u/ZookeepergameFar2653

So… there was this man, his name is Jake Lang, and he led some march in Dearborn MI, called it Crusaders March for Jesus, but he is also against Muslims. I heard him in a video where he went on a rant inside the church, holding a cross, going off about Muslims, “invading” the US, as well as said things that were not accurate, and then proceeded to do the same thing in this city. Why was he even there? Why were all those people there? He uses Jesus’ name, BUT I was grieved. And in my praying, I don’t know why, but Matthew 19:13-15 came to mind. I think maybe bc no one thinks about the kids in all this, but also the last verse Jesus laid hands on them and walked away. What if this man had gone up there and brought food and water, offered blessings, prayer, TO the Muslims, instead of coming purely to try to get them angry? This is not the Jesus way!
It is pro American not to try to run off these Muslims. It is pro American not to keep Muslims from running for office. It is pro American to support their religious rights. So why is the presence of Muslims living in this country being seen as Anti American?

I am Independent, left leaning socially and right leaning morally, and I just don’t know how to fit in with my church that seems to mostly be republicans, pro life, against gay marriage, pro Israel, scared of Muslims, scared of social reform, and ignorant of immigration. I am not one to sit in an echo chamber so I end up seeing both sides of an argument many times and make my position based on this. What this means is I’m often vocal about certain injustices that many in my church don’t realize are. My husband and I will be leading a home group. I waited a long time to be friends with people from my church on social media bc I am outspoken about things. I’m still a very nice person and don’t make face to face interactions political but when it comes to people being mistreated, I speak up. I feel like this becomes a hindrance to close relationships in my church which is sad, but I won’t pretend. What about you? It seems like for many the Republican Party is the party Christians gravitate to but if you don’t, how do you handle it?

My husband and I are not extreme on either side or even on either side, but I read a lot from both sides, and he doesn’t bc he doesn’t have time for all that. His algorithm will show the things that are more conservative, bc we both lean that way. But the thing is, he has certain opinions about things based on that that he’s either not getting the whole picture or he’s getting the wrong picture. However I also appreciate our conversations bc he will also keep me more balanced in certain areas. I think we both kind of do this. But the issue we don’t see eye to eye on is to me a deep Christian issue too. We love each other very much and I won’t let politics divide us, but we are Christians first, so I feel like we should always start there. I won’t argue but I just tell him there’s more to this than he thinks. And I leave it at that.
Let’s say the topic was abortion, it’s not. But that is one of those fundamental differences that I wonder how couples who don’t agree navigate that.

There’s been a lot of talk about Medicare for all in the US lately. And while I too love the idea, I have to wonder how feasible it is to do in a country of this size. It’s easy to say we need it. We do. It’s harder to make it happen.
Could another solution be the government regulates healthcare industry so they can’t be gouging people and each other the way they have? Bring the pricing back down to something more affordable. I’m sure Obamacare and the subsidies helped create this mess as well. I don’t see a lot of talk about how subsidies can actually increase prices.
What other solution is there? It is entirely greed that these private insurance companies brag about their profit while using AI to deny the insured.
My son was paying $600 per month for his wife, along with a $3,500 yearly deductible. So when she finally needed to go see a doctor, she couldn’t get the help she needed, bc the breathing test was going to be $800. That’s outrageous and it’s an outrage.

It seems like yesterday I was asking my family if they watched this show bc I had just started watching it. And now I’m in season 4 at the end. It’s just too good. I see why they said they stopped watching after the COVID stuff, bc I’ve not loved season 4 as much, but I do love the med cases none the less. At first the character annoyed me, but he really grew on me and I love his quirks and antics. If you ever seen rain man, you’ll understand why he reminds me of him.

Thoughts can be powerful. They can trigger things. Even sinful things. Coming back to reality is good. If something is disobedient, that thought must be taken, and obedience must follow instead.
I struggle sometimes, not often, bc I have memories of a sinful long term relationship that made me feel really good, that felt very easy, but was sinful and more or less in fantasy.
So when I have a thought enter my mind, making me think of how good it was, I am then reminded of the sin, the sin God rescued me from, and how bc of that it will also never be right. And then I thank God for rescuing me, and start praying for and thanking God for what I have today, which is a right and good relationship God has blessed me with when I did not deserve it.
His grace and mercy was getting me out of the sinful relationship and giving me something better than I ever imagined was possible.

I’ve asked myself this question bc I don’t think it’s the need society and churches try to make it out to be. I don’t think it’s bc it’s what a man needs.
No one really needs sex. They need to feel loved, wanted, accepted, desired, worthy, etc…
Sex does fulfill that need though, and once married, I think it is the best way to be the closest of all! Like to want to be with my husband and not go too long without sex, isn’t bc it’s the only way we are close. But we are closest in sex, so I start to crave THAT closeness. And he does as well.
So to newly married couples, sex might not even be a priority at all. They might already have enough closeness that they won’t feel a need for it. And if they don’t want to have children yet either, then sex being the cherry, they can go without the cherry and have a thriving and healthy marriage.
The Bible doesn’t give us the nuances to married couples, drive and trauma and other things which can mean sex is lower on the totem pole.
It should be a part of a marriage, but it’s not a big part. I think once you do start having sex, and you know that closeness, you don’t want to stop though.

I’ve been observing many posts for a while now on social media and I can see how many Christians have really lost their way in many ways when it comes to how they think the government should be run. And they surrender their Christ centered view for a political loyalty. I don’t want to do that.
Recent case in point, is a claim that is highly likely false, stated that Elon musk was going to come after Fauci’s home and evict him and I had a Christian friend thank God for this.
What?! If we start with Jesus first politics, we should see this to be a vengeful act, even though it’s likely fake, but taken at face value, if it was true, it’s seeking revenge.
How can Christians support that just bc they are mad at Fauci?
What would change if people who say they follow Jesus put Jesus first instead of political loyalty? It should really change a lot of things for the Republican Party. I will tell you that much.

Spoiler: She said it’s weird he had the drawer that has a lost and found and weird she had plastics to serve food on, and I think it’s weird that this made her angry. I understood why he didn’t throw out the lost and found stuff before he even explained it. He was being real and wanting her to see who he was before he met her. How could she not realize that? Maybe it’s bc I’m more mature than she is that I got it but dang. That scene was hard to watch. Yikes!

When I read about the early church, Paul doesn’t tell them to judge the outside, but leave that to God. Paul doesn’t tell them to try to get the outside to pursue holiness but calls the church to do so. He says to judge inside the church, not the outside. So I’m not going to voice my views about anything political anymore. I’m going to pray, pray for the leaders, pray for the country, pray that more people come to know Jesus. I’m going to talk to those around me, in my own coming and going and relationships, leading first with the love for God and love for others. And when I see injustice on the outside happening, I will just pray about that too. Hopefully the secular people will stand against the injustice too. I’m going to let them figure it out. And I’m going to stay in the background and pray. Christians have not helped anything in this country when it comes to politics and may even be actually causing more harm than good. So I am no longer going to vote for people, vote for issues. People might not think this is right or even being a good steward of my rights given by the country to vote. Oh well. I won’t change everyone’s minds, but I have changed my own. The church was much better off when it was being persecuted and the goal was just to survive and tell people about Jesus. The church got worse when it rose to political power. They killed people for not believing the right things. They put them under house arrest for heresy as well. Shame on them.
The church was involved in justifying slavery, horrible slavery, shame on them.
The church is responsible for pushing circumcision of baby boys in this country, to prevent masturbation and in the name and guise of hygiene.
The church put women in prison for affairs. And the church made homosexuality a punishable crime. The church approved of burning people bc they thought they were witches.
And NONE of this, happened when they were less than, and were persecuted. We are not meant to have the power bc this world is not our home. This kingdom we behold is not of this world. We are just passing through. God alone is responsible for the judgement of unbelievers, not us. Our job is to reason with them about the gospel and do it with gentleness and respect.

My husband works hard during the week, he does, but I think it’s more than that as to the reason that he doesn’t want to go anywhere on the weekends. Now he WILL do it, for me, but I just feel bad bc I wish that he wanted to as well. I don’t want it to be obligatory but I definitely can’t do it without him as I don’t drive. But not only that I want to be with him. Just wondering who else deals with this?

If people take advantage of this and max it out year after year along with their employers, the claim is a child at 18 could have $300,000.
But you’d have to give close to $500 every month for 18 years. And your employer would have to give $2500 per year for 18 yrs.
I like this idea.

I am very sad about this, and I thought we had turned a corner, but he has repeatedly treated me rudely when he sees a comment I make on social media. I have even censored him from seeing any post I think might upset him, but I can’t control comments he sees from me on pages. This has definitely hurt our friendship, and I just hate it. He’s red til dead, I guess is how he explains it.
He told me he was at odds with his liberal family members and I assumed it was bc of them, but being on the receiving end of his stuff, I am thinking he’s the one more closed off. And he posts some of the most ridiculous things about Democrats and I don’t say a thing. But if I express my own view, something actually true, we just disagree on the topic, he comes at me, so unkindly. I wanted to say something about it bc it’s happened multiple times. But my husband said I missed my window so I have to wait til the next time he comes at me. I don’t even want that. I want the friendship we were enjoying before he got dumb again. It makes me sad. Share your stories now politics has harmed your relationships.

We recently got a dry erase board for our fridge and we write love notes on it. It’s been such a blessing! I go to bed after he does and he leaves before I get up so it’s such a joy to wake up to!

Who does he think he is, assaulting a younger man bc he didn’t stand for the national anthem? My goodness! I saw the video and it made me so mad. These old men bullies need to stop it. No one has to stand and forcing someone to stand when they don’t want to is so UN American. You can encourage, request, but you can’t force. The character of the young man shown through though bc he didn’t press charges or even ask him to be removed. I think that old man should be arrested for what he did.

I have been seeing on my social media, dismissive, rude, and downright toxic posts about wives who call their husbands leader. They say the wife is brainwashed and oppressed and the husband is weilding the gospel as a weapon and using it to assert power.
Now bc I know this happens, I’m not minimizing that fact. But to judge the wives as brainwashed victims and the husbands as being the above, is just disgusting to me.
I CHOSE to submit. I’m not brainwashed by anyone to do it. I guess it’s more in my nature, but as I’ve matured, I’ve actually grown in my choice to submit to my husband, he leads our family, bc he’s good at it! I trust him! I’m not stupid. I’m not naive. I’m not weak. I’m not a victim. I am not oppressed either. I’m actually STRONGER, LOUDER, and MORE opinionated, even though I still choose submission. His leadership didn’t take away my voice, my feelings, my thoughts, my opinions, but he did make my life so much easier!
I’ve known both sides of this. But I want to hear from the wives, who are strong, who are wise, smart women, who also acknowledge their husbands as a godly leader.

His new wife, has been raised in a misogynistic household, and it’s brought some trauma to her. As a result she is even more proactive than I am when it comes to words and things. Now I am also one to buck the system, but I’ve got the wisdom too, she doesn’t have yet.
But she has also opened my eyes to things, as to just how often women come second to men.
For example, Mr and Mrs, husband and wife, the man’s name before the wife’s name. Sometimes the wife’s name is left out completely, like Mr and Mrs John Smith.
The flip side of this is that my son came second in the wedding in almost every way, except for when the officiate did the wedding. Almost everything had her name first, which really is okay. But it just made me wonder, someone’s name has to come first, why is it so often the man’s name first? And how can two people navigate this so that the other one never feels second fiddle?

I was thinking about buying a house, but with these taxes and high market, I’d be paying over $2,000 a month on a $200,000 house which is just absurd.
$600 per month just for real estate taxes!
I’m baffled how this happened and what the benefit is.
I grew up in Missouri and my friends are paying about $150 per month for their real estate taxes on the same housing cost.
I’m a teacher so I’m not moving but I also didn’t want to rent forever.

I’m just curious about something. For those who wait til marriage for sex, how hard is it to make the switch? When you have to have self control and set up these boundaries to not touch each other in certain ways and to not lust, I would imagine for some, there’s not a switch that happens just bc you’re married. I want to hear from those who waited. How did you know you had that sexual chemistry? Sex being an important part of a marriage but not most important, I imagine for some, they waited a bit after marriage for sex, right? It’s a gift, a blessing, not an obligation.

I have never considered myself a Republican. But I have voted almost straight Republican, through many voting cycles. Why? Bc I believed in the good the people I voted for, and they aligned with much of my morals, especially being pro life. I can never celebrate the deaths of the unborn nor condone killing them as no big deal.
However, more and more I find myself agreeing with more from the Democrats than the Republicans. I have always drawn the line for not voting for a pro choice candidate bc of the evil of abortion. But there is also evil from the Republicans that are not pro life either. So I find myself rejecting Republican candidates now bc of this just as I had rejected Democrat ones.
I actually like social programs. Bc I see what happens when countries don’t care about their people. I do not think 2nd amendment is good for us and needs to be rewritten. I agree with having borders, strong borders, but not with the evil which has repeatedly taken place in the enforcement. I AM pro life, but think Republicans who are, need to have a STRONG contraception campaign, then. I am not pro LGBTQ, and have seen a lot of evil come out of that movement especially as it pertains to children. I am not anti Muslim, as I believe they also have a right to exercise THEIR religion as long as it doesn’t violate laws, and these Republican politicians going after them, is certainly anti Christian. I am pro women’s rights and equality and oppose ideas like household voting. And I definitely think the Republican side can do better to celebrate the individuality and strength of women.
So now I find myself in a bit of a voting crisis. Do I vote for the pro choice candidate bc of all the other things I agree with? Or the pro life one who has a ton of other things I don’t agree with?