Are there any Christian nerds in here.

[SomeGuyFromScotland]

Relative double newbie here. Only just started posting here after lurking around for a few weeks, and got saved 2 years ago at age 40. Still finding my identity as a Christian, but getting there. Getting fit physically and dealing with my many and various internal "quirks" is a key component to my growth. Long, slow, painful road, but "I can do all things...", right?

[vinoex]

Relative double newbie here. Only just started posting here after lurking around for a few weeks, and got saved 2 years ago at age 40. Still finding my identity as a Christian, but getting there. Getting fit physically and dealing with my many and various internal "quirks" is a key component to my growth. Long, slow, painful road, but "I can do all things...", right?

 

Your identity is a Christian.  Now what you need to find out is what does it mean to be a Christian.  Let me know if you need help on your journey.

[ChristArtist]

Your identity is a Christian. Now what you need to find out is what does it mean to be a Christian. Let me know if you need help on your journey.

Our identity is Christian, as in the definition "little Christ" or follower of Christ.

The important thing to focus on is that relationship and having everything else in your life flow through it!

Read that love letter God wrote to us...his word...and learn what it is to be like Christ, a journey you will be on your whole life!

[ChristArtist]

So, fellow believers, March was a very rough month for me. ..and yet April bloomed with the wondrous opportunities to share with two modern day missionaries in the likes of George Mueller and possibly Jim Elliott. My faith is encouraged as my body recovers from three surgeries.

Jesus said his servants would fast once he was gone, and while I will leave it to you all to determine what that means, to me, it have been my motive to move from binge eating (gluttony) to a more God honoring eating plan. All that means for me is eating cleaner today than yesterday.

For movement. ..i have health issues that I need to honor and take things one step at a time. Just as the shepherd is to know his sheep, I am to know my form and care for it, as the temple of the Holy spirit! If good alfa me to go do this and such, and I have over worked my body so that I can't, I have dishonored him by not being able to say "here am I lord, send me!"

Likewise, if I do NOT strengthen my arms and legs so that he can use my hands and feet, I have dishonored him in my body.

My prayer is that I will honor God in my body, food, activity and rest, while adding the fourth leg. ..time in his presence which is my strength.

May you all be blessed this week with a fresh wins of his spirit.

[ChristArtist]

[TonoSien]

Chiming in.

Raised as a PK of Captains in the Salvation Army, always wanted to please God, saw him as my best friend. High school hit, the desire for relationship took much more precedence, and after graduating really hit rock bottom in many ways. He was faithful through it all and remained there, waiting for me. The past 6 years have been a rough journey so far, but over time he has been working in me on my priorities, offering to heal old wounds, and he has been faithful to bring me into a community of young adults here in town to live life with.

This past week has been very difficult for me, culminating last night. The past year at least, I have been Wrestling with Him, and seeking counsel about pursuing someone. On one hand, she is fantastic, someone who truly pursues God, loves kids, a romantic, and a bit of a nerd herself. However as situations occured, and led up to a conversation with my former roommate (recently newlywed, and a great man of wisdom), it unfortunately is a one sided thing. It was a long night, and sleep was fleeting, and I am trying to keep my friend's words in mind. I acted and pursued her honorably. I am trying to see what path I need to take in stepping back, how that looks, and if our friendship can be recovered. Part of me fears that it cannot. Prayers would be greatly appreciated.

I would like to say though, I wish I had found this thread sooner, as I love to keep good company! Keep working hard folks!

[ChristArtist]

Welcome tono. I imagine that this week and the realization of the one sided aspect would be heart breaking. I thank God for the community my husband and I "grew up" in. We meet as young teens as part of a 70's Jesus movement. We were surrounded with young believers during high school, from all over our county. Our children were not so blessed, and have struggled.

As for this thread, you will see that it is very quiet, but it's nice to know we are here.

Welcome!

[notanartmajor]

Word.

[Elastigirl]

I didn't realize people had posted in this thread lately. TonoSien, I will pray for you. 

[Yraen]

Hey everybody, figured I'd stop in here say hi and ask what everybody's thoughts are in Christians meditating. I've read a lot lately that says we shouldn't. What are your thoughts.

[Antonius]

Hey everybody, figured I'd stop in here say hi and ask what everybody's thoughts are in Christians meditating. I've read a lot lately that says we shouldn't. What are your thoughts.

 

This is a great question!  Christians meditate differently from Buddhists or any of the pop culture "mindfulness" meditation.  A Christian does not seek total emptiness, but to be filled up with Jesus Christ.  Christians have always prayed and meditated on Jesus Christ, His Presence in Scripture, and His Presence in our lives.

 

An ancient form of Christian meditation uses Sacred Scripture.  It's called lectio divina and there are different ways of practicing it.  Basically, you choose a Scripture passage the night before you make the meditation so you have that out of the way.  Then, the next day, when you make the meditation, you read the scripture slowly a few times, meditate, then pray.  There are different traditions in exactly how to do that and what questions to ask yourself while doing the meditation.  Basically, you let the Holy Spirit guide you and bring to mind what moves you in the passage.

 

Something that can jumpstart your meditation is the Pray As You Go app.  It's available in iOS and Android.

 

My recommendations come from a Catholic perspective, but Sacred Scripture is something all Christians share!  If meditation isn't your thing, try the Liturgy of the Hours!  It's a way to pray the Psalms at different times each day.  When you start, you can just do Morning Prayer, then add Evening Prayer, then add the other stuff in as you like until you get the routine down.

 

Another tip for Catholics: Magnificat.  It's a great magazine with a daily meditation by great spiritual writers.

[Yraen]

Thanks for the answer. I've read about Christian meditation before and I've been intending to try it. I figure I'll stop with the other type now.

P.S. I'm not Catholic but I appreciate the input.

[Elastigirl]

This is a great question!  Christians meditate differently from Buddhists or any of the pop culture "mindfulness" meditation.  A Christian does not seek total emptiness, but to be filled up with Jesus Christ.  Christians have always prayed and meditated on Jesus Christ, His Presence in Scripture, and His Presence in our lives.

 

An ancient form of Christian meditation uses Sacred Scripture.  It's called lectio divina and there are different ways of practicing it.  Basically, you choose a Scripture passage the night before you make the meditation so you have that out of the way.  Then, the next day, when you make the meditation, you read the scripture slowly a few times, meditate, then pray.  There are different traditions in exactly how to do that and what questions to ask yourself while doing the meditation.  Basically, you let the Holy Spirit guide you and bring to mind what moves you in the passage.

 

Something that can jumpstart your meditation is the Pray As You Go app.  It's available in iOS and Android.

 

My recommendations come from a Catholic perspective, but Sacred Scripture is something all Christians share!  If meditation isn't your thing, try the Liturgy of the Hours!  It's a way to pray the Psalms at different times each day.  When you start, you can just do Morning Prayer, then add Evening Prayer, then add the other stuff in as you like until you get the routine down.

 

Another tip for Catholics: Magnificat.  It's a great magazine with a daily meditation by great spiritual writers.

This is perfect. 

[vinoex]

Has anyone thought of starting a Christian accountability group for the six week challenges?

[Rooks]

Late the thread as per the norm (seems every thread I'm interested in I find 2+ years after it starts).  Been a follower or Christ my entire life, but definitely had some dark periods where I turned my back on the Lord due to sinful thinking.  That said, my wife has done a lot to help point me in the right direction. 

[ChristArtist]

@vinoex I'm not sure how that would go. ..i love the versituity (sp?) of the accountability groups and n it has helped me grow. I don't see any that ate based on religion or creed and any one that I am a part of, my faith gets openly shared.

The LGBT group has a thread like this, but not a specific accountability group.

I'm not sure that there is any other "lifestyle" "faith" or culture based groups.

That said, I would not, but I do find that christians show up on my threads and post encouragement. But so do Buddhists, atheists, and n heathen. I love the diversity!

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[ChristArtist]

@anotnious...beautiful explanation of Christian meditation! I think of the verses in philippians. ..think on these things. ..as well as the psalm morning noon and night will i praise him! From the rising of the sun to the going down, the name of the Lord is to be praised. So much of my prayer life is meditating upon HIM...asking is one thing, but basking in HIS presence is different. Listen...to the still small voice! To me, along worth thinking on his word, this is meditating! But I need to set aside a time to be focused, breathe and enter into his presence!

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[Randa Rooskie]

Christian nerd here too! Anyone Theology nerds in this place??

 

Theology is basically understanding what we say we believe, so as Christians we should all be in some degree "Theology Nerds."  Thankfully, God doesn't require us to all have degrees in theology!  (Acts 4:13 "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled.  And they realized that they had been with Jesus.")  I don't have formal training, but we went through Wayne Grudem's "Systematic Theology" together in our church over a two year period.  Loved it!

[Randa Rooskie]

I've been musing over this theme again and thought I'd share:

 

All of MY good things are like filthy rags compared to God's perfection (Is 64:6), but when God looks at me He sees the righteousness of Christ my Savior. (1 Cor 1:30, Phil 3:9)  What that means for me is that I (and you fellow believers) will NEVER be more righteous than I am right now, because my righteousness is not my own, but Christ's!  All my faults, my failings, my selfishness... it's all been dealt with on the cross.  The more like Him we become the more we hate the sin in us, but until eternity we'll always be imperfect beings desperate for Christ to show the world something of His goodness and perfection through us in faith.

 

So the next time you've repented and find you want to beat yourself up over something (see Romans 7 - I do what I shouldn't do, and what I know I should do I don't do!) try saying out loud, "Christ is my righteousness.  I will never be more righteous than you've made me right now!"  And see if that wont lead you out of self-loathing and back to Him in worship!  What an amazing God we serve!

[ChristArtist]

Randa- I'm still trying to grasp that concept. But thanks for sharing!

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[Red1263]

Randa, that's definitely going to be my come-to whenever I'm feeling down!

[Randa Rooskie]

On a shallower note... I also find that most of my negativity comes from taking myself too seriously (and God's promises not seriously enough!).  Once when I was overwhelmed by the stacks on my desk to the point of being frozen, instead of actually trying to work through the stacks I first printed out this picture and hung it directly over my desk:

 

 

Every time I approached it after that I laughed so hard about how Jackie Chan thought this was a mess that I felt like I was ready to tackle a little piece of it.  Didn't take long to clean up after that.

[Doe]

Just another Christian popping in to say hello.Grew up in the South as a Southern Baptist and Christ has always been apart of my life.  It wasn't until I moved to the Bay Area six years ago that I really realized how much apart of me it is. It's easy to be Christian when it's part of the local cultural idenity but it's definitely a challenge when it's not.  like my co-workers saying "Hold on, Doe's gotta say grace" when we eat. lol. I started going to Orthodox Church (OCA) about ten years ago.

[Rooks]

Hey NF Christians. Feeling pretty lost right now as I recently found out my 19 month old daughter has a brain tumor. We have no idea in how dangerous things are right now but could use as much prayer as we can get. Details here in my thread. Much appreciated.

http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/38849-rooks-tracking-the-daily-grind/page-30

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Just another Christian popping in to say hello.Grew up in the South as a Southern Baptist and Christ has always been apart of my life.  It wasn't until I moved to the Bay Area six years ago that I really realized how much apart of me it is. It's easy to be Christian when it's part of the local cultural idenity but it's definitely a challenge when it's not.  like my co-workers saying "Hold on, Doe's gotta say grace" when we eat. lol. I started going to Orthodox Church (OCA) about ten years ago.

You'd be amazed how many baptists find a place in orthodoxy.  I'm still Baptist but have a buddy who's Antiochian Orthodox and I always feel at home when I visit his church.

 

Hey NF Christians. Feeling pretty lost right now as I recently found out my 19 month old daughter has a brain tumor. We have no idea in how dangerous things are right now but could use as much prayer as we can get. Details here in my thread. Much appreciated.

http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/38849-rooks-tracking-the-daily-grind/page-30

That stinks. Will be praying.