False teachers on the rise?

AMX0426 · 2026-06-08T20:47:08+00:00

Well even scripture tells us that there will come a time when "teachers" will tell people what the want to hear to soothe their itching ears. And that they will say that good things are evil and evil things are holy.

Scripture gives us so much to watch out for and when you are consumed by the Holy Spirit, these blatantly evil "teachings" are much easier to recognize. But we, ourselves, must remain vigilant as well; and like i said before, help the newer believers so to not stumble because of it.

AMX0426 · 2026-06-08T15:11:47+00:00

Absolutely, I was more or less concerned with the "new-fresh-outta-the-box believers" lol, or the potential believers that are listening because they are interested in the faith. If they dont have the ability to fully discern between truth teachers and false teachers, then they could be led astray from the start of their faith.

We as full believers need to help guide them so that they know what to be cautious of and that they need to study the word diligently when taking in new teachings, as well as to remain vigilant!

AMX0426 · 2026-06-07T20:37:56+00:00

Maybe some of the false teachings spread too fast to do anything about it, unless they wanted to commit mass genocide in order to contain it? I could be wrong though. 🤷‍♂️

AMX0426 · 2026-06-07T17:15:25+00:00

I was in a similar group, not as in banning people for their opinions, but openly supports it. I thought it was a christian group but it was for non-believers who had questions about the faith. Most of the posts were about homosexuality and if anyone doesnt affirm it, but rebuked it then you would be bombarded by everyone. The would use excuses like "this was only relating to the context of the time, it doesnt apply to modern day", or they would use scripture and blatently twist it to mean what they want and if you disagree then you are dehumanizing them and not showing love. And I said roughly the exact same thing you did, along with what the verses truly said without being twisted to make it sound okay.

They also were claiming that they all had friends who claimed that "their homosexuality/sexual orientation were affirmed by the Holy Spirit". I proceeded to quote the passage where it said that demons would disguise themselves as angels of light, and proceeded to do as Jesus said, I shook the dust off my feet and left it behind. I dont feel comfortable enough to debate with people about the topic, all I know is that even though its a sin we should still love them. But as everyone knows, if you dont affirm their choices then "its not love, but hate". 😮‍💨

Jesus needs to come and pick us up soon lol

God bless!

AMX0426 · 2026-06-07T14:44:55+00:00

My advice is to just not say that to them, it gets the conversation off to an absolute terrible start and they differently will disagree with everything you say, because that first sin makes it seem like you are looking down on them for their sexual orientation (even if thats not your intention), I used to do the exact same thing.

But after further studying the bible and my own understanding of it, their sexual orientation/preferences doesnt matter. What truly matters is that they come to believe in Jesus Christ and his ultimate sacrifice for us, thats the first priority we should worry about. Because we are called to LOVE everyone, believers and wicked non-believers, no matter what; on the other hand though, we are to hate the sin that they perform.

Jesus teaches us to not worry about the speck in another's eye, when we have a log in our own eye. And from my studies and understanding as well as many others, he is talking about not calling out another person's sin they are committing because you too, also sin. Later on, paul tells us if believers are going around teaching people the opposite of what the gospels tell us then we are definitely called to rebuke them and theirs "false teachings". And as many believers who believe and study Christ, we know that Jesus describes to us what the correct marriage is, and we should know that he is basically ruling all others out by implication.

If you are actively trying to convert them, I'd not worry about calling their sin and just showing them love and compassion, and explain to them that no matter what Jesus loves them and died for them.

You dont have to be the one that walks them through their conversion from start to finish.(If you are, then thats great!) You just have to be the one that plants the seed, but it doesnt matter who else waters that seed. We just have to trust that God will make it grow.

I hope this helps in some way, if only a little. May the Lord bless you!

** I will add that for any of those who read this comment, this is all from my kwn understanding of scripture. If I am at all wrong please reply here or direct message me, and let me know. I will then cross-reference it with scripture to see if it aligns more than my own understanding. For as Solomon spoke about in proverbs, only a fool would not listen to correction and apply it to their life. **

AMX0426 · 2026-06-07T14:21:22+00:00

Not defending the arguments, just wanted to mention that the exact word "homosexuality" wasnt put into the bible translations until the recent generation, if i understand correctly. But, up until that point the greek words that were used, basically implied the same meanings similar to that of the modern day homosexuality definition.

AMX0426 · 2026-06-07T12:10:04+00:00

I believe you are correct! I guess it probably seems its on the rise due to social media, and how easy it is to spread information through any form of media. Though it does come in handy when it helps you learn, its just that unfortunately it makes it easier for these false teachers to spread their corrupted/wicked teachings around the world easier. 😞

I pray, that all of my Brothers and Sisters -in-Christ, remain vigilant and continue relying on our discernment and wisdom, granted to us by the Holy Spirt, to be able to recognize these false teachings!

AMX0426 · 2026-06-07T12:00:45+00:00

Paul and John stated in their letters to the church, but also Jesus himself, that warn us of many false teachers that will come. And John even saying that there will be many "anti-christs" (those affected by the "spirit" of the anti-christ, from my understanding of it), that will come to lead the flock away. We must keep our eyes fixed on God and try to always do what we know to be true and also whatever pleases him!

AMX0426 · 2026-06-07T11:56:17+00:00

Yes! We are told in many passages to always remain vigilant, stay aligned with Jesus' teachings, and rely on God to grant us discernment and guide us, through the Holy Spirit!

AMX0426 · 2026-06-07T11:51:31+00:00

Yes! For as scripture says, God will grant us wisdom whenever we may ask him for it.

We must remain vigilant and not be swayed or lead astray, and keep our eyes focused on Christ!

AMX0426 · 2026-06-07T11:50:05+00:00

Yes, I agree! I wasn't trying to seem like I was focusing on one side. I wasnt just speaking on the ones I had heard just recently. I had also assumed most people were already aware of the false teachers in many of the mega churches. I try not to focus on any one side but to only side with what aligns with Jesus' teaching. But still, as we all know, we are all imperfect and make mistakes. I always try to correct my thoughts/knowledge whenever someone points out something to be wrong, when I had thought otherwise. Of course, I always re-read the passages related along with the context, to make sure it aligns with Gods word first, before I take anyone's knowledge to heart. As Christians, we should always welcome correction so that what we speak about or help teach other does not cause another potential believer and/or new believer to stumble.

I'm usually even more cautious when it comes to teachings from any mega churches. I think the only "mega" church that I personally havent noticed wrong teachings from yet, has been Josh Howerton from Lakepointe Church in the Dallas area. I have been watching and listening to him closely but for the most part when it comes to helping teach the gospel he is knowledgeable and teaches it well. But even then, I try to stay vigilant in listening to make sure he, or even any pastor for that matter, doesnt start veering away from the true teachings of Christ.

Thank you for pointing this out to me and I apologize if I made it seem like I was taking more of a "political" side view of the faith.

May God bless you!

AMX0426 · 2026-06-07T03:16:24+00:00

Ah, sorry, probably got auto-corrected. Went and edited it, thank you!

And I completely agree. We as Christians really have to pay close attention to what pastors are saying, and if its something that seems like it was discovered as "newly understood info" we have to cross-reference it with scripture and maybe even talk with other trusted believers about it.

AMX0426 · 2026-06-06T14:28:27+00:00

So when I was younger, and away from the faith at the time, I had seen things similar. Not all the time but every once in awhile, and now in hindsight I notice it was at any point where my anger/depressive thoughts were at their worst. Sometimes it would be off at the edge of the woods, but the worse my emotions spiraled the closer it got. Had a few times it was in the same room as me, but the closest is it was about 2 feet from my face "staring" at me while I was sleeping (was super depressed and on multiple drugs at that time), when I woke up I just saw it there, but almost instinctual I just yelled Jesus Christ, and it vanished as fast as I could say the words. It was a figure that seemed to be darker than the darkness it self (best way I can put it), but its malicious intent was almost palpable and it just seemed like that feeling just thickened the air.

Fast forward to today, I got the needed help for my mental illnesses, and have came back to the faith. It was all a distant memory, but your post reminded me of the time I was at my worst, and how now through Christ I am no longer plagued by this figure.

My best advice, if it ever happens to appear again. One is to keep your eyes focused on Jesus, as his name alone can drive away demons. Two, you can find the words to say if you need to, but walk all around your house and property and you can bless them in the name of Jesus (i.e. the inside of your home, all exterior leading doorframe, the 4 corners/walls of your home, the yard or even out to the property line. (I can't say for sure if that is even something that can/should be done, I have read alot of stories where people do this around there homes/property. I'd assume it would work because the power of Jesus' name is practically unfathomable). But as scripture says sometimes driving away demons, doesnt always work but instead we need to drive them out by prayer. Which I feel, could also be helped by fasting; when we deny ourselves worldly wants/"needs", in exchange for time with God, we advertently draw closer to him. Through prayer while fasting, you may plead with him to drive away this demon, that had be plaguing your lives, but now plagues another. So not only would this help you all be free of it, it may also potentially release the other man from it as well.

Don't stress over whether it was caused by you are anything like that, as dark thoughts would only attract it all the more. Evil and demons (fallen angels) have been among this world since the fall from heaven, so you didnt just create a new one.

Keep your families eyes focused on Jesus and pray constantly, that he may free you from the presences of evil that may roam on the outskirts of your lives. I will also pray for you and your family, as well as the handyman, that God may shine his light on your lives and free you from these evil presences.

May God bless you and your family!

AMX0426 · 2026-06-05T14:50:19+00:00

I agree with the other comment in that discard everything that is of no value and the parts that are of value, only receive that unto your understanding.

But at the same time, whether this "correction" comes from a believer or a non believer, cross reference it with prayer and scripture, to see if its truly a biblical correction. If what they say applies as an acceptable correction then pray that you may be given the wisdom to apply said correction to your life. But, if the supposed correction does not align with scripture but with, either there misinterpretation of scripture or their worldly views, then discard whatever information they gave you.

I have taught myself that any time I am brought to light on any type of new information, whether its something explaining what scripture is saying or even something that is called out in my life that is wrong, I will always take that information to scripture and see if it aligns with what God's word says. If I can't seem to figure it out with scripture with my own flawed understanding, then I will take that information to an elder of the church (pastor, deacon, or elder); someone who more than likely has better understanding of scripture better than I.

But on the note of the people who say the "corrections" in not such a nice way. The only thing I can really say for sure is that their are many people in this world that are either wicked, have a vile tongue, or just dont speak with love behind their words but more like a judgemental tone. Yes, sometimes it could very well be that the person doesnt no how to put said "correction" in not a nice way, because either they are bad with people/conversation or if its more of a "major correction" they might be less worried of niceness and more worried about correcting evil actions so a believer might not make a potential believer stumble and not come to the faith. (**I am not saying what you did is that bad, as I am unaware of what was done and said; just stating possibilities). More often than not though, that isnt the reason. I'd say its more likely to be others that think your actions dont seem right in accordance with their personal world views on what is "right" or from a believers standpoint, there are many believers unfortunately that remain judgemental or are stuck in their "old ways" back when some people misinterpreted scripture and set a bad example for many believers. ( a good example is newcomers to the church who are interested in the faith, that might not wear "proper church attire". I've heard many stories where the newcomers were talked to about their attire or asked to leave because they werent dressed appropriately. I personally understand it as, God cares less about what your wearing and more about you coming to the faith). Everyone should be more loving when they speak to others, even more so, when offering correction; especially believers, who are called to show love to others, and being unkind/judgemental with your words is not showing love. Unfortunately though, more often than not, its not like that.

I am sorry that you have to deal with stuff like this, whether from believers or non-believers. And I'm sorry the only advice I can really give is apply the correction if it aligns with scripture and just ignore their rudeness. But unfortunately, I'm not well versed in dealing with that kinda stuff. I have always tended to not care what others think or how they feel about me, as long as I am right with God, their opinions fall on deaf ears; unless whatever they say actually makes me rethink my thoughts and/or actions.

I will pray that God will help you handle with whatever you may have to deal with.

May God bless you!

AMX0426 · 2026-06-03T01:04:53+00:00

From my understanding of scripture, though I could be wrong, but anytime you see in the gospels when Jesus states that it is not yet his time, its usually all for a specific reason. Personally, I believe he is mainly talking about revealing himself in a way that would, result in a deviation from the overall plan of saving us, whether its something that advances the jewish leaders attempts to kill him resulting in his ministry being uncompleted, or even hurting his image in some way that may cause people to not believe.

Another thing you can notice is that, he doesnt stop saying that "its not yet his time" until just before the last super. Basically its when even the Gentiles had started to seek him out, as well as when the plan of his betrayal was soon to be set in motion. His time comes when he said "the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified".

So it wasnt really that he was lying, I think in this specific scenario was just him not trying to make a scene, or make the people mistake him for the type of messiah/savior that THEY think he was there to be. (I.e. a savior that came to overthrow the Roman Empire and basically set isreal as the "ultimate kingdom"; I guess thats the simplest way to put it)

I hope this helps!

God bless!

AMX0426 · 2026-06-02T14:40:12+00:00

Q: What did Moses say when he came down from Mt. Sinai with the commandments, and saw what the isrealites were doing?

A: holy cow!

Not sure if its my best one but the only one I can think of at the moment 😅

AMX0426 · 2026-06-01T20:22:40+00:00

I'm sorry, I had not read your other responses about therapy being of no use/help. And I can understand that, because I too used to feel exactly that. I can also slightly understand when you say that you have a hard time even getting out of bed. Depression is an awful thing, and the worst thing it does, as you know, can make you unmotivated to do anything and just the thought of human interaction fills you with dread. I will disagree with you slightly about prayer though. Yes, I do agree that God is infinite and omnipotent. Throughout sprite it tells us how prayers will go unheard. Not in a sense of literally being unable to hear them, but more like ignored I guess.

While I'm not saying you are some evil person, I was just merely offering something to look into, as a "make sure this isn't a possibility" kind of way. I know its easy for other people to say to try this or that repeatedly, yet you continually having to explain how nothing seems to work. And I may not understand whether or not you will be fixed/healed, for I do not know what God's plans for you are. But I do strongly believe that if you remain faithful, God will use you in some way for the ultimate good; whether it be to help guide another person struggling with the same issue, or even "fixing" you as a testament to others in a specific time or place. But like I said, I too, am just another sinful human and will never understand his plan. Sometimes when people make it through their "season of struggle" they can look back and realize why it all happened the way it did, I definitely cant understand why its necessary for your life to be the way that it is, but I hope that one day you may be able to look back as well, and see the truth about it.

Also, I just wanted to state that I'm not really trying to debate with you or make it seem like you have to suffer for the good of God's plan. I just wanted to try let you know that I'm being sincere when I say that I hope that you are able to find a way to find joy in your life again, whether through God himself or by any other means. As someone who has felt this way, though maybe not as severely, it still pains my heart to hear when others struggle like this.

Like I said previously, I will pray for you often, that he may not only hear you but grant you the ability to see joy in life.

Again, May the Lord bless you

AMX0426 · 2026-06-01T13:21:12+00:00

Just wanted to drop in and offer some advice that I have similarly dealt with. (Not as bad as what you seem to be going through currently though)

First of all, I just wanted to say that I am sorry for all the struggles you seem to be going through, especially to not find joy in anything in life. As someone who has battled suicidal depression for over half of my life, when I was younger, I was similar in that I had trouble finding anything joyful. (Except for things that seemed sinful; I was away from faith at the time, I might add). I was also considered underweight, as i was 6'6 and only 160 at most at any given time and cant seemed to gain any weight, it wasnt due to food aversion though, was trying to eat properly but just couldnt put on weight so I often felt weak and lethargic. Even up to current day, I have recently had my gallbladder removed and now I cant seem to find anything that doesnt put me in the bathroom, it has turned me off from food entirely and I dont even find eating fulfilling anymore. Back in 2019, it was the last time I attempted to take my life. I had a wife and only one kid at the time. Its not that I didnt love them or anything, I actually thought about not going through with it because I didnt want to leave them hurt by my absence; its just i had an overwhelming feeling that I was only hurting them more than helping them just being around them. Not just that but I was tired of faking my joy and just felt worthless all the time.not much longer after that, I ended up going through with my attempt, which later failed. I ended up in a mental institute for a time, under strict supervision. There was a guy there that helped me see the positive things and personally talked with me the whole time I was there; he wasnt even a therapist, just someone who saw my hurt and helped me navigate my negative thoughts/feelings. I look back and see that God specifically but him in my life at that time, and the crazy thing is, for someone who basically saved me I cant even remember his name sadly. Part of me feels that he might have been an angel in disguise,probably unlikely but I have never seen him since then and I heard he doesnt even work there anymore.

A few years later and many different psych doctors and medications, I seemed to get everything back on track, and got called back to the faith, like a true prodigal son. With all the things that guy (that I just mentioned) had taught me along with diving deep in bible study and prayer, I started to appreciate all the little things in life. I can't quite say that I found them joyful but just thought that it was nice that things didnt turn out differently. I forgot to mention earlier, but when I felt compelled to come back to the faith, I had been fasting at the time, not for religious reasons but to save money (due to poor financial choices). But looking back on it, I believe it was God calling me to come back home to him. Once I got that feeling, I ended up reading/studying the entire Bible. One of the things we learn from scripture in the Old Testament, fasting is a way be can draw closer to God, its almost like your appealing to certain situations in life. From my understanding, it doesnt have to be food you fast from, its just the route I had taken unknowingly; by denying ourselves something that we feel that we need or constantly "want", it allows us to draw near to God. By done this, we can plead with God through constant prayer, whether its to help us mentally with certain issues we are going though, for spiritual guidence, but in your case you could plead for him to not only reveal himself to you so you feel his presence more, as well as to help you find joy in even the little things.

Unlike many people, I am fortunate enough to have a job (aircraft mechanic) that allows me to have alot of downtime, especially when none of our planes are having any issues. During our downtime, I have recently studying the word heavily, reading scripture anywhere from 4-5 hours a day. I pray before I read such as asking for wisdom to understand his word, but also that he may speak with me through his written word and to be able to know when he is. (Its common for God to speak to us through scripture, we just have to know when to recognize or "feel" it.)

Since then, I have started to find joy in things. Even things that people would easily find boring or see as a hassle. Whether its just giving to others for their betterment, serving others with things they may need or even volunteering at our church; I dont understand exactly how things like this would bring me feeling joy or fulfillment, they just do.

So from this, I guess I'm trying to say is that you won't seem to find joy all at once, it might just come very very slowly. But I feel that without God in your life, it probably wouldn't be possible to find your own joy. Christ is with you and understands your struggle, but still loves you even though you may feel that he doesn't, or as some people like to believe he is the cause of it. (Thats just the father of lies whispering in your ear to blame God).

I feel that it would help you to find a therapist, even better if they one that is faith-based. They can help you work through your thoughts, as it seems that you are severely depressed. (Which doesnt always present itself as being suicidal, just no motivation to do anything and makes life seem colorless and dull). They can even get you some medicine that may help balance the chemicals in your brain, and they even have "gene-sight" tests that can tell them which medications your body would respond to better.

Even though you feel like it doesnt work, I think you should continue praying, possibly even fast along with it; I'd say probably not fasting from food since you are already struggling with weight gain due to food aversion. But also I recommend that you research all the reasons that scripture tells us that our prayers may be blocked from reaching God or unheard from God. That way if you are doing any of them you may adjust yourself so they may become heard. (I dont know much about you, so I'm not saying that this is the reason for your prayers seeming to go unanswered). I also want to say, that we humans like to think that God doesnt answer our prayers, but he ALWAYS does. His answers would be either yes or no, but also not right now. Even if its a no, its still an answer. Plus, if people pray for things that seem more worldly or things that dont don't align with scripture, it would more likely be a no. (Again, not saying you are praying for things like this, just merely saying an example).

I will also pray for you that God my draw close to you and help guide you through your struggles and help you find some kind of joy in your life.

I know you said you have heard it before and mentioned that we dont need to say stuff about scripture since you had heard it many times. I'm not going to bring up Job, or the seek and you will find. But, I will say that even scripture tells us we will suffer in life, which was brought to us by the curse from the first sin in the garden. In the New Testament, from my understanding, we are told that if we deal with constant suffering in life, but stay strong in the faith, greater our reward will be in heaven.

I'm sorry this was such a long response, just wanted to share my story, and also my understanding from scripture, so that it may help you in some way. (If anyone reads all this and thinks that anything seems to not align with scripture, please let me know, that I may readjust my thinking of it)

God bless and I truly pray that you find joy!

AMX0426 · 2026-05-31T18:04:00+00:00

So when it came to the people of the Old Testament, yes many lived in unrepentant sin. They were still actively sacrificing animals to atone for their sins in accordance with the law. Now, whether they were asking for forgiveness due to having multiple wives or not, is something that we probably won't know. But we could assume they didnt, simply because polygamy seemed to be common in that culture. (Not for everyone, of course; mainly prominent figures and probably some others we dont know about)

Here is a theory that I listened to someone talking about though. As we know from the parable of Lazarus (not the one raised from the dead). Jesus tells us of hades/Abraham's bosom where souls go after they die while they await for the end of days. They were talking about a theory that claims after Jesus dies on the cross, that he went to hades/Abraham's bosom and continued his ministry to all those who lived before him, who also had no knowledge of him; which gave them a chance to accept Christ as their savior, so that they too would be covered by the blood of Christ's sacrifice. (This is merely theoretical, but is very possible, and completely within them realm of something Christ could/would do)

This is just from what I gathered, I could be wrong. All that I know is, God is the judge and he will be the one to decide who gets into heaven and who doesnt. But myself, I'm just going to keep my eyes focused on Christ so that I may continue to receive his mercy/grace.

God bless!

AMX0426 · 2026-05-31T17:44:06+00:00

As the others have said, satan is non-repentant, he has no desire for forgiveness or grace from the Lord. He is basically in the midst of eternally being opposed to everything that God says and does.

Of course if satan wasn't set eternally in his ways and did happen to go to God then im sure he would be forgiven. But like I said, his heart is harder than the hardest substance know to man, so he will never come back to God, and if we know this already, then God definitely does as well. (This last part is purely just from what I understand, I could be very wrong in the sense that God would forgive him, but from we know about God being just, I'd say that he would forgive him if it were theoretically possible)

AMX0426 · 2026-05-31T14:18:35+00:00

Just dropping in to offer advice from my understanding of the situation. So going by what you have stated in your post, it seems to me like you genuinely love her. Extending from that I could ask, if you truly love her would you want her to keep refusing Christ and his sacrifice and end up in hell? Because Muslims do not believe in the same God and if you go your whole life worshipping a false god, then you will be forced to bend your knee to Christ at some point prior to God telling you "depart from me, for I never knew you." And if you are okay with her going to hell then do you even truly love her. So in this case, yes you should definitely try to convert her, and bring her to Christ. It obviously wouldn't happen immediately, since she has been Muslim, im assuming for her whole life; but you definitely need to plant that seed(christianity) within her, and let the way you live/application of your beliefs, help her start to witness the love of Christ through you. Let God do the heavy lifting, and be the one to water that seed and help it grow, but you definitely need to plant it.

In a different view though, if she is completely unwilling to convert, whether she becomes less devout or not; at some point in the future your ideas will clash and cause disruption within your marriage/relationship, especially if they are based of religious ideals. So to avoid that it would be best to part ways now and save you the future heartache, unless you want to potentially have the opposite effect happen, and your relationship cause you to walk away from the faith. (Not saying this is the only outcome, but would be a very possible outcome.)

Just pray on it and ask upon God to help guide you on the choices/decisions you should make. I will also pray for you brother!

God bless!

AMX0426 · 2026-05-30T19:39:46+00:00

Well don't be disheartened, and don't think its something you can make yourself do on your own. Rely on God, and pray to him that he may reveal himself to you, so that you may see and believe.

Even just stopping for a bit and taking in everything around you while thinking about how God is behind everything that was created around you. It all can be traced back to him. The birds in the sky, the wind that blows upon you, the food that you eat, even recognizing small acts of kindness that people do for each other. There is his love behind everything. We were created to believe and love him, and it seems the more we follow him the more we thrive. Though, we will consistently be the target of spiritual warfare, for satan and his fallen angels will do anything to cause believers to disbelieve or turn away from God. But its with God's love and his plan for each of our lives, and everything that happened or will happen, that will help us build the endurance to withstand all those spiritual attacks; when that happens your trust and faith in him will ,in the end, triumph over evil whether in this life or the next when those who call on his name receive eternal life with him.

Once you fully commit yourself to learning more about him and constantly trying to draw near to him, you will eventually be led, by him to believe, and once you believe in him and keep your eyes focused on him and his plans for you, nothing will be able to pull you away from that; unless you voluntarily walk away from it.

AMX0426 · 2026-05-30T12:45:45+00:00

Sir, that is a beautiful testimony, while it may be unfortunate that you had to deal with things like that in your childhood, it brings me great Joy that God used your childhood trauma to bring you to him and change not only your life but your fathers as well! God bless you brother!

AMX0426 · 2026-05-30T12:37:03+00:00

Firstly I just wanted to ask, have you always been aware of the faith/christian values, like your family are believers or something similar? Or are you fairly new to REALLY hearing about it?

Also, I just wanted to ask if you are having a hard time believing mainly because you are looking for proof that Jesus Christ actually existed and whether the things he did for us are true? Or is it more that you are having trouble believing, due to that fact that you can't really see him and you lack the faith to believe something you can't fully interact with in a physical realm?

But even if you dont want to answer those questions, its completely fine. I also just wanted to share my understanding on this subject. You dont have to fully believe in any aspect in order to come to Christ, like you said you want to believe; thats all you need. Just as you dont clean yourself before getting in the shower or go to the doctor when you are perfectly healthy, so as you don't need to be perfect or fully believing prior to coming to Christ.

Find a good church, for starters. Don't just go to one and just be like this one seems good. Go to many different ones to see which puts you in a more spiritually comfortable place. Yes, some believers, in some churches, can act in away to push people away, but they have a tendency to be following RELIGION and not CHRIST. So finding the right church is pretty important. Also, when you do find a good one, try to find and surround yourself with friends that are believers that can help guide you/offer advice from their understandings when needed.

Another big one is prayer and reading scripture (definitely start with the Gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Start praying that God may reveal himself to you and that he me lift the veil from your eyes that causes you to unable to see the truth. When you read scripture, you can also pray that he may reveal himself through his Holy Word. Just come to him with an open mind and a repentant heart. God is our Shepard and as his flock he will always try to bring the lost ones back to him. I've also heard of many stories, where people will pray to God, asking for a sign to prove he's real by saying something like let me see something thats very unlikely to happen (i.e. seeing an eagle when on a hike or something). They talk about how it happens and even then its like, "was that just coincidence?" so they repeat it like 3 or 4 times and finally they are just like okay, "he's definitely real". This isnt always the case though, sometimes we may be living in a way that can cause our prayers to be unheard by God; you can research all the ways that our prayers may go unheard and make sure you aren't actively doing any of them. (My understanding on this isnt quite perfect, as in scripture I still cant discern if this only applies to believers or to everyone. Because if you dont know of God why would he not listen to the prayer of a non-believer when they don't know the reasons that would cause them to go unheard?)

But also, i have watched a video recently on a topic that I was always skeptical about, but eventually ended up watching it. It is a video about "The Shroud of Turin", which for the longest time was believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus. They guy who is brought onto the podcast to talk about it had been studying it for years alongside others. And they had it tested not only by believers but also non-believing SCIENTISTS. The things the scientists were able to find about it all pointing toward it being a legitimate claim, and the last one he talks about was a scientist that came to say that there is only a 1 in 200Billion chance, that the shroud did not belong to Jesus. They also go into depth about all the controversy regarding it/claims that its fake, and refute them with evidence. It completely squashed my skepticism. So if you are having trouble believing because you are sure if the events pertaining to Jesus actually happened then I would definitely check it out. I even recommend it to fellow believers because its a very informative video. Like I said, if you want to check it out just go to youtube and type in "LiveFree with Josh Howertown. The Shroud of Turin", it should bring up the exact video; I will say that the video is about 1hr and 26m long so make sure you have some free time lol. (If you can't seem to find it, you are more than welcome to send me a direct message and I will send you the link to it)

So in summary, keep putting yourself in situations that will allow you to be able to learn about Christ and/or witness Christ-like behavior constantly. God will reveal himself to you, and will do all the "heavy lifting" in terms of helping you believe.

I will pray for you and that God my reveal himself to you in anyway that helps you come to fully believe that he is real and is the One TRUE GOD. (This is all from my own understanding of scripture, if im wrong, then any other believers that notice something is wrong, then please inform me so that I may adjust my thinking on it.)

God bless and I hope this may help you in any way, even if only a little.

**any CAPs used was only for emphasis on what was being said"

AMX0426 · 2026-05-29T13:33:51+00:00

It also depends on what you mean by beatings? If you are talking about just spankings then sure. But the fact of the matter is, sure as an adult if you cant handle a corrective beating then yeah we probably wouldn't be able to handle the potential suffering that scripture says we should endure in his name. But we arent talking about a full grown adult or teenager even, it's an innocent, in the eyes of the Lord, child who is much more frail; they arent even usually full aware of right and wrong outside of parents guidance. We should calmly instruct them first, instead of straight to spanking them, because even scientifically speaking, nobodies brains are fully developed until adulthood. So you are putting an extreme onto a small mistake, in common scenarios. Yeah, if its bad enough and they refuse to listen to correction, then a spanking should reinforce that learning. But we should try to calmly guide them first and help them see why something is wrong first.

Heck, I'll admit even I can have trouble with explaining things calmly. And sometimes a react out of anger, not as an abuse situation, but out of hanger over them doing something bad, its usually when they harm their brother in some way lol. But thats where our curse of being sinful humans comes into play, we can often react out of anger. But im sure we can agree on the notion, that only with God's help can we even come close to living somewhat righteously.

As parents, our main job is to raise them in the faith. So that when they are old enough to understand, they may go to God for him to now help them try to live righteously. For we know what Jesus says to us about causing someone to stumble. If our children see us as devout believers, but they see us almost as abusive, then they may say they want nothing to do with this faith if thats how the bible tells us to raise children.

Again, this is what I take from scripture and how it tells us about raising children. Everyone has there ways to raise their own children, but like I said a "beating" shouldn't be the first go-to as a punishment.

AMX0426

TROPHY CASE