Do you know any former devout Christians?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Interesting replies.

First of all, I am very glad she chose Jesus over meth, slutty behavior, etc. Phew!

As I said, we are Christian but don't wear it as a badge, and are not "obvious" with only reading the Bible, listening to Christian music, etc.

DD and I have a terrific relationship and would not call her out on all this. She is an adult and I do trust her ability to make her own choices. She confides in me, we talk daily, and she is a really remarkable young woman. This overly religious behavior is what it is. I was just wondering what others have seen in young people that go this route.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jesus freak here.

... I have a wonderful husband who would not be wonderful if it weren't for our faith. He is faithful because he fears the Lord and loves me as the Lord has commanded....

O/T comment here.

I'm glad you have what you perceive to be a great marriage but this is really disturbing to me. From what you said, it sounds like your husband is only acting the way he does because he fears punishment by someone he thinks is bigger and badder. Does that really sound like love to you? Or something bordering on abuse and manipulation?

You appear to have a fundamental misunderstanding of Christianity. No Christian fears punishment (Romans 8:1), because we are forgiven for all our sins by Christ and His sacrifice on the cross. You cannot get to Heaven by behaving. Salvation is a free gift of God through Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9) solely through faith. So no Christian is trying to behave because he fears being punished by a big, bad, mean God. Christians strive to love God and their neighbor because He loved us first (1 John 4:19). We strive to act out our faith in gratitude for a loving Savior. We don't want to disappoint Him. We want to show others the same love and forgiveness that God showed us. This is 180 degrees different from what you stated. In addition, we have the Spirit of Christ to help us with this; the fruit of the spirit of God is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:28-29). All these things are what the PP was saying about her husband being a better man because of his faith. No Christian is perfect, and a good Christian will admit that quicker than anyone, but the more we yield to God, the more we, and others, will see this fruit of God in our lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Interesting replies.

First of all, I am very glad she chose Jesus over meth, slutty behavior, etc. Phew!

As I said, we are Christian but don't wear it as a badge, and are not "obvious" with only reading the Bible, listening to Christian music, etc.

DD and I have a terrific relationship and would not call her out on all this. She is an adult and I do trust her ability to make her own choices. She confides in me, we talk daily, and she is a really remarkable young woman. This overly religious behavior is what it is. I was just wondering what others have seen in young people that go this route.

It's kind of funny that you called her a "remarkable young woman" here, but a "Jesus freak" initially, in a post that seems to have left a lot of people (or at least me) wondering why you were down on your daughter. It sounds like she practices her faith sincerely, in a way that makes you (and probably others) uncomfortable. Not sure why you chose to characterize her as a freak.

[Anonymous]

I was like this, or tried to be like this, for about a year around ages 18-19. This led to a deeper exploration of the history of Christianity and messianic proof texts, at which point I decided that Judaism had been right about the whole Jesus thing. Ten years later, I converted Orthodox. My parents remain utterly baffled but we all try very hard to live and let live and not blow things up and it's mostly worked so far. There has to be give and get on both sides.

[Anonymous]

Get her away from any sort of cult church. "Non-denominational" Christians, like the McLean Bible Church.

Encourage her to go to a more liberal protestant church, like a Methodist Church or an ELCA Lutheran Church (no Missouri synod, they are conservative). She can have an outlet for her Jesus talk, but they are accepting of gays and women and don't preach abstinence until marriage. They also aren't as big on proselytizing as the Bible Church people.

Funnel her into the GOOD parts of being into Jesus. Loving your neighbors, doing good works, helping the poor, being a good person etc. Not the sketchball part of converting all your Jewish friends or discounting evolution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get her away from any sort of cult church. "Non-denominational" Christians, like the McLean Bible Church.

Encourage her to go to a more liberal protestant church, like a Methodist Church or an ELCA Lutheran Church (no Missouri synod, they are conservative). She can have an outlet for her Jesus talk, but they are accepting of gays and women and don't preach abstinence until marriage. They also aren't as big on proselytizing as the Bible Church people.

Funnel her into the GOOD parts of being into Jesus. Loving your neighbors, doing good works, helping the poor, being a good person etc. Not the sketchball part of converting all your Jewish friends or discounting evolution.

Someone else with a fundamental misunderstanding of Christianity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get her away from any sort of cult church. "Non-denominational" Christians, like the McLean Bible Church.

Encourage her to go to a more liberal protestant church, like a Methodist Church or an ELCA Lutheran Church (no Missouri synod, they are conservative). She can have an outlet for her Jesus talk, but they are accepting of gays and women and don't preach abstinence until marriage. They also aren't as big on proselytizing as the Bible Church people.

Funnel her into the GOOD parts of being into Jesus. Loving your neighbors, doing good works, helping the poor, being a good person etc. Not the sketchball part of converting all your Jewish friends or discounting evolution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get her away from any sort of cult church. "Non-denominational" Christians, like the McLean Bible Church.

Encourage her to go to a more liberal protestant church, like a Methodist Church or an ELCA Lutheran Church (no Missouri synod, they are conservative). She can have an outlet for her Jesus talk, but they are accepting of gays and women and don't preach abstinence until marriage. They also aren't as big on proselytizing as the Bible Church people.

Funnel her into the GOOD parts of being into Jesus. Loving your neighbors, doing good works, helping the poor, being a good person etc. Not the sketchball part of converting all your Jewish friends or discounting evolution.

Someone else with a fundamental misunderstanding of Christianity.

Not true -- some liberal protestant churches are exactly as described above. Unfortunately, they are losing members quickly -- faster than the "non-denominational" churches that have something conctrete to offer, even if it's false. There's no way of knowing that while you're alive - only after you're dead do you "find out" if the promise is true and then it's too late -- for the dead person -- the people wtill making a living from the church are still doing fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jesus freak here.

... I have a wonderful husband who would not be wonderful if it weren't for our faith. He is faithful because he fears the Lord and loves me as the Lord has commanded....

O/T comment here.

I'm glad you have what you perceive to be a great marriage but this is really disturbing to me. From what you said, it sounds like your husband is only acting the way he does because he fears punishment by someone he thinks is bigger and badder. Does that really sound like love to you? Or something bordering on abuse and manipulation?

You appear to have a fundamental misunderstanding of Christianity. No Christian fears punishment (Romans 8:1), because we are forgiven for all our sins by Christ and His sacrifice on the cross. You cannot get to Heaven by behaving. Salvation is a free gift of God through Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9) solely through faith. So no Christian is trying to behave because he fears being punished by a big, bad, mean God. Christians strive to love God and their neighbor because He loved us first (1 John 4:19). We strive to act out our faith in gratitude for a loving Savior. We don't want to disappoint Him. We want to show others the same love and forgiveness that God showed us. This is 180 degrees different from what you stated. In addition, we have the Spirit of Christ to help us with this; the fruit of the spirit of God is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:28-29). All these things are what the PP was saying about her husband being a better man because of his faith. No Christian is perfect, and a good Christian will admit that quicker than anyone, but the more we yield to God, the more we, and others, will see this fruit of God in our lives.

I'm the previous poster to which you replied. My main question is why did the poster I replied to initially used the word "fear" as in "... fears the Lord"? Assuming what you've concluded is true (a whole other discussion), that doesn't exactly sound like fear to me. "Fear" has a negative connotation. It sounds like you're a "New Testament God" sort of the person and the poster I replied to is an "old Testament God" sort of person. So who's right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do, but I grew up in a pretty intense Christian cult. Many of the members were reformed 60s/70s drug addicts. Most of the second generation left the group, so it has sort of fizzled out.

You should write a memoir. Were you abused?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Excessive religious beliefs can be an early symptom of mental disorders. Several people I know who developed mental illnesses went through a similar stage. Try to maintain a strong relationship with her, and counseling is a good idea.

Or a sign of an addictive personality.

[Anonymous]

Reading the Bible, journaling prayers, and listening to praise music hardly makes one a "radical Christian".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reading the Bible, journaling prayers, and listening to praise music hardly makes one a "radical Christian".

That was dcum moderator's choice of words, not OPs.

I expressed concerns that OPs original title "Jesus Freak" was a slur to Christians.

The moderator said he changed it to something more appropriate, and I thanked him not reading what he changed it to.

So I guess "radical Christian" to the moderator is a relatively mainstream Christian who listens to Amy Grant....

[Anonymous]

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/524522.page

Here is the website feedback thread that I posted with my concerns about that term. I apologize OP. I did not realize that the moderator would do this to your thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get her away from any sort of cult church. "Non-denominational" Christians, like the McLean Bible Church.

Encourage her to go to a more liberal protestant church, like a Methodist Church or an ELCA Lutheran Church (no Missouri synod, they are conservative). She can have an outlet for her Jesus talk, but they are accepting of gays and women and don't preach abstinence until marriage. They also aren't as big on proselytizing as the Bible Church people.

Funnel her into the GOOD parts of being into Jesus. Loving your neighbors, doing good works, helping the poor, being a good person etc. Not the sketchball part of converting all your Jewish friends or discounting evolution.

+1000
Being a Christian can be a good thing.