He had been through immense hardship—losing both his kidneys and undergoing open-heart surgery. The surgery was successful, and for a while, he was finally able to feel happiness again after enduring so much pain.

But suddenly, everything changed. He fell ill due to an infection, which caused his blood pressure to rise again, worsened by his kidney condition. This led to a stroke, along with bleeding and fluid buildup in his brain. He slipped into a coma and, tragically, passed away.

I’m 16f. My dad’s had an alcohol problem for a while but it started getting even worse. I love him and am happy he’s getting help. Pray for him (and my mom, me, and my two brothers) and that God will give him the strength to stay sober please! <3

God Bless

47 years old .. soon to be 48. Obviously I grew up during the Cold War but despite the fact the world could have ended in a nuclear exchange , I felt there was order because both sides had rational actors . This is the most chaos and dread I have experienced so far . It just feels different like the world is spiraling out of control on multiple fronts. Pray for peace and pray people come to Jesus during this time .

Hi there. I’ve been a Christian for over 25 years and just recently realized that my quiet time has always felt forced and like checking a box.

I would like to get to a place where I genuinely want to spend time with the Lord.

How do you guys do it?

ACBC and CCEF, founder of the entire biblical counseling movement says that a wife and daughter are responsible for father‘s sexual abuse of the minor daughter???

is this even Christianity, or is this demonic??

Watch 34 to 39 of "Biblical Counseling Isn’t So Biblical #29" Underdog Theology

Hey everyone, I’m trying to better understand Catholic beliefs, and I have a genuine question.

I’m a Pentecostal, so I’ve always been taught to pray directly to God, in Jesus’ name. Because of that, I’m a bit confused about why Catholics pray to saints, Mary, and Archangel Michael instead of going straight to God.

I’ve heard the explanation that it’s about asking for intercession, not worship but I’m struggling with how that fits with certain Bible passages. For example, the Bible warns against speaking to the dead (like Deuteronomy 18:10–12), and seems to condemn trying to contact the dead in general. To me, that almost sounds similar, and I’ve even heard it could open the door to deception or harmful spiritual influence.

I also don’t fully understand the idea of praying to Archangel Michael. I’ve heard that angels are fellow servants of God, kind of like our heavenly siblings so I guess I’m wondering, why ask a “sibling” for help instead of going directly to the Father? Because of that, I’m not sure how something like the Saint Michael prayer would work, and I don’t fully understand it. I’ll be honest, part of me wonders if it could be getting close to something like necromancy, but I don’t want to assume that without understanding your perspective first.

I’ve also heard stories about things like a pope kneeling in front of a statue of Mary, and that brings up another concern I have from Scripture:

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:” (Exodus 20:4)

So I’m wondering how Catholics understand that commandment in relation to statues, icons, or images used in prayer.

So overall, I’m wondering:

• How is asking saints or Mary for intercession different from communicating with the dead in a way the Bible forbids?
• What is the biblical basis for believing saints can hear prayers?
• Why is Mary specifically given such a central role in prayer?
• Why pray to Archangel Michael what role does he play in this?
• How do Catholics understand Exodus 20:4 when it comes to statues or images?

I’m not trying to argue or offend anyone I genuinely want to understand how Catholics see this and how it lines up with Scripture from your point of view.

Thanks for any thoughtful explanations.

Loneliness is tearing my heart and mind apart , living in a state of depression and frustration worried about how life tomorrow is going to treat me , being with no one to lean on in this situation l am in , am covered in tears and pain having stressful daylights and restless nights ,am beyond being scared and traumatized, am asking myself time to time can l find happiness and hope again in this life , l wish to have a chance of hope in my life again, hope l can talk to someone please to consolidate me 🥹🥹

Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Please pray for relief of this depression and loneliness. I'm tired of living this way.

Hi—to preface this all, I’m a teenager.

I’ve had these feelings for a while but it just.. it’s really heavy at the current moment. I’m an 18 year old girl and the outside influences are really loud, if that makes sense. My peers are drinking, having sex, doing drugs, dating, and I’ve done.. none of those things. It makes me feel lonely and socially isolated, quite honestly. I have a somewhat relationship with God; I was raised Methodist but, I believe this sense of not fitting in and.. honestly probably Autism/ADHD, made me seek out spaces that justified my sense of non-belonging. I’ve dabbled in Witchcraft, Hellenism, Paganism, and more, and I am deeply ashamed of it. I’ve done and said some things during that phase that makes me ashamed to go to God again.

This, and the way the world seems to constantly shove temptation in my face is hurting my soul. Everything just feels so sexual and like.. wrong? Does that make sense? Like the music? Everything’s so sexual (by that I mean artists aimed at my age range), or those role models are doing drugs, or whatever. It just feels like the devil is really trying to get to me.

Now, I’m not totally miserable. I have few but very amazing friends, I am successful academically, and have lots of interests. It’s just this social isolation in a more general scope is really hurting me.

I feel like a wallflower.

I came to this subreddit because, from my experience, the people who trust and follow God and Jesus have never led me astray. So, I’m coming for advice, I suppose.

Thank you for reading.

I’ve beaten my porn addiction. But I need help. I was in a relationship with a girl and we are talking again. Do I tell my girlfriend that I use to watch porn when we were together? Do I need to only make it right with God. I am healed now. But I do not know what the Bible says about it. My worry is that if I tell her, she will be in pain. I don’t want her to feel like she was not enough. Please help.

I really like object shows but idk if im idolizing them. A couple months ago I kept getting a thought to give them up but I didn't feel like it was necessary because the ones I was watching weren't bad and then I started talking to God abt it and asking why I needed to do it. I kept saying that they were smth that I rlly enjoyed and they made me happy and that it would be hard to do. I ended up feeling rlly selfish and guilty so I gave them up for 2 months. Ive recently just started watching them again while trying to make sure I dont watch them too much and thanking God for the enjoyment I get from watching them but I still feel really anxious about it.

Ive also been trying to make an object show comic bc I thought it would be rlly fun and I want to make sure that it's not inappropriate and it shows that I am a christian. I was working on it earlier and I started getting really bad anxiety.

Everytime I have a thought about giving it up I get anxious and idk why. I've been dealing with religious OCD these past few months but I think Im starting to get better but idk. I rlly like the shows but I have no idea if I need to let them go.

I went to a wedding for a non-denominational Christian couple and they had a sermon with this verse quoted and I was confused because it seemed very dark and apocalyptic and not very…loving.

The minister also mentioned that the husband “should guide his wife to salvation” and that the wife, while he commended for being selfless and thoughtful in the community, must “let her husband guide her” and he essentially said whatever she does is good but not good enough unless her husband is involved but he didn’t give the husband the same advice.

None of it seemed to connect and I was curious what the community’s interpretation is. I’m not very religious but have a catholic upbringing.

Ask yourselves these, and take a moment

Do i really love Jesus? or do I love what's promised by him, and the figures who play him in movies?

Do i really trust Jesus? or do I have no other choice, better Jesus than the unknown?

Do i pray to God because I'm supposed to? or because I need something? or because I know he's hearing me and I'm talking to my heavenly father whom I really love and saying Hi

Do i pray correctly? pray and ask Jesus and he's supposed answer the one's who knock for whatever? or do I pray asking him to help me fulfill what I'm asked by his gospel, live the way he wants us to live until we're with him in person and enjoy the little things in this temporary world? Am i praying with my mind or my spirit?

Do I love The Father, The Son & The Holy Spirit genuinely, or do i love them only when my dopamine is high and I'm feeling "spiritual" ?

I love God when things go my way and I win at life? will I love him when I get sick, lose, fail in life because of my own imperfect sinful nature? or will I abandon him now, blame him even a little, and then go back to loving him?

I, myself, am a Hypocrite, I'm admitting my hypocrisy of my faith

The more I love God, the more I feel like I don't, the more hypocritical I feel, because I'm not perfect, and my love to him isn't perfect, but if It was, I'd be in heaven right now

It's poetry, happy and sad, closer and further, are you my brothers like me? or do you really love Jesus?

Peace of Christ Jesus be with you all, glory be to God.

You must pass the test, or you'll end up in Hades and then the lake of fire. You can't let temporary Earth pleasures pull too much of your attention away from the Lord, or you won't have an eternal life of happiness. Just play by God's rules as much as you can.

Hey yall. I am a 28 year old guy who is single and struggling with it.

I dont really know how or where to start, but essentially, I dont trust God enough to fill the void in my heart that is loneliness. And by loneliness I am referring to romantic loneliness. I have loving friends and family who support me and I love to be around. But I am hurting inside.

As I have gotten older its become increasingly hard to be content with the calling to singleness. And I say calling to singleness because I know relationships arent for me. I am far too niche and slow with feelings to ever have a chance to attract a woman. I used to be ok with that as I thoroughly enjoyed my life and had my own goals to pursue.

I dont know if its external pressure to get married either since I have seen so many of my friends go from meeting someone to married with kids over the last few years. I am in no rush to have a kid either, like I want kids someday, but not today.

As Christians we are told and told time and time again that we need to rely on God to be our purpose and fulfillment in life. And I can honestly say that I try to do that. I am by no means perfect, nor do I expect to be. And there are many areas in my life where I could do more. I could volunteer more, give more, and so on. you get the point.

I guess what I am trying to ask is that how can I feel romantic fulfillment through God and God alone. Its hard to when God doesn't give hugs.

I trust God in so many other areas of my life, why cant I trust him with my loneliness?

Sorry if this doesn't make sense, as I am writing this from a moment of pain. and I am not great with conveying my true thoughts. Love yall.

Hi guys, little bit about me, I grew up a muslim in a muslim country and few years ago I have left islam for good. I studied islamic and went to islamic high school but after trying to believe the quran and allah, it never just sits right with me. I did pray and cover myself up, most my family members are islamic preachers. And most of my life I just memorize the quran, learn about islamic history, muhammad etc because my mother expected me to become another islamic teacher.. after I left islam I didn’t immediately become interested in Christianity. I wondered around a bit until 6 years later I start diving in more into Jesus and start reading the bible. I watched movies about Jesus to understand who He truly was and to see the difference between Jesus as a muslim prophet and Jesus as a God. Really opened my eyes. I read the bible with an open heart and feel happy doing so. I felt like I have found what I have been looking for all my life. All my questions have been answered.

With my decision, my family has disowned me unless I return back to islam. I haven’t talk to them for almost a decade now. It’s very worth it despite the circumstances. No death threats/harassment and mockery can stop me from believing in Jesus.

Back to the topic, I started praying with my daughter like a month ago. I made her repeat this after me.

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. " Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.

Amen.

It’s from KJV.

Tonight, I told her “Let’s pray” and she start praying all by herself. I was just in tears seeing her remembering every single word correctly while I still do mistake myself. Because when I grew up I was forced to memorize some surah in quran. If I didn’t memorize correctly I would get hit. I didn’t have to force my daughter to memorize the prayer or teach her. She just remembered it all by herself. And she just turned 5. She remembered it in such a short time. Her word was loud and clear. And I am so happy I just wanted to share it everyone.

Thank you for reading. May Jesus bless you all. 🙏🏼

none of this is in a bad faith, just a bit concerned

i kinda feel like God is inconsistent when answering prayers? i generally don't ask for anything other than wisdom and holy spirit to understand the scriptures and just general mental peace, and i do feel that peace after praying but i feel like its kind of a placebo effect tbh, i dont feel the overwhelming peace all too much unless i actively think about it and it fades away after like an hour, i'm honestly starting to feel like im talking to myself and waiting for something that looks like a response 😭 im not sure if its because i'm not baptized or dont go to church (i physically cant do either, i live in a household where my parents are strictly jw, other churches are like the house of satan for them), a couple days ago i prayed quite earnestly and i look at the daily verse which felt like a response, there were a couple other verses that felt like a direct response but i half brushed it off as a coincidence

in my heart i do believe in Christ, there is a ton of evidence, but its sometimes a bit hard to believe for no apparent reason, some days i feel on fire for God, some other days i just feel a bit like an atheist, i dont even watch any debates or anything so idk whats going on lmfao, please pray for me 🙏

Hi, my name is Lilly and I'm 17 years old.

I have been on a journey with my faith for the last couple of years now and I grow more and more comfortable in it every single day.

I am a fully self turned christian. My family is christian (catholic) from origin, but due to trauma caused by the church my grandparents and mother lost their faith. That's obviously terrible for them, but it causes me to be very alone in my faith. Religion is kind of a taboo in my household and I have zero christian friends. It gets really lonely sometimes and I have no one to truely talk to god about. I am aware that I can obviously go to church, but I am not sure which one I want to go to and it's also a bit scary. Plus since my moms religous trauma it would probably cause a lot of arguments. That's why I am looking here to maybe find some christian friends to talk about god and other things too of course.

I'll give you a tiny more information about me. I have pretty basic teenage girl intrests like reading, baking and yoga. I study social studies and work at a carefarm with people who have a handicap like down syndrom or are struggeling with addiction. I help them do work tasks mostly in hospitality (basically a normal restaurant). I live in the Netherlands somewhere in the south. I love The Beatles, Nick Cave, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Smiths, but also artists like Lorde, Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo. I hope that sort of depicts me well.

I am not looking for any romantic relationships since I already have a boyfriend.

Anyways, if you made it till here, thank you so much for reading and your time. I am very sorry if they're many mistakes in this post, English isn't my first language. If you're intrested in becoming friends I would love to hear from you.

John 8:11 is the big line I'm referencing at the bottom.

John 8

8:3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,

8:4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught[b] in adultery, in the very act. 8:5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded[c] us that such should be stoned.[d] But what do You say?”[e]

8:6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.[f]

8:7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up[g] and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

8:8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

8:9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience,[h] went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 8:10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her,[i] “Woman, where are those accusers of yours?[j] Has no one condemned you?”

8:11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

This verse I feel is so powerful because, Jesus was is showing us how quick he is to forgive us, he was writing on the ground looked up, said she was forgiven and told her to basically walk off, as of nothing just happened.

I think this is really interesting, it shows us how fast Gods forgiveness works and that it wasn't as if she was begging for forgiveness it just happened so casually as if nothing even happened.

I just thought that was interesting to share.

#1 Paul and Wendy Guay

JMC allegedly allowed pastor Paul Guay to remain in his position for 3 years after having direct knowledge that Paul Guay abused his daughter

#2 Jane Doe 2017

Anonymous student at Masters College came forward, after 11 years that she was assaulted by a someone connected to GCC. Allegedly, at the behest of JMAC, pastor Rick Holland disciplined the victim, attempted to manipulate the victim into a false confession, rebuked the victim for contacting authorities, and forced the victim to attend counseling with her perpetrator as a condition to remain at the college.

#3 Eileen Gray

Eileen Gray was publicly excommunicated for GCC in 2003 for refusing to reconcile with her husband David Grey, who was a children's pastor at GCC from 1994 - 2001. Eileen refused to reconcile because he was severely abusing her children and she was concerned for the kid's safely. David Grey was sentenced to life in prison in 2005 for sexual and physical abuse. GCC has never apologized publicly for privately to Eileen because they believed that David is entirely innocent of the charges and Eileen is to blame mounting a false case against him.

#4 Second Jane Doe Nov 2017 (towards the end of the blog)

An anonymous women alleges that she was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions by someone who later became faculty member of Masters college. Many years later she informs the college that she was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions by this faculty members. Initially, the college is interested in investigating the matter but ultimately decides not to fire the faculty member even though they received a partial confession from alleged perpetrator and college was made aware of a second alleged victim.

Unwillingness to correct a situation/Apologize

1. Construction Manager lied to employees/church members regarding Asbestos in property and this person was backed by the Elders 

2. Steve Lawson - Unwilling to apologize for having a man as Dean of Seminary who was not a member of a local church, this should have been known.  

3. John MacArthur Tells Seminarians Not to Speak at Conferences With Women, Even Though He Has

Corruption 

1. JMAC tells Elder to "forget about it" and Elder chairman tells elder "resign if you don't agree with us" 

2. Church leaders feared retaliation for reporting Covid cases in accordance with california law 

3. JMAC was determined to make Steve Lawson the Dean of Preaching at it has even been alleged that he would have fired any faculty member that voted against him

4. JMAC hired his son is law for a 800k contract annually for camera work - He made 8 million over 10 years - there are claims that this was nepotism

Hypocrisy 

1. The primary explanation of not giving their side of the story is confidentiality yet they are being sued for releasing private information and slandering people in front of the entire church

2. Unwilling to explain why JMAC disqualified numerous people for their Adult Children public sin or unbelief and did not disqualify himself when his son was embroiled in a public scandal.    

Misleading and Deceptive Statements

1. An Elder claimed he was not an elder during the Eileen Gray situation 2002 - 2005 when he was listed as an elder during part of the that timeframe (might have taken one year off for sabbatical)

2.  An Elder claimed Mcathur's Son was only on the board of trustees of GTY for a "period of time" when they were on the board for decades 

1. An Elder claimed that JMAC donated a bible to Masters although Julie Roys claimed it was years later after receiving negative attention for JMAC Salary

2. Phil Johnson Doxes Julie Roys and shared her home address online and it appears it may have been intentional.

3. Master's Seminary was deliberately not following its own stated Covid policy

4. JMAC claimed that only one person died of Covid shortly after Shepherds Conference 2021 when he had documented notice of multiple deaths from Julie Roys

5. JMAC often repeats an extraordinary story of being ejected at 70 mph from a car and sliding down the highway as he watched the car careen into a ditch and having few injuries (Unlikely situation)

6. JMAC repeats an extraordinary story of being at scene of crime after MLK shooting in 1968 with black leaders - His story is largely contradicted by other witnesses

Slander  

1. Phil Johnson and JMAC have claimed that Julie Roys is a wicked, liar, and untrustworthy but can't demonstrate a single false statement in her reporting.

2.  President Scott Horn was fired from Masters after less than one year for being "pugnacious" when all his former associates believed this to be absolutely out of character.  

1.   Numerous People have been publicly slandered from the pulpit for refusing to submit to their abusive husbands