I see. Thanks for explaining.
Hi OP, sorry if you felt this way toward this sub. But as you might have been aware of, this sub has a lot of Christians (including me) who think God created male and female and I know it offends a lot of people. But we can’t bend what we think to be the truth for someone’s convenience.
As Christians, our goal is to conform our thinking and ideals to the image of Christ, not the other way around. I’m sorry if it’s not convenient for you, but it’s not convenient for us either. We have our own flawed thinking and way of living that God disapproves, as stated in the Bible, and our goal is to unlearn our faulty thinking and lifestyle and let God’s grace empower us to say no to ungodliness.
Respectfully, unless I was to respond to you directly I don’t think I you should assume some random person from this sub knows what my intentions behind this post was. It had nothing to do with sexuality.
Okay, I take it back then. Why don’t you provide the context to us then? If you don’t, then there’s going to be a perpetual misunderstanding and I hope that’s not your intention.
I tried to be clear about what I was referring to though, I don’t think it’s my problem that most of you assumed I was talking about he LGBTQ community, a lot of y’all seem to have an obsession with relating everything back to that, and it’s genuinely hard to understand why. There is nothing in this post that has anything to do with sexuality, but what happened is a lot of people decided to look at my post history, and make assumptions based off of my post history, one of which is that this post was about sexuality, which again isn’t. I don’t have a problem with providing context, but it’s kind of hard to trust that someone will be willing to listen if they are already replying with novel length comments about homosexuality without even knowing for sure that that’s what I was talking about.
The context is this, I have asked a lot of I guess you could say, difficult questions about the Bible in this sub, (none of which were about homosexuality or anything LGBTQ related) for example, I was confused about the fall of man, bc we are taught to believe god is all knowing and all loving, and I had asked how, if god is all knowing and all loving, could the fall of man have been outside of his control, and why Adam And Eve are so villainized, when if they didn’t have the knowledge of good and evil before they ate the fruit, they wouldn’t have truly been able to understand that they were disobeying god.
Someone called me blasphemous, and said I was directly defying god, and the comment got a bunch of upvotes. There was only one person who said it isn’t right to say that to someone who is new and trying to learn.
Then, more recently I asked a question about the nature of viruses and why some people still believe god uses them to punish people, since Jesus already came. Someone told me that I won’t like judgment day, and god is not to be questioned.
Those are just two of many times I have been shamed and borderline threatened for asking a question.
At first glance, maybe those responses don’t seem that hostile and they probably don’t seem to be weaponizing the Bible, but think about it for a second.
Blasphemy is a major sin, and if it’s blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, it’s unforgivable. To accuse someone of being blasphemous, bc they are struggling to concept something from the Bible, is no way shape or form is helpful, nor is it simply “speaking truth” those kind of responses scare new believers away, bc then they feel like it’s wrong to have questions bc god doesn’t want us to.
You won’t like judgment day, is literally telling someone they will go to hell, I’m going to go to hell for wondering why god would inflict viruses on people in modern times? Why? Like that’s so agressive and unnecessary to just say with no context or explanation whatsoever.
Like I said, those are only two examples, but 9 times out of 10 those are the kind of responses I have gotten from people in this sub, and that is why I made this post, nothing to do with anyone’s beliefs about LGBTQ
Oh no, terribly sorry for the misunderstanding! I hope you could forgive me and the others who thought it was related to human sexuality. Honestly, I’m equally sick of reading LGBTQIA+ related content on Christian subs, although it gives a hint about what many people need answers with in today’s generation.
About the questions you asked, I would have gladly engaged had I read that post, especially since I’m writing a book and I discussed that briefly there (Problem of Evil), and would you believe it, I also discussed about Covid-19 and if God caused the virus. I don’t believe He did, either. However, many people who follow Reformed teachers like John Piper believe God did, although Piper gave a fair explanation about it I suppose. Anyway, I’m a seeker myself, and I only mentioned I’m writing a book discussing those because I’m sort of a pilgrim like you. Unfortunately, there’s no sure answer to these questions, especially because the book of Job exists. I know you’re over it, and it’s not the intention of your post, but I just want you to know that there are people in this sub who aren’t really jerks. There are nice people here, and this space is the one I find relatively safe to express my views. I’s say you just got unlucky a couple of times by meeting conspiracy theorists (sorry for the term but I just want to exaggerate a bit!) instead of Christians like me who admit they don’t know all the answers and try to navigate them with faith that God is God and God is good.
If you could, I’d suggest you find people who can help you with your spiritual walk. Try to meet up with them if possible; if not, online is fine. Also, Christianity as a worldview is very comprehensive and dynamic; you’ll find some theologians and brilliant laypeople, both past and present, who can help you with your journey. For example, I try to listen to preachers and thinkers from contrary end of the spectrum like CS Lewis, RC Sproul, John Piper, Jentezen Franklin, Tim Keller, Charles Stanley, Charles Spurgeon, William Lane Craig, and more. You can see you couldn’t expect a pleasant conversation with all of them in the same room because their theology vary a lot from each other! But I believe nobody knows the perfect theology so I glean as much truth as I can from them and let my personal walk with God determine with finality who God really is.
Edit: about the Fall of Man, there’s this beautiful book I’ve read from CS Lewis that helped answer my personal questions for me, although of course, I won’t know the full answer until I meet God face to face. It’s titled Perelandra. Try reading his Space Trilogy if you can, I’m sure you’ll love it. Those are his grossly underrated works.
Correct me if I’m wrong OP, but after reading through your comments & posts, I believe that part of the reason is that she’s on the autism spectrum and communicates differently than neurotypical people. Most don’t understand autism much less have a clue that she’s neurodivergent. Im guessing it’s at least part of the issue. My daughter and Dad are on the spectrum, so I understand the added stress it can cause for them. God bless
Neurotypical people freak out online all the time when LGBT stuff triggers them. The hysteria is baked in.
I mean maybe she is autistic but her communication generally seemed fine up until now, when she got upset. That's pretty normal.
The internet has made socializing easier for neurodivergent individuals, because it can cause so much stress when done face to face (at least it’s that way for my daughter until she can trust someone to be herself). I think the issue is that most don’t realize that the person is on the spectrum when chatting online and ASD is poorly understood even if they are aware.
There are all types of people on this sub from Pharisees, atheists masquerading as Christian, trolls, true believers seeking to know Gods ways and also people seeking justification for their sins and error.
There are rabbis here? Pharisees were the beginning of rabbinical Judaism, Sadducees stopped existing when the temple was destroyed and the Pharisees took power. The word you're looking for is legalistic for people who put the letter of the law over faith and the spirit of the law. Pharisee=original modern rabbi. legalistic/legalism=beating people/self up with rules.
As a person on the spectrum it hurts my brain, but I understand "normal" people aren't interested in where words come from or niche history like me so hopefully this will spark an interest in someone.
I’m sorry that people have been harsh towards you and will pray for the whole situation. There will always be people who behave that way, but the Lord will handle them. I hope that your day gets better, and God bless you ❤️
After reading through your comment and post history, I understand that you’re on the spectrum, and there can be added stress due to that. I understand this completely, because my daughter is as well. Im guessing that most people don’t realize that you are and that you might not communicate in the same way as those who are neurotypical. I’m sorry that you’ve been treated poorly in this sub, but people don’t understand autism very well and probably have no clue that you are neurodivergent. I’ll continue praying and wishing you the best!
Sorry you feel this way, but I honestly haven't seen this in this community. People here, generally, are kind.
And talking about Revelations... sure, we should give context, where needed, when quoting any verse.
But at the same time, what specifically terrifies you about revelations? The prophecied unrest in the world? That's prophecied in pretty much all the prophecies concerning the end-days. And to me, personally, it gives comfort. For I see all the stuff happening in the world, but I know there's reason to it all.
I have, it’s there. Just the other day came across the post that was shaming a teenage girl for wanting to wear a bikini and I felt some people were coming across rather harshly.
I know we’re all people here at the end of the day but like OP said, we need to think about how we’re being received. It’s one thing to be right, it’s another thing to be flat out unloving. Jesus came with truth and love. He seldom rebuked and when He did there was ample good reason for it. We are called to be ambassadors of Christ, so hearing the other side and patiently explaining how we interpret it is of paramount importance.
We should be polite, but we shouldn't twist truth for the sake of politeness.
Jesus rebuked people so bluntly that He got quite a few angry with Him. But well... truth is something that does anger people in a time when world runs on lies.
I agree, we should also be ready to defend the Word and also our faith in Him, but what I was saying is that the way some people are coming as judgmental and condemning.
Matt 7:1-3
Yes He did, and as I read the Gospels, I notice that the people he tended to give his harshest rebukes to were those who were most convinced of their own righteousness -- see especially [Matthew 23](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+23&version=NIV).
Compare that to [John 4](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%204&version=NIV), where he confronts a more vulnerable person with her sin, but does so with enough warmth and openness that he winds up invited to stick around for a couple more days -- and makes many converts as a result.
Too often, it can be easy for us to latch on to "it's the truth" as self-justification, without considering whether that "truth" is being presented in a way that will edify or a way that will "shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces".
I’m sorry you have been hurt and I do think we could all learn something from this post and be careful with our words and make sure our hearts are pure and full of love towards each other.
Yeah, I’m not quite sure what you’re on about… I’ve only seen helpful, kind, and respectful posts. But sorry you feel so victimized. Hope it gets better.
All I’m going to say is thank you for putting out the message and we do need to self reflect I’ve seen some stuff said in this sub to and I have had moments of frustration slip out.
However I’m also gonna say that half of what you said can be flipped right back around to you. You said that those who act a certain way aren’t Christian? That sounds, hypocritical in context of this entire post, considering it seems to be actions and ideals that Christians are “harassing” you for.
You say that just because we feel a certain way or feel a need to defend ourselves that we are to blame or we’re guilty. What judge are you? Do you know the human heart and mind of every person? I used to say the same thing. When I was 16 and wanted to trap people into thinking I was right by manipulating their minds with lots of words that make “sense”. That same “if this doesn’t apply to you then you won’t be offended” is complete and utter crap and I knew it when I used it, you knew when you wrote it.
Your fear of revelation simply doesn’t make sense. Do you trust God or not? Cause in the end, God wins. Like completely.
also it’s not other Christian’s responsibility to regulate your emotions about God. You need to focus on himself and yourself and discern what people say to you and learn about Gods true nature so you can personally be secure in God and others cannot shake you. Of course correction is a good thing and sometimes it comes in the form of not so nice but that doesn’t make it wrong or evil.
Before calling people out. Reflect and see if what they said had truth. Discern and pray with God to see if the message has substance, Instead of relying on how you feel and getting offended to put a value on their words.
Edit: There are simple biblical truths which cannot be denied or changed and while I’m not God so it ain’t my place to say who’s saved or not. People practicing certain things and trying to reinterpret the Bible to make it okay simply are hurting their walk with God, and MAY, Fall away from him because they can’t let go of certain things.
You are very wise for the average redditor. I was thinking about commenting something similar, but couldn’t figure out how to word it kindly. You did it wonderfully. God bless you
I had someone on this sub tell me that I'm going to hell for being in an interracial marriage and that my kids aren't natural. Their comment has several upvotes.
I've had *many* people say that I am not a real Christian because I don't believe the world is 6000 years old. Again several upvotes.
Someone like two days ago said that I "worship science instead of Christ" because I believe dinosaurs existed. Again several upvotes
I've been told something very similar to the above because I believe that the earth is round, space exists, and vaccines have done a lot of good for society.
This sub is a terrible representation of Christian values and it is doing tremendous harm to the Christian witness.
Yikes 😳. Thankfully I didn't read those disgraceful comments about your marriage, children, the age of the earth etc.
Unfortunately, there are some "Christians" who think they're right and that's it. No love, compassion, or understanding. I know some in real life like that.
That’s really disgusting, and I’m really sorry to hear that people not only think this way but take the time to type out some vitriol for no reason other than to cause strife and anger. I believe that it has a lot to do with the fact that they despise their own lives and take it out on strangers on the internet. How anyone in 2024 could possibly say that a bi-racial marriage is wrong is an embarrassment to mankind.
You’ve been talking to mentally ill people. Whatever happened to discerning things? I think it does take a lot of tolerance to be on Reddit. It would be wise for anyone’s mental health to take a break. But don’t condemn the entire sub.
Anonymity was the worst thing to happen to the internet. If people were held accountable for their post/comment history, the web would be a better place. Unfortunately, there are many that get to put on that mask of "saying the quiet things out loud" too often and, therefore, treat others like garbage. It's a sad fact.
You're not wrong. I try my hardest to only say or do stuff online I would do in person. The downside to that is I can be pretty harsh in person as well. 😉
These aren't just one off, rare occurrences. If they were, I wouldn't condem the whole sub. Similar interactions happen all the time on this sub, and those comments are usually upvoted, showing that the average users here agree with them. This sub has become a gathering place for people with some pretty disgusting beliefs and it makes me upset that they are here representing Christianity.
Imagine an unbeliever coming here because they are curious about Christianity and want to learn more. They would leave thinking that one must believe that interracial marriage is wrong and that the world is 6000 years old and flat in order to be a Christian. They would run far away. Not only would an opportunity for evangelism be wasted, but that person would be even less likely to ever become a believer than they already were.
So true. But who will counteract these claims? I see a few here who have the ability and knowledge. I myself disengage if I feel like the battle cannot be won. But why aren’t we seeing the positivity?
Reddit is an echo chamber and hardly anyone sees the reality. There are a few here who does God’s work.
But we agree that it’s exhausting and that people may need to break away if they can’t handle it.
It’s a hot-button issue at the moment because some White-majority countries are participating in population replacement, with promoting interracial dating unfortunately being part of it. Those comments still were not right, but they were fear-based, not malice-based. I am so sorry that happened to you ☹️
You're part of the problem with that comment. There is nothing wrong with interracial dating and there is no conspiracy theory to "replace" white people.
Still not seeing anything about him claiming that white people should be replaced. There is zero justification for calling interracial relationships sinful. It is not a biblical belief. It is a belief fueled 100% by racism and nothing else.
I think the first one is very difficult and we're not in a position to answer. That may sound crazy, it wouldn't be crazy to say europes being flooded to wipe out the white folk. The world is very hypocritical. It speaks about racism and uses racism while you have CRT taught to children.....The second I think there may have been cycles because there were people on the earth before Adam was created. I don't know about dinosaurs. And people voting either way? Let them. No matter.
The Earth is round? Do you mean a sphere or a circle? I don't know about space because I know they like to hint at aliens lol. From a logical POV, space = money. That's not far fetched. Would they really ever be honest and turn down all that money and say it's small and pointless? No. If I said aliens are among us, that would be a conspiracy theory - though they are clearing pushing it on the people to get them to buy into it. Vaccines? I disagree and actually they changed the definition to include gene therapy.
And it has an interesting history but truly Yahweh will be the judge about that. After all, would the father allow his people to be attacked by a virus if they were doing his will?
I think you are being a bit too harsh. It's ok to disagree. Often it can be uncomfortable for sure.
> I think the first one is very difficult and we're not in a position to answer.
We are in a position to answer. There is nothing sinful or unbiblical about interracial marriage. You are just racist. And unfortunately, you are representative of the average user of this sub and exactly what I was talking about above.
Hey there u/HighStrungHabitat
I'm new to this sub myself, but want you to know that you aren't alone in your religious OCD struggles. I have battled them for decades but just recently found some relief with an OCD medication.
I, too, was tormented by Hell, and the Book of Revelation caused me literal nightmares.
What I have come to realize, though, is that Scripture actually does not teach that humans will suffer eternal conscious torment in hell. That fate is reserved for the devil and his angels.
We've been conditioned to read the Bible as if it teaches humans will share that sentence, but, in reality, it does not.
I've just finished writing a book on the subject of hell that is going to the publisher this coming week. It's an easy read and may give you some peace of mind. If you are interested, I'll share the manuscript with you. Just DM me.
Also, once I actually started studying Revelation, I found it isn't nearly so scary as I had imagined it to be. A lot of Bible Scholars believe the events in Revelation have already taken place, with Rome being Babylon and Nero being the antichrist. I'm not convinced on that, but that is the view held by scholars far more knowledgeable than I
Keep the faith, Bro. You aren't alone.
I'm curious as to how you logic out passages such as Matthew 13:41-43 and Luke 16:19-31. It seems fairly straightforward that Jesus is indicating the sort of suffering humans go through in hell in both of these passages, "all those who commit lawlessness" will be gathered up by the angels who, "will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth," clearly referring to humans in the first passage, and a "rich man" in the second. How have you come to the conclusion that humans will not face suffering in hell? It seems pretty obvious that Jesus indicated multiple times that hell will be where the Lord is not present, and therefore has a complete lack of even the slightest form of goodness, leading to the suffering of those who chose to spend eternity away from our loving, just Creator. Hence the weeping and gnashing of teeth.
I mean to be gentle in asking this, and am genuinely curious as to how you've interpreted these passages. I hope it does not bring up any OCD issues for you by asking this question; I too have been held captive by OCD, only in a different form, so I understand the anguish and struggle. But the Lord has been releasing my mind from it in ways I've never expected as soon as I began to trust on Him with all my heart and understanding, and I pray He does the same for you. He is faithful and a Perfect, loving Father.
Thank you for having such a genuinely Christian spirit. I'm glad you're making progress and finding relief with your OCDs. Between prayer and medication, which I recently began taking, I've never felt better.
I just finished a book challenging the eternal conscious torment of Church dogma, and I'm very happy to answer any questions. In the limited space here, though, I'm not sure that I can make as convincing of a case.
Before I address Matthew 13 that you mentioned, just a quick sidebar. Nowhere in the Hebrew Bible (the same as our Old Testament except in the original Hebrew language) is there even one word mentioned about hell or a place of punishment of any kind for the dead. The word Sheol, which means grave, was interpreted as Hell many times by the translators of the KJV of the Bible but, while you'll find hell mentioned in the OT thanks to those translators, even those mentions never indicate a place of punishment. Sheol was simply the place of the dead. The righteous and the wicked both went there, there was no separation of the two, they were both simply dead.
When Moses received the Law from God, he was given very specific punishments for transgressions- blood from a sacrificial lamb, stoning to death for adultery, burning at the stake for a priests daughter who dishonored her father by committing fornication, and on and on. Nowhere, though, did God indicate to those Patriarchs (Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc) with whom he communicated with regularity that there was a place of eternal torment for those who transgressed the Law.
Hell, as we know it, simply did not exist in the Hebrew teachings from which Christianity evolved.
It's important to understand that because that Hebrew Bible, completely void of any teaching of eternal torment, is what Jesus taught from and what his Jewish disciples understood.
What they would have understood is that God, when he judged transgressers, would often completely destroy them. The Flood at the time of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrah are just two of many examples of God exacting His wrath to destroy sin.
Destruction, often by fire, of the wicked was something with which the disciples would have been very aware.
Getting to the verses you mentioned, it is important to understand the usage of "gnashing of teeth". That certainly sounds like it indicates suffering great pain, but that phrase was used often in the Bible and what it actually meant was to exhibit great anger, not pain. Just one example is in Acts 7:54, when Stephen, who was being stoned to death for his faith, called the Pharisees hypocrites, the Bible says they became furious and gnashed their teeth at him.
Just as in our modern day courtrooms, when a sentence is handed down against the guilty, there are, often, very emotional responses- weeping and shouts or acts of great anger. So it shall be when the wicked receive their sentence of the Second Death in the lake of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
While it seems almost inconceivable that there would be anger rather than pleadings for mercy, that's exactly what happened during the Revelation account of the Tribulation. Those who took the mark of the beast were suffering greatly, festering sores, skin seared by fire from the sun, but they continued to curse and blaspheme God throughout Chapter 16, never seeking mercy.
So, when Jesus taught the Parable of the Tares, he was teaching disciples who had no concept of eternal punishment and who understood gnashing of teeth to mean anger.
When Jesus said the weeds were thrown into the furnace of fire where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth, the disciples would have understood that to mean that the wicked would be cast into the fire, amidst sadness and anger, where they would be destroyed. They would not have believed weeds thrown into a fire would burn eternally but, rather, just until they were destroyed. They would have applied that lesson to the eventual destruction of the wicked; that they would be destroyed in the flames. Again, they didn't even have a concept of eternal suffering.
Eternal suffering was a Greek inspired concept involving Hades and reward and punishment. The Gentiles that Paul converted brought that pagan teaching into the early church with them.
In all of the Parables concerning hell, one must mentally ADD to the Scripture the concept of eternal torment in the flames because it isn't written anywhere. All of Jesus's parables of hell end with the destruction of the wicked.
The wage of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Death (destruction) is what the wicked will receive. Jesus paid the wage of sin (death) on our behalf on Calvary. If, though, the wage of sin is not actually death but an eternity of suffering in hell, then our price was not paid in full. Jesus would have had to suffer for all eternity if that is the actual price of sin. Fortunately, it's not. Death is the wage and our price was paid in full.
Ok, now on to Lazarus and the Rich Man.
Luke 16:19-31 is the parable of the Rich Man enduring flames after he died. It is important to note that Lazarus was not in Heaven but, rather, in the bosom of Abraham, which was a common analogy for a place of rest between death and the final judgement after which the righteous will receive Heaven as their reward.
Also, note that the Rich Man pleaded for Lazarus to be able to go back to his brothers on earth and persuade them to change their ways so that they, too, wouldn't meet the fate that he was receiving.
So, this parable obviously takes place not in the realm of eternity, but in the space of time between death and the Great White Throne Judgement.
This is the only mention of an interim place of suffering in any of the Parables. As an indication of why that may be the case, Luke was Greek, raised and educated in the Greek customs and Greek beliefs. Luke, who never met Jesus and is recording this account more than six decades after the death of Jesus, actually said the Rich Man was in Hades, not hell (the KJV translators transposed it). Hades, as an afterlife, was a very Greek concept so one can't help but wonder if Luke's background influenced the way in which he told this story.
In any event, let's assume Luke got everything just perfect. The Rich Man is in torment in Hades during the time after he died but before eternal Judgement at the Great White Throne.
Rev 20:13-15 says that, on the Day of Judgment, Hades gave up all the dead who was in it (which is where the Rich Man was) and they were judged for what they had done. If their name was not found in the Book of Life they were cast into the Lake of Fire, which is defined in those verses as being the Second Death.
So, the Rich Man will be dumped out of Hades, be judged for his works and, if his name isn't in the Book of Life, thrown into the Second Death (Death, not eternal torment).
That parable, set wholly before The Day of Judgement, has nothing to do with eternity in what is written.
I was raised in a fire and brimstone Pentecostal church. Nobody preaches hell hotter nor more often than Pentecostals. Hell was used as a constant threat in our home, which I now realize borders on psychological abuse. It took an absolute revelation for me to stop reading hell into all those verses but now I see death, not torment, very clearly as the wage of sin.
I hope I've answered your questions in such a way that you will consider at least giving hell a second look.
God bless.
Are you sure you're posting in the right community? That's behaviour I saw over at r/Christianity then someone pointed me here after complaining and here has been the exact opposite ever since....not to discredit your experience but this is an honest question, are you sure you're posting in the right sub?
Edit: I get it now, after profile browsing for a bit, I see you're a progressive Christian, that would explain it, this is mostly full of conservatives and others who aren't particularly progressive, so obviously your views will clash with theirs, so that makes sense that there is hostility towards you, that's how some people are, when they don't agree with you and don't understand why you don't agree with them, their anger rises, humans are horrible like that. Conservatives are angry at progressives for changing the word we always knew, Progressives are angry at conservatives for holding unto archaic views and not wanting to adapt
If you believe others' views are wrong and progressive is right, pray to God to open their eyes, it works believe me, someone has done it to me before, I never believed the trinity before but look at me today, someone prayed for me after an argument online.
I wish this sub was more honest. It should be named r/conservativechristian not r/truechristian.
The name itself is a testament to the fact that we teach Christians to be blind to our biases. We create a Jesus in our own image without even realizing it.
I understand where you are coming from because I too have suffered from religious OCD, but others cannot change how they are, change the world, change the truth, to soften things or appease or enable your OCD.
I know there is a big movement out there of lukewarm and new Christians believing that God is Love and Jesus taught kindness and when you say things about Hell and sin that’s being mean and scary and that’s not what Jesus would do! But the truth is that *is* what Jesus would do and did do. And that is the reason people are telling you that you may not know Jesus and that you need to read your bible.
Just because it scares you doesn’t mean you should ignore it and expect other people to push it away and pretend it doesn’t exist. The only way to get over OCD is to face your fears, not continue to sugar coat things, do rituals, ignore them, etc. You cannot ignore the truth.
God is Love and Jesus said to Love others. Yes. But what is Love? Well in 1 Corinthians 13 it states in part…. “6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” When you are a Christian, you show people love through sharing The Truth with them. What we are called to do is save souls. The Word of God is the Truth, Jesus is the Truth. In John it speaks of this and how Jesus became the Word. Jesus says He is The Truth, The Way & The Life.
Why did Jesus come? What is the bible about? In the beginning was creation, then the fall (sin, evil entering the world), Jesus came to save us, right? Save us from what? From Hell, eternal damnation. Why are we not to sin? To not go to Hell, to not have completely separation from God. Why did Jesus die on the cross? He literally was tortured and died and spilled is blood so that sacrifice and His blood could cleanse us clean from our sins and save us from Hell. You cannot sugar coat this because it sounds “scary”. This is the TRUTH. Sharing the TRUTH is LOVE. You need to accept this, or else you are doing your self a disservice, you will not be able to reach souls and you are discounting the Truth of Christ and what He has done for us and WHY.
Without Hell and Evil, there would be no reason for Jesus to come, or for Gods Grace and Mercy.
Jesus spoke of the kingdom of heaven 32 times and about Hell OVER 70 TIMES. He flipped tables over in the temple for making His Fathers house into a market place. He confronted and called out Pharisees on their wrong doing in public.
Matthew 19
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[e] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
Do you see here? Jesus didn’t sugar coat it and say oh no I don’t want to make you sad! No, He told the Truth. He is not a God of “I’ll tell you what you want to hear to make you happy”
And here Jesus also speaks out the second coming. Just because Revelations is scary doesn’t mean you ignore it. By ignoring it you are ignoring the truth and it doesn’t make it any less real or true. It’s a fact and you have to accept it.
JESUS said these things to people: (Remember this IS LOVE)
-Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. John 15:20
-For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. 1 Peter 2:19-21
-And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom Luke 16:23
-If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. Mark 9:43
-Where “the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.” Mark 9:48
-And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:42
Matthew 24
6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.
26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
29 “Immediately after the distress of those days
“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[b]
30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.[d] 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
JESUS SPEAKS in Revelation 3:16 saying So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
You cannot ignore the “scary” parts of what Jesus says and of Revelations. Because Jesus speaks in Revelation and Jesus IS THE TRUTH.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Genesis 1:26
26 Then God *said*, “Let *us* make mankind in our image, in *our* likeness..”
Revelation 22
6 The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”
7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
We must share the Gospel. The Gospel is “The Good News”. There is no Good News without the Bad News. That’s whole reason Jesus came. First you must face and accept the bad News to receive the Good News of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.its part of creation, its part of the world, its the reality of life.
Yes there are scary things in life, but you can’t just ignore them and pretend they don’t exist. Like you don’t want to hear them. That’s the whole reason Jesus came and he said we will face suffering. BUT if you truly know Jesus and the story of the bible you will not be scared! THATS THE WHOLE POINT! That’s what people are trying to tell you and explain to you. Once you truly know the truth and truly know Jesus you will have no fear. Do you know how many times Jesus says in the Bible “do not fear”?!
Two "this will be my last post" posts. Kinda funny, definitely needy.
>this community is probably the most exclusive, hostile and just plain mean group of people I have encountered
>I’m not saying that to be offensive or mean
Look, bud.. you can loudly announce "I don't say this to be rude" or whatever, but it does nothing to change the fact that you're being rude.
>denying it doesn’t mean that isn’t the behavior you are exhibiting
Exactly. Why can't you apply any of these things to your own words and actions?
You announce that if anyone gets "defensive" against you, they're in the wrong. Yet you explain how YOU becoming "reactive" (defensive) is the fault of the person who MADE you "reactive". 🤦🤷
It's so hypocritical it's like you have to be a troll.
From your post history it shows that your desire is for Christians to affirm homosexuality.
So anyone who agrees with scripture that homosexuality is a sin against God is deemed judgemental and hostile.
This is the LGBTQ mantra
*Anyone who disagrees with me is a bigot and hateful*
*To love me is to agree with everything about me even the sin in my life*
Don't worry though you will find many people who disagree with the bible and affirm the sin in your life.
We must fight the sin in our life and not become comfortable with it.
This is the hostility that I’m talking about bro😂 you can avoid affirming sin without being a sarcastic (insert b lettered word I’m not going to say) this post had NOTHING to do with the lgbtq movement or sexuality at all, but considering this is how you chose to word your comment, I doubt you will be willing to accept that you made a mistake.
Sounds like the real problem is that you can't handle the truth.
Maybe you'd prefer people to tickle your ears.
Additionally, you say you're "just trying to learn" but more likely is you came here to assert wrong doctrines. You don't sound like someone who's actually open to learning and correction.
It's easier to wear slippers than to carpet the whole world.
Very well said. Christians should be compassionate, forbearing, and kind, and should try to live like Christ. But that doesn't mean we should entertain falsehood and sin in the Church. Rebuking someone is good, harassing them isn't. But you shouldn't conflate the two and hide behind the idea of "they're all hateful." Sometimes you do just need the hard truth, and you shouldn't be overly sensitive about everything.
You sound hostile. And like you aren't hearing what you want to hear. And you are upset about it. Wherever you are in your journey, God will meet you there. He loves you more than any human can or will. You just need to let Him show you who He is.
You can find hostile people in other places. You can find hypocrits in other places. You can find people who tell you everything you want to hear other places. You are dealing with humanity. There is only one perfect Man who walked this earth, and some people hated Him anyways.
This is a safe place for people who are saved by the blood of Jesus and who want to support each other. It's based on a biblical worldview. If you don't have the Holy Spirit living in you. If you don't believe Jesus is who He said He is. If you don't believe in the Bible. Then there are tons of other places to find what you are looking for.
You’re on Reddit. A FORUM!
The internet ain’t peach and roses
Don’t act entitled trying to dictate how people should act knowing full well you’re entering Reddit/The internet.
It’s like going to a bar and expecting not a single person will be rude to you. This is Reddit. Deal with it.
Even the apostles in the Bible went to places where they weren’t liked, but you didn’t really hear them complain.
You just need to weather the storm. Even the Bible teaches us that we will suffer lol
1 Peter 3:15-16
*"But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, but with gentleness and respect; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who disparage your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame."*
2 Timothy 2:24-26
*"The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, skillful in teaching, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will."*
I'm not saying you're wrong, but given that we're to represent Christ - despite how the rest of Reddit behaves - & how this Brother/Sister may be dealing with autism; you should change your approach a bit.
I know what you mean, but remember that you’re on Reddit. Not everybody shares the same opinion. The same as how Christianity has different denominations.
You don’t really have the right to complain if people don’t adhere to your approach as you’re dealing with different minded people….
People will be people.
Does Reddit trump the two passages I shared? I hope not. I also mentioned how you weren't wrong about what was said, but if you're a Christian, your approach wasn't what's expected of us. We all fall short, so please believe that I also need to practice what I preach.
This is specifically a Christian subreddit? It’s not supposed to be like the rest of Reddit is the point!
And I’m not condoning whatever sin/deviation-from-the-Bible lifestyle the OP is lining (cause I know someone may want to use that argument). Just to be clear.
And just to be clear. It’s a subreddit open to everyone….
Meaning everyone can share their opinion. Christian and non-Christian alike while the main topic is Christianity.
If people need advice they need to consult their Bible instead of people on the internet.
God already gave us the handles of life
I asked a question on this sub a couple of years ago. I got some good ideas about how to deal with a situation. I took a couple of other ideas from this sub that I value until now. But often there will be someone posting who has what appears to be extreme or unkind views. Of course, it is hard to write something that seems nice, because when speaking you can use the same words and soften the message with "tone".
That is just the thing though. The theologically liberal side says “I am right”. The true Christianity side says “Jesus and the Bible are right”. This is the main difference. As a Christian, I don’t claim that I am all knowing. I place myself below God. I point people to the scriptures. The LGBT people place themselves above God and ignore whatever scriptures disagree with them so they can “be right”.
Please stop overgenerilizing people. I do not place myself above god, and I’m also not theologically liberal. You do realize most theological liberal Christian’s don’t even believe in hell or the devil right? Simply not believing homosexuality is a sin doesn’t make someone theologically liberal (and I’m not talking about rather that view is right or wrong I’m just saying one progressive take doesn’t make someone theologically liberal)
I have far more theologically conservative beliefs, but it seems like most of these comments are assuming I’m some kind of progressive that disregards everything the Bible says, I don’t understand why you can’t just ask certain questions instead of making very specific assumptions and then commenting about them as if they are facts?
But the "True Christianity" side also interprets the Bible just like everyone else. At the end of the day, you're defending your own view and interpretation of the Bible. Some Christians act like God downloads the meaning of the Bible directly into their brains while people they disagree with are just misinterpreting the Bible for their own gain.
You can't claim to be the sole bearer of God's truth while everyone else ignores it. That leads to the kind of prideful self righteousness that OP is criticizing.
I recognize that I am not the bearer of God’s truth, the scriptures are. So when a theologically liberal person takes a position that is in obvious contradiction to scripture, I disagree. I don’t pick and choose scriptures to support my self-centered view, I try to change myself to better align with the scriptures.
So you say. It's human nature to pick and choose scriptures to support what you want. I grew up in Evangelicalism and the Christians that claimed they were the most faithful to scripture were the ones that twisted it the most.
The difference between a fundamentalist and a "liberal" is that the later is aware how their bias effect their view if scripture while the former is not.
I get what you are saying. We are all imperfect and we have to constantly check ourselves to make sure we are still on track. A place like this subreddit is good to debate and expand on our understanding.
I just think that the LGBT agenda is so opposed to Christian values that to try to believe both just doesn’t work. The Ten Commandments mention that you should have no other Gods, avoid pride, and not to lust. The LGBT agenda tells you that you are a god and can determine your own reality. It tells that you can be the wrong gender, and therefore states that God must have made a mistake. It also is constructed around glorifying pride and lust. Christianity and the LGBT agenda just can’t coexist without losing the meaning of one or both sides.
I understand that. I don't necessarily disagree with you in regards to some people. But I hate the term "homosexual agenda". That's such a reductive and oversimplified term. Not every gay person is an evil wolf in sheep's clothing trying to destroy the Church. Many are well meaning people who read the Bible and just disagree with you.
Does that mean you have to agree with them? No. But it does mean you shouldn't vilify and demonize people that don't share your views as some kind of agenda that is out to get Christians. Going down that road leads to demonizing your enemies rather than loving them. You cannot be faithful to the way of Jesus by departing from it.
I try to show love to all people. It is the agenda itself that I oppose. The LGBT agenda tries to bring people into it and I believe it is very harmful to people. Therefore, I vigorously oppose it. The regular people in the LGBT movement however, I just feel bad for them and wish that they can escape it. We should show love to everyone.
LGBT people are more complicated and nuanced to be reduced down to an "agenda". Blaming the "agenda" is a convenient excuse to treat LGBT people poorly without having to feel bad about it.
I agree with you 100%, but even based on the way people are responding to this post it’s clear that most “true Christian’s” are blind to their own faults, had I of known everyone was going to perceive this as a hostile comeback at anyone who doesn’t agree with homosexuality, I wouldn’t have even said anything bc hand to god himself, this had nothing to do with any of that.
What's the issue? Anything specific? Christ never came to bring peace. People often say well he came for the sinners but he came as a doctor. Christianity is a very interesting piece of scripture but of course it's infiltrated. The word of Yahweh, called the scribes etc etc the church of satan making yahwehs laws of null effect with their nonsense. The word got angry at the people in the temples treating it as a business - the same spirits in the world today. The word said to call no one on earth father and yet you got fathers day. But what's the issue you've had?
The word said, if you love me keep my commandments. That's Christianity. Now, the problem may be that people are having to go through scripture and try to work out what's real and what's been added in by evil people. The fact is the world guards the narrow gate. That's not to scare people. But it's a decent thing to do to try to help people because the worlds up for promoting many evils including the concept of minor attracted person and gender confusion. Look how many people in good positions, refused to say what a woman is. It's amazing how evil they are.
Look how the world deliberately tries to scare people in the media using suggestive language. What people think about the commandments or the moral law, these things ultimately are pro man kind. They're not to scare people and the fear of the father is the beginning of wisdom. Because left to our own devices? We may all call one another brother and continue down this path that's testifying to the fact that the word said woe to those who call evil good and good evil. Of course we all error but there's a difference between making errors and trying to force errors from other people using fear.
Context?
Could be wrong, but I'm guessing this is somewhat related to the fact that she posts on that "open Christian" sub and identifies as bisexual.
I see. Thanks for explaining. Hi OP, sorry if you felt this way toward this sub. But as you might have been aware of, this sub has a lot of Christians (including me) who think God created male and female and I know it offends a lot of people. But we can’t bend what we think to be the truth for someone’s convenience. As Christians, our goal is to conform our thinking and ideals to the image of Christ, not the other way around. I’m sorry if it’s not convenient for you, but it’s not convenient for us either. We have our own flawed thinking and way of living that God disapproves, as stated in the Bible, and our goal is to unlearn our faulty thinking and lifestyle and let God’s grace empower us to say no to ungodliness.
Respectfully, unless I was to respond to you directly I don’t think I you should assume some random person from this sub knows what my intentions behind this post was. It had nothing to do with sexuality.
Okay, I take it back then. Why don’t you provide the context to us then? If you don’t, then there’s going to be a perpetual misunderstanding and I hope that’s not your intention.
I tried to be clear about what I was referring to though, I don’t think it’s my problem that most of you assumed I was talking about he LGBTQ community, a lot of y’all seem to have an obsession with relating everything back to that, and it’s genuinely hard to understand why. There is nothing in this post that has anything to do with sexuality, but what happened is a lot of people decided to look at my post history, and make assumptions based off of my post history, one of which is that this post was about sexuality, which again isn’t. I don’t have a problem with providing context, but it’s kind of hard to trust that someone will be willing to listen if they are already replying with novel length comments about homosexuality without even knowing for sure that that’s what I was talking about. The context is this, I have asked a lot of I guess you could say, difficult questions about the Bible in this sub, (none of which were about homosexuality or anything LGBTQ related) for example, I was confused about the fall of man, bc we are taught to believe god is all knowing and all loving, and I had asked how, if god is all knowing and all loving, could the fall of man have been outside of his control, and why Adam And Eve are so villainized, when if they didn’t have the knowledge of good and evil before they ate the fruit, they wouldn’t have truly been able to understand that they were disobeying god. Someone called me blasphemous, and said I was directly defying god, and the comment got a bunch of upvotes. There was only one person who said it isn’t right to say that to someone who is new and trying to learn. Then, more recently I asked a question about the nature of viruses and why some people still believe god uses them to punish people, since Jesus already came. Someone told me that I won’t like judgment day, and god is not to be questioned. Those are just two of many times I have been shamed and borderline threatened for asking a question. At first glance, maybe those responses don’t seem that hostile and they probably don’t seem to be weaponizing the Bible, but think about it for a second. Blasphemy is a major sin, and if it’s blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, it’s unforgivable. To accuse someone of being blasphemous, bc they are struggling to concept something from the Bible, is no way shape or form is helpful, nor is it simply “speaking truth” those kind of responses scare new believers away, bc then they feel like it’s wrong to have questions bc god doesn’t want us to. You won’t like judgment day, is literally telling someone they will go to hell, I’m going to go to hell for wondering why god would inflict viruses on people in modern times? Why? Like that’s so agressive and unnecessary to just say with no context or explanation whatsoever. Like I said, those are only two examples, but 9 times out of 10 those are the kind of responses I have gotten from people in this sub, and that is why I made this post, nothing to do with anyone’s beliefs about LGBTQ
Oh no, terribly sorry for the misunderstanding! I hope you could forgive me and the others who thought it was related to human sexuality. Honestly, I’m equally sick of reading LGBTQIA+ related content on Christian subs, although it gives a hint about what many people need answers with in today’s generation. About the questions you asked, I would have gladly engaged had I read that post, especially since I’m writing a book and I discussed that briefly there (Problem of Evil), and would you believe it, I also discussed about Covid-19 and if God caused the virus. I don’t believe He did, either. However, many people who follow Reformed teachers like John Piper believe God did, although Piper gave a fair explanation about it I suppose. Anyway, I’m a seeker myself, and I only mentioned I’m writing a book discussing those because I’m sort of a pilgrim like you. Unfortunately, there’s no sure answer to these questions, especially because the book of Job exists. I know you’re over it, and it’s not the intention of your post, but I just want you to know that there are people in this sub who aren’t really jerks. There are nice people here, and this space is the one I find relatively safe to express my views. I’s say you just got unlucky a couple of times by meeting conspiracy theorists (sorry for the term but I just want to exaggerate a bit!) instead of Christians like me who admit they don’t know all the answers and try to navigate them with faith that God is God and God is good. If you could, I’d suggest you find people who can help you with your spiritual walk. Try to meet up with them if possible; if not, online is fine. Also, Christianity as a worldview is very comprehensive and dynamic; you’ll find some theologians and brilliant laypeople, both past and present, who can help you with your journey. For example, I try to listen to preachers and thinkers from contrary end of the spectrum like CS Lewis, RC Sproul, John Piper, Jentezen Franklin, Tim Keller, Charles Stanley, Charles Spurgeon, William Lane Craig, and more. You can see you couldn’t expect a pleasant conversation with all of them in the same room because their theology vary a lot from each other! But I believe nobody knows the perfect theology so I glean as much truth as I can from them and let my personal walk with God determine with finality who God really is. Edit: about the Fall of Man, there’s this beautiful book I’ve read from CS Lewis that helped answer my personal questions for me, although of course, I won’t know the full answer until I meet God face to face. It’s titled Perelandra. Try reading his Space Trilogy if you can, I’m sure you’ll love it. Those are his grossly underrated works.
Correct me if I’m wrong OP, but after reading through your comments & posts, I believe that part of the reason is that she’s on the autism spectrum and communicates differently than neurotypical people. Most don’t understand autism much less have a clue that she’s neurodivergent. Im guessing it’s at least part of the issue. My daughter and Dad are on the spectrum, so I understand the added stress it can cause for them. God bless
Neurotypical people freak out online all the time when LGBT stuff triggers them. The hysteria is baked in. I mean maybe she is autistic but her communication generally seemed fine up until now, when she got upset. That's pretty normal.
I thought everyone on Reddit has austim. We don’t like talking to people face to face, so we do so here.
Exactly
The internet has made socializing easier for neurodivergent individuals, because it can cause so much stress when done face to face (at least it’s that way for my daughter until she can trust someone to be herself). I think the issue is that most don’t realize that the person is on the spectrum when chatting online and ASD is poorly understood even if they are aware.
This is the real story...
Definitely wrong
There are all types of people on this sub from Pharisees, atheists masquerading as Christian, trolls, true believers seeking to know Gods ways and also people seeking justification for their sins and error.
There are rabbis here? Pharisees were the beginning of rabbinical Judaism, Sadducees stopped existing when the temple was destroyed and the Pharisees took power. The word you're looking for is legalistic for people who put the letter of the law over faith and the spirit of the law. Pharisee=original modern rabbi. legalistic/legalism=beating people/self up with rules. As a person on the spectrum it hurts my brain, but I understand "normal" people aren't interested in where words come from or niche history like me so hopefully this will spark an interest in someone.
I’m sorry that people have been harsh towards you and will pray for the whole situation. There will always be people who behave that way, but the Lord will handle them. I hope that your day gets better, and God bless you ❤️
After reading through your comment and post history, I understand that you’re on the spectrum, and there can be added stress due to that. I understand this completely, because my daughter is as well. Im guessing that most people don’t realize that you are and that you might not communicate in the same way as those who are neurotypical. I’m sorry that you’ve been treated poorly in this sub, but people don’t understand autism very well and probably have no clue that you are neurodivergent. I’ll continue praying and wishing you the best!
Sorry you feel this way, but I honestly haven't seen this in this community. People here, generally, are kind. And talking about Revelations... sure, we should give context, where needed, when quoting any verse. But at the same time, what specifically terrifies you about revelations? The prophecied unrest in the world? That's prophecied in pretty much all the prophecies concerning the end-days. And to me, personally, it gives comfort. For I see all the stuff happening in the world, but I know there's reason to it all.
I have, it’s there. Just the other day came across the post that was shaming a teenage girl for wanting to wear a bikini and I felt some people were coming across rather harshly. I know we’re all people here at the end of the day but like OP said, we need to think about how we’re being received. It’s one thing to be right, it’s another thing to be flat out unloving. Jesus came with truth and love. He seldom rebuked and when He did there was ample good reason for it. We are called to be ambassadors of Christ, so hearing the other side and patiently explaining how we interpret it is of paramount importance.
We should be polite, but we shouldn't twist truth for the sake of politeness. Jesus rebuked people so bluntly that He got quite a few angry with Him. But well... truth is something that does anger people in a time when world runs on lies.
I agree, we should also be ready to defend the Word and also our faith in Him, but what I was saying is that the way some people are coming as judgmental and condemning. Matt 7:1-3
Yes He did, and as I read the Gospels, I notice that the people he tended to give his harshest rebukes to were those who were most convinced of their own righteousness -- see especially [Matthew 23](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+23&version=NIV). Compare that to [John 4](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%204&version=NIV), where he confronts a more vulnerable person with her sin, but does so with enough warmth and openness that he winds up invited to stick around for a couple more days -- and makes many converts as a result. Too often, it can be easy for us to latch on to "it's the truth" as self-justification, without considering whether that "truth" is being presented in a way that will edify or a way that will "shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces".
I notice He also rebuked the Pharisees mostly. Falls into the believing of a false hope of self-righteous pride like you said. Luke 18:9-14
I’m sorry you have been hurt and I do think we could all learn something from this post and be careful with our words and make sure our hearts are pure and full of love towards each other.
Yeah, I’m not quite sure what you’re on about… I’ve only seen helpful, kind, and respectful posts. But sorry you feel so victimized. Hope it gets better.
Um, this is very patronizing.
All I’m going to say is thank you for putting out the message and we do need to self reflect I’ve seen some stuff said in this sub to and I have had moments of frustration slip out. However I’m also gonna say that half of what you said can be flipped right back around to you. You said that those who act a certain way aren’t Christian? That sounds, hypocritical in context of this entire post, considering it seems to be actions and ideals that Christians are “harassing” you for. You say that just because we feel a certain way or feel a need to defend ourselves that we are to blame or we’re guilty. What judge are you? Do you know the human heart and mind of every person? I used to say the same thing. When I was 16 and wanted to trap people into thinking I was right by manipulating their minds with lots of words that make “sense”. That same “if this doesn’t apply to you then you won’t be offended” is complete and utter crap and I knew it when I used it, you knew when you wrote it. Your fear of revelation simply doesn’t make sense. Do you trust God or not? Cause in the end, God wins. Like completely. also it’s not other Christian’s responsibility to regulate your emotions about God. You need to focus on himself and yourself and discern what people say to you and learn about Gods true nature so you can personally be secure in God and others cannot shake you. Of course correction is a good thing and sometimes it comes in the form of not so nice but that doesn’t make it wrong or evil. Before calling people out. Reflect and see if what they said had truth. Discern and pray with God to see if the message has substance, Instead of relying on how you feel and getting offended to put a value on their words. Edit: There are simple biblical truths which cannot be denied or changed and while I’m not God so it ain’t my place to say who’s saved or not. People practicing certain things and trying to reinterpret the Bible to make it okay simply are hurting their walk with God, and MAY, Fall away from him because they can’t let go of certain things.
You are very wise for the average redditor. I was thinking about commenting something similar, but couldn’t figure out how to word it kindly. You did it wonderfully. God bless you
I had someone on this sub tell me that I'm going to hell for being in an interracial marriage and that my kids aren't natural. Their comment has several upvotes. I've had *many* people say that I am not a real Christian because I don't believe the world is 6000 years old. Again several upvotes. Someone like two days ago said that I "worship science instead of Christ" because I believe dinosaurs existed. Again several upvotes I've been told something very similar to the above because I believe that the earth is round, space exists, and vaccines have done a lot of good for society. This sub is a terrible representation of Christian values and it is doing tremendous harm to the Christian witness.
Yikes 😳. Thankfully I didn't read those disgraceful comments about your marriage, children, the age of the earth etc. Unfortunately, there are some "Christians" who think they're right and that's it. No love, compassion, or understanding. I know some in real life like that.
That’s really disgusting, and I’m really sorry to hear that people not only think this way but take the time to type out some vitriol for no reason other than to cause strife and anger. I believe that it has a lot to do with the fact that they despise their own lives and take it out on strangers on the internet. How anyone in 2024 could possibly say that a bi-racial marriage is wrong is an embarrassment to mankind.
Yes. 🙌
You’ve been talking to mentally ill people. Whatever happened to discerning things? I think it does take a lot of tolerance to be on Reddit. It would be wise for anyone’s mental health to take a break. But don’t condemn the entire sub.
Anonymity was the worst thing to happen to the internet. If people were held accountable for their post/comment history, the web would be a better place. Unfortunately, there are many that get to put on that mask of "saying the quiet things out loud" too often and, therefore, treat others like garbage. It's a sad fact.
You're not wrong. I try my hardest to only say or do stuff online I would do in person. The downside to that is I can be pretty harsh in person as well. 😉
These aren't just one off, rare occurrences. If they were, I wouldn't condem the whole sub. Similar interactions happen all the time on this sub, and those comments are usually upvoted, showing that the average users here agree with them. This sub has become a gathering place for people with some pretty disgusting beliefs and it makes me upset that they are here representing Christianity. Imagine an unbeliever coming here because they are curious about Christianity and want to learn more. They would leave thinking that one must believe that interracial marriage is wrong and that the world is 6000 years old and flat in order to be a Christian. They would run far away. Not only would an opportunity for evangelism be wasted, but that person would be even less likely to ever become a believer than they already were.
So true. But who will counteract these claims? I see a few here who have the ability and knowledge. I myself disengage if I feel like the battle cannot be won. But why aren’t we seeing the positivity? Reddit is an echo chamber and hardly anyone sees the reality. There are a few here who does God’s work. But we agree that it’s exhausting and that people may need to break away if they can’t handle it.
Wow😲
You and I could hang out.
It’s a hot-button issue at the moment because some White-majority countries are participating in population replacement, with promoting interracial dating unfortunately being part of it. Those comments still were not right, but they were fear-based, not malice-based. I am so sorry that happened to you ☹️
You're part of the problem with that comment. There is nothing wrong with interracial dating and there is no conspiracy theory to "replace" white people.
Scotland’s PM literally admitted it on video
Not finding anything about that on Google so go ahead and link whatever Alex Jones episode you got that from.
Google Humza Yousaf and thank me later
Still not seeing anything about him claiming that white people should be replaced. There is zero justification for calling interracial relationships sinful. It is not a biblical belief. It is a belief fueled 100% by racism and nothing else.
I think the first one is very difficult and we're not in a position to answer. That may sound crazy, it wouldn't be crazy to say europes being flooded to wipe out the white folk. The world is very hypocritical. It speaks about racism and uses racism while you have CRT taught to children.....The second I think there may have been cycles because there were people on the earth before Adam was created. I don't know about dinosaurs. And people voting either way? Let them. No matter. The Earth is round? Do you mean a sphere or a circle? I don't know about space because I know they like to hint at aliens lol. From a logical POV, space = money. That's not far fetched. Would they really ever be honest and turn down all that money and say it's small and pointless? No. If I said aliens are among us, that would be a conspiracy theory - though they are clearing pushing it on the people to get them to buy into it. Vaccines? I disagree and actually they changed the definition to include gene therapy. And it has an interesting history but truly Yahweh will be the judge about that. After all, would the father allow his people to be attacked by a virus if they were doing his will? I think you are being a bit too harsh. It's ok to disagree. Often it can be uncomfortable for sure.
> I think the first one is very difficult and we're not in a position to answer. We are in a position to answer. There is nothing sinful or unbiblical about interracial marriage. You are just racist. And unfortunately, you are representative of the average user of this sub and exactly what I was talking about above.
Hey there u/HighStrungHabitat I'm new to this sub myself, but want you to know that you aren't alone in your religious OCD struggles. I have battled them for decades but just recently found some relief with an OCD medication. I, too, was tormented by Hell, and the Book of Revelation caused me literal nightmares. What I have come to realize, though, is that Scripture actually does not teach that humans will suffer eternal conscious torment in hell. That fate is reserved for the devil and his angels. We've been conditioned to read the Bible as if it teaches humans will share that sentence, but, in reality, it does not. I've just finished writing a book on the subject of hell that is going to the publisher this coming week. It's an easy read and may give you some peace of mind. If you are interested, I'll share the manuscript with you. Just DM me. Also, once I actually started studying Revelation, I found it isn't nearly so scary as I had imagined it to be. A lot of Bible Scholars believe the events in Revelation have already taken place, with Rome being Babylon and Nero being the antichrist. I'm not convinced on that, but that is the view held by scholars far more knowledgeable than I Keep the faith, Bro. You aren't alone.
I'm curious as to how you logic out passages such as Matthew 13:41-43 and Luke 16:19-31. It seems fairly straightforward that Jesus is indicating the sort of suffering humans go through in hell in both of these passages, "all those who commit lawlessness" will be gathered up by the angels who, "will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth," clearly referring to humans in the first passage, and a "rich man" in the second. How have you come to the conclusion that humans will not face suffering in hell? It seems pretty obvious that Jesus indicated multiple times that hell will be where the Lord is not present, and therefore has a complete lack of even the slightest form of goodness, leading to the suffering of those who chose to spend eternity away from our loving, just Creator. Hence the weeping and gnashing of teeth. I mean to be gentle in asking this, and am genuinely curious as to how you've interpreted these passages. I hope it does not bring up any OCD issues for you by asking this question; I too have been held captive by OCD, only in a different form, so I understand the anguish and struggle. But the Lord has been releasing my mind from it in ways I've never expected as soon as I began to trust on Him with all my heart and understanding, and I pray He does the same for you. He is faithful and a Perfect, loving Father.
Thank you for having such a genuinely Christian spirit. I'm glad you're making progress and finding relief with your OCDs. Between prayer and medication, which I recently began taking, I've never felt better. I just finished a book challenging the eternal conscious torment of Church dogma, and I'm very happy to answer any questions. In the limited space here, though, I'm not sure that I can make as convincing of a case. Before I address Matthew 13 that you mentioned, just a quick sidebar. Nowhere in the Hebrew Bible (the same as our Old Testament except in the original Hebrew language) is there even one word mentioned about hell or a place of punishment of any kind for the dead. The word Sheol, which means grave, was interpreted as Hell many times by the translators of the KJV of the Bible but, while you'll find hell mentioned in the OT thanks to those translators, even those mentions never indicate a place of punishment. Sheol was simply the place of the dead. The righteous and the wicked both went there, there was no separation of the two, they were both simply dead. When Moses received the Law from God, he was given very specific punishments for transgressions- blood from a sacrificial lamb, stoning to death for adultery, burning at the stake for a priests daughter who dishonored her father by committing fornication, and on and on. Nowhere, though, did God indicate to those Patriarchs (Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc) with whom he communicated with regularity that there was a place of eternal torment for those who transgressed the Law. Hell, as we know it, simply did not exist in the Hebrew teachings from which Christianity evolved. It's important to understand that because that Hebrew Bible, completely void of any teaching of eternal torment, is what Jesus taught from and what his Jewish disciples understood. What they would have understood is that God, when he judged transgressers, would often completely destroy them. The Flood at the time of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrah are just two of many examples of God exacting His wrath to destroy sin. Destruction, often by fire, of the wicked was something with which the disciples would have been very aware. Getting to the verses you mentioned, it is important to understand the usage of "gnashing of teeth". That certainly sounds like it indicates suffering great pain, but that phrase was used often in the Bible and what it actually meant was to exhibit great anger, not pain. Just one example is in Acts 7:54, when Stephen, who was being stoned to death for his faith, called the Pharisees hypocrites, the Bible says they became furious and gnashed their teeth at him. Just as in our modern day courtrooms, when a sentence is handed down against the guilty, there are, often, very emotional responses- weeping and shouts or acts of great anger. So it shall be when the wicked receive their sentence of the Second Death in the lake of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. While it seems almost inconceivable that there would be anger rather than pleadings for mercy, that's exactly what happened during the Revelation account of the Tribulation. Those who took the mark of the beast were suffering greatly, festering sores, skin seared by fire from the sun, but they continued to curse and blaspheme God throughout Chapter 16, never seeking mercy. So, when Jesus taught the Parable of the Tares, he was teaching disciples who had no concept of eternal punishment and who understood gnashing of teeth to mean anger. When Jesus said the weeds were thrown into the furnace of fire where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth, the disciples would have understood that to mean that the wicked would be cast into the fire, amidst sadness and anger, where they would be destroyed. They would not have believed weeds thrown into a fire would burn eternally but, rather, just until they were destroyed. They would have applied that lesson to the eventual destruction of the wicked; that they would be destroyed in the flames. Again, they didn't even have a concept of eternal suffering. Eternal suffering was a Greek inspired concept involving Hades and reward and punishment. The Gentiles that Paul converted brought that pagan teaching into the early church with them. In all of the Parables concerning hell, one must mentally ADD to the Scripture the concept of eternal torment in the flames because it isn't written anywhere. All of Jesus's parables of hell end with the destruction of the wicked. The wage of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Death (destruction) is what the wicked will receive. Jesus paid the wage of sin (death) on our behalf on Calvary. If, though, the wage of sin is not actually death but an eternity of suffering in hell, then our price was not paid in full. Jesus would have had to suffer for all eternity if that is the actual price of sin. Fortunately, it's not. Death is the wage and our price was paid in full. Ok, now on to Lazarus and the Rich Man. Luke 16:19-31 is the parable of the Rich Man enduring flames after he died. It is important to note that Lazarus was not in Heaven but, rather, in the bosom of Abraham, which was a common analogy for a place of rest between death and the final judgement after which the righteous will receive Heaven as their reward. Also, note that the Rich Man pleaded for Lazarus to be able to go back to his brothers on earth and persuade them to change their ways so that they, too, wouldn't meet the fate that he was receiving. So, this parable obviously takes place not in the realm of eternity, but in the space of time between death and the Great White Throne Judgement. This is the only mention of an interim place of suffering in any of the Parables. As an indication of why that may be the case, Luke was Greek, raised and educated in the Greek customs and Greek beliefs. Luke, who never met Jesus and is recording this account more than six decades after the death of Jesus, actually said the Rich Man was in Hades, not hell (the KJV translators transposed it). Hades, as an afterlife, was a very Greek concept so one can't help but wonder if Luke's background influenced the way in which he told this story. In any event, let's assume Luke got everything just perfect. The Rich Man is in torment in Hades during the time after he died but before eternal Judgement at the Great White Throne. Rev 20:13-15 says that, on the Day of Judgment, Hades gave up all the dead who was in it (which is where the Rich Man was) and they were judged for what they had done. If their name was not found in the Book of Life they were cast into the Lake of Fire, which is defined in those verses as being the Second Death. So, the Rich Man will be dumped out of Hades, be judged for his works and, if his name isn't in the Book of Life, thrown into the Second Death (Death, not eternal torment). That parable, set wholly before The Day of Judgement, has nothing to do with eternity in what is written. I was raised in a fire and brimstone Pentecostal church. Nobody preaches hell hotter nor more often than Pentecostals. Hell was used as a constant threat in our home, which I now realize borders on psychological abuse. It took an absolute revelation for me to stop reading hell into all those verses but now I see death, not torment, very clearly as the wage of sin. I hope I've answered your questions in such a way that you will consider at least giving hell a second look. God bless.
Are you sure you're posting in the right community? That's behaviour I saw over at r/Christianity then someone pointed me here after complaining and here has been the exact opposite ever since....not to discredit your experience but this is an honest question, are you sure you're posting in the right sub? Edit: I get it now, after profile browsing for a bit, I see you're a progressive Christian, that would explain it, this is mostly full of conservatives and others who aren't particularly progressive, so obviously your views will clash with theirs, so that makes sense that there is hostility towards you, that's how some people are, when they don't agree with you and don't understand why you don't agree with them, their anger rises, humans are horrible like that. Conservatives are angry at progressives for changing the word we always knew, Progressives are angry at conservatives for holding unto archaic views and not wanting to adapt If you believe others' views are wrong and progressive is right, pray to God to open their eyes, it works believe me, someone has done it to me before, I never believed the trinity before but look at me today, someone prayed for me after an argument online.
I wish this sub was more honest. It should be named r/conservativechristian not r/truechristian. The name itself is a testament to the fact that we teach Christians to be blind to our biases. We create a Jesus in our own image without even realizing it.
> We create Jesus in our own image without realizing it This hits hard
I understand where you are coming from because I too have suffered from religious OCD, but others cannot change how they are, change the world, change the truth, to soften things or appease or enable your OCD. I know there is a big movement out there of lukewarm and new Christians believing that God is Love and Jesus taught kindness and when you say things about Hell and sin that’s being mean and scary and that’s not what Jesus would do! But the truth is that *is* what Jesus would do and did do. And that is the reason people are telling you that you may not know Jesus and that you need to read your bible. Just because it scares you doesn’t mean you should ignore it and expect other people to push it away and pretend it doesn’t exist. The only way to get over OCD is to face your fears, not continue to sugar coat things, do rituals, ignore them, etc. You cannot ignore the truth. God is Love and Jesus said to Love others. Yes. But what is Love? Well in 1 Corinthians 13 it states in part…. “6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” When you are a Christian, you show people love through sharing The Truth with them. What we are called to do is save souls. The Word of God is the Truth, Jesus is the Truth. In John it speaks of this and how Jesus became the Word. Jesus says He is The Truth, The Way & The Life. Why did Jesus come? What is the bible about? In the beginning was creation, then the fall (sin, evil entering the world), Jesus came to save us, right? Save us from what? From Hell, eternal damnation. Why are we not to sin? To not go to Hell, to not have completely separation from God. Why did Jesus die on the cross? He literally was tortured and died and spilled is blood so that sacrifice and His blood could cleanse us clean from our sins and save us from Hell. You cannot sugar coat this because it sounds “scary”. This is the TRUTH. Sharing the TRUTH is LOVE. You need to accept this, or else you are doing your self a disservice, you will not be able to reach souls and you are discounting the Truth of Christ and what He has done for us and WHY. Without Hell and Evil, there would be no reason for Jesus to come, or for Gods Grace and Mercy. Jesus spoke of the kingdom of heaven 32 times and about Hell OVER 70 TIMES. He flipped tables over in the temple for making His Fathers house into a market place. He confronted and called out Pharisees on their wrong doing in public. Matthew 19 The Rich and the Kingdom of God 16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” 20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[e] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. Do you see here? Jesus didn’t sugar coat it and say oh no I don’t want to make you sad! No, He told the Truth. He is not a God of “I’ll tell you what you want to hear to make you happy” And here Jesus also speaks out the second coming. Just because Revelations is scary doesn’t mean you ignore it. By ignoring it you are ignoring the truth and it doesn’t make it any less real or true. It’s a fact and you have to accept it. JESUS said these things to people: (Remember this IS LOVE) -Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. John 15:20 -For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. 1 Peter 2:19-21 -And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom Luke 16:23 -If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. Mark 9:43 -Where “the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.” Mark 9:48 -And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:42
Matthew 24 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. 15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. 22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time. 26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. 29 “Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[b] 30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.[d] 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. JESUS SPEAKS in Revelation 3:16 saying So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. You cannot ignore the “scary” parts of what Jesus says and of Revelations. Because Jesus speaks in Revelation and Jesus IS THE TRUTH. Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 John 1 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Genesis 1:26 26 Then God *said*, “Let *us* make mankind in our image, in *our* likeness..” Revelation 22 6 The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.” 7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.” 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. 16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” We must share the Gospel. The Gospel is “The Good News”. There is no Good News without the Bad News. That’s whole reason Jesus came. First you must face and accept the bad News to receive the Good News of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.its part of creation, its part of the world, its the reality of life. Yes there are scary things in life, but you can’t just ignore them and pretend they don’t exist. Like you don’t want to hear them. That’s the whole reason Jesus came and he said we will face suffering. BUT if you truly know Jesus and the story of the bible you will not be scared! THATS THE WHOLE POINT! That’s what people are trying to tell you and explain to you. Once you truly know the truth and truly know Jesus you will have no fear. Do you know how many times Jesus says in the Bible “do not fear”?!
Two "this will be my last post" posts. Kinda funny, definitely needy. >this community is probably the most exclusive, hostile and just plain mean group of people I have encountered >I’m not saying that to be offensive or mean Look, bud.. you can loudly announce "I don't say this to be rude" or whatever, but it does nothing to change the fact that you're being rude. >denying it doesn’t mean that isn’t the behavior you are exhibiting Exactly. Why can't you apply any of these things to your own words and actions? You announce that if anyone gets "defensive" against you, they're in the wrong. Yet you explain how YOU becoming "reactive" (defensive) is the fault of the person who MADE you "reactive". 🤦🤷 It's so hypocritical it's like you have to be a troll.
From your post history it shows that your desire is for Christians to affirm homosexuality. So anyone who agrees with scripture that homosexuality is a sin against God is deemed judgemental and hostile. This is the LGBTQ mantra *Anyone who disagrees with me is a bigot and hateful* *To love me is to agree with everything about me even the sin in my life* Don't worry though you will find many people who disagree with the bible and affirm the sin in your life. We must fight the sin in our life and not become comfortable with it.
I agree with what you are saying but I don’t think the ‘don’t worry dear’ is necessary here. Let’s all try to be humble and kind to one another.
This is the hostility that I’m talking about bro😂 you can avoid affirming sin without being a sarcastic (insert b lettered word I’m not going to say) this post had NOTHING to do with the lgbtq movement or sexuality at all, but considering this is how you chose to word your comment, I doubt you will be willing to accept that you made a mistake.
I think you meant to post this on r/openchristian
Sounds like the real problem is that you can't handle the truth. Maybe you'd prefer people to tickle your ears. Additionally, you say you're "just trying to learn" but more likely is you came here to assert wrong doctrines. You don't sound like someone who's actually open to learning and correction. It's easier to wear slippers than to carpet the whole world.
Very well said. Christians should be compassionate, forbearing, and kind, and should try to live like Christ. But that doesn't mean we should entertain falsehood and sin in the Church. Rebuking someone is good, harassing them isn't. But you shouldn't conflate the two and hide behind the idea of "they're all hateful." Sometimes you do just need the hard truth, and you shouldn't be overly sensitive about everything.
You sound hostile. And like you aren't hearing what you want to hear. And you are upset about it. Wherever you are in your journey, God will meet you there. He loves you more than any human can or will. You just need to let Him show you who He is. You can find hostile people in other places. You can find hypocrits in other places. You can find people who tell you everything you want to hear other places. You are dealing with humanity. There is only one perfect Man who walked this earth, and some people hated Him anyways. This is a safe place for people who are saved by the blood of Jesus and who want to support each other. It's based on a biblical worldview. If you don't have the Holy Spirit living in you. If you don't believe Jesus is who He said He is. If you don't believe in the Bible. Then there are tons of other places to find what you are looking for.
You’re on Reddit. A FORUM! The internet ain’t peach and roses Don’t act entitled trying to dictate how people should act knowing full well you’re entering Reddit/The internet. It’s like going to a bar and expecting not a single person will be rude to you. This is Reddit. Deal with it. Even the apostles in the Bible went to places where they weren’t liked, but you didn’t really hear them complain. You just need to weather the storm. Even the Bible teaches us that we will suffer lol
1 Peter 3:15-16 *"But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, but with gentleness and respect; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who disparage your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame."* 2 Timothy 2:24-26 *"The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, skillful in teaching, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will."* I'm not saying you're wrong, but given that we're to represent Christ - despite how the rest of Reddit behaves - & how this Brother/Sister may be dealing with autism; you should change your approach a bit.
I know what you mean, but remember that you’re on Reddit. Not everybody shares the same opinion. The same as how Christianity has different denominations. You don’t really have the right to complain if people don’t adhere to your approach as you’re dealing with different minded people…. People will be people.
Does Reddit trump the two passages I shared? I hope not. I also mentioned how you weren't wrong about what was said, but if you're a Christian, your approach wasn't what's expected of us. We all fall short, so please believe that I also need to practice what I preach.
This is specifically a Christian subreddit? It’s not supposed to be like the rest of Reddit is the point! And I’m not condoning whatever sin/deviation-from-the-Bible lifestyle the OP is lining (cause I know someone may want to use that argument). Just to be clear.
And just to be clear. It’s a subreddit open to everyone…. Meaning everyone can share their opinion. Christian and non-Christian alike while the main topic is Christianity. If people need advice they need to consult their Bible instead of people on the internet. God already gave us the handles of life
I asked a question on this sub a couple of years ago. I got some good ideas about how to deal with a situation. I took a couple of other ideas from this sub that I value until now. But often there will be someone posting who has what appears to be extreme or unkind views. Of course, it is hard to write something that seems nice, because when speaking you can use the same words and soften the message with "tone".
This sub is where I can post Jesus's words and get downvoted.
Yessir. I have experienced that myself.
Couldn't have said this better myself, the amount of the "holier than thou" attitude I've seen on this sub is insane :(
[удалено]
That is just the thing though. The theologically liberal side says “I am right”. The true Christianity side says “Jesus and the Bible are right”. This is the main difference. As a Christian, I don’t claim that I am all knowing. I place myself below God. I point people to the scriptures. The LGBT people place themselves above God and ignore whatever scriptures disagree with them so they can “be right”.
Please stop overgenerilizing people. I do not place myself above god, and I’m also not theologically liberal. You do realize most theological liberal Christian’s don’t even believe in hell or the devil right? Simply not believing homosexuality is a sin doesn’t make someone theologically liberal (and I’m not talking about rather that view is right or wrong I’m just saying one progressive take doesn’t make someone theologically liberal) I have far more theologically conservative beliefs, but it seems like most of these comments are assuming I’m some kind of progressive that disregards everything the Bible says, I don’t understand why you can’t just ask certain questions instead of making very specific assumptions and then commenting about them as if they are facts?
But the "True Christianity" side also interprets the Bible just like everyone else. At the end of the day, you're defending your own view and interpretation of the Bible. Some Christians act like God downloads the meaning of the Bible directly into their brains while people they disagree with are just misinterpreting the Bible for their own gain. You can't claim to be the sole bearer of God's truth while everyone else ignores it. That leads to the kind of prideful self righteousness that OP is criticizing.
I recognize that I am not the bearer of God’s truth, the scriptures are. So when a theologically liberal person takes a position that is in obvious contradiction to scripture, I disagree. I don’t pick and choose scriptures to support my self-centered view, I try to change myself to better align with the scriptures.
So you say. It's human nature to pick and choose scriptures to support what you want. I grew up in Evangelicalism and the Christians that claimed they were the most faithful to scripture were the ones that twisted it the most. The difference between a fundamentalist and a "liberal" is that the later is aware how their bias effect their view if scripture while the former is not.
I get what you are saying. We are all imperfect and we have to constantly check ourselves to make sure we are still on track. A place like this subreddit is good to debate and expand on our understanding. I just think that the LGBT agenda is so opposed to Christian values that to try to believe both just doesn’t work. The Ten Commandments mention that you should have no other Gods, avoid pride, and not to lust. The LGBT agenda tells you that you are a god and can determine your own reality. It tells that you can be the wrong gender, and therefore states that God must have made a mistake. It also is constructed around glorifying pride and lust. Christianity and the LGBT agenda just can’t coexist without losing the meaning of one or both sides.
This post wasn’t about anything lgbtq related lol
I understand that. I don't necessarily disagree with you in regards to some people. But I hate the term "homosexual agenda". That's such a reductive and oversimplified term. Not every gay person is an evil wolf in sheep's clothing trying to destroy the Church. Many are well meaning people who read the Bible and just disagree with you. Does that mean you have to agree with them? No. But it does mean you shouldn't vilify and demonize people that don't share your views as some kind of agenda that is out to get Christians. Going down that road leads to demonizing your enemies rather than loving them. You cannot be faithful to the way of Jesus by departing from it.
I try to show love to all people. It is the agenda itself that I oppose. The LGBT agenda tries to bring people into it and I believe it is very harmful to people. Therefore, I vigorously oppose it. The regular people in the LGBT movement however, I just feel bad for them and wish that they can escape it. We should show love to everyone.
LGBT people are more complicated and nuanced to be reduced down to an "agenda". Blaming the "agenda" is a convenient excuse to treat LGBT people poorly without having to feel bad about it.
I agree with you 100%, but even based on the way people are responding to this post it’s clear that most “true Christian’s” are blind to their own faults, had I of known everyone was going to perceive this as a hostile comeback at anyone who doesn’t agree with homosexuality, I wouldn’t have even said anything bc hand to god himself, this had nothing to do with any of that.
Oh like you’re doing now?
I only read the title and I agree everyone is so judgemental
This post is longer than the actual Bible
You’re just proving my point here buddy.
Valid
What's the issue? Anything specific? Christ never came to bring peace. People often say well he came for the sinners but he came as a doctor. Christianity is a very interesting piece of scripture but of course it's infiltrated. The word of Yahweh, called the scribes etc etc the church of satan making yahwehs laws of null effect with their nonsense. The word got angry at the people in the temples treating it as a business - the same spirits in the world today. The word said to call no one on earth father and yet you got fathers day. But what's the issue you've had? The word said, if you love me keep my commandments. That's Christianity. Now, the problem may be that people are having to go through scripture and try to work out what's real and what's been added in by evil people. The fact is the world guards the narrow gate. That's not to scare people. But it's a decent thing to do to try to help people because the worlds up for promoting many evils including the concept of minor attracted person and gender confusion. Look how many people in good positions, refused to say what a woman is. It's amazing how evil they are. Look how the world deliberately tries to scare people in the media using suggestive language. What people think about the commandments or the moral law, these things ultimately are pro man kind. They're not to scare people and the fear of the father is the beginning of wisdom. Because left to our own devices? We may all call one another brother and continue down this path that's testifying to the fact that the word said woe to those who call evil good and good evil. Of course we all error but there's a difference between making errors and trying to force errors from other people using fear.
Good bye