before you decide anything, have you seriously contemplated a reverse situation where he moved in with one of his lady friends? if this guy is worth anything to you, you might want to evaluate his disposition first.

i guess that would definitely test the trust between the four of you, i cant blame your boyfriend for being skeptical, and the situation sounds like it could head negatively quickly, I guess you should ask yourself if you're ready to test your mettle.

so hypothetically that would entail that religion would hinder a persons faith than expand upon it. then at what point is church relevant, and at what point do we obtain clarity versus deviation.

reception of giving might supply the giver satisfaction if the gift received is valued, the intention of the gift can be legitimized by its thought, in which only a thoughtful gift in return would be appropriate, hence the giver gets nothing if a thoughtless gift is returned. Returning a gift solely from receiving isn't valid. Giving a gift with expectation grants self deception, while the purity needed lies on both ends. Instigate by giving and receive a gift by giving approval.
if It is better to give than receive, then it is better to recieve
gratefully then to give back.

Keeping in mind that religions are orginizations based on faith, do you think the beuracracy involved limits you to what faith can do for you?

With adversity flowing like a mighty river, we have no choice but to forge our wills into rock or get washed away.

mindful

can we say kinky

reserved

just addressing a few of the posts i've read,

if someone asks you if you look fat and they are, simply tell them the truth and since you're with them you obviously accept them for who they are. I once had a lady friend who asked me if she was fat and she was. I told her yes you are and you're also one of the most beautiful people i've ever met. The problem is rooted in social acceptance. I'm tired of hearing people be down on themselves for being overweight, any intelligent person knows that true beauty is with in, and thats where you will find a meaningful relationship.

I've met tons of women and men who date these so called hotties, and have the worst relationships. if you look for someone based off the surface thats what you get a shell. good luck with that.

in response to men who lie, well you got us pegged we're liars, but women are the masters of lie's. the amount of straight faced women liars i've met, outways the men i've met hands down.

the problem with lies is that their rooted in a self defense mechanism, and after so long you're inablity to face the truth will get the best of you.

Maybe you might be referring to the mountain range where it is said the ark resides or the flat topped mountain structure that is said to be whats left of the tower of babil. Then of course the red glass in st.peters bascillica that is said to be jesus's blood transformed when it was left at the crucifixion sight.

I fail to see how these artifacts offer proof of the miracles of christ and god, or are possibly the findings of biased archeologists.
On a further note, any figure in the bible who's claimed to see an act of god or hear gods voice could of possibly had a mental illness or been under the effects of drugs.

All i can say for a definite truth as your beliefs are rooted in faith. Like any other religion. I myself maintain my own spirituality and have faith, i just surround mine with the three fundamentals of philosophy.

I think therefore i am,
where did i come from,
where am i going,

The first being the most important the others being journey's of infinite proportions.
Because of this, any religion in the world that is followed will never offer you 100% clarity, there will always be questions that need answers, so i simplified my faith into what i know, keeping morals and ethics i learned from christianity, buddhism, taoism, ...etc are the basics for anyone in leading a good life, second maintaining my spirituality and humbling myself to a higher power are essential for my state of mind, this is what gives me hope. third reminding myself of the things i'm grateful for in this life gives me satisfaction and contentment. fourth i pray to my mysterious creator for the common sense and will to motivate me on a day to day basis. "yes without giving god a label i still find my prayers answered." and last and most important, actions will always speak louder than words.

I'm not trying to start any kind of war here, but i've heard time and time again about many variations of the bible all being translated to show consistency from the original dead sea scrolls.
The concept that i could never get past is simply this.
Knowing the nature of mankind and taking a look at history and modern times how can we trust that the original works weren't lies or fabrications of the truth. This doesn't disprove that jesus wasn't the real deal, but i fail to see how it does. The fact is none of us were around to witness any miracles performed by jesus, how do we know that the books written weren't lies to begin with, or exaggerations by jesus's close friends. Maybe the truth is during a time of strife, the people needed a savior and thats what they made jesus out to be, or maybe thats what jesus made himself out to be. Someone to give people hope.

Before you shoot my suggestion down the tubes, i'll have you know i was raised to be a devout catholic and at one point would be right there with you arguing the point, but somewhere in the pursuit of knowing jesus and my own life experiences i came to a crossroads. I could continue my life digging up knowledge on a person who i never actually met or witnessed, and convince people that he is real and bring people into what i believed was salvation at the time or i could accept people for who they are and keep the morals and ethics that i've learned and share those with the people i come across in life.

Besides using the tangible to persuade others into being a good person works way better than threatening them with damnation unless they fall in line. After all when that is done all that is accomplished is making god out to be a dictator over people's lives.
Furthermore you have the adversity of a fair amount of religious organizations obviously gaining in wealth and power. Which paints in ugly picture of what people are giving their donations too on sunday.

In closing i just want to assure you that this isn't an attack on christians, and i understand the difference between faith and religion. I'll be perfectly honest too, i sometimes miss the fellowship of christians and the connectedness of sharing a viewpoint/faith with them, but i cant go back now, i feel more enlightened with an agnostic approach and a genuine closeness with my own humanity and have more empathy towards others then i ever did as a christian.

One last thing, I respect people for believing what brings them happiness, I just believe that in a diverse world such as ours their is a better way we can all be connected and it starts with the acception that we all have different beliefs or ideals. That is even obvious from a christian to christian basis.

too much info, people hold beliefs because it gives them purpose.
I'm not one to say that is wrong, what i will say is wrong is the judgment passed on to people that don't share your viewpoint. After all if you believe judgment is reserved for your lord and savior or who ever for that matter, then leave it at that. If I die and my maker says i didn't choose the right faith, i will simply give him/her/it the finger and be thrown into damnation. If god is this master of intelligence, and all things, god needs to fire its publicist. Who can discern anything from the myriad of confusion left to us in multiple religious writings, and if god is this forgiving deity that is rumored to be, then i'm sure forgiving us of our lack of godlike intelligence to figure out the existence of such a being is a good possibility.
So until god miraculously appears and makes it's being known I'm gonna continue to hold my agnostic stance, and try to hold a few universal ethics that work beneficially for myself and others.

sometimes people lie because they don't want to scare away people with the truth. Learning to accept who you are and be able to be honest about it is one of the hardest things to learn in life especially if people have scared away people in the past.

if he doesn't know how you feel he might just be playing it safe to avoid any deep wounds that might come from a serious relationship.

this part may sound horrible, but keep in mind i don't know the guy.
if he does know and you've expressed you want those plans also then he could be trying to manipulate you into "broadening your horizons." i.e. dating other guys that will corrupt you also.

on a positive note he may just respect you're moral decisions and want to give you space.

since i dont have the details i can only offer skepticism.

as far as any current situation you may have,be prepared to grab you're life preserver and hope she wont leave you stranded in a sea of emotion.

I hate to say this, but treat women like any other guy you hang out with. focus on getting to know them and if that interest is there express it right off the bat, and if they decline you can shut off the intimate love valve and turn on the general love valve before your emotional self is flooded and you're stuck in the lonely raft of "i don't even have them as friends anymore."

Hi everyone ironically mu name's Jarrod also, spelled differently, but ironic none the less.