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  1. Smoke

    Catholic Concave will vote for new Pope

    Don't Pentecostals, Baptists, etc... all call themselves Christian as well as whatever denomination they are?
  2. Smoke

    singles after dark.

    What games do you play?
  3. Smoke

    Longing

    I really liked what you said here. I would also assume that being married yall must pick and choose your battles. Some people feel every issue must be addressed in a serious manner and/or are quick to take offense. That can put unnecessary strain on relationships. Slow to anger and quick to...
  4. Smoke

    Does the church ignore single Christians? Where are we supposed to go?!?

    I'm curious what the utility is in putting a hard cap at 30 years of age to the "single adults". I'm familiar of one church who did that, but they had an "older single adults" for anyone above 30 (no hard cap).
  5. Smoke

    The problem of the statement of “never saved to begin with”

    I have a hypothetical question. It's a bit strange and I'm sorry if it offends anyone (I do not intend to do this), but the hypothetical question is designed to test your logic/belief system. Let's say I was alive during the time of Jesus. I just witnessed Peter deny Jesus for the third time. I...
  6. Smoke

    The problem of the statement of “never saved to begin with”

    Do you believe being a "natural man" is binary or on a spectrum? Can a Christian, especially a newly converted one, be addicted to their sin but understand, on a spiritual level, the need to forsake it? Can someone be a spiritual man/woman who struggles from the default settings of being a...
  7. Smoke

    The problem of the statement of “never saved to begin with”

    I remember I would pray and ask God to help me remember all the sins I committed so that I could confess them to the bishop of the church (as I believed that was the only way to truly be forgiven). It saddens me to know people can't fully find peace and comfort that they are covered by the blood...
  8. Smoke

    The problem of the statement of “never saved to begin with”

    You literally posted my internal dialogue from my childhood... Thank God I learned what the atonement of Jesus Christ really is.
  9. Smoke

    Dealing with a daughter who doesn't seem to value modesty

    "Modesty" is very subjective and relative. Do Christian women dress like how the bible describes how women dressed back then? Most don't, so what is modest? Does the modesty standard constantly get shifted between cultures and timelines? Do personal convictions take priority, or do we appeal to...
  10. Smoke

    What are you listening to?

    One of the guy's voice is insane (in a good way)!
  11. Smoke

    Do Rescuers Need to be Rescued from Rescuing?

    From my observation, I've seen people with a savior complex as feeling a sense of nobility for trying to save others even when they aren't ready or willing. Often times, when we look beyond the superficial, their actions aren't as selfless as they appear. It can be used as a manipulative tactic...
  12. Smoke

    The problem of the statement of “never saved to begin with”

    I think I agree with almost everything. What trips me up is that I think everyone, even the worst of us, can and does show love in some way (some more than others of course). I agree that when we have been born again, we naturally desire to be obedient to God and His commandments and that we can...
  13. Smoke

    The problem of the statement of “never saved to begin with”

    It's a strawman to frame the argument as "Jesus' death is why we don't need to change". The point that I tried to make (my apologies if I did a terrible job making it), is that works aren't an accurate metric in determining a person's salvation. Our works make some people think are deserving of...
  14. Smoke

    The problem of the statement of “never saved to begin with”

    We can submit to God but it doesn't guarantee we will not sin again. You asserted "so all of you are saying that we don't even need to submit to God", but I'm not sure who has said that. Where we agree is that when we have Christ living within us (accepting Him as our Savior), we naturally want...
  15. Smoke

    The problem of the statement of “never saved to begin with”

    I love that "so they would recognize their need for a Savior". Great point.
  16. Smoke

    The problem of the statement of “never saved to begin with”

    This is where I struggle to reconcile saying "if you don't do works" (walking-the-walk), then you aren't saved (because you don't believe in Jesus). But then immediately after claim it's "not works based". It appears that if you believe that works (fruit/walking-the-walk) must be present in...
  17. Smoke

    The problem of the statement of “never saved to begin with”

    I've heard people ask if Jesus was giving an impossible commandment when He commanded the woman to "go, and sin no more". The common response is "No, it's to be taken as Him telling us to strive to do our best and repent when we do sin". I understand that it makes the most sense to interpret...
  18. Smoke

    How Willing/Good Would You Be At Accepting A Completely Different Love Language Than Your Own?

    I've never read the book but I'm familiar with the 5 love languages. I'm not sure we need to change anyone so that they love us in our preferred love language(s). If we do, I doubt it will be a permanent change. Instead, because WE love someone, we ought to want to love them in their preferred...
  19. Smoke

    Trumps Tariffs

    I'm assuming we are talking about Andrew Wakefield? I didn't know he lost his medical license for merely asking questions. Unless there is a conspiracy to invalid him (and maybe there is, I haven't looked into it), he was found to manipulate his data which linked autism to the MMR vaccine and...
  20. Smoke

    Trumps Tariffs

    To be clear, I think two things CAN be true. Autism could be more prevalent in 2025 than 1980. It could also be true that the 1 in 100,000 is not a good figure to base the prevalence of autism in 1980 and that it has increased 2,000x. I was merely pointing to the reasons why there was only a 1...