I embrace the openess of this sub.

Even if, as a transgender myself, I made a different choice. I live in chastity for my choice and will not do any surgery.

I post this on a catholic sub.

"Go to therapy!!!".

"Seeking support ? Lol"

"Go to ... Sub, they will accept you".

So I mean that even if I made these choices, those bigots still make joke of me.

Why? I am quite tired and a little sad.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, everywhere,

Sometimes a person reaches a moment when words are no longer enough to express what is happening inside. A moment when the heart becomes too heavy with pain, and all that remains is to lift one's eyes toward heaven and cry.

Today, I am standing inside the church before the altar of the Lord, with only one cry in my heart: Lord, You know how much we have suffered. You know how many times we have cried in silence, and how many times we have tried to appear strong while our souls were falling apart inside.

I am a husband who is not asking for the impossible for himself. I am simply longing to see his wife live without pain.

My beloved wife, Marlene, suffers from kidney failure. For years, our lives have revolved around hospitals, dialysis sessions, waiting, and the fear of tomorrow. I have watched her suffer. I have watched her fight. I have seen days when the simplest things that other people take for granted became distant dreams for us.

How many times have I wished I could take this illness away from her and carry all her suffering myself? I was willing to donate one of my kidneys to her, for no other reason than to see her regain her life and smile genuinely again.

But today, something happened that left a deep wound in my heart.

My wife heard cruel words from someone, words that hurt far more than the person saying them could ever imagine. They questioned how long she would remain sick and without children, as though she had chosen this illness, as though she were not already fighting a daily battle beyond her strength.

She tried to hold herself together, but she couldn't. After we walked away, she broke down in tears and said words I will never forget:

"I am tired. I can no longer bear all this pain. Sometimes I wish I had never left that hospital, and that my life had ended there, so all this suffering could finally be over."

My God, what can a husband say in a moment like that? How can I comfort the woman I love when I see that pain has brought her to this point? How can I promise her a better life when I am desperately searching for even one door that could lead us out of this darkness?

I held her hand and tried to be strong for her, even though my own heart was breaking inside. I told her, "Please don't lose hope. I am here beside you. God has not abandoned us. No matter how long this journey takes, I will never stop praying and trying for you."

Lord Jesus Christ, You alone know the truth of what we are going through. You see the tears nobody else sees, and You hear our prayers during the nights when we cannot sleep because of fear and endless thoughts.

I am not dreaming of wealth, and I am not asking for a life of luxury. My dreams have become very simple: to see my wife regain her health, to complete her kidney transplant, and to watch her live a life no longer controlled by dialysis appointments and hospital visits.

I stay by her side, and I cannot leave her alone in these circumstances. Because of this, I cannot work as I wish. I am waiting for God to open a door for us, a chance for work and provision that will help us complete the journey of treatment and transplantation, now that our resources are limited and the road has become heavier than we can bear.

Lord, I remember Jacob, who held on to You and said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me." Today, I am holding on to my hope in You as well. I have no guarantee of what tomorrow will bring, but I believe Your mercy is greater than our fear, and that a door closed today may open for us tomorrow.

We have lived through days when we thought everything was over. We have watched my wife go through serious medical struggles, yet we have survived many hardships through Your mercy. That is why I do not want to lose hope now.

I remember the woman who suffered from bleeding for many years and never gave up hope until she touched the hem of Your garment and received healing. I remember Sarah, who received the blessing of motherhood when that dream seemed impossible.

Today, I stand before You carrying the dreams we have refused to let die, despite all the pain.

Lord, heal my wife and ease her suffering. Open a way for us to complete her kidney transplant. Open a door of work and provision for me so I can provide what she needs and remain by her side without feeling helpless in the face of our circumstances.

And I cannot forget the dream we have carried in our hearts for years: to be blessed with a child.

I long for the day when I can see my wife holding our child in her arms, and happiness returning to her eyes after years of suffering and waiting. I dream of hearing laughter fill our home and having a future in which we talk about our dreams instead of spending every conversation talking about illness, treatment, and hospitals.

Dear brothers and sisters, I do not know what tomorrow holds for us, and I do not know when our circumstances will change. But I know that I do not want to lose hope, and I never want my wife to feel that she is alone in this battle.

Please remember Marlene in your prayers. Pray for her healing and strength, pray that God opens doors of provision for us, that we can complete the kidney transplant journey, and that our deepest wish may finally come true and we may be blessed with a child.

You may not know us personally, but your sincere prayers may help us feel that we are not alone in this life.

Lord, I am not asking You to erase our past. I am asking You to give us a future that does not look like all this pain.

We are tired, Lord. We have cried so much, and we have waited so long, but we are still lifting our eyes toward You.

Please do not let the final memory of these years be suffering. Give us a day when we can stand before You with tears of joy and tell the story of how You never abandoned us when we thought all hope was gone.

Amen.

Biblical interpretation is never over. Because the infinite God offers continuing revelation to our finite minds, our understanding of God must always be open. Jesus preserves this openness by telling many different stories, all of which leave us open to new stories. Theological claims exclude one another and compete for space, but stories accommodate one another and welcome newcomers. 

Unfortunately, we humans tend to want certainty; we want to know, not just believe. We demand closure. We thirst for resolution. We seek to understand totally that we might control totally. This human quest for comprehensive understanding seeks climax in totality, stability, and order. Tragically, such totality limits potential, diminishing the text to our current understanding of the text, thereby diminishing life to our current understanding of life.  

Fear finds assurance in unchanging meaning, but unchanging meaning conforms the future to the past. In contrast, the Bible points to the kingdom of God, an unfolding future more brilliant than the past. This vision replaces our despondency with anticipation, because the kingdom comes with power—the bitter past cannot resist this wondrous future, nor can a totalizing interpretative strategy contain it. 

We can never get it right, but we can always get it better, thank God. Openness to the kingdom of God prohibits any strategy of control that claims mastery of the Bible. For that reason, we must distrust understandings of the Bible that are too tidy and determinate, that make it too small. As Witold Gombrowicz argues, “Serious literature does not exist to make life easy but to complicate it.” 

Complications challenge the pat answers that limit us; they ask us new questions that reveal greater potential. Complications are a source of increase. They help us to see what we were previously blind to. Therefore, with regard to interpretations of the Bible that claim authority for themselves, we must be suspicious. And our suspicion must be directly proportionate to the certainty of the claims we confront; the more authority claimed, the more scrutiny needed. 

Because the Bible is often used to claim power over, we must ask of any interpretation, “Who benefits?” The Bible itself, through the revelation of the prophets, forbids utilization of the text to preserve one’s own advantageous position in a stratified society. 

The Bible also forbids manipulation of the text to deify one’s own preexisting opinions. That is, sometimes people have a deeply felt conviction that they then ratify by scouring the Bible for affirmation: “I feel strongly about this, so God must agree with me.” Agreeable passages are exalted, disagreeable passages ignored, and meanings massaged in a highly selective manufacture of certainty. The interpreters then propound their preexisting opinion, now sprinkled with proof texts, as the revealed will of God. 

Rarely are these biblically affirmed prejudices imitative of Christ in their generosity or inclusiveness. More often, they attempt to preserve things as the interpreter knows them rather than create society as God imagines it. 

My strategy of interpretation is opportunistically agapic. Given my extensive reference to Scripture throughout this book, always in support of my own argument, I could be accused of proof texting. However, I have no intention of “proving” my arguments by citing biblical “facts,” as American fundamentalists began to do in the early twentieth century, in imitation of the scientific method. Instead, this book is playful, creative, and exploratory, more like a Jewish midrash. I’m not trying to “get it right,” and I might very well be wrong. But my intention is to create a collage of scriptural passages, illustrative anecdotes, and reasoned arguments within which Christians and their communities can flourish. I hope that the cumulative effect of these efforts will be life giving, helping readers to find more joy, and possibly even more challenge, while trusting that the emergent meaning and purpose will themselves make sense of life. This trust is what the Christian tradition calls faith. (Adapted from Jon Paul Sydnor, The Great Open Dance: A Progressive Christian Theology, pages 261–262). 

Just wanted to share and encourage others. Went to church for the first time in over a year. I’m (38/f) recently out this year, told my Christian friends and some family before moving across country and it was hard. The family I told accepted me no problem. My Christian friends and church group said they loved me but didn’t accept my lifestyle. Hardest thing I’ve had to do. But I’ve always brought my heart and honesty with them. I told them b/c I wanted to open the conversation up more for them since we had a close member commit suicide b/c he was gay and struggled so hard to follow what he thought was expected of him.
Comphet and being brought up conservative was hard, I think I always knew deep down but didn’t understand or had the safe mentality to explore who I was and I always pushed it away, tried to live the right way my whole life, just following what I thought was expected of me from the church and God. I’ve always known something was wrong/depressed my whole life, like I could never fully be me and Christian etc.
But now that I’m starting my life over, after two months of living in a new city, I finally got the courage to attend an affirming church. I haven’t been able to bring myself to listen to worship songs in a while. My faith in the Lord is strong and I know he’d never abandon me and he’s been with me through hard times and figuring myself out. But I’ve felt this block/paralysis in still combining who I am with my Christian side. Like I haven’t fully accepted it myself, that the two are compatible. I was nervous to go to church. It was good. When it came to singing, I could barely sing the words. I had to whisper or silent sing. And my right eye kept betraying me with tears here the there! But it felt good. I finally could play my favorite Christian songs that I could never bring my heart to hear in a while and now the tears kept rolling on the drive home. And it feels good, I can step into this new me and being Christian. Even as I heaitently step forward, I know God will make my walk stronger on this new journey.
It’s a slow path to healing, but just wanted to encourage those of you who haven’t gone in a while that it’s OK! You are LOVED. You are ACCEPTED. And Yahweh loves you just as he made you! 🌈❤️
Much love sisters, themsters, and brothers!

Hey all! I'm not really sure what I think about trinitarianism/unitarianism, though I lean more towards the latter.

The question I'd like to ask is, for those like myself who deny any notion of biblical divinity - do you accept the trinity? Upon what basis?

Thanks very much 🙂

Sometimes I think about the old argument over how the universe began, and it strikes me that everybody has to believe something existed first without being created. Whether you believe an uncreated speck of dust started everything, or an uncreated God did, both sides have to believe in something with no beginning. To me, it takes way more faith to believe random, lifeless dust accidentally turned itself into DNA, human brains, and the laws of physics than it does to believe an intelligent Creator designed it all.

Think about AI. An AI holds more information than 100,000 people put together, yet it will never truly understand or "know" the humans who built it. There is always a gap between a creator and what they create. Saying God doesn't exist just because our human brains can't fully grasp His infinite mind is like an AI saying humans don't exist because it can't comprehend a human's deepest, unspoken thoughts.

And as for why God doesn't just drop a giant sign from the sky that says "PROOF"? Because undeniable proof takes away free will. If God forced everyone to believe in Him by making it obvious, nobody would have a real choice to love Him or walk away. Leaving clues in how amazing the universe is gives us enough reason to look for Him, while still letting us decide for ourselves.

First thing to say: I kind of think this question is stupid, but I'm trying to get help, or at least enlightenment, on this kind of matter, as I'm in a total breakdown over all my actions in the past and future, and I see my fate as decided. I'm a 19-year-old Protestant. Turn 20, and I'm in constant fear of hell, the death of my parents, and the eternal separation of them.

I'm reflecting on my past and on all actions or habits that will continue in the future. It's at a level where I directly see myself as worthless and an already rotten existence.

In the past, I watched a lot of series: Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, Lucifer, Sandman, Supernatural, and Welcome to Derry. Terrifier, etc., and I don't know about you, but I mostly found myself rooting for the antagonist's side, and I generally had a big liking for their actions and general appearance, be it DC, Marvel, or many others. I also love watching anime a lot, from romcoms to isekai sci-fi or fantasy. And I really like character there even though there are demons. I read the devil tries to deceive us in any form; thereby, is it a sign I failed that caution? I visited church years ago, and I pray from time to time in last month's daily out of fear.

I just can't decide whether religion at all or Christianity is true or whether science and there are reasons beyond what we can explore yet. Also, the Bible has a lot of arguments that are twisted if true or not, because if I live as of now, I'm going to suffer in a fire, which I don't want. I want to be with my family forever. I think Jesus will see me as lukewamr and not a devoted christian.

But in the last few months, I've been dealing with these kinds of breakdowns and nightmares. I would say I'm a theist, as I do believe in a more powerful being, but I kind of need proof, even though it's beyond our comprehension and it may just exist without us understanding how or why.

I'm also big into dark fantasy and dark romance, and I see myself as weak, as they're mostly themed on lust, which I failed at repeatedly. Generally, based on all that, I kind of have a lot of very dark things on my mind, not even intentionally. Would that be a sign I'm rotten? There's also the daydreaming or thoughts triggered by music, where I also had kind of bad thoughts about past things, for example, my bullies, with more violent tendencies. Generally mental images fight scenes picked up like from videos applied to real scenarios, but constantly all around the class or people who I know IRL me as in the middle point, maybe coping with my loneliness and feeling of misery and less worth compared to others, scared of people too poor in social skills. I would never act on it in real life and couldn't even carry it out. I'm too weak, and there is purely non-real stuff. I had visions seeing my OCs as examples. Others would be picturing vivid scenarios regarding series movies or anime I watched. The same goes for music: Phonk, Christian Rock, NCS, sometimes Rap (stopped with it), etc.

I strulggle with lust not porn as i find it shit but sex practicla stuff as bdms in consent context as ficitonal scenario but irl socially have no feleing even when amstubating i feel nothing mostly no high point sometimes but it isnt a urge i do of boredom and no addiciton that forces me i can lay low for days weeks than do once and be done with it whenever I want. But thats sin as I know. I spoke to a pastor who said it isnt as its hard in current time. I know its god word which i broke thereby and I dont want to be contaimed and departed form him.

I had these nightmares, which are probably linked to my doubting my whole existence, where I see myself in a fire of brimstone and corpses all around me screaming as described in NED, separated from all my family, and later, when we perish, not being with God. That scares me, even though I kind of see myself as deserving it. I was greedy. For example, my dad said no to a PC, and I kind of manipulated and annoyed him so much that he got it for me, and in return I didn't help as I had promised. In general, I sometimes played games instead of helping, and I see that as a bad action showing I'm not morally good and will be judged for it.

The thing I'm also generally grieving over is the realization that I should have died instead of my twin, who had better chances than me, a more right birth time, etc. He weighs more, etc.

One thing I forgot is I'm kind of not good either. My parents, who say who loves me more than anything, thereby more than Christ, my mom lives but isn't reading the Bible and goes to church only on special occasions like me, but she believes in Christ and his sacrifice, but as said, isn't putting him at the top, which shouldn't be bad, as he is the top one who we should love, not our fleshly avatars who will turn to dust or burn like in my case. Love me in the same house but actively isolate me, as I don't want to be with others. Another point is I'm ashamed, even though I have a habit of lying in many things. Generally, I show myself better or escape certain situations. Other times I never read the Bible and only went to church on specific days like Christmas or other events. I went to prayer every day; therefore, I say my connection to God is kind of bad. Thereby it would seem like cowardice or only going to ask for God's help when I need it, which would be selfish, not actual faith.

I fear of banteirng with my friends in school swearing curse as joke no harmful intent as they do. Or that they share humors and I know view it that I cant continue as all cna be a trap of satan trying to decive us.

Also, in terms of series, I talk about heavy themes like gore, slasher, and smut, along with others like Lucifer, The Hazbin Hotel, or Supernatural. I'm interested in mythological figures and demonology, but general religion, too, is one of the newest. The longest would be Lilith.

Would you generally say these kinds of actions are sinful and I'm marked for the fire?

Anybody cna give me suggestions here or in DMs.

Thanks for reading this post.

God bless you all

Amen.

If there are any ,i Was curius to ask you questions about your Faith ,Just for curiosity

1)in what do you believe currently?

2)how influential Is the bible for you?

3)Do you believe in sins?

Would be Happy if any SBNR answered :)

I'm 50 years old, temp cancer survivor, my elderly mother died january 21, 2026. Her 2nd eldest daughter is in the process of selling our house and I have to permanently leave within 2 weeks. I have nowhere else to go, I don't have friends, nobody outside will let me move in with them permanently. I have other distant relatives whom are in the same residence, same situation as me. They're trying to find a suitable apartment but I don't want to live with them because 1 of my relatives is my oldest disabled 1st sister and her adult son. Both of them especially my 1st oldest elderly disabled sister son has been verbally, emotionally acidic cruel towards me especially when nobody else is around. All that over my SSI money to secure them a permanent apartment. His elderly mother [my 1st older elderly disabled sister] we're supposed to equally pay for an apartment rent and utilities; but 2 times 10-20-26 and 11-7-26 she spent all her SSI money on delivery restaurant food for herself and her acidic cruel adult son, and I was left having to use almost all my SSI money to pay for a new apartment fees as her cruel adult son bullied and terrorized me to do so. I've tried to be verbally civil towards him and explain my troubles but that didn't make him change his Hatred towards me. I'm painfully stuck with them despite their continued profound Hatred towards me. If I don't go live with them I'll soon be facing homelessness, homeless shelter, living assistance facility, a nursing home or the streets and I terrified, crying don't want to end up facing any of those dark paths. I've prayed to god countless times for days and nights to make me shut my eyes tight, make me die or be deceased in my sleep, and NEVER make me wake up to face the same dark situation the next day. But god won't answer my prayers, and he doesn't protect me from my 1st older elderly sister's adult son whom as I mentioned is acidic threatening and Hateful towards me. Nobody else will help me, nobody else cares. I'm not trying to play victim, but despite anybody else whom doesn't feel sorry for me, whom criticizes me of complaining. I still and Always will feel alone, and trapped without end.

Jestem nastolatkiem, ministrantem już 9 lat. Mam wujka księdza. Oprócz tego jestem kolarzem, kocham ten sport. Mam wiele sukcesów i marzenia o karierze. Wszystko układało mi się nie idealnie ( wiele przeszkód ) ale dobrze. W tym roku miałem najlepsze wyniki, medal Mistrzostw kraju i na wyścigu w innym kraju również. Ale nagle przed najważniejszym wyścigiem w roku wszystko się posypało... na treningu miałem upadek, miałem takich parędziesiąt - błahostka. Nie sądziłem, że narobi takich szkód. Wróciłem do domu a potem zaczęło mi być dużo gorzej. Nagle miałem ogromny ból głowy który utrzymuje się już 4 miesiące. 1 słoneczny miesiąc cały przeleżałem, czekałem na padania. Potem stwierdzono, że jestem tylko pospinany ponieważ to był NIEGORTUNNY I BEZWIEDNY upadek. Zwykły PECH. Do tej pory boli mnie głowa. Nie trenuję nudzę się. Nie robię tego co kocham. Z trudnością normalnie funkcjonuję. Ledwo się uczę, chodzę, a to wszystko z bólem głowy, nieprzerwanym od 4 miesięcy. Jest pewna nadzieja i mam rehabilitację u specjalisty, nadzieja jest, ale wyraźnych postępów nie ma. Podczas tego upadku byłem w stanie grzechu. Staram się być dobrym człowiekiem i chyba mi się udaje. Mam problem z czystością z samym sobą. Miałem wiele razy ten grzech i wtedy był ten wypadek. Po 2 miesiącach byłem u spowiedzi i czułem niesamowitą ulgę. Stałem się " lekki" naprawdę kamień spadł mi z serca. Podczas spowiedzi leciały mi łzy - byłem prawdziwie szczęśliwy. Niestety nadal mam problem z tym grzechem. I jeszcze jedno, niedługo po tym NAGLE zgubiłem swój krzyżyk komunijny. Jest mi z tym bardzo ciężko.

Nie wiem co to znaczy, nie wiem co mam robić. Czy to znak, że mam zostać księdzem ? Nie wykluczam tej opcji i chyba miałbym nawet do tego predyspozycje. Najgorsze jest to, że to trwa beż końca I nie chce się skończyć. Wiem, tłumaczę sobie, że nie jedni mają gorzej ale jest to ciężkie. Jest wiele pytań w mojej głowie. Dlaczego to się stało ? Nikt z tych co znam to tak nie ma. Czy to znak? Czy może mam nie być kolarzem bo gdybym zrobił karierę to by mi odbiło. Nie wiem co mam robić. Co to za znak. Jak ruszyć. Co jest mi pisane. Naprawdę nie wiem. Głupia prośba ale może kto da mi jakąś radę? Wskazówkę? Wytłumaczy co to znaczy?

Z tym, że nawet jeżeli mam być księdzem, to życie potoczy się tak, że nim będę. I będę się cieszyć, że służę ludziom, ale i tak chciałbym trenować poważnie, z miłości. I to boli najbardziej. Nie mogę robić tego co naprawdę kocham. Więc może to dlatego abym bardziej od roweru pokochał Boga ? I odwrócił się od grzechu ? Ludziom nie jestem zły, jestem dla nich dobry, ale sam z sobą sobie nie radzę

I recently came across a post attributed to one of the creators of VeggieTales that really got me thinking. The idea was simple but fascinating: God is neither male nor female. God transcends gender.
And someone suggested that perhaps God was the original they/them.
Now, before anyone starts reaching for their Bible to correct me, hear me out. 😂
For centuries, we’ve referred to God as Father, Him, and He. Those are deeply rooted in Christian tradition and Scripture. But does that mean God is actually male?
Genesis 1:27 (NLT) tells us:
“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
Think about that for a moment. Both male and female reflect the image of God.
And in John 4:24, Jesus tells us that God is Spirit.
Throughout Scripture, we also find God described using imagery associated with both fathers and mothers. In Isaiah 66:13, God compares divine comfort to that of a mother comforting her child.
So perhaps our human understanding of gender is simply too small to fully describe the Creator of the universe.
And that brings me to something I’ve been thinking about as a gay Christian.
If God transcends our human categories of gender, why are we sometimes so determined to put everyone else into rigid little boxes?
Why do we spend so much time arguing about pronouns, gender identity, and who belongs in God’s family when Jesus spent so much of His ministry teaching us to love one another?
I’m not suggesting we rewrite Scripture or abandon the beautiful imagery of God as Father. I’m suggesting that maybe God is far greater than the limitations of our language.
Maybe understanding that should make us a little more humble, a little more compassionate, and a whole lot more willing to love people exactly where they are.
After all, we were ALL created in God’s image. Not just some of us. Not just those who fit comfortably into society’s expectations.
All of us. Every beautiful color of the rainbow. 🌈
I’m curious what everyone thinks.
Do you believe God exists beyond human gender? Have you ever thought about how the language we use for God shapes the way we see ourselves and others?
I’d love to hear your thoughts, even if we don’t all agree.
Love Well, Hate Less. ❤️

Is it wrong/sinful if I skip church to study for my exam?

I have an exam (pre boards) tomorrow but today is Sunday and I have to go to church but I also have to study so I skipped church and my family is making me feel like I committed a great sin

They're saying that "God gives me the knowledge but not going to church and staying home to study is worthless".

Am I really doing something bad/wrong by skipping church to study. Am I being selfish?

TW: queerphobia

Mid20sF Christian (Anglican/non-denominational) in a Christian family and I also identify as queer (out to very few friends, no-one at church, work, in my wider cultural community and certainly not within my family).

I've known I was queer since I was a child though I've gone through fluctuating levels of denial/praying to be different before praying for wisdom instead, but I have come to a point of self-acceptance over the past couple of years. Part of the journey has been that my faith and my Christian identity is the most important thing to me and I never wanted to engage in anything that comes between me and God. While I have always agreed that love is love and God made us as we are, I still felt I needed to do a lot more Bible study, wider reading, prayer, reflection, and bring my questions to God and truly listen, before I felt truly led to the belief that being gay and being in a same-sex relationship isn't a sin, and I feel like I only reached that point recently (EDIT for clarity - I was mostly dealing with internalised homophobia where I didn't think being gay was a sin for anyone except me).

I'm very close with my immediate family and our conversations often involve talking about LGBTQIA+ issues. Pretty much all of them believe that being gay is a sin, that God can and should make queer people straight etc. I have always stood my ground about what I believe (without outing myself) but while I have listened and responded to their points, they have no interest in considering an alternative point of view. This was reaffirmed in a conversation earlier today and it breaks my heart to realise that even if I can accept this part of who (I believe) God made me to be, they can't and if I come out I might lose several important relationships within my family.

I've thought about being celibate lifelong because I genuinely think it's something I can handle (I'm pretty happily single and under the ace umbrella, I don't think I want kids and I don't get romantic feelings very often though I have in the past and not acted on it) and it's always been something I've been willing to do if it's what God has called me to do, but I think there's a difference between being called to something and doing it to make your family happy.

It's something I'm continuing to pray over, but not something I feel like I can speak about in real life without risking outing myself.

Sorry for the long post but it would be useful to hear from people in a similar position

I was born female but I got a boy's name. It's Christian, though. But all my life I have felt uncomfortable with a masculine name. I changed it to a non Christian name. Well the name is Greek and means honey. The second new name I chose is in the Bible. Is that a sin as a Christian? I was baptized by my old name.

I also have this stupid concern that my new name may not be written in the book of life.

So monday, I'm scheduled to work a shift at my job but something came up that day that I feel like I should go do, and it's something that I feel very strongly and passionately about (it's a protest protesting something I've been waiting for for a while, and it's incredibly time-sensitive)

I talked with my dad he's a pastor and he said that it's a dishonest thing to do and advised against it, but I do genuinely feel very passionate about this, but I also feel bad about lying to my boss about taking a sick day when I'm not actually sick

Looking for other Christian perspectives on this

I've recently got back into smoking cannabis again as I'm trying to taper off alcohol forever (with a doctor's guidance). I welcomed it into my night time routine and will pray and mull over the day while it's coming up.

Hard drugs used to be destructive to my life when I was younger, I quit them and now I'm finally letting go of alcohol, nicotine to follow.

I just want to know if I'm furthering myself from God or sinning by getting high, I don't feel adulterated when I do it, just calm and peaceful. I don't feel any guilt from it, but should I?

I don’t mean looking to convert (necessarily), just having a curiosity in the subject, whether that be ancient Judaism or its later manifestations.

Maybe you have a curiosity about 1st century Judaism (the one J.C. grew up practicing). Maybe you are curious as to how Jews interpret the pre-Christian scriptures. Maybe you want to see the sympathetic or ambivalent reactions that certain Judaists have to the New Testament, noticing things that Gentile readers tend to miss. Having researched the subject, I can help you get started on these and I can answer almost any questions that you have about Judaism.

I noticed that my topics here on Judaism received little feedback. Generally, I try not to take things like that personally; I am guessing that the limited reception was due more to apathy than contempt, and admittedly my topics were probably a little lengthier than they needed to be. Still, I want to test the waters here and see what in Judaism you want to know more about—if anything. I won’t judge you if you feel indifferent about it overall.

Anyway, these last few days have been kind of rough for me and I’m bored and I want to take my mind off of my difficulties, so let me know what’s on your mind.

For context:- I'm a trans woman currently closeted and live in India. I was always curious on how can you live as a woman. When someone would refer to me as ma'am or something, I would really feel euphoric. But I am also interested in Jesus and feel like a connection with him. But I'm scared about being a Christian trans woman. I watched videos of magas hating on trans women and calling it a sin. From my knowledge,the seven deadly sins doesn't mention homosexuality or transness ig. I don't know if I'll ever be seen as a woman from y'all. That's why I'm scared and idk what to do

Cradle Catholic here, who has been non-practicing for 15 years. I never agreed with several conservative teachings of Catholicism, especially purity culture and the big emphasis on sins. But, after finding myself praying again during a hard time of transition and starting to grow my faith, I joined a few online Catholic platforms and went to my local parish for mass. And something still feels wrong.

(For instance, I was shamed for reading romance books with spicy scenes and trying to find loopholes to get away with things).

Catholicism definitely is not for me, still all these years.

Is it even worth me continuing this journey back into my faith?
The relationship I have built with God so far is loving, compassionate and one of deep surrender and peace.

But the only example I have of having a faith is conservative Catholicism, which is triggering my OCD, anxiety, and feelings of shame that were imbedded in me and which made me leave the church in the first place.

Any thoughts/book recs would be appreciated ( and please be kind, I am just feeling a little lost and am a big over thinker who is hard on herself as it is ❤️)