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It's not a great story. :)
We were in the process of killing and resurrecting the student ministry after our last youth pastor moved to China. We had a couple big meetings with our leaders and some of the students who had been around for a while, and we talked about everything.
We have these big Post-It notes that we stick to the walls, and we were writing down every idea and development that we went over: vision statement, short term plans, long term plans, really crazy ideas, etc. We tried to think of a new name, but naming things is so difficult that we talked about it for a bit and then quit.
A couple days later, one of the students was in my office, looking over the big Post-Its and talking about how hard it was to come up with a name for something. One thing that we had written down was that we wanted to, "redefine the cafe space according to new vision statement." He poked the paper,
"Why don't we just call it 'Redefined'?"
Light bulb.
It's a pretty great name for us. It's exactly what we're about. -
We're pretty cool.
Of course, we think we're friendly, but it's hard to really know, honestly. Like some people's houses have really distinct smells, but the people who live there can't ever smell it, you know?
You should come and hang out one Friday, and then you can tell us if we're doing a good job being friendly. :)
But there's nothing to be scared about, anyway. If you show up at 6:30 on a Friday here's what will happen:
1 - You'll meet some cool people hanging out. (If you show up on the first Friday of the month, we'll have dinner together.)
2 - You'll have an opportunity to worship God with us. Our worship team is pretty awesome.
3 - You'll have an opportunity to learn something from scripture, and hopefully have fun in the process.
4 - You'll have an opportunity to pray with someone, or have someone pray over you, for anything your heart desires.
5 - You'll get pizza and a pop, and another hour or so to hang out and meet us. This may involve pool, foozeball, couches, or any other random game/activity we may have planned that night. (All completely voluntary, of course. No one will make you do anything.)
Cool? :) -
First of all, humbly consider what the well-meaning Christian are telling you.
I know that's painful to hear, but too often we think we know best and that leads us to assume that everyone who is against us is wrong. We can see it in other people - when other people are doing something they shouldn't and they reject the counsel of the Church because they think everyone's against them - but it's harder to see when we do it ourselves.
Look at who among the "well-meaning Christians" is giving feedback. You don't have to consider everyone's advice equal. Are there people who have been faithful to a local congregation, proven in leadership, with healthy relationships of their own, and lives that are advancing the kingdom of God? If those people are suggesting that something is not right in the relationship, you need to humble yourself and listen to what they're saying. More often than not, they're right.
If you're getting hurtful, bitter feedback from people who are not really living out a life of faith, then you take their comments with a big grain of salt and you pray for them.
And not, "God, please help them see this is okay." Bless them. Pray for their health and their provision and their families and their relationships with the Lord. Bless them with everything you would pray for yourself. It will build YOU up in love, and take the sting out of their words.
If NONE of the people who are giving you this feedback are of the first kind - people who are tested, seasoned, fruitful believers - you need to find some. Everybody needs a mentor in the faith, but especially people who think they're ready for courtship.
It can be a married couple if you like, or each of you pick someone you trust and respect, and who is married. That person is your mentor and your accountability partner. Tell him/her everything, listen and obey.
Having that mentor relationship will also give you an easy way to respond to the bad feedback: "Thanks. Mr Awesome is kind of taking me under his wing for this season, and helping me do this right. But thanks for your concern." -
1 Corinthians 7:2//
Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
["Sexual immorality" is, here, the opposite of having a spouse, which means that the Bible considers sex outside of marriage, "sexual immorality." Where ever you see a scripture verse condemning sexual immorality, it applies to sex outside of marriage.]
1 Corinthians 7:9//
but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
[Sex outside of marriage is clearly not an option here.]
1 Corinthians 6:13//
Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body ...
Acts 15:20//
but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.
Ephesians 5:3//
But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
Jude 1:7//
as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
The list goes on.
Purity rings are whatever you want them to be.
Purity rings can sometimes deter advances from the opposite sex, but generally not in young people who aren't old enough to be married.
If wearing a purity ring reminds you - and people who see it - of the commitment you've made, that's great. We all need reminders and things to help us in the midst of temptation. -
"That's all I have to do?" Um ... yes and no.
Yes, that is all you have to do. "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved ..." (Acts 16:31)
But when people use the word "all," as though it were so easy to do, it reveals that they don't - usually - really understand what that means.
"Believing" in Jesus does not mean making a mental nod at Jesus, and then going on your merry way. Jesus addressed that attitude in Luke 4. In verse 46, He said, "Why do you call Me 'Lord,' and not do what I say?"
We're never told to believe in Jesus, we're told to believe in the LORD Jesus. We don't use the word "lord" very often in our modern vocabulary, but a lord was a master. Believing in the LORD Jesus, means believing that He is the master of your life.
And if you really believe that, your life will change.
So that is ALL you have to do, but it means more than we think it does when we say, "That's all you have to do."
As far as feeling a change - you might. If you really, sincerely, decide to leave your old life behind and dedicate yourself to God, you will probably "feel" something. You will feel His Spirit and His presence, maybe for the first time in your life, and it's pretty awesome.
Beware, though, 'cause that "feeling" goes away. And that's where a lot of people get messed up. We think that when the warm, fuzzy feeling goes away that God goes away. We believe the lies that it wasn't real anyway, or we decide that if it's going to be HARD we don't really want to follow God.
The Song of Solomon (or the Song of Songs) is, at first glance, a strange book in the Bible. It's a big, long - sometimes elicit - love story. There's a lot of weird language in it, but the basic story is the story of Jesus and a believer.
In the beginning of the story, the "bridegroom" (Jesus) and the Shunamite woman (the believer - you) are sappy and in love. But at one point in the story, the groom leaves, and the woman is distraught. So distraught she braves the city streets at night to go and find him.
The story starts the same for every believer. You'll probably get that "feeling" in the beginning but then it goes away. Not because God left you, but because He takes a few steps back to see if you'll come find Him - like a parent teaching a kid to walk.
So don't freak out when it happens. Find a mentor, find some Christian friends, keep reading your Bible, join a small group. He wants you to want Him enough to go out and find Him. -
Jesus became a man. A real man.
The idea alone is something that most people have a hard time grasping - for lots of reasons. Faith is believing the Word of God even when it's too big for you to understand.
John 1:14 says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Hebrews 2:14 says that Jesus partook of the same flesh and blood that everyone else has.
He wasn't an angle or an apparition. Jesus was flesh and blood.
And when you scourge, starve, beat, abuse and nail a person of flesh and blood to a tree fashioned with a cross beam - that person dies. (Mark 15:37)
God didn't die. His body died ... for a few days. (1 Corinthians 15:4)
The same thing will happen to you. One day, your body will die (unless Jesus comes back before then), but that's not the end of you. Your spirit and soul are eternal - your spirit is who you really are - and you will meet Jesus as a spirit.
When that happens, Jesus will say one of two things to you:
"Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord" (Matthew 25:23)
Or
"Depart from Me, for I never knew you" (Matthew 7:23).
You want to hear the first one, but it's up to you. Jesus is not a liar. He won't call someone a "faithful servant," who hasn't been, and He won't send someone away who knows Him. -
As far as any two things can be.
The reference is Psalm 103:12,
"As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us."
It's great imagery for our condition in Christ. If we accept Jesus' sacrifice, and live for Him, He doesn't just look the other way while we sneak into eternal life. He doesn't give us a lecture, and some time in purgatory, and then eventually open the gates of heaven.
He removes the stain of our sin from our souls so much so that we'll never have to see or consider - OR REPEAT - any of it ever again. -
God's not going to ask you that.
You don't get to be in God's presence unless you're perfect, and no one is perfect (Romans 3:23).
Except Jesus (Hebrews 4:15).
And Jesus offers to pay the price for your imperfection. If you give your life to Him, like He gave His for you, you can claim His righteousness as your "ticket" to eternal life (2 Corinthians 5:21).
There will be no debate, no exam. You will die, and you will stand before the judgment seat (Romans 14:10), and you will be found guilty of violating God's law. What happens then, depends on who you lived for on the earth: Did you live for yourself, or did you live for Jesus? (Matthew 7:21-23) -
There was a purpose, and the purpose is what He wanted.
Short version of the back-story: God is perfect, you are not. Our sin separates us from God, but He wasn't ready to give up on us 'cause He loves you more than you'll ever know.
Sin deserves death (Rom 6:23), but God doesn't -want- you to die and be apart from Him forever, so He set up this system of sacrifice. If you've ever read Deuteronomy you know it's a complicated and difficult system, but it was setting the stage for God's ultimate plan.
God became a human being in Jesus for the ultimate purpose of becoming a sacrifice. He did other things along the way - He taught, and healed, and fed, and delivered, etc. - but the big point of his becoming human was to become the sacrifice to end all sacrifices.
In the Old Testament, animals that were sacrificed had to be perfect (Exodus 12:5 is one example), so Jesus lived a perfect life in order to be the perfect sacrifice.
The life of a creature is in its blood (Leviticus 17:11). For Jesus to -be- the perfect sacrifice, He needed flesh that would bleed.
Old Testament law stated that if someone fell on hard times and had to sell their land, or themselves and their family as slaves, the only person who could buy their land/freedom back for them was a close family member (Leviticus 25:25, for example). When we give in to sin we become slaves of sin (John 8:34), so Jesus came as a human being - not a spiritual God - to buy us back as one like us, our "next of kin." (Galatians 3:13)
Jesus, unlike the sheep and goats, is God, and God is eternal. His perfect sacrifice was all the payment needed for every sin. Scripture tells us that God put every person's sin on Jesus on the cross (Isaiah 53:6), and that He took out the full punishment of Sin on Jesus on the cross.
Now, all you have to do is believe on Jesus, and you trade your life for His. He takes your garbage, and you get His eternal life.
Scripture also tell us that He became a human being so He could sympathize with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15), and to demonstrate His humility (Philippians 2:7-8)
I agree that - especially at first glance - it seems silly. Consider how He did it: born into a poor family, to a women whom everyone believed was immoral, in a barn, to be hunted for the first several years of His life. Not the glamorous "becoming human" that any of us would have scripted.
And that's the beauty of the plan. The more you study, the more you realize He fulfilled every Old Testament law, that all of history was leading up to Jesus-in-the-flesh, and it's pretty mind-blowing. It's also an argument in itself that Judaism and Christianity are not man-made "religions;" none of us would have thought of something so absurd. -
First of all you need to determine if she wants your advice. Is she asking for your opinion, or for biblical guidance? If she is, great. If she's not, she's probably not going to hear anything you have to say anyway.
In Matthew 7, Jesus advises us to not give what is holy to dogs, or throw our pearls before swine. There is a time for advice and counsel, but if a person doesn't WANT it, it's unlikely she's going to hear even the best advice.
BUT, if you're good friends and you really care about her, you're probably going to try anyway, which is fine. Try once, maybe twice, but if she continues to ignore/refuse you - stop. It's not the time for advice. Pray for her, love her, be an example, and when Holy Spirit has done His work on her heart she'll come to you because she knows she can, and then she'll be ready to hear you. (Or, when the relationship falls apart - as it very likely will - she'll know she can come to you for comfort and you won't rebuke her with "I told you so"s.)
We discourage dating - "missionary" or not - for five reasons. Maybe some of this will help.
1 - It's not Biblical. Scripture doesn't discuss dating, because it didn't happen. Scripture does, however, discuss guarding our hearts (Prov 4:23) and seasons in life (Ecc 3). Anyone living at home and going to school is in a season of preparation - study, learn, embark on a career, define YOURSELF, etc. No one can be in a healthy relationship until she knows who she is in Christ, and the calling God has on her life first.
2 - It profits nothing. Young people who date do not encourage each other in their faith like they always say it will. It's just a distraction. Paul said all things are lawful (scripture never says, "Thou shall not date"), but not all things are helpful. (1 Cor 6:12) That means yes, you can, but are you trying to get away with as much as you can, or are you trying to draw as close to God as you can? Is "okay" your standard, or is "Christlike" your standard?
"Missionary" dating is a lie that comes in here. It doesn't work, and to say that it's necessary puts a very short leash on the Holy Spirit. He doesn't need you to help Him save someone.
3 - It leads to temptation. At best, dating is just distracting. At worst, it leads young people into physical and emotional relationships that create a further distance between them and God.
4 - It ends. There are romantic stories about couples who meet in high school, but they are the RARE exception. They usually end - usually when college starts and your world blows wide open - and they end in heartache and fractured soul ties and emotional baggage and regrets.
5 - It's unnecessary. Some like to say that we have to date if we're going to find a spouse. God knows who would make the best husband for your friend. If she really wants the best she can get, it would make more sense to NOT date, NOT bias herself, and spend this season of her life drawing close to God and learning to hear His voice. That way, when the time comes, she can hear God when he says, "That one." -
A lot of people have those nagging "What if" questions, and there are times when a lot of believers stop and ask themselves those questions.
Many times we fall back on remembering what God has done in our lives. Physical healings, times He has clearly spoken to us or helped us, experiences we have had in His presence, or the gift of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues.
If you don't have something like that to remind yourself of, ask God for one. You're not keeping your doubts a secret from Him by not telling Him. Ask Him to speak to you, to meet you, etc. and then wait.
Really, though, faith is faith. I doesn't have to be blind or a wild leap, but if God could be 100%, without-a-doubt proven, then there would be no need for faith. There would be no room for love, and everything about His creation would be messed up. At some point, everyone has to just decide to believe - or not.
If you WANT to believe, and you're having a hard time, there are things you can do:
1 - Get to church. The Bible says that we get faith by hearing the word of God. Find a church or a home group that uses the Bible a lot, and commit to going regularly.
2 - Read a Bible yourself.
3 - Hang out with Christian friends. You don't have to ditch anyone who is not a Christian, but you should be spending at least as much time with other Christians as you do with non-Christians. Your non-Christian friends are probably great people who really do love you, but they're not going to encourage your faith.
If you're not sure if you want to believe, and you just have questions - ask them. Don't bury them. Who cares what people think of you? Ask God. Ask us, here. Ask your pastor or your parent. Ask a few different people the same questions and compare answers.
Just don't do nothing. -
No.
That's a common philosophy among atheists, agnostics, and people who consider themselves spiritual but don't actually follow a particular faith. It's a nice thought that basically takes all the decision-making and all the commitment out of faith.
AND, no one who really studies religion or adheres to a particular faith would agree. People who don't really know what they believe think it makes sense, but none of the major world religions agree with that idea.
Judaism believes in one G-d: Jehovah. (He has other names in Jewish scriptures that describe Him, but Jehovah is a common one.) Judaism believes that Jesus was a man - prophet or heretic - and that's all. They're still waiting for their Messiah - the Man chosen of God who will restore the kingdom of God to Israel, and whom Jesus claimed to be.
Islam believes in one god: Allah. They believe Jesus was a prophet of Allah, but not greater than Muhammad, and boldly declare, "God has no Son."
Christianity believes in the Jewish God, Jehovah, but that Jesus IS the Messiah that He claimed to be. Christianity declares that Jesus is fully man - as the Son of God - and fully God Himself.
It's a nice, comfortable idea that tries to promote peace, but it's not true.
Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except through Me."
In Acts 4, when Peter was on trial, we read that the Holy Spirit came upon him and he preached that the name of Jesus had healed a man and, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." -
Excellent question. It can seem kind of awkward.
First you need to figure out WHO to ask. There are no real rules about who is qualified to be a mentor, but here are some suggestions:
- Older than you ... by about a decade (at least)
- Same gender as you
- Involved in ministry, under the authority of a pastor
- Going forward with God - not backwards or no where
- Has some of the same spiritual gifts as you, or serves in a ministry you feel called to
You'll want to get to know this person at least a little bit before you talk about mentoring. You don't want to sign up with a total stranger, and the other person won't know how to answer you if he/she doesn't know you at all.
Maybe you can volunteer in the same ministry, offer to babysit, find 'em on Facebook, etc.
If you're still unsure if your choice of mentor is a good one - or if you just can't figure out how to get to know him/her a little better - ask your pastor (assuming you have the same pastor). DO NOT ask random people or friends about that person - avoid gossip. It's NOT gossip to email your pastor - or another ministry leader if the potential mentor is volunteering under another ministry leader - and just say, "Would this person make a good mentor?"
When you find someone who will probably be a good fit, just ask. Tap a shoulder after church and say, "Hi. Can I ask you something real quick?" Explain that your youth group has been talking a lot about mentors lately, and how important it is, and you really think it will help you as a young Christian.
Then pop the question. :) "Would you have time, once or twice a week maybe, to get together and talk or hang out?"
If they have questions about what to do, or how to do it, tell them they can get in touch with Timothy or Lex. -
Hell is optional.
People think that God sends people to hell, but He doesn't really. The "lake of fire" was created for Satan and the angels who rebelled against Him. Satan hates God and, thus, he hates people. He's already defeated, but he's determined to take as many down with him as he can. Which kind of makes sense - if your enemy defeats you, the only thing you can do is hurt Him as much as possible on your way out.
The world as we know it is coming to an end. God's kingdom will last forever, but creation - in it's current condition - is coming to the end of it's time. Jesus is going to come back and whether it's in five years or fifty, death will finally be no more.
So you have to be somewhere for eternity (because your spirit is eternal), and when Jesus' 1000-year construction project is finished, and heaven and earth come together as one, there are only going to be two options: in God's presence, or not.
The first is difficult. God is perfect. Sin cannot exist in His perfect presence ... because then it wouldn't be perfect. And God is more powerful than sin, so sin loses.
If you are tarnished by sin, then (no matter how small it seems to you), you can't be in God's presence. It's not because He's mean or cruel, it's just the way it is. A does not equal B.
Still, He loves you inordinately, so He made it really easy for you to insure that you could be forever in His presence. When you commit your life to Christ, He commits His to you, and He cleans you up so you can have Option A at the end of this age.
So when Lex said that people go to hell because they chose to, she was talking about people choosing to ignore Jesus. It's a simple choice that everyone has to make, and no one will have an excuse for their choice when the time comes to answer for it. You either chose Jesus or you didn't, and if you didn't, you chose to not be in His presence.
Hell is where God is not, and it's not the Vegas casino that Hollywood portrays it as. It's not a lustful, fun, guilt-free environment because the Moral Police is finally out of your hair. God is love, justice, mercy, compassion, joy, gentleness, etc. Where God is not - those things are also not. Without God you're left with hate, anger, pain, suffering, guilt, shame, rage, torment, etc.
Everyone has to choose. Some people choose Christ. Some people choose hell. -
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First, a lot of young people think their parents are insane. And a lot of those young people hit their twenties and realize that their parents are not, in fact, insane. Factor into your estimation of your mom the fact that you are in a stressful/confusing time of life and that your hormones - honestly - are making YOU a little crazy. Just about everyone who has survived adolescence wishes they had been a more moderate, reasonable adolescent.
But let's say that your mom actually DOES have some chemical imbalance or something going on. Exodus 20:12 does not say, "except when ..."
Webster defines honor as, "a showing of usually merited respect."
What that DOES mean:
- You don't speak badly of your parents.
- You don't speak badly TO your parents.
- You don't try to correct or counsel or teach them.
- You do what they ask or tell you to do (unless, of course, it's the opposite of what God tells you to do or illegal in some way).
- You behave well when you're with them in public.
- You buy flowers on Mother's Day, etc.
What that does NOT mean:
- It doesn't mean that you follow their bad/unbiblical example if they aren't living like Christians.
- It doesn't mean that you act un-Christian if they should happen to instruct you to do something you shouldn't.
- If one or both of your parents is abusive in some way, it doesn't mean that you allow it to happen without telling authorities.
- If your mom is saying horrible things about/to you, it doesn't mean that it's true or that you should believe it.
It doesn't mean that they make all of your big, important decisions for you. They can tell you who you may or may not hang out with, or what you may or may not do on a Saturday evening. If it comes to important things, when you get older - which college to attend, what career path to choose, which church to go to - you can ask their advice and consider their opinions, and respectfully disagree if you feel God calling you in another direction.
All of it, however, is to be done with love and respect for your parents. If there is a problem at home, that can be difficult, but it's not impossible. Ask God for the grace and patience to love and respect your parents, and He will give it. -
First, the "sin" issue. Jesus said, "Whoever acknowledges me before men, him I will acknowledge before My Father in Heaven" (Matthew 10). You can't UNdo your sin, and you can't make up for it.
You CAN, however, "pay" for it with Christ's sacrifice. When you admit to God that you have done wrong, and confess that Jesus died in your place to pay for your sin - He forgives you. There will be a day for judgement, and if you are faithful to Christ while you're alive, He will be your advocate before the Judge on that day.
Then, the relationship part. Jesus said that, "No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14). You can't do anything to get close to God. He is perfect and you are not - no matter how hard you try.
However, as you live for Him - sharing the gospel, living a life that honors God, trying to be like Jesus - you will get closer to God. He wants you to know Him; He's not going to make it too hard.
Some things that will help:
1 - Give up your life. If you haven't confessed your screw-ups, asked Jesus to pay for them, and been baptized in water as a demonstration of your commitment ... do it. That has to be Step 1.
2 - Read a Bible. Jesus is, "the Word made flesh" (John 1). If you want to know God, read His Word. If you don't really read a Bible much, start with the gospel of John and read through the end of the Bible.
3 - Pray. If you don't know how to pray, read Matthew 6:5-15 and do that. If anyone knows how to pray, it's Jesus and He makes it pretty clear.
4 - Get involved in a church. If you're not going to church, find a good one and get involved. You need to hear people teach from the Bible, you need people who can pray with you, you need to be with other believers during worship, and you need to volunteer.
5 - Find a mentor. Once you start to know people at church, find someone who is the same gender as you, at least a little older, been a Christian for several years, and is doing the things above him/herself. Then, just explain that you're new to this and you need some help. Ask if you can get together maybe once a week to talk about stuff and keep you on track.
None of this stuff will EARN you a relationship with God, or make up for your sin. You believe in Jesus for that, but this will help you continue in faith. -
No. (Unless your friends have a change of heart and think it's great that you're living for God.)
What you're experiencing is extremely common. I'd even say it's normal.
(1) That thing where you act in ways you know you shouldn't because of what other people will think, is called the "fear of man" in scripture.
(2) Most Christians have felt like an "outcast" because of their faith at least for a time. It comes with the territory.
John 15, verses 18-25, is just one place that talks about this. Jesus says that the world - people who are not saved, and societies that are not godly - hate Him, so they'll hate His followers too. It's inevitable.
In Matthew 10, Jesus tells His followers that they have to chose between Him and their loved ones. The word we read is "hate," but it doesn't mean the same thing to us as it did when He said it. Obviously, God doesn't want you to "hate" anyone, but He is using strong language so we realize how important it is that we choose God over anyone else.
The ONLY thing any of us can do to "make God happy," is to live for Jesus. He died for us. We live for Him. Nothing we can do can MAKE God happy with us, or persuade Him that we're good. We live for Jesus, and Jesus is our advocate before the Judge.
It's a hard thing to do, but there's no shortage of examples of people who have become Christian, and had to find a whole new group of friends. (In some parts of the world, people's families disown them for becoming Christian.)
I (Lex) had to do it. After four years (two in high school and two after) of dating the same guy and spending all my time (even living with) the same friends, I met Jesus and I had to choose. Either my friends had to like the new me, or we had to go separate ways. It was really sad - I cried over it several times - and it hurt.
But it passes. I got involved in a good local church and met some great people, and I can look back on the whole thing now and know that I did the right thing even though it was really hard to do.
If you want to make that decision, pray for courage and strength - God will give it to you (Acts 4). Talk to your friends about church and God, and give them the chance to "come with" you.
Then, find a good church in your area and get involved in the youth ministry - go to the events they go to, volunteer to help, etc. - and you'll find the kind of friends you really need. You don't necessarily need to sever all communication with your old friends, but you do need to limit the time you spend with them if they're just going to drag you down. -
Don't worry about it.
If you mean that he doesn't want to be friends because you're a Christian, then you have to decide whom you love more: Jesus or your friend. (Jesus used some pretty strong language on that subject. See Matthew 10.)
But if you're thinking that, as a Christian, you're somehow obligated to address his sexuality - don't worry about it. Your obligations as a Christian are to love God and love people. Jesus said that all the law was summed up in those two things (Matthew 22).
A lot of people who call themselves Christians get fired up over homosexuality and they say and do really hurtful, really ungodly things. If your friend experienced any of that personally, I'm really very sorry. It's not an accurate portrayal of Christ at all.
The truth is that everyone does things that are against God's law. It really doesn't matter if it's a "big" deal or a "little" one - it all separates us from God. Your friend is just as far away from God, and just as much in need of Christ, as the nice, family-man, church-goer who cheats on his taxes.
BUT it's not your job to point out or convince anyone of their sin. The Bible says the Holy Spirit does that (John 16), and that it's the LOVE of God that draws people (Romans 2).
When your friend sees you being a real Christian, and experiences the love of God - through you and then hopefully for himself - he will give his life to God and THEN God can work on changing whatever He wants to change in your friend.
You stay out of it and worry about making yourself more like Christ instead. -
Christ.
That sounds like a lame answer, but this is a lame/automated question for new accounts so we're even.
It's also the truth, though. Whether or not you like to admit it, you were created on purpose, and something inside of you knows that. No one ever feels like an extra in the movie, or a nameless face in a crowd. Something inside of you knows that you are unique, and not by accident.
When God first spoke to the prophet Jeremiah, He told the boy that,
"(1:4) Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations."
The same is true of you. Maybe not the prophet part, but the knowing part. It's the testimony of all of scripture that He knows you and created you for a purpose.
If that's true, then, it follows that the secret to happiness is finding out what He has planned for you and doing it. And the only way you can do that is through a relationship with Christ, because you can't get to God without Christ (John 14:6) and you can't do His will without His Spirit (Acts 1:8).
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Redefined Student...’s Bio
We're here to answer your questions about Christian faith and the Bible ... and life. 'Cause there are questions and sometimes they're hard to ask.
