Quote from: tekla on October 07, 2011, 04:39:43 AM
Of course a sane, rational, realistic, and reasonable approach would be to think that so many people don't see it, is because (like gnomes, leprechauns, and witches on broomsticks) it's not really there.  Do you ever consider that point of view?

The world according to Tekla. Everyone is wrong if they believe in any vestiges of spirituality. Tekla is right because she got it all figured out.

It would be nice if it was that simple, but it is not.

Even tho, I am sure Del and I would disagree with about 99% of anything relating to Christian Theology, I still appreciate Del's sincerity and convictions. Del is approaching things in a respectable manner and that is to be commended.

We have some students in our Seminary who came in who was against homosexuality. So many of them are beginning to rethink some issues.

Had one conservative christian man hug me right after our class, "Ministering in Matters of Sexuality" and told me he is blessed for coming to this Seminary and saw how LGBT christians are just as real and genuine as any other Christian. The man is cute as all get out.

I whispered in his ear "but I am also a witch."

He smiled and said..."well, it's just more things I have to work through."

Now, that is conviction that moves me.

Quote from: Annah on October 08, 2011, 01:19:50 AM

I whispered in his ear "but I am also a witch."

Annah...Pleasseee don't fly on your broom over NYC on Halloween, they might shoot you down with a STINGER!

Quote from: SandraJane on October 08, 2011, 01:38:04 AM
Annah...Pleasseee don't fly on your broom over NYC on Halloween, they might shoot you down with a STINGER!

Oh but she is the GOOD witch "Glenda" (Annah)  not the bad one

Quote from: Amazon D on October 08, 2011, 08:01:41 AM
Oh but she is the GOOD witch "Glenda" (Annah)  not the bad one

lol. im technically in the middle. I go by the rede, "harm none, do as ye will."

Whether one is a believer or not this life tests us in many ways. Transsexualism is just a minor part of things.

If we believe then we strive for what is right to hopefully attain paradise and improve this world for others. If we don't believe there is just as much reason to make the most of our time here and to try and make things better for our fellow humans and those who will follow us.

The struggle is the same and rightfully so.

I use to think so. Kinda like the "thron" that was with Paul all his life. Which is why I never contemplated transitioning for so many years.

Now I feel I've given so much to god this is something I need to do for myself and you know what? I think has no problem with it.  It's a shell that will taste death one day transitioned or not. The spirit and heart is what needs to pass the test. IMO

~Gadg

Quote from: Amazon D on October 08, 2011, 08:01:41 AM
Oh but she is the GOOD witch "Glenda" (Annah)  not the bad one

I wasn't inferring she's a "Bad" witch, just that there are certain things to avoid when you travel in the skies these days...

SandraJane,

  The young man in question was a good friend of my son. He was a straight cisgender kid like my son. The individual that did him harm was a pedophile.

  While they lived here my son and the local preachers tried to tell him the Lord loved him and that what happened to him wasn't his fault. That reassurance helped and he was dealing with it.

  When they moved the reassurance stopped and thus he ended his life. Those Christians friends and ministers made the difference in his life for a season that his parents never recognized until it was too late and they were looking at a coffin ready to be lowered into the ground.

  I remember that I felt blessed that he never did anything with my son. For a long time I wondered and just lately my son talked to me about the individual and why he still hated the guy for what he did to his friend.

  I hated the man myself and the last time he came to my house I wanted to kill him.

  I'll never forget the way the Lord spoke to me.

  I went to the bedroom and took out a pistol with the intent on blowing his head off. When I flipped the cylinder out to make sure it was loaded the Lord spoke to me in an audible voice. What the old time preachers refer to as a direct word.
  He said Put the gun down.
  I turned to see if the man had followed me.
  Then the Lord spoke again and said I said put the gun down! Vengeance is mine!
  I went back out and told the guy to get out of my house. That was the last time I ever saw him until about 2 years ago when both his parents died the same weekend.
  The word of God says pray for those who are your enemies so I forgave the man and prayed for him that the Lord would comfort him in his time of loss.

  Many people don't stop to thin about the way many are stereotyped and all put under one blanket term. To many all transgenders are either gay, filthy or evil. To many the GLBT community is just a den of iniquity.

  Sadly most websites and story sites agree. I have done many studies since then and have found that most of the sites and such I come across when doing a search on transgender lead to porn sites loaded with he-she filth and such. If I was transgender I would be offended by that.

  When I think about the kid I knew and the way a pedophile might as well have handed him a loaded pistol after sexually abusing him it makes me sick. Still it isn't right to lump everyone together.

  Straight and cisgender Christians think the unbelievers are going to hell. They lump all GLBT members together with them.

  I believe that the non-believers will go to hell as the Lord is no liar. He said he is the only way to God and I am just foolish enough for Christ to believe him.
  Where I differ is in my belief that if some straight people will be saved and others damned it just may be that some gay people may be saved and others damned. In like manner some transgenders saved and others damned.

  The same Lord that said to love and healed the sick is the same one who made a whip and drove the moneychangers out of the temple.

  The same Lord that preached love and who is blessed is the same one that said that we are to fear him whom after he has killed can destroy both body and soul in hell.

  The same word that says that all scripture is given by God and is suitable for reproof, doctrine and instruction in righteousness is the same word that says that the word of God is sharper than any two edged sword and the same Jesus that said the words he spake were spirit and life is the same Jesus that said we cannot pick and choose but must live by every word that came forth from God.

  When I came here originally it was to learn how to treat a MtF co-worker. Since that time I have lost that job due to disability and no longer need worry about that.
  I do know however that one never knows who shall come to a church service. For that reason the things I have learned are still valuable. I would never want to judge a person or allow my views or pet peeves hinder or influence a sermon.

  I posted some of my views and such to answer your question of who this young man was but plan to keep from posting any more in the future.
  I do believe in being honest and that is why I said from the beginning that I probably have views many would hate and have heard from ministers in times past. No need for me to repeat them. Some of my views would probably enrage some here.

  Still in all. I remember how that young man would still be alive had his parents understood the depth of his pain and kept him in the neighborhood where Christian friends and ministers were showing him that the Lord loved him and that the things which befell him were not his fault.

  Those same words and reassurances can be posted on the Christianity forum to give strength to some that may have their faith as their only hope.
  It would be a shame for anyone to cut that hope off with a bunch of negative remarks about Christianity.

  You just never know the heart of those who dwell with you on a website.

  You just never know whom may lurk.

Del

You should watch the documentary called "Constantine's Sword." It's on netflix streaming.

God bless you Del.  Being a born again christian and also transgender, it is so uplifting to have someone like yourself, to be willing, to understand the hardships and help those that need help.  And, you are right.  this is a Christian forum.  If you don't believe in God...if you don't believe in John 3:16, you should'nt be posting your hate mail.  Go hate someplace else.  I know that God is my strength...and i know He is also your strength.  And, again, I thank you being a part of this forum.

Thank You Del,

even in LGBT Churches/Congregations/Sessions, I think there is an ignorance about TG/TS issues.

Quote from: Del on October 08, 2011, 12:28:18 PM
  I believe that the non-believers will go to hell as the Lord is no liar. He said he is the only way to God and I am just foolish enough for Christ to believe him.
  Where I differ is in my belief that if some straight people will be saved and others damned it just may be that some gay people may be saved and others damned. In like manner some transgenders saved and others damned.

I believe in 3 eternal destinies and so those who don't know God but are rightous will be saved.

http://www.3eternaldestinies.org/

I also believe there are 37000 varieties of christianity. TO ME, Christianity got distorted after constantine got involved and changed the sabbath from sat to sun.

But i also know many christians are good Jesus / Yahshua loving people.

This paper
is written in
the hope that
it will liberate
people to
know the true character of the Creator of
mankind. Almost everyone has heard of
“heaven and hell,” but the good news we
have come to know is that there are not just
two, but three eternal destinies for
mankind.1
Even the terms “heaven” and “hell”
(as eternal destinies) are misleading. It
has been a stumbling block to many people
that no matter what kind of person you are,
no matter what good you have done or how
sincere or conscientious you may be, “if
you don’t believe in Jesus, you are
automatically doomed to hell, or a place of
torment.” This “man-made” doctrine has
repulsed thousands upon thousands of
people from the “supposed” God of the
Bible for almost two thousand years. The
Creator of the human race has been
misrepresented, accused, blamed and His
name maligned – most often by those who
“claim” to know Him.

The Three Eternal Destinies
of Man... justifies God’s heart toward
mankind. The following articles describe
what the three eternal destinies are and
how a person chooses his own destiny. It
will confirm that the God of Creation is not
a God of wrath and damnation, but on the
contrary, a God who loves beyond our
greatest imagination, whose whole intent is
for the absolute good of His highest
creation – MAN. Ever since the very
beginning, He has sought a means to both
reward and restore mankind.
The integrity of the Bible has been
corrupted through the hands of imposters,
evil men3 who throughout the centuries
were motivated by their own selfish gain
and self-glory. This has continued to the
present day. They devise doctrines and
teachings in order to gain an advantage
over people, deceiving them with a bit of
truth mixed with error — a lethal poison.
They do so to their own destruction.4 Their
eternal destiny is sealed.
Destiny is a BIG word. There is a
universal quest 5 (like question) within the
conscience of all of mankind concerning it.
The ancient writings say that eternity has
been SET in every person’s heart.


If anyone or group pushes people away from God by condemning them for not believing

God says... he will say... I NEVER KNEW YOU

Quote from: Amazon D on October 07, 2011, 07:06:00 PM
Why you ask.. because God knows there is more to our existence than our short term here on earth.. worry not for all things here.. Life here on earth is but a dream of the true spiritual world from whence we came and to where we will return..

yes there is more than just here so please know that taking your life still leaves you here until you can come back in another body and get it right..

Yes we are but a drop in the bucket of our existence here in these shells we call bodies..

That was but a rhetoric question. I do not preach, and usually do not post on religious threads as more often than not it leads to one party or both getting offended and or offensive.

It is all a matter of faith, so anybody can believe anything. I believe my God has nothing to do with any of the human maladies, or anything to do with anything that happans in this universe. I do not believe that any book was written by  God at all. I believe all religious beliefs are Man-made wishful illusions  so as to be able to handle the fact that after we died there may be nothing, just 18th seconds to oblivion.

Jen61

Quote from: Annah on October 08, 2011, 01:19:50 AM
We have some students in our Seminary who came in who was against homosexuality. So many of them are beginning to rethink some issues.

Had one conservative christian man hug me right after our class, "Ministering in Matters of Sexuality" and told me he is blessed for coming to this Seminary and saw how LGBT christians are just as real and genuine as any other Christian. The man is cute as all get out.

I whispered in his ear "but I am also a witch."

He smiled and said..."well, it's just more things I have to work through."

Now, that is conviction that moves me.

That man is the real deal, a true Christian. I salute him for his devotion to reason, compassion, honesty, and good. May he succeed at seminary, because the world needs more clerics like him.

Now, on the topic at hand. I don't know if this experience is a test, and I've really begun not to care. All I am interested in is attaining my happiness. I no longer care WHY I've suffered up to this point, I just want to stop suffering. I no longer care to what purpose I've been trapped in a male body, I just want my female body. So consider me the student who shreds her test, brings the confetti up to the teacher, and lays out the terms nice and clear:

"Teacher, I am looking to get a female body, not to be a sage. All these things about compassion, understanding, kindness, I get it as much (and more) than most of my cis-gendered counterparts. No further testing is needed. Message received. Let's move ON already."

It's okay. God already knows I'm like that. It'll take my lack of patience in stride, probably pop me on the head, and tell me to sit back down and keep reading my textbook. I'll grunt, go back to my desk, glare while I'm reading my book, then promptly calm down until next time.

Del,

ONe thing I've learned is that there are good Christians and bad Christians. Good Christians try to understand and help accordingly. Bad cristians quote you a bible verse to validate why they are allowed to hate you.

Who knows, maybe if I had experience with a few good Christians I would have never left the church. But I didn't so I have found theories on God that I believe are a bit more accurate and explain a lot more than Christianity ever could. But GBY for being one of the good ones.

Gadgett,
I try to be one who uses the word right as intended.

The law points out sin but all have sinned according to it. Therefore I choose to use it to help and not hinder. I have too many shortcomings to point my finger at others.

If there are any here that believe I think it is more important to try to strengthen their faith than attempt to destroy it.

Take care and God bless.
Del