I’m curious about this “pattern of sinning,” too. Curtis, unless you’re a pathological kleptomaniac or physically abusive to a sibling or something, what pattern of sin could you possibly be in?
You’ve really changed my life here today. I had previously been an adherent of Genesis 34:25*, but you’ve opened my eyes. Henceforth, whenever there is a religious event, or say, a basketball game, I shall hold up my Ezekiel 23:20** sign proudly.
*(And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.)
**(There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.)
Don’t let your imagination run away with you - depending on how strictly you define acceptable behavior, a lot of otherwise normal behavior could be considered sinning, including swearing, disrespecting your parents, failing to pay tithing on every coin you acquire, refraining from assisting people in perceived need, spending time doing anything other than worship on sunday, or even spending time doing things other than worshipping any time. So don’t get ahead of yourselves here.
Ahem
I was assuming Genesis 38:9-10, weren’t y’all?
Oh come on. He’s a teenaged boy with an apparent addiction to Jesus. He thinks he’s sinning when he does what every guy on the planet does from time to time.
Masturbation is not a sin. Also won’t get you STDs or named as a defendant in a paternity suit. Frankly, if Jesus had more sense, there’d be a commandment something like “Thou shalt choketh thy chicken with joy and not shame, so long as thou doeth it in private.”.
I feel safe in assuming the the LORD has not commanded **Curtis ** to knock up his brother’s wife.
Surely an omnipotent, omnibenevolent being wouldn’t get His mighty rocks off to incest/impregnation porn, would He?
Finally, a topic worthy of Great Debates.
From a debate perspective, there’s nothing about omnipotence that would cause the being to mind anything, and an omnibenevolent being would only necessarily be opposed to things that cause or allow entities to experience unnecessary suffering.
So, assuming both related parties are willing and no incidental harm was done as a result, there no logical argument that can be made that all omnipotent, omnibenevolent beings would be necessarily predisposed against getting Their mighty rocks off to incest/impregnation porn.
If you accept that Gd created everything in the universe, and that Gd is all powerful, that there is no power above Him, then it stands to reason that G*d created incest and porn. What a guy!
Well, you can logically prove that he wouldn’t enjoy rape porn. If that conflicts with the fact that he abetted the creation thereof, well, that’s a different problem.
If there is a Creator, the fact that He provided us with arms long enough to reach our genitals proves His love for us.
Curtis, if you have the notion that The Factual Truth will someday become obvious to you and everyone, well, it won’t. If you’re not questioning and doubting and exploring the Great Issues, you’re simply being dogmatic. What you’re telling us about is healthy and normal and admirable.
If God didn’t want us to masturbate, why did he create cantaloupes?
And microwaves.
There’s no happily-ever-after in life, and there’s no way to get one. The best we mortals seem to get is “okay most of the time”. Finding a religion that suits you is good, and can make you happier overall, but bad things will still happen to you, and it will feel bad when they do. This is how it is for everybody, and it isn’t your fault. It’s not that you’re “not truly saved”, or somehow a bad person, and if you weren’t like that you would feel happy all the time.
Incidentally, this isn’t just true of religion- it’s true of everything that might make your life better. It’s true of not living with your parents any more, it’s true of graduating from school, it’s true of owning your own home, it’s true of being married, and it’s true of being treated for a condition like depression that can make you unhappy. I know those things firsthand. I imagine it’s also true of having kids or retiring from your job, though I don’t know that firsthand.
Memories, including of religious experiences, fade over time. That doesn’t mean that what happened wasn’t real or wasn’t significant, it just means that memory isn’t perfect. I don’t really remember the moment when Mr. Neville and I exchanged wedding rings at our wedding. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, and it doesn’t mean it wasn’t significant then. It just means my memory kind of sucks. This only gets worse as you get older, incidentally.
Because the Fleshlight hadn’t been invented yet?
That may be true. But I’m certain there was no decisive moment when I believed-it was very quiet and unnoticed and I don’t think I understood the significance of salvation at the time.
It’s pretty lucky that the religion you happened to be born into turned out to be the correct one … .
If you had been born Jewish or Muslim or Hindu, how long do you think it would have taken you to find Christ?
Curtis, dude.
Ease up on yourself.
First off, you are not going to hell any time soon. Coming from a Catholic upbringing (or maybe it was just my particular Catholic church and school), the “general consensus” was, that to do that you have to REALLY work at it to get into hell. You have to get there deliberately. After all, if God is all knowing and forgiving and stuff, He KNOWS people will fail, and fail a lot. If you are any sort of person at all, the good you do in life WILL seriously outweigh any bad you could ever possibly do. He forgave murderers, thieves, robbers, even tax men. Don’t let any fire and brimstone asshole scare you. You are saved if you want it to be. Your “deal” is with God, not any preacher man. That’s The Deal. It’s just that simple. I don’t know who the Rev. John MacArthur and I don’t care. He does not get to decide who is saved. If he is saying anything remotely close to that, run like hell. If he is really saying anything like that he is pure poison. What did Jesus say? Love others as you love yourself. That’s it. If you’re like me, that can be a tough one, so get used to biting your tongue (a lot). The rest is just ceremony, tradition, dogma, and window dressing.
There is no decisive moment, no big fanfare, no lightning bolt, none of that Cecil B DeMille crap. You don’t “get saved” at some discrete point in time. You don’t feel any different, because you are not supposed to. That’s it.
Second, I don’t know what sins you think you have, but forget it. What sins could a kid have anyway? Did you murder anyone? Did you tear the arms off a crippled child? Caused the destruction of millions? Really, what could you possibly have done to put your soul in any jeopardy? What. You had a mean thought about someone you don’t like? You started thinking about girls? You said a bad word? You’ve done nothing.
Just get on with your life.
My favorite one is Austin 3:16 
Probably a good thing if you were raised Catholic. 
He’s a very conservative Baptist preacher based out of California. He’s refered to Catholicism as “Satanic” and said that monastaries and convents are comparable to prisons that should be raided by Amnesty International.
He’s not really a welcoming kind of guy, he doesn’t even like other Protestants much. He thinks ecumenism is “another religion.”