God lives in this thread!*If you don't care for Him,don't open it!*;)

God is good...

 

Hey Josh, it's been a while.​

I like the thread.​

 

sounds great! I brewed up a bunch and as soon as that's kegged and ready, we should chill.

 

I'm not ashamed to post in this thread.

 

I'm torn between god and shamonism. I believe both. Is that wrong?

 

Animism

 

This is cool, Josh. I'm active in my church as well. We just started a program to read the bible in one year so I guess that's my resolution. Like you said before hope this doesn't get the flame treatment. -Pat

 

hey joshua,... My name is Lee. I want you to know what an amazing thing it is that you would even post like that. I mean who do you think would really care? It sounds like its against site rules. Im not sure but thanks. Praise God. His will is what brought my wife and I to Minnesota 1 1/2 years ago. Lets start at the beginning. Well I was 16 and in the midst of a backwoods crack house in decaturville, tn. A blessing came. A blessing that I didnt ask for. I was dumb, young, selfish, and far from God, His spirit hit me so hard yet so soft. Tears fell. I met my creator. The holy spirit spoke with me so clearly. Told me that I had a life to live and it wasnt the way that i had been. That I wasnt supposed to be doing these things with these people. That I was to help people like this. That whole day I was blessed with a clear understanding of his voice and his beautiful presence. How priveleged I was. You know I tried for a couple of weeks to give my life to him. But it seemed so hard So much to change. People were telling me i was weird. A girl that i was dating told me she like me better before. I had no one. I ran; told God it was to hard, and that i wasnt ready. Then slipped back into a darkened life. 2 years of hell came about. My Dad left. One day he just up and left; didnt say anything. Days went by. Eventually we got the picture. My brother and i was in a car reck. He was driving, people were killed, he was put in jail, my mom was killing herself working 16 shifts a the nursing home in linden, TN. Thinkgs were piling on. I escaped to a buzz and friends and fun. But O that day came. I felt as if I was going crazy on morning laying in bed. It was the day after my 18 birthday... 9/18/2006. I went to my friends house crying and i didnt even know why. When I got there his mom just gave me a big hug. She had been praying for her boys for years. She is a christian lady so nice and warming. So anyways we walked as she assured me i wasnt going crazy. I set for about 20 minutes just letting it out man crying finally she came around to me and asked me if i wanted to pray. "you know i have a key to the church if you ever just want to go and be alone and pray" she said. I said okay thanks. Minutes later something just got to me. The thought passed through my mind. If anyone could help me it had to be God. We drove that 10 minute and I had no idea what i was in for. We arrived and walked in. It was Dark. I walked up to an alter, she walked up to the furthest most opposite one. Then I fell to my knees. I ran to Jesus. He ran even faster to me. I told him i wanted the life he had for me. That I was ready and sorry that Hadnt already been living for him and that I needed him. That day marked the biggest change of my life. I quit everything smoking drinking drugs everything. Now, 5 years later I recently celebrated my 2nd anniversary with the most lovely lady God could have blessed me with ever and am in Minneapolis, Mn seeking his will for our lives. Her family recently joined us. We have been looking for inner city ministry opportunities, and want to be a part of the community in minneapolis. So Joshua,... thats me. Good to meet ya. Where do ya live? what church you go to? im new on here and i dont know very easily how to use everything so i could use some help with that. If you dont care

 

Both will never work coexist together

 

I love Josh because of his nuts.

 

I could definitely use some help and info in this threads related topic. Too many questions and too many unknown answers.

 

Ask away.

I will never claim to have all the answers though.

I can tell you I was not raised to believe and came to faith later in life, approaching Christianity with a rational mind. If that is where you're coming from, I'd be glad to share.

 

Like what man

 

I fully support this thread.

 

i've been pissed at whatever is upstairs for a while now, but there are just some things that happen that absolutely confirm the fact that there is some higher power.

like the fact that i was able to get my loan for my new subie. there is absolutely no way that i should have been able to actually get the financing for it due to lack of work history at the current pay rate that i'm at, but just the way things turned out...

i needed pay stubs from my last job. totally not expecting to have to have those. i ran out to my car, and looked, and found two in the center console. i brought them back in, and they were from september and august. the loan person asked if i had any others in the car. i said i doubted it, but i'd look again. i needed one from at least after the 20th of november. i looked in the trunk, and saw a work shirt from the warehouse. in one of the pockets was a pay stub from 25 november. really? how the f did that get there?

it turned out to be just what i needed. I was able to get financing for a car that cost twice as much as the one i had before, based on the same old income (less than half of what i make now).

it should not have worked out that way, but someone upstairs saw how badly i was after this car, how much hard work i had put into managing to get it, etc.

not to mention the fact that i got a phone call out of the blue that ended up with me getting the job for the army that i have now....

there's gotta be something going on upstairs.

 

Although my views on religion have changed since I went to church as a kid, I am still very thankful for being brought up in the church. I was in choir from k-12, did sunday school as youngin', confirmed as a young adult and was a councilor and workstaffed at the church camp in the summer (which got me to fall in love with nature and the northshore) and was involved in both the junior high and high school groups. The reason I left my church was the cooperate feeling of it and the letter i got in the mail telling me they were removing me as a member because I had not give a financial gift to the church in over a year.

 

"Sure, God welcomes you, but we don't unless you pay up."

What the crap. It's moronic stuff like that that turned me off to "religious people" for a long time.

 

I was brought up Luthern (Mt. Olivet Luthern Church).

 

Not since Jesus did his thing. The 10% tithing law was one of the "Laws of Moses" which were abolished once Jesus set us free.

Now, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't give, but the 10% thing is no longer a requirement. We should give freely and joyfully if we follow the teachings of Christ, but there are no laws or requirements of what percentage or how much we must give. There is no longer a "MUST" give at all, for that matter.

This is, of course, a topic of much debate...

It is completely about the relationship.

Stanmo, don't get caught in the "churchiness" that is so common in many churches and denominations. That's not what it's about. Unfortunately, that's what is visible and turns us off to religion. I know all too well.

 

My personal beliefs now are not just around 1 true god, I believe in higher beings. I guess I have formed a personal religion, so to speak, out of learning about the different religions around the world from Christianity, Buddhism, Mulsim, Atheism and such and have formed a guideline to life based off of my readings and conversations with others.

I will leave it at that for now, I dont want to take away from your thread. I hold great respect for people that are open about their faith with out throwing it in others faces. (fyi: i classify this thread as open with out throwing it in others faces!)

 

I know exactly what you mean. That's where I was for a long time. Please understand that I'm NOT saying that like I think that's a lesser place to be and 'my way is better'. Just saying I think I understand and can relate.

I don't think you're taking away from this thread at all. I'm also frustrated when people throw religion in someone's face. I have faith, and will gladly share to anybody that asks, but I'm not the type to go out street preaching. I think it actually hurts more than it helps. Few things frustrate me more than someone telling me what I 'need' to believe.

 

Religion Kills relationship builds....

Trained to be a Pastor back in Australia.. Worked as a Youth pastor for at least 10 yrs... stepped out of it to raise my own kids.. as it says.. If ya cant raise your own what right do I have to raise someone else's (paraphrased) aka get your own home in order first...

Not very active on this board much lately... But always open to chat or welcome someone to my house for a meal if they need to chill and talk

 

the interesting thing about this that most christians fail to realize is that we are called to give 100%.. nothing is ours.. it was bought by His blood... everything we have I owe to Christ... hahaha... but yes 10% is a good start.. trust me people bitch abotu tithes, but NOT once has God failed to bless my family for our faithfulness... We started doing things differently with our tithes which may ruffle some feathers, but we had a tithe of $3500 from some money we got.. My wife asked where it should go... We decided to send $1000 to Feed My Starving Children, $1000 to my Mentor who has built a Church and orphanage in Mauritius, and the rest to my other mentor who travels preaching which he waited for years to be released form my old Church to follow his dreams.... we tithe our regular income to our local Church even when we have bills... I repeat God has never failed us... I am a PT worker, my wife works PT, I do side jobs out of my home workshop and I go to school FT... We had no money for this quarters tuition (got 2 left for my CNC Machinist Degree) when I got a $4500 scholarship on top of another which has paid most of the rest of my Degree... I took on the Student workers position (Bible says the lazy dont eat, sloth doesnt work) and got paid $10/hr for the last 6mths for 18hrs a week (that was my income).... through being diligent and faithful i got recommended to a DREEEEEEAM Machinist job.. havent even got my degree and I am earning $22 /hr and once I go FT I will also get benefits... Unheard of... (most get $15/hr out of school).. all I can say is God is good... and He keeps His promises... He said if we are faithful He is faithful!!!

 

I like this thread too... I've always been blessed in my life and as I like to say, it must be grace because it sure as heck ain't karma.

 

Wow I havent been on in a while. Overwhelmed! is what I feel. This thread is such a blessing to me. I just want to agree with all of you that Living a life before God isnt about rules and regulations. Its about love and relations. You know I havent been faithfully going to any one church. Ive been bouncing around. Heck only been in MN for a year and a half. My wife and I still havent found a place we want to stay. We have 12 people living here at Home. 5 of them kids. We kinda like a little church ourselves hehe. So we give money to my missionary friend and my family since we are financialy more fortunate than them. Thats my tithing and it sure isnt set on 10%. You know I wonder, maybe God is doing something else. Maybe that time we have been thinking of investing in a church isnt exactly whats needed now. Maybe its in our family and close friends. Maybe its here with whats infront of us. You know I dont think Jesus exactly Had a list of how the church was to be organized. I think the disciples Just did (following the spirit) what worked best for them at the time. Things evolve and things change. This is where I am in life. I dont see a lot of time to invest in a church nor its people. Neither do I see my self being a leader or playing any role in the church now. I sure dont just want to go on Sunday to here someone preach then walk out. What I do see is a family with 5 kids( my sis and bro in law). They just moved here like 6 mos ago. He went from 30 and hour to 12. She has had to pick up a few shifts serving at the restaurant with my wife. so between work and kids where do they get time to do anything else??? Thats where we come in. Watch our nephews and niece while they go out and get some sanity back. Pitch em a little extra money to be able to grab some beers. Help them when their cars need new tires... etc. Not to mention my moms here and i want to spend all my time with her since i havent seen her in almost 2 yrs. Actually im bout to shut up and go do that now. Peace out yall God Bless and stay in his Spirit

 

Jesus aked the pharisees(matthew 12:10) on the sabbath if they would help their sheep out of a hole if it fell in... Well.... exactly. So isnt it better to do Good than to conform to a rule? Skip out on church to help your neighbor move to a new home? Step on a few toes while standing up for whats right??? Did Jesus come to do away with the law?... No I would say he came to show us what the law really meant. To fulfill it. Matthew 5:17

 

I just came in to post that EXACT video right now

 

^^^ our good friend who is 30 just had both boobs lopped off due to cancer.... her story is amazing...

 

Hey guys. I would really appreciate it if you could add me into your prayer lists this week. I have an interview at Bosch on Friday for an internship. If I was able to get it, I'd be able to leave my current job which has been brutal ever since I started. Thank you all so much and once again, this thread is FULL of win God bless!

 

What a great thread to see after my hiatus.

Lee, thanks for the video - loved it.

Prayer requests up to here - check.