SummerOfGold

Well, that largely depends on who you think God is and what you think about the world as a whole. The Bible shows us that God existed eternally and infinitely before everything else, and that everything else was created by Him. So, that would mean that something as personal as morality is ultimately either an extension of Him or something He created. If it were something He created, that would devalue morality because it would make it something that is finite and something that at one point didn't matter. Remember, "God is Love," and the Father loved the Son before the creation of the world. Morality is entirely based on God's unchanging character, and is thus also unchanging. If it were something that existed apart from God (say, being something that wasn't as a part of His being as his hands and feet are) and at the same time as Him, then that would dethrone God and make something either His equal or contend with Him. God is exclusively "Almighty." This is why, while there are three persons, there is only one God. "You're the only God whose power none can contend You're the only God whose name and praise will never end" If I were to put is simply, to say that morality comes from anywhere other than God is to say that the God who created literally everything and loves His creation ultimately doesn't matter because His feelings would simply be another finite, changing thing that can be rejected. He is our creator; there's nothing more important that Him, and no excuse for rejecting His love. Sorry if that was a bit of a rant, or if I sounded self-important in any way. (ごめんね! ごめんね!)

I understand. And lol, I wasn't really reading the other people saying to "chill out" until later. Maybe I got the angry vibe from capital letters, idk. Guess it doesn't matter really. And yes, I have read those verses and ones on the subject, quite recently in fact. And yes, I'm still saying that you are not as read as I am. I don't know how to say this without coming across as "high and mighty" but you are really cherry picking which verses you read and how you see them. I know that's rich coming from a Christian, but like I said, I read them recently. I assure you you need to poke around more. And I don't object to being more specific, it's just that my breaks at work are short and phones suck for typing :). I never said "it's just the OT" and certainy don't believe that. Again, I can be more specific, just ask. I feel like we're on even ground now and aren't in as much danger of me thinking you're being aggressive (sorry about that). I have read Job, and still maintain that you are cherry picking. Would you rather talk in PM, or is it fine here?

I don't see why you feel the need to suddenly turn hostile. Have I said anything to insult or demean you? I think I can honestly say that I understand it more than you do because I don't just walk into it with the hostility you obviously have towards it. You have a negative bias towards it and it shows in the way you respond. And while you can say "I've heard that argument before" I can say the same for your comments. It's a book, and I've studied it more than you have and read studies from people who have studied it more than I have. When you know about something somebody doesn't know about, you are able to tell that they don't know it because you have more to go off of. Instead of giving the standard "sexist and contradicting" arguments, could you please explain yourself and where you have drawn those conclusions? I'm trying to be kind an honest with you. Could you pay me the same courtesy? We're adults, not children. Sorry didn't see the comment before replying. Gimme a sec (sorry in advance if I'm missing the point) Look, I'm sorry for butting in. I'm not trying to be pushy about this. If I'm being honest, I replied because I felt like I was being forced into a box and completely discredited. Sorry, Niko.

You can live your whole life as a "Christian" an still not understand it. Living around them or in a Christian household means nothing, really. And just because you've had more experience with fanatics doesn't mean that you know or understand what Biblical Christianity is actually like. I'm not saying that I know anything about you aside from this: if you actually knew what Christianity was like with the knowledge it took me years of diligence to understand and acquire, you would know it is miles beyond the post you originally gave. Again, the way I word things isn't meant to be rude. Just not sure how to say it.

It really saddens me when you just take one look at us and act like we're idiots and that you know everything about us. Not trying to be rude here, but you are years worth of research behind. It's not something I can explain to you in one post, especially if you have the attitude that you're showing in your post. Please don't try to explain us unless you actually know what you're talking about, because it's more than just some "psychological thingy" that "helps us relax". That isn't the reason in the slightest. Sorry if I came across as rude.

Forgive me if I'm starting something, and also for picking out what probably wasn't the focus of your comment, but to be honest I am more worried about what members of this discussion would say if I brought up something that has to do with the Christian walk than the unlikely atheist showing up. I realize this isn't Sunday school, but this group doesn't really feel open to conservative views, and if anything I feel like I'm encouraged to be politically correct and censor myself rather than have freedom to speak my mind here.

I hope not to be rude, but you're not making a lick of sense here. I'm lost.

"I cal lher k k" What is that?

It's not about asking nicely. God can't be bought by your "charisma". No, it's a matter of whether or not he wills something to happen. We are told to "voice our requests with thanksgiving and supplication", and it isn't lazy either. Prayer is showing yourself to God without hiding or concealing. It's coming clean and asking for help. It should also be noted that with prayer comes closure; if we ask for something that will bring honor to God then we can be assured that it is heard and we don't need to be anxious about it. Completely taken care of.

If I might contribute to the subject of "truth", hoping of course that I'm not intruding or causing a heated debate, then I would like to pose these questions: Why is God unable to lie? If God cannot, then why should we? If Jesus is the "truth", then what justification is there to lie? Reading Rev 12:11, I'm thinking that the argument "I can lie to save a life" is rather selfish, and (if I may be so bold as to say so) is rather idolatrous of one's life (that it, to value life on Earth more than one's loyalty to God). You cannot serve life and God. I believe that by "justifying" a lie in any case could be the breeding grounds to justify lying for selfish gain. For example, my friend thought it was okay to lie to me so that I would drop a subject. On a final note, Rev 21:8 seems to make it clear that lying is cowardly and would constitute as "leaning on one's own understanding" rather than putting faith in Christ. I think the thing we forget a lot of the time is that life here will end and that the only thing that will truly matter in the end will not be our years but our faith in God's gift of salvation. Thoughts?

How do you deal with baggage when there's a lot of it and you don't want to come off as somebody who just whines about their life? I feel empty bringing things to God for some reason, and I'm not sure what to do.

Hope you like it here, Mag.

Thank you for the advice.

Actually, I stepped into a conversation that had more than 100 total replies. That post was the third thing that I posted... The caps were a ctrl+v of his post. The person I had replied to was (and I'm not even exaggerating) making claims about certain passages that were not true at all. He claimed things that there literally existed no evidence to suggest what he was saying was true. I'll be honest, I probably shouldn't have posted anything to begin with considering it's Youtube and the fact it had been going on for so long beforehand anyways. I'll be honest, I wasn't trying to insult him with what I was saying, or try to get the last word. I felt hurt and ignored. My intention was to point out what he had been doing that I found wrong, not to be the right one, but for the truth to be on the table (not having the truth associated with me, but rather have the truth associated with itself). This is what I had first posted: Just to give you some background, this is what he replied: Fragment of what I replied: I wasn't sure what to say, really. I felt the need to address the way he was talking to everybody else in the conversation. I don't know, I thought that my first post was respectful. I always go at things from a neutral perspective, and my teacher keeps telling me that I end up sounding rude. I ask things like "Do you know what x means?" because I legitimately believe that the person's previous statement implies that they do not and I am trying to establish whether or not they do so that I can move forward. I don't know how else to go about things, I thought you were supposed to ask questions to get answers. Yet, I realize that everything I say has the danger of sounding snide. This frustrates me. I'm not trying to justify myself or any of the comments I made, I'm legitimately telling you my way of thinking to establish a common ground to move forward. (I'm sorry if this gets a bit long, but this is really starting to make me cry. And I'm not trying to get sympathy from you, I just want to be honest and frank with you.) When I said he was being "self-glorifying" I told him that because that's what I noticed in all of his posts. I don't know about any of you, but I seriously hate it when I have an attitude about something and nobody addresses it or calls me out. I'm trying to better myself, and I prefer it if people realize that if they let me continue to, say, be snide or inconsiderate that I have the potential to hurt somebody else. I don't know how to rebuke without seeming unkind. I'm never saying things to insult people. When I said "I'm done trying to help you in this matter because you've shown that you don't really care about finding the truth so much as you want to look smart" I meant that in a basic manner and quite literally. No extra feelings. I wasn't intending to insult him or cop an attitude or show him up or humiliate him or act as though I deserved something from him. I just meant it simply as I said it. "I'm done trying to help you" I didn't think that continuing the conversation would have yielded any good results. "you've shown that you don't really care about finding the truth so much as you want to look smart" He showed that he was more concerned with asserting himself forward than the scriptures. I didn't say that with any thought of "And I on the other hand" or any comparison between the two of us; I was talking to him about him, not myself. I know this is going to sound really childish, but when I said "you didn't give any thought to what I said" I felt a little hurt. I wasn't trying to make it seem like my word was law or somehow better than his, I was trying to communicate that he was more focused on his own agenda than actually considering something that somebody else was trying to say. And to reiterate, I considered what he said, so I'm not telling him to do something that I didn't do myself (though I didn't read all of his last few comments because I kept seeing certain keywords). I don't know what to say, really. I didn't think any of his arguments were good because they all came out with such heat. Now I'm wondering if I did the same. I don't want to be rude here. Thank you for your response, weesh. Sorry if I missed the point.

I hope I'm not stealing the topic, but I wanted to ask you to look at something that I posted earlier in reply to somebody on YouTube. I was curious if you thought I could use some pointers on how I handled the situation. I don't know. Got anything to say that you think should be pointed out? Maybe advice to handle things better?

Nice. Keep up the good work!

She was born on Tuesday May 3rd 1994, so she's 22

Should have posted this before (kinda off-topic), but May 3rd is Pinkie Pie's official birthday.

Thank you all for the support. It seems my main problem is grabbing onto problems and not letting go. I'll try to release my grip on things I ought to leave in the past. And I'll be sure to keep you in prayer, ChB.

I've had a hard time with this recently. I love characters like Babs, Trixie, DT, and Sunset because they're the kind of villains that are capable of seeing their wrong. There's nobody I've met who has this capacity, and it is dreadful feeling like the only person at school who believes in improvement and bettering oneself. What's worse on me is that I always judge the people around me because of their will to retain what they desire instead of the truth, and I see my hypocrisy. I don't think that I actually love anybody, and it hurts because I wonder whether the sorrow I feel is a result of thinking that I'm being hurtful to others or if it's merely a selfish feeling; like I'm worried more about my own skin than being what I should be to others. I don't want to feel judgement towards others, I hate holding onto memories of how I was wronged and I hate blowing up inwardly over everything. I don't know why it's so difficult for me. I feel so isolated at school. I abandoned a group of friends a while ago because they were all a bad influence on me, I don't hang out with my only Christian friend because he doesn't really care about his faith, I don't know what to do about my Lutheran friend because she is considering leaving the faith because she's bi and won't do anything about her other friends bullying me despite me complaining about it a couple times, and the only other friend I really have is a fellow brony who's an atheist, and I am seriously considering not hanging out with him anymore because he's been keeping this pattern of subtly insulting my faith (while outright saying it other times) and I know for a fact that if I were to confront him about it that he'd turn it into a fight. I have a Mormon teacher who's good for talking about moral things and literary understanding, but he's suggested reading the Book of Mormon so I don't feel comfortable talking with him about religious things as much. The only Christian teacher I know of on campus is one I don't have a class with. I feel like there's nobody my age to actually talk with about faith and learning on a regular basis and I feel starved for some personal Christian interaction in person. There's no support at home with my parents because they're the kind to ridicule me for not saying a long enough prayer at dinner and tell me I'm stupid and gay. I feel I should turn to God, and I always feel guilty for complaining about these things because I know He's there, but I... I just don't know. I don't know what to do. I try praying, but then I always feel that I'm putting faith in the prayer instead of God and I have a hard time focusing. I try to just talk with Him, but I get distracted and still can't focus. I hate just popping open my Bible because I feel like I'm committing bibliolatry. I just don't know what to do, and a lot of times I just feel dead. Like there's no real desire to move and no sense of empathy, like a sociopath. I could put on a great display and cry about all this, but I wonder if I actually care about the truth or if I'm just having a reaction to stress. I go to church and find it hard to sing the hymns because I'm just not "feeling it". The love just feels missing, and it pains me. So I sit down and what's the first thing that pops into my head? "I hope nobody sees me and thinks I'm being a bad Christian." It's thoughts like these that make me feel so guilty, that I would think about how others saw me in church instead of trying to connect with and worship God. Even when I find it easy to sing, I always cling to lyrics talking about what Jesus did or of forgiveness, but I get this weird feeling when I encounter lyrics about His greatness or about worshiping Him and putting aside the things of the world. I feel that I hate myself so much for this. I don't know why it's so hard for me to just have faith and let things go. Here I am, Lord, and I'm drowning in your sea of forgetfulness The chains of yesterday surround me I yearn for peace and rest I don't want to end up where You found me And it echoes in my mind, keeps me awake tonight I know You've cast my sin as far as the east is from the west And I stand before You now as though I've never sinned But today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way -- East to West - Casting Crowns I hate going to church and bawling my eyes out, asking for forgiveness and saying "I'll do better next time." I don't want to keep going back to where I was, and I don't want to keep losing faith in Christ. But there are times I wonder if I ever trusted Him to begin with. I could endure torture for His Name, but what good does the deed do if it isn't in faith? Sorry if I went on a bit of a tangent.

Got no beef. She's cute, the color scheme fits with the hair, earrings, and eyeliner (hope I didn't misname that). The "werewolf" form isn't that "wolf-like", but I guess that isn't really a problem. The only thing I gotta say is that the word werewolf means "man-wolf" so you might want to devise a different name for the form. Equus and lupus are the latin words for horse and wolf, respectively. Hope that helps.

Thought this was funny and decided to put it here for your entertainment: http://www.412teens.org/reviews/2016/03/12/my-little-pony/

@, Nice to meetcha! I'd offer to chat with you in a PM, but I unfortunately seem to have abruptly had that privilege taken from me (don't know how or why, though). Probably will be back up soon. Anyways, I hope you have a good time at your cabin. Edit: Apparently all I needed was to make another post. Mind if I hit you with a PM?