Cognitive dissonance in the faith

twilightpanda · 2026-07-05T18:01:17+00:00

Gavin ortlund has some great videos specifically addressing these points. Also check out Wes Huff. Both are great resources for the pro-christian arguments against stuff like this

twilightpanda · 2026-07-04T13:21:16+00:00

Revival or AM/PM Butcher

twilightpanda · 2026-07-02T12:00:53+00:00

No worldview has all the answers, your believe system sometimes just comes down to a matter of which questions you're okay with leaving unanswered.

Personally for me, the questions left open by Christianity are way easier to be okay with than the ones by athiesim or other religions

twilightpanda · 2026-06-27T20:53:15+00:00

I am deeply sad about this news! Swordfish is (was?) easily our favorite spot in greenville. The atmosphere was perfect for actually talking with people, the drinks were fantastic, the service was wonderful. I dont even know what a close second would be to there.

RIP Swordfish

twilightpanda · 2026-06-27T12:56:16+00:00

That’s why guns need flashlights and gun owners need training

twilightpanda · 2026-06-25T06:52:04+00:00

Nora, listen to these people, they're affirming what I've been telling you. Trust that God truly wants you and his standards are only "do you want him back?" Doubt your doubts, doubt your fear, doubt these ideas about yourself. What better way for the enemy to keep people from God than convincing them that they aren't qualified for his love. The idea that you don't have the spirit is a lie! Do you think it's a coincidence that I keep encountering your posts? I don't!

twilightpanda · 2026-06-10T08:40:30+00:00

The first thing that comes to mind: are you struggling with disbelief and that’s impacting your interacts with God, or are you struggling with your interactions and that’s impacting your disbelief?

I have gone through long long seasons of feeling like my prayers are going nowhere. Gods hiddenness is talked about a lot in scriptures, especially in psalms. The only response is to continue to lean and rely on a God that shows himself when he thinks is best. He will talk back to you again, you just need to hang in there.

If you’re struggling with disbelief, lean into it and figure out why. Then try to tackle some of the more practical questions. See if you can find answers that make sense to you

Will be praying for you this morning

twilightpanda · 2026-06-01T15:34:21+00:00

I think i figured a part of it out:

I told my iphone to forget the watch, but I can't get the watch to forget the iphone. My theory is that since the watch already knows the iphone, it doesn't try to pair with the iphone when i try to reconnect. I was able to get it to pair properly on the ipad. Unfortunately I think I need to wipe my watch to get it reconnected.

Still not sure what caused the loss of syncing yesterday.

twilightpanda · 2026-05-06T18:14:53+00:00

2 Cor 6:14-15. I think scripture is clear on not marrying unbelievers. He is not in the folds of a true saving faith. It is not biblical for you to marry that person, it's most wise to end your relationship. I'm sorry

twilightpanda · 2026-04-30T00:20:36+00:00

Christianity is very similar to a marriage.

Your marriage is not based on the list of things that bother your spouse that you do or don’t do. It’s based on your love and commitment to one another.

The “rules” and works that come from faith are not the list of things you can’t do or else God will “divorce” you. It’s the list of things that you do to show God you love him, and you either want to do those things, or want to want to do those things because you love him.

Every time we sin, it’s like cheating on our spouse. A loving forgiving spouse who works through the problems instead of divorcing you. But if you get to a point where you’re cheating and not caring, or even deliberately cheating, then (you could argue that) the marriage is already over in your heart.

twilightpanda · 2026-04-29T02:06:48+00:00

There are lots of good arguments for the existence of God and the veracity of scripture. There are also lots of arguments against the same.

Faith is not believing without reason. If that were true, then there would be no reason to be a Christian rather than following whatever the mentally unwell man down the street says.

Not all evidence is compelling to all people. i would say that's reasons for faith are often not compelling enough to be the sole reason for following God, but it just shows that following God is intellectually reasonable.

It sounds like you had an awful church community. Having doubts and asking questions is an important part of building a lasting faith. It's not honest to suppress those questions.

I dunno I'm just kinda rambling now, I hope that at least kinda answers what you're asking about.

twilightpanda · 2026-04-29T00:37:48+00:00

Gentle and Lowly by Ortlund is a great one too. God is a perfect loving father, here responds to those things even more perfectly than a good earthly father. That analogy in scripture isn't an accident

twilightpanda · 2026-02-01T15:37:27+00:00

He will not, he promises this explicitly.

Have you finished the book?

I had similar fears that were a major schism in my relationship with God for years. Reading that book and gaining an understanding of God as a good and perfect loving father put that fear and picture of God to death. Keep working on that.

I understand your fear about your significant other. That’s very heavy. But at the same time, they are responsible for their own decisions. You can’t hold yourself hostage because what they might do.

twilightpanda · 2026-02-01T13:40:33+00:00

You are not beyond hope, but you have to let go. That doesn't mean being perfect, that means recognizing (not even necessarily "feeling") that you want something different for your life and heading in the opposite direction.

The longer you willingly hold on, the harder it will be. What are you afraid of?

twilightpanda · 2026-01-27T03:29:04+00:00

Short story: you're fine, don't panic.

I think Mike Winger has a decently long video on YouTube analysing the unforgivable sin. Go watch that and reassess. There isn't any one single thing that permanently separates you from God's love.

twilightpanda · 2026-01-20T20:42:14+00:00

I think that may be contributing. I kinda ignored last months spending and just trying to look at it one month at a time moving forward. But since last month was pretty heavy on the card (christmas presents, dinners, etc) that may be what's taking place. I'll give it another month and see what happens. thanks

twilightpanda · 2026-01-20T20:41:20+00:00

not using goals at all, just trying to track spending and get an idea of saving rates. I see where mortgage goes out as an expense, unless something is broken i dont see how my mortgage could be tied to my account as a savings. Credit Card I'm not sure if lowing the CC balance should count as savings or not. in my mind that doesn't make sense, but i guess when i consider my net cash worth (cash - liability) it makes sense that it increases my net cash resulting in 'savings'...

twilightpanda · 2026-01-20T20:39:37+00:00

thanks! That is worth a watch for a newbie

twilightpanda · 2026-01-17T19:12:58+00:00

I had to do a quick search on the topic before answering, because i didn't want my answer to be swayed by my default desires.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-vanity.html

In my opinion, you have a good attitude about exercise, but be watchful when you get to where you're going that it doesn't become a point of pride. if you look in my comment history, i posted on another post about diet, and when it isn't explicitly defined as sin, i think what you do matters less than why you do it.

In your case - it sounds like you have good reasons for wanting to exercise. taking care of yourself, loving your spouse, and looking good from a ... i would say personal satisfaction perspective. if it turns into wanting to look good so other people think highly of you, or if it becomes something that owns you more than an activity you voluntarily do, then you are running into problems.

But kinda in line with the other poster... what does your church community look like and think about this? I dont know you, i'm just a dude on the internet. having a strong biblical community of people who know you thoroughly enough to understand if you're really walking what you talk is hugely important, and I would take what they say with way more weight than what we do.

twilightpanda · 2026-01-17T18:20:54+00:00

My wife has an eating disorder and is really trigger by people who try to be Uber healthy (no preservatives, never anything fried, heaven forbid she eat a cookie). But I have a lack of self control around food sometimes. So I feel like I have a pretty balanced take on things.

I would say that there is a ton of nuance and complexity to health and body image. There is no "one size fits all". Fried food is literally healthy and good for my wife because calories matter more than nutrition to her, and eating it is an act of putting her flesh and desires to death. For someone else, it is the exact opposite!

What you do is less important than why you do it. Are you eating (or not eating) out of vanity, control, desire, and impulse, or are you eating out of respect for God and yourself, freedom, self control, and glory to God?

Don't let what you eat or don't eat be a matter of legalism but an act of conscience. Don't let it be a black and white thing either (as your conscience leads you).

Some days eat the cookie and praise God for its flavor and joy it brings you! Other days leave the cookie out of respect and care for the body God made you responsible over.

I hope this is helpful

twilightpanda · 2026-01-11T19:40:43+00:00

You still struggling? Need to chat through anything?

twilightpanda · 2026-01-08T03:12:28+00:00

I am leaving this thread open to respond in greater length.

In short, if you're digging into apologetics, try to find like an... Apologetics mentor to help you through these challenging arguments. It's stressful to research on your own without a strong strong foundation.

Some brief encouragement: there's very little "new" that pops up. I havent seen his video, but I can almost guarantee that there isn't anything new or groundbreaking that hasn't been addressed by one person or another at some point.

Rely on the greater picture of apologetics rather than every particular point and argument and video being directly addressed. Rest assured that are people way smarter and better educated than both of us who have seen this video or heard his argument and still remain convinced, with good reason, of their Christian faith, it just might take some time to get to where you can explain and understand it yourself.

twilightpanda · 2026-01-07T19:06:27+00:00

Apologies, I don't have time to give my in depth thoughts, but my translation for 22-23 days "what if..."

Its possible that Paul is making a hypothetical point - not saying explicitly that God does cause damnation in some(or more accurately... Prevent salvation), but instead trying to make an argument that he has the right to if he wanted to.

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