i LOVED your story--my grandma (step-grandma sort of, only 55 years old) was speaking with my aunt one day, when she reached over to pull a black hair out of her face (her hair is white, however).  and when she tried to pull it, she felt it stick to the skin.  Turns out it had been about a 4 inch black hair that had been growing on her chest!  so what i mean to say is, don't worry-it happens to the best of us!!!

ok, i know as christians we are told not to try to search or guess the end of the world.  but i've heard about the Aztec calander that stops at 2025, and an early monk (his name leaves me) also predicted that the end of the world would occur in that very same year.  i'm not worried, or trying to predict the armagedon , i was just wondering, with all of the global conflicts going on right now (war, terrorism, ozone destruction, etc., etc., etc.), i want to know what you guys think.  ps-im not saying that we should follow the aztec calender or a monk!!!  

lol as i was scrolling through the forums and sub-sites of CU.com, i realized i was growing happier at every clicvk of the button.  Talking about God really makes you happy, don't you think?  And when you ppl mix in a little craziness with it (fish/pickle sliapping? lol see where have all the athiests gone?) I really just have a great time.  Thanks for all contributing something like this to people like me !!! lol

LOL you guys are so weird (scroll down and read other replies)

wow, terribly sorry to hear about that.  first of all, i agree with you.  while the bible does say if you accept Jesus, you basically do get a one-way-ticket to heaven, theres more to it.  Heres a similar story (i only remember bits and peices) that was told to me on a missions trip:
my leader was at a cd store, chatting with his friends about new cds, when they got on the topic of christian albums.  as the convo got deeper, a lady who worked at the store walked in (from her lunch break).  As she set down her bags behind the counter, she happened to overhear her friends conversation.  She came over to join them, asking about who they were talking about, and my youth leader said "oh yeah, Steven Curtis Chapman, a christian singer.  Are you a christian?" She shrugged and replied, "oh yeah, I did that."  my youth leader was kind of taken aback by this.  "how can you do God?  I mean, you can DO your homework, or DO the dew, but you can't DO christianity.  It isn't like a home ec course"  As their conversation increaced, he discovered that she had not been living a christian life at all, and only used God when it had a benifit (example: buying crosses for easter, haning an angel on the Christmas tree, joining the bible study that all of your friends are in).  God isn't a credit card, you can't just burn out your card, then return the clothes the next day.  Let me put it this way.  If you're going to med school, and you say "I'm a med school student, I'm going to be a doctor." you arn't a doctor yet.  You can't stroll into the ER the next day and be like, OK Dr. Ross, who are we slicing open today???  When you make that bond with God (aka accept Jesus into your heart) you're making the same promise that you made for med school, you ARE NOT A CHRISTIAN YET, but you are considered a begining(amateur) one in the eyes of God.  When you accept Christ, you officially begin your journey down the path towards God.  It's not right to say, you can go to heaven if you jsut say this prayer.  If you die tomarrow, then its true.  But if you die in 30 years, and you have not picked up a bible since that one day you made that promise, then you are not a christian in the eyes of God.  On that one day you were, but not 30 years.  When we become a christian, we assume a responsibility that we will try to live a christian life, consulting God in ALL OF OUR DECISIONS and praying that we will make the right ones.  the parable of the sower would work here.  The soil that fell on the rocky terrain grew beautifully at first, but when the sun came up, the became withered and dried out.  While its not the same concept, this shows that if we do not continue to grow our roots deeper into the soil of the Lord, we will wither up before him.  Once again, I repeat, if you have accepted Christ into your heart, and DO NOT TRY TO LIVE A CHRISTIAN LIFE, DO NOT TREAT YOUR NEIGHBORS AS YOU WANT TO BE TREATED, AND DO NOT TRY TO OBEY THE 10 COMANDMENTS THEN YOU ARE NOT A CHRISTIAN.  Because we are humans, we will always fail at these goals, but then there is forgiveness, and the body and blood of Christ comes into business.  I am Baptist-Presbeteryan, but most of all just Christian.  I know the Bible gets into technicalities, but this is the truth.  Its not a catholic thing, where if you miss a Sunday School you go to Hell, but what the Bible says.  You have to respect God.  You both make a promise, one he'll never brake but one mankind will brake millions of times a day.  This is what I believe, and I hope you can persuade your roomate to consider it.  ps-sorry for the length!!!

howdy yall, hope you're having a great week.  i live in houston, texas, and i'm a really big band dork (flute for 7 years now!!!).  but in the band, you'd be surprised to hear that its not all dorks with black rimmed, harry potter type glasses and pimples.  in fact the band has turned into one very big ethnic hang out, caked in foul language, gossip, anger, and even sex.  Hardly anyone remains unchanged and clean in this community, and i admit that i have even come under the influence of some of these things (not sex-lol).  but recently, I've been talking to my friend David.  I would love to start a band bible study as a way to reach out to all ethnicities and try to cleanse the band of its cliques and gossiping.  We both got really excited at the thought of starting one, but we both realized that we had no idea how.  Is there any small devotional book out there that would be good for about a half hour bible study?  I need to learn too, although I learn through teaching a bit more.  I'm not quite sure how to peice things from the bible together, but if you guys have any old bible study notes lying around the house, I would be happy to hear from you.  Thanks again!

I'm terribly sorry to hear about your friend. I just lost my grandmother to bone cancer in july.  Death is indeed terrifying sometimes, and the idea of standing before the throne of God, who will make our judgement is even more heart-pouinding.  But when you have Jesus by your side, death simply becomes the next great adventure.  With your friend, here are my thoughts.  I believe that God puts us through a test at least once through our lives.  Towards the end of this test, I believe we come to a "breaking point," where we either recognize the test is from God and to surrender to his will; or to turn away from the "higher being" in defiance.  Many turn back towards the Lord, but a few who are weak, tierd, and sick(which I'm sure we can all relate to at one point) seem to want to keep wandering away from this being that caused you so much pain.  Now, here is what I think you can do to help her.  Be with her at that breaking point, and help her see that God did this out of love.  I know she does not need a reason to be angry with the Lord, but help her see that if she had never gotten sick in the first place, she might not have ever reached this breaking point (for example, putting off God till' next Sunday at church. Mankind is foolish in thinking that "we'll have time to be a better christian later," because then God simply bombards us with issues until we are forced to face Him, instead of procrastinating with our Chrisian life-does anybody get what im talkng about? lol sry, kinda rambling).  In conclusion, she will eventually realize that she cannot fight through life and travel through death on her own, and it is up to you and your friend to help her make the right choice, or the stubborn, mankind choice.  I will be sure to include both of you in my prayers, expecially that she reaches this breaking point before it is too late.  I have no doubt that you will be able to create a miracle tho!   .

Hi, I'm a sophmore in high school, and really looking foreward to getting to know this site.  I have been looking for brothers and sisters in christ that i can talk to anywhere, anytime, and finally, i find this great place!  I would love to be a psycologist when I grow up, considering that I just love helping people with emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual problems.  i love reading any kinds of books at anytime of the day, expecially ones that make me think.  i look foreward to getting to know you all,  ;)thanks for reading!

I understand what you're going through completley.  This is kind of the opposite, but when my friend hooked up with an athiest guy, she began to doubt her faith too.  Let me assure you, however, that a bond you make with God is a strong one.  You cannot break it unless it is the ULTIMATE circumstance (meaning, you're REALLY REALLY angry).  A lost relationship is not gonna make her lose her spiritual promise.  God is more attached than that.  In the meantime, be sure to be there to support her.  Remind her of how good God is.  With my friend, we had a three person bible study(herself, myself, and an additional friend).  When she usually just went for a Starbucks Hot Chocolate and some gossip, she heard a lot about God's great promises.  I know 30 mins. b4 school might not seem like much, but trust me, they go a long way.  Those words will be popping up in her head until she goes to sleep that night.  Lastly, (sorry, I nkow this is really long), every Christian doubts God every once in a while.  We are human, we tend to wander and fall astray, why else would we need a sheperd to guide us?  Keep praying for her and nuge her in the right direction, and God will do the rest of the work  .    

In December of 2002, I began battling with depression.  I'm sure you all may have experienced this at one point, considering almost all teens go through a bout of this, but when the depression started taking long term effects (exhaustion, headaches, faint-feelings) I began to go to doctors to see if there was something else wrong.  After 5 doctors and A LOT of blood tests, we finally narowed it down to one thing: a severe case of hypoglycemia.  For those of you who don't know what that is, it's like diabeties, except not treated with insulin.  In fact, its only treated by "diet and exercise" making it not very serious at all for most people.  However, I have been doing all that my doctors have told me to do, and I still feel terrible.  When school approached in late August, I gathered my courage and strength, only to miss about 2-3 days a week, every week of school.  I have also obtained more symptoms, much more severe and painful, but cannot be explained by hypoglycemia.  But there are no more doctors, no more tests that explain this.  The doctors think it is all in my head, my friends think its no big deal, and my family believes I'm going crazy, and a trip to the psycologist and some pills will fix it.  

Now, to the real point I was trying to make.  I have been wrestling with my faith this entire summer.  I have had a wonderful June and July with God, going on a Missions Trip to Saltillo, Mexico, only to over-come my depression through a true miracle from God!  However, since then, my sickness has gotten extremley worse, and nothing can be done about it.  In August, my fights with God became much more intense.  I fouught with Him in my mind and even lost sight of Him once or twice.  Then came the pills.  My parents were convinced that they had found the cure in 30 mL of fun.  Instead, the pills have made me irritable, angry, frustrated, worried, and most of all confused.  This was the final barrier between myself and God.  So much pain has been built up in the last 2 weeks, that on this very night, I have fought with God and am finally fed up.  I am never angry, I never hate anyone.  I love people, no matter the cost, the pain they cause me, or the pain they cause themselves.  But tonight, I know what true outrage, impatience, and blind furry really feels like.  For once I feel like God is out to get me, like he is putting me in situations that hurt me more.  Before you think of James, let me tell you that I feel like God is testing me beyond my limits, even though he promises that he never will.  I know I should rejoyce in times of testing, because I'll come out stronger, but I feel beaten, worn, torn, and ripped, like a sailor who has been battling a storm for too long and his ship is just about to sink.  Second of all, I have been doing my bible study, praying consistantly, and acting in fellowship with my church friends and family. I have not left Him, nor forsaken Him.  But, I feel like God has forsaken me.  I know he never forsakes anyone, but I feel like I am at a breaking point, like I really have been cast down.  I feel so unloved and unwanted.  I don't know what to do, or how to handle this.  I've tried praying, begging, fighting, talking, thinking, and it seems like an imposible logic problem.  Any advice would be WONDERFUL, and thank you for taking the time to read this long request.  I hope that someone will be able to relate to this too, I'm sure someone out there knows what its like to be sick and trapped, both spiritually and physically.  
PS-Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!