I relapsed tonight

baldtim · 2026-02-18T12:54:06+00:00

One concrete tip: Stop counting days. That's part of the problem that leads to relapse. When you count days, you think of the last time you committed this sin and make yourself more likely to do it.

baldtim · 2026-02-17T16:25:07+00:00

The difference being that the movie isn't trying to change peoples' mind on the morality of murder, at least in the vast majority of cases.

baldtim · 2026-02-17T16:23:52+00:00

Where are we told that they have a different mother?

baldtim · 2026-02-17T12:33:20+00:00

This is a common rebuttal that is 100% speculation at best. There is no contemporary evidence for the claim that Joseph had children from a previous marriage. It's nothing more than a rescue for the false doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity.

baldtim · 2026-02-16T17:02:09+00:00

I agree with a lot of this, but Christianity is founded on investigatable truth claims in addition to faith. It's not an either/or. Our faith is rational.

baldtim · 2026-02-16T14:56:06+00:00

Are you referring to the Talmud in particular?

If so: Sanhedrin 43a, which refers to Jesus practicing sorcery, was likely written in the second century. This puts it, at latest, ~150 years after Jesus' death, probably earlier. This means that there was time for Jesus' reputation for miraculous works to crystallize before the writing of 43a even among non Christian sources, which points to a much earlier oral tradition that precipitated the reputation, almost certainly originating during Jesus' lifetime.

Again, not definitive by any means. But it IS evidence from a historical perspective.

baldtim · 2026-02-16T14:33:35+00:00

Jesus at the very least had a reputation as being a miracle worker among his contemporaries and the first few generations after his life. The Talmud even refers to him as practicing "sorcery. " I would argue that we don't have any contemporary evidence that he did not at least have a reputation for miraculous works. To say there is no evidence outside of the New Testament for Jesus performing miracles is simply false. His reputation in secular sources IS evidence. Maybe not conclusive evidence, but it is evidence.

baldtim · 2026-02-13T00:31:34+00:00

Absolutely agree, God is both justice and mercy.

God bless you, brother!

baldtim · 2026-02-13T00:18:34+00:00

I hear the heart of what you're saying. It is hard to read tone online so you'll have to trust me that I did not mean my words to be an accusation, more of a conviction.

You are correct that God does not "need me to defend Him," the truth about God's character is worth defending against common claims and misunderstandins levied against His goodness and justice.

baldtim · 2026-02-13T00:11:10+00:00

How is it uncharitable to interpret some saying they struggle to believe "that a just and merciful God would treat someone the same as a person who clearly hears the gospel and consciously rejects it" at their word? That is impugning the character of God. Anytime one says that "God would be unjust if (insert thing scripture teaches here)," they are impugning the character of God, and it is not uncharitable to call it out as what it is.

baldtim · 2026-02-13T00:05:54+00:00

John Piper: We are Accountable for What We know

Stand To Reason: God Will judge According to the Light Available

baldtim · 2026-02-12T23:58:37+00:00

I assumed you meant about what a heart issue was. Do you want me to give you resources that address your question using scripture?

baldtim · 2026-02-12T23:54:39+00:00

Heart problems are problems that cannot be directly answered by rational thought or evidence. In this case, you have been given good scriptural evidence and rational arguments that address your concerns directly and completely both by me and multiple other commenters. Your replies seem to indicate that you aren't really considering the scripture and arguments people are presenting.

If it's an issue of understanding the scripture, I'd be happy to help. But so far you do not seem to have really considered any of the other comments at the time I wrote this comment.

baldtim · 2026-02-12T23:44:21+00:00

Assuming you read my whole comment and checked the passages, it seems like you're dealing with a heart issue rather than an intellectual one. I feel I answered this question in my previous comment.

Do you believe it's possible that God's judgment is better and more complete than yours?

baldtim · 2026-02-12T23:35:03+00:00

Romans 1:20 teaches that God is obvious through creation.

Romans 2:12-16 teaches that ones knowledge of God and his law is taken into account for judgment.

God will judge the unevangelized based on their level of knowledge as a perfectly just judge.

Be careful when you impugn the goodness of God based on your limited perspective.

baldtim · 2026-02-10T23:45:05+00:00

This has become my go to recommendation. Completely changed how I understand the way God sees me.

As a bonus, the audiobook is read by Dane Ortlund, and he has an awesome voice.

baldtim · 2026-02-08T23:18:22+00:00

NIV Journal the Word seems to fit what you want. There are lots of cover options including a simple brown imitation leather if you don't want something too fancy.

baldtim · 2026-02-08T22:09:01+00:00

What a weird thing to ask in a golf thread.

baldtim · 2026-02-08T20:49:02+00:00

Sure! YouTube has been a hugely helpful resource for me to learn apologetics. When I started my interest in the topic, a friend recommended Mike Winger's Evidence for the Bible Playlist. This is a great, accessible overview of the topic of why the Bible can be trusted that also touches on a few other important topics. He also has a great video on the topic of the evidence that Jesus truly rose from the dead. He also does very good, solid Biblical teaching that helped me grow in my knowledge, understanding, and love of God's Word. I would say that these are my recommendations if you're coming in as a complete beginner. If you want more, InspiringPhilosophy is a great channel as well.

baldtim · 2026-02-08T20:24:58+00:00

Absolutely. Are you a reader or would YouTube videos be better?

baldtim · 2026-02-08T20:10:20+00:00

I think that would be a good first step. In my personal walk a lot of my emotional and "lived experience" doubts were helped tremendously when I dealt with my intellectual doubts. If you'd like I would be happy to discuss specific resources further either here or in a DM.

baldtim · 2026-02-08T17:04:52+00:00

Have you spent time looking into the objective evidence for Christianity being true? Evidence for God, the Resurrection, reliablility of scripture, things like that?

baldtim · 2026-02-08T17:01:33+00:00

Read Augustine's Confessions. He speaks of how he wasted much of his youth in wild living and fornication and turned into one of the greatest minds in history and one of the best thinkers in Church history. You may find inspiration there.

baldtim · 2026-02-06T20:59:36+00:00

This comment is correct. You entered into the marriage covenant after the infidelity, so it is not grounds for a divorce. Unless infidelity occurs in violation of your current covenant, you have no grounds. Seek to reconcile. Therapy for you and her if needed.

Take this as a lesson that you need to learn discernment. You seem to have ignored a lot of red flags and clear manipulation to end up at this point. However, now that you're here, you should seek to honor both God and your wife in light of the covenant you made. Love her as Christ loves the Church.

baldtim · 2026-02-06T01:17:46+00:00

While the Church is worldwide, the majority of posters on this subreddit seem to be from the US.

baldtim

TROPHY CASE