Sunwalker

I used to be more active on this section months ago, specially on the Count to a Million thread. Whether that will change or not, who knows, but I remember you from back then @Blue, my good pal, I summon thee here

I am a Catholic, no adjectives. Sometimes people use the adjective "devout" or "staunch" to differentiate from those who are just nominally Catholic, but doesn't actually live the faith. Well, you are not a teacher and don't teach people. You are not a medic and refuse to heal people. You are not a firefighter and sit still when there is fire. You aren't a soldier, and pick up which commands you want to obey or not. An so on... In the same way, I cannot see how one would describe himself as a Catholic and yet don't follow the Catholic faith (the same applies to other faiths). Yes, I accept the authority of the Pope. I subscribe to everything in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I abide by all statements of the Apostolic Creed. And I accept all the doctrines and morals of the Church. I am 32 years now, I was never an atheist or an agnostic, but I didn't start taking the faith more seriously until around 8 years ago. It wasn't a single overnight event that led to that, but rather an process that happened little by little over the years. I had a somewhat rebellious phase on my teens, and I had a disdain for the Church back then. I kept that to myself, however, this is a case in which being shy is helpful, hah! Over the time, I came across with information about the faith (books, TV shows, internet, etc), and I also got in touch with Christians (notice, again, no adjectives) which helped me to understand the faith. which is interesting, considering that some of these stuff and people are not even Catholic. Looks like God can use the most unexpected means to reach people. Anyways, little by little, the Catholic faith ended up making sense for me. At first sight Catholic Theology might looks overly technical and even legalistic sounding, but at a deeper look it is coherent, it makes sense for me. Even the most controversial positions could be explained in a very logical way, which surprised me. I have an analytical mind, so that sort of thing apleals to me. The reason of why someone is Catholic can hardly be expressed in a single sentence, it is rather a combination of pretty much everything that makes up the Catholic faith. But if have to summarize in a few lines my reasons, I can say that I am Catholic because I got convinced of the following things: - The life, death, and resurrection if Jesus Christ, as described in the Gospels, is an historical fact. - Jesus founded the Catholic Church. - Jesus left the Pope as being his vicar, that is, his representative on Earth until he returns. - Peter was the first Pope, followed by Pope Linus, and so on until Pope Francis in our days. On a related note. Since I started taking my faith more seriously, there weren't a single week in which I missed the Mass. I don't have to be forced to go there, it happens naturally, by my own free will. Short answer is that Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholic. The three main forms of Christianity are Catholicism, which comes from the first century; Eastern Orthodox, which came from the Eastern Schism that happened in the 11th century; and Protestantism, which came from the Protestant Reformation that began at the 16th century. There are quite a few other smaller churches, and also those Christians who describe themselves as nondenominational, but usually Christianity remounts back to one of those 3 forms. Simply put, the Catholic Church does see those other groups (Orthodox, Protestants, nondenominational, etc) as also being Christians. This doesn't mean being in agreement with anything they do or believe, however. The Catholic Church sees them as Christians living just part of the Truth, as separated brothers, but still brothers in Christ. The debate of what qualifies as a Christian can go for quite awhile. But in my opinion, this is the bare minimum in order for someone has to think in order to be Christian: - that Jesus is God made man - that he is the Messiah - that he have died and resurrected in order to save us from sin It is perfectly OK to just admire Jesus and think that he is a very wise man, but that alone doesn't necessarily makes someone a Christian.

Hello! I have not been much active lately on the forums. Anyways, I am popping by to say hello A belated welcome to you! And as others have already said, this isn't primarily for discussions, though some might pop up every now and them. But it is nothing heated. The thread is mainly to meet and talk . Nice to see you back around here, even if for just a bit I know I am a little late to reply this, but anyways here is my take. Faith in a Christian context is not just knowing or believing that God exists, as even the demons in Hell know that God exists. Faith here involves trusting in God. Faith is "the certainty of what you cannot see", at least not yet see. But this should not be mistaken by blind faith, which is accepting something without any knowledge or basis. Faith can, and ‒ I dare to say ‒ must, be grounded. For example, one knows that the existence and life of Jesus Christ is a historical fact, also knows what he teaches, and so one decides to trust in Christ and become a Christian. Or, even if someone does not have much knowledge about Christianity, he can still see the good Christ made on the live of another person, and then get convinced.

Here goes my story: Those are the words I chose: I think it turned out pretty amusing

The last thing I drank was coffee. I do love some strong coffee

Using shoes at home feels really weird for me I generally just take off the shoes at home and walk around with socks, and being without socks also feels weird for me . I usually only wear shoes outside home.

The answer depends on what you call by "ghosts". If for by "ghost" you mean disembodied spirits of people wandering in our world, then, no, I don't think they can do that. So in this sense you can say I don't believe in ghosts. But I do think that people have spiritual souls, which leave this world when the body dies. I don't think that "ghost" is a good term to refer to the human soul, as the theological concept of soul is much deeper that the caricature of some floating semitransparent thing wearing a white sheet. But if you use "ghost" as a synonym for "soul", then, yes, I do believe. On a related note, I would like to say to not get scared of people who have died. Your loved ones would not scare or do anything to harm you. And even the people who would do that, they aren't exactly in a position where they could.

If I like the content of the site and the ads aren't annoying, I do disable AdBlock when the site politely asks to do so. What I really don't like is an excessive amount of ads, especially if it is flashy or video ads. Wikia is especially guilty of that, in my eyes, there are too many ads, almost more ads than content depending on the page. I don't visit Wikia without AdBlock, otherwise the ads are too distracting, plus they make the pages to take a lot longer to download.

As they say around here, welcome to the herd Have a good time!

I meant, not asking it right now, but waiting some time until things settle down.

Maybe you can get the statuses back if you ask.

No cookie for me, since I didn't know and I had to Google it up Anyways, from what I can get from Wikipedia, MK means "missionaries' kid", who are the children of missionaries. They are a subset of the "Third Culture Kids" (TCK), which is a more general term for children of parents who travel around the world. By the way, I am happy to see you here! Welcome Welcome to you too Glad to meet you! It is useful to remember that people are not saved by their own merits. Not even the most virtuous human you can think about is good enough to deserve salvation. That is why salvation is offered gratuitously by Christ. You have not to worry to be perfect, you need to strive to keep becoming better. This is not much about where you are or what you have accomplished, but rather about the direction you are following and if your intentions are good. Remember that passage in which Jesus was in the temple, then a woman came and donated a single coin? Jesus commented that her action counted more than of the teachers of the law, who had donated lots of coins, because what she did was honest and came from her heart. The teachers of the law only donated in order to look good, they were selfish, but for the woman it took some real effort and motivation. In a similar way, it doesn't really matter whether you have accomplished a lot or not, try to not worry whether you have done enough or not. God knows your heart and your limitations, God isn't unfair and he isn't expecting from you nothing that you cannot accomplish. And even when you fail, God is forgiving. So no reason for despair, just get up and try again. Those who persevere until the end will be saved. About what you go in your school... People who keep hurting you while knowing that they are hurting you cannot be called your friends. About getting harassed about the faith in school or college, it didn't happen with me, but the advice I got anyways was to keep a low profile until you get your diploma/degree, and then you can be open about it since those other people there are no longer in a position where they can hinder your academic career. This isn't a hard rule, though, as there are more than a few people who successfully stood up, but I cannot recommend this right now for you since (1) it looks that you are emotionally distressed about it, and (2) I am not close to you in person in order to give the necessary advice as the situation goes. But do what your heart tells it is the best, I will be praying for you On a related note, just because someone is not formally a Christian it does not necessarily means that what comes from them is bad. Sometimes those people are closer to being good Christians than those who describe themselves as one. Nobody talks in Christ's name that isn't by Him, sometimes God can also use non-Christians in order to reach you. You can safely ignore what is against your faith, while keeping what is good. A belated happy Pinkie Pie day to you and the folks here

Thank you very much! Now my plane should take off in 8 hours and 40 minutes from when I posted this. It will be 1 hour and 25 minutes of flight. I will have internet there, so I will be able to check the forums On what you said about your home, aw... I am really sad to hear. I will keep you on my prayers, and I hope that things can be sorted out in the best manner. I am available if you want to talk about it in private, but a good thing would br to have a close friend in person who you could open up. See you around, and take good care!

Thank you very much for sharing your story! One can go through an extensive and complex philosophical debate in order to defend the faith, and that might even work, but nothing speaks more eloquently than living it! More people were brought to God by acts of kindness than by words. Words might even convince people, but examples compel them. Yeah, I have noticed! What specially gets my attention is that at points even non-Christians came here in order to just have a chat, and it went in a friendly manner I do know that being a Christian does not mean that you are immune from sinning. But Christians are expected to be the salt of this earth, the light in the darkness, or however you decide to phrase that. They should at least make an effort to be respectful towards others This is what I have talked just above about actually living the faith. When people do not live what they talk about, the hypocrisy alarm rings. Even an atheist is capable of noticing when someone is being a hypocrite Christian, even though the former does not believe in the faith. On a related note, I hope I am not reading too much into your words, but by the way you wrote it, it sounds that you have not met hostility in person because of liking MLP. It looks that you are just being anxious about it, suffering by anticipation. Watching a cartoon about pastel colored equines that talk about friendship should not be more complicated than what it needs to be. It is just a show you happen to like The internet can be a crazy place, but IRL people are much more likely to treat you as a person because… hmmm well… they can see you . If you act as if you were doing something wrong, then that is when you might make other people suspect you. MLP is a cartoon you happen to enjoy; it should not be too complicated to watch it. Of course you should not force it into people or brush it on their faces, but I don’t see why to be worried about watching it. Particularly, I don’t care to hide that I watch it and I don’t mind to advertise that I watch it. I just let it roll. On a different note, I am going to travel tomorrow, this Saturday morning. I am going to get a plane to visit my grandma in another state, I am going to return Thursday morning. So I would appreciate prayers for a safe trip See you all, and take good care!

@@Asbel Lhant, I am sorry to hear what happened to you. I will try to get in touch with you through Skype. I am a good listener and understanding

@@Jest (Inactive), this is just so insensitive. One knows the true character of someone when he does good even though there are nothing obliging him to do so. Anyone is capable of loving easy going people, even the incompetent and the idiot are capable of doing so. To be capable of loving a difficult person, when there are nothing forcing you to do so, that is what will set you apart from mediocrity and make you virtuous. That is the Christian definition of love you asked me another day. But you don't believe in objective morals, right? That explain a lot about your attitude. You think it is OK to discard someone for having Aspergers? And yet you want to lecture me on love. Just don't complain when people abandon you for whatever reason. I will not be the one to do so, however, I will always be open for forgiveness. You unfairly accused me of causing drama, when I was polite all the time, and you didn't accept my apology for whatever misunderstanding it might have happened, you refused the olive branch. You walked away as if I were nothing. But even then I forgive you will and I will not abandon you, be always there for you if you ever happen to need help. Because, you know, that is what actually means to love.

I prefer strong coffee, for me mild coffee just tastes watery I heard somewhere that coffee is better to be appreciated without sugar. I tried that a couple of times, though I didn't find it bad, I didn't like it much either. I prefer my coffee with a bit of sugar, not too much, about a spoonful of sugar for each 700 mL.

That would be so Spocky Is this a question?

This is the remix of the theme of the true final battle of the game Undertale: The original song is already awesome by itself, however the remix adds a better audio quality and more instruments, making it even more epic

By the way, did you end up using some MLP clip on your Sunday school class? How did it go? I remember you said here that you got a flat tire last week, so you couldn't go. But I hope everything went well this week

I am feeling a bit tired and groggy, because I have woke up not too long ago. But that's nothing that a coffee cannot fix, hehehe

Hello, how are you all doing? I came back from church not too long ago. Today's sermon was really beautiful, and pointed out an interesting detail that I had not noticed before. I would like to share it with you Apostle Thomas has the stigma of being the one "who needs to see to believe", but actually he is a much more deeper person than that. He is the disciple who does not want to carry any doubts back to home, he wants to make sure that he understood everything Jesus said. When Jesus was talking about His own death and resurrection (John 14:1-7), the disciples were not understanding a thing, but Thomas was the only one to inquire Jesus about that: “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” To which Jesus repled: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” There are nothing wrong with seeking knowledge, and God actually wants that. God do not want mindless drones, he made us intelligent people with free will. If it weren't for the inquisitiveness of Thomas, we would not have one of the most beautiful passages of the Bible, when Jesus says "I am the way and the truth and the life" I would like to take the opportunity to ask you guys one thing: what are your favorite Bible verses and why? See you!