like such an imposter, i would have got up and walked out, but concerned that this would draw more attention to me, i had to sit through it.it was after this meeting that i decided i wasn't a christian. if the presence of God was there and i could dislike it so much, i really must be evil.

(I haven't ever posted in CF before, so please forgive any mistakes I may make somehow in this post--I'm still learning.)

Hi, I don't know how much I can help, but I felt compelled to try, and I will try to write carefully.

(Also, I wrote this over the past couple of days and so, since new posts are up, I'm sorry if some of this sounds repetitive. Please forgive me, Fuwari, tattered saint, ronaldp, and all the others who want to help. Thanks, because in the meantime you ministered to Fuwari.

I hope that this will help you, Fuwari, although, ultimately, the thanks should go to God for the help and for what possibly could be training from Him to you.

With the above quote I think I may be seeing at least part of your problem which is troubling you. If the speaker spoke in tongues at this public meeting and did not interpret (or have an interpreter interpret) the meaning of what he or she had said (in English, presumably, or any other human language that the audience would reasonably understand), then the speaker would've been in violation of Scripture (Please see below. These are all from the KJV, italics included. You can check the context, etc. of each verse if you want to be certain that they are applied correctly here.).

Thus you may have felt so uncomfortable because what the speaker may have been doing was wrong. This may indicate that you are sensing that God's blessings were not upon that meeting and that the other spirit could've been at work. (There are those who use such gifts Biblically and then there are other people who just don't believe and apply God's Word, but are instead basically charlatans.) In all this please notice I wrote words like "may", etc. because I am not to accuse anybody falsely.

"How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God."
1 Corinthians 14:26-28

"Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue."
1 Corinthians 14:19

 

[Tehara Deirdre]

Cont. - Also, I'm not exactly sure why you felt like you were an imposter, but I guess (emphasis on "guess", since I don't know) that you felt like one because you already had some of those questions you mentioned before (about what was so good about the Gospel, and how you could have a relationship with Jesus Christ if you couldn't communicate with Him, etc.) and they perhaps weren't being answered there and yet you felt like you had to act as if your questions had been answered and that you were ok with what was going on (to avoid unwanted attention).

Anyway, I liked your questions. There are those who don't think about their faith or lack thereof and encourage the same in others; I will not agree to such a mindset. You have to know as much as possible why you believe as you do--it helps you to avoid believing lies. At least you're thinking.

God does communicate through His Bible, and you can communicate with him through prayer.

Feelings aren't everything (they are something, but not everything), as it appears you are aware. Focus on the facts and the promises of the Bible. Focus on who God is, as He has revealed Himself most specifically in His Word.

It's true we can't entirely fathom what He is like, but God knows us. And yet, he still wants us to get to know Him as much as we are able, for our benefit. (I think that Corrie Ten Boom said something like focusing on ourselves and/or on others will disappoint us, while focusing on God will ultimately help us to follow Him.)

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."
Isaiah 26:3

I've felt many times like this too--that I'm just evil & faithless and God wouldn't want me, and in fact, shouldn't want me (The shouldn't part is really bad because it is basically me asserting my will against the sovereignty of God! I'm excessively stupid that way.). I'd mention a certain popular anime/manga character that expressed similar ideas of God not wanting him, although that would turn into promotion of that character (since he is one of my favorites) and that is not what I want to go into in this thread (unless you'd want me to and unless it would be ok by forum rules--I read them but am not clear yet about something like that).

However, knowing this (that I'm evil such that God doesn't want me), really knowing this in both heart and mind, is a thing that I don't see the Bible supporting. Please don't misunderstand me. We have our sinful natures and are worthy of death and of hell, but Jesus Christ came to save us while we were yet sinners ("But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8).

He did this voluntarily out of love for us, because He is not willing that any should perish, but that all would repent ("The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9). Thus, He does want each person to have a relationship with Him. He wants us to agree that we have sinned and to repent, through His power, of our sins.

Our sins hurt us and separate us from Him and unconfessed (before God) sin in a believer's life will cause noncommunication. ("If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:" Psalms 66:18) I don't know if there is any unconfessed sin or not in your life (So please understand that I'm not accusing you of anything --there is likely a whole matrix of causes to what you are going through now (for example, another possibility is the "dark night of the soul" experience). Of these causes, unconfessed sin may or may not be a part--I know I'm probably stating the obvious, sorry). Any confessed or unconfessed sin is none of my business (unless I were somehow involved with or affected by that sin) and is between you and God.

If there is unconfessed sin, you need to confess and repent of the sin(s) before God, even taking note that you may not realize or be aware of some of these sins. At any rate, I can see that you seem to be quite painfully aware of the sinfulness of yourself and want to repent (which is a quality sorely lacking in most people). To truly repent before God and to focus on God and His forgiveness, love, grace, and the fact that He overcame our sinfulness, is something which I believe will help.

I know that technically this leaves out a lot of other theological questions and concerns--many of which I am thinking about myself, but it is what I have in shortened form.

This seems pertinent:

The devil has convinced so many people that they are worthless. Each of us needs to stop and remember the cross—at the cross we will discover our true value— for it is here that we discover the price God was willing to pay for us, the depth of His love, and how much we are worth to Him.



- Roy Lessin, Co-founder DaySpring Cards, from "The Cross — Understanding Your True Worth" © copyright 2005 DaySpring® Cards. All rights reserved.



​

If it's any consolation, and I think someone may have mentioned this before, you seem to have something in common with Paul, and, really all of us (myself included).

"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."
1 Timothy 1:15


As a side note, notice how human philosophy, psychology, religion, etc. will be useless and absolutely wrong (not just to you and your problem, but useless and absolutely wrong entirely), without God's teachings guiding them and being empowered and infused into them. This is generally the reason why I have quoted the Bible so much in this post. Also, these verses are great:


"Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. "
2 Corinthians 7:9-10


"For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you."
2 Corinthians 13:4


"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
John 14:27


"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
John 16:33


Sorry about long posts, run-on sentences, and for the lack of proofs for everything (I sense that my post is not pithy enough and is too summarized, basically.). I pray that it may be helpful however.

 

[belladonic-haze]

Hello
Maybe i shouldn't post post in a non christians area if i have a christian icon, but i tried to be a christian and i wasn't any good so i gave up. and now i'm scared that God is angry with me. maybe he will smite me, i might get hit by lightning.
maybe i never was a christian in the first place. lots of people alk about being changed and being filled with the holy spirit. i don't think this ever happened to me. why is the gospel called good news? surely it is really bad news? it is really scarey.
i think i have a lot more to say, but it is the middle of the night and i have to go to work tomorrow. maybe god will be angry that i'm going to work on a sunday. i think he will definatly be angry that i'm not going to church. i intend to go to church tomorrow, but really i don't think i will.

lots of love, from the worst christian ever

Guess what...You're human........

Don't beat yourself up on this! Going to church isn't about being a Christian...it is in your heart, soul and body!!!!!
Remember the story about the lost son and how he was treated when he came home?..........Well, God is that kind of father, mother, friend, brother, sister and so on......

love and sunshine,
Bella

 

[yourbabiiGrl]

nobody's perfect! don't stress if you haven't been baptized by the holy spirit! you're time will come - dont worry, it will. god is love and love forgives. he is patient, he is kind. there's always time to stop your ways and start again.. turn over a new leaf. seek god with all your heart and you will be baptized by the holy spirit. it's amazing, don't pass it up! and like.. what my youth leader says.. its not about what YOU DO for God.. its about when JESUS has already DONE for you.. =). best wishes on your walk with god. god bless.

 

[Joykins]

Hello there everyone,

reasons why the gospel is bad news:
i am evil and i'm going to hell
my family are evil and are going to hell
everyone i have loved who has already died is not resting in peace, free from their pain, but actually in hell

and the solution to this is to build a relationship with someone i can't communicate with.

i doubt any of you have a solution to this. but you all seen like nice people so hopefully you won't be angry with me for saying this......

Well, no wonder you are unhappy in your faith. What does it seem to promise you, given the above perceptions, besides fear, guilt, and feelings of inadequacy? It sounds to me like whoever is presenting the gospel to you or interpreting it to you is stressing the negative. To me, the gospel is not grabbing a liferaft out of hell, but a desire to share fully in the ultimate Good which is God, and I stay because of that.

If you feel you are capable of it, put aside all those ideas of what the "gospel" message is about. If you truly want to know Jesus--trust God to watch out for your soul and the souls of your loved ones (after all, He is the one in charge of that), and just pick a gospel (any one) and read it cover to cover. Get to know Jesus not in a little-verse-here and Sunday-school-lesson-there sort of way, but get a good, full look at his actual life. Really pay attention to what he did and what he thought and what he taught. Then you'll be able to form a better idea about what sort of Person he was (and is). You might want to note what He actually said about hell, too--it probably isn't what you were taught.

 

[Fuwari]

Quote whatseekye:

How long have you been feeling like this?

about two years..........
i know you have all told me that God is not angry with me, but i stopped reading the bible because i felt condemed by it

this may sound quite stupid but i decided to be a christian before i had really heard about what Jesus had done. i joined a church and youth group and i found out loads but i also found out that not only most things i do are wrong but the way i feel is sinful to.........
.....and i can't take it that God would send someone i love to hell, i might be sinful and deserve to go to hell, but they do NOT.

Quote Joykin's:

You might want to note what He actually said about hell, too--it probably isn't what you were taught.

you are right that i don't actually know what the bible says about hell, and i'm not sure i really want to read about it
i used to get annoyed that the afterlife was emphasized and mentioned so much...is there any hymn, any sermon any meeting that does not mention eternal life....
it makes it seem like, lets all believe in God so we can cash in....it makes it seem made up.....like poeple invented christianity to make themselves feel better......(although i don't appear to think it is all made up otherwise i wouldn't be so worried about it)

Quote Tehara Deidre

Thus you may have felt so uncomfortable because what the speaker may have been doing was wrong. This may indicate that you are sensing that God's blessings were not upon that meeting and that the other spirit could've been at work. (There are those who use such gifts Biblically and then there are other people who just don't believe and apply God's Word, but are instead basically charlatans.) In all this please notice I wrote words like "may", etc. because I am not to accuse anybody falsely.

i don't remember if he was translating or not.................

I've felt many times like this too--that I'm just evil & faithless and God wouldn't want me, and in fact, shouldn't want me (The shouldn't part is really bad because it is basically me asserting my will against the sovereignty of God! I'm excessively stupid that way.).

it is comforting to know that other people struggle too, all the christians i know do not seem too, they may struggle ovar specific issues but they never doubt that God wants them or that they are saved

when i first decided to be a christian i had a great christian role model i met, she taught me a lot.................although recently she ignores and hates everyone in the world especially all christian because she is gay, she will no longer talk to me..................she feels that all christians hate her and will not accept her (although that is actually just my perception of the situation, as i mentioned - she doesn't talk to me anymore and i have nothing against her being gay) i was sad to lose this chriatian friend

oooo, the text has gone blue

 

[Joykins]

you are right that i don't actually know what the bible says about hell, and i'm not sure i really want to read about it

It says remarkably little, actually. The Sadducees of Jesus's time didn't even believe in an afterlife.

There is actually a great diversity in Christendom in beliefs about hell (from the belief that everyone will be saved, to the belief that hell is a spiritual state, to the belief that hell doesn't exist, to the beliefs that you are being taught). Set that aside as well if it troubles you. Focus on Jesus. Read about him. Then you can make any decisions you need to make, but you should at least know what he said, did, and taught, without having any group filter it for you first.

Joy

 

[Anti Existance]

happy birthday

god wont smite you you smite yourself: Just become a loving and helping person as best as you can ; because what more is there that you can do

if you dont feel comfortable just try praying to god in seclusion in your own bedroom you shouldnt do anything until you are ready to participate: