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@ellette-giselle

Yeah, unfortunately it’s really messy. Usually stems from insecurities, I think.

"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley

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@ellette-giselle

It was rough, and it was subtly done…….. yeah. I won’t go into it, but I went through a lot of abuse from them, but so subtly that it looked like I was the problem (I even believed I was) It wasn’t until things started to come to light and people started finding out what was really going on that i was able to see the truth.

Sorry to hear about that! Manipulation like that makes situations so complicated! I have a friend who has grown up in a household that’s pretty toxic, and she thought she was crazy most of her life until realizing recently she’s been manipulated this entire time.

"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley

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@the_lost-journal

Wow, that is a lot! Do you go to a mega church? I assume that because you talk about lasers and fog and such.

I don’t consider it a megachurch. That might depend on your definition, but most megachurches have more than 2000 members, and we’re not that big. We do have lights and such, but there are other smaller churches who use those things too- it’s not just the megachurches, although those are the ones who have drawn more attention to those things.

"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley

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@the_lost-journal

How big is your church? (if you go to church.)

Roughly 1700-1800

What is one thing you disagree/don’t understand with a different denomination?

Ummm… probably the biggest thing is what some of us were discussing above, regarding whether or not spiritual gifts are still active in the church today (I believe they are).

What is your opinion on Mary?

She’s the mother of Jesus. God chose her for that special purpose, in the same way that He chose other figures in the Bible for certain purposes. I don’t worship her or pray to her.

What is one thing you don’t understand about your own denomination?

Well I’m non-denom, so there’s not really anything my church does that I don’t understand. But the one thing that does frustrate me sometimes is using colored lights and fog and other “special effects”- like what good purpose does that serve? It usually ends up being more distracting to me.

Do you have (or did you ever have)  a friend that has (or had) a negative impact on your faith?

The majority of my friends have been good friends. Not all of them have actively pushed me to grow closer to God, but they didn’t necessarily hinder my faith. I’ve been careful about pursuing friendships that will help me to grow in my faith.

Where do you usually go for a place to pray to God? (It could be your favorite place, either inside or outside your own home.)

Well, I talk to Him literally anywhere, anytime of day, so it’s hard to define one place where I pray. But if I need a place to be alone with Him for an extended period of time, my bedroom offers the most solitude.

If your friend ever has a question about God, how do you answer?

The majority of my friends believe the same I do, so I don’t often run into this problem. The one friend I do have who isn’t a believer doesn’t talk to me very much anymore, and she’s aware of what I believe but doesn’t ask me about it.

Do you believe that God created everything, or that evolution had a hand.

Creation- it makes way more sense than evolution.

What are your plains to grow in the faith?

Continue surrounding myself with Godly people who will encourage me to grow, and keep up a habit of daily spending alone time with God and reading the Bible.

And finally, how do you feel on calling Christianity, a faith?

I don’t have a problem with it. Not that I’ve ever really thought about it before.

"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley

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@the_lost-journal

I am 100% pro-life as well! (Inside the womb and outside the womb) I’ve never been to the March for Life, but I know a lot of people who have gone and I’d love to go sometime!

"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley

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@stephie @whalekeeper @freed_and_redeemed @power

Interesting discussion! I also believe the spiritual gifts are still active today. I grew up learning that they are still in operation, but there were certain ones that I had more skepticism about for a while, until I started learning more about them and gained more discernment.

"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley

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@linus-smallprint

I don’t remember hearing about your church on the news (I’ve watched news streams that have included some news from Canada) but I remember hearing about Artur Pawlowski and his church. And then in ’22 of course I heard about the Freedom Convoy and that was super exciting to see so many people taking a stand for freedom.

@ellette-giselle

I think I would agree with you that church was meant to be smaller communities of believers. I don’t think it’s wrong to be part of a bigger church, but I think that means you have to be more intentional in creating community somehow, whether through small groups or some other means. I love my church, but it is pretty big (usually around 600 people per service, and we have 2 services) and this is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I don’t like walking into church and feeling like I don’t really know anyone until I finally find someone I do know. I used to know a lot more people, before it got so big, but now some weeks I feel like I could just walk in and leave again without talking to anyone.

I have been going to a weekly small group that has been providing community for me- we often have a Bible study and sharing what God is teaching us, as well as some music and singing and a time of fellowship, and it has been feeding me spiritually, often more than church on Sunday mornings. The small group has been growing, though, and while it’s so good I want other people to know about it and join in, there’s also a part of me that’s hesitant because the bigger it gets, the less personal connection there will be with other believers. I’ve had to start processing that with God over the past few months. This particular group isn’t correlated directly with my church; it’s a bunch of young adults from various churches in the area who are all hungry for more of God.

My parents also have been involved in a small group at my church, and I think there is also value in that, because they usually take whatever the week’s sermon topic was and dive deeper into that together and make it more applicable. So I think there are ways to have a healthy Biblical community within a larger church, but it is definitely more challenging, and the people attending have to be intentional about joining a small group or starting one themselves.

"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley

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@ellette-giselle

I think it’s because we are a strong nation, and the only way we’ll go down is if we destroy ourselves, so those who hate America want to see us divided and destroyed from the inside.

Agreed

"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley

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@hybridlore

Also… what’s with all the new names? XD

I’ve been wondering the same thing!

"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley

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@savannah_grace2009 @theducktator @stephie

Even if I did want to wear makeup regularly, I don’t really know how to apply most of it anyway lol.

"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley

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@rae

Thanks! That’s helpful to consider!

"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley

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@savannah_grace2009

Same… that’s why I don’t do makeup. (No judgment against any girls who do wear makeup, I know everyone has different reasons) But for me, I just don’t feel like taking the time, and it feels like I’m trying to be someone I’m not. For nice occasions I will put on a little bit of makeup, but for everyday life it’s too much work lol.

"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley

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@elishavet-pidyon

Thanks! That was really helpful to get the wheels turning in my head!

"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley

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@raxforge thanks!

@rae my characters aren’t super well fleshed out yet either but I’ll give it a go with what I have

Ellie (16)- She has a compassionate heart and is deeply moved by the issue of human trafficking. Also has a good sense of discernment. (It’s her older sister who was kidnapped as a young child, but I haven’t decided if I want her to know about it or if her parents for some reason kept it a secret and she finds out sometime throughout the story)

Cole (14)- Ellie’s younger brother- he holds pretty high moral standards for himself/ could bring in some struggles with perfectionism here potentially. Naturally justice-oriented (probably as a result of his parents having a passion for anti-trafficking efforts)

Declan (16)- his dad is the doctor- he has an older brother, Rhett, and the two of them can get competitive especially in video games. After reading what @elishavet-pidyon shared, I think I want him to struggle with fear and feeling like he’s a coward in the face of danger, and learn how to overcome that.

There are a couple other characters that I’ll highlight at other points throughout the story (if it’s enough to be more than one book) but for now these are the ones I want to focus on.

"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley

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@savannah_grace2009

Has anyone noticed how the beauty standard now is like “you have to be tan and have darker skin or else you’re not pretty enough”?

Hmm I hadn’t thought about it, but you’re right. I’ve never really tried to deliberately tan, but now that you say it, yeah it is kind of a stigma.

"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley

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