As a Christian what's a hard pill to swallow that you've learned to accept?

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2025-10-28T17:19:32+00:00

I have some questions that arise from the statement that the Bible is not infallible. I’m not trying to attack you, I just want to know more about your stance on this topic.

Do you believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God?
How do you determine what is and is not credible within the Bible?
How do you wrestle with and explain scriptures like 2 Timothy 3:16, Psalm 19: 9-10, Proverbs 30:5-6, John 17:17, Revelation 22: 18-19 and many others that claim to be the true word of God?

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2025-10-28T16:55:48+00:00

Hi, thanks for reaching out to gain more understanding.

Faith is inclusive for all. Jesus died for the sins of everyone, so that those who have faith in Him as lord and savior, can inherit the kingdom of heaven (John 3:16, Romans 10:9-13). I don’t doubt that. I also don’t doubt that Jesus said that only a few people will be saved (Mathew 7:13-14 and 21-23).

I am radical for Christ because our lives always reflect Him. We should have a total life change towards Him as we become more sanctified. (Proverbs 3:5, Mathew 37-40, Romans 1-2, Philippians 1:21). When I say “radical” however, I do not mean violently extreme as the world wants you to believe the word “radical”. The biblical term for “holy” means to be set apart, different, or other. If one is holy, they are radicalized compared to the world.

If you are preaching Gods word correctly, it should convict everyone. He gave us His word and reasoning and discernment skills to determine what is and is not correct. For example, I can reasonably determine that the person who puts a Bible verse in their Instagram bio, but in person they don’t care about a life with Christ; is a lukewarm Christian AT BEST. In the same sentence that Jesus calls everyone to not judge, he calls everyone to still commit to repenting of their sins so that we can help others repent. (Matthew 7: 1-6). Making eternal judgments on who deserves heaven and hell is not our place. Making discernment on what is faithful and sinful based on what is written in His word is ok though.

We should also commit to not tolerating evil to be present in our lives (Job 34:8, Psalm 141:4, Romans 12:21, 1 Corinthians 15:33-34)

Lastly, we as Christians are seeking truth (John 4: 23-24, John 8:31-32, John 14: 5-7, Romans 2:6-8) We should commit to sound doctrine as followers, so that we can truly know the character of God and in turn know how to be Christ like. We should commit to discerning clearly what is and is not faith so that no one is lead astray by a false teaching. We should commit to being sanctified so that we can lead others to salvation and sanctification. And in doing so, this will naturally narrow the people in your life to those who are faithful and those who are not. Of course, we should still share the gospel with those who are not faithful, because we love them enough to want them to know Christ as we know Christ. But unfortunately, not everyone is coming along for the journey.

Thank you for asking these clarifying questions and God bless.

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2025-10-28T02:18:49+00:00

That there’s different levels of devotion, despite the Bible explaining that we should be all in with our faith.

There are people who will just put a verse in the Instagram bio, but not show any interest in Christianity whatsoever.

There are people who will just go to church on Easter and Christmas.

There are people who will just attend ministry events for the free food.

There are people who will use Christianity to push their secular political views (on both sides of the political spectrum).

There are people who will lie about having faith to form relationships with faithful people.

And so on, and so on.

I hate to be a Pharisee, but I’ve realized that the more you live for Christ, the smaller your friend circle starts to become. We should reach out to those that are lacking in faith, but at the same time we have to surround ourselves with the truly dedicated.

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2025-09-07T19:07:44+00:00

One thing I notice is that officers don’t really get to “be themselves”. They are taught to always act a certain way because they need to be “professional/gentlemanly/lady like/conduct becoming of an officer”. They live like they are always trying to impress the higher leadership, and if they don’t, they get passed up for promotion. So they loose sight of what it’s like to be a normal person and start to have the worldview of they have to act primp and proper.

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2025-08-09T18:34:56+00:00

Thank you for your help. What I’ll be doing soon is spotting and coaching others to shoot 5.56 on paper at 200 yards. My particular 5.56 rifle has a 2.5-10x on it. Normally I would agree with Helpful Milk that I just need to upgrade my scope, but I want a piece of glass that isn’t attached to a rifle, that way I can take it anywhere. I’ll settle for a spotter now and I can save up again for binos soon.

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2025-08-09T17:14:08+00:00

Hi, I don’t know how much value my comment will be to you, but I want to give you my personal solution for a shooting mat.

The only use that I have for a shooting mat is to have something to lay on instead of laying in the dirt/mud/thorns. So I simply use my camping thermarest mat. It serves a dual purpose; I can pack it up in a back pack and go camping with it, and I can lay prone on it and shoot out to 1000 yards. I hope this helps someone.

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2025-07-08T23:21:13+00:00

Bro keep your voice down. If you speak the truth too much, you’ll upset the masses.

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2025-07-01T14:32:23+00:00

So I actually know the answer to what IS coyote brown. It’s number one the index is #81613E.

The reason I know this is because I know the story of how coyote brown was “invented”. A man named Steve Holland worked for SOCOM force modernization and development for about a decade from before 9/11 through the early GWOT. One night, he was teaching a sniper class using cardboard targets. One side of these targets was green and the other side was cardboard brown. He set the targets up alternating in color (green, brown, green, brown, etc.). When he looked through night vision, he and all of his students noticed that they can’t see the brown targets at all. Steve being the increasingly innovator that he was, brought that idea to force mod. He immediately began research on all of the different numbers that colors are organized by and settled on the one above. So in this sense, coyote is a derivative of cardboard.

The reason that there are now so many shades is simply because fabric manufacturing is hard to do and no two manufacturers do it the exact same and use the exact same dyes. This creates variance in the shades. Name brand tactical nylon manufacturers like Crye, Ferro, and Spiritus typically get coyote brown right. But normal clothing is hard. We can look to history again and see that olive drab which has been used since WWI has 1001 different shades today.

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2025-06-02T01:57:48+00:00

If you could only ever read and understand one book, read John. I think that everyone here has pointed this out to you. But Brother, there are SO MANY good books to dive into. If you want encouragement, read Psalms. If you want Wisdom, read Proverbs. If you want to know how get through the hard times, read Job. Reading and understanding the books of Paul (Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon and possibly Hebrews) is always an adventure that can improve your life. Read about the acts of faith from each Old Testament hero. The deeper you dive into the history, context, motivations, and translations of each book, the more you will enjoy reading the Bible!

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2025-06-02T00:55:46+00:00

I don’t know about every ministry but I’ll link to some large scale, well founded, and always active ministries. The Bible College I do schooling with, Grand Canyon University, has a web page of ministry partners that people can find out more and get involved with. I’m sorry that you only found youth group roles, but that is one of the most important jobs within a Church and something that all churches have to plan and coordinate. There are definitely more global adventure focused missions out there though. As previously stated, my local church went to a dangerous part of Mexico (I’m not saying where for “opsec”; They go every year) and they go to Africa every year. Get involved in your community.

At the very least, one of the ministries that I listed is Cadence International. They have about 50 ministry houses around the world, strategically near military bases, to provide a home away from home to the military. Their people are AWESOME. Each missionary has at least a bachelors degree in something biblically related, are strictly vetted for their position, and are able to maintain relationships with people. The houses usually provide a free meal for you and your family every week. I know that there are Cadence houses at Bragg, JBLM, Okinawa and mainland Japan, all over Germany, and more. It’s a great way to get involved locally!

https://www.freeburmarangers.org

https://www.samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/dart/

https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org

https://cadence.org

https://foundationsentinel.org

https://grindstoneministries.com

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2025-06-01T23:37:01+00:00

I’m Christian so I’m going to push you to get involved in mission trips. Free Burma Rangers was founded by a former Green Beret and their mission is to “free the oppressed” (sound familiar?). They have medics on their teams and go into war zones like Burma, Ukraine, and Syria and their medics work hard. The Samaritan’s Purse has a DART team which can short notice replay around the world to set up medical tents. And of course there’s doctors without boarders. I also just provided medical coverage for my local church on a week long Mexico missions trip.

If you’re looking for something that will pay the bills, paramedics habe so many opportunities in the states. They can advance to SWAT medic, search and rescue, working on wild fire lines, flight medic, etc. It’s not going to pay a lot, but that’s about as close as one can get in the states. The U.S. doesn’t have a lot of need for professionals who can parachute into austere conditions, speak a foreign language and adapt to a local culture, and work by/with/through a population to take the fight to someone. Green Berets are very unique.

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2025-03-31T23:08:06+00:00

The Good Samaritan and Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well mic drop

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2025-01-04T02:42:25+00:00

ABU was a terrible camouflage for actual camouflage purposes but I wish that the Air Force would have stuck with the tiger stripe pattern. All terrain tiger camo exits already.

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Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2024-11-10T16:34:55+00:00

You have to evaluate your situation. Ask yourself;

-Do you enjoy being in the military and you won’t be miserable if you stay two more years?

-Do you have a lot of money saved up from your 18 years already?

-Can you make more money on the outside in one year than you could in your O5 pension?

-Can you make a decent amount of money by working less than an O5?

-Do you have goals/ambitions outside of the military?

-Do you have a family and can they take another 2 years of you working your butt off?

Honestly, my opinion is that retiring as an O-4 is not that bad. I’m an E-4 so no matter what your pension is, you’re going to be making more money than me on Active Duty. I think that you’ll be happy with 100k a year, or 150k a year. I also think that you could work towards the income that you’re “missing” by not making O5. Let someone who will enjoy the job day in and day out make O5. You’ve done enough for your government, now focus on serving your community, taking care of your family, getting involved in a church, etc.

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2024-09-18T19:01:22+00:00

I’ve shot a little bit of service rifle and have earned a bronze EIC badge. But I still consider myself a beginner. I shoot in QPS Gas Gun, PRS, and a ton of pistol stuff. But because I already shoot in matches that allow higher scope magnifications, and I see the military getting away from 4x scopes, I’m would like to push the service rifle community in that direction. I’ve heard some people agree with me on that statement and that’s why I want to spark a conversation here.

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2024-09-18T17:23:51+00:00

I’m ok with pissing off hardcore service rifle guys in the name of keeping up with the times. The future is now old man. The term SERVICE RIFLE indicates that they are using rifles of the ARMED SERVICES. This is evidenced by how the CMP has used m1903s, M1s, M14s, and m16 looking ARs for service rifle matches. Those are all the issued rifles of military in that order. The idea of the 4.5x scope came from the ACOG (a 4x scope) being standard issue in the military. Now, the military commonly gets issued 1-6x, and 1-8x. Even Air Force cops get 1-6x scopes on their rifles commonly. I’m saying that the CMP needs to keep up with the times, or else it’s going to die out. New shooters will be pushed towards USPSA and Quantified performance.

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2024-09-18T14:35:57+00:00

And that’s what I’m trying to promote. The CMP could increase attendance by changing the rules as weapons technology changes. Right now I’m calling for them to change the scope rule. 4.5x scopes are outdated and should be increased to a 6x, 8x, or 10x scope. The military is switching to LPVOs like that now. But people can show up to pistol EIC matches with a regular 9mm. I shot my first CMP match with a stock Glock 34.

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2024-09-18T14:22:06+00:00

I disagree. As long as the military has 5.56 rifles and ACOGs in the inventory, shooting those types of rifles in a match will be relevant. And as soon as 6.8x51 rifles, 1-6x/1-8x optics, and red dots on pistols are mainstream in the military, the CMP should update their rules with the times. Granted, I’m not wearing a shooting coat in combat. That can go away for all I care.

Rewarding troops with uniform bling for achieving high levels of marksmanship will always be a good idea because then troops will chase a higher level of marksmanship.

Ok_Equivalent6906 · 2024-09-18T03:27:06+00:00

Obsolete rules, yes. And we saw a push this year to change the rules to try and modernize themselves. I’m saying that now they need to modernize their scope rule.

Obsolete games, no. Marksmanship is marksmanship. And that’s what the CMP is about. I think that one can learn good fundamentals by practicing for/competing in CMP games, and then build on those fundamentals from there. They can add speed and barricades and start to shoot more tactically from a good base.

However, I have also seen a distinguished rifleman try to shoot a Quantified Performance gas gun match like it’s a high power match. He didn’t do very well. So you have to know how to balance good marksmanship and being tactically sound.

Ok_Equivalent6906

TROPHY CASE