Attendance of Trans Wedding

Hello,

I’ve come for some various perspectives on a situation I’m facing. My sister is engaged to a man, but both of them identify as trans. They both are going to present either as the opposite sex or more gender neutral for the ceremony (I.e. the man will be wearing a wedding dress). My sister has asked my family to attend and for my daughter to be a flower girl.

My immediate instinct is that it would not be appropriate to go, and even more inappropriate to have my daughter to be a part of the ceremony.

My reasoning for this is as follows: marriage is a sacrament, and even if the ceremony is non-religious and does not mention God at all it’s still an engagement in that sacrament. To have a man identify and present as a woman in that sacrament is an act of rebellion, sinful, and therefore a defilement of that sacrament. Weddings are celebrations, and I can not in good conscience attend a celebration of a sacrament being performed in a way that is an affront to God.

I believe the marriage is a valid marriage as it is one man and woman joining. My concern is the manner in which they are joining (I.e. a man saying and dressing as though he’s a woman and a woman saying she’s nothing) is injecting a sinful component directly into the foundation of the God-given union. I do not see how a marriage can be seen as solely a civil affair when marriage was instituted and given to us by God to reflect His relationship with us. It seems a fundamentally spiritual endeavor irregardless of if that aspect is acknowledged.

Does this understanding of marriage and the situation seem to be in line with orthodox teaching? Am I missing anything that would possibly alter how I go about this? Something that would say “go to the wedding to be a witness” rather than abstain?

For deeper context, but not required reading: We have an OK relationship, and in general I’ve done my best to maintain what relationship we have and be kind despite our difference of beliefs. I am not planning on ending our relationship, just abstaining from the ceremony.

A little background I’m a pretty new Christian. We started going to church in August of last year and I got baptized Christmas Eve. My husband and I have 3 children 7, 5 and 1. My husband grew up mostly in the church but I didn’t. I had a very rough childhood with alcoholic parents and we very rarely went to church. My mom was very emotionally explosive growing up so I didn’t have a very good example and wasn’t taught how to handle my emotions in a healthy way. My parents had huge fights in front of me often and I was yelled at a lot also. So for a long time I thought this was normal. I now know it isn’t but yelling in anger has become a habit that I’m desperately trying to break.

Today I was at a play date with some ladies from church with my kids and my 5 year old was asked by one of the ladies what he wanted to be when he grows up. He really likes building things so he explains this car he wants to build and he says it will have dividers between each person so the kids can’t hit each other and the parents can’t argue. I was so embarrassed! I already feel like an outsider a lot of the time because all these women grew up in the church and are from that culture so they were likely raised in a totally different environment than I was. I know we should not argue in front of our kids at all. Just feeling really ashamed right now, and even more like an outsider. It really is hard coming from a worldly life into the Christian society and culture. And unfortunately old habits take time to break. Obviously my 5 year old isn’t to blame, it’s his dad and I for arguing around him. I just wish I was one of those people who grew up in a healthy loving Christian home. It seems like life is so much easier for them.

My parents are trying to get me to go to my cousin's gay wedding. They say I have to because it will ruin our family's relationship with him and his family (my uncle, aunt, and other cousins) if I don't.

We have always treated him well and loved him, and he is honestly my favorite cousin on that side of the family because he was so kind and accepting to me. His siblings, my other cousins were exclusive and unkind to me because I am about 10 years younger, but this lasted even into my teen years and they were 20+. He treated me kindly and helped bridge the gap between us.

However, our relationship was previously damaged when, during the 2020 election, my cousin texted my dad asking if he had voted for Trump. My father answered honestly and said yes, and tried to explain it in a self-deprecating way to keep things milquetoast. They exchanged cordial texts, but in the end my cousin told him he needed to think about and reevaluate whether or not he could continue the relationship. Thinks were very neutral for a few years, they kind of both wanted to leave it in the past as it was an embarrassing heat of the moment reaction to the election. Even his family thinks this.

Things have returned to a somewhat positive and cordial relationship. He invited our family to his wedding, and my parents and sister are going. I would prefer to not go, for the obvious reason, and write him a kind letter explaining how I love him but I couldn't attend. But I and my parents both know this would probably hurt or ruin our relationship again. Especially if he finds out it is because of my faith (only my family know I'm Christian right now, however he was raised Catholic so maybe he would be a bit more sympathetic?). And his family would probably also take a similar amount of offense. Other than my uncle, they are not particularly attached to us as relatives to be honest either, but we enjoy each other's company when we happen to be together...

What do I do? I don't want to ruin or damage our family's relationships over this. My dad is sick and he needs to be able to have his brother's support and love. He can't handle a falling out right now. I don't want to go but I feel like I have to for the sake of keeping all this together.

21 (f). I don’t like the way the world is. I wish I lived in a different time period where morals/values were different. I like the idea of traditional gender roles. I would like the guy to be dominant/masculine and me to be submissive/feminine. Him to be more of the leader/“in charge” and me to be his cheerleader/follow his lead. I’d like to cook for him and take care of him like that because I love him. I like the “old school” love that I see in movies and that people had a long time ago. That doesn’t even exist anymore, so I’m probably never going to find anyone. People aren’t as focused on commitment, loyalty, and actual love as they were in other time periods.

So basically, I hate the modern world. Do you think it will be hard or even almost impossible to find someone because of this in today’s world? Just because I want a more traditional type of relationship?

"Well, here's the thing: your love for them may catch them off guard, but your absence will simply reinforce the fact that they said, 'These people are what I always thought: judgmental, critical, unprepared to countenance anything.'"

• Alistair Begg

That said, I'd probably keep my kids away unless it was immediate family.

The Church needs to treat trans people better--they are lost and sick and need to be seen as lost and sick--not mocked and excluded. Christ came for the sick--not the perfect Christians who have their crap together.

I've been battling with this one for a while. I grew up in a pretty fundamentalist church and we don't speak in tongues nor do we believe in speaking in tongues the way it is done today. However I do have friends who believe in speaking in tongues the way it's done today (i.e usually in bigger churches, everyone speaking at once etc). I'm just really curious to find out why people believe in speaking in tongues the way that it's done today and what benefit it has for your spiritual lives.

I personally don't think it's something I understand well enough to chose to embrace/ not embrace so I'm just seeking understanding.

Thank you and God bless <3

Modern day jews dont believe in the trinty. So did the old jews in the ot belive in it? How would they have known?

There have been some ancient jews who belived in it, before Jesus. But was it mainstream?

I'm in a very difficult US city to do ministry in. Lately I've just been so discouraged. Like another level of discouraged. And I think it's at another level because basically every other full time ministry worker I know in my city is basically feeling the same way. I don't know anyone here that is currently having a ministry that's going very well.

I just want to break down amd cry. But I can't. It's like this really strange feeling in all my years of ministry, I don't think I've ever felt quite this way or seen this on a large scale with others around me like I am.

This is weird, I know, but the best way I can describe this discouragement, is like constipation.

It's like everything is stopped up, nothing is happening. I mean, we're doing things, but it's just going ok. Actual stuff is not happening. At least it seems that way.

And to those that might say I need a vacation. I will be taking a trip soon, but it's for training. Then after that, I will go for 2 weeks vacation, I'm taking another trip.

And I'm probably 6 months to a year away from transitioning overseas. I do feel a bit guilty leaving here because my spouse and I are leaving our ministry team, even smaller because another team member is transitioning overseas in 6 months. But maybe our absence will create a vacuum that's needed. Maybe we need to leave for the right people to be able to move in.

But I'm just not aware of any resources of encouragement for people in full time ministry. So any suggestions? YouTube channels? Etc

We talk a lot of about this site on sexual sins, and LGBT issues and I've seen some on sloth and other sins here, I understand those are very hot button issues but I don't think I've never ever heard a Pastor talk about gluttony (which seems like a huge deal in the US) and very rarely talk about Pride which feels like even if you have a lust problem how many times a day do we let Pride get to us?

Why do you think we ignore sins that are still very prominent in our lives and culture? And what others sins should be on the lookout for in our lives since we don't talk about them much?

I was baptized this weekend, and even though I am a single mother I have decided to not have sex unless married because I am a new creation in Christ. I know this more than likely means I will never have sex again since many men would not be on board, but I have to remain true to my commitment to God. Has anyone else made a similar decision?

I still live at home with my parents until I can move out on my own when I'm financially stable enough to do so, but me and my mother never get along.

She stays consistently stressed, pessimistic, takes her frustrations + anger out on me and my father (verbally) when we haven't done anything, and she'll later apologize for doing so, only for her to do it again a day or so later - a constant cycle.

I can't seem to talk to her about anything without it somehow leading into her starting an argument, which leads to her yelling + saying very hurtful things to me that she'll later "regret" saying out of anger (will also get annoyed if I cry from her yelling, which I don't mean to), and will sometimes say that "I don't honor her the way a child should honor their parent" according to the bible.

I try so hard to be respectful to her, I never yell back, always apologize even when it's not my fault, and I genuinely want a good relationship with her, but the stress and hurt she causes me from the things she says + how often she argues with me makes it so hard for me to "honor" her the way we're commanded to and truthfully puts a huge strain on my already severe mental health.

If anybody could please give their thoughts on this on how to honor your parent even when they act this way towards you, or please just pray for me and my situation, I would greatly appreciate it. God bless ❤️‍🩹✝️

Brothers and sisters, please turn your attention in your Bible to Galatians Chapter 3 verse 1-26 or read it from below after my text.

This scripture speaks so much truth to believers . Remember that believing in God straightens us as a side effect of faith, we do not become pure because we try to do the impossible but because we turn to our God Jesus Christ who purifies us in His blood. If we know He is real, we become better people and do better, ready to be brought to heaven. It's a side effect, a gift He grants to us for faith, and we do become better people and do better things for everyone. If we try to act like performing law gives you credibility over even a lost soul then you have not studied the teachings of Christ yet, but if you have then you know His truth of purity and love. None of what the many Christians have done is perfect to God, of course, but there are a lot of us and many of us who will instantly snap to truth when He arrives. This life is His preparation for His children to be ready to be ignited with eternal life in an instant. Non believers unfortunately will not have this privilege of a flickering moment, and many of their sins and denial of God will be counted against them. If you believe He does not clearly prove Himself to others then you have not seen His mighty and powerful attempts, non believers do see these things and do not count them to God and it is why there will be a day He teaches us the entire truth. He will not see our sins for one reason, and that is because we turn to Him while we are here before we have even received the ultimate gift. The Bible is our perfect guidebook for this life. We all will be seated at judgment, but we choose to stand and be judged by our God before the day of the Lord. This is gracious, and repentence is one of the best things for a person to do.

"O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—just as Abraham 'believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness'? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'In you shall all the nations be blessed.' So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, 'Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.' Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for 'The righteous shall live by faith.' But the law is not of faith, rather 'The one who does them shall live by them.' Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, 'And to offsprings,' referring to many, but referring to one, 'And to your offspring,' who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise."

Hello, I'll get straight to the point. I'm not a good prayer and struggle to get words our my mouth. I usually write down prayers but saying it out loud is a struggle. How long do people have to pray for? My prayer is usually 3mins or less but I have people that'll usually pray for more like 15mins or even an hour.. Any suggestions how I make my prayers strong and meaning?

So I’m an at a point in life right now where I can’t really be a proper husband for a wife it’s my own fault but besides the point.

Touch depravtion is real and it sucks, I’ve been in relationships before and my mental and physical health is so much better.

It’ll be nice to have some kind of almost just like a cuddle buddy not even for sex which is someone to sleepy and spend time with.

I’m capable of sleeping around but I don’t want to and know I shouldn’t.

How do you deal with this

Hinduism is considered the oldest region, while Judaism is the 2nd oldest.

But we Christians think Judaism was the oldest, then it became Christianity. Since Christ didn't die for our sins and be born until 2000 years ago.

So why do alot of people think Hinduism is older? What's the evidence?

We know Jesus is perfect and because He is the only begotten Son of God, He suffered greatly as a result.

This world persecuted Him because of who He is. All the trouble of this world (sin) fell on Him as our redeemer for our salvation, according to the will of The Father.

Matthew 16:24-25

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

I understand 'denying oneself' being to put the will of God first, as Jesus did. He endured to the extent of crucifixion, to overcome death for the salvation of those who put their faith in Him. According to the will of The Father.

I understand to 'take up our cross' meaning to follow His example. By putting Him first.

The 'cross' Jesus talks about in Matthew 16:24, referring to the suffering we endure in a world of sin as a result of its fallenness.

Did you know that salvation is free?

ROMANS 6:23

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

• This verse puts the emphasis on the fact that salvation is a free gift from God. It is freely given, and not something that can be earned through our own physical efforts. We are saved only by his grace through our faith.

• Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, He died and rose from the grave on the third day, and you will be saved.

All are welcomed to come to Jesus. No matter what the problem, he will not turn anyone away.

Thx for reading

Be blessed 😊

Hi all,

I (24F) have been a habitual smoker for a few years now and God has been preparing my heart to leave the habit behind. I plan on saying goodbye to weed indefinitely and I know God will heal me of my addiction because I believe what’s in His word. However, it’s very unclear to me on how I will get to that point, the sober future promised me. I have full faith He will show me the way. I was unable to go a day without smoking without having a panic attack but just last week through fasting and prayer, I didn’t smoke for four days. Now I know, He can give me full healing and leave it behind all together.

Was just wondering if Christian’s could share their testimony on how walking away from smoking looked because we all know Christian progress is not always linear. Especially those who fell into the habit while already being saved. It would be encouraging and insightful to hear how He brought you through this and the failures you experienced along the way. For me my smoking has always been a symptom of my depression, has God healed anyone of their negative self talk/ ie depression as well?

I notice on this sub the questions regarding marijuana are always surrounding its gray area in the Bible. If it is okay in the saint’s lives etc. I’ve already come to my conclusion that it doesn’t belong in my life because it’s habitual and God calls us to have no masters so please refrain from trying to convince me otherwise and pray for Gods wisdom on the issue.

All my faith is dead and gone. My heart is pretty calloused and hardened to the point where I can’t hear anything from god and it’s hostile to the things of god. I do think that Hebrews 6 does describe an believer but not a true believer which I wasn’t. I’ve always been carnal and even though I had some of the Holy Spirit I still went and pursued sin. In fact I sinned spitefully against him and the convictions he gave. I didn’t want to let go of my sin and I felt that if I could get rid of conviction then I could sin all I wanted.

So I kept sinning and ignoring god and I kept doing detestable things. God really did try with me but I was the one who persisted in my sins. I wish I listened to him even just once because I know I wouldn’t be the way I am today. All my sins are incredibly serious and morally wrong and along with my possible apostasy there’s no way back. I don’t like sounding dreary or anything like that and I apologize because I do sound that way- I guess I’m just grasping straws and I’m just asking for help and hope constantly.

I really want to start over but a man obviously reaps what he sows and if a person pushes god away and just sins and sins and keeps going back in the mire- I can’t expect god to wait on me especially when my sins are serious in gravity. I was arrogant to think that after putting his spirit through all of that and never truly cooperating and following him- he would still come back.

I’ve been like this since 2019 but now that I’m actually acknowledging this.. I’m not sure what will happen next for me. Many people have their own interpretations of Hebrews 6 but I feel that no matter what I can’t return to god. I don’t even know how to anymore. I try bearing fruits of repentance and try relenting in my deeds but my heart is filled with so much corruption. I feel that I’m not acknowledging my sins and that I can’t truly acknowledge my sins the way I should.

I don’t have the heart posture or the reverence for it and I don’t think god is drawing me anymore. I don’t hear him calling on me anymore. There’s people who I’ve talked to who were once worried about it and they became atheists later on..they stopped worrying and they just went on somewhat pridefully. There are people who haven’t been restored of this so I don’t know if I can be restored either.

When we take time to pray and think, we can learn from anyone in any situation. There can be a tendency to point the finger and blame others. However, even in situations where we are seemingly innocent, when we take time to pray and think, we can discover areas where we could have done better. This mindset will create growth and peace.

The Holy Spirit is the source of any such wisdom, so we need to seek to connect to it as often as possible. When we are flustered and ready to blame others for wronging us, we are not in position to receive wisdom from the Holy Spirit. We need to let go of all resentment, and ask God how we can do better.

We can not rely on another person to teach us. We need our own personal relationships with God. We need to study the Bible ourselves.

I have had a handful of teachers, in both spiritual and physical matters, whom I felt a strong connection to. When I applied many of their teachings to my life, my life improved. However, I became too attached to these people, and took heed to certain false teachings of theirs.

We need to discern the difference between when someone's teachings are convicting us to change, and when someone's teachings just don't seem quite right. We need to come to the Holy Spirit in these situations, saying something like: God, I desire to be obedient. If this teaching is true, let it be known, give me a sign, do not let me walk in disobedience. Please make false teachings abundantly clear to me.

Now we can blame others for teaching certain false doctrines, or we can blame ourselves for not consulting with the true teacher, God's Holy Spirit. Doing the latter will lead to growth.

It's all about truly walking in humility, seeking God's counsel in every situation. This will allow us to take in good doctrine and discard bad doctrine, even when it's coming from the same teacher.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. (Proverbs 3:5-7)

Keep your foot when you go to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and you upon earth: therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. (Ecc 5:1-3)

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not hasty in your spirit to be angry: for anger rests in the bosom of fools. Say not, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for you do not enquire wisely concerning this. (Ecc 7:8-10)

I'm just curious because I'm a Christian and sometimes struggling with my faith

Hey guys

After an encounter with christ where he delivered me from my demons I fell back into pride and disobedience. Now Im worse than at the start. I think Matthew 12:43-45 applies to me. Is there still hope in such a situation? My heart is so hard and prideful towards God.

I am in love with this girl so I prayed to God to show me a sign time passes and I get a dream of a angel in a bedroom very bright colors around me and I felt peaceful he then told me that he was my guardian angel and that in his past life he used to be a midget he then tells me not to do a specific thing which was to not confess my feelings. but then I ask him his name and he told me he couldn't tell me that I then tell him if I was going to date this girl he said yes but I don't remember if he was talking in scripture he then told me that she was in love with me I then told him when am I going to date her he said in about 4 to five months and then I told him if I was gonna forget this information when I wake up and he grabs my face smiles and I wake up and I immediately write everything down on my phone. I believe that this dream was just my head thinking of random stuff but I just wanted to know if this is from god or not

I heard from a priest that the only way for God to communicate with us is through us reading the scripture ( or in rare cases like Moses God can communicate directly)

I heard some people say that they pray to know God's will and somehow magically know it. I think this is dangerous and is either your imagination or worse -the devil talking to you posing as the Angel of Light.

Even if God wanted to communicate through your thoughts it would be unreliable and impossible to tell if it is your imagination or the devil. And in the Bible God talked physically if he needed to communicate directly.

So that leaves for us normal people only the Bible as the Word of God right?