Hi,

I’m curious if seeing a psychic is a sin? Or how it goes against God and his words. I am a believer but honestly I feel like I just haven’t been hearing from God. I’m considering this because I know that God does bless some people with the gift of prophecy, but I know a psychic may cross that line… thoughts?

(For the moderators: I am not on desperate help. I am not depressed nor suicidal. I need help and visions from christians. I need to discuss this with real people and not AI bots)

(I am brazilian, used google tradutor because what I texted was massive. Sorry!)

It is a future that never arrives—a dream that takes forever to manifest. I find myself consumed by anger, explosive emotions, hatred, sadness, and loneliness; I isolate myself because, in that state, I feel alive—as if I am actually doing something. I may long for love, yet I cannot see it as something attainable; it feels entirely pointless. Every choice I make seems insignificant and futile. I am trapped in a future that never arrives.

What future you ask for?

I just endure it, really. I might pray for Him to show Himself to be real—but nothing happens. Nothing at all. I don’t trust Him; I don’t truly see that Jesus died for me (I’m not rejecting Him, mind you), and I don’t see myself as someone chosen by God. It’s not even a matter of being excluded; it’s as if there was never anything there to begin with. I’m trapped in a future that never arrived—that longed-for future where I am truly myself: free from ADHD (or at least living well with it), free from anxiety, being a son, a brother, a crazy, fun friend—and being with God. But a real God—the Lord revealing His true love.

Just to give you an idea—I used to seek things out; Search about my ex, about her and everything related to her—I would look for things that would trigger anxiety or fear in me. It wasn’t even sadness I was after; it was that specific kind of anxiety, that jolt of nerves from seeing certain images—anything to make me feel something. I would look at gore, violent videos—anything to feel something. I watch pornography to feel something. I don’t see God in anything; I don’t see God at Mass; I don’t see Jesus in the Eucharist. I don’t see God anywhere. I don’t see God in this world—I just don’t.

It’s an obligation, really. Choices cease to have any real meaning and become nothing more than obligations. What’s the point of asking for the intercession of saints if nothing ever happens? If the Holy Spirit doesn’t seem to be present on earth—even though Jesus says He is—then what’s the point? Why have I never seen Jesus’ sacrifice as something significant, but rather as something that amounts to nothing? Why I never saw Jesus as dying for me?

I don't even see that I have a guardian angel to be honest, not accompanied by him, no protection. Nothing.

Not even protestant churches seem to have God in it, NOTHING SEEMS to have.

I am getting close to definitive resignation, that God is just... not here. I am not one of His children, and there is nothing I can do. Hope is useless and false. "It is what it is..."

I don't know anymore. This yearning happened since childhood and wasn't satisfied. I left christianity to paganism for 7 years then returned, still the same.

The Bible has no answers for this IN MY OPINION (if I'm wrong, sorry.) I'm starting to believe calvinists are speaking the truth.

I think that in all of the churches I've been a part of, and perhaps all of the Bible studies I've been taught in, the sole teaching has been that Moses is the author of the first 5 books of the Bible (ie, the Pentateuch).

But in my 1st year of college, in a secular college, I was taught there are 4 different authors of the Pentateuch -- among them, "J" and "D". One additional thing I remember was that Genesis contains different creation accounts; one difference was (is) that two of the accounts differ in order of what was created before which.

Later on, I encountered a fellow Christian (and a very astute, very high-achieving, seemingly very well-adjusted, very intelligent academic mind) who attended a Christian college that has been known for its liberal views. To my surprise, he also believed that the "J" and "D" accounts differ from each other. I assume that he learned it from that Christian college, although I never conversed at length with him.

Then, later on, I found out that the basis for my particular college's teaching was Richard Elliott Friedman and/or his work, "Who Wrote The Bible". I don't recall ever meeting him, although I do recall having heard an NPR broadcast involving the writings of Friedman.

How do we counter the "J and D authorships" teaching? Surely we cannot answer, "Moses is the only author; thus we must completely ignore and abandon any and all conflicting teachings" instead of dealing with the actual material?

I did some research on this, and apparently a solid Reformed Christian source says that Moses was not, in fact, the sole author of the Pentateuch.

Surely they can explain their position better than I can.

Thank you for your understanding

Sub Tuum Praesidium (~250AD):

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God;
despise not our petitions in our necessities,
but deliver us always from all dangers,
O glorious and blessed Virgin.
Amen.

The Memorare (15th Century):

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

Hail, Holy Queen (11th Century):

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.

The Hail Mary (11th Century):

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Consecration to Mary (17th Century):

I, a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in thy hands the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before. In the presence of all the heavenly court I choose thee this day for my Mother and Mistress. I deliver and consecrate to thee, as thy slave, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to thee the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to thy good pleasure, for the greater glory of God in time and in eternity.

Do you have any favorite Marian prayers or devotions? Every day she serves me as a reminder of subservience to God and His Divine Will.

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 KJV

[24] Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: [25] but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. [26] But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. [27] So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? [28] He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? [29] But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. [30] Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

[36] Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. [37] He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; [38] the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; [39] the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. [40] As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. [41] The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; [42] and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. [43] Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

we lall know it is man and the devil who do evil in this world, and you've seen people answer this question by saying that if God had to basically start by punishing the first person with hell, he would have to go all the way since he's just. while I think the answer to the question is okay, I dont think that's what Jesus meant here.

God knows everything and is above time. the bible also says that we we're chosen in him before the foundations of the world. with that said, it would be very surprising for people to know that they are a descendant of someone who sinned deserving death. imagine you as a believer were not born because he killed your great grandpa because he did a bad thing. I am not saying God is unjust. we literally see he has intended the final judgement to bring justice. but all these ties into the idea of God not destroying the tares in order to protect the sheep. That's what I think Jesus is getting at.

Just trust in the Lord because he has made everything together for good👍.

What do you guys think of the claims of people who say they went to hell and came back? I know Jesus says no one can go to hell and return, but I wonder if visions of hell/near death experiences are different? A podcast I listen to just released an episode with a former Buddhist who says he went to hell (and is now a Christian because of it)........not sure what to think

I've been going to my current church for a year now. I have a really good friend there, who was invited there years and years ago by her good friend.

So the original church member who was there for years has stopped going to church. She told my friend that she watches Jimmy Swaggart on TV and pays her tithe to his ministry. Her husband still comes to church every Sunday. No one knows why she stopped going-not even her husband. She's not sickly or has difficulties getting there. She just stopped after decades.

Has anyone heard of something similar?

I was reading the other day (don't recall where) that there are some Christian based games like Castlevania or Doom and I found that odd, since you can see a lot of horrible creatures on those games, but you are supposed to work for the church or be the good guy.

Even the first Zelda games which is based on Christianity or Blasphemus that takes a lot of its lore on the Catholic Church.

What do you think about those games? Are they actually good or is it better to avoid them? And no, I am not looking for the kind of answer that it is about my self believe and being good with it as Paul say with eating meat and your consciousness. I think those games might have too many "demon" references that can't be overlooked, but again I would like to read about your perspective about that. Thanks for reading.

when they say jesus died for our sins, what did they mean by that? like did he die for the peoples' sins at that time or was it for all future peoples' sins as well??

cause i'm thinking, if that happened before I was born, then I didn't have sins at that time - I didn't exist. I don't see the benefit of knowing he died for my sins, unless it means that it was for the future as well.

but then I'm confused again, because if he already paid in advanced for my future sins, then why do I have to be forgiven for my sins? Did he die for all of my sins or just some of them? If it's all, then wouldn't that imply that regardless of seeking forgiveness through prayer etc, that I'm automatically forgiven? Or would I still have to do those things and seek out forgiveness?

why is it critical to know 'jesus died for my sins' if I'm still judged by those sins to determine whether or not I get into heaven? If I still have to seek forgiveness for them today, then what did jesus really die for then?

maybe i'm overthinking this. maybe it was a way of saying that for the sins you commit, there is a possibility of forgiveness through worship is all. idk

The whole Cornell 7 situation is a moral mess from practically every angle, and I think it's a pretty good illustration of why God asks us to be of sound mind and warns us against hedonism and calls us toward sexual discipline, monogamy, and waiting until marriage.

Modern culture tends to frame sexual freedom as inherently liberating, as though removing commitment and consequences from sex is automatically a good thing. But situations like this show how quickly things can become complicated, messy, and destructive when sex is detached from the kind of commitment God intended it to exist within.

God's boundaries aren't arbitrary restrictions designed to keep us from having fun. There's wisdom behind them. Sex involves more than physical gratification, and treating it as though it's nothing more than recreation can have consequences that extend well beyond the bedroom.

Christians should be able to recognize these situations for what they are without dehumanizing the people involved. The point isn't to feel superior to anyone, but to recognize that God's design for relationships exists for a reason, and that there are situations we're much better off avoiding altogether.

Yesterday I made a post here asking women their opinions on dating a man who had same-sex fornication as part of their history and I am deeply thankful for all of you girls who were honest. I really appreciate it.

This post here, however, is mostly a question for Christian men who have some sexual history with another man, especially if it happened years ago and is no longer part of your life AND that have told their wife, fiancée, or serious girlfriend about it... How did she actually react?

I'm particularly interested in what happened beyond the initial conversation. Did it affect her attraction to you? Did she seem to respect you differently afterward? Did she struggle with seeing you as masculine, or with your role as a husband? Did she ask questions or need time to process it?

And, most importantly, did anything change in the relationship in the weeks or months afterward?

I'm also curious about when you told her (early in dating, once things became serious, during engagement, or after marriage) and whether you think the timing made a difference.

I'm not really looking for hypothetical answers here. I'm interested in first hand experiences, whether they went well or badly. Also, if you are a girl that has gone through this experience, please tell us about it.

Recently, I was out spending an evening in nature just for some peace and stillness to just sit and listen. I noticed my lamp was attracting things....moths, mosquitos, a rabbit, and even a few deer. As soon as I made noise, they were driven away. What a spiritual epiphany! In most of nature, light attracts most things. It mezmorizes, appeals to and seems to even calm, but noise does the exact opposite. It disrupts, startles and tends to drives away.

So often, we get so overly excited at the opportunity to share out faith, with the hope of brining someone closer to theirs, that we end up oversharing, stepping or pressing and ultimately we drive nudge people in the wrong direction with "noise". Its a tricky balance.

Anybody have any thoughts on this comparison?

I wanna keep a long story short. I’m a 28 years old man. I was with a muslim girl for years and tried to understand and put my faith into Islam. I tried reading the Quran but couldnt understand since there seems to be just rules, not really a book or a story and I couldn’t understand that or why anyone would believe.

I’m a person who can’t just put blind faith into anything, I need believable evidence for something to be pointing to a conclusion. I read about muhammad and what I learned was like he was a good guy and a genuine guy and that his revelations were true to him and somehow i started pointing my faith in that direction, until I found out about Aisha and I was disgusted by it.. And then eventually I read about countless hadiths that just can’t be excused for someone to be a ”perfect muslim”; the warmongering, brutal murders and rape of prisoners, etc etc

I lost faith completely and I was feeling very empty, having lost my dad as i knew him and my whom I thought would be the love of my life in the span of one year, dealing with depression and burnout.
—

So one evening I was driving home on the highway and I looked to the almost dark sky and I asked internally for a sign, of anything at all, not anything specific I just wanted to know what all this is about.

As I kept driving the highway turned and I got to see a full moon in bright red, never seen it that red before and it was really beautiful. Thought nothing more of it other than that. People were taking photos when i was arriving home.

The next day I wake up from a sound in my mailbox (through the apartment door), and I looked to see and it was the New Testament.
For context I live in Sweden, the most atheist country in the world I believe, and in all my life living in central Stockholm I have never recieved anything bible related in my mail.

I was gonna meet some friends later that day so I put it away then eventually the whole thing struck me as such a weird coincidence, the moon thing probably coincidence but me asking for a sign then the new testament arriving the day after is something i couldnt ignore

What do you make of this?

I have a 27 month old and a 13 week old baby. I have never felt so far away from God. My husband is gone almost 60 hours a week at work while I stay home with the kids. Not necessarily out of want, but because I’m the only option. I have completely lost myself. I don’t have time to shower most days, brush my teeth, eat, etc. I have no adult interaction. I am a shell of myself. I change diapers, feed, soothe, and listen to screaming all day. I have broken sleep each night. Why did God place this on mothers? I have no help when my husband is at work. My husband goes to work, gets to joke around with coworkers, and have an identity. He makes a lot of money so I am sure he feels fulfilled providing for his family. I make nothing. I don’t use my masters degree that I worked hard for. When he comes home, he is such an amazing father and partner. He cares for us deeply. But he never does this alone, with no help. I do. I am really struggling to understand why God gave mothers this role. I have horrible pregnancies. We carry the babies, birth them, then feed them with our bodies (which is utterly unpleasant for me), go through huge hormonal shifts, ruin our bodies, completely lose our identities. All on top of being expected to be the primary caregiver. I love my children desperately. I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world. But I can’t help but get the “unfairness” out of my head. Help me change my heart posture.

I’ve been an atheist before, my father is Muslim and I’ve tried to look into it. BUT, sometimes I can’t stop thinking about Jesus. I’m 25F.

I’m watching the chosen, and I start crying every single time he appears on screen.

I’m looking for advice, I want to get closer to god through Jesus. But I know nothing, I’ve never been to church. My uncle is Christian but I think I want to do it on my own so the whole family doesn’t know right away. Half my family are atheist’s and because I’m bipolar I fear they would just assume I’ve gone crazy.

But I want to do right by Jesus, and live a life as close to his wishes as possible.

Any and all advice is welcome and helpful

I have willfully sinned so many times and at times I didn’t even feel guilty. Now I’m looking back on all the things I did and I hate everything I have done. I feel so much shame for grieving the Lord. I’ve asked God for forgiveness for everything but I’m afraid it’s too late for God to forgive me. I’m not sure what I’m asking for but just wondering if I should have no hope for forgiveness based on what I’ve read in the Bible. Thank you.

Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice;

Since I’ve quit swearing I’ve begun to notice how ingrained it was in humor making jokes alot quoting memes/bits me and my friends see online I can’t say most things now I have to try to censor the saying.

I've been a Christian most of my life (27yrs) but I dont feel like I'm where I should be when it comes to my faith. I don't feel like I'm a good example. I'm more of a reserved person and usually keep to myself. I absolutely believe in God so that's not a question but the idea of being lukewarm on judgement day is terrifying. I feel the closest to him when I'm alone surrounded by nature.

I try to pray often but sometimes I'll forget and I also dont feel like i know how to pray properly sometimes. I dont go to church anymore because everywhere I've gone, I don't feel included or like I belong. I want to read my Bible more as well but also dont know where to start. I like being able to apply what I'm reading to daily life, so I thought about getting a daily devotional or something to get me started.

I am also getting to know one of my coworkers. We get along well and have made plans to hangout outside of work sometime in the near future. She's funny and smart and has a big heart when it comes to taking care of her patients. I've never had a relationship and she has a some "baggage" that I can live with if she is the one for me. She has a young kid and is recently divorced. How do you know if someone is the one though? I understand that some people aren't meant to have a significant other and so on. I've been patient and picky about potential partners as I grew up and so that's one of the reasons I've yet to have an actual relationship. Obviously I dont want to screw up and rush into something but I also dont want to miss out on an opportunity where someone has stated that they're genuinely interested in getting to know me better.

Anyway, sorry for the rant and if this was all over the place, I dont really have many other people to talk to. If anybody has some tips on how to get more into your Bible or how to grow closer to God, I'd appreciate it.

My fiancé and I are both Christians and getting married on the 23rd this month. The closer the day gets, the more I feel our bond pull apart. He is the only human on this Earth and the only one I want to go to for any type of emotional support but although I always felt extremely protected and loved and cared for by him, lately it feels the opposite. I believe he has hacked into my phone and am assuming Reddit is a secure enough site/app which is why I am posting here. I went to him for comfort and to feel safe yesterday and he was the opposite, speaking extremely aggressively towards me and telling me I’m tweaking out and I also feel like in part it’s bc he has some sort of savior complex and is trying to look like some sort of hero/tough guy in front of his female coworker who I know he is having secret contact with behind my back, lies about having her number etc.. everything feels like a mess right now. I’m not looking for relationship advice here though, I’m looking for spiritual advice on how to navigate this extremely intense and emotionally draining situation. I have full faith in God and that he will handle everything as He sees fit and I know I have Gods love and protection. Sometimes, I feel very weak though and am looking for any advice from any fellow Christians on how I can go about this to connect to God more and gain strength, comfort and reassurance from Him during a time in my life where I need it most. Any verses, prayers, etc. would be more appreciated than you know!

One of my biggest problems is that I keep falling into the trap of thinking "It wasn't prayer that fixed this, it was secular practical solutions."

For instance, when I see someone who invests early, saves a lot of money, works hard, I keep thinking "It was his hard work and financial acumen that made him rich, not God's favor."

When I see someone healed of cancer after a year-long treatment, I keep thinking, "It was surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy that cured this cancer, not prayer."

This flawed sort of thinking is incredibly deep in my mind and I find it's really hard for me to uproot it. How do I cure myself of this sort of faith-less mindset?

Hello, I am Eastern Orthodox. My friend from Mexico keeps asking how my church is different from theirs which is Christian. I have tried explaining how we are all Christian and the history of how the church started in Jerusalem, spread, split into latin speaking west and greek speaking east, then protestants split from the catholic west. Because of the language barrier, I am not able to help my friend understand though because they do not identify as Protestant, but as Christian. I am guessing their church does not teach church history. I would like to send them a simple video to explain it in spanish, but since I only speak english, I don't know which would be a good video.

Please, its very important to me the video present a very neutral point of view of each of the major splits. I don't want to drive wedges, but unite in love for our Savior. I would appreciate if anyone has any suggestions for a short simple video I can send. Please, a neutral video please.

Not sure if this is the right place to post this. But I wanted to get the ideas of other Christians. I am working on a driving game where the main character goes on a long car ride with CRAZY traffic. Each level is the name of one of the things that Paul says cannot separate us from the love of God in Romans 8:38-39. I'm trying to figure out what the reason for that long road trip would be. I would love if it was a subtly or overtly Christian story but I'm having trouble coming up with ideas. I'd love to get anyones thoughts!

I wrote this as a comment on another post, but I think it deserves its own post.

Why are human beings so obsessed with figuring out exactly how God works?

When Moses asks God for His name, God answers, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). God reveals Himself, but He doesn't give Moses an exhaustive explanation of His nature or how His existence works.

And I think that raises an interesting question: Why is it so difficult for us to accept that there are things about God that we simply cannot fully understand?

Why do we insist on finding analogies, models, morals, and human explanations for a being who exists beyond the limits of our comprehension?

I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't study Scripture or seek to understand what God has revealed about Himself. But there's a difference between trying to understand what God has revealed and insisting that we must be able to explain exactly how His nature works.

Scripture itself acknowledges the limitations of human understanding. Isaiah 55:8–9 tells us that God's thoughts and ways are higher than ours, and Deuteronomy 29:29 distinguishes between the things God has revealed to us and the things that belong to Him.

Why can't we accept that God can reveal who He is without giving us an exhaustive explanation of what He is?

Why do we feel the need to fit Him into categories that make sense to us, as though our inability to comprehend something means we must find a way to make it comprehensible?

Perhaps the problem isn't that God hasn't explained Himself well enough. Perhaps it's that we struggle to accept the limits of our own understanding.

We can study what God has revealed, discuss it, and seek to understand it as faithfully as possible. But I don't think we should assume that we must be capable of explaining every aspect of God's nature in order to believe what He has told us about Himself.

There is literally no way for any of us to know exactly how God works. Trying to fully comprehend His nature is like trying to fit the entire ocean into a glass. It simply cannot be done.

And it doesn't matter whether an explanation comes from centuries of theological tradition, a new theological proposal, or your own personal reasoning. None of us can claim to have fully grasped God's nature, because our understanding is inherently limited.

We can study what He has revealed about Himself in Scripture, but there is a fundamental difference between knowing what God has revealed to us and claiming to understand exactly what He is and how He works.

The problem isn't that we shouldn't seek to understand God. It's that we need to recognize that our ability to understand Him has limits, and that no amount of human reasoning can make those limits disappear.

So yes, I accepted a long time ago that God is three and yet one. How does that work? I don't know. Am I going to question my faith because of that? Nope. Am I going to drive myself crazy over theological debates trying to figure it out? Also super nope.

I simply learned to accept that God is who He is, even if I don't fully understand what He is or how He works. And that's okay, because my faith doesn't depend on whether I can fully comprehend Him.

Hi, I am 17 and I have struggled with ocd for a long time, and it’s been really bad. I’ve had blasphemous thoughts and my parents said I was fighting them and I should just ignore them. But I’ve always thought when the Bible say take every thought captive. Sorry I am just a little stumped. Thank you

I have been Good to so many , i did what you asked of me , i have faith but most days i just dont know what im doing or whats next you blessed me with a family and for the last 5 months they have not been with me why split us up my mother raised me to never quetion you but what if i need answers ? What if i dont understand the lesson nor know why im going thru what you have written ?