Lately they’ve been saying at the drive thru after the usual greeting, “Would you like to try one of our breakfast burritos?” and every time I have to be like “no thanks” or “not today” I feel guilty (for absolutely no reason lol) but I just wanna ask, how often do customers actually decide “Actually sure I’ll try one, what are the options?”
i edited a post and it got removed bc i mentioned a certain çitrus fruit
personally i think its racist
What’s your fav food item from BR? Is the grilled cheese good?
Is there scripture in the Bible that you interpret to mean
I’m kinda young in the faith. I have switched between sides on the OSAS (once saved, always saved) debate. But, rather than arguing from one side or trying to reach a definite conclusion on whether somebody can lose their salvation, I’m addressing one specific nuance in the debate to see different views on that. My main questions are emphasized in bold below - for the purpose of the discussion, I want to keep it to just the Bible and your study of the scripture.
I agree and disagree with many ideas on both sides. I’ve seen strong arguments for both sides and even stronger counterarguments to those arguments. On the two extremes, one side tends toward easy-believism/hyper-grace, the other toward legalism/works-based salvation. I’m not saying that most people on either side reflect these, but they certainly do exist, and both are horrible.
There’s something really big on the OSAS side that I have always grappled with, ever since the day I was born again. OSAS proponents often say that, in Christ, you are “forgiven for your past, present, and future sins,” and they reason that, because Jesus said “It is finished” and that He died once and for all, this means that when you got saved, you were forgiven of ALL your transgressions, including ALL your past and ALL your future sins, removed from you as far as the east is from the west.
OSAS opponents say that yes, we are saved by grace through faith (justified apart from works of the law and it is the gift of God not of our own doing lest any man should boast xyz hijklmnop etc. etc. etc.), justified for our past sins, but we are called to a life of repentance because there is no forgiveness without repentance. They will also argue that there is no clear scriptural basis for forgiveness of future sins.
Here’s my thoughts. Regardless whether I hold the belief that I am forgiven of all my future sin, it feels like believing it implies that I don’t need to have as much culpability. Mind you, I’ve heard a famous evangelical YouTuber say that we don’t need to say the “Forgive us our trespasses” part of the Lord’s Prayer because we wouldn’t need to ask God’s forgiveness as Christians if He has forgiven us our past, present, and future sins. Girl what???? At the same time, there are scriptures that baffle me, like: For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified (Hebrews 10:14, NKJV). What does that actually mean and how is it reconciled with either side of the debate? “Has perfected” (past tense) and “being sanctified” (present participle)? Why do some versions just say those who are sanctified/holy (KJV, NASB, NIV, and RSV) while some say those who are BEING sanctified/made holy (NKJV, ESV, NLT)? So I don’t know what to make of this, among many other verses. My position won’t change the fact that I want to live with integrity and faithfulness and loyalty to God, offer my body a living sacrifice to the best I can and give Him what He paid for.
Yes I’m aware this debate can go into the territory of venial/mortal sin and cooperation with grace and Catholic and Protestant views of the sacraments and stuff, but I’m mainly curious about the scriptural arguments and how people interpret them, not about reaching a conclusion. Invoking authority and tradition outside the Bible makes these discussions much more complicated (of course, I love the debate on sola scriptura, but I’m just not calling for it here). This is why I’m asking to keep it to the Bible; I’m mainly curious about how people individually interpret the Bible as the basis for each side of the OSAS debate.
I asked for “no ice” and got a ton of ice 🤦♂️ and the second pic is how much drink there is after taking all the ice out. A scam especially for the large. But yeah yellow edition red bull with toasted mallow flavor was nice.
I thought the main theme of the first mvt of Bach’s Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 was so stupid the first few times I heard it and now it’s like one of my top 10 pieces, didi da da da da DAAAA da DEE didi DEE didi DEE didi da DEEEEEE…
Same for the Italian Concerto first theme because of the Eb in the third measure (crucify me). Would that be considered an English cadence or whatever? Also the real star of the show is the second mvt imo, I ADORE the D major right before the final minor resolution
Truly nothing and nobody can satisfy like God. Real contentment and wholeness that only comes from walking with Jesus and being continually renewed by the Holy Spirit, and there’s nothing quite like it.
It breaks my heart that people do everything they can to get a hold of drugs for a temporary sense of euphoria - a high that will never even come close to the supernatural joy and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding - just to leave you feeling even worse.
There’s things only God can heal and there’s a deep satisfaction that only He can give.
“I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” John 6:35
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12
He will take your burdens (Matt. 11:28-30). You have freedom from shame in Christ (Rom. 8:1-4). In Him we have hope, joy, and peace (Rom. 15:13). The joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh. 8:10). We are more than conquerors through Christ (Rom. 8:37).
>!Half the reason I’m posting this is because if I get spiritually dry and forget that I was ever Christian or whatever, I have this to look back on to remind me that yes Jesus is real He is everything I ever wanted and needed. I’m currently riding out a high from going a little deeper in my relationship with God and an epiphany with the Gospel!< >!!< >!btw if future me is reading this and you’re not walking with Christ, you BEST turn around and run to God but don’t worry cuz He meets you and wants to draw close to you (Luke 11:15-32, Luke 19:10, James 4:8)….. but also, idiot!<
I got Bestie status for the first time and I’m debating whether to make like 6 more visits with a $1 purchase of mini donuts to bring it to Ride-or-Die.
Are the “special deals” still horrible and not special at all? Are the special deals for Ride-or-Die actually different or any better than the ones for Bestie? How often do these special deals appear? Scooter’s needs to make this thing a lot longer than one month lol
Hi. As a 24yo man who’s dealt with SSA and experienced a lot of liberation in my identity since coming to Christ, I just have so many questions and would like to see if anyone has any insight to offer.
Many people who are same-sex attracted report that they’ve always felt that way. Many of whom have never experienced opposite-sex attraction, not in the slightest. Sometimes they can identify an “awakening” to the same sex, such as seeing a character on TV. Some people report opposite-sex attraction but experience SSA at some point and can trace it back to something, often in childhood - neglect or abuse (including SA or verbal abuse), bullying, or whatever things that were either said or done that affected self-perception, etc.
The rates of poor mental health and su1c1de are significantly higher for those who experience SSA. Not to mention higher rates of drug use and engagement in risky and destructive lifestyles, and monogamous marriage is not as highly valued.
I’m not here to debate whether SSA is spiritually neutral or whether the experience of SSA in and of itself is unholy. I want to make the point that the experience of SSA and having identity issues related to SSA is often the "gateway" into a lot of sin and darkness. In many cases, people who deal with SSA get sucked into porn, party culture, drugs, and hookup culture. These are just generalizations. I’m not denying that heterosexuals have the same vices, but hypersexuality in LGBT spaces tends to be on another level that leads people to seek more and more depraved means of sexual gratification and quickly develop a seared conscience. In LGBT metropolises, it's the norm for people to need alcohol and drugs just to feel something. Because SSA is like this huge spiritual disadvantage or stumbling block that seems to drive people down paths of death so easily, I have a hard time reconciling the nature of this issue with faith that God is in control.
If I can just speak on my own behalf for a second, SSA is terrible. Does anybody actually truly love being gay? Not once have I ever enjoyed it. There’s nothing fun about feeling like there’s a veil that prevents you from socializing with straight men (I can’t with the frat lingo and the handshakes and the sports trucks beer pong fishing country music crap) and getting teased and family members telling you to “stop acting like that.” I never asked to have effeminate demeanor and tendencies (yes I know this isn’t the case with all men with SSA and gay doesn’t equate to feminine).
I personally don’t think I was even traumatized or abused or anything; I just know that a few weeks after I came to Christ and had a radical born-again experience, inexplicably I started having the experience of romantic and sexual attraction to the opposite sex. The SSA didn’t go away though, and it’s frustrating. BUT, the fact that I started experiencing opposite-sex attraction and having what feels like the “natural” way that a man’s mind is SUPPOSED to feel like is absolutely nuts to me. It just felt NATURAL. Women are meant for men and men are meant for women. My mind was blown. And the craziest part, I started feeling such a PURE romantic and physical attraction to and a real fascination with women, whereas with attraction to men, it was ALWAYS lustful and perverted and I had the most raunchy fantasies. It is just not fair that for most of my life I couldn’t feel secure in my identity as a man. If I wasn’t convinced before, I am now 1000% convinced that SSA is a spiritual oppression. As in, demons cause these identity issues manifesting in sexual attraction to the same sex. I have indeed heard testimonies of people who were radically delivered from SSA and gender dysphoria, and even things like body dysmorphia, eating disorders, and OCD. Again, I’m not here to debate anyone on whether these things are spiritual. The devil probably has more ways of oppressing and tormenting people than we are aware of.
Once I talked to a pastor about the spiritual aspects of SSA. He agreed that it was spiritual and very much a spirit of death because Satan hates God’s seed and does not want humans to populate or something like that, and he referenced the first commandment God spoke, which was to be fruitful and multiply. I asked why SSA could be a thing for people like me in particular; I couldn’t identify a moment in my early life that made me "turn gay" or whatever. I feel like I was just always that way since the first time I began to experience any type of sexual attraction; I never recalled feeling opposite-sex attraction whatsoever in childhood. He said it could be something generational that passed down.
>![On that, I’ll go on a little tangent. I’m not sure how true this is, but in a Pentecostal church I’ve been going to, I heard one testimony of an African woman who became very ill around 50 years old(?), and her lineage had a history of ancestors getting deathly ill at this age. She was getting deliverance and the minister asked how the demon entered. The demon said that it entered through the slave ships/slave trade. It’s a common teaching in the charismatic world that demons can enter through resentment, abuse, and trauma, and that repentance for ancestral sins can be necessary for breaking generational curses. I don't think this is biblical (if anyone can point out supporting scriptures, I'd be interested) but I have heard DOZENS of testimonies of people who experience a lot of spiritual darkness in their life who say that it was generational, whether it was due to witchcraft in the culture and lineage, addictions that have remained in the family line, etc. so there’s probably some reality to the concept of generational curses. But anyway, just wanted to make an acknowledgment of this because it seems so prevalent in the area of spiritual warfare.]!<
Whatever the case… why? Just why? God could prevent SSA, right? It's not something people choose. SSA caused me so much depression, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, destroyed my life and my sense of self-worth. I know that for many people, it's much more nuanced than just experiencing sexual attraction to the same sex; it's a very profound identity issue that psychologically we're still trying to understand. There are MANY stories of people who experienced some kind of trauma that caused SSA, and then they acted out that brokenness and identity confusion in all sorts of destructive means like addictions and stuff, and it often leads to death. Yes, I am being rebuilt and my life is being restored, slowly and bit by bit, praise God… but just why in the first place? People are taking their lives because they feel hopeless and would rather be dead than be alive gay. I know I contemplated that a lot myself before spiritually encountering the light of the world and no longer walking in darkness. For all the years before that, I asked, “why couldn’t I just be normal?” In the present, I find myself telling God, “just make me asexual,” when I’m struggling with lust. It's easy for people with testimonies of a transformed life in Christ to say that God doesn't waste any of our suffering, but the fact of the matter is that there are so many young kids suffering destruction to their identity in so many ways out of their control, leading to a life of so much depression and confusion and feeling lost and ultimately ending in death, physically and spiritually. As Christians we also believe that it's extremely easy to be on a wide path to destruction without even realizing it because people are literally blinded to the light of God by the devil. So it's like you can be on the wide path whether you actively chose it or the devil had some kind of foothold in your life through traumatic events and whatnot. I’ve heard people say, “Demons enter through portals and open doors, and if there isn’t proper protection over them, the enemy seeks whom he may devour.” Do the people who say this realize that this literally doesn’t provide any answer as to why God doesn't seem to be intervening in the occurrence of unwanted SSA?
I know it's God's will that none should perish but all should come to repentance and that God does intervene mightily; He did with me. It was very much: I had a reprobate mind and was completely oblivious to the depth of the darkness I was in (sexual perversion, corn addiction, fornication) until I was born again in a spiritual encounter with God and I saw myself as I truly was, a sinner in the sight of God. I am so grateful that I was radically saved out of it, that Jesus took my shame, and that from that day forward I have had a conviction and disgust of sexual impurity and a hunger for the righteousness of God.
And I know this whole post in essence is the age-old philosophical dilemma of, "Is God truly all good, all loving, all-powerful, all-knowing if all this suffering and abcxyz exists?" I have this burden in my heart for the lost and it’s insane how much spiritual oppression people suffer. I just don’t know why it has to happen and so early in life and why the devil gets to steal, kill, and destroy as much as he does. Yes, God made a way called Jesus, and I found that way (more like He found me), but..... there is just so much dang confusion in the world and few are those who find the way, and I don't know how to cope with the constant dread I have on behalf for most souls, knowing they are not saved, and with the "survivor's guilt," because to be completely honest, it really does feel like luck of the draw that Jesus met me and opened my eyes to everything, considering the amount of confusion and darkening of the mind caused by the "principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places."
I felt it when I first got saved and it made me realize that the Prince of Peace is real. But after that, there would just be moments on random days where out of nowhere I got a burst of that peace or incredible joy. No reason in particular. Not because of prayer, worship, reading the Word, or anything. It just happens and I'm like, thank you God. I have never felt it before knowing Jesus. Is this God's way of reminding us to let Him in to every moment of life?
Today I got an iced Honeycomb latte w/ oat milk. No whip, regular sweetness, less ice. Idk how I never knew the wonders of it before, but the oat milk makes it nice and creamy and the drink itself isn’t too sweet at all, it’s probably the best drink I’ve had this year and a new go-to. I thought the honey flavor would be weird or overbearing, but it’s the perfect balance. (They’re still putting way too much ice in my drink even when I choose less ice in the app though.) What’s a drink you’ve gotten that’s in a class of its own?
When I say rejuvenation, I mean returning to feeling like a little kid again, when you were free and things like depression and anxiety didn’t exist yet, and you weren’t as concerned with finding a purpose or identity but were just able to exist with a spontaneous innocence. It’s like that innocence and purity has been restored to me, like my mind isn’t worried about the overwhelming darkness in the world and I can just sit in peace with nature with a quiet mind and feel like I’m a 7-year-old on the playground again. I felt this way when I first got born again and deeply knew that my sin had been removed.
There were times I fell back into old habits and didn’t walk in the Spirit, and the heaviness of never being able to be satisfied in the flesh would set in. But then, I would repent and then actually feel cleansed and washed by the process of getting the Word in my heart, and I would feel lighter and feel rejuvenated again. It’s peace, joy, innocence, and the confidence of knowing that you belong to God and can trust Him with a childlike faith in all things. There’s nothing quite like it.
definitely these 3 lately:
(the most “lets be best friends forever and stay together til the end” song ever)
(perhaps my fav itzy song)
(even the mv gives me bittersweet nostalgia)
You hear of people who were atheist and became followers of Christ. You hear of people who had a Christian upbringing and then deconstructed. You might also hear of people who were not brought up in a Christian household, then came to faith in Christ for some years, and later deconstructed.
What I don't often hear about is reconstruction, or whatever you may want to call it. How have you, or someone you know, gone through a process of both deconstructing and subsequently "reconstructing faith," whatever that may mean to you?
---
Like, I have personally never heard of someone that one of the following applies to them:
Ex-Christians will say that the dogmas of Christianity can be harmful, particularly when it comes to subjects like the need for a savior and the idea that all things must bow down to one principle and moral giver, the debates around homosexuality and other seemingly grayer moral areas, that Christianity is limiting and extremely damaging to one's personal growth and individuality, the absurdity of the Old Testament stories and the narrative of God's justice and judgment, etc. etc. etc. etc.
Of course, in many cases of people who have deconstructed, there's religious trauma involved, and traumatic experiences do push people away from Christianity, but people who undergo deconstruction do realize that church hurt and hypocrisy is not what reflects God's goodness. I also want to say that deconstruction has a lot of connotations to it, positive and negative, and doesn't necessarily mean walking away from the faith or becoming atheist; it can involve having a lot of unreconciled dilemmas about the faith that make you question the ideological framework of Christianity. That's why I'm putting "reconstructing faith" in quotations, because the practice of faith is different for everybody.
Ricercar a 6… what a piece. It goes to such interesting places harmonically. Hearing it as a string sextet is something else.
What are some of his more harmonically strange pieces? I’ve heard all of the WTC, Musical Offering, and the Art of Fugue and loved all of it.
What is it like when you encounter God’s presence?
I encountered Him while people prayed for me in church.
It felt like the weight of God’s glory fell upon me. I could feel it like a blanket over my body; it’s a little hard to describe, but it’s also almost as if the Earth’s gravity became stronger and it was more difficult to stand upright. It was powerful, yet I could perceive that God was infinitely holy and glorious, so much so that what I was experiencing was a droplet compared to the ocean of His power and I would easily come undone as Isaiah says in his vision in Isaiah 6 with the seraphim. Apparently the Hebrew word used for “glory” more literally means “weight/heaviness.”
Physically it feels like I almost can’t stand in His presence in awe of how glorious He is, yet it also feels like I’m being given the very breath of life and I’m physically and spiritually coming alive, intensely - so intensely that if I didn’t dissociate a little bit, I feel like I probably would’ve been a mess of tears on the floor, or died, or both. There’s several verses in the Bible that talk about God giving us breath and the Spirit “quickening.”
It feels like every cell in my body knows that I was made for glorifying and worshiping in His presence, and praise and gratitude just naturally comes out, and His holy presence changes me from the inside out. It’s joy, it’s peace, it’s healing and makes me whole. I found it hard not to smile while I was talking to the people praying, and all this childlike joy was just coming out. I felt lighter and like all my anxiety is no more, and I could just laugh with ease.
There are other times during either prayer or worship that I feel like golden liquid love is being poured into me. It feels like I’m perfectly transparent and seen and His love washes over me in waves... I’ve only felt an outpouring of His love in this way a few times, but it’s quite euphoric. This kind of experience is great, but I do want to stress the importance of not depending on “feeling” the love of God, but having that deep knowing through reading the Bible that God loves you unconditionally. God’s statement of love is giving His life for you, even while you were yet a sinner. I often don’t “feel” like God loves me (in the sense that I feel distant sometimes) but I KNOW He has always loved me.
There’s even times while I’m reading the Bible that I physically feel rivers of living water flowing out from my core. The living water specifically is something that a few people in my life have also said they experienced, as well as a few people in this subreddit. I feel like everybody has unique experiences as well and I’d love to hear about them.
All glory to the Prince of Peace ✝️
I've heard BWV 225-231 (motets) and will eventually hear all of 232-243 (Latin liturgical works). What are your favorite Bach pieces in BWV 1-224 (cantatas) or 250-438 (chorales)?
I've only now been really listening to Bach's larger works like the motets and passions. The first Kyrie eleison in the Mass in Bm is now my favorite piece of all time. The first few times I tried to listen, I didn't have the right "mindset" to hear it and it just sounded like a jumble of randomness, as can be the case with some of Bach's stuff, especially fugues, if you don't have a certain clarity of mind to hear it flow and grasp his contrapuntal language and follow the harmonic development. But there was a moment where the counterpoint just clicked when I was listening to it in the car. It's like looking into a kaleidoscope and seeing a constantly shifting image of perfect beauty, always defying expectations and moving the depth of the soul. The first chorus in the St. Matthew also.
Edit - thanks for the suggestions that have already been made and for any future suggestion comments
And how exactly did God reveal it to you? I hear stuff all the time about “The Holy Spirit told me x” or “God was telling me y” or “I heard the Lord saying z” and I believe that God does speak to those who know Him and know how to listen to His voice, but I just wanna know what exactly you experience. I’m aware that it can be different for everyone. I have personally only had one time I clearly heard God’s voice and it was confirmed by someone I never met who prophesied over me, but I’ve never manifested a gift of revelation, as in heard God reveal something to me about a person or situation that I couldn’t have known otherwise.
So this sounds absolutely wild to me, and I don’t believe this is biblical. However the Bible is pretty wild itself sometimes (cough Nephilim cough) and witchcraft is definitely real. There are people who engage in demonic activity that causes spiritual oppression, mental and physical illness, etc.
So I was on the Christian ex-witch testimony side of YouTube today. Basically, this person would pray curses over Christian young men at church to be tempted to engage in master of the bay shin to spiritually oppress them or whatever. They say that when a man engages in self-pleasure and “spills his seed” (referencing a dude in Genesis 38 I think? that God punished because he pulled out or something lol) that female demons can somehow get a hold of that DNA and become pregnant from it and have kids, and that those demonic spiritual children make legal claims over you in the spiritual realm and can cause you to be put in a spiritual cage. Something like that.
Can any witches/sorcerers/spiritual seers speak to this? First of all, God is the creator of souls and life and it doesn’t make sense for angels or demons to be able to have children, whether with each other or with humans. Like wouldn’t that be creating a conscious being that is destined for damnation the moment they’re conceived? But then again maybe that’s what Nephilim are. I really have no knowledge on this pls forgive me 😭
Lately I've been loving: Bach's BWV 951 (on a theme by Albinoni), 895, pretty much all the fugues from Musical Offering and Art of Fugue, a lot of the organ works with fugues like 541, 582, 552 to name just a few
I just learned the fugue from HWV 427, what are some other Handel fugues?
I have pretty much heard nothing from other Baroque composers fugue-wise so I'd love recommendations.
The Well-Tempered Clavier is pretty much the Bible of contrapuntal composition and I've heard it all a million times yet I can't get enough of it. The first time I heard the WTC 1 Am fugue I knew without a doubt Bach deserved the title of greatest composer, same with WTC 2 F#m.