I was baptised at birth, and welcomed warmly into the house of God. I attended church every Sunday and sang my praises to him week in and week out. I went to a catholic school, said grace before my meals, prayed for loved ones before bed, and got actively involved in the church community. My childhood was very spiritual.
As I grew older, I began to ask questions; questions like “If God created everything, what created him?” to which people would say things along the lines of “God was just there”. When I asked “if God is all powerful ad he can do ANYTHING without so much as a lift of a finger, or a blink of an eye, why is it that it took him 6 days to create the heavens and the earth?” I think I’d be more inclined to have faith in a god who is capable of a creation of Divine proportions instantaneously. If God hates sin, but loves forgiveness even more, then why is it that he won’t forgive those who do not accept him as their saviour? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I assume that according to Christianity, Gandhi- given that he was a Hindu- did not make it in to heaven as he did not accept Jesus as his lord, and savior. Meanwhile, there are murders, and rapists out there who can go through their lives terrorizing others, and then in theory ask God for forgiveness, and as long as they are genuine, they live in eternal bliss. This seems beyond strange to me.
These questions that nobody I speak to seem to have answers for weren’t even the hardest thing for me to grasp in the Christian faith. The biggest thing for me is that according to my church ministers, in order to accept God, and be a truly devout Christian, I must “worship” God. I looked up the definition of worship: “To love unquestioningly, and uncritically”. This means that in order to be a true follower of the lord, I must love God unquestioningly, and uncritically day in and day out.
You may ask “What’s wrong with that? God’s a swell guy, I can’t imagine ever questioning my love for him. Just look at what he’s provided for us.” You’re right, God has done a lot for humanity- namely creating us, and giving us free-will etc. The problem that I face is that we are all human, and nobody on the face of the earth can prove with certainty that God exists. So even those who are “filled with the spirit of the lord” should from time to time question whether or not God is even up there. The idea of God is one of great beauty, and the idea of eternal life, is one that’s undeniably appealing; but if you ask me, the idea of claiming to KNOW that God is up there, and never EVER questioning that is awfully arrogant. Furthermore, one cannot love a non-existant entity. That said, unless you NEVER question the existence of God, you cannot love him unquestioningly, and uncritically, therefore, the only true followers of God would have to be arrogant enough to believe there isn’t the slightest possibility that they may have the story of creation that they’re basing on a book that’s been translated countless times over the years just a little bit wrong. Gandhi was a pretty amazing individual, who’s to say that the Hindus aren’t right? Or the Jews? Or Muslims? Or even the Atheists for that matter? This is why since then, I’ve gone the agnostic route, I am not claiming that I know about my origin any more than anybody else on the planet, and as far as I can tell, this should be a unanimous decision worldwide.
I don’t mean to insult Christianity. The truth is, I miss Christianity, that’s why I’m here taking my time to type this up. I don’t mean to offend or insult anybody on this site. I’m just looking for answers and rationalities behind being a Christian. any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Dear Anointed Brothers and Sisters, please pray for my husband of only 8 months. This is my first marriage-his second. His mother and father’s marriage did not make it because of infidelity. And the devil is trying to attack my husband in the same manner by using a stronghold of a dating website called ZOOSK. This is very destructive behavior and will eventually lead to erosion of the marriage – IF NOT DEALT WITH!  These destructive behaviors are called parasites in the movie FIREPROOF…. 

I want my marriage and so does he but he does not want to stop contacting other females. He is saved but has not fully yielded to the Holy Spirit. BUT he will listen to wise counsel and search for answers from GOD.

 He is a truck driver also….this allows him free time to play on his “playground.”    

We attend several powerful churches of the WORD and frequently attend marriage ministry activities. We attended a counseling session yesterday and he has vowed to return (he is searching).

 PRAYER REQUESTS:

~Please pray with me that GOD will deliver My husband from this/these addictive habits/strongholds in the name of Jesus. 
~Please pray that his heart will return to the marriage and surrender to the will of GOD. 
~Please pray that GOD will place angels round about my husband to keep him in all his ways and to keep his feet from swiftly running to mischief. 
~Please pray for the winds of change to swoop my husband and that GOD will send laborers to minister to my husband and that HE will do a Mighty work in his life this week that will result in repentance.
~Please pray that GOD will help me to be the wife he has called me to be and to equip me to be an agent of change. 

 WHAT GOD HAS JOINED TOGETHER, LET NO MAN PUT ASSUNDER…

JSESUS CAME TO TAKE CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE AND TO SET THEM FREE…

I am a small group leader with the middle school ministry at my church called Oasis. The series that we are going through right now is called “Words that make us CRINGE”. I am amazed at how much I am learning from it and from my 8th grade girls. Last week was week 1 and we talked about ‘Discipline’. Some of my girls thought that it was something that should just be gotten rid of, others were more free to like it because they said that they never get in trouble. But the more we talked about it the more they realized that discipline is more than getting in trouble and paying the consequences, but that we need to discipline ourselves to live our lives the way God wants us to. Also that we need discipline in order to make us stronger beings! The verse that they were to memorize was Hebrews 12:11:“ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” It was and still is amazing how the girls came back this week and were able to share stories of how they got scolded by their parents or a school teacher and that no they weren’t happy about it, but the know that God has a bigger picture awaiting them and Him discipling them is just preparing them for the future.

We should all be praying for the younger generation that is coming up. I know that I kind of fit into that category with the fact that I am only 19. But those that are younger than me really need prayer, because they will be our leaders too! When I was there age, things were different then the way it is for them now.

I started my own Christian Blog on LiveJournal, but I could not find a Christian community who would read it on there. So the next few blogs that I write will have “(past)” in the title, to indicate that they were written a while ago.

This next one is from last January.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!

That’s how I feel right now.

All I want to do is find a site, a simple site, where I can add a prayer request. But I can’t find one.

I pray to God, but I feel that that is not enough. I want other people to pray with me. I want to know that God is hearing my prayer, and that more people are praying for the same thing so that I KNOW that He hears me.

God hears everyone. He hears all of us. I know that. But, sometimes, it just doesn’t feel like enough, you know?

I can’t express how many times a day this goes through my head. Or a week.

Is it really that hard to find a prayer group where you can be anonymous, where no one has to know every detail of your life, but still will pray for you? Is it truly that difficult to go to your congregation, stand up in front of them, and say, “Hear me! Please, help me pray to God, because I need help right now, and you are the only family that can help me!”

No, don’t shake your head, “No.” I know it is. I know it can be. We’re all worried about what everyone else thinks, and we say, “No, they don’t want to hear what I have to say. They’re busy. I’m not important enough.” Or maybe you think, “But that request is so personal. I don’t want my congregation knowing that about me.”

We’ve all thought that before. Or, at least, a good majority of us.

It’s amazing how our lives can interfere with our prayer. It’s not like our lives belong to God or anything, right?

No, WRONG.

We DO belong to God. We should not be ashamed of ourselves in front of the Lord, because it is HE who created us, HE who made us, and no one will ever love us more than God does! Do NOT be ashamed to ask the Almighty Father for help, because HE IS THERE FOR YOU.

Not enough people realize that anymore.

I went out, looking for a prayer group. I searched the web, I searched Facebook, LiveJournal, Google, and a few other ministries.
A dear friend of mine told me to e-mail his pastors’ the prayer request. And I couldn’t do it.
Why couldn’t I do it?
It didn’t feel right.

I shouldn’t have to ask two pastors’ to pray to God for me. Because, I can pray to God myself. It’s not about having other people pray for you. Yeah, sure, having a ton of people pray for the same thing with you is great—it adds a sense of completeness and community to prayer. It makes you think, “Hey, they CARE. They want to pray with me about this to God; He has to listen to me now, right?”

But in truth? God is already listening.

You don’t NEED other people to give God prayer. He hears you. He knows what your saying. He WILL provide. God is Almighty. God is All-Knowing. God. Is. Everywhere.

He can do anything, any time He wants. He’s really that awesome.

So, you know what?

Forget the prayer group. I’m going to post my prayer request right here, in this entry. God already knows what it is, and I’ve already prayed to Him. If you see it, that’s great, pray for it if you want to. But know that God has already heard, and is already providing the answer for me.

So, here it goes.

Dear God,

My cousin is on a mission in Haiti. He’s not with a mission group or a church group or anything; he went on his own to help out there.
He’s on an island off the mainland, and there’s no food or water there right now. Please, keep my cousin and all the other people there and on the mainland with You, God, because they need You, and they desperately need Your guidance and protection.

God, I know this may seem kind of strange, but I have a second prayer request, also, about something that hasn’t happened yet:

Obviously, You know about this, God. You know that there was an earthquake in Eureka, CA. It was a 6.5 on the scale. Well, scientists are saying that, in the next two weeks or so, there is supposed to be another earthquake along the San Andreas Fault, and it will hit San Fransisco up to Oregon. It is supposed to be more than one to one and half times bigger than the Eureka earthquake.
God, please, keep the people in the Bay Area and those along the San Andreas Fault in Your hands. Please, don’t let the quake be as severe as the Eureka Earthquake. God, I pray to you that it doesn’t happen at all.

God, I am so lost. I look at everything going on in the world, and I don’t know what to do about it. I don’t know how to help. God, please guide me in this. Tell me what to do.

There are so many things happening. It’s like a giant game of domino’s, where one event causes another, and another, and another…. And there’s no end. For all we know, two or three months from now, another catastrophe, another earthquake, may happen, making all of this seem like nothing.
Scientists are saying that the ocean is what is causing all the quakes. I’m no scientist, but I do believe in You, God, and my life and faith rest in Your hands. I have been praying that the coming catastrophes lessen, rather than grow in size and trauma. I don’t know what else to pray for, anymore. All I know is, that with faith and trust, You will hear me.

So, God, please, hear my prayers. God, the world is in Your hands, and I pray to You that everything will get better. So, please, help my cousin, and the people in Haiti in their trials right now. Help the people along the San Andreas Fault in their times of need, and prepare them for what is ahead.

God, keep everyone safe. Please.

Amen.

I love looking back at the 19 years of my life.  It is helping me to grow closer to the Lord.  But at the same time when I look back I see what a horrible life that I had.  Let me explain to you what I mean.  When I was two years old my biological mother and father divorced.  I remember nothing about him and I still don’t know who he is.  Shortly there after she married my first step-dad.  He was okay to begin with.  He seemed to love me, my older sister and younger brother.  But that front wore off after a couple of months.  He was an alcoholic and wasn’t afraid to hit on us kids.  My most vivid memory of him was when I was about 4 or 5 years old.  He was getting ready for work and he was looking for his work boots.  Well I had apparently gotten in his way.  So he picked me up and threw me across the room and started swearing up a storm and yelling at me telling me how much he hated me and how I was the worst child ever.  The sad part about this was my biological mother just sat there and did nothing what-so-ever to protect me in front of him.  He left for work angry and I just sat there on the floor where I had landed crying, feeling like I was really the horrible child that he said I was.  I wasn’t the only one who was being abused in my family though, my older sister was also being hit on all the time.  We were like his punching bags and my biological mother and my younger brother were his prized possessions.  When I was nine my biological mother found out that he was cheating on her with our neighbors wife.  So one day when he was at work she packed up us kids and a few of our favorite items and we left.  Us kids went to spend the summer with our grandparents in the lower part of the lower peninsula of Michigan.  I had never really been to a city before and was loving it more than anything.  That summer was the best one I had ever had at that point of my life.  I was spending time with people who loved me and protected me much more than anyone ever had.  When the summer ended we went back to up to the country.  My biological mother was living with my first step-dad’s best friend.  bio-mom and step-dad number one were almost completely divorced and she was pregnant with the new guys baby.  Shortly after the divorce was finalized she married the man who became step-dad number two.   He was the dream dad… to begin with.  He would buy us kids gifts, and he was really nice.  But as I soon realized it was all to good to be true.  Step-dad number two was also an abusive man, but in a different form.  He was sexually abusive to me and my sister.  I was growing up not truly knowing what it was like to have a really family.  I mean I saw my friends’ families, and they didn’t do the type of things that mine did.  On September 10, 2002 at 8pm DHS shows up at our front door.  I was terrified, I didn’t know why they were there.  My bio-mom always told me that they were bad people who destroyed families.  It was so scary, I was being asked all of these questions and I couldn’t answer any of them, I was too scared and confused.  Well needless to say I was placed into foster care that same night.  I went to so many court hearings, having to testify against the man who I had once called my dad.  My biological mother lost her parental rights, no wait that is incorrect, she had a choice, her children or the man that had harmed her children.  She chose the man.  I was adopted by the family that I was staying with, which happened to be my first foster home.  Everything was GREAT!  My new family was huge and had so many kids for me to play with.  My father was a Pastor of this tiny church, which is were I first really heard about Jesus, and my mom was (and still is) amazing!  But as I should have known when something is going as wonderful as my new life was, something was going to go wrong.  Which it did.  I soon found out that my dad was having an affair with this girl who could have been his daughter.  So he moved to Georgia the summer of 2004, planning to start a business and then have all of us move down there with him to start a new life.  Again, it never happened.  The girl that he cheated with moved with him. Father’s day of 2006 he told my mom that he wanted a divorce and that as soon as he could he was filing and taking as many of us kids as he could.  Well my mom wasn’t going to let him take us kids and filed before he could.  The divorce was finalized May 21, 2007.  It was so hard for me to grasp.  I was a fairly new Christian, and I couldn’t understand why God would allow so much pain and trouble in my life.  I went the next couple of years really relenting God and my father.  Then at the end of 2008 I found out that I had a STAPH infection on the bottom of my right foot.  It was so bad that I had to have two different PICC lines for about 4 months.  It was pretty bad, because that was my last year of high school. April of 2009 I was finally declared healthy and that I no longer had an infection, but my immune system was so low that I had to be careful, but I was healthy again so the world couldn’t stop me from being free from the bond of my bed.  I graduated June 14th 2009.  I was accepted to Oakland University in Rochester, MI and life was looking up.  But I still wasn’t grasping God, and my life was starting to show it. My first year of college was really hard on me.  I was away from my mom and I was living with my brother.  He was always working so I was pretty much on my own, and I liked it that way.  I could listen to what I wanted to listen to and live the life I wanted to .  Well, my brother was monitoring me when I didn’t know it and was really concerned about me.  He got me going back to church regularly.   I even started going to the young adults group.  God was really speaking to me and changing me so much.  But even now I have such a hard time really doing what God wants me to do.  I just need prayer that God will continue to work with me, that I will learn to believe that He took me through all the horrible things in my life to help me in the future… because right now, I don’t really see why it all happened to me…

Jesus isn’t all meek and mild.  He’s not your Sunday-School Jesus. Although He is loving, He’s also honest.  And the honesty He gave me was brutal.

He told me, “You don’t have God’s Word abiding in you because you don’t believe in Me. You’re unwilling to come to me so that you can have life.”
“But I do believe in you Jesus!”
“But I know you,” He said, “that you don’t have the love of God in you.”

Ouch. But He’s right.  My self-condemnation and believing in Satan’s lies has all but killed me spiritually. I want to take massive action. Please pray that God gives the desire to do everything possible get right before Him.

The battle is over and the victor is … JESUS!!

Surprised??  I’m not!!

This is how I really feel: ME AND JESUS KICKED SATAN’S BUTT YESTERDAY!!!!  *does a side kick*

So, I told you all how I was leading my ladies Bible study group this week, and I shared the notes that I was planning to use.  Our study was last night.  I just want to take a moment to share with you how Satan did all he could to try to knock me down and how Jesus overcame.

Yesterday, the morning of the study, I woke up to a phone call from my oldest brother.  My 87-year-old paternal grandma (the only grandparent I have left) had called an ambulance at 2:00 AM because of intense abdominal pain.  An MRI revealed a pretty extensive cancerous tumor in her colon.  By 9:30 AM she had been prepped and was taken into surgery.

I called into work and was able to make it to the hospital (an hour away from my house) before she went into surgery.  I told her that I had sent a prayer chain email out and that many people from my church were praying for her.  It was so good to talk to her before she went into surgery, and I’ll tell you why: when I was in high school, my maternal grandpa went into the hospital with a colon issue and never came back – I went to the hospital the night he was admitted, and it turned out to be the last time we ever conversed.  So I was intent on being able to talk to my grandma before she went into surgery.

She came out of surgery and woke up from the anesthesia within an hour.  The doctor said her heart was very strong all through the surgery.  Her lungs were so healthy that they took her off the ventilator as soon as surgery was over, which made me very thankful.  There were many aspects of the type of pain and type of cancer that could have caused many complications, but thanks be to God there were none.  I was able to visit with her after the surgery and still get home in time to tend to dinner and a few other tasks I needed to accomplish before Bible study.

Reflecting on this past week, had I not been obedient to the Lord’s call to prepare my Bible study notes earlier in the week, yesterday could have been a victory for the “away team.” I praise God for all that He did in the way of leading me to have the study all ready to go by Saturday morning.  I praise God for my grandma’s successful surgery.  I praise God that at a time when circumstances could have caused me to throw in the towel and say, “This is too much – I can’t go to the study tonight,” God led me to persevere and follow through with the study He had prepared.

We had excellent discussion at the study and it was a very encouraging time together as ladies who seek to lay aside our own desires and fix our minds on Jesus.  Satan tried SO HARD to knock me down – to disable me so as not to lead that study.  But God overcame.  ¡¡Mi Dios salió victorioso!!

If you think of it, please pray for my grandma as we await the results of a test to see if the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes.  She will be hospitalized at least through the weekend while she recovers from a portion of her colon being removed.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!

Hi im new nd in need of someone to talk to or someone who could pray for me nd my 3yr old who has a disability..

I’d really appreciate if you’d remember me in your prayers as I’m about to undertake two great changes in my life. The first was that I was accepted to serve on a committee for youth and young adult enrichment a. I’ll be representing my church and about 10 others in this committee to aid in their further growth and development. Its a big undertaking.

The second one, is I’m about to begin ANOTHER diet. I’m a big guy, and for me it’s one of the toughest battles to loose weight. In many ways I feel like it’s trying to overcome an addition, but with others I can’t obviously stop cold turkey. One of the triggers is actually stress (plus note previous paragraph about new position). So, please a little prayer would really help me right now.