Ask the Christian!

[SIZE=10.5pt]Hello~[/SIZE]

I know this isn't exactly the traditional way of doing these threads, but I wanted to introduce myself more since I'm still relatively new, and to share my faith in doing so.[SIZE=10.5pt] I know that these days there are a lot of negative connotations associated with Christianity, and I want to be a friendly resource for people to ask any questions they may have.[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] [/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10.5pt]So regardless of what you believe/don't believe, please don't hesitate to ask me anything about God, the Bible, why I believe, etc. Even if you think I'm completely nuts for believing in God, ask away! Although I do ask that you be respectful, those kinds of questions don't intimidate me. (:[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10.5pt]Note that I'm obviously only human and won't have every answer to everything, but I will certainly do my best with my responses and promise to put a lot of thought and effort into each one. (:[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10.5pt]And of course if you have any other questions about me as a person, those are welcome too.[/SIZE]

 

-My cousin who was like a brother to me when we were kids was really into Pokémon, and in due time my younger brother got into it as well. I sort of learned from them at first, as they collected the cards and watched episodes all the time. And so after a while of all that, it rubbed off on me and I soon became obsessed lol. I'd argue that I became a bigger fan than both of them in the end

-I'll have been a Christian for 8 years in May

-Back home I have two cats. I don't get to see them too much these days though since I moved to another town and left them with my mom.

 

-Do you mean seeking people out as friends/people to talk to? I don't think so. I connect with some people better than others, but I don't think it's because those people are a certain way or anything.
(Sorry I didn't quite understand this one!)

-I don't play any instruments but I would say I probably enjoy listening to piano the most because it can be soothing in calmer music, and also used in heavier rock music.

-Biggest surprise? Ummm... that's a really hard one haha. I can recall some times when people have tried to surprise me, but I guess I sort of have a way of suspecting things. All I can think of right now, and what I consider to be the best surprise of my life, is the day I became a Christian in May of 2009. I never expected my best friend at the time to completely walk out on me, and during a really low point of my life. But I also didn't expect the God of the universe to pursue my heart the way He did, and to draw me to Him that day, and to heal me so quickly and miraculously.

 

-I've read through all the New Testament but I'm only about halfway through the Old Testament as far as reading on my own goes. For several years it was a struggle for me to ever read on my own because I usually don't like reading in general, but as of late I've gotten back into it, and it's definitely been life and heart transforming (:

-I sort of consider the teachings at my campus ministry and small group Bible studies to be like classes/studying in a way, but I never took any formal classes in college or anything. I had thought about it at one point, but I knew several people (all whom are very trustworthy) who talked about how biased many of those professors were and it sounded like the teachings were often misleading, and that some of the professors didn't even believe in the faith they were teaching. I don't know; I personally think that if someone's going to teach about Christianity or the Bible, the whole relationship with Christ aspect should be included and emphasized, rather than just analyzing the text alone. But yeah, it would've been interesting to experience a class like that; I just never fit it into my class schedules.

 

-Are you talking about online or in person? I mean, I guess either way I can be distinguished from most of the rest of the crowd (depending on where I am and all) because I'm not afraid to talk about my faith or my struggles? At one of my old jobs, people knew I was different because I don't go out drinking or anything, I always refused their offers of weed, I tried to love people instead of joining the trash talking, etc. I try to live out my faith (though I obviously fall short because I'm still human) but they definitely recognized that, even if they thought it was weird.

-I actually really love spontaneous social events (: I think some of the best adventures can come out of them. I'm not as extroverted as I used to be and so sometimes I'd rather just stay in, but I usually find that when I fight through that and go anyway, it turns into an amazing adventure that I would've regrettably missed out on.

-Haha, honestly I expected to get some real difficult, theological questions. I also expected some... angrier (for lack of a better word) ones because that seems to be what happens elsewhere whenever Christianity is brought up. But I do welcome those kinds of questions because they're honest and I think it's important to talk about those things, instead of people feeling like they need to hold them in their hearts with anger, hurt, etc.

Hey, no worries. Feel free to ask whatever you want

 

(Messed up this post. Whoops. See next post for answer )

 

[SIZE=10.5pt]-What is your denomination? Protestant or Catholic? If Protestant, what kind?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]I grew up as a Lutheran, but ever since I went to college and explored different churches/denominations, I stopped identifying as a Lutheran and going to those churches because in my experience, they were very spiritually dead and their doctrine seemed to go against the Bible in certain areas. So for the last several years I've been going to both nondenominational churches, and an Assemblies of God one. But I don't really identify with any denominations anymore personally. I just identify as a Christian. I think God has done great things with the different denominations and it's cool to have diversity, but it also saddens me that it's caused so much division in the church. And I can't deny that I'm guilty of contributing to that division over the years and thinking my church or denomination was better than the others. But God is still working in my heart and teaching me, and I'm slowly learning to love all the different churches and denominations, even the ones that I strongly disagree with on certain points. We're all one body of Christ.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=10.5pt]-What are your thoughts on the apparent brutality of God towards the Canaanites when ordering the Israelites to slaughter them down to the last woman and child?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]This is definitely a heavy, difficult question (and I thank you for it!) and it's something I've always wrestled with if I'm honest. I don't know why God did everything He did in Old Testament times. But I believe that God is all-loving (as revealed in Christ) and that He is just in everything He does, and if there's something I don't understand, I have to trust that it's due to my limited understanding rather than God being unfair or anything of the sort. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]A big reason from Scripture is that the Canaanites were worshiping false gods, and God knew that Israel would be enticed into worshiping their gods and therefore would turn their backs on God, and so He wanted to prevent that (He is a jealous God). It's also important to consider that when He was leading Israel into the Promised Land, He was also taking that land away from the Canaanites, after generation, after generation, after generation of Him withholding His wrath despite their wicked practices (which from what I understand was worse than we can imagine).[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]I know it can be hard to see God as all-loving when we read those passages in the Old Testament, but I still believe that He is. Because I don't really know how to explain it myself, I want to quote Dr. Gregory Boyd from his book Letters from a Skeptic (which I HIGHLY recommend!):[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]We have to again remember that when we read the Old Testament, we're dealing with an entirely different world from our own . . . It was an intensely violent, power-driven world where "might was right" (maybe not so different from our own after all?). Life was cheap.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]The Canaanites, for example, used to ritually sacrifice newborn babies by burning them alive. There's evidence that they would perform some "religious" ritual of tying together the legs of a woman in labor, and leaving her there until she died! These cultures would sometimes impale their conquered adult subjects and celebrate their victories by smashing the heads of the subjects' infants against rocks![/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]So, perhaps one of the reasons God had to use violence in the Old Testament was because violence was the only way of accomplishing what He wanted to accomplish. In the heat of battle, only bombs talk. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Another consideration is this: Perhaps the death of certain people was, in certain circumstances, the lesser of the two evils. Do we not also believe that death is sometimes preferable to life? If, with this, one considers God's universal perspective, one must ask not only what is the lesser of the two evils for the individuals involved, but what is the lesser of the two evils for the entire world throughout history? God has an agenda for all of history, and given the fallen, barbaric state of the world, sometimes the death of large groups (viz, the Canaanites) adversely affect God's overall plan of redemption. (In fact, the few Canaanites who lived, because of Israel's failure to exterminate them, caused incredible difficulties later on!)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]One final consideration is this. If one believes in an afterlife, as I do, then the death of the Canaanites is not really the end of their life at all. It may be just the beginning of an eternal life with God. What God does for historical purposes is not necessarily an indication of how God judges people eternally. And in this light, the death of certain Canaanite people, especially the children, could be seen as an act of mercy. Perhaps they were spared the hellish life (and probably afterlife) they would have had if they had grown to maturity. This may seem insensitive (I feel insensitive just saying it), but it is so only from a strictly "this world" perspective.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Sorry for the super long quote! I just think he explains it way better than I could. (This book addresses the really big difficult questions like that, if that's something you'd possibly be interested in.) Obviously it's not a perfect answer, but I feel it gives some perspective rather than just seeing the whole deal as just God being angry and whatnot. Feel free to challenge me more on this if you'd like.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=10.5pt]-Do you believe in a strict literal interpretation of the Bible or is there leeway?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]I believe the Bible is supposed to be taken seriously, but not every part is supposed to be taken literally. There are metaphors throughout. An example of a passage I don't necessarily take literally is Matthew 50 when Jesus says if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away (and likewise with your right eye). I think the point He's making is that if there's something in our lives that causes us to sin, whatever it may be, we need to cut it out of our lives. It could be something like the shows we watch, the music we listen to, hobbies that become idols, etc. Different people have different triggers and struggles. I don't think He means literally cut your hand off or gauge your eye out.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]I think it's important to consider that certain things in the Bible were geared towards specific cultures at the time and aren't necessarily relevant today.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]I don't believe salvation hangs on whether we interpret every single thing correctly or not. Obviously in our limited human understanding, we're not all going to get everything right as far as interpretation goes. But I believe the important thing is to believe in Jesus and accept Him into your heart, and be living a life of seeking God/pursuing a relationship with Him, and following Christ not out of fear but out of love and genuine desire. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt](Sorry if I didn't give the kind of answer you were looking for. Is there something more specific that you were trying to get at? Feel free to leave a follow up...)[/SIZE]


[SIZE=10.5pt]-Do you like C. S. Lewis? Chesterton?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]I love C.S. Lewis (: I've only read a couple of his books so far but I plan to continue. I think the man was brilliant and God used him in such amazing ways. I've never read anything by Chesterton but I'd like to one of these days.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=10.5pt]-How comfortable are you with defending Christian Apologetics?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Honestly, it kind of varies depending on the situation. My confidence has grown a lot in this area over the years as I've continued learning and growing spiritually, but I'm still not as bold as I would like to be with people around me. But I'm trying to step out of my comfort zone more (and hey, even posting on this forum and making myself vulnerable to difficult questions is something I might not have done a few years ago!) But I really do love getting opportunities to have these kinds of discussions with people, and it's been really cool to do research and learn more about my own faith and different things about it like the history, evidence, testimonials of others, etc.[/SIZE]

 

Thank you haha

-I don't have one single favorite verse, but I can list a couple:

"Come close to God, and God will come close to you" (James 4:8).

"So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, 'Abba, Father'" (Romans 8:15).

I really love the first one because I imagine it like a mirror. As you get closer to it, your reflection does likewise. I believe it's the same with God the more we seek Him, and I've experienced that (:

The second one really speaks to my heart because I've always struggled a lot with anxiety, and so often times I have to remind myself that God has not given us a spirit of fear (which also ties to 2 Timothy 1:7), and that as a believer I have His Spirit indwelling in me (which is crazy to think about!). The chorus of one of my favorite worship songs goes "I'm no longer a slave to fear; I am a child of God," and it's always been so powerful to me. The "Abba, Father" part is very real to my heart too, since I don't really experience love from my earthly father, and I looked up the meaning behind the word "Abba," and it had me basically weeping because it's such a powerful word to describe our Heavenly Father and how He loves us - so much more than an earthly father ever could.

-It sort of depends. I've always been more of an indoors person, but ever since moving up to the mountains a few years ago, I do love going out into nature (when the weather is good) and just being in awe of God's creation

-Well... I'm working on that haha. Over the years I've been very up and down, but I'm actually starting a meal-planning commitment and a friend of mine is going to do it with me and keep me accountable haha

 

*High-fives* (((((:

Haha my favorite games for the longest time were the 2nd and 3rd Spyro games. I'll also always really love the original Sonic the Hedgehog games, Guitar Hero/Rock Band and all the various Mario games. I'm sort of basic and old school lol, but those games will always be fun and sentimental for me

 

-Are you asking like, in a Myers Briggs sense? Lol. I think it's good to have a healthy mix of both, but as far as my own personality goes, I usually fall more on the emotions/feeling side.
(Sorry if I didn't understand the question correctly)

-I definitely think it's good to be challenged, in anything. As far as enjoying it goes, it really depends on the context/what kind of a challenge it is. I'll admit that often times I don't like having my patience tested through life's challenges, but I believe God uses those things to grow us in countless ways.

-Really? Awesome! It's encouraging to see other Christians speaking out.

 

In a general sense, I think it's important to have both. Like, I don't think it's healthy to be running solely on logic and basically not have feelings, as that can greatly hinder relationships with other people, in addition to, in my view, being robbed of the joys that life can bring. Even the more negative emotions can teach us a lot about ourselves, life, and can bring us closer to God. But on the other hand, I also don't believe it's healthy to run solely on emotions to the point where one doesn't think things through or analyze situations. I know most people lean towards one more than the other, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the other is completely absent or lacking.

Sorry again if I misunderstood. It's late and I feel like I'm just throwing up words right now. I really shouldn't be online right now, but...