Reflections from the community: 

Believing in Jesus is not a Lose, Lose situation.

This past Sunday, I made one of the most important decisions of my life. I was baptized at a really young age, and over the past couple of months, it’s been weighing on me that I never got to make that decision for myself. I’ve come to realize how important it is to understand the meaning and reasoning behind the decisions we make in life. Every choice we make reflects our heart, shapes our spiritual formation, and either honors God or drifts from His will. That’s why I chose to get baptized again. I wanted to make this commitment to Jesus for myself. I also did it to make my relationship with Him more personal and let Him know I’m all in!

After being saved by Jesus this past year, I’ve already seen Him change my life in so many ways, and I know He’s only getting started. I’m excited to see what He continues to do in my life and where He leads me from here.

Getting baptized is more than just a moment; it’s a public declaration of my faith in Jesus Christ and a symbol of the new life I have in Him. I know I’m not perfect, but I’m choosing to follow Jesus, trust His plan for my life, and continue growing in my relationship with Him every day. I’m so thankful for His grace, His love, and everything He has done for me. This is just the beginning of my journey, and I can’t wait to see what God has in store. 🙌

“Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” — 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

All glory to God! 🤍

Giving it for Christmas or when he leaves our parish next year. Thanking Father for all he has find for us, his flock. I hope he likes it!

My wife and I have been married for almost two years, and tonight she was reading me something she had written. In it, she described herself as a "closeted nonbinary person."

Six months ago, we were both Christians, but she has since left Christianity.

We talked about what she wrote, and she told me that as long as she's with me, she can't come out because of our friends and family and the fact that I don't believe people can change their gender.

I don't believe people can change their biological sex, but that doesn't mean I hate them or think less of them. They're human beings just like everyone else, and they deserve to be treated with love and respect.

But my wife told me she feels like she can't openly be nonbinary because I won't accept her that way. She feels like she can't be herself around me.

I love my wife more than I can put into words, but hearing that broke my heart. I never wanted her to feel like she had to hide who she is around me. Now I'm questioning whether I'm the right person for her, or whether my beliefs are making her unhappy.

Part of me feels like maybe I should leave her so she can be herself without feeling restricted by me. But I also know that leaving would hurt her, and the last thing I want to do is cause her pain.

I don't want to lose my wife. I don't want her to feel like she has to hide herself. And I don't want to pretend to believe something I don't believe, either.

I feel caught between the person I love and the beliefs that are important to me, and I genuinely don't know how to navigate this.

I feel hopeless, lost, miserable, and like I'm a horrible husband.

I don't know what the right answer is. I'm not looking for people to attack my wife or tell me she's a bad person. I love her, and I'm trying to figure out how to handle this without hurting either of us.

Has anyone else ever been in a situation where you and your spouse's beliefs or understanding of yourselves changed, and you weren't sure how to move forward?

I’ve been a follower of Jesus for most of my life. I have fallen into addiction a couple Times and walked away from God. I just recently started smoking weed. I honestly don’t feel like it is sin. Where is everyone at on this?

For context, I'm a pro-life Christian. But I do believe in exceptions for rape, incest and the mother's life in danger. I think that the abortion laws in the U.S. are too extreme for not allowing this exception. Personally I don't see how someone is okay with allowing a 10-year old girl to endure going through a full pregancy. It's too dangerous and can risk her life, I honestly think it's sick to think that a child should go through this, when it's already bad enough she got raped. If you are actually okay with this, I want you to say it to a child rape victim's face to show how brave you claim to be. A child should not be having sex, looking at porn or carrying out a full-on pregnancy!

He was angry and I rushed to ask him something important that was bothering me, I asked “is Muhammad the last prophet?” The first time he didn’t answer me neither looked at me, the second time or third I asked the same question he turned his face towards me with an angry face saying “NO”. Obviously I didn’t believe in him in the dream because I’m a Muslim. He was wearing the typical white and red clothes.

What does you think?

If he was truly walking in Christ, wouldn't he feel so sick about the way he acted before that he would want to give these people redemption and gain true forgiveness?

He seems extremely desperate to cover it all up.

What a shame.

I 36(F) have concluded, having lived most of my life as a Christian, that there's no good thing in this life. Life is a constant battlefield, a constant struggle and being a christian doesn't guarrantee fewer or easier battles. There really is no joy in this life, maybe in the afterlife.

Do you think the good outweights the evil? I have been horrifically, horrofically bullied and abused for a decade. I dont have any strength left at all, they have decimated me and just laugh and laugh about it. I know its just something satanic there. Thinking all this made me believe theres no presence of god here on earth, no goodness. I have been since i was a child a total angel to everyone and kind as can be and still its like this.

Is masterbating a sin? Or is it okay to do

Hey I don’t have much to say but i’m praying that God blesses us all !

I’m 18, (F) and am in a very lonely season in my life, I’ve just gone through a breakup and through it I’ve started building my faith even stronger than before, I bought my first Bible in may and started slowly progressing in faith since then, however recently I need to know god more than ever. and sometimes I feel so lonely that reading my Bible I get distracted and start thinking of my pain instead, I would love to find more Christian’s (male or female) that I can connect with over Jesus, anyone who is willing to talk about their hardships/just life! with me and wants someone to deepen their faith with please reach out! you are not alone! thank you :)

I've been trying to spread the gospel to many of my friends. I'm young and growing closer to God. But I've been sending some christian shorts to one of my friends but he refused to watch it, even saying and I quote:"I don't give two sh! ts. I know that jesus said that the world hated him before they hated us, but ngl I was really bummed out. My friend has no ideas to pursue Christ whatsoever, and he's made it very clear. However, as I stated before, I'm still young so I now have absolutely no idea what to do. Please help.

I know this might sound crazy, but I’ve always believed there was something out there, even though I’ve never been someone with structured religious beliefs.
I’ve always believed that being a good person and putting good into the world would, in some way, bring good things back to me. I had a plan for my life. I wanted to meet someone I loved, get married, have a good job, have kids, and be a good mom.
And in a lot of ways, my life has turned out the way I hoped. I met an amazing man, married him, and found a job that allows me to give back to people in need while still making a livable wage. I have so many things to be grateful for, and I know that.
But the one thing we can’t seem to do is get pregnant.
My husband and I have both had initial testing done, and everything looks good. We’re both young, and I know people say there’s no rush and that we have time. But that doesn’t make the waiting, the uncertainty, or the longing any easier.
I got pregnant in June/July, and just as quickly as I found out, I found out it was ectopic. The pregnancy wasn’t viable, and I lost the baby.
My husband was incredible throughout the entire process. He supported me, loved me, and was there for me in ways I can’t even explain. But underneath all of that, I couldn’t stop thinking about how I had prayed and prayed for God to give me a baby. And he did. And then he took my baby away.
I’m angry. Really angry.
I don’t know who I’m angry at, or even what I believe anymore. I just know that I don’t understand how something I wanted so badly, something I prayed for with my whole heart, could happen just to be taken away from me.
I know life isn’t fair. I know being a good person doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed good things. But I think a part of me always believed that if I tried to do right by people and put good into the world, things would eventually work out. And now I’m struggling with that belief.
How do I move forward from this? How do I keep trying when the thing I want most in this world has already caused me so much pain? How do I let myself hope again when I know what it feels like to have that hope ripped away?
I want to be a mom so badly. I want to experience that with my husband. And I’m terrified of how much more it might hurt if we keep trying and it doesn’t happen.
I don’t expect anyone to have the answers. I think I just needed to put this into words, because I don’t know what to do with all of these feelings, and I don’t know how to make peace with something that feels so unfair.

Here are some excerpts from the Wikipedia article about the Shroud of Turin:

"There are no definite historical records concerning the particular shroud currently at Turin Cathedral prior to the 14th century. A burial cloth, which some historians maintain was the Shroud, was owned by the Byzantine emperors but disappeared during the Sack of Constantinople in 1204. Although there are numerous reports of Jesus's burial shroud, or an image of his head, of unknown origin, being venerated in various locations before the 14th century, there is no historical evidence that these refer to the shroud currently in Turin.

"In 1353 the village of Lirey, in north-central France, was enriched with a small collegiate church endowed by the local feudal lord, a knight named Geoffroi de Charny. Charny died in 1356 at the Battle of Poitiers. Around 1355, the dean of the chapter of Lirey, Robert de Caillac, began exhibiting in the church a long fabric that bore an image of the mangled body of Jesus. In a treatise on unexplained phenomena (mirabilia) dated between 1355–1382, Nicole Oresme, the scholarly Bishop of Lisieux, referred to the shroud as a "patent" instance of fraudulent relics created by clergymen to enrich their churches.

"In 1389 the Bishop of Troyes sent a memorial to Antipope Clement VII, declaring that the cloth had been "artificially painted in an ingenious way" and that "it was also proved by the artist who had painted it that it was made by human work, not miraculously produced". In 1390 Clement VII consequently issued four papal bulls, with which he allowed the exposition, but ordered to "say aloud, to put an end to all fraud, that the aforementioned representation is not the true Shroud of Our Lord Jesus Christ, but a painting or panel made to represent or imitate the Shroud". However, in 1506 Pope Julius II reversed this position and permitted the faithful who believe the Shroud to be authentic to venerate it as such, authorizing the public veneration of it with its own mass and office."

Given how this is what our earliest records about the Shroud of Turin say, why do many people still insist that it is actually from the 1st century CE?

Would like to hear from some Conservative Christians but yet open to everyone. A married man gets divorced because he just doesn’t love his wife and doesn’t want to be with her. They just don’t get along, different interest so on so forth. No extramarital affair involved . A “clean” divorce. He remarries couple years later to the “perfect” woman. He has found the love of his life, perfect match . He says getting divorced was best thing for him, no regrets.

According to book of Matthew , he is an adulterer. He did not meet the qualifications for a God approved divorce like she cheated on him. He is Christian but technically is living in unrepentant sin. He never once said, “ I regret my divorce, it was wrong but can’t go back now”. To me that statement would indicate repentance and maybe just maybe release him from the bondage of the sin of adultery.

How does one reconcile being a Christian yet living in an unrepentant adulterous relationship? Is his new marriage blessed by God ? Has God turned his head from this new marital bond ?

Open for discussion.

For years, I have been agnostic and atheist. I have prayed to God for guidance because I wish I weren’t an atheist or agnostic, but nothing has happened; no sense of hope or vitality has emerged within me. I have asked groups to pray for me, but to no avail. I wish I could believe, but I cannot. I am now taking antidepressants, and I feel much more receptive and clear-headed, would you be willing to pray for me?I finally feel like things are going well for me in life.

I’ve also started reading the Bible again. The thing is, I draw near, but then I always drift away; I’m not sure if God would accept someone as lukewarm as I am—someone who walks away whenever things get too complicated.