bless47

I clicked on something on the browser to contact them and it sent me to the same old unhelpful support thing with no means of sending an email.

UPDATE: So I’ve decided I will continue to attend, and after a talk with the Pastor I will not yet take communion. There is a kind of “Close Communion” Policy, and I hope to maybe influence to make it more closed. We’ll see how it goes. But I definitely decided it was more important I attend and receive God’s means of Grace through the spoken Word.

So very recently I became decided on Confessional Lutheran theology. I'm a newer Christian, and for about 6 months I was Reformed until I started watching Jordan Cooper and realized some things about why I believed in Limited Atonement. I was aware of an LCMS Church near me, and it seemed like all was going well. The problem is, I think this Ch

Okay so my story is a bit complicated. Basically, once I became a Christian I was pretty spotless at quitting porn. For a while I was still masturbating, but eventually I decided to quit that as well. When I did that things went well for a long time. I barely even thought much of it. Until a thought came into my head at one point. It was a bout a fetish I had before I was a Christian. It was something that potentially could be on YouTube. The curiosity kept eating at me whenever it came to my mind, until I gave in and saw if there was anything on it. Of course I found out there was.

This became my first full PMO relapse since I quit masturbating. I felt great shame, promised myself not to

This is something I’ve noticed; If I’m feeling some sort of anxiety, the temptations are at their hardest to fight.

For example, last night I accidentally dropped my phone in water. It’s working fine, but eventually I found out I didn’t take the right precautions and that water damage can kill the phone later on. So now I’ve had a little anxiety all day, because if my phone breaks I won’t be able to get a replacement. Which limits my ability to talk with my crush, the chiefest of things I’m anxious about regarding this.

This is relevant because hovering with this anxiety is a looming temptation to either think about something P related or to peek. If I were to guess what my brain is doing,

Anybody ever notice this? I've had times where I repented of my pride, and I sensed pride in the fact that I repented; and then in the fact that I sensed the pride. I just find it interesting how often it manifests. It might be the sin the every single Christian commits daily. Things like this exemplify the necessity of a savior.

So I'm starting to think that one of the reasons adultery is the only grounds for divorce in a marriage is because it reflects God's relationship with his people throughout time. I've been seeing the passages that refer to Israel as God's bride, but that she had become a Harlot. Then eventually Jesus comes and along with Him the new covenant and a new people.

Would it be fair to connect adultery being the grounds for divorce with Israel's relationship with God? Israel was originally the bride, committed adultery and became a harlot, and as a result God receives a more faithful bride. Of course God's knowledge of these events taking place is much greater than ours in marriage, but that's wh

I've recently become decided on Preterist/Partial Preterist eschatology, and the stance I'm leaning the most towards is Postmillennialism. What are the best sources to learn more about it?

So I had an interesting experience on Facebook an hour ago. A friend of mine commented on a meme I shared about the Pharisees being clowns, and he complained asking why everything with me has to be "about religion".

It was interesting to me, and it reminded me of how the Bible pretty much states our natural condition is to be haters of God. Knowing that reason, I asked him why me posting about God is so much more worse than the times I was obsessed with anime, or hip hop music. I pointed out all of the other things I used to post nonstop about were never under this kind of scrutiny. So why is it that I should suppress sharing things about my Christianity?

Of course I knew the answer to wh

Is it possible this is the Centurion named Cornelius in Acts? It says how strong his faith is, and Jesus noted how strong the faith of the Centurion was compared to Israel. Has there ever been any discussion of that?

I recently bought a copy of the Apocrypha and am currently reading through 1 Macabees. While I am in the camp that these books aren't inspired, so far I'm still fascinated with the story in this book. To me it feels like God was present in the events that the book discusses, just not in the writings (hopefully that makes sense). IIRC the view the Reformers had on the apocrypha is that they're useful but not scripture. So is there any kind of analysis/sermon/book I can find on a book like 1 Macabees from a Reformed perspective? Modern or older is fine.

So it's looking like the only Reformed Church at all close that believes the Bible is the word of God is 8 miles away. Every single Church near me regardless of denomination worships liberalism instead of Jesus, so they are not an option I'd even consider.

Does anybody else have to travel a ways away for their Church?

Also is there a way I can "request" a Church be built near me, because it's really upsetting to know anybody who attends a Church in this town isn't being told the truth. I'm only a month in so I have no qualifications as an elder or a pastor, so I don't know if there's anything I can do to change things lol.

The way I see Charismatics is that I think it can happen, but that it isn't something to focus too deeply on. I prefer to listen to pastors who are cessationists because it's more objective that way imo, but I think miracles/signs/gifts CAN happen.

The main reason is because I can't find a passage that supports cessationism. I definitely think most Charismatics take it too far, and that most of the time it's either fake or demonic, but I just am not convinced it never happens.

Is this an unpopular view? Also is there a Bible verse to support cessation? I tried looking and can't find anything. All I find is Mormon websites that want to convince me Joseph Smith is a prophet. lol

So every day I learn about Calvinism it starts to make more sense to me. The passages to support it are solid, and so are the rebuttals against Armenianism. My biggest stumbling block regarding this all is how people who disagree with it seem to respond. Whenever I do a google search, the results and related searches are largely about how evil it is. If I find my views to align with Calvinism am I going to have to accept that a lot of brothers and sisters will think I'm an evil heretic, or is this not as big of an issue as I'm making it?

I just want to clarify, I won't let man's opinion get in the way of biblical truth. If it really is true I have a responsibility to accept it. I just feel

So perhaps the most intimidating thing about being Christian to me is evangelizing. Part of it I can blame on my family, because as much as I love them, they aren't very gifted at spreading the word most of the time. But also just because I'm very introverted and used to not stepping over people's boundaries.

I'm very open to the idea of talking about my faith when asked, but when I think about bringing it up on my own I get nervous just thinking about it. Part of the reason is because in my life as an agnostic, I viewed the concept as it being "shoved in my face", and I'm very aware that's how it's going to be seen if I do it. I understand now the importance of it, but I don't know how to

Is it even possible? Whenever I see Christians interact them they don't seem to care about biblical evidence, or historic evidence. The devil seems to have a strong grip on these ones. Are there any stories of BHI that became Christians? I want to know because there are two people I know believe in this stuff and the task of convincing them feels harder than convincing an atheist.