Singleness is a Gift, And That’s Biblical (in case you forgot)

Thanks, Keely!

I have been saying the same thing, but on the front of teenage dating instead. I totally agree with you! These years as teens and young adulthood are a huge opportunity. As the Harris brothers put it “a launching pad” into the rest of our lives. If we don’t use our lives now, are we going to use it when we’re to tried to move from old age?

Once again, thank you!
– Trent

I have friends that all they talk about is finding the one, getting married, having kids and an okay life. I don’t think that way. I think about it from time to time, but it’s not a pressing matter. I think Keely is right when we assume that you’re married, you’re different. I wish there weren’t labels. They’re so annoying! I know I’ll be content whether I’m married or not, because like I have said if you listen to me on the internets, God’s with you, and He won’t let you down.

What do you do when friends start talking like that? I normally just leave the conversation, but don’t know if that’s the best move diplomatically.

Are you sure we’re not related? First the article about Gatorade, then this! It’s scary how well you would fit in at my house.

I am 1/8 Cuban, 1/8 Mexican, Some Irish, Some American Indians, and who knows what else. 🙂

Wow, I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot recently. I totally agree, Keely! I’m only seventeen, so I’m not thinking about marriage right now, but when I look at my peers who are dating, instead of envying them, I kinda see just how ridiculous it is. Not to say that I don’t want a boyfriend some day, I do! But right now I’m content to just be friends. My friends with a “significant other” seem to miss out on so much of life because they’re so consumed with that other person. Like in a group setting, they likely won’t participate in group games or group conversation, because they have tunnel vision for just that one person. From a practical standpoint, this doesn’t sound fun to me! I enjoying being independent, being able to come and go as I please, and talk to who I want to talk to. But more importantly, I agree that God can work in big ways during these years. The way I see it, if I live an average life of 75 years, and I get married at an average age of 25, that’s fifty whole years of married life, and only twenty of singleness. I don’t want to waste it.

Bought with a Price,
-Riley

Si Senõr

Lol, other then that, really no comprendè español. 🙂

Though, I do LOVE Mexican food.

Haha thank you!

I love Spanish – probably going to go I to translating after graduation – so I wondered…
And yes, I’m really a mime. Myself and a group of friends get together every week to practice mime skits then we perform around ten times in a school year. It’s fun 🙂

Really, I can write out a lot of my ideas, but as soon as I start talking, I might s well not talk for all the good I’m gonna do.

I live in the South Eastern US. You?

Maryland and Virginia have teams, but I don’t know of any further south. I’m near Maryland., whatever region you’d call that.

Yeah, it’s a “ministry” -some folks think we’re best for outreach, but I think we’re best placed in churches, because it’s hard to communicate the Gospel wordlessly but for Christians they’re pushed to rethink the Sunday School stories they heard all their lives.
And it’s lots of fun too 😉
And girls can mime – the team I’m on has more girls than they have guys. I’m a girl but it doesn’t matter what you call me – “dude-but-you’re-a-girl” doesn’t sound right, you know?

Hi Keely,
Your discussion of the true purpose of marriage, to aid one another in what God has called us for, was very inspiring to me. It is extremely important to realize that marriage is first and foremost to better equip each other to serve Jesus Christ. This essential truth should be our primary purpose in life, regardless of our marital status.

Oh yeah! I think I know what it is now :). That’s actually really cool. Do you guys ever perform at Christian summer camps? I saw a skit really similar to that this year at the camp I was at.

I give links to articles and stuff all the time though…I’m pretty sure that’s a-okay

Yes, we’ve been at some camps, as have other teams… that’s one of our main venues in the summer. Who knows? It could have been my team!

Yeah I leave. They know I don’t care about boys and dating. It kinda has to do with my Asperger’s and boys ignoring me.

I also know “Little Boy”, “Little Girl”, “Woman”, ” Crazy White Man”, “Handsome”, ” Manly “, a Spanish threat, and a few Spanish names. But then my Spanish vocabulary suddenly dies: a short drop and a sudden stop. 🙂

What is “Crazy White Man”? I have a friend who would love to know that phrase. Do I want to know the Spanish threat? I could always say that to my teacher when she assigns a lot of homework 😉

Aspergers? Sorry but I don’t know what that is.

Hey Trent, can you look at “Nine”s comment above? I tried to answer, but I don’t think my answer was really what he’s looking for.

This is soooo pertinent to the singleness article 😉

Thank you for writing this! This has been a topic I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. It’s really important to remember that our identities aren’t found in being in a relationship, or being married. We can have a life and not be in a relationship! We can serve God and do hard things while we’re single, and it might even be easier because we won’t be “tied down” with a relationship to worry about. We can enjoy this time of singleness, and wait patiently for God to bring our spouse to us. We don’t have to worry about who we will marry, because God has it all in His hands, and He knows what is best for us.

I am exactly 0% Mexican or anything in that area, but I *LOVE* Mexican food… lol!
I have a little of everything European- German, Dutch, British, Irish… (needless to say my family gets sunburned easily :P)

Totally, right?

“locos gringos” (Low-co GringGo) is “Crazy White Man”

And I don’t know how to type the other one, only pronounce it. :/

Yeah. I guess you’re right. Lol

This is exactly what I needed right now… I’m a 21 year old woman and have been getting a lot of comments from people around me asking when I’m going to get married. Generally I respond by asking if they have anyone in mind they’d like to introduce me to, jokingly of course, but it does still bother me sometimes. I’m not really scared of being single, in some ways I feel like that would be easier, but I do worry that it’s because something is wrong with me: I’m not attractive enough, or sociable enough, or whatever it may be. I know those are just my insecurities. But girls are bombarded with talks about how ‘God has someone planned for you!’ and as this article described, they’re waiting for their prince charming so their real life can begin.

Anyway, thank you for this article. I’ve been praying about this lately, so I suppose this is one way God has chosen to answer. You’ve given me some things to think about.

I saw this comment at random, and at first I was confused…are they talking about songs? These song titles don’t come off as what Trent Blake would listen to (haha)….Then I realized you were discussing Spanish…you guys make me laugh 🙂 Lol. But really, “Crazy White Man”?? I’m sure it’s a song…:)

Hey Leah! I love that Jim Elliott quote, I remember it meant a lot to me right before I went off to college and during other challenging seasons of life. Thanks for reminding me of it:)

Awesome perspective, Rebecca:) Thanks for encouraging me with your comment!

My heart goes out to you, friend. I know what it is like not to “feel” God’s love, even when I understand it on an intellectual level. But what we must remember is what Eugene Peterson said, “The mistake we often make is thinking that God’s interest and care for us waxes and wanes according to our spiritual temperature.” I know you’re not necessarily asking for advice, but what has helped me in my own spiritual valleys is 1) preaching the gospel to myself and 2) focusing on others through service. I don’t say this tritely, I truly believe that God is sufficient and that, for those who are saved, even the most difficult trials we face are His grace in our lives. I wrote about my own experiences with this a little while ago (God for the rest of us). Anyway, I am saying a prayer for you. I hope you are encouraged again in the Romans 8:31-39 love of Christ.

Very frustrating isn’t it? I was never exposed to that when I was younger because my parents married later in life (both graduated from veterinary school the same year) and so they always encouraged my siblings and me (all 8 of us) to pursue our educations and gifts, without pressuring us to “find someone.” I couldn’t be more grateful to them for that upbringing — especially after graduating from college and discovering the feverish pressure cooker that is the dating environment of Christian conservative academia.

So yeah, I understand where you’re coming from Birdwhisperer. And I don’t know you personally, but I do know that most of us women tend to be extremely hard on ourselves. But marriage isn’t a gold star of approval that you get when you finally meet some standard. It is just a gift of God, and like everything else He gives us, it is undeserved. That’s another funny idea we get — that when we’re perfect like a Disney princess then the prince shows up. But you won’t be perfect if and when you do get married, and your guy won’t either. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” I hope you don’t think I’m talking at you — as a big sister and 23 year old girl myself, this is very much from the heart:) I hope you find strength, courage, and joy in the Lord during this and every season of life, my friend.

Riley, I’m glad you agree! I love your perspective about using and enjoying this time of life. I would add that everyone is different, though. It’s good to appreciate the places in life God has us at, even while appreciating the different paths He is leading others down. That’s the beautiful thing about our Lord — He guides each of us so differently and so well:)

Nope. I’m a private schooler. I’m taking level 2 Spanish. I’ve never heard of co-ops.

Asperger’s is a mild form of autism. If we were real life acquaintances, I could talk to you just fine. But I still struggle with other stuff.

That’s where homeschoolers get together to learn some subjects. Like if one mom is really good at a language, she might offer to teach other kids that one subject.

So what was the topic again? LOL! 😀

Wasn’t it… ummm… about not using our smartphones so much?

But you admit to talking; or is typing a loophole for Mimes? I’m not very offend-able, so don’t worry, anyway.

Anyway, I don’t expect someone to simply agree with what I’m saying, as it’s somewhat contradictory and I know that. I also get the whole ‘strengthening’ thing, also referred to as ‘seasons’, but the circumstances even seem at odds with that notion…
Allow me to explain in a bit more detail:
The difficulty I have is that I’ve been in a season pretty much exactly like this one before. I developed strong feelings for someone, circumstance(in that case her having moved far away) made it difficult to develop any sort of meaningful relationship and she rejected me consecutively until I eventually blew things completely and we no longer communicated at all. There’s a lot more to it than that, of course, but that’s the gist of it.
Having come out of that(conditioning my heart through prayer and deliberate steps to get over her, which is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done) and thinking I had learnt what I needed to from that drawn-out and difficult experience I found myself in similar circumstances shortly thereafter.
I somewhat wonder whether I’m simply setting myself up to go through that again, but have had no intention of doing so; it just seemed nice to be taking an interest in someone who I could speak with in person and relate to in a way that was a lot more personal and probably healthier.
It was when I’d really taken a shining to her that I found out she’d made a promise not to date for a year. That’s something she did to focus more on her relationship with God(ie entirely the right reasons) but I still question it, as I’m not sure whether she was a making a mistake in doing this; the reason I am in doubt of her decision is that Matthew 5:33-37 is pretty clear in regards to whether or not we should take oaths.
So was her decision to do this mistaken? In which case it could be suggested “the evil one” could be making deliberate attempts to interfere with her life and in effect, mine as well.
OR is this something God asked her to do, in which case it may not be what Jesus is referring to in Matthew 5 but rather a covenant she has entered into during this time. Biblically, I don’t see the latter making much sense, but I’m also inclined to blatant bias and find it at odds with her character to make such a commitment without prayerful consideration. But in that case the sense the God is with-holding a blessing becomes much more reasoned, and I don’t understand why he would.
Either way, she has given her word on the issue, and whether or no she should have doesn’t change the fact that she’s required to keep that promise. As such this is something I’ve decided not to discuss with her until after she has fulfilled the commitment itself, as to do otherwise may just be putting a stumbling block in her path.

In fact, my immediate reaction to hearing that was of disappointment; a sullen acceptance that it wasn’t to be. Having spent a long time waiting in the last situation I was I thought maybe this time I should just look after myself and cut my losses. That thought, however, didn’t last.

There are some great examples of women such as Corrie Ten Boom, Mother Teresa, Mary Slessor etc., and men such as Brother Andrew, Nicky Cruz,
etc. they were used by God to do great things without a husband/wife.

God also has a great plan in marriage too, it has been God’s plan since
Adam (Genesis 2:18). While still in fellowship with God, God
provided Adam with a helpmate. I think it is more that we need to use God’s time
wisely (while single and/or married), and not try to push the wheelbarrow
ourselves to make our plan happen a bit faster to our liking.

God doesn’t forget about us while we are single, & then suddenly
remember us and use us for His glory when we marry. God has a perfect plan for
each of our lives, He knows what is best for us. Whether it involves marriage or
not, He will use us to carry out His plan, all we need to do is trust Him and be
obedient to His leading. Why? Because HE IS GOD… and HE HAS A PLAN (the
foundation of this plan, which is only possible by living with Jesus as #1 in
our lives, is a relationship with our Heavenly Father)!!!

And as the article says waiting is not sitting about, it is active in pursuit of God:)

Thanks for the link. That’s a good article.

Also, I’d forgotten Proverbs 3:5-6. The Bible never suggests we need to understand to trust Him. I do hope to understand how I should approach this situation(which I may simply have to give up on, but I don’t want to do that without knowing that’s what God wants of me), but I don’t need to understand anything to trust God, so I’m not quite sure how I got in such a bind. In regards to taking in God’s Word, I have been endeavoring to read the Bible front to back and am currently In Deuteronomy, so I may have neglected to actively find appropriately encouraging Scripture that actually relates to my current circumstances.

The situation has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster, honestly. Right now I’m in a state of zero communication(for a matter of months) with the person I have feelings for. While I intended to use that time to deal with my feelings(ie get rid of them) I am genuinely not sure this is the right decision, even though it was one I made out of respecting her disinterest in my waiting for her in the first place. It would take a miracle for things to resolve themselves favourably, so I’ll know sooner or later what God thinks of the matter, I just don’t want to drag this out and make it any further of a burden on her than it may have been so far.
In saying that, there’s a couple of misgivings I have about leaving the situation behind me(apart from simply caring about her) and I have been having a damnably difficult time hearing God on this.
Even after learning about listening to Him in a series of lectures, reading a book, taking time to just listen etc I feel about as spiritually attentive as a rock. Though I guess that’s not entirely accurate. It’s more that I have an overly active mind. I enjoy silence, ironically, but can’t stop my mind racing most of the time. The instant after I pose a question to God I’m already shouting a hundred answers at myself.
When I really focus, I can with-hold from doing this for short times, but inevitably can’t identify whether the answer comes, or when it does I have just thought up an answer myself/am not sure it’s even God speaking. A week or two ago I tried just sitting on a park bench, with no-one around, focusing and refocusing my thoughts on God and His voice. After 3-4 hours I still had no idea what he was saying to me. I did this because I decided I didn’t want to make excuses or try to depend on any shortcuts to hearing Him, but it still wasn’t enough. My biggest fear is that I’ll go on like this for several more months only to put her, and myself, through more difficulty just to satisfy my own qualms about the situation.

There are few more ways I need to acknowledge Him; that’s for sure. There probably always will be, but some are pretty obvious to me right now.

Oh man, this is hilarious. Hey… I personally think Trent would listen to ‘Manly’ sung by Spanish Threat =vD

Some suitable distractions can help, for example
volunteering at a soup kitchen or a children’s hospital, serving others whose hurts are different to yours.

Music is helpful, Songs that have Scripture as a basis. Someone shared with me that to sing once is to pray twice.
Pray without ceasing as1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says

God’s desire is for you, He loves you, keep trusting Him, He will bring you through

I have a harder time speaking what I am thinking that typing it, too. But even sometimes recently writing has been a big challenge for me. I can’t really say that I know any magic way to make either side of it easier, but I can say this: make sure you don’t label yourself. That will be the biggest hindrance to you.

If you tell yourself “I am no good at speaking” sooner or later that becomes an ingrained part of who you are. I have seen it in my life so many times! It will be a feature you learn to enhance, and title that you hide behind. The two that I am struggling with the most right now are “quiet” and “unwanted”. But in my feeling isolated I learned to isolate myself better and more.

If it is already really a part of you, then just start by changing the “I am…” to “I struggle with…”. From there, make it “I am working on…”. That leaves you with the mindset of needing to step out and… 🙂 do something hard! It is not an overnight change; this whole thing is a messy tangle of lies, but the more we can learn to see through them the more we can find freedom.

Also, don’t worry when you talk. The words that we say should be God’s words and not our own anyways, so pray and ask Him to speak through you, take every thought captive, and then just step out of the way. I am going to be sharing my testimony with my youth group next week. I have been dealing with a lot of spiritual battles lately and one of the things that keeps happening is my thought process just shuts down to the point where I can’t really talk, just because I can’t construct a complete thought to say. I have worried that that would happen next week when I have to share, but last night I realized what a blessing it could actually be if it did happen! If I do reach the point where I can’t think or speak, then anything I say will be God talking and not Amanda, and that is what those people need to hear.

So be encouraged, and be bold! 🙂

Cassie thank you! I’m excited by your passion and desire to use your current situation in life for God’s glory. Awesome & encouraging.

Sounds awesome. My dad’s always threatened to become a mime. LOL

Thanks so much for sharing this 🙂 my older sister has recently started courting, so as you can imagine, I’m now constantly asked by others where ‘my young man’ is now… learning to be content in the place God has put me has been a big part of the last couple of years of my life, especially in regards to relationships, but people often say things that (unintentionally) can be very hard for a single person to have to hear and deal with. So yes, this post was exactly what I needed, and I believe this was exactly what a lot of other people needed to read as well 🙂

Thanks Keely!

My dad’s never threatened to become one, but he has said that it’s the best teen ministry he’s heard of – he likes the silence 🙂

That’s hysterical! I’ve never heard anyone ever use.

Wow, yes! Don’t we all type easier than we talk? 🙂 Yes, it’s so vital that we don’t label ourselves. Yes yes yes!! Can I ask, what led you to share your testimony? I’ll be praying for you!

Yeah, it sounds like a good one… and I’m also literally laughing out loud.

Yeah, my dad is pretty awesome. He literally taught me everything I know about politics, business, theology, and the list goes on…

Ok, got a question for you: What don’t you agree with in Catholicism? I’ve been trying to figure out what makes us so different from them. So many people equate them with total pagans, which I don’t understand. So anyway… You have an answer for me? (Honest question. It could sound like I’m trying to start a debate.)

Ok, thanks. I just wondered because I have a friend who recently left his (spiritually dead) church to join a Catholic church. I wondered where we differ (although I saw him helping out at his old church today, so I wonder if he’s back with them… but you don’t know my friend or what’s going on, so I don’t know why I’m telling you this). Anyway, thank you for explaining.
And Peter being the first pope doesn’t make sense… I wonder where they got that.

I’m not really sure what you’re saying here, Nine. Your reading of this text is very narrow and I think it’s hurting you. There’s nothing in the passage to suggest that singleness is only a good thing if you plan to be single forever. It just says that someone who is single is “spared worldly troubles” (v. 28), spared “anxieties” (v. 32), and is free to focus wholeheartedly on the Lord (v. 34).

It’s also worth noting that I didn’t pick the title. 🙂

Thanks for your continued interest in the piece.

I’m not attacking you personally, I’m saying that there’s a broader Biblical perspective written in 1 Chronicles 7 then what has been indicated by the content of this article, whether by yourself or whomever edited and added the title. I just mentioned the title because it’s the most apparent example.

I also mentioned the passage had parts that support your message in some ways, so I’m not sure why you would accuse me of being narrow minded. What I’m saying is that the Chapter in question includes more of an in-depth discourse on the topic than a statement of fact that ‘singleness is a gift’. There’s more to what Paul says than that.

There’s not ‘nothing’; Paul does suggest that type of singleness in his writing, as I’ll reiterate. That or he doesn’t suggest any sort of singleness is a gift.
I’m not taking a view that aims to defend my own difficulties; I’m assessing what is written. Please stop assuming this has anything to do with personal bias or my own struggle. I wrote the opening comment to promote the fact that Biblical truth is more important than our opinions. I”m also not saying that if singleness is not a gift we shouldn’t live fully, just that calling it a ‘gift from God’ has a certain application in the relevant passage.
I’ll quote verses 7-9 directly, and explain in more detail:

“Now as a concession, not as a command, I say this. I wish that all could be as I am. But each has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
To the unmarried and widows I say: it is good for them to *stay* unmarried, as I do. But if they can not control themselves , they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”

So, to be ‘how Paul is’ is to be single, and he says it is good for them to remain that way, indicating being able to do so is one ‘gift from God’. Then he speaks to a second sub-group; Paul’s advice to them is that it is better for them to get married than to struggle with self-discipline. So this group lacks that gift, and instead should seek marriage and the gift of a spouse. One has the gift of remaining single, another has the gift of marriage. Neither is said to have the gift of temporary singleness

In regards to the verse fragments you quoted, they’re all part of a passage writes in his own wisdom, rather than being a command or word from God. Paul says in verse 25, “Now about virgins/people not married, I have no command from the Lord, but I give judgement as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.”

Of course I think we should acknowledge Paul’s opinion; he’s trustworthy, after all. However, he also sees fit to let the reader know that it’s ‘no[t a] command from the Lord’, but Paul’s own advice. If these things are of Paul’s opinion should we consider them ‘gifts from God?’ Not when he never says they are. He uses the words ‘I(Paul) want you to be’ before listing these examples. He’s looking out for our interests, of course, but he’s also speaking from the perspective of a single missionary who’s concerned with the practicalities of how we are able to serve God in singleness effectively. That’s why I referred to this description as singleness being a tool for service.

Some, who aren’t gifted with the ability to stay single, may have “worldly troubles” because they don’t marry, such as “burning with lust/passion”. In that case it might be foolish for that person to simply decide their singleness is a gift and they shouldn’t take an opportunity to marry sooner rather than later. Paul does suggest ‘ if you are not married do not try to find a wife'(27,B), but this is one of many things Paul says about prioritising serving God above all things. He also says ‘those who are happy/rejoicing should live as if they are not happy/rejoicing'(30,B), so he’s not saying we should enjoy singleness while we can. I believe this means we shouldn’t simply stop ministering to those around us in order to relish a happy time in our lives. Similarly, we shouldn’t spend all our time looking for a spouse and focusing on that when there’s God’s kingdom to live for and expand. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen along the way or that we shouldn’t prepare ourselves for when an opportunity to marry does come, it’s just not as important as serving God.

Do you see what I’m saying now? Paul certainly affirms the need to prioritise God’s work above our own circumstances, but he doesn’t say that God has gifted us with singleness; only that marriage comes with certain obligations and that his view is that we are better off serving outside of marriage.
He’s admitting this is his own perspective and telling us to consider whether we need to marry before we do so, or whether it’s something we could do without. He’s not saying ‘make the most of singleness today if you intend to be married tomorrow’, he’s advocating devoting yourself to God in service to the point of never marrying, and conceding that some people lack the discipline to do this without ‘falling into sin’.

You’re article is fine, really. It’s a good perspective to share, and I’m glad you wrote it, as I’ve had some encouraging feedback on the topic. However, I don’t think it’s necessary to combat societies and the Church’s obsession with being married by going as far to say all singleness is a gift. I actually didn’t even think that’s what you were saying, as that could apply to whole bunch of scenarios where someones singleness relates to widowhood, divorce, disobedience to God, spiritual warfare, wallowing in a sinful lifestyle, etc. I was just clarifying that 1 Corinthian 7 doesn’t extol being single under all circumstances. It’s not a curse either, but we don’t need to insist that it’s always God-given to assert that one should make the most of whatever point in life there at.

Don’t worry, Nine, I didn’t view your response as a personal attack. 🙂 I confess, however, that after reading your comment I’m still not sure exactly what our disagreement is. If you would like me to respond to something specific, I’d be happy to try.

Perhaps you think I am trying to be a cheerleader for lifelong singleness? I’m not. All I’m saying is this: God is sovereign. I am His child. He works everything for good. I am called to be content and to have joy in every situation & season.

The point of this little piece is simply to encourage & invigorate people who happen to be in the season of singleness. It was written in response to a friend who was very discouraged by the article I mentioned in this post. That’s all:)

Again, thanks for taking time to tell me your thoughts. I appreciate it.

I’m not seeking to disagree with you. In essence, I don’t. I was just clarifying that there may be times where singleness is not a gift(I’ve already mentioned some examples and there are probably many more).
That’s not to say it should be looked at in a futile light, I just thought it important to make sure no-one was interpreting Paul’s words out context.
I also find Pauls writings sell marriage short, and when he’s discussing this we find him using language like ‘I have no command from God’. It’s not that he’s making up the benefits of singleness, I just don’t think we should take his words at face value when he has made deliberate reference to this being his own perspective on mission and serving.
Yes, singleness has less limitations than marriage, but so does ignoring God’s commands, which he gave to us. Having less limitations doesn’t make something a gift. Doesn’t mean that it’s not a gift, I’m just yet to hear you reference a verse that actually says that being single *is* a gift, in terms of someone who is hoping for a marriage relationship.
You say that you want to ‘respectfully remind this blogger that 1 Conrinthians 7 hasn’t fallen out of our Bibles’ but then neglect to delve into what Paul actually says.
That’s where my disagreement lies.
Why not use the very Chapter of the Bible you so cleverly introduced? If Scripture supports what you’re saying then bank on it more. Use the actual sentences Paul wrote. Explain what that means for us. Back up your points.
You don’t have to spoon feed the readers, but a few key verses would be a nice start to explaining the significance. You use Proverbs 19:14 to back up a spouse being a gift, then leave “(singleness is also a gift)” hanging with no verse reference despite this being central to the point the article makes. As a reader, I somewhat assumed this must be stated in the passage, but having looked through Chapter 7 I found this summation doesn’t quite fit 1 Corinth 7 the way I was expecting(I have read it before but it had been a while). That’s when I wrote the comment which started this discussion.

🙂 Thank you so much!! I really do need a lot of prayer right now.

Well, a couple things got me to this point.
It is only over the past couple years that I have really figured out what it means for me to have my testimony. And when I understood what God was doing and I began to find healing in Him, I understood that my testimony was one that was meant to be shared. I am not supposed to keep it safe and share it with just close family or friends when needed – lots and lots of people are supposed to hear this story. So I began to become willing to share when God asked me to.
The second side is that I pulled out of my youth group after one year of being there. I didn’t like it because it seemed shallow and I felt like the leaders kept holding me back just because I was one of the youngest, newest ones. So I never had anything to do with them. Well, over this summer I began to feel God telling me that it was time for me to go back to my youth group. I may or may not have put up a bit of an argument on that one, but said that if that is really what He wanted me to do then there would be something good come out of it. Right after I made that decision to obey and go back we heard that our youth pastor was leaving. So now someone new has stepped up (temporarily for now) and he is making a lot of changes in the group. I am so excited because I see God starting a work in there! One of the things that we started now is a youth leadership team. I am a part of that team and Mr. Fountain has opened up the opportunity for any of us on the team who want to share our testimony to do that on Wednesday nights. So I am scheduled to share on the 14th.

Thank you again so much for praying!!

“Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am.” 1 Corinthians 7:6-8

This isn’t a theological treatise, so going verse by verse would have defeated its purpose by making the post too lengthy. I believed the chapter was self-explanatory. But I’m happy to discuss this with you now.

Paul’s words are still inspired and from God. He’s not denying inspiration in verse 12, but rather stating that his words had no previous precedent in Jesus’ teachings as his former passage on marriage did, which is the reasoning behind verse 10. In verse 6, he is saying that his words do not pose a command to either singleness or marriage – simply a call to contentment. This is what my former pastor John MacArthur wrote in his study notes on this passage, I think he put it well so I’ll retype it here:

“A better translation of the Greek [word for ‘concession’] would be ‘awareness’ or ‘to have a mutual opinion.’ Paul was very aware of the God-ordained advantages of both singleness and marriage, and was not commanding marriage because of the temptation of singleness. Spirituality is not connected at all to marital status, though marriage is God’s good gift. As a single person, Paul recognized the special freedom and independence he had to serve Christ… Both singleness and marriage are God’s gracious gifts.

…Discontent was prevalent among these new believers in the Corinthian church… In a general response to that, this passage plainly repeats the basic principle that Christians should willingly accept the marital condition and social situations into which God has placed them and be content to serve Him there until He leads them elsewhere.”

Quick note: You said ignoring God’s commands would hypothetically also present less limitations for service. This makes me wonder if you are missing the point? Ignoring God not give us “less limitations” for honoring and focusing on Him. The goal isn’t having less limitations for less limitations’ sake, but for honoring God with our time and life. Singleness offers obvious opportunities to do so.

Each has his / her own gift. At risk of sounding like a broken record, the point is joy, contentment, and service in your situation, whatever it may be.

If you (not you specifically, Nine, just a hypothetical situation:) are single because of a sin situation, you can repent of that sin situation, turn to God, and still be grateful for your singleness – if for no other reason than that you are not inflicting that sin on another person, and God is giving you the time to focus on it and to heal. But I would be careful to avoid thinking that God gives marriage or any other blessing as a gift only to the perfect gold-star Christians. We don’t earn any of God’s blessings, they are all of grace. Singleness is itself, as Paul clearly states here, its own gift.

As I understand it, Catholics don’t exactly *pray* to Mary and other saints, they ask Mary to pray to Jesus for them, bc she is supposed to have more influence than any other saint (which I think is why she is addressed as ‘Mary, queen of Heaven’). She’s kinda supposed to be an intercessor. However this is coming from my gramma who is sometimes confused on matters of doctrine so don’t quote me on that:)

Hahaha I would have loved to have been there at that moment. LOL

Wow, that’s so cool! That’s amazing that God is leading you in that direction. I feel like I can relate to you in a lot of ways…I felt the same about my youth group being shallow, and desperately wanting some depth and fellowship. But I guess I’m learning that the “real” might have to start with me. Recently God has been teaching me just how important it is to be real. I have a story too, and up until now it’s been too hard to talk about. But over this past year God has really worked. I’ve been watching and waiting for a time to share my testimony – I’ve shared with my close family members (I held back even with them), but I also kinda feel God guiding to share with a wider group (like youth group), for them…but mostly for me. I think that’s where the healing really skyrockets. Have you heard the song “Any Other Way” by Tenth Avenue North? Listening to that was like a turning point for me. I also know how hard it is to go back to a situation that you left. Waita follow God’s leading and do it anyway! That’s so cool that things are changing for the better at your youth group. I’d love to hear how your testimony turns out!

If you’re in California, Maryland, Pennsylvania, or Delaware, I could get you in touch with a group 🙂

One of my favorite memories from that class! Scratch that, that IS my favorite memory from that class 🙂

OK no problem-I’ll pray for him!

Thanks Josh – that means a lot to me. FYI his name is Nathan.

Thank you for the wonderful article Keely!
I strongly believe that every single one of us should live by the verse in Philippians 3:14. We are running a race and if God sends another person that is willing to run with us thats a blessing. If God doesn’t send anyone, its a blessing too and it just indicates that He has a different, bigger and a better plan for our lives!

I agree with you with that statement! You’ll be married and be with your partner for how many years compare to being single 20-25 years so enjoy being single by serving the Lord, focusing on Him!

Awesome perspective Sara, couldn’t agree more:)

I can relate to you Alana. That’s how I felt in high school and even in college. Many of my friends seemed to be wasting opportunities just because they were really fixated on meeting the right guy/girl. I think focusing so much on marriage can become a big heart problem — just like focusing on any other blessing (which in and of itself may be a neutral or good thing) becomes idolatrous, whether that be health, success, talent, wealth, whatever. Your contentment is inspiring. Stay focused on the Lord, sister — sounds like your heart and your vision are in the right place & I’m encouraged by that, I’m sure your friends and others in your life are, too. <3

That quote, “TODAY, I am called to singleness.” is from Krissy (Ludy), Eric & Leslie Ludy’s sister/sister-in-law 🙂

Yes, we serve an amazing God!

Amazing article. Thanks so much. I definitely need to realize this.

Ahh …yes ,Mexican food is delish.

One of two reasons why I don’t want summer to be long!

Ah, cool…yes I will definitely pray for you.

Yep, but it’s a lot more fun than not being a nerd 🙂

I was simply suggesting we should not take Paul’s words at face value, though it is certainly still Scripture despite him having no command from the Lord. Paul also says ‘that he wishes that all were like him(single)’ but it’s obvious this is Paul’s view and doesn’t literally mean it would be good if all people were single. That would result in human extinction.

Disobedience to God was merely an example of something that is obviously wrong yet entails less limitations than obeying God. I mentioned this to affirm that a lack of limitation is not what defines something as a blessing or gift, or even as ‘good’. It was an extreme example to avoid getting caught up the semantics of the example instead of the actual topic.

I’ve never said anything about marriage being a greater gift or that we can earn blessings. Of course not.

In saying all of this, we clearly haven’t gotten anywhere with this discussion. You still claim that ‘Paul clearly states singleness is it’s own gift’, although he makes no such statement(if there were a statement you could simply reference the verse number and there would be no problem).

Singleness certainly can be a gift(as I’ve conceded from the beginning), but I don’t think it should be generalised as being implicitly so.
I could never justify declaring all singleness a gift to someone who has lost a spouse to death or has gone through a divorce. Nor would I try to convince someone that their circumstances of singleness are God given when I don’t actually know that; relationships, which involve human will, won’t always represent God’s perfect will, and the enemy can kill and destroy just as easily by feeding a lie to someone you love as he can be telling it directly to you(not referring to my own circumstances, but I see no reason Satan would hesitate to to do this if he got half the chance). I’m sure God work’s through these situations to bless us in the long run, as His is a redemptive grace, but this implies there is something to redeem; ie something that went wrong. He is not behind the scenes manipulating every human heart and decision(the only times we see this sort of thing happen in Scripture are when God hardens the heart’s of someone in political power to demonstrate his own glory).

Having a mind set of self-discipline, Godly focus and contentedness(which Paul does describe) is certainly a gift, but I don’t see anything about the text that affirms that the very circumstances of being single are God given(and if Paul were to simply state ‘singleness is a gift’ it would have to include this, or he’d be exaggerating the truth).

I’m sure there are times when we just aren’t ready for a relationship, or God has something better waiting for us, but we do live in a fallen world where things can go against God’s will. Just because he uses this for our good doesn’t mean he actively put these obstacles in our way or that they never held any potential to be a blessing or gift. He might challenge us with such things at times, but we shouldn’t passively assume our every circumstance is God’s leading and will somehow keep us on the ‘narrow path’.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, but I think it’s good to look at situations critically instead of assuming it’s part of God’s plan when things don’t work out. We shouldn’t be afraid to question whether something is perverting the course of God’s will. If there is and we don’t consider that possibility then our ability to face that situation could become impaired. That’s what I was referring to as ‘dangerous.’

Unless you’ve got any particular questions I probably won’t comment again, as I don’t think it will be beneficial.
God bless and I pray that you’ll receive the mind of Christ and the wisdom of God anew each day.

I would ask, if Paul is saying that the young men are better off not married, how are all the young women going to get married?
I agree that women were created to help men (although I also believe that women were created for God as much as men, just in a different role), but there are some ladies who are like my sister, who married late because there weren’t any good guys asking her.
I don’t entirely understand your last sentence in the second-to-last paragraph you wrote. Are you saying that women should be doing all these things so long as their husbands like what the women are doing?
I believe that this article is intended for both Christian men and women, but being a woman, the author wrote it to be more applicable for Christian women.

Nine,
I just read through that debate thread and agreed with you on many things. I do not think that the writer did quite as good of a job at parsing the passage as we would’ve liked. Kudos for saying something about it. You seem to have things well thought out and articulated. Are you a member here?

I was actually also thinking of doing a blog. I’ve done several in the past but not specifically on theology. Your depth of inquiry into the topic has me impressed; would you be interested in looking into a co-authorship?

I feel like people get the wrong idea of what marriage should be like. So I’m glad that you mentioned that it’s not all about “me”. When I am waiting for a future mate, I shouldn’t be looking for someone who completes me, and meets all my needs. Instead the focus should be on God and how I can “serve you so that you can serve Him better”.

No prob! Have you always lived in Australia?

Keely, thank you SO MUCH for your insightful article! Satan preys so hard us when we’re single to make us think that we can’t do anything but go hunting for a marriage degree while we’re single.

Leah, your quote from Jim Elliot is perfect!

I also found a two quotes from “I Kissed Dating Goodbye: by Joshua Harris” that I felt fit really well.
“God doesn’t use our season of singleness to punish us. He has created this season as an unparalleled opportunity for growth and service that we shouldn’t take for granted or allow to slip by.”
“Waiting for God’s timing, requires trusting in God’s goodness. We develop patience as we trust that God denies us good things in the present only because He has something better for us in the future.”

Yes, there is no meantime… we shouldn’t be waiting around (as you said this is God’s time). God is a big God. He has pretty amazing plans for us… let’s live out His plans to the max! 🙂

Absolutely!!

So, how are you (Catholics) different from folks like me (Protestants)? Any explanation is appreciated!

I meant Luke 1: 47-48 lol 🙂

Thanks so much Kate!

Hi mimeforJesus,

Catholic’s have many different doctrines, and believe in having someone like the Pope to lead the Church. Protestants broke away from that idea, partly because the Church was affiliated with the government.

Here is Catholic belief
1. Universalism- The belief that everyone gets to Heaven whether they are Christian or not or on a less extreme level, you can get to Heaven by doing good works.

Most Protestants do not believe this though (I hope) They believe:
1. That you are only saved by belief in Jesus Christ, and through Him only do you get to Heaven.

Thank you for sharing Hannah! So glad you were encouraged.

I’m so glad you were encouraged Allie! Thank you for letting me know:)

Ok, I’d like to challenge that thinking.

How do you explain your belief to the atheist dying at your side who is wondering if he lived a good life and if God will be pleased with him? Do you just tell him, “Sorry, you should have changed early. God doesn’t have mercy this far into your life.”? Or do you tell them, “Well, I guess Jesus wasn’t feeling very merciful when he died and decided that, to make things less complicated, he was only going to save those who believed he was God.”? How do you explain Jesus’ mercy to the man who was dying at his side who repented at the last moment? Yes, true, we get to Heaven through Jesus, but if you believe that you can get to Heaven if you believe in Jesus, then that means that you believe that Jesus didn’t die to save everyone. Do you think that your parents still love you even when you do something bad? I hope you do, because they do. That’s why parents discipline their kids, because they love them and they want them to grow up the right way so their life isn’t messed up when they are adults. So, if you can believe that your parents love you even when you do something bad, and you call them “Mom,” and “Dad,” then how can you call God your Father and not believe that he loves everyone, even when they do bad? He does love everyone, and he died to save everyone.

Also, about the Catholic belief.

No, we don’t believe that EVERYONE gets to Heaven, I mean, I hope everyone gets to Heaven, but we also believe that you died with a mortal sin on your soul, you probably aren’t going to get to Heaven. That’s why you should try to never commit a mortal sin (or any sin), because you don’t know when you are going to die. Jesus died to save everyone. He wasn’t just dying to save a handful of people. And, the part about “getting to Heaven because you do good works,” well, we don’t believe that either. To get to Heaven, you need to do GOD’S WILL, not just good works.

God bless!

HI Kate,

Concerning your atheist illustration. I’m think you are misunderstanding me, I by no means don’t believe that If an atheist accepted Jesus last minute, then his sins are washed away and he is saved. I am not saying Jesus didn’t die for everyone, indeed he did, and if one accepts him, they receive eternal life and their sins are washed away/ regardless of their past life.

I know some Catholics do not believe this doctrine. Though some do, and I think you would be in err if you claim all don’t. In fact, the Pope believes in Universalism, the more extreme level of what I was talking about.

Regardless of how severe your sin may be, Jesus will wash it away if you ask him to forgive you.

Actually on your last point. First, to get to Heaven you must accept Jesus into your life, following God’s will follows after that.

God Bless,

Liam S.

Thanks, i know it was sort of a weird question, but thanks! 🙂

No, I’m not saying that. I should probably rephrase that. I wasn’t trying to say anything about what was necessary for salvation at all. I was trying to make the point that Jesus hadn’t already decided, “Well, I’m only going to save Christians because atheists just don’t believe that I am God.” I was just trying to show that Jesus didn’t pick and choose who to save, he saved everyone. He loves everyone, even though we might stray. Does that clear it up or should I explain it better? Sorry for the confusion.

Wow all it took was one phrase “While I don’t agree with Catholicism” in my original comment and now it’s turned in to this giant debate. I don’t agree 100% with what anyone is saying, (I believe in the doctrine of predestination and all that) but it is interesting seeing where one phrase can take you.

I see what you mean, thanks!

Yes, I see how it could come out that way. Sorry for not being clear enough!

Then isn’t ‘asking’ Mary to intercede talking to Mary, just as praying is talking to God?

I wasn’t very clear either, so sorry!

evolution (with a lowercase e) is ok to believe in. I mean you see it everyday. Look at the flu virus. Last year it was a completely different virus (science wise) then it is this year. It mutated/evolved in the new virus. Evolution on the other hand (with an uppercase E), the belief that humans evolved from monkeys, is something that we firmly believe is not right. God created us to be dominant over the animals, he created humans IN HIS IMAGE, but not the animals. It doesn’t say anywhere in the Bible, “And God created the animals in his image.” So, if we believe that but also believe in Evolution (with an uppercase E) then we are disproving the fact that God created humans in his image.

I’m not sure what the connection is between evolution and Universalism? Or if they are two different questions?

I wasn’t trying to say your pastors have authority over you, I was trying to say that you respect your pastors as leaders. So, yes, they don’t have authority over you, but I’m guessing you do sort of have a sense that your pastor is your leader and that you should respect that. Also, when you said that they sin like every other human being, I thought I would point out that the Pope sins too.

I understand this in your worldview. Yet I see no connection between this and the Bible. If it were a Biblical doctrine, it would be mentioned and commanded several times throughout, yet Catholics like the author of one of the articles you gave us, claim that you can ‘hail Mary’ just because the angel gave her a high title. If we were commanded to do that, then it would be commanded in the Bible.

We can pray to God and ask Him to provide for us without having to ask someone else to do that for us. Nowhere in the Bible does it say we can ask the saints or Mary to intercede for us. I see no justification for this.

You talking about the difference between Macroevolution and Microevolution? I agree with you that Microevolution does occur, while Macroevolution does not.

Hi Grant, Im guessing here (so Kate correct me if Im wrong), but I would suspect that the reason Catholics believe that Mary was born without sin is bc if she was a sinner then Jesus would have, for lack of a better word, “inherited” Mary’s original sin (referencing Psalm 51:5). As a Protestant I believe that Mary was not sinless but that sin is carried through men (because of male headship) therefore Jesus could not have a biological father, which is why He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Because of that, Mary could have original sin, it would not have compromised Jesus’ holiness.

Ok, yeah, what I said, I had heard something like that form my science teacher but she used a different example, so it’s probably that I used the wrong example. Not exactly sure. Oh well, forget that I said that. 🙂

Ok, so I looked it up, and I got this: We Catholics believe (or are supposed to believe) in evolution. Sort of. We’re not exactly sure, we don’t have all the answers in the world. Many things are still mysteries. Anyways, we believe that if we did derive from some sort of animal or something, God kind of guide our formation. Also, God gave us our soul. That didn’t come from the animals. So, yes, it’s possible that we came from animals (we’re not sure), but we do know that our souls came from God.

And, as for how creation happened, if you look at all the time periods of the Earth, and what scientists have found, you can see that everything matches up.

In the Precambrian, bacteria, forming of the Earth, and multicellular organisms were present. On the first through part of the third day, God created the sky and the Earth.

In the Paleozoic, many sea creatures, plants, insects, and amphibians were created. On the last part of the third day through the fourth day, God created those things too.

In the Mesozoic, dinosaurs and birds were present. In part of the fourth day and the sixth day, it says in the Bible that God created birds and animals.

In the Cenozoic, some more animals were created, but also humans. On the sixth day, God created humans.

So, yes, God did create us, his time probably isn’t the same time as us. Millions of years could have been one day to God. As for evolution, if it did happen, God guided our making.

I think it’s inasmuch not in as much. Just kidding, I’m no grammar enthusiast. 🙂 OK, time for the answers.

Why do we believe Mary is sinless? Because of Luke 1:28 where it says, “And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” Hail, full of grace. You don’t call someone “full of grace” unless they are sinless. They can’t be FULL of grace if they sin. They can have grace, but they can’t be FULL. Also, when the angel says “Hail.” You don’t hail someone unless they are royalty or something. I’m not saying Mary is like another god or something, she isn’t, but I am trying to say that Mary is the Mother of God. The name Mother of God isn’t supposed to gratify Mary as much as it’s supposed to give glory to God.

Why do we believe in Purgatory? Good question.

http://www.catholic.com/blog/tim-staples/is-purgatory-in-the-bible

Please look at the link. Ditto to everything it says.

The belief that God used evolution is called Theistic Evolution. This is unbiblical and has many, many problems. What the Bible says how God directed the creation is clearly different than what order it would happen if by evolution.

I encourage you to read every one of these articles to see where I am getting at, since I don’t have time to write all of it down.

http://creation.com/2-peter-38-one-day-is-like-a-thousand-years
http://creation.com/Did-god-create-over-billions-of-years
http://creation.com/how-could-the-days-of-genesis-1-be-literal-if-the-sun-wasnt-created-until-the-fourth-day
http://creation.com/how-long-were-the-days-of-genesis-1
http://creation.com/6000-years
http://creation.com/did-the-creator-use-evolution
http://creation.com/theological-case-against-evolution

You seem to have done some research after I wrote that comment. So are you really supposed to believe in evolution? Does the Bible say that you have to? Is evolution even implied? Evolution is a man made theory that was made to undermine Biblical authority. The Bible warns us to accept false doctrines/man made ones that aren’t in the Bible. Evolution is a philosophy of man. As you can see from the articles I sent you (and there are many more I could give you), evolution is in contradiction to the Bible. As I said in a previous comment, our authority should be from the Bible, not in scientists or the Church.

If you look at what happens in those days, you can clearly see that the order of what happens in scripture, is in contradiction of what happens with evolution. For example:
The Bible:
1. Matter created by God in the beginning
2. Earth before the sun and stars
3. Oceans before land
4. Light before sun
5. Atmosphere between two hydrospheres
6. Land plants, first life forms created
7. Fruit trees before fishes
8. Birds before insects (“creeping things”)
9. Land vegetation before the sun
10. Birds before reptiles (“creeping things”)
11. Man before woman
12. Man before rain
13. Creation completed
Evolution:
1. Matter existed in the beginning
2. Sun and stars before the earth
3. Land before the oceans
4. Sun, earth’s first light
5. Contagious atmosphere and hydrosphere
6. Marine organisms, first forms of life
7. Fishes before fruit trees
8. Insects before birds
9. Sun before land plants
10. Reptiles before birds
11. Woman before man (by genetics)
12. Rain before man
13. “Creative” processes still continueing
* Illustration from “Creation According to Scripture” Scientific Creationism pg 228 -1981

Please read those articles, and if you have any more questions or objections I will be happy to answer them.

Your friend in Christ,

Liam S.

psst, hey Liam, they use a different translation. and Jesus probably wouldn’t like us knocking his mother. just saying, be careful.

hey, just curious. but if we evolved, and our souls came from God, then:

Where did God come from? and if God wasn’t powerful enough to just create us, how could he have made us in his image?

just some food for thought 🙂

P.S. sorry for asking you two things on different threads.

I didn’t know I had a council all about me. 🙂 Just kidding, of course.

The Catholic Bible contains more then the 66 books we have. Including something called the “Apocrypha.” Also, the 10 commandments were changed so they wouldn’t condem idols, like the typical catholic uses. (Statues of Marry and such). It wouldn’t surprise me if the part with the Angel talking to Marry was changed too.

Another misunderstanding I guess. I am by no means for evolution.

If you mean mocking, then by no means am I trying to do that.

Yeah, neither am I. I was just saying what I got from looking up “evolution catholic teaching.” 🙂

Yeah what @trent_blake:disqus said. Nooooo thanks. 🙂 And yes I am.

🙂 I like talking to people about their beliefs, as long as it stays civil.

Liam, thanks a lot for “taking over” for me here – whether you call it a debate or not I appreciate what you’re doing. 🙂

Honestly, I can’t answer those questions. We Catholics don’t have the answers to that. Only God does. As I said before, we’re not sure how we came to be. We know (and believe, or are supposed to) that God created us, but we’re not exactly sure how. Plus, we can’t explain God. It’s like in the Chronicles of Narnia when Mr. Beaver says (about Aslan), “He’s not a tame lion.” We can’t explain God’s greatness, we don’t know how he came to be. What we do know is he is the beginning and the end. So, he really didn’t have a beginning, he just always was. Sorry I can’t explain it, but it’s too great for our human minds to comprehend.

Hey Kate, 🙂

I would just like to point out in online debates, no one goes to someone else’s link. Because then it goes from say an atheist vs a Christian to Videos of Charles Darwin vs. Videos of Ravi Zacharias. And the debate never ends.

Regardless of the names the angels bestow upon Mary, you can’t create a doctrine because of it. As I said before and I’ll say it again. a biblical doctrine is one that is taught and commanded. Just because Mary was called “highly favored one” or “full of grace” doesn’t mean it teaches or implied that Mary was without sin, or that it is even right to ‘ask her’ to intercede for you.

Grace has multiple definitions, none of them that would imply that she was sinless. Yes, she was picked by God and was highly favored, but that doesn’t mean she was born without sin. If she was born without sin that would mean that she was basically the Christ almost. (The Christ couldn’t sin) Or as I think you might say, God gave her the grace to not sin. (which is basically the same thing when you come down to it)

Here are the definitions of grace

As a Noun
1. elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action:
2. a pleasing or attractive quality or endowment:
3. favor or goodwill.
4. a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior:
5. mercy; clemency; pardon
6. favor shown in granting a delay or temporary immunity.
7. an allowance of time after a debt or bill has become payable granted to the debtor before suit can be brought against him or her or a penalty applied:

As a verb:
1. to lend or add grace to; adorn:
2. to favor or honor:

As an idiom
1. but for the grace of God, under less fortunate circumstances:
2. by the grace of God, thankfully; fortunately:
3. fall from grace,
4. Theology. to relapse into sin or disfavor.
5. to lose favor; be discredited:
6. have the grace to, to be so kind as to:
7. in someone’s good /bad graces, regarded with favor (or disfavor)by someone:

Basically ‘grace’ is another word for ‘favored’. So it would not be incorrect to translate it either way.

Just because Mary was favored by God does not imply that she was sinless. That’s a pretty big jump.

I have a question, what version of the Bible do you use? I use the NKJV.

No problem Josh! As long as this is a healthy debate (I would call it one now) I have no problem with participating. 🙂

Okay. I’ll take your word for it, since I have not done a ton of research on the topic. To me, an idol is anything that is equal to or is more important to us then God. (Virtually anything can be our Idol, even people, or very good things, like our leaders, food, America, pleasure, money, anything really.) Something we all (including me) need to be on guard against. 🙂

I’m humbled.Thanks Trent. 🙂

No, Mary was not Christ. Jesus is God. Mary is human. Jesus was sinless from the start. Mary was sinless from the start. Jesus was sinless because he is God. Mary is sinless because God gave her the grace/had mercy on her. But, (in my Bible at least) it says Mary was FULL of grace. I will agree with you the just because it says “grace” or “favored” doesn’t mean “sinless”, but FULL of grace? (HIGHLY favored?) THAT would mean sinless. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. You can’t be FULL or grace unless you are sinless. As for highly, I think that would be the part where we spilt into Protestants and Catholics. You would agree I imagine that highly would mean that Mary could have God’s favor, but not be sinless. So, that’s where we split.

But… I have more proof Mary is sinless. (I took this from my reply to Claire below.)

Look at Genesis 3:15. It says, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

If you look at the Jewish translation on “enmity”, it actually means something more like totally warlike and having nothing that they agree on. If you agree with me that Jesus is the one that bruises Satan’s head when he dies on the cross to save us all, then the woman that it is talking about has to be Mary. So, it’s basically saying, “Mary and you (Satan) will have no common ground at all, you will always be fighting, Mary for God, you for yourself, and her Son will destroy you.”

If Mary and Satan have NO COMMON GROUND AT ALL, then that means Mary has to be sinless, otherwise they would have something that they would agree on, sin.

I’m not trying to keep arguing with you, but I’m trying to make my point that Mary is sinless.

I’ll get back to you on the praying to Mary and the saints part.

Wow, it’s been that long? Geez. You make this discussion seem old. I’m not that old am I? 🙂

Ikr? Aaaah! And I was just trying to get what my friend believes!!

Microevolution is the adaptation and variation within a species; it is the accepted term within the scientific community. I was just trying to clear up terminology here 🙂

edit: wow, I sounded kinda defensive here – I didn’t mean to!

K, I get what you’re saying.

Hey Kate, most Protestants consider her to be the nation of Israel, we believe the 12 stars represent the 12 tribes of Israel.

Hey Kate you have a good point their. Just because we believe different things doesn’t mean that we can’t be friends or have conversations etc. But we shouldn’t judge others (and this goes to all not just you and i) just because they believe different from us. and i know their are Christians out their who do. But not all do.we just need to learn how to coexist which is hard and won’t happen in a day but we need to and stop judging others. 🙂 i king of find the catholic faith interesting because i find their beliefs interesting. 🙂

but i do have a question do you believe that God is God?

Not sure if I want to get involved in this whole thing or not, but there’s just a few points I want to make.

God exists outside of time. It doesn’t really matter “when” everything was created, because time doesn’t exist to God. Time is man-made. We created the system of days and minutes and hours and years.

We were created in God’s image. In Genesis, if you noticed, God spoke everything into existence. Everything except humans. “Let there be light”, “let birds fly above the earth”, etc. And then “let us MAKE mankind in our image.” God formed us out of dust and breathed life into our bodies. We’re valued so much higher than the animals, he took special thought into creating us. We for sure were not spoken into being like animals, and we didn’t evolve from them.

There is God, and there is us. There’s no between. We were totally separated from God until Jesus became the bridge for us to be with God forever. I believe Mary was an ordinary girl.
Romans 3:23- For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:10- As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one.
John 14:6- Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
God uses the ordinary to do the extraordinary. Why would Mary have to be perfect to be chosen by God? God uses us when we believe and follow, not when we’re perfect.

And just to clarify, I’m not super educated in all this theological stuff, but I do know enough to hopefully get my point across. 🙂 God bless!

My family and I actually started out atheists, but then my dad felt the calling to be a Christian, so we were Baptist for a while, but my dad still wasn’t satisfied, so we then became Catholic when I was in kindergarten. I was baptized in kindergarten too.

Ok, so for the praying to saints and Mary and stuff, there’s actually nothing against it, but there is proof that we can. In countless Bible verses it says that the angels/saints praise God in Heaven. If they praise God and we praise God, then wouldn’t we be praising God together?

Also, in Revelation 5:8 it says that “the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” The saints are us. So, the saints in Heaven are offering the prayers of the people on Earth to God. We ask them to pray for us, and they offer our prayers to God. That’s evidence that the ancient Jews prayed (asked) the Saints in Heaven to pray for them and the Saints in Heaven did pray for them.

Yes, it says in the Bible that Jesus is the only Mediator between man and God, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t ask others to pray for us. Even when we pray to ask the saints and Mary for help, really they take that and offer it to God.

God bless!

This passage is totally in line with what we believe. Faith comes before works. We can’t get to Heaven by ourselves. It’s “not our own doing; it is the gift of God…” Faith without works is dead, but works without faith is also dead.

I would say that we can’t just do good works to get to Heaven. Sorry, I’m probably confusing you because I’ve said before that to get to Heaven we need to do God’s Will, which is true, but we have to order our lives the right way so that we aren’t just doing God’s Will just to get to Heaven, but we are doing it because of our complete faith in God and our love for God. People can do good things just for a good name, but Ephesians 2:8-9 shows that just because we do good works doesn’t automatically mean that we get to Heaven. It is through God and his grace. It is through faith in God.

So, yes, I would agree that to get to Heaven, we have to believe that it is not us that gets ourselves to Heaven, God does that. But I would also put that we can’t just be like, “Well, I believe in God, I guess I’m good. I can just sit back and watch now.” Once we have that faith in God, we have to live it out too. We have to realize that by God’s grace we are saved. God humbled himself to save us. We should be humbled by that.

Prayer in a sense is worship, acknowledging that the person we are talking to is higher than us. If I were to pray to a saint, or Mary, even if I am asking them something like they are my friend, I am acknowledging they have a higher power than me. All those people are human. They prayed to God just like you and I do. But- nowhere in the Bible does it say they pray to any other holy person who served the Lord, like Abraham for example. In fact in the Bible people only prayed to God. For example: Acts 12:5 , Romans 10:1, Romans 15:30

Philippians 4:6 also says that we should lift our prayers to God, and bring our needs to him. That knocks down that we can’t directly ask God for our needs.

If I were to make of some doctrine, that the Bible doesn’t specifically say anything against, is it ok? The Bible warns us in to not follow man made doctrines. Praying to the saints is one of them since the scripture does not command it. Hebrews 13:9

I agree with you that both the angels, saints, along with us worship God. But I really don’t know where you’re getting at with that. Of course we both praise God, us on earth and they in Heaven. But that is no evidence that we can pray to the saints.

Trying to take scripture to fit into the Catholic idea that you can pray to the saints is not the right way of going about Theology. Especially with a verse in the book of Revelation.

Just because the elders were holding bowls that were the prayers of the saints does not imply that the saints on earth gave prayers to the saints in heaven. That verse doesn’t give the slightest reference to “the saints on earth prayed to the saints” Therefore an assumption that the prayers of the saints on earth the elders are holding were given to the saints, not God. It doesn’t even say that. Again the Catholic Church trying to fit verses that into their assumptions that you can pray to the saints, pray to Mary, etc.

I need to ask you this? It seems you are eating in everything the Catholic Church says or believes like it’s the final authority? My authority is not in whatever some highly respected person, or group thinks, but in the Incarnate Word of the God of the Universe. Is your authority in scripture, or in the Catholic church?

To sum this up, scripture does not blatantly say that you can pray to the saints, that Mary is sinless, or purgatory. True scriptural doctrines are commanded or are done by people, very clearly, and not vaguely.

God Bless,

Liam S.

It looked like we could get into the Iconoclast controversy if we didn’t watch out – and that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.

No, Mary is fully human. She is not divine. She is human, but God gave her the grace to be sinless.

If Mary and Satan were to have “common ground” would mean that they would stand in agreement on one subject or another. Yes, agreement isn’t the right word because we don’t agree with sin while we still fall for it, but what word would you use? I guess to explain it I would say that Satan wants us to fall for his tricks, but Mary loves us and wants to keep us safe from temptation. Mary is our mother. (As it says in John 19:26-27, “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.” Notice how Jesus doesn’t say, “Son, behold your mother!” but rather leaves it unspecific. We believe that Jesus was giving us Mary as our mother, so he sort of left it open for us.) Mary loves us just like our own mother, but that doesn’t mean we worship her like God. Mary wants us to go to God. She points to God. Everything about her says, “Look at God. Look at what he has done to his lowly servant. Don’t look me, but rather use me as a sort of mirror that reflects God.”

We believe Mary to be the “new Eve.” It’s like the old and new covenants that God made with the people of Israel. Eve/Old Covenant was broken through the sin of the people. Mary/New Covenant came to sort of remedy or make new the brokenness of the Old Covenant.

If you look at the Bible in its entirety, it is very odd that a woman would be said to have “seed” (whether capitalized or uncapitalized). The men are the ones who have “seed.” The family name is carried by the men. If a man were to have be part of the conception of the child then the child would have been called the seed of Billy or something. Not “her seed.” If the woman were to have “seed” that would mean that no man could be intertwined (I use that for lack of a better word) in the birth. The only woman in the Bible who conceived a child while still being a virgin is Mary. Eve could not be the mother talked about in Genesis 3:15 or the child would have been referred to as the seed of Adam.

Also, Jesus isn’t the descendant of Eve. Yes, Jesus physical body would probably be considered of the line of Adam and Eve, but God didn’t come into the world to just be a human. God came into the world to be God and save us from our sin. Not saying Jesus wasn’t human or anything. Eve was the one who fell for the temptation Satan threw at her. Jesus is perfect. Jesus has never fallen for the temptations of the Devil. So why would God choose to have offspring from the one who originally fell for the lies of the Devil? Wouldn’t he want to start anew like the Old and New Covenants?

Answering your question on enmity and Satan only having enmity towards Mary. No, Satan wouldn’t only have enmity towards Mary. He would also have enmity towards God himself.

God bless!

I want to believe that my being single into my thirties is all part of God’s plan for me, but I just can’t anymore. You always hear about the people who are single later in life, but you never actually believe you’ll become one of them. It a horrible feeling. I absolutely do not think singleness is a gift, more like a curse.

Wait wait wait are you ignoring the verse that says “ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God?” (emphasis mine). There are two options here…

1. You can say that Mary was a sinner in need of a savior, which is the Biblical position to take (Luke 1: 46-48)

2. OR you can say that Mary was not one of the “all” (if that makes sense). This would imply that she was not human.

Is there a third option I’m missing here?

Cool! How did you go from not believing in a God to believing in a God?
~Madeleine

It’s like we call ourselves Christians rather than Protestants.

Sorry this turned into a debate, Kate!

Hey,
I just wanted to say, I know people who were single late into their lives, and they now realize that it was a vital part of their lives. One is my now-brother-in-law; he married when he was 36.
I’m not gonna throw a Bible verse at you, because I know that cliche verses can sting more than they help. I’ll be praying for you!

Hey Trent, not entirely sure about this, but I think the Apocrypa was used by Protestants originally (shortly after the Reformation). It was dubbed good to read/teach from, but doctrine was not to be derived from it because of its questionable reliance.

That’s a very good possibility. However like you said, deriving doctrine from it is never a good idea because of it’s questionable reliance. It’s like a history book, created by man, not inspired by God. It could be true, and yet it may also not be. I have never read it personally, but I may in the future if I have the time and the means to do it.

God bless you, Sam!
– Trent

I meant the comments on this whole discussion, which has in many ways turned into a debate. I wasn’t talking about you, I just directed a comment toward Kate at the same time as I answered your question. And yes, I totally agree with you about discussing opinions without arguing.
I actually started this by trying to find out where Protestants and Catholics are similar, but I asked where we differ because that way I can know where I agree with Catholicism.
Again, I apologize, @disqus_zvcB3xyLlz:disqus!

oh so it’s your fault this all blew up!!??!!! and i’m sorry it wasn’t because of you that i said something it’s just i was fed up with the whole thing 🙂 sorry.
God Bless,
~Madeleine

I’m not saying Jesus couldn’t be sinless on his own at all.

Think about it: Would it be appropriate for the perfect God to come into the world through a sinful body? No, I would say it wouldn’t be appropriate. God didn’t “need” a perfect person to come into the world as a perfect man, but it wouldn’t be right for him to come into the world at the Incarnation (when God became man) through an imperfect human.

Hope this helps!

Hey Sam, two answers for you… 🙂

1. Here’s my response to Brandon Buachanan that I wrote a couple days ago: This passage is totally in line with what we believe. Faith comes before works. We can’t get to Heaven by ourselves. It’s “not our own doing; it is the gift of God…” Faith without works is dead, but works without faith is also dead.

I would say that we can’t just do good works to get to Heaven. Sorry, I’m probably confusing you because I’ve said before that to get to Heaven we need to do God’s Will, which is true, but we have to order our lives the right way so that we aren’t just doing God’s Will just to get to Heaven, but we are doing it because of our complete faith in God and our love for God. People can do good things just for a good name, but Ephesians 2:8-9 shows that just because we do good works doesn’t automatically mean that we get to Heaven. It is through God and his grace. It is through faith in God.

So, yes, I would agree that to get to Heaven, we have to believe that it is not us that gets ourselves to Heaven, God does that. But I would also put that we can’t just be like, “Well, I believe in God, I guess I’m good. I can just sit back and watch now.” Once we have that faith in God, we have to live it out too. We have to realize that by God’s grace we are saved. God humbled himself to save us. We should be humbled by that.

2. The Sacred Heart is a shortened version of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.” There is also a devotion called the Sacred Heart of Jesus devotion. As you can probably guess by the name, it’s pretty much Jesus’ heart. We refer to it as the SACRED heart because he’s divine and not just some normal person and also because he loved us SO much that he died hanging on a cross to save us from sin.

Yep, if you look a ways up there I asked where we differ, and then when Kate jumped in to be helpful, folks got into a debate with her…

If you want to continue, I’m fine with that.

It’s official: that’s my longest comment ever. 🙂

I’m sorry i didn’t know you started the debate. and i wasn’t trying to rebuke one person i was just saying it in a general way. So it was not directly pointed at you MFJ but at everyone included in the debate and excluded from the debate!!

It was a good comment. 🙂 I’ve been keeping an eye on this thread for a while and I really admire how mature all of you have been about it. It can be difficult not to get defensive (which is why I didn’t jump in), but you guys handled it well and in doing so I was able to broaden my understanding of someone else’s belief, so thanks! 🙂

Ok, you just admitted to me that you’re authority is in the Roman Church’s teaching because you believe them to be true. Authority as in “a person or body of persons in whom authority is vested”

And is it wrong to judge things according to the Bible? You seem to act like this is annoying to you.

Now doesn’t that tell you something if the Roman Church’s doctrines aren’t clearly taught in the Bible? I think the Roman Church takes things way too far with the ceremonies, rituals, and talking to the saints. In your own words, the Roman Church’s teachings are based on-unclear verses. If they are unclear, then how can you derive whole doctrines, and whole traditions for that matter from that? Things that aren’t commanded in the Bible! Biblical doctrines are ones that are commanded and cannot be derived by “unclear verses.”

And please, please don’t make blanket statements like that. It really annoys me and does not help your argument.

Has really the whole Roman Church studied these verses? (the whole body of Christian believers) Or just the Pope and the Roman council? The congregation in the Roman Church has no say in the theological matters or doctrine of the church. The pope and the council does.

Please show me how you honor these saints, and how your ask Mary to intercede for you. Of course I respect these people, but not to the point where I will highly honor them to the point it gets to worship like. Did you see the example prayer I gave you? You didn’t seem to have anything to say about that.

“it wouldn’t be right for him to be born of someone who was filled with original sin.” Alright, from where are you getting this? Or is it just not right because you think so? Why isn’t it right? You can justify that Mary was sinless, just because of your own personal preference, or if the Roman Church says so. You have to back it up with the Bible.

Your term “we say” says to me that you aren’t coming from the Bible with these things, but from the Roman Church.

You seem to overlook a key reason why Protestants believe in one meditator. “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” In this verse it says there is (one) Mediator between God and men. Notice the word (one). One means a single person and cannot infer multiple people. The word is singular not plural to sum it up. The Bible clearly says there is one mediator and yes Abraham, Moses, and Job interceded on behalf of the lives of men; just like the priests did for Israel. But-Jesus came to earth and died for us. The temple curtain broke – which signified that men can come to God and that we no longer have to have anyone to intercede for us. To wrap up, Jesus Christ is the final mediator between God and men as stated in 1 Timothy 2:5. There is no misinterpretation of this passage.

Praying for others is no reason why we can pray or talk to the saints. The Bible says we can pray to God to intercede for others, not pray to anyone else. A mediator is an intermediary between parties. Nowhere in scripture does it say we, the saints, or the angels do that. Scripture says there is one mediator; Jesus Christ.

In context, Revelation 19:6 is referring to the Kings and Lords of the earth; by no means is this inferring there are other beings of divine power or headship.

In this debate, before you make new points, I would like it if you respond to my points and objections before you bring up a red herring. (something totally different from what the actually objection was)

If I missed anything or did not respond to one of your points, please tell me and I will put my effort into answering them. 🙂

In Christ,

Liam S.

fine we can be done, but why did you feel the need to answer all the questions i asked in my comment? they weren’t so much for asking as they were for affect (if that makes sense) they were rhetorical questions. and i’m sorry if i offended you in my post but i don’t think that we should always correct others wrong beliefs in condescending manner. cause that’s not going to win souls for the Lord. We need to be able to hear each others beliefs and talk about them in a way that’s not trying to persuade them otherwise. and i’m so not saying that we should not try to win souls to Christ in every chance we get i’m just saying we need to be careful and go about it in a way that is nonthreatening and listen to what they believe and tell them what we believe. Do you understand what i’m saying?
God Bless,
Madeleine

Sounds about right to me.

It’s up to you man. God doesn’t tell you what to do he just tells you to go and he will guide! Go get a women and be happy 🙂

If only it were that easy.

If you don’t mind, it’d be easier to talk to you if I knew your situation – you said that the way things are going you’ll probably still be single for a long time. What/who is in the way? I want to encourage you, but without knowing what’s going on, I’m not certain how.
Regarding your last sentence – God is never cruel. We might not understand what He is doing, and it may hurt for a while, but He never does anything to harm us.

Hahaha, I like that way you put it. 🙂 Well, I would say that although it is sort of hard to keep up with the discussion at times, that it helps me learn about my faith more.

((Seriously, there’s so many comments on this page you can’t find anything anymore! :P)) Well, I’m glad to help out. You’re going to be a great debater for Catholicism someday with all that knowledge!

Hey Liam, I’m attending a public high school and am going to be starting a unit on evolution soon. Any tips or things that would be good to know for defending creation?

You’re under SAMUEL HUGHES?!?!
I’d love to see videos of a fellow Rebelutionary mime. Do you know of any vids you’re in that are public? Youtube, Facebook – I don’t know if Twitter even does videos, but I don’t have access to Twitter.

Haha, yeah right. A lot of this stuff I have a general knowledge of it but I have to look it up for answers that make sense. Thanks though. 🙂

Love this!!! Thank you SO much for the encouragement!! May the Lord bless you as you serve Him!!

Thanks! I’ve been doing some research on creation.com and will have to spend some more preparing. I will definitely look into the fossil record, and if I find anything I have questions about, I’ll be sure to ask. 🙂

No, no, no. You didn’t offend me at all. Sorry for being so blunt. 🙂

Just wondering, but what makes you think of us as non-Christian?

I wanted to let you know I’ve prayed for you. Also wanted to let you know that God knows excactly where you are, meaning that He cares for you. He has not chosen to keep you single for a time because He somehow enjoys your pain. He went through the pain that we humans face daily (singleness included), and eventually was the perfect sacrifice, so that you could be near Him. Think about that, God was tourtured and killed so that He could be near you. He wants to be with you. Would such a God who loves you that much cause you unnecesary pain? He is jealous for your love and devotion, He wants your whole heart. His plan is not that you be miserable, but that you would find the eternal fulfillment in Him that nothing on this earth can give you. The beauty of this is that the world can be falling apart, but if God is the Source of my joy, nothing can take my joy from me, bc God will never fail. I learned this in a real way when my mom carried my sister full-term, but the baby didnt make it. That was gut-wrenching hard. I did grieve, but I had joy bc God was the Source of my joy and He did not move. Michael, based on that time I can promise you that God does not allow meaningless pain, and that He does not abandon us in it. I know that I can trust His plan, bc He loves me so much. Michael, you can trust Him with your life, Im praying that you would come to know Him that way.

i don’t know i guess i don’t really know about the catholic faith that much. but i guess because you pray to saints and believe that marry was sinless and stuff like that. i’m not judging you i just want to understand you! 😀
~Madeleine

Michael correct me if I’m wrong, but the impression I’m receiving is that you believe a wife will bring you happiness. But surely you understand that a wife will not bring you satisfaction? Look at divorce rates. How many men were satisfied by a wife? Is it really fair to expect a wife (or anyone else) to fill the void that only God can fill? I understand that the place you are in is hard, and that you’ve been in it for a long time, I can only imagine your pain. But I believe you are trying desperately for fill the void in your heart with the wrong thing. Look at Jer. 2:15, “for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” God is the fountain of living water, life is found nowhere besides Him. Anything else is a broken cistern that will hold no water. God wants your whole heart. He will not share it with anyone else, bc He loves you that much and bc He is worthy of it.

Thanks, I just wanted to know so I would know where you are coming from, so to speak. I’m sorry if you feel like I’m being rude, I just wasn’t sure how else to word the questions.

We don’t “pray” to the saints. I told this to Liam in our discussion. We don’t “worship” them either. We honor them for being saints, but we don’t worship or pray to them like we do to God. We ASK them to pray for us to God, but we don’t PRAY to them. Although prayer is pretty much talking to God, when we talk to the saints, its not prayer. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to talk to your family or friends without “praying” to them. You can ask your friend to pray for you to God, but you wouldn’t be praying to them when you said that. I guess it’s sort of like an indirect way to pray to God. Not saying you can’t pray directly to God, but two prayers are better then one. 🙂

Mary was sinless not because God absolutely needed her to be sinless for him to come into the world, but think about it, do you think it would be appropriate for God to come into the world through a sinful woman? I don’t think it would be appropriate or respectful. There is also many prefigurements of Mary being the Mother of God and being sinless.

No I actually was not Satan in Fight Inside. It would’ve been fun to be though. I am the tallest girl on the team. Maybe that will help you find me. Haha.
That’s cool! I am also on leadership. It has been a cool experience.
You are in a difficult situation. I do understand the fact the directors may want to give people main parts who don’t many (or any) at all. It seems “fair”. The thing is- is it fair for the team as a whole? Is it hurting the team? Etc. Anyways.. I understand what you are saying.
How much mime technique has your team done? I was thinking maybe you could talk to your directors about doing a workshop. Maybe another team could come in and run it. We just did this for a couple teams here in California. The team could help you guys with technique and things. I don’t know if this would help you guys? And it may not come off as rude and offensive to your directors. The directors we worked with were happy to have us. Just an idea…..
I am a very blunt, honest person. So, if I were you (and I’m not saying this is positively the best thing to do), I would talk to the directors. I wouldn’t let the tension build. Be honest but definitely respect their authority.
On our team, we try to be godly examples. One of our goals is to leave the place we use/present at/practice at/etc. better than we found it. Striving to be above reproach and professional has been something we have tried to keep within the team. I think it is very important. If we are going to carry Christ’s message to others, the way we act on as well as off stage will say a lot. If we are messy and immature, what kind of testimony is that? If we are neat and respectful, it leaves a better message. And opens more doors to come back and present elsewhere.
I don’t know if that helps at all….. If I didn’t fully answer your question or something, let me know. I’d love to try to help you. I just hope that helps (at least a little). And let me know if you would be interested in having a team come and help you guys. I could hook you up with some people who might be able to make that possible. 🙂
Blessings,
Rebekah

Really, it’s no big deal!

Found this really helpful, Thankyou. I’ve been finding this issue difficult at the moment as it seems like everyone I know is in a relationship which has made me feel quite lonely at times but reading this has helped me to realise I need to cling to God and keep trusting and serving him in my singleness.

It’s okay. 🙂
Yes, I was Job’s wife.
Okay. Cool. You are moving though so you will not be on the team anymore? 🙁
I have to say Orphans by Avalon I think…. What about you?

I was actually still thinking of Fight Inside – are you “Main-Person-Who-Never-Has-A-Name”‘s wife? Or am I mistaken again?
Yeah, I am moving… how did you know? I don’t think there are any mime teams near where I’m going 🙁
I can’t find “Orphans” online… do you have a link to a Youtube video I could watch? I don’t know that song. Off the top of my head, I think I like “Go” and “Alive” best. (FYI, I really like how your team does “Go!”!)

Hey, we’re not here to make anything a burden for you! We’re still sisters in Christ 😀

Hey GodsThespian! Sorry, I’m not saying you guys are the burden, but I think, in the first place, I should have just answered a couple of questions and then been done. Like I said before, there were just some crazy things that happened, like my internet would shut off or the page would crash right when I had a reply, and I think that was God trying to tell me that this wasn’t what he wanted me to do. If that’s true, it’s not surprising for me that this discussion was hard to keep up with. Not that you guys are the burden! 🙂

If you don’t mind me jumping in, I know that God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours. We can only see snippets, God sees the big picture. Though I’m not in your situation (I’m only 16), I am still afraid to be single my whole life. I know that God has a hand-picked plan for my life, and yours. Have you ever considered that God may be using your struggle and longing to bring you closer to Himself? I know it sounds crazy, but God could be allowing this in your life to cause you to cry out to Him in your hurt, and ask Him to fill you with peace, joy, and satisfaction. I read a blog post on Lies Young Women Believe a few months ago that talked about not being a “Rapunzel”. I have no idea if you’ve seen Tangled, but Rapunzel didn’t think her life would really start until she met Flynn Ryder to rescue her from her tower. Until then, she just sat around and waited, for 18 years! But she had crazy skills! She could cook, clean, make pottery, sew, she was a speed reader, an amazing artist, a ventriloquist, and the list goes on!! Our single years are a blessing because we are able to use our skills to bless others and show God’s love in a capacity that we’re unable to after we’re married.

1 Corinthians 7:32-34 “I want you to be free from the concerns of this life. An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord’s work and thinking how to please him. But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife. His
interests are divided. In the same way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be devoted to the Lord and holy in body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband.”

Like God’sThespian said, I’m not sure why you believe you will never, ever be married. Is there something else that makes it impossible for you to get married? And if God blesses you with a wife someday, but you’re unable to have children, you will still have the amazing opportunity to adopt an unwanted child or take in foster kids who need the love and mentoring of a father. I hope everything I said makes sense:) My heart hurts for you and I will be praying for you!
1 Peter 5:7 “Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.”

Ohhh, I see now… So you weren’t in that song? How many sisters do you have in mime?
No, my family just moves a lot. It’s weird, my dad doesn’t have to move, but we still move about every four years.
I have videos like that, too! White face is awesome stuff, isn’t it?
You did Alive for a lot longer than we did, then. My team did it for about ten weeks, then because of how we rotate songs (all new songs every session) we dropped it. And our main girl left the team mid-session, so that kinda goofed up Alive. How long were you doing it?

Okay, so I changed my name because I’m moving, and I won’t be a mime anymore. Well, Christopher decided that he liked my username, and he “borrowed” my screen name and picture. Basically, you understood what was going on. Now he’s back to being Christopher 🙂

Have you ever done a joint presentation with CIA?

Wow, the team has shrunken! That’s really sad! 🙁
I actually like the way white face feels, except for when we’re presenting somewhere hot… that’s the worst feeling ever! Euggh… Now, the hair is a different question entirely. It’s so hard for me to do!
I was in a joint presentation with a couple of teams. CIA and a younger (like, 8- to 15-year-olds) team. It was interesting to see how this team changed some of the choreography to be easier for them.

*facepalm* Thank you for making that clear, Clare! I can’t believe I didn’t identify myself!

I’m so glad this was encouraging to you. Thanks for letting me know Kathryn <3

This is such a good article! Thanks you so much for sharing the truth. We need to live purposefully in every area of life and singleness is no opt-out. Thanks again for the encouragement to live sold out for Christ. He deserves our all!