Problem Pages

I'm a student about to start my second year of university and I have a big problem making my money last all term. I'm worried about going into debt and want some advice from a Christians who can help me. We have asked our friends at the Speakeasy Advice Centre here in Cardiff to give an answer to this question. Here is what they say: "Student life can be really hard. Our advice is to budget. If you can work out how much money you have and how much you want to spend then you can decide the...

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"I'm 15 and my Youth group at church have this big problem with praising God and stuff - I am involved in our worship group and I am always trying to make the worship more fun for them but they don't seem to think that they can worship properly unless they are at an Ignite event or Soul Survivor." Sometimes leading worship can be a difficult and thankless task. Here are some thoughts that I hope will help: Get some other musicians involved with you. Use some CDs to worship...

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"In a devotional about the cross of Jesus, you said that it's one place we can always go as Christians. What if we can't find it? I'm stuck right now in one spot, and God is somewhere, calling me. I know that He wants me, but I really don't know where to go. Does He want me to do something extra to get to Him? Or does He want me to wait patiently here for Him? I'm confused!" When we talk about always being able to go to the cross, we mean that the cross of Jesus, God's love and sacrif...

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"I'm a girl of 18 and have been a Christian for about 6 years now. For a long time now I've felt the calling of God on my life, especially ministry, and especially to preaching. I began preaching when I was about 13, with testimonies and the like at concerts and youth group. When I preach, I can feel such an extreme anointing of God, it makes me feel alive, like this is my calling- like nothing else on the planet does. However, on the flip side, I really love school and for a long time I've...

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"My best friend was saved this past January. The first month of her being a new Christian she was all excited about it and about knowing Jesus. Now she has a new boyfriend who is 20. She lies to her parents, goes and spends the night with her boyfriend and gets drunk with him and his friends. I tried talking to her about it, but she thinks that as long as her and Jesus are "best friends" then it's all good. How can I help her?" This sounds like a situation where you can begi...

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I think there are a couple of issues here. Firstly drinking... The Bible clearly says, "Do not get drunk". (Ephesians 5:18) Why? Well, there are loads of obvious reasons why it's not good ... you end up doing things you might regret; consistently drinking too much can be very bad for your health etc. However, I think Paul's point here is about being under an influence that affects you. He goes on to say, "Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you". Being under the...

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It is totally normal to go through times when we doubt God! Maybe you feel a bit "dry" spiritually; perhaps you're starting to wonder if God is real; maybe you're just fed up with trying to live for Him. Whatever the specific situation, doubting God and not feeling on top form spiritually is completely normal, and most Christians go through it at some stage. So, here are some top tips for when you feel like this: Recognise you're in a low patch. If you actually take a moment to...

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All of these are important questions. Here's what the Bible says about it... God created man and woman for relationship with each other. Part of that is a sexual relationship. Because this was God's idea, He obviously knows best how this should work. He gives us guidelines in the Bible of how to conduct ourselves in relation to our sexuality. He clearly states that sex is for a husband and wife, "A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one...

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First of all, thanks for your honesty. There are loads of young people out there with similar issues who never confront them, so thanks for taking this first step. You say that because you're a Christian, you know you can't be gay, but you feel that you are. It's probably a good idea to decide what we mean by the term, 'gay'. There is a difference between sexual orientation and sinful behaviour. Your sexual orientation seems to be 'gay', in other words your unchosen feelings and the attraction...

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‘Self-harm’ is the term used for when someone deliberately causes harm to him or herself. The term covers all types of deliberate injury, ranging from hitting to burning, scratching and poisoning. But the most frequently talked about type of self-harm is cutting. Because we are all totally unique and different from each other, it is impossible to pinpoint why people self-harm and so there is no such thing as a typical self-harmer. Self-harm is something that can affect anyone of any ...

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We've all gone through this situation at some time or another. Of course, Jesus never promised that following him would be easy or would be an end to our problems. God did promise this however: Deut. 31:6 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you" So however tough life might be God is always there. You have to rely on that truth rather than being led by the way you feel; yo...

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Dear Ignite, I'm really finding it hard to go to church, can't I just come to Ignite events, check the website out and not bother with church? We've been asked this before, and our answer is always the same: we believe in the local church! Ignite isn't a church, we support all the good stuff that goes on week in week out in local churches all over the UK, and if you have signed the Ignite declaration you'll be serious about church too. 1 Cor 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each o...

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A few people on the bulletin board have been struggling with this question. So here's some practical suggestions: God has spoken to the whole world most completely through Jesus, so it's always worth staying close to him if you want to hear God's voice and it's important to see what Jesus has already said to you and about you in the Bible. Will God actually speak out loud to you? Well, not always but some people do hear God that clearly! The boy Samuel heard God speaking to him three times befo...

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