r/Christian 7h ago

TACObout it Tuesday Taco Tuesday: Cynthia Bourgeault 🌮

Post image
2 Upvotes

Each ā€œTacoTuesdayā€ in r/Christian we share a post dedicated to discussion on the writings of an author whose work is considered ā€œspicy.ā€ (You know...like good tacos.)

This week is Cynthia Bourgeault.

Bourgeault's (authored or co-authored) Top Ten most popular titles are:

The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind

Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening

The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity

The Wisdom Way of Knowing: Reclaiming An Ancient Tradition to Awaken the Heart

The Heart of Centering Prayer: Nondual Christianity in Theory and Practice

Mystical Hope: Trusting the Mercy of God

The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three: Discovering the Radical Truth at the Heart of Christianity

Eye of the Heart: A Spiritual Journey Into the Imaginal Realm

Love is Stronger than Death: The Mystical Union of Two Souls

Encountering the Wisdom Jesus

Have you read any of Bourgeault's work? Let's TACObout it!

In the comment section I will be sharing 10 quotes from Bourgeault, for you consideration and to (hopefully) spark discussion.

If you're enjoying this post and want to see more like it, just click the post flair to see a list of past Taco Tuesday posts in r/Christian. If you'd like to suggest an author to be included, please let the mod team know.


r/Christian 27m ago

I need advice and suggestions with my relationship with god

• Upvotes

ive been struggling in my relationship with god since I’m lazy and on my phone to much and have school I’ve been on my phone less and a little less lazy and praying about to recently and I still just feel far from god and I know it’s a dedication thing and how I don’t really put him in everything I do he’s more of a side thing but I dont know what to do or how to put him in things I do like school or terraria and without electronics I just sit around for 5 hours then sleep after school any advice?


r/Christian 1h ago

Is there any good stories in the bible about loneliness?

• Upvotes

I don't want to rely on Google AI to answer this question cuz that just feels stupid. I recently had to block a lot of people out of my life siblings, coworkers, etc. simply cuz of the realization that I'm never going to be like anyone else (in a bad way) Also cause I feel like with what people have been supporting and doing I just don't feel like there are any pleasant people in the world anymore. But if there's any good soul out there that can answer this, please. Do any of you know any good bible stories about people going through loneliness with nothing else but a relationship with God. I'm sure they maybe a few or at least one.


r/Christian 3h ago

Baptismal formula: trinitarian versus "in the name of Jesus Christ"

2 Upvotes

I know that for most of the Christian world, the trinitarian formula is required for a valid baptism, as that's the one Jesus gave us.

But Acts has Peter and the apostles baptizing people in the name of Jesus Christ, not in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

So uh... are the baptisms performed in Acts invalid? Surely not?


r/Christian 4h ago

Why does trust come before transformation?

6 Upvotes

I’ve noticed that in many ministry stories, the breakthrough doesn’t happen immediately. It starts with someone showing up, listening, drinking coffee, building trust, and entering someone’s life slowly. Why do you think trust matters so much in spiritual conversations?


r/Christian 6h ago

I do want to see my offenders reaping what they sow, regardless of my forgiveness. Am I wrong?

4 Upvotes

Someone told me once that a Christian must not seek to see their offender punished for the injustice they perpetrated, but rather want them to repent without trials.

I have been quite a victim to persecution lately in my daily life. Lies about me, for example. Upon learning today someone false witnessed about me, I was taken by wrath (though I kept it to myself). I don't know how to face this kind of thing without desiring who do such a thing to me to face the consequences - even if in a trial that ultimately changes the person for the better.

I need this sense of justice.

Am I not being pious? How else to see justice if not like this? People wrong me and sometimes I am helpless, I can't seek justice by confrontating these people.

It seems wrong to me to see some even having great success in life.


r/Christian 6h ago

London Christians

5 Upvotes

Hiya I’m a Christian woman (24 years old) from London and just wanted to know the experiences of other Christian Londoners. I attend an Anglican Church and doing my best to meet up with other young adults and build connections. My workplace has a lot of secular people ; I work at a bowling place and serve drinks at the bar. I felt a bit guilty for enjoying making the cocktails and serving the alcohol. However I was glad at the fact that I learned how to pour beer and make cocktails pretty quickly, even quicker than my duty manager. I know people have their own convictions about being surrounded by alcohol that’s why i was a bit unsure. But yea rambling aside , what’s it like for you guys ?


r/Christian 6h ago

CW: Sensitive Topic Struggling with sin

1 Upvotes

(Sorry for my bad english)I've been struggling with lust (im M19) for year's and I don't know how to control it, I tried so many methods but non of them worked.

I though the reason I can't find a girlfriend is that I can't beat lust.I tried my best to fast for 40 days but my best run is 30.

I don' know if I have to beat this cycle fully to find the person I want or something else.

I don't know what to do


r/Christian 7h ago

Can you ruin something even if God intended for it to happen?

2 Upvotes

Hey! As someone who struggles frequently with my faith, as well as the different interpretations of the Bible, it can make everything much more confusing. In you all’s personal experience, do you believe that if something was meant for you, it’ll happen regardless? Or can you do things you weren’t supposed to do, causing it not to happen, even if it was meant for you?

Secondly, do you believe we genuinely have free will? If I tell God I’m not ready to lose something, will He ignore my wishes and do it anyway? The question isn’t whether it’s for the better. The question is, do I really get a say in my own life?

Lastly, how do I determine the difference between a coincidence and God removing things from my life, especially when I’m not ready for the answer or for things to be removed?


r/Christian 7h ago

If I’ve surrendered it to God, why does it feel like I have to surrender it all over again every day?

4 Upvotes

I know that what happened could be protection, redirection, correction, or something God has a purpose for. I understand that He has a plan, and I genuinely want to trust Him. I keep seeking Him through prayer and the Bible, praising Him, and trying to live the way He asks me to.
And some days, after desperately seeking God because I’m in so much pain, I eventually feel okay. I feel like I’ve surrendered it. Like, ā€œOkay, God. I give this to You.ā€

But then the next day comes, and it hurts again.
And it feels like I have to let go all over again.
Every day feels like another act of surrender. Every day I have to remind myself of the things that stabilize me, almost as if I didn’t just learn them yesterday.

I understand that healing takes time, but sometimes I genuinely question myself: If I had really surrendered this to God, shouldn’t I feel free by now?

How do Christians actually live with this kind of pain every day? Does surrender eventually become something you no longer have to consciously do, or is repeatedly giving the same thing back to God actually part of surrender?


r/Christian 9h ago

CW: Sensitive Topic, please be respectful. Baby tested high risk for T13.

17 Upvotes

TW: possible pregnancy loss/abortion

I am currently in limbo of knowing if our baby has T13.

I am religious and notoriously have been very pro-life for myself. We got the screening that our baby is high risk for trisomy 13 with a 68% chance.

T13 is extremely fatal and I feel so much guilt about the possibility of deciding to terminate. But what is worse? The pain of the baby’s short life? Is it selfish to continue a pregnancy that isn’t viable? What if my baby survives and they are left with years of pain and suffering? I feel like the enemy is implanting these ideas into me alongside the screening before we get our amniocentesis. I do truly believe God has a plan.

I have tried to turn to God for answers. I am getting an amniocentesis and have no idea what this next chapter looks like. My partner is also religious and emphasized that it was my choice, and he also is questioning our route as he mentioned ā€œI don’t even know if keeping a baby who has this much pain is worth itā€.

We are both young. I am 22, he is 25. We are healthy. This feels incredibly unfair. Even if it is a false positive, I feel like my pregnancy has become tarnished by this newfound fear.

Part of me is struggling in faith and myself and my morals for even considering such a path. I feel like I am faced with an impossible decision and need input on some words from God and encouragement.


r/Christian 9h ago

Question about validity of a baptism

4 Upvotes

I had a friend ask me a question about his baptism and I am puzzled over it. Here is the situation:

  1. He genuinely put his faith and trust in Christ for his salvation
  2. He believed in the Trinity
  3. He believed Jesus bodily died and resurrected
  4. However, when he was baptized, it was done in the name of Jesus and it was done by a unitarian apostolic preacher

I honestly don’t know what to tell him about the validity of his baptism outside of if the Holy Spirit convicts him to get baptized again then he should


r/Christian 10h ago

CW: Sensitive Topic Surrounded By Non-Christians

5 Upvotes

I live in a liberal city and know almost no Christians. I was saved about 3 years ago, but the more time
that goes by, the more apparent the difference between Christians and non-Christians become. For example I work around a lot of pro-choice women who truly seem demonically possessed at times. Unfortunately my family members are also lapsed Christians. Outside of church, I'm surrounded by unbelievers.

How do you guys handle being in environments where you are such a minority? It's wearing on me to the point where I'm considering moving to a red state.


r/Christian 10h ago

CW: Sensitive Topic Remnant in Revelation

2 Upvotes

Scripturally, is there any hope of a gentile Christian moving to Israel during the first half of the tribulation for the sake of fleeing into the wilderness or mountains. I ask because God called me to celibacy when I gave my life to Christ last year and it just caused me to rebel persistently against him. And I’ve been wanting to move to Israel for the sake of fleeing so I can get married.


r/Christian 20h ago

CW: Sensitive Topic What method or how did you flee from Lust

10 Upvotes

What method or how have you fleed from Lust, stopped a porn addiction or sexual content leading to porn, or sexual content leading to masturbation.

And a follow up question: Do everyone think that masturbation is fine according to the Bible, when it is not included with porn or a mind focused on adultery. And if yes, how does one masturbate in that manner?


r/Christian 20h ago

CW: Sensitive Topic Prayer Requests

1 Upvotes

Please reply to this post with your prayer requests. Be advised that prayer requests may contain sexual subject matter or disturbing content.

Help keep prayer requests easily accessible for those who want to pray for you. Leave them here in comments. Let others know you're praying for them by upvoting their comment or replying with encouragement.

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If you're in crisis, we urge you to reach out to someone who is better equipped to provide you with professional care and/or connect you with other useful resources.

If you're in the United States, you may call or text the Suicide Crisis LifeLine at 988, or text ā€œCHATā€ to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line. If you're a young person in the LGBTQ+ community, you may also text ā€œStartā€ to 678-678 or call 1-866-488-7386 to reach The TREVOR Project. If you're a US Veteran, you may text 838255 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line.

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If you're in Australia, you may call 13 11 14 or text 0477 13 11 14 to reach Lifeline.


r/Christian 23h ago

how do i know if i have a relationship with God

3 Upvotes

I’ve been seeing on instagram reels ā€œfakeā€ christians pray like this, like that and its so draining because I’m so scared to not be welcomed into God’s home, when i have free time i read my bible, i pray consistently every night and during strong emotions (i don’t pray before meals yet i plan on doing so). i really want a relationship with God but I’m scared I’m doing this all wrong and I’m missing something i SHOULD be doing. Please help i really do want this but its like everything i do is wrong and I’m always a bad person.


r/Christian 1d ago

Just wondering

4 Upvotes

Not looking to get into pros and cons or fights or debates about scripture interpretations. Just curious about the balance of receptivity to the idea of female clergy or women in other leadership roles, here.


r/Christian 1d ago

Recommend passages, books, and chapters

1 Upvotes

I'm getting into reading my bible, I was raised in the church but we stopped going when I was about 12-14, I'm secure in my faith and want to read the bible but there's so much "filler" for lack of a better word I like how the start of Genesis reads and I mainly want to focus on events, angelology, demonology, how heaven and hell work, miracles and Jesus's life basically I want to get all the supernatural and unexplained stuff I missed growing up Protestant any recommendations are welcome I'm also interested in reading non-canon biblical books, even though they may not be divinely inspired they still help people understand the world the bible was written to. Also this may need a second post but how do I pick a denomination and translation. I grew up Baptist but I don't like how they pull the "magical" supernatural elements out of the bible. I don't like Catholicism because I believe in salvation through faith alone and don't agree with a pope. I'm leaning towards Greek Orthodox and there's a church nearby


r/Christian 1d ago

My pastor is clearly using AI sermons, and reading them word for word

78 Upvotes

I’m looking for your thoughts/opinions/experiences as it relates to this issue.

Most of our congregation is 65+ and cant tell.

Over the past year it’s gotten increasingly worse. He’s barely looking up from his notes. He’s reading things and I can tell that in moment he realizes that it doesn’t quite fit, but he pushes past it. He’s also using AI generated images in every single PowerPoint slide.

I know that unfortunately this has become more common among bivocational pastors. But at this point, it’s become very difficult for our family to focus because there is clearly no soul in what is being said. It’s clear he is burnt out, and I don’t blame him. But we are very heavily considering leaving the church for this and other reasons.

The people there, including the pastor and his family have been great to us and clearly love God and stretch themselves thin serving in the church and elsewhere.

It will be hard to tell them we are leaving, and why. To me it almost feels petty, but on the other hand this issue is very serious to our family.


r/Christian 1d ago

CW: Sensitive Topic Wet dreams won’t stop and neither will the guilt.

8 Upvotes

I’m 19 years old male, I haven’t choked my chicken in 10 months but I keep having wet dreams, I don’t drink before bed, I make sure to pee before bed, I don’t eat before bed, I pray before bed and ask for protection from God so I don’t have any sexual dreams, I limit what I watch, if something weird comes on my fyp, I either scroll, block or click not interested. I do all these things yet after at least every 10 days I have a wet dream where I either have a full load come out or what looks like a precum stain that’s barely visible. In these wet dreams I’ve noticed that sometimes I can avoid what’s happening in them and I don’t have a wet dream, other times I can’t do anything, and most times I try to stop it but no matter how hard I try I can’t wake up before it happens and all this leaves me with guilt shame and makes me feel like a failure and as weird as it sounds, it makes me think all the happy times I’ve had since my last wet dream are meaningless, and like I can’t get joy or nostalgia from them, idk if that may be related to OCD or something but to my knowledge I don’t have that. Idk what to do, I’ve read that wet dreams are normal and sometimes can persist into late adulthood but is this really true. Is this all normal and I’m just tormenting myself with something that’s out of my control?


r/Christian 1d ago

I have some questions please insight is needed šŸ™šŸ»

7 Upvotes

Recently I started attending a Pentecostal church . The community is accepting and I feel god spirt stronger then anywhere else I’ve ever attended!
My only problem is this branch of Christianity is very strict and certain things do not align with what I believe.
I don’t believe If I don’t where dresses that’s a sin. I dont believe letting my children watch cartoons is a sin. There are other things aswell but I’m not sure if the devil is in my ear or if I’m realizing it too radical for me.
Even if I miss a service because I’m ill (I have brain cancer currently in treatment)
they make it seem like it’s because the devil is after me nd I need to push though and come anyways.
I am very conflicted because I have loved the service and how strongly everyone believes and is excited about god but I can feel them wanting to change change things about me and my family that’s I don’t consider sins. Any opinions or incite is appreciated especially if you know anything about Pentecostal Christianity


r/Christian 1d ago

Tattoo

0 Upvotes

I know alot of people will be against this. I am a fan of warhammer 40k. I am getting a tattoo of my favorite faction. I want to get their chapter number. It is 666th that wouldn't be the same as the 666 associated by the beast.


r/Christian 1d ago

YAYAY

4 Upvotes

It’s been a week since I redirected my life back to God and honestly I’ve never been happier

For context : HII I’m 17 I have been trying to get close to God ever since I was 11 so nearly 7 years as I turn 18 in December, I’ve had an on and off relationship with him for such a long time and I was just tired of it so I kept living for the world instead of trying to lock in and get closer to him!

I don’t have a crazy story on how I locked in but it was the same day I went to enrolment day for college ( I dropped out and decided to come back this year) on that same day I just randomly thought oh I really want to lock in being closer to God since I’ve always believed in him, I started small with ā€œno saying swear wordsā€ anytime I catch myself nearly saying it I stop myself , I’ve been learning patience & I have managed to take care of myself better ever since giving my life to him again.

I do pray in the mornings before going on my phone, I pray before breakfast, lunch and dinner I also pray when I’m feeling upset or feeling guilty about anything and I do repent if I accidentally sin. It’s crazy how much someone’s life can change in a week🄹I hope I stay consistent bc I know it’s only been a week but it’s genuinely been the best week with him by my side <3


r/Christian 1d ago

Am i Christian?

7 Upvotes

Im a teenage girl who loves Jesus and wants too grow closer too him i just don’t know how!! I feel like recently ive been drifting away from him and this isnt how I am, my parents notice it, too a point where I believe in him, but I don’t rely on him at all. Havent read a bible verse since 6th grade and Havent felt like that happy jolly girl I always was ever since.I have many opportunities like separate teen classes where they’ll guide you about the bible in a certain way. The only issue is it’s a small group packed with teens I don’t know at all. Im not an awkward person but when it comes too learning about Christian studies I hate it. I was never really into learning about god and found it boring. I stopped pushing my beliefs too liking it. And thats when I lost him, I don’t know if it was also change in life,Deep down, I just really need some genuine advice.