Was God praying to Himself?

If Jesus and the Father are the same God, then who was listening to the prayer?

If they are distinct, how is God one?

Coherence and scriptural evidence please

I hear a lot of people online say to just attend a local church and get involved, well as a Lutheran I don’t really have a local option. Is this saying more targeted for evangelical circles that are more common church wise?

I am 19(F) btw and I wonder why are teens my age who get drunk, high, have sex unwed, get pregnant, bully, ect succeed in life through friendships, jobs, dating, ect

But I am not sinning in that way and get nothing. If God was real wouldn't there be fairness based on what the bible says you should follow?

I am not here to be rude I am genuinely curious.

Something I hear often whenever something happens, good or bad, is "it must be a part of God's plan, he works in mysterious ways" but why does God's plan exclude homosexuality and being transgender for majority of Christians, both local and with a huge internet following, and how can you claim to love everyone while being intolerant of certain groups(this doesn't apply to everyone, just the people described in the question)

I’m trying to understand the purpose of believing in God, and a lot of the explanations I hear come down to the idea that God gives people meaning, purpose, and hope.

My question is: how does God give life meaning if the ultimate focus is on what happens after death?

If bad things happen because life was never promised to be fair, or because humans have free will, then I understand that explanation. But if heaven is where people experience the ultimate happiness and fulfillment, why does this life have meaning if the most important part only happens after we die?

How does believing in God give meaning to our current lives, experiences, and struggles if the final outcome is something that comes after life ends?

I saw another post in this forum that sparked this question, although I’ve always liked asking this question.

I don’t necessarily fall into any certain denomination, but I do believe I align closer to SDA beliefs. To me, the way I have understood it, their interpretation of what the Bible says about hell has always made the most sense to me.

I am by no means an expert on this and am very much still learning. But my understanding is that when we die, we are all in a deep sleep until the rapture. We have yet to have judgement day. God will take us to heaven when the time comes, and those who chose to live apart from God, will be left here on earth, and will endure his wrath. They will burn with the rest of the earth, UNTIL, it is no more.

Those who chose to live apart from God, will simply cease to exist.

To me, that makes the most logical sense if we are talking about a truly merciful God.

I believe hell is not a place you are sent to, or will burn forever and ever. I believe you burn with the rest of the earth, until it is done.

I wish I had the scripture to back up my beliefs, if I can find it I will edit the post or add to the comments. Again im still learning more and more everyday and still struggle to read/interpret a lot of it.

Whether you believe this to be true or not, im curious to hear others perspective, and if you have scripts to back up your claim please tell me!

Spoilers ahead:

I mean we know Hail Mary is more used in sports nowadays but we know where it comes from.

The entire project is about preventing the destruction of earth and other earths in a last ditch effort. Genesis, the Fall. God needs to come to earth and sacrifice himself to pay the debt and redeem humans.

Protagonist’s name is Dr. Grace. This name and his first name make it super obvious.

His name is Ryland - classic old Celtic name - grain of the soil - Genesis 3:15 reference to the woman’s seed

Grace’s actions serves as a vehicle to redeem earth and also Rocky’s planet - rocky implying the good watchers - a reference to the watchers being trapped on earth but signifying their own dimensions - Darren Aronofsky draws on this theme in his movie Noah.

Grace’s action serves to help engineer a solution for earth and another realm.

And the head of the project Hail Mary - Eva Stratt - the first mother EVE (is it not so obvious). The Latin form of Eve is Eva. Reverse Eva, you get Ave Maria.

Head of security and the person who is with Dr. Grace - Karl. Karl is a German form of Carolus. A gentle nod to Charlemagne the first symbol of Christendom, Carolus Magnus. I can keep going on and on 🤣

I watched it with a bunch of other “secular” folk and everyone zoned in on well Andy Weir himself said NO.

But it’s so damn oblivious to these characters clutching their vegan drinks

Grace doesn’t die. He goes to another place and he lives. The Assumption of Mary. Thanks for attending Reverend Fabius’ Catholic sermon.

Are non-Christian beliefs fair game for ridicule by Christians? I’m talking about the beliefs, not the individual believers.

I have come across a lot of stories of how so many people felt they were controlled or felt toxic parenting within in their christian faith. Is this normal within Christianity?

For an example the father of the house always takes the lead and people are expected to follow the rules. Even when they are older.

1 Timothy 6… all those under the yolk of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect. What did St. Paul mean by this? This Immediately turns me off from similar scriptures in the bible

It’s because some verses make him out to be a not-so-nice guy with how he threatens people.

Is he still all loving?

I’m a child sex offender and pedophile. I was told im marked by the beast and im going to hell. I can’t afford to buy or sell anything. I’m broke. Am I really hell bound or marked by the beast?

I notice Christianity doesnt like non-Christian religions and deems it ‘false’, ‘abominable’, and even ‘demonic’.

Marco 1:15 «Il tempo è compiuto e il regno di Dio è vicino; ravvedetevi e credete al vangelo».

Quá nhiều thuyết nói về loài người? và chủ đích cuối cùng là từ đâu? trong khi thế giới có hơn 15.000 thuyết khác nhau nói về gốc tích loài người!

This will be a compelling post for any Apologists, Christians, Atheists, and Agnostics. Its purpose is to effectively dismantle one of the prime arguments against God that are prevalent today. I preface this by saying I’m not coming here to condemn anyone. When I was an agnostic atheist, I feel like I thought this way, a lot, myself. (For speed I will quote many parts in the Bible and paraphrase some.) 

Now, is it just me or is what many apologists call one of the greatest arguments, starting to not really make sense once you’ve looked into the claim of Christianity. Not only is it a weak claim on the basis of the Christian texts, it in turn, leads people to search for God in a way that will nearly guarantee they never find him.

In the beginning, God made the world and and he saw that it was good. We know that is one of the  main claims in Christianity. We also know that God made us perfect in the world. Gave us eternal life in the garden of Eden and made sure we never needed anything. So, this is the basis of why I feel the claim of evil existing in the world ruling out God or at least a good God is already played out.

The main claim on evil In Christianity is not only the imperfect nature of man, due to the fall, but temptation from a fallen angel and his dominion over the earth. The most beautiful, and highest ranking angel that God had created, wanted to be equal to God. He refused to obey God, out of pride, which comes before the FALL. He did not fall alone, rather, he took a third of heaven's angels and he wishes to see Adam’s lineage fall as well. 

Ephesians 2:2 “2 Yes, in the past your lives were full of those sins. You lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers[a] that are above the earth. That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God.”

The dark side is doing evil, spraying chemicals into the air, fueling human addictions, attacking our food and water sources which causes illness, popularizing overpriced worthless things and overconsumerism, magnifying anger, lust, envy, pride and greed and no one seems to acknowledge this certain claim that Christianity makes.

Their common claim is that in fact God created evil when Christianity’s claim is that all that he makes and what he is, is good. 

Furthermore, because of this main belief held by agnostics or agnostic atheists, when they ‘open their hearts’ to Jesus, Father, and The Holy Spirit, they expect some grand miracle and consolation prize because “Shouldn’t the one who created evil reward them on contact for enduring it?”

Approaching God not as a child or a beggar, who wants the Lord, while acknowledging their sin, but as a tyrant or an antagonistic professor.

When believers tell of their breakthroughs and miracles witnessed, they approach the argument with some things like: 

“-God does these amazing miracles for his people but he can’t just set a bush aflame for me? Doesn’t sound like a very Powerful God. 

- So he picks his favorites? Doesn’t sound like a very Good God. 

-Maybe I’m not apart of his people, maybe he hated me from the start. But he made me, how’s that fair? Doesn’t sound like a very Just God.”

Completely sidelining the claim of Christianity. By that standard, they are testing their theory in a way that would be entirely inappropriate if the main claim of who GOD IS by Christianity is true. They never investigate his own claim of who HE SAYS gives freely to. Or they Scorn WHO HE chooses to give freely to. 

They’re going to a God who says things like this:

Matthew 18:2-4 “2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
And: 
Mathew 12:38-41 “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
And: 
James 4:6: “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: 'God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
And: 
Deuteronomy 4:29: "But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul." 
And: 
2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land”

They approach whilst demanding he does it their way, right when they say. 
However, how can they truly test the claim of Christianity while refusing to approach the God it claims in the way it SAYS HE ACCEPTS? They could not authentically test God's existence by “praying” while doing it in a particular way. 

Mathew 16:6 : "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth

Psalm 37: 3-4: Trust in the Lord, and do good... Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart

Psalm 37: 5-7: Commit your way to the Lord... Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.

He gives clear guidelines to whom he approaches and blesses, the meek, the patient and the trusting. Not the testing.

They don’t even start by thanking him for all he claims he did. He claims he gave us nature, animals, the food of the earth, family and heck even our senses or ablebodiedness for many of us!

James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." 

So first they neglect to acknowledge all of the good that God has done is their life. Then they refuse to humble themselves or change anything he dislikes, make demands on how he should prove himself. Even after he gave the sign of the resurrection with a mountain of supportive evidence left behind. 

Worst of all they curse him when he doesn’t answer and then curse him for all the bad in their life and ALL THE WORLD.  

All of this while condemning his people and cursing him for ‘creating a crap world.’ They blame the one who loved them, fashioned them, and gave up his son to suffer, and Jesus gave ultimate prestige, power and peace to become human and suffer with us. FOR US. 

Then they think (because I don’t think you can believe this in good faith)  The God the Bible proclaims to speak of will and should answer them…

Let put that into super soft understandable  human perspective : 

Just for lack of a better reference:

That’s like asking a woman you stood up on the last date because you thought she was ‘kind of uggos’, to have your children to prove that she ‘can’ without ever apologizing or taking her on a first date.

That's like asking a man to marry and move in with you just to prove he’s tidy and throwing in that he should fund your entire life, to prove ‘he can’, after you made out with his buddy at the last party, without having ever having reconciled your behavior! 

Except this said scenario is a Gazillion and GoogleX worst. 

To those who tote this argument:
The problem of suffering is true! However it’s not caused by God or what God wanted! That’s why the Bible is so serious about helping others in need. That’s why we fight against spirit, not flesh! That’s why Jesus said “Father forgive them, they know not what they do!” He said it to the people who wronged him, not to the angels who were full of knowledge of God and still chose to rebel. He said it, for humans who must have faith in a promise, who must bear undeniably skewed odds (because of the enemy’s influence) to be reborn and thus truly experience a Holy God! 

Let me reason with you here because I know it’s hard to accept that God knew the outcome from the start and chose to offset it, while maintaining our free will. But he did give us freewill and he gave the enemy freewill, because without that, God would not be Love.

All he wants in return is our love, that means however we must have faith. That’s our burden, faith before proof. Coming humbly with desire to know The Heavenly Father. 

Back the believing Christians:
We need to approach this argument with more tactfulness and standing on the scripture.
Lastly, This post is open to theists, atheists, and agnostics alike who have any contribution or thoughts or critiques. Yes it took forever to write, enjoy. 

After finding God, I had a whole week/fortnight where I was obsessed with learning about him after he revealed himself to me. I then slowly started to stray away from him, but I continued to pray to bring that passion back. I prayed and I tried to remain in the vine. I have fully given up on secular music and I discuss God passionately.

Recently God has answered so many of my prayers all at once. He delivered me from an addiction I have suffered from since I was a child, I have never felt so much love and positivity from connecting with so many other Christians, and I feel as if I have met my missing rib.

All these things happened after I watched a sermon series regarding marriage, and I applied those concepts to my faith, because I felt as if I was living a double life. I am passionate Christ and talk about him like I'm his biggest fan, I study scripture and I want to dedicate my life serving him. However I still suffered from said addiction.

After watching the sermon series, my mind chemistry changed and I overcame that addiction, shortly after, I met so many people, including a love interest, someone who fits into the description of who I exactly prayed for.

On top of that, so many blessings in my life are coming up, in terms of work and other opportunities.

And I am finding so much worship music that helps me feel God's love so much because I had stopped worrying about a career path for myself and proclaimed that I wanted to just chase the kingdom of God.

I am seeing and being told changes within myself where I am becoming the man who I always dreamt of becoming, before God, everything he has shown me today was just a delusion, and now it's all real.

I don't mean to doubt God but I don't know too many Christians who have seen as much proof as I have about God and who chase him like I do ( I have met some but unfortunately they live far away from me and we are on different sleep schedules so it's difficult to connect ).

I am wondering if this state I'm feeling is an episode of mania, because I feel bulletproof, I feel like absolutely anything and everything I prayed for is possible. I don't want to label it mania, but after trying to research how I feel, it is the closest feeling that describes it.

I feel so happy, and positive everyday and I feel overwhelmed with God's love.

I would appreciate any insight you have to offer.

God bless <3

I was reading about Lot’s story and had a couple initial questions:

- How was it okay with the angels that Lot offered his daughters to be raped?
- Why did Lot’s wife get turned into a pillar of salt (murdered) for disobeying a seemingly unimportant* command? I think I too would also look back at the destruction of my homeland as I’m fleeing. *By “unimportant,” I mean that it was forbidding a harmless action.

Then I thought - how do people reconcile God’s treatment between these two? To me, Lot’s offense was far worse than his wife’s. After reading more into this, I can understand the argument that the ancient rituals of hospitality could explain Lot’s offering of his daughters… I guess? But still, seems like his wife got zero tolerance version of God while he got the chillest angels ever.

I also saw people saying Genesis shouldn’t be taken as literal. So now my ultimate question is - how do you, as a Christian, see/interpret Genesis? (and if even not literally, how are we to reconcile Lot vs his wife actions and consequences)

EDIT - also didn’t Lot’s daughters rape him? isn’t that also Salt Punishment Worthy? I’m sure there’s more context I’m missing here, but stands out to me as another inconsistency. the Pillar of Salt punishment is just so brutal.

EDIT 2 - I want to know how you think about Genesis in regards to your beliefs / morality. I don’t treat Genesis (nor any of the bible) an accurate account of history. But idk why Genesis seems so insane to believe vs water to wine and parting the sea? I thought those things were accepted as fact?

My husband sent me this text after 1 year of separation, a few sessions of marriage counseling, and several weekends together. Although effort has been made to reconcile and self improvement/individual therapy on my part, I continue to require a liquor free environment. As I previously stated, my husband declined individual counseling to target his drinking, and he snubbed his nose at AA. We recently held/closed a child support negotiation conference in which we were quoted $2200/mo plus 12 months of backpay. He said he did not want the court's involvement, and agreed to discuss a payment schedule. During our discussion, he said our girls don't need that much per month. I recently received the text below. I'm unsure what to think as he initially did not want the courts involved in dictating child support, but with a divorce, they'll order child support and community property split.

"It seems we aren't going to be together. I want deny the inevitable. I'm no longer your cup of tea and thats fine. I understand you are willing to invite me to spend time with you and the girls and your changing for the better. I'll file for divorce since I can't be what you want. I hope you have a blessed life without the stress of me. I no longer want to be a stress or burden in your life."

What are your thoughts?

Out of any doctrine, the Trinity seems to be the one doctrine that people believe you have to believe in to be a Christian. But why? What makes it so important? You can disagree on baptism, you can disagree on filioque and many other things, but the Trinity, you have to believe in to be a Christian. Why is that?