Went to church for the first time in a very long time tonight. It felt wonderful.
I used to go to a local church for 10 years but toward the last few years things started getting bad and many people ended up leaving because of what can only be described as a negative & divisive spirit that was wide spread. However I stayed bc I made a promise that I wouldn't leave until I felt the need and the "ok" to do it in my heart. Well the last few weeks I started feeling like I was being separated from the place and it became more an obligation than a joy to go. During a class for young adults (I think I was 18-19 then) we were talking about issues surrounding the church (universally) that would keep people from wanting to become a Christian and would have others to leave the church.
I had been there for many years and even held a position at the church so I thought I was free to speak my mind. I told the class that doctrine is not what's important but that it's openness and the persons' personal relationship with God that is. That the interpretation of the Bible should be left up to the individual and that denominations have caused a great many problems, all based on their different doctrines; many of which have nothing to do with actual salvation.
I was asked to not return.
So I stopped going and attended a few other churches for a few years but then bc of my health and other things I pretty much just stopped going. I knew it was wrong but I just couldn't bring myself to possibly endure getting kicked out of another church.
Well this past week I've been getting sick (after a month of being totally fine) and it started to really get to me, bad.
My mom, brother & his 2 kids started going back to this church at the first of the year. She wanted me to go but of course I said no. But after doing some talking & thinking and realizing that being stuck at home is no way to lead your life, especially as a Christian so I decided to go to the night service tonight, despite feeling pretty bad.
It felt incredibly good to go and I'm fairly sure that things are totally different there now, in a positive way. They have a new pastor (who used to be the TN superintendent for this particular denomination). I learned that today's morning service actually had the highest attendance in the churches entire 30yr history and that the church had its income increase massively, even though the economy is bad, all in the last year or so. A church wont grow like this unless they're doing something right.
Like I said I had a wonderful time and even cried a bit. I intend on going back every Sunday night.
I treasure all my friends but I've got to say I really enjoy being able to have straight, male friends with whom I (and they) can talk about anything, including "exploits" without any awkwardness. I say "there was this boy" and he says "this chick was soo hot" and the convo is easy and you couldn't tell there were any differences between us except for the noun used.
Of course other gay guys & I, and some girls can have our "girl talk" but there's something a bit special about having that same ability with a true friend who's also straight. That doesn't exist very often, at least not in my life. So for the 2 hetero male friends I've got (that we chat about everything), thanks. (even though only 1 is on here lol)
Any suggestions??
Ok, I'm a writer (what you didn't know?) and I've been wanting to write a number of articles dealing with equal rights, the economy, religion and politics. However as is often the case I just can't seem to get all the thoughts in my head to come together and form something worth saying and I'm also having motivation issues.
Now the way I write is generally inspiration based. The longest it's ever taken me to research & write anything be it a 10 line poem or 7 page paper on the nature of quantum mechanics has been like 5 hours...max. They pretty much write themselves and if I don't already know the specific facts it's not that difficult for me to find them or to run the equations.
But like I said I'm having issues getting the dam to break so to speak.
What tricks do you have for organising your thoughts, putting them on paper and finding the proper motivation? I'd love you for any help :)
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Passion.
What holds strongest in your heart.
Lately for me its the disapointment i have in our government. And the sadness I have that my grandfathers have died needlessly to get our freedoms from England that now to be so loosely be handed away. That so many have there heads firmly planted in the sands and so blinded of what is happening. I so run on. lol But ya get the point. :)
Hope my 2 cents helps some. :)
well, sometimes the words just don't happen. Being a student, I have to write 'to order' so to speak and there are times that I don't 'feel' the subject.
What has worked for me in the past is, I just write...write anything I can think of on the topic. I leave the writing for a moment or two and do something entirely different. The brain works away in the background and when I have been stuck for the right words in the past, as I am busy doing other stuff, my brain has begun to organise what it is I wanted to say. I find that I can go back to my writing (that I want to go back to my writing) and the words just seem to flow for me then.
I also prefer to leave my writing til the last minute, I prefer to be challenged to complete everything on time despite being short of time, but then thats does not work for everyone.
Question, 2 months ago Obama was hitting all time lows in public opinion and yet today his ratings are rising despite the continued economic, jobs, military, ethical and "promises" problems.
What happened?
Everyone loves him now all bc he made a speech about the assassination attempt?
I think I'm missing something here.
Doubting a persons belief system or asking for proof (when they do the very same thing) isn't disrespectful. It's called logical discourse and in my opinion anyone who can't see that and believes being questioned is the same as disrespect either doesn't understand their own beliefs or just doesn't care that they could be an idiot.
You can believe anything you want but in order for you to not be a cool-aid drinking cult follower you should have enough info to be able to back up your claims. Heck you might even find that others want to join you. But if you have no evidence then who cares and have fun being a "flat earther".
Just personally I don't understand how anyone could believe anything or defend something when they lack any real facts or evidence. I also don't get anyone who would shy away from answering honest and sincere questions. I love it when people ask me about my beliefs and enjoy being able to give proof of it even if they disagree. Thats how ideas are spread and people grow. But if you get offended or shriek away from questions then there's not much respect I could have for your ideas and even less from others.
Not that my God or your goddess or other object of belief needs defending but a person I'd imagine would be proud to say "hey, this is why...". And if you're not that proud then why believe anything?
Of course not everyone is as vocal as I can be nor as passionate about the things he/she believes in. I mean my journal is full of religious, scientific and political entries but there are some who think what they think and just don't care that it could be wrong or right. Maybe that's not it, maybe they're just afraid.
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I hear ya Zav.I really do.
If this is about what I stated in the forum- I wasn't pointing out anyone. We have a rule there about being condescending towards other people's beliefs. We have to keep that order there.
lol no silly it's not. There was only 1 person I recall who was being mean and it wasn't myself or sparing partner.
Good, 'cause I was speaking generally. I heard some complaints... so I posted there.
i find that when debating on ones faith many people tend to take things personal,i also think many religions are based on historic accounts rather than modern day evdidence,in the end i think its faith alone that the person relies on but that can be just the same as having blind faith ya know.
Is it a good thing to turn a friend into a slut? lol
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As a homo I like boys and boobs make me giggle, nothing more. That being the case breasts have long made me wonder "what the heck!?" and although I know a lot about anatomy I gotta admit I'm no tit expert.
So question, how common is it for a chick in her 20s to have ever growing boobs even when her weight hasn't changed much over the years at all?
A few years ago my friend had D sized and then 38 DD and now she's a 40 DDD (no joke).
Which leaves us both begging the question "What's up?"
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Maybe she's like my friend. All the weight she should've gained through eating goes straight to her boobs.
It happens. :P
Lots of things can affect the growth.
Or so I was told. O.o
All I know is, I love my 42E's. They suit my body.
But, if she's gone from a 38 to a 40 band-size, then her weight has changed. The letter is the cup size, and the number is the band size. The band size does affect the cup size, though. For instance, my band size should really be a 38, but the 38E cup is too small. So I get the 42 and close it on the smallest setting.
And remember that fat weighs less, so if she's not active then the atrophy of muscle combined with gaining weight it would equate same weight and larger breasts.
"As a homo I like boys and boobs make me giggle"
HAHA! Fuck I love you! If I wasn't straight I'd totally jump you.
That... That was a beautiful thing to read. *wipes tear*
Just playing on Facebook, working on Galaxyzoo.com (should try it out/not a game) and hoping that the thread I've been in this week on here actually produces some real evidence that astrology is anything more than pseudo-science.
I am sooo happy right now. I sent a revised version of my letter regarding the Rover bus system to everyone in city gov that has a hand in transportation, finances, city council etc on Monday. Then today I get a reply from the transportation director telling me that he's posted a notice on the city's website stating that the bus system will continue to run for the foreseeable future and that no matter what happens to its federal funding they will keep it.
The thing takes up 1/2 of the whole damn page lol. It's awesome. I be a happy boy now :D
You do know it's not nice to talk about classified information or to ask someone to tell you some lol.
I had a great night last night until the last 45 minutes or so. I was with a friend in a parking lot around 2 AM talking (as I've done many times before) and right as I was starting the car to leave & take him home a cop came up.
My friend didn't have his ID and is 16 (I've known him & his family for 10 years, dad knew what we were doing etc). So the cop told us to get out of the car, handcuffed me, frisked us both and then 2 other cop cars came up. The other 2 searched my car.
It's 16 degrees outside and neither one of us had our coats on so we were freezing.
They grill us together and separately. The 2nd cop took me back to his car and started asking me a bunch of questions and was suggesting that I was basically a predator. Then I went back to the other cop, freezing, asked if I could sit back in mine (still cuffed) he said no so he took me to his car, stuck me in the back & shut the door. It was soooo uncomfy.
After a while he let me out, took the cuffs off & let me and my friend get our coats. We all talked for a bit more and they had him call his dad who of course told the cops I was allowed to be with him and that everything was fine. Then they let us go.
I was sooo f*ing scared. What really freaked me out though was the fact that if they had shown up a few minutes earlier I coulda gone to jail for a few. We were talking about his mom (who died last yr) and I had my arm around him(like I did at the actual funeral w 150ppl around). So that coulda been hard to make a cop understand that I wasn't doing something weird.
Until then I had never been taken out of my car, never cuff'd, never frisked or searched..or in the back of a cruiser. And I'm super glad I wasn't wearing some major gay outfit lol.
So yeah, fun stuff. I don't blame them (there had been a few robberies in that area recently) but it still did freak me out a lot, almost threw up after they left.
Aside from that I had a great time & my young friend acted wonderfully & didn't seem to nervous.
We saw "Tron" and I was disappointed. Wasn't as good as I thought it would be.
COMMENTS
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Selkie
14:09 Jan 31 2011
Glad for you that you are happy to have found your place there again.