My journey

[Nessa]

Did cross my mind

I quite like the idea of sermons made out of rocks and sand

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[Storyteller]

Love it nessa That has given me an idea for next years sandcastle competition

B.W. Thank you, I will look into those churches, except New Life.... I tried that one.

I think I may be being too fussy about church. I want somewhere where discussing ideas is encouraged, somewhere where I can learn about Scripture, really learn. What it means, how it applies to me, rather than just learning it rote fashion. I want to explore the finer details of what I believe, wrestle over impossible questions.
I want it to be somewhere I feel free to visit whenever, not just as some ritual or somewhere I have to be a certain amount of time a week.

I want to explore what religion, if any, I fit into. Talk about what my faith means.

Revelation 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

That verse is saying something to me, difficult to put into words. Kinda like that everything begins and ends with Him. He was there, is there, at the beginning and the end. There is no beginning and end, they are the same thing.

The salvation/works thing..
Salvation is a gift, given freely by God the moment you accept Christ as your Saviour and has diddly squat to do with works. Otherwise none of us would be, could be saved. None of us can match up to Christ.
Works come about through love. Love for God, love for our neighbour.
Works can be an example of our faith but not a yardstick. Only God knows what is in our hearts.

YEC/OEC..... I lean towards OEC but to me its a real side issue, a detail. Interesting but kinda irrelevant. It'll be one or the other, or maybe neither, but I dont see it as terribly important. Is God going to say "sorry, you chose OEC and you're wrong so off to Hell"?

Gifts... I wonder what mine is, all the time. Only thing I can come up with is this, writing. Writing is something I do, all the time, its like breathing to me. So maybe I need to learn to use it.

[Philip]

Story: Gifts... I wonder what mine is, all the time. Only thing I can come up with is this, writing. Writing is something I do, all the time, its like breathing to me. So maybe I need to learn to use it.

Annette, I can tell you that one of your gifts is the gift of encouragement. You are a light on this forum!

[Storyteller]

Story: Gifts... I wonder what mine is, all the time. Only thing I can come up with is this, writing. Writing is something I do, all the time, its like breathing to me. So maybe I need to learn to use it.

Annette, I can tell you that one of your gifts is the gift of encouragement. You are a light on this forum!

Matthew 5:15

See? I just think.. I'm me, how is that encouraging?
I just am.
A light?
Awesome, humbling and scary.
I know nothing really.
Except I love and trust God.
Wanna be more Christ like and yet know I will never, can never be. Not in this life anyway.
But one day

[RickD]

Story: Gifts... I wonder what mine is, all the time. Only thing I can come up with is this, writing. Writing is something I do, all the time, its like breathing to me. So maybe I need to learn to use it.

Annette, I can tell you that one of your gifts is the gift of encouragement. You are a light on this forum!

Matthew 5:15

See? I just think.. I'm me, how is that encouraging?
I just am.
A light?
Awesome, humbling and scary.
I know nothing really.
Except I love and trust God.
Wanna be more Christ like and yet know I will never, can never be. Not in this life anyway.
But one day

Yes, your gift is not poetry*. Stick to the encouragement!

My gift is sarcasm. Deal with it!


*actually, would I still be a man if I said I liked your poetry?

[Storyteller]

Story: Gifts... I wonder what mine is, all the time. Only thing I can come up with is this, writing. Writing is something I do, all the time, its like breathing to me. So maybe I need to learn to use it.

Annette, I can tell you that one of your gifts is the gift of encouragement. You are a light on this forum!

Matthew 5:15

See? I just think.. I'm me, how is that encouraging?
I just am.
A light?
Awesome, humbling and scary.
I know nothing really.
Except I love and trust God.
Wanna be more Christ like and yet know I will never, can never be. Not in this life anyway.
But one day

Yes, your gift is not poetry*. Stick to the encouragement!

My gift is sarcasm. Deal with it!


*actually, would I still be a man if I said I liked your poetry?

Will do

And yes you would, especially as Im not sure its poetry

[Storyteller]

Grace.

By the grace of God I know I am saved, the moment I accept Christ. Sure works are part of it, the bigger picture, the plan but they dont count towards salvation. How can they? You cant measure them. We all sin. Thats the point. Try as we might, we wil still sin. We are human. Its in our nature, to sin. So we cant redeem ourselves. Not through works but through belief and faith.

[1over137]

Annette, you have two very great gifts.
I will not tell them now.
It is best for you to realize that youself.

[Storyteller]

Annette, you have two very great gifts.
I will not tell them now.
It is best for you to realize that youself.

Ah, but Hana, I only ever see my shortcomings. And I have plenty of those

But thank you xx

To be honest, I`m not sure I want to know what my gifts are, if I`m aware of them, I`m afraid that somehow, it will diminish them. Is that silly?

It`s enough to know that you think I have them

I love you Hana

[Philip]

Story: To be honest, I`m not sure I want to know what my gifts are, if I`m aware of them, I`m afraid that somehow, it will diminish them. Is that silly?

As they are GOD'S gifts, why would you not want to know what they are, to better understand them, of how God has gifted you, of areas He has equipped you in for a purpose to USE them. You cannot diminish your gifts, you can only neglect them, or fail to use them.

[Storyteller]

Story: To be honest, I`m not sure I want to know what my gifts are, if I`m aware of them, I`m afraid that somehow, it will diminish them. Is that silly?

As they are GOD'S gifts, why would you not want to know what they are, to better understand them, of how God has gifted you, of areas He has equipped you in for a purpose to USE them. You cannot diminish your gifts, you can only neglect them, or fail to use them.

Good point Philip.

Okay, what do you guys think they are then?
I hesitate in asking because I don`t want it to be a kind of Oh, lets make ST feel good. I genuinely don`t see what my gifts are. I know that test showed them as faith, giving and mercy (which I think are wonderful gifts to have, I just gotta believe I possess them now ).
them
Yes, I want to know what they are so I can use them. I want to put them to good use. I just don`t know what they are. I always considered myself as tolerant, is that one?

[1over137]

explore yourself without putting yourself down

[Storyteller]

I explore myself all the time, it`s doing it without putting myself down that`s the tricky bit!

It`s so much easier to see my faults and I am wary of self praise. But yeah, maybe I shold be kinder to myself.

I am great.
I am loving.
I am wise.
I am faithful.

Nah.

I`ll work on it

[1over137]

yes, work on it
nothing of those 4 things i had in my mind

[Storyteller]

yes, work on it
nothing of those 4 things i had in my mind

Now you`re just teasing me