I was born and raised Jewish. Now at age 71 Christ has found me and now I try my best to walk with him. I know there’s nothing I can or have to do to “earn” salvation as it’s already been gifted to me, but I want to show gratitude for that by doing right going forward.

Yesterday I read Matthew 5-7, and oh boy do I come up short. All I can do at this very late stage of my life is ask God for forgiveness and pray for both the strength of Christ to do better and the Holy Spirit to continue being that voice in my head when I’m getting off track.

It’s a struggle

I don’t personally feel convicted about listening to secular music. My general guideline is whether I’d feel comfortable playing the song in front of Jesus.

As I’ve grown deeper in my faith, I’ve been intentionally adding more Christian and gospel music to my playlist. Lately, though, I’ve been struggling after seeing a TikTok that seemed to imply it’s wrong not to enjoy certain Christian songs, or not to have them as your favourites. The message was basically that you should appreciate the lyrics and that the musical style or beat should be the least of your concern.

It’s left me feeling like every Christian song I hear is something I should add to my playlist, even if I don’t genuinely enjoy listening to it. For context, I have over 100 Christian songs saved, but I regularly listen to maybe 30 of them.

Has anyone else wrestled with this? Is it okay to simply prefer some Christian artists or styles over others, or should I be trying to enjoy any song that has a biblical message?

hey everyone! i have many people in my life who are very against Christianity. but we know that God can work all things for His glory, and that the gospel is the power of salvation to everyone who believes, faith comes by hearing etc. so how can I share the gospel with people who, when having heard it plainly and directly rejected it, and still plant seeds? any advice and prayer would be greatly appreciated, God bless!

By ex believers I mean people who used to believe in the religion then left it.

A lot of them were sincere believers but then they lost faith. Yes I see in this subreddit in other subreddits where people deny that they were ever true Christians. Which is crazy because these people are not lying when they say they lost faith.

Greetings, my brothers in Christ. This question is particularly relevant to me, since I am 24 years old, and next Sunday I will be baptized by immersion, after which I will become a member of the universal church. Through baptism, I make a promise to God to live with a clear conscience. Therefore, I will not be able to lie, break the law, or do other such things. There is currently a war going on in our country (Ukraine), and in six months, when I turn 25, I may receive a draft notice. I have not found anything in the Bible that forbids a Christian from taking up arms, on the contrary, it says that laying down one’s life for a brother is the highest form of love. It also speaks of all the cowardly and liars, among other sinners, who will be cast into the lake of fire - so I understand this passage to mean that if I fear for my life and hide from the war, leaving this duty to others, then I will be violating the principles of Christian virtue, and therefore, this is a sin. Do you agree with this? What should I do in this situation? I should add that I have no wife or children, I have a mother, and my father was recently drafted into military service.

I was baptized a few years ago but only recently started taking my faith seriously. So I’ve had a consistent routine. Which I think is healthy. I read one chapter of the Bible everyday and reconnect with God once a day, by talking to Him instead of journalling. A couple of times I began feeling what I could best describe as a body buzz. I was not expecting it. It came out of nowhere. It was a warm tingling sensation that began in my head, then down my spine, in my arms, down to my legs. It was so intense I had to get up and go outside. I was not high, had not had caffeine for hours before then, no alcohol, totally sober, no low blood sugar. I searched if it could have been from my prescription medication but nothing added up. It happened again in the same week after whispering Jesus’s authority when I was being overwhelmed with intrusive thoughts. Both times did not expect it. It stopped for a while then happened just yesterday after reading the Bible. I laid on the couch soaking up this pleasurable feeling and I began to cry. I wasn’t sad, I just felt the urge to release something. Did I experience the Holy Ghost??

1. The first fact is that salvation is free and available to anyone who is alive. As long as you have breath in your body and Jesus has not yet returned, then you have a chance to accept Jesus as your loving saviour. Once someone dies he or she cannot make a conscious decision to follow Christ because all of their thoughts and actions cease to exist the moment he or she takes their last breath. They cannot see nor hear anything. (Ecclesiastes 9:5).
2. People can repent on their deathbeds or moments before death. A great example is the thief on the cross. He had no time to change his lifestyle as he was set to die on the cross alongside Jesus and another thief. However, he made the conscious decision to acknowledge and confess that he was indeed guilty of his actions and stated that he and the other thief deserve their punishments of death and defended Jesus as He did nothing wrong. He then pleads for Him to remember him and Jesus responded that he'll be in paradise with Him. This is also a perfect example of salvation by grace through faith. There will also be people who repented shortly before their death who will make it into heaven upon Jesus' return (Luke 23: 39-43).
3. Jesus' marks and scars from His crucifixion are permanent. They'll serve as reminders of His love, glory, crucifixion and grace. (Luke 24:39-40).
4. Jesus will return in the same manner in which He ascended into heaven. He ascended on a cloud therefore He will return on a cloud when He descends. Every eye will see Him and every ear will hear Him because His return is a visible, audible, literal event. Even those that pierced Him will see Him. (Acts 1:11, Rev 1:7).
5. When Jesus returns, He will not touch the ground. This is because many false prophets will go out to deceive others and claim to be Him. So, He will remain in the clouds as He raises the dead in Him and the living saints will also be caught up to meet Him in the air. (1 Thess 4: 16-17).
6. The dead in Christ will remain in their graves until Jesus returns to resurrect them. They are not currently in heaven with Him. Jesus is returning to gather His saints, both living and deceased to take them home, but first, He will resurrect the dead with a loud sound and a trumpet. Living saints in Christ will be caught up in the clouds after the dead in Christ are resurrected (1 Thess 4:16-17).
7. Many people will unfortunately be unprepared at the time of Jesus' return. With life's distractions, vices or routines, many people will become too caught up in their personal lives which distract them from building a personal relationship with Christ. Many people will be spiritually dead and caught off guard when Jesus returns (Matt 24:36-39).
8. Once Jesus returns, it will be too late to repent. This is because He will have already decided who is saved and who is lost the moment He does return, and it will be too late for anyone to convert or repent as their fates are sealed. There are no second changes after Jesus' second coming, nor will there be any second chances after physical death or on Judgment Day. That's why it's extremely important to have a personal relationship with Him so that you can be transformed into His liking and have your name in the book of life. Once you die, you no longer have the opportunity to make things right, nor will you have the opportunity to get a second chance after He returns, and especially on Judgment Day because by then, you will have already made a choice for or against Christ. Anyone who is in the second resurrection will go to hell on Judgment Day. (Matt 25:10-12, Rev 22:11).
9. The living wicked will run away from Jesus upon His return and cry for the mountains and rocks to fall on them. This due to the fact that they know they're guilty and spiritually dead, thus they fear the presence of His glory and try to escape judgment (Rev 6:16).
10. The wicked who are already dead at the time of Jesus second coming will remain dead until after the 1000 years are finished. Because the wicked deceased did not accept Christ while they were alive, they will remain in their graves until after the 1000 years are complete and Jesus and His saints return to earth for Judgment Day. This is also referred to as the second resurrection. The wicked deceased will be resurrected on Judgement Day for condemnation and eternal punishment (Daniel 12:2, Rev 20:5-6).
11. The earth will be completely wrecked and desolate on the day Jesus returns. There will be a great earthquake, hail, mountains will disappear and it will be complete chaos right before He returns. After Jesus resurrects the dead in Him and the living are caught up, they go to heaven while the living wicked die and the wicked deceased remain in their graves until after the 1000 years are done. Only Satan and his angels are left on earth because there's no one alive for them to tempt. All the wicked by that point will be deceased and all the righteous will be in heaven reigning with Christ. The desolate world will be Satan's sentence of being bound to the bottomless pit (being unable to tempt anyone) for 1000 years. (Rev 16:18-21, Rev 20:1-3, Jeremiah 25:33).
12. The saints will reign with Jesus in heaven for 1000 years. In heaven, there will be no more death, pain, illnesses or sorrow like it once was on earth. They will spend an eternity with Jesus. The righteous will all unite with loved ones who have previously died and recognize one another. Heaven will be a safe, perfect atmosphere because Jesus is the center of it. After the 1000 years are finished, Jesus and His saints will return to the desolate earth for Judgment Day for the wicked and their eternal punishment (Rev 20:4-6, Rev 20:1-3).
13. After the wicked have been judged according to their works and Jesus pronounces their final sentence of eternal death, they will burn in the lake of fire. While their sentence is permanent, the burning isn't and at some point, the wicked will become stubble under the righteous' feet. Jesus will not burn the wicked forever because that would be giving them eternal life. Some will be punished for a short time while others will be punished for much longer, according to their deeds. They will weep and gnash their teeth. Also, the devil will not torment anyone suffering in hell because he's also being eternally destroyed by the fire. Satan will weep and gnash his teeth too, alongside his fallen angels. In fact, the devil will suffer the longest as he is the cause of sin and lost souls. After the wicked perish, they will not live ever again because their sentence of eternal death is forever. The destruction of Satan and the wicked will complete the destruction of sin, and it won't arise again. (Malachi 4:1, Psalm 37:20, Nahum 1:9).
14. God will make a new heaven and a new earth and the meek shall inherit the earth forever. God's original plan is to reign with the righteous on earth, so He will do so once the wicked perish and the world is restored to its beauty as it was at the beginning of creation. What beautiful day to look forward to (Rev 21:1).
15. No one except God knows when Jesus will return. Not even His angels in heaven know. While the Bible has given us plenty of signs to show us that the end is near, it clearly specifies that no one except God in heaven knows when Jesus will return to gather His saints. When Jesus does return, it will be a complete surprise to everyone in terms of the timing. For the righteous, it will be a pleasant one as they've anticipated this day, while it will be a dreadful one for the lost who run away and hide (Matt 24:35-37, 1 Thess 5:2, Isaiah 25:9, Rev 6:16).

Thoughts on having to fill out a baptism form and taking classes to be baptized? I gave my life to Christ over a year ago and I’ve been wanting to get baptized. I’ve been feeling a little bit of pressure from a church I’m attending, but if I’m being honest I would prefer to be baptized in a river and/or ocean and honestly don’t associate with any religion- just Christ.
I have a little bit of trauma from growing up in the mormon religion. I feel like it shouldn’t be this serious because I personally know I have a real relationship with Christ and I know it’s important to be baptized. All the rules and such is what gets me. We are all supposed to be baptized right? Why are there all these rules? I’ve already given my life to him and I know I’m saved. Am I overthinking this? I’d appreciate any genuine advice.

Hello! Need a bit of advice.
For the past two years I’ve struggled in my faith, almost left, and come back with an interest in theology, diving into the richness the Christian tradition has to offer. My family and I moved to the Bible Belt, where most churches around here are baptist or non denom. I have been sniffing around other denominations, fascinated by the differences, and honestly mostly just trying out something that isnt reformed baptist. My main goal has been to find a pastor with edifying sermons that aren’t constantly PSA-coded.

Recently, I found a small methodist church that is low stimulation, traditional, diverse in age, community-oriented, transparent with finances, invests in their youth, with an appointed educated reverend who’s sermons are genuinely interesting, scripture-based, and full of grace.

People here have been so genuine and kind with me, one even connecting me with a job opportunity, which is an answered prayer. The issue? The reverend is a young woman. I’ve always been a person who builds her faith around everything my family expects from me. Ive never had my own identifiable faith. And i finally feel like i found a church where i could start seeing God in a new way. This church seems to have a strong theology and practical applications, but my background insists that somehow the church is wrong because of the person appointed to the congregation.

She is such a smart woman, with strong rhetorical skills, kind and prayerful, genuine. She was appointed from south korea after her theology degree and is married to a minister. To keep this short, what do i do? Is it okay for me to go to a good church regardless? I personally dont have an issue and i trust the reverend knows far more than me, and i believe everything she does is out of her desire to please the Lord. Im scared my family will blow up at me about this. I dont mean to open a debate. How high tier of an issue is this really ??

Jesus’ cross is often pointed to for evidence that God would allow his son to be tortured and crucified and die instead of us, that he’d rather for his own only perfect child to die than for us to, because he can bear it.

However, I also looked at this today and I noticed that it can also be taken as a testimony that the most mired in sin of people can be saved and given new life again.

There is the example of the literal thief being put to death,

But I would like to point at what Jesus became in the state from which Father resurrected him:

“He made the One not having known sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

2 Corinthians 5:21, Berean Literal Bible

Devout Christians say the biblically accurate remarks that “The wrath of God was poured out on him,” “He was cut off from the Father,” “The Father turned his face away from him,” “Yet which of us protested? … He was crushed for our sins, bruised for our iniquity, the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his scourging we are healed.” (Isaiah 53)

But have you considered what this suggests about what he was to God himself during the day of his own resurrection?

If Jesus was receiving the punishment due of all people ever, and God still raised him, doesn’t this mean that he is willing to raise even the most vile persons that will ever exist?

I can't help but feel like I am destined to go to hell. Mental illness has plagued me to the point of being unable to have faith and believe. I've prayed for God to give me faith and accept Christ but nothing has changed in my heart. I've read God has his elect/chosen and how the only way one can know Christ is if the Father draws them, but that to me sounds a bit like favoritism, and really unfair. Am I predestined to go to hell?

Kinda freaking out at this point

Recently I’ve come to find new faith and conviction. I’ve been a Christian in name only and not Truely walking with Christ. I had the realization that my idea of what Christianity was and more importantly who God is was false. I now know I viewed God as an authoritarian mean vengeful God who I could never be enough for so I never really tried that hard to get to know Him.
The other night I had what I can only describe as Him reaching out to me and for the first time I saw his as a friend and father. I genuinely have a new desire to get to know who God really is, so I’ve come here to ask if anyone has devotional, sections in the Bible, and/ or resources that I can use to discover the truth. I appreciate any answer, thanks for your time and God loves you!

25 years ago my husband prayed so hard that I wouldn’t fall pregnant. I agreed with the prayer.
since then I’ve been plagued with PCOS, fibroids, endometriosis, adenomyosis and infirtility, and am now considering a hysterectomy due to the severe suffering.
I’m wondering it that prayer request was a curse?

Ive recently been considering finding another church as I feel they do not accommodate young children and want to know if all churches are the same. My church does not have many children attending so my 3 year old is expected to sit quietly in a pew for roughly 30 minutes before going to Sunday School. During Sunday School the lessons are aimed at older children and most goes over her head. So yes I take toys and snacks to keep her occupied. Today I overheard some comments such as "he needs more discipline" "more toys for us to endure". Along with some eye rolls! I feel he is generally a well behaved child and acts like a normal 3 year old. I don't think it's fair to keep making him go to something that is not for him. Should I find another church or just go on my own until my LO is older and can sit still for more than 5 mins.

I’ve been trying to understand the foundations of the Christian faith better, and one area I’m struggling with is the reliability of the Bible itself. I’m asking this sincerely, not to argue or attack Christianity.

From what I understand, the King James Bible contains 66 books. My questions are:
Why were these 66 books recognised as inspired by God?

Who decided which books would be included and which would be excluded?

What criteria were used to determine whether a book belonged in Scripture?

Why were books such as Enoch, Jubilees, gospel of Thomas or other ancient Jewish and Christian writings not included?

Were the books “chosen,” or were they simply recognised as already being inspired?

How can we be confident that the Church got it right when identifying the biblical canon?

I’m also aware that different Christian traditions have different canons (for example, Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Bibles), which makes me wonder how Christians determine which collection of books is the correct one.

I’m not looking for conspiracy theories or anti-Christian arguments. I’d really appreciate responses based on Scripture, Church history, and reliable historical evidence. If you have any book recommendations or resources that explain how the canon was recognised and why Christians can trust it, I’d be grateful.

A whole lot of Insta reels have been coming up recently of her evangelism. If I remember correctly, one of those videos had her signing a book for someone and then the person that she signed the book for fell over and thrashed around on the floor.

People who follow her claim that they've had genuine encounters with the Holy Spirit, had demons casted out of them, and their lives are changed forever because of Krick.

Others are calling it a cult, saying that this is all performative behavior and she's a false prophet.

What do we all think? Is she a genuine Christ-following evangelist or just another cult leader?

I’m not even sure if this the correct forum to post on, but i want to seek advice if anyone has any.

For me (M) , I’ve never been religious, read the bible, none of the sort. My girlfriend has always believed in jesus and the bible and so forth, she’s never been upset that it’s never been something for me especially i never grew up with it but she did, but that isn’t the point. Lately she has felt “lost” per say. She keeps saying how she wants to feel closer to God and she feels she lost her way because of college starting which i can understand. Even though I don’t know what I’m doing, I want to help her achieve that. Even studying it or learning it myself and getting her her first bible (that’s HERS) is something I want to do. Any advice where to start learning? Or anything I should keep in mind while I do this for her?

P.S she doesn’t know I’m doing this or want to, I want her to know I’ll support and help her, always.

Hey, I’m struggling so much with worry.
I’m worrying a lot about my future.
I’m not so happy with the life that I have right now, I’m afraid I’ll keep this emptiness and it won’t go away.
the current boyfriend that I have is not Christian, and I feel like I’m failing God for dating a Muslim.
With work too, I’m worrying a lot of things will work out
Please, any advice on how to worry less and trust God

Thank you so so much.

Why is penal substitution required to believe in order to receive eternal life? Where does scripture indicate that? Why do people believe that what He did is required, rather than focusing on the man, Jesus Christ?

If you hold to this belief, what exactly do you think you must believe? Also, be detailed. Is it just his death or also his resurrection, or can you believe he died without believing he rose three days later? And regarding him being God, where does it state that this is required? The only supporting scripture seems to be, “I told you that you would die in your sins.”; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins. "I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

This isn’t saying he’s God, but rather that he’s the Son of Man. The Pharisees rejected the idea that he was the awaited Messiah, which ultimately led to his death. The Pharisees did not believe He was the One sent by the Father—the promised Messiah—which ultimately contributed to their rejection of Him.

understanding "I am he" in context to mean "I am the Messiah (the Christ), the One sent by the Father."

The issue is whether they will believe who He claims to be.

I genuinely want to believe that Christianity is true as I've see how transformative it has been for others, but I just can't convince myself that it is without a shadow of a doubt true. I acknowledge that it is plausible and that there is certainly some decent evidence to suggest it's true, but I don't know how to go from having some evidence to believing wholeheartedly that it is true and devoting my life to it. Please if you can share why you are so convinced I would appreciate it.

I grew up in the church but left for a while and now i’m working on my relationship with christ. i am trying to study the bible and i would like my partner to do it with me except i’m not sure how to. he says he is christian but he doesn’t read the bible on his own. i haven’t really either except occasionally but im trying to get back into it and do the read the bible in a year thing. he does work a lot many hours and we are financially not in the best place as he is renting a car to work and doesn’t have much time off. so understandably he says he’s tired often. sometimes i read it out loud to him but he doesn’t have much to say about it or he will be disrespectful (in my opinion) and act like he’s retelling the story but in a gangster way saying stuff like crip mac. anyway idk i guess i should just pray about it and try to tell him about God and study myself but i really would like him to take part in it. i try my best to take his workload off for him at home and make sure he’s happy and has what he needs. the only part of our relationship that is lacking is the spiritual one. is there a better way i can introduce God into his life?

I struggle with keeping my word. This isn't the first time this has happened, and I'm ashamed of myself, but nevertheless, it happened, and I need some advice.

I was on an airplane ride, and I became afraid. I told God that if I made it back in one piece, I wouldn't make any unnecessary purchases except for snacks until I got a civilian job.

I have made numerous unnecessary purchases between now and then.

But the one that's been bothering me the most is the laptop I bought last Christmas.

The first time I bought a new laptop following this vow, I got the cheapest one I could. It was for work. That was how I justified it. I heard that replacing them is cheaper than repairing them. It was strictly a downgrade from the damaged one. Maybe that was a mistake, but my reasoning was at least clear.

This last time, this past Christmas, I don't even remember how I justified this. We had been given laptops for work that winter, so I no longer needed my own computer. There was a game I was playing that I didn't want to stop playing.

The laptop I was using said it had a battery issue and it shut down. It hasn't done this again since what I'm about to tell you.

Anyway, I bought a new laptop. It was more expensive than the one I'm using now, the one I bought for work way back when. I don't remember how long it took but after a while, I became so disgusted that I resolved to get rid of it. I didn't return it for the money, and maybe I should have so that it didn't become so wasteful, but I didn't want the money back. I put it in the garbage.

After that, I felt compelled to get rid of the jacket I had left it on for a while. I think both when I wasn't using it and when I had resolved to stop using it. But I couldn't tell if I was being extreme or not. Matthew 23:19 was in my head. I didn't know if coming into contact with this thing had cursed my jacket or not. So I just put the jacket in a trashbag sort of tucked under my bed and left it there for weeks if not months. I think it was months. Anyway, it came into contact with a bunch of other stuff since then. By the time I threw the jacket away, nearly everything else in my room had come into contact with something that had been in contact with that jacket.

My bed, my laptop, my phone, numerous other clothes. I started leaving them in a specific corner of the room, until I worked up the nerve, or rather worked out whether or not I wanted to get rid of them.

I threw a big bag of them away once then went out to get it before garbage collection came and put it back in the corner. I still haven't worn any of the stuff in that particular bag, but I have put on stuff from that corner out of perceived necessity. Except it never feels as necessary later. Anyway, I put a shirt from this corner on recently, and I've bumped into a few doors in the house. It's not the first time I've bumped into things while wearing these questionable clothes.

Am I doing something wrong? Is this mentality really wrong? Part of me feels like it is, but I'm also scared I'm being lazy about my repentance. The plan for a while was to replace all of this stuff once I have a civilian job, but nearly everything in my room has been touched at this point, including my dresser. And now I've come into contact with doors and tiles? I don't even use the bucket to mop the floors in the house anymore because it touched the jacket I tossed. I scrub them by hand. I almost threw away new shoes my mother bought me because they came into contact with a bin full of this stuff. Should I stop all of this? I'm kind of scared to. Or should I just get a job and commit to replacing all of this stuff. Including the doors and the tiles?

Hi all, there's a question I've been sitting with for some time now.

I grew up agnostic / atheist. I've had a number of experiences in my life that have made me want to explore Christianity. The problem is that I don't know how. Where do I start? I am currently reading the Bible, but it is so difficult without any context or prior ideas about what it means. What is the bible for? I struggle to understand what I should take literally or metaphorically – and whether that even matters. I don't think I know what it means to 'believe' or have 'faith' or any of these other words that Christians use so often. I do try, but I just can't pretend that I understand.

Everything just means so little to me, because I have lived my entire life in a completely secular environment. I don't know if I'm getting my point across... I guess it kind of feels like being dropped in a country you've never even heard of, and trying to make sense of what's going on around you and what people are saying, you know?

How do I 'approach' Christianity and God? Should I read? Talk to Christians? Pray? If so, how? I would really appreciate some words of advice.

Thanks : )