Hello,
I am looking for advice on generating a report of points of interest within a certain radius of a commercial property. I see CREXi has a POI tool and so does RPR but I am not able to export/ make a report regarding these.
I see some online companies offer this but they are paid, anyone have a free solution?
Thanks...

Just to give some context about me im 24M and i only ever had like situationships that led to nowhere and we're quickly dispersed. Last time I tried to get myself out there was during COVID-19 and I downloaded Tinder out of pure boredom which led to few convos, but only 1 really held on for much longer. It's now been around 4 years since then, I've been kinda focusing on myself those past 4 years like going to the gym, improving my well-being and trying to feel more confident in my own body. But now its getting to the point where anywhere I go I can't stop just noticing couples and how most of them are just happy, which I haven't really felt in a long time. I'm assuming that's a sign of loneliness and needing a s/o in my life. The point is I haven't really been much of a social person lately, especially with women, and apart from work and gym and occasional shopping, I haven't really been anywhere, maybe it's because I don't really have anyone to go anywhere with, but then again I feel like I'm just making excuses. I am going to Japan this fall (solo travelling) which will be out of my comfort zone, and I'll try maybe making a few friends to really break the rust from my social skills (which aren't great in first place). But the conclusion is that I don't even know where to start these days, should I create a new Tinder profile, or go to bars (I don't really drink), go to a park. How would I even approach women these days without coming of as a creep because this (my) generation is so difficult to engage nowadays. Anyway if someone would mind just giving me some sort of advice or at least thought on this I'd be very grateful.

Guys this is my(23m) first ever post in reddit but I just feel so desperate, that i wanted to vent over how much of a hell it is to live in this house every fking day. ik there are countless reddit posts of indian parents fighting everyday creating toxic environment for the children.
For background, we are currently living in Pune(moved from Chennai 4-5 years ago). My dad(58m) is a director at a well known company and my mom(55f) is a homemaker (former kindergarten teacher but she quit while I was in 10th standard). My brother(28 m) is working in mumbai. Since the day of marriage(29 years ago), these two have been fighting everyday verbally and in between there was physical fights and i have been traumatised coz of that. My mom feels my father's side of family is always against her and my father is too short tempered/serious anger issues. My mom has developed serious serious paranoia over the years and she has also been through depression phase several times, also she occasionally takes sleeping pills to sleep.
By now i have been having ptsd of when the next fight starts, it has become too toxic to the point that am scared to live in this fking house and coz of this I have all the helpline numbers saved in my mobile. The fight has escalated to the point, my father has refused to eat my mother's food. Due to this my mother plans to separate from my father and wants to move with me to Bangalore coz my job starts there in august. also my bro and i have tried throughout years to settle fights between them but the same cycle starts. I also dont have that good of a relationship with dad, we barely talk.
I seriously dk what to do when my mother plans to tell my father that she wants to separate from him because my father has serious anger issues so am afraid it might get violent. I just wanna say to the millions out there who is going through same please stay strong. We are the generation that has to break this cycle of generational trauma!

I started making maps in cs2 about 3 months ago, but suddenly ran into an issue when compiling maps. I already had a blockout of another map, but when compiling it just said Error: 3 compiled, 1 failed, 1 skipped. So I tried on a test map and it worked fine. Because i couldnt solve it on the old map, i just thought it is just a blockout and i can make another fairly quickly. So i made another and compiled it midway without problem. Then when i was finished it stopped working. So i made another one yet again. Compiling worked fine at first, but after a few small changes it stopped properly compiling yet again. Compile log is below.
VIS3: Build partitioned PVS! Voxelize (8 units) took 0.18 seconds (21,513 nodes) Outside detection took 0.09 seconds Generated clusters for 7640 regions in 8.72 seconds 34429 clusters generated Distance merged regions (639 merged to 608) pre-merged to 34398 clusters Merged to 583 clusters in first pass Merged to 457 clusters in second pass Merged cluster lists in 9.32 seconds [457 clusters] Compacted to 29043 regions (457 clusters) in 0.00 seconds [target 510 clusters] Assigned 457 clusters in 0.00 seconds 636.79 KB bytes tree size Sample vis for 457 clusters Creating thread pool with 11 threads CLOSRayGenerator rays complete. CLOSRayGenerator rays complete. AxialRays rays complete. AxialRays rays complete. AxialRays rays complete. ClusterView rays complete. 1.7s::Finished 11,088 valid LOS Main thread clear batches. Traced 20,971,520 rays in 1.873 seconds [11,198,504 rays per second] 5.207 cpu s cast, 13.614 cpu s rasterize Target 512 clusters, clamped to 510, grid size 8.0 Built 457 clusters in 0.0s 457 clusters, 1 steps Merge vis clusters:0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Merged to 459 clusters in 0.0s (0.0s recompute, 0 passes) 0.0s total merge time Adaptive border clusters (0s) Initial regions 29043, collapsed to 17251 748 unique masks (of 17,251 regions) Compute enclosed cluster lists 2774 cluster lists, 14339 elements (0.0105s) (1 zeros) Computed 449 clusters visible to sky Skipping solid voxels in sunlight visibility Raytraced sun visibility in 26.048ms (400 visible clusters) Wrote 11088 LOS hints for next time c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\counter-strike global offensive\game\csgo_addons\cs2\maps\map1.los! Wrote vis resource 395.05 KB bytes Visibility complete in 20.62s. Collecting Mesh Edges [] Done (0.00 seconds) Fixing T-junction Edge Cracks [] Done (0.00 seconds)
Bake Lighting Build: pc64 May 7 2024 11:40:20 Preprocessing 8 meshes and computing charts [] Done (0.00 seconds) Packing 68 UV charts onto atlas... Pass 1 of 7 ->[] Done (0.02 seconds) - (0.459297) Pass 2 of 7 ->[] Done (0.01 seconds) + (0.229649) Pass 3 of 7 ->[] Done (0.02 seconds) + (0.344473) Pass 4 of 7 ->[] Done (0.02 seconds) - (0.401885) Pass 5 of 7 ->[] Done (0.02 seconds) - (0.373179) Pass 6 of 7 ->[] Done (0.02 seconds) - (0.358826) Pass 7 of 7 ->[] Done (0.02 seconds) - (0.351650) Mesh with material materials/liquids/overpasswater.vmat is extremely large in lightmap (3.2%), 532x63 World Bounds -1024.000000,720.000000,208.000000 -> 512.000000,896.000000,240.000000 Mesh with material materials/dev/dev_measuregeneric01c.vmat is extremely large in lightmap (40.0%), 540x776 World Bounds -1024.000000,-256.000000,208.000000 -> 896.000000,1792.000000,256.000000 Mesh with material materials/dev/dev_measuregeneric01.vmat is extremely large in lightmap (7.1%), 548x135 World Bounds -1024.000000,-256.000000,208.000000 -> 896.000000,1792.000000,640.000000 LPV Atlas Size: 36x24x24 Size Increase: 292.80% ==== Baking 1024 x 1024 lightmap ==== SetupTexels [0....1....2....3....4....5....6....7....8....9....] Done (0.01 seconds) VRAD3-GPU VRAD3 - Distributed Lighting Tool Copyright (c) Valve Corporation, All rights reserved. Build: pc64 May 7 2024 11:36:39 WD: c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\counter-strike global offensive\game\csgo_addons\cs2\_vrad3 Command: vrad3.exe -map maps/map1.vmap -script script-gpu.vrad3 -vulkan -gpuraytracing -allthreads -unbufferedio -noassert Enabling instance extension: VK_KHR_get_physical_device_properties2. Fossilize ERROR: Failed to parse ApplicationInfoFilter, letting recording go through. Using VK_EXT_memory_budget set texture memory budget to 7379 MB. HLSL SM6.0 level subgroup wave ops supported, subgroup size = 64 Vulkan physical device (0): supports shader clip distance: true ConVar r_low_latency has multiple help strings: parent (wins): "NVIDIA Low Latency (0 = off, 1 = on, 2 = on + boost)" child: "NVIDIA Low Latency/AMD Anti-Lag 2 (0 = off, 1 = on, 2 = NV-only, on + boost)" Vulkan Physical Device: AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT Initializing streaming texture manager. Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_swapchain Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_dedicated_allocation Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_descriptor_update_template Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_image_format_list Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance1 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_separate_stencil_usage Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_swapchain_mutable_format Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_load_store_op_none Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_depth_stencil_resolve Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_create_renderpass2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_memory_priority Vulkan extension enabled: VK_AMD_memory_overallocation_behavior Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_shader_float16_int8 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_separate_depth_stencil_layouts Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_cache_control Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_buffer_device_address Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_shader_clock Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_acceleration_structure Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_ray_query Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_get_memory_requirements2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_descriptor_indexing Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_deferred_host_operations Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance3 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_memory_budget Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_pageable_device_local_memory Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_draw_indirect_count Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_subgroup_size_control VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state_2 does not support extendedDynamicState2PatchControlPoints, disabling. Fossilize INFO: Overriding serialization path: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\shadercache\730\fozpipelinesv6\steamapprun_pipeline_cache". VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library and dependent extensions enabled. Vulkan Command Buffer Pool Threshold(1500) Unable to open Vulkan pipeline cache shadercache\vulkan\shaders.cache file - might not exist yet. Vulkan driver version: 2.0.299.0 Vulkan driver version Major = 2, Minor = 0, Patch = 19595264 Num Threads: 12 Loading 5 resources... Done (0.06 seconds) Creating VB/IB/BLAS for 8 meshes... Done (0.01 seconds) Creating ray trace scene world with 8 instances... returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource Done (0.00 seconds)
--------------------------------------------------------- Encountered accessviolation. Wrote minidump to vrad3_2024_0518_173821_0_accessviolation.mdmp ---------------------------------------------------------
0....1....2....3....4....5....6....7....8....9....] FAILED (1.97 seconds) Error running "vrad3.exe -map maps/map1.vmap -script script-gpu.vrad3 -vulkan -gpuraytracing -allthreads -unbufferedio -noassert" VRAD3 - Distributed Lighting Tool Copyright (c) Valve Corporation, All rights reserved. Build: pc64 May 7 2024 11:36:39 WD: c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\counter-strike global offensive\game\csgo_addons\cs2\_vrad3 Command: vrad3.exe -map maps/map1.vmap -script script-gpu.vrad3 -vulkan -gpuraytracing -allthreads -unbufferedio -noassert Enabling instance extension: VK_KHR_get_physical_device_properties2. Fossilize ERROR: Failed to parse ApplicationInfoFilter, letting recording go through. Using VK_EXT_memory_budget set texture memory budget to 7379 MB. HLSL SM6.0 level subgroup wave ops supported, subgroup size = 64 Vulkan physical device (0): supports shader clip distance: true ConVar r_low_latency has multiple help strings: parent (wins): "NVIDIA Low Latency (0 = off, 1 = on, 2 = on + boost)" child: "NVIDIA Low Latency/AMD Anti-Lag 2 (0 = off, 1 = on, 2 = NV-only, on + boost)" Vulkan Physical Device: AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT Initializing streaming texture manager. Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_swapchain Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_dedicated_allocation Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_descriptor_update_template Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_image_format_list Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance1 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_separate_stencil_usage Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_swapchain_mutable_format Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_load_store_op_none Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_depth_stencil_resolve Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_create_renderpass2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_memory_priority Vulkan extension enabled: VK_AMD_memory_overallocation_behavior Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_shader_float16_int8 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_separate_depth_stencil_layouts Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_cache_control Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_buffer_device_address Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_shader_clock Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_acceleration_structure Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_ray_query Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_get_memory_requirements2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_descriptor_indexing Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_deferred_host_operations Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance3 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_memory_budget Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_pageable_device_local_memory Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_draw_indirect_count Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_subgroup_size_control VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state_2 does not support extendedDynamicState2PatchControlPoints, disabling. Fossilize INFO: Overriding serialization path: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\shadercache\730\fozpipelinesv6\steamapprun_pipeline_cache". VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library and dependent extensions enabled. Vulkan Command Buffer Pool Threshold(1500) Unable to open Vulkan pipeline cache shadercache\vulkan\shaders.cache file - might not exist yet. Vulkan driver version: 2.0.299.0 Vulkan driver version Major = 2, Minor = 0, Patch = 19595264 Num Threads: 12 Loading 5 resources... Done (0.06 seconds) Creating VB/IB/BLAS for 8 meshes... Done (0.01 seconds) Creating ray trace scene world with 8 instances... returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource Done (0.00 seconds)
--------------------------------------------------------- Encountered accessviolation. Wrote minidump to vrad3_2024_0518_173821_0_accessviolation.mdmp ---------------------------------------------------------
Unable to run Vrad3. Light mapper didn't return valid triangles: failing. Map build FAILED. [FAIL] 0/ 1 (elapsed 23.180): c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\counter-strike global offensive\content\csgo_addons\cs2\maps\map1.vmap Compile of 1 file(s) matching nonrecursive specification "c:/program files (x86)/steam/steamapps/common/counter-strike global offensive/content/csgo_addons/cs2/maps/map1.vmap" took 23.180 seconds
----------------------------------------------------------------- ERROR: 3 compiled, 1 failed, 1 skipped, 0m:24s -----------------------------------------------------------------End build: 2024-05-18T17:38:22, elapsed time

I started making maps in cs2 about 3 months ago, but suddenly ran into an issue when compiling maps. I already had a blockout of another map, but when compiling it just said Error: 3 compiled, 1 failed, 1 skipped. So I tried on a test map and it worked fine. Because i couldnt solve it on the old map, i just thought it is just a blockout and i can make another fairly quickly. So i made another and compiled it midway without problem. Then when i was finished it stopped working. So i made another one yet again. Compiling worked fine at first, but after a few small changes it stopped properly compiling yet again. Compile log is below.
VIS3: Build partitioned PVS! Voxelize (8 units) took 0.18 seconds (21,513 nodes) Outside detection took 0.09 seconds Generated clusters for 7640 regions in 8.72 seconds 34429 clusters generated Distance merged regions (639 merged to 608) pre-merged to 34398 clusters Merged to 583 clusters in first pass Merged to 457 clusters in second pass Merged cluster lists in 9.32 seconds [457 clusters] Compacted to 29043 regions (457 clusters) in 0.00 seconds [target 510 clusters] Assigned 457 clusters in 0.00 seconds 636.79 KB bytes tree size Sample vis for 457 clusters Creating thread pool with 11 threads CLOSRayGenerator rays complete. CLOSRayGenerator rays complete. AxialRays rays complete. AxialRays rays complete. AxialRays rays complete. ClusterView rays complete. 1.7s::Finished 11,088 valid LOS Main thread clear batches. Traced 20,971,520 rays in 1.873 seconds [11,198,504 rays per second] 5.207 cpu s cast, 13.614 cpu s rasterize Target 512 clusters, clamped to 510, grid size 8.0 Built 457 clusters in 0.0s 457 clusters, 1 steps Merge vis clusters:0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Merged to 459 clusters in 0.0s (0.0s recompute, 0 passes) 0.0s total merge time Adaptive border clusters (0s) Initial regions 29043, collapsed to 17251 748 unique masks (of 17,251 regions) Compute enclosed cluster lists 2774 cluster lists, 14339 elements (0.0105s) (1 zeros) Computed 449 clusters visible to sky Skipping solid voxels in sunlight visibility Raytraced sun visibility in 26.048ms (400 visible clusters) Wrote 11088 LOS hints for next time c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\counter-strike global offensive\game\csgo_addons\cs2\maps\map1.los! Wrote vis resource 395.05 KB bytes Visibility complete in 20.62s. Collecting Mesh Edges [] Done (0.00 seconds) Fixing T-junction Edge Cracks [] Done (0.00 seconds)
Bake Lighting Build: pc64 May 7 2024 11:40:20 Preprocessing 8 meshes and computing charts [] Done (0.00 seconds) Packing 68 UV charts onto atlas... Pass 1 of 7 ->[] Done (0.02 seconds) - (0.459297) Pass 2 of 7 ->[] Done (0.01 seconds) + (0.229649) Pass 3 of 7 ->[] Done (0.02 seconds) + (0.344473) Pass 4 of 7 ->[] Done (0.02 seconds) - (0.401885) Pass 5 of 7 ->[] Done (0.02 seconds) - (0.373179) Pass 6 of 7 ->[] Done (0.02 seconds) - (0.358826) Pass 7 of 7 ->[] Done (0.02 seconds) - (0.351650) Mesh with material materials/liquids/overpasswater.vmat is extremely large in lightmap (3.2%), 532x63 World Bounds -1024.000000,720.000000,208.000000 -> 512.000000,896.000000,240.000000 Mesh with material materials/dev/dev_measuregeneric01c.vmat is extremely large in lightmap (40.0%), 540x776 World Bounds -1024.000000,-256.000000,208.000000 -> 896.000000,1792.000000,256.000000 Mesh with material materials/dev/dev_measuregeneric01.vmat is extremely large in lightmap (7.1%), 548x135 World Bounds -1024.000000,-256.000000,208.000000 -> 896.000000,1792.000000,640.000000 LPV Atlas Size: 36x24x24 Size Increase: 292.80% ==== Baking 1024 x 1024 lightmap ==== SetupTexels [0....1....2....3....4....5....6....7....8....9....] Done (0.01 seconds) VRAD3-GPU VRAD3 - Distributed Lighting Tool Copyright (c) Valve Corporation, All rights reserved. Build: pc64 May 7 2024 11:36:39 WD: c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\counter-strike global offensive\game\csgo_addons\cs2\_vrad3 Command: vrad3.exe -map maps/map1.vmap -script script-gpu.vrad3 -vulkan -gpuraytracing -allthreads -unbufferedio -noassert Enabling instance extension: VK_KHR_get_physical_device_properties2. Fossilize ERROR: Failed to parse ApplicationInfoFilter, letting recording go through. Using VK_EXT_memory_budget set texture memory budget to 7379 MB. HLSL SM6.0 level subgroup wave ops supported, subgroup size = 64 Vulkan physical device (0): supports shader clip distance: true ConVar r_low_latency has multiple help strings: parent (wins): "NVIDIA Low Latency (0 = off, 1 = on, 2 = on + boost)" child: "NVIDIA Low Latency/AMD Anti-Lag 2 (0 = off, 1 = on, 2 = NV-only, on + boost)" Vulkan Physical Device: AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT Initializing streaming texture manager. Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_swapchain Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_dedicated_allocation Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_descriptor_update_template Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_image_format_list Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance1 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_separate_stencil_usage Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_swapchain_mutable_format Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_load_store_op_none Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_depth_stencil_resolve Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_create_renderpass2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_memory_priority Vulkan extension enabled: VK_AMD_memory_overallocation_behavior Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_shader_float16_int8 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_separate_depth_stencil_layouts Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_cache_control Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_buffer_device_address Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_shader_clock Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_acceleration_structure Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_ray_query Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_get_memory_requirements2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_descriptor_indexing Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_deferred_host_operations Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance3 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_memory_budget Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_pageable_device_local_memory Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_draw_indirect_count Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_subgroup_size_control VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state_2 does not support extendedDynamicState2PatchControlPoints, disabling. Fossilize INFO: Overriding serialization path: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\shadercache\730\fozpipelinesv6\steamapprun_pipeline_cache". VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library and dependent extensions enabled. Vulkan Command Buffer Pool Threshold(1500) Unable to open Vulkan pipeline cache shadercache\vulkan\shaders.cache file - might not exist yet. Vulkan driver version: 2.0.299.0 Vulkan driver version Major = 2, Minor = 0, Patch = 19595264 Num Threads: 12 Loading 5 resources... Done (0.06 seconds) Creating VB/IB/BLAS for 8 meshes... Done (0.01 seconds) Creating ray trace scene world with 8 instances... returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource Done (0.00 seconds)

Encountered accessviolation.

Wrote minidump to vrad3_2024_0518_173821_0_accessviolation.mdmp

0....1....2....3....4....5....6....7....8....9....] FAILED (1.97 seconds) Error running "vrad3.exe -map maps/map1.vmap -script script-gpu.vrad3 -vulkan -gpuraytracing -allthreads -unbufferedio -noassert" VRAD3 - Distributed Lighting Tool Copyright (c) Valve Corporation, All rights reserved. Build: pc64 May 7 2024 11:36:39 WD: c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\counter-strike global offensive\game\csgo_addons\cs2\_vrad3 Command: vrad3.exe -map maps/map1.vmap -script script-gpu.vrad3 -vulkan -gpuraytracing -allthreads -unbufferedio -noassert Enabling instance extension: VK_KHR_get_physical_device_properties2. Fossilize ERROR: Failed to parse ApplicationInfoFilter, letting recording go through. Using VK_EXT_memory_budget set texture memory budget to 7379 MB. HLSL SM6.0 level subgroup wave ops supported, subgroup size = 64 Vulkan physical device (0): supports shader clip distance: true ConVar r_low_latency has multiple help strings: parent (wins): "NVIDIA Low Latency (0 = off, 1 = on, 2 = on + boost)" child: "NVIDIA Low Latency/AMD Anti-Lag 2 (0 = off, 1 = on, 2 = NV-only, on + boost)" Vulkan Physical Device: AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT Initializing streaming texture manager. Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_swapchain Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_dedicated_allocation Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_descriptor_update_template Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_image_format_list Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance1 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_separate_stencil_usage Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_swapchain_mutable_format Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_load_store_op_none Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_depth_stencil_resolve Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_create_renderpass2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_memory_priority Vulkan extension enabled: VK_AMD_memory_overallocation_behavior Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_shader_float16_int8 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_separate_depth_stencil_layouts Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_cache_control Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_buffer_device_address Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_shader_clock Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_acceleration_structure Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_ray_query Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_get_memory_requirements2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_descriptor_indexing Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_deferred_host_operations Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance3 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_memory_budget Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_pageable_device_local_memory Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_draw_indirect_count Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_subgroup_size_control VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state_2 does not support extendedDynamicState2PatchControlPoints, disabling. Fossilize INFO: Overriding serialization path: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\shadercache\730\fozpipelinesv6\steamapprun_pipeline_cache". VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library and dependent extensions enabled. Vulkan Command Buffer Pool Threshold(1500) Unable to open Vulkan pipeline cache shadercache\vulkan\shaders.cache file - might not exist yet. Vulkan driver version: 2.0.299.0 Vulkan driver version Major = 2, Minor = 0, Patch = 19595264 Num Threads: 12 Loading 5 resources... Done (0.06 seconds) Creating VB/IB/BLAS for 8 meshes... Done (0.01 seconds) Creating ray trace scene world with 8 instances... returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource Done (0.00 seconds)

Encountered accessviolation.

Wrote minidump to vrad3_2024_0518_173821_0_accessviolation.mdmp

Unable to run Vrad3. Light mapper didn't return valid triangles: failing. Map build FAILED. [FAIL] 0/ 1 (elapsed 23.180): c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\counter-strike global offensive\content\csgo_addons\cs2\maps\map1.vmap Compile of 1 file(s) matching nonrecursive specification "c:/program files (x86)/steam/steamapps/common/counter-strike global offensive/content/csgo_addons/cs2/maps/map1.vmap" took 23.180 seconds
ERROR: 3 compiled, 1 failed, 1 skipped, 0m:24s -----------------------------------------------------------------End build: 2024-05-18T17:38:22, elapsed time

Hello everyone
I am a sociology PhD researcher at a university in the UK.
I am at the stage of my research where I can start collecting data and need participants.
My research aims to explore the experiences of Higher Education (HE) of young UK-born Sri Lankan Tamils from refugee backgrounds, through the overlapping lenses of familial expectations, social mobility, and intergenerational trauma and how this influences educational experiences and outcomes.
The study questions why certain career paths are valorised and affirmed rather than others, and the potential consequences of not necessarily conforming to parental expectations surrounding education.
Ultimately, with this work, I would like to achieve a more transparent dialogue within the Sri Lankan Tamil community, and certainly across generations about possible educational pressures or influences within familial relationships.
Chiefly, I would like to amplify the voices of young Tamils from these backgrounds.
I am planning on interviewing both students and parents:
The requirements for students are:

You must be from a refugee background (either one of your parents has at one point claimed asylum)
You were born in the UK
You are currently studying or have studied at a university in the UK

The requirements for parents are:

Must be from a refugee background
Your children are studying or have studied at a university in the UK
Must be proficient in English (due to lack of translation)

I am running a series of life history interviews and focus groups, so please let me know which you would be interested in.
If you would like to take part in my study or would like further info please feel free to contact me. If you have any leads or can help in any other way, I would appreciate it a lot.
Thank you very much.

A good friend of mine from a fairly conservative evangelical background is considering becoming a pastor at his non-denominational church. As part of the evaluation process, they asked him to write a paper on these topics that he is not an expert on.
He asked for my opinion and I offered to share it online to solicit constructive criticism, notes of encouragement, and or reading recommendations on these topics.
I believe his goal is to be faithful to the scriptures, loving to those outside the church, and challenging to those inside the church, as most of us could do better.
What he wrote is in the quotation marks below.
“1: Scope of the Issue
Sexual immorality has become a besetting and ubiquitous issue in our culture and in our churches. While many aspects of it are not novel or unique to this time and have clear scriptural input, there are others that bring challenges to our church for which we don’t have obvious precedent. The main point of these comments is to try and answer three questions with some degree of specificity: (1) how do we make ourselves a place where people who do not know Christ will feel welcome to come and learn of Him regardless of where they come from, (2) how do we pastorally care for people who have come in to the church with pre-existing circumstances related to sexual immorality, and (3) how do we equip our members to represent Christ to those in their lives that are dealing with these issues. We want to do this in a way that does not “walk a tight rope” or compromise to appease, but honors Scripture in its commands to both show compassion and exhort and correct. We must recognize that every individual circumstance is unique, and many will require careful and prayerful consideration, but this is meant to give a framework for that consideration.
2: Scriptural Basis for Corporate Response
There are many references we can point to that discuss and define sexual immorality throughout Scripture and many of these will be used below as we consider specific examples and situations. Let us start, however, by looking at passages that deal with corporate response rather than individual sin. It is clear that the Corinthian church had significant issues in this area, and much of Paul’s first letter was devoted to it. In chapter 5, Paul states that when sexual immorality is discovered in the church we should “mourn” over it and “not to associate with immoral people.” Importantly, he also makes clear in vv. 9-13 that these comments only apply to those “who bears the name of brother.” He explicitly writes, “not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world…for what have I to do with judging outsiders?” This is key in informing our response to those who are not members of the church. If it is our desire to see sinners come through our doors and come to know our Savior through our ministry, then we must be welcoming, accepting them where they are. This is not to say we hide or compromise the biblical position, but it is not an issue on which we want to filter people at the door. There are three categories of people in sexual sin that we need to form a response for. First, those just coming to the church who have not committed to it – these should be treated the same as any we are reaching out to with Christ’s love. They need Jesus, not behavioral change. Next, those who have recently joined the church but have pre-existing sexual sin patterns. This can and should be addressed with patience, dignity, and love. There are often many sin areas in the life of a new believer, and it is prudent to discern how and when to address each of them. Lastly, those who have been members in the church for some amount of time and fall into sexual sin. This is the group that Paul is primarily addressing in 1 Corinthians. While sex within marriage is a private issue, sexual sin cannot be a taboo topic. It needs to be addressed regularly and clearly. We need close enough relationships within the church that such problems do not fester in the dark. We must avoid the typical church pattern to vilify the first group, never see the second group, and pretend the third group doesn’t exist until it all blows up in scandal. May it never be.
3: Consistency Issue
There is a tendency in our Christian culture to treat some sexual sins as worse than others. Like the Corinthians, some things we seem to have accepted as just ubiquitous parts of our culture. Knowing the prevalence of promiscuity and fornication among teens and single adults and usage of pornography even within the church, we tend to address these as issues of indwelling sin, similar to anger or fear of man, with offers of accountability and understanding when someone falls. By contrast, when it comes to homosexuality or adultery, it is often a church discipline issue. We view homosexual marriage as a major problem, but remarriage after a non-biblical divorce is rarely addressed. These inconsistencies lead to stigmatization and polarization and should have no place in the church. The criterion for escalation should be unrepentance, not the nature of the sexual sin. It is clear from 1 Corinthians that all should be taken seriously, but none should be vilified above others.
4: Culture and Identity
The major underlying problem with many of the sexual sin and gender issues is that they have come to be culturally bound up with people’s identities. This is not a new phenomenon and is not unique to this issue. As far back as Acts 19, you see people becoming “enraged” because Paul had threatened the Ephesians’ cultural identity as worshipers of Artemis. People continue to find their primary identities in their employment, hobbies, sports teams, or families rather than Christ. None of these should be accepted, but none should be reviled either. If a person does not know Jesus, they are dead. How they identify themselves is of no concern. Once they have been made alive, they can be taught that “whose” they are is more important than “who” they are. All identity outside of Christ is not sinful, but if it takes paramount importance, it may become so. A person who recognizes a tendency toward same sex attraction may label themselves as gay or lesbian. This should not be considered a sin issue unless it becomes, for them, their defining characteristic or leads to sinful actions. We should recognize the difficulty of this struggle and support such a person rather than get hung up on labels. There must be clear distinction between identifying same sex attraction and engaging in homosexual behavior. These should be the guiding principles underlying everything that follows are regards individual cases.
5: Public Facing Information, Guests, and New Attendees
Considering what we have discussed, and Paul’s assertion in 1 Corinthians 5 that we ought to reserve judgment on sexual immorality to those we call brother, I would submit that public facing information regarding the church (i.e. website, app, etc) should not publish a position on sexual immorality, marriage, and gender identity. Doing so effectively places the filter at the door so that people who do not know Christ may be turned away from it. This is not tantamount to tacit approval. In appropriate contexts within the church, these topics should still be discussed and addressed, but I do not believe it is consistent with a biblical treatment of unbelievers to place it in a public facing forum. If we have guests or new regular attendees who appear to be engaged in a cohabitating or fornicating relationship, a homosexual relationship, or other sexual sin, this should not be a priority to address unless we have discerned that they are believers and join the church. Even then, it is important to draw a distinction between someone who deals with same-sex attraction and someone who engages in homosexual behavior. The next seven points are meant to discuss, in broad terms, how we should address those who join the church with pre-existing relationships or identity issues:
6: Promiscuity, Cohabitation – Hebrews 13:4, 1 Cor 7:1-2, Ex 22:16
Much of the biblical discussion on promiscuity is by inference. Clearly, sex was meant to be inseparably linked to marriage and outside of that context should be considered immoral. For those who join the church already in a sexual relationship who are unmarried we should apply Exodus 22:16 and encourage them to marry as soon as possible. If they do not wish to marry, they should be encouraged to separate. Paul acknowledges in 1 Cor 7:2 that marriage is the best remedy for “temptation to sexual immorality.”
7: Adultery, Divorce and Remarriage – Matt 5:32, Matt 19:9, 1 Cor 7:10-11
This issue is given much more explicit biblical instruction but is often glossed over in our Christian culture due to the messy landscape of divorces and remarriages. In cases where non-biblical divorce has occurred, if reconciliation is possible, this should be pursued. If reconciliation is impossible because one or more parties have remarried, it would not be sensible to divorce again in order to achieve reconciliation. The principle to apply here, I believe, is from 1 Cor 7:17-24 summarized in verse 20: “Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.” This is not an ideal circumstance, but it is the best way forward in an imperfect world. Of note, polygamy was common in the culture of the early church, and while not ideal, was accepted by the church, as evidenced by the qualifications for elder to be “a husband of but one wife.” We have polygamous cultures even within our local community and if they came to Christ, we should not counsel them to divorce all but one wife and thus disrupt their social structure. It is not ideal and would disqualify them from eldership, but they should remain as they are. Whether marriage after unbiblical divorce in the past disqualifies a man from eldership is a case-by case question for the eldership.
8: Pornography, Sensuality, and Lust – Lev 18:6-18, Matt 5:28
As mentioned above, use of pornography has reached a high saturation point within our culture and within our church. While once thought of as simply a male issue, there is a growing trend toward gender parity in pornography usage. It is an issue that should be discussed with some frequency within our church. For those that join the church and view pornography regularly, it needs to be made clear that while the world has largely destigmatized it, it is still sexual immorality. Furthermore, this isn’t just limited to nudity and pornography, but any sensuality that leads to looking at someone “with lustful intent” is the heart equivalent of adultery according to Matt 5:28. In our culture, it is not possible to avoid such things by just turning away. We need to address the heart issues of idolatry, selfishness, and satisfaction in Christ. Practically, how should we deal with those who have on-going struggles with pornography, sensuality and lust? Should this preclude them from eldership? From deaconship? Taken strictly, this would preclude nearly all men from eldership. These require individual evaluation from the elders, but a guiding principle should be, if the person is repentant and there is evidence of growth in their life, we should consider more responsibility and continued discipleship.
9: Homosexuality – Lev 18:22, Lev 20:13, 1 Cor 6:9, 1 Tim 1:8-11
From the above references and others, it is evident that homosexual behavior is sexual sin. We cannot equivocate on that point. As we have discussed above, if a person who is already a believer and in the church and struggles with same sex attraction, we should approach them as we would handle anyone who is sexually attracted to someone to whom they are not married. If such a person decides that homosexuality is not sinful and begins sexually immoral activity, we should deal with them in the same way as any member who falls into unrepentant sin and go through the processes of correction and, if necessary, of church discipline. It is important that we draw a distinction between same sex attraction and homosexual behavior. We can do tremendous harm by demonizing same sex attraction and creating a taboo around it. A person who is struggling to abstain from homosexual behavior should be supported and encouraged. I believe Paul’s strong statements about not associating with sexually immoral people applies to those who remain unrepentant. Much more nuanced is the issue of how we address those that join the church already in a homosexual relationship. What about the married homosexual couple who join the church with their adopted child? Should we break up their family? I believe, in this case, the same principle should apply as to those who have gone through an unbiblical divorce in the past. We should apply 1 Cor 7:20: “Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.” We can recognize that this is not ideal, but it is the best we can do in a fallen world just as we do with someone who is married after unbiblical divorce. Whether should apply to a homosexual couple in a long term committed relationship who are not legally married would be an individual discussion with the elders. Again, these are nuanced cases that will need individual prayer, discussion, and discernment. I believe a great deal more patience is called for when a new believer joins the church that has a history or present reality of homosexuality, even if they are unrepentant at first, believing that homosexuality is not sinful, than we would demonstrate to a person who has been in the church for a period of time and then decides to pursue a homosexual relationship.
10: Bisexuality – Heb 13:4
Bisexual attraction is no more or less of an issue than anyone who finds that they are sexually attracted to someone other than their spouse. This is not a rare or unique circumstance, even within the church. Someone who is practicing bisexuality is, by definition, not confining sex to the marriage bed, and this, therefore, qualifies as sexual immorality. The issue, here again, is one of identity and cultural acceptance. If a person “identifies as bisexual,” the real issue is not the bisexuality, but the fact that they identify themselves primarily by their sexual desires, and not by Christ. It would be equally a problem if they “identified as heterosexual” and that was seen as their defining characteristic. If such a person were to join the church, our priority should be in helping them see their identity in Christ rather than focusing on renouncing their sexual preference.
11: Transgenderism/Non-binarism – Psalm 139: 13-15
It should be noted that the next two points should not be considered in the category of sexual immorality, but as they are connected to the same cultural moment will be discussed here. It should further be remarked that transgenderism is a modern issue with no direct reference in Scripture. It is a challenging issue that often falls prey to oversimplification and scapegoating. It is not sufficient to simply state that a person should identify with their born gender. There are those born with ambiguous genitalia and those born with sex chromosome abnormalities such that “born gender” is not necessarily accurate. These occur with a frequency of 1 in 448 births on average which is not particularly rare. The majority of people who consider themselves to be transgender do not fall into these categories, but the fact remains that these categories exist. Unless we plan to embark on genetic testing, we must be careful how we assert someone’s gender assignment. Furthermore, we must acknowledge that much of the gender confusion in our culture is due to a distortion of biblically accurate masculinity and femininity in our culture of which the church has been widely supportive for generations. Many transgender and non-binary individuals consider themselves so because they do not fit into the traditional boxes our culture has created for the genders. The church can start by recognizing that these boxes are incorrect. We can also acknowledge that gender differences and roles are far less important than most human cultures perceive. Christ himself challenged many gender norms in his ministry and Paul maintains “…there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28b) It is much more difficult to recognize this issue as a sin issue than many of the above concerns. If someone wishes to be addressed by different pronouns than they once did or dress differently than they once did, this does not amount to immorality. Once again, this can be an idolatrous identity issue if the person sees it as the central characteristic of their lives. There is often an inherent pride in asserting that such a person does not feel they fit in the body created for them, but if they come to love Jesus and understand and believe that they are “fearfully and wonderfully made” then this issue may become moot. Whether or not they revert to dressing differently or using pronouns they did when they were younger is largely immaterial. This also addresses the issue of people who may have undergone permanent physical changes. While we should not endorse such modification if it is being considered, there is no reason to reverse such a thing in order to return to a base state. We must recognize that this is a group that has a high propensity toward mental health concerns, instability, and suicidality. They need love, support and prayer, not scapegoating and extra-biblical expectations of conforming to a cultural norm. We must further note that this group as well as the homosexual group have often experienced psychological and even physical harm from others in our culture, sometimes in the name of Christ. We must foster an environment of champions physical and psychological safety for these people.
12: Asexuality – 1 Cor 7:25-38
Asexuality also should not be considered sexual immorality. There is, in fact, wide support in Paul’s letters such as in 1 Cor 7 for people, if they are able, to remain unmarried and be “anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.” We tend to champion the model of the nuclear family in our Christian culture, but Paul sees chaste singleness as a better way. There should be no pressure from the church to make sure that single people pair off and get married because it is expected of them. As this state has been culturally identified with the LGBTQIA movement, it is seen on the same spectrum as the sexual immorality and gender issues discussed above, but it is not. It can still fall prey to the same issue of an idolatrous identity as some of the above issues, but it need not be so.
13: Glass Ceiling
In the event that God sees fit to bring people from these subgroups into our church, there would inevitably be a glass ceiling. The question is at what point. The four logical points are: regular attender, member, deacon, and elder. Regardless of their background or position, all should be welcome to be a regular attender. It is also clear, from the biblical requirements for eldership, that on-going problems or engagement in any of the sexual sins would disqualify them from that post. The middle two are less clear. I would submit that the bar for membership should be very low. This step, in my opinion, is when they would “bear the name of brother” and not before. Even if they disagree about the sinful nature of homosexuality, this should not disallow them from becoming members as long as they agree to submit to the churches position and not cause division. Allowing them to become members gives us the pastoral authority to speak into their lives, and we would hope that over time the Spirit would work in their hearts to convince them of the truth. Putting such a person in a deacon role would probably not be wise but would need to be evaluated prayerfully on a case-by-case basis. The difficulty here is that, while a position on homosexuality is not a salvific issue and should not be considered a core doctrine in the same way as the deity of Christ, for example, it is a sin issue. There is a limit to how far we can “agree to disagree” and still uphold our duty to root out sin in our midst. Once again, we should also distinguish between a struggle with same sex attraction and engagement in homosexual behavior when we consider our response. There is also a glass ceiling when it comes to marriage. While I believe we should not break up existing homosexual marriages, we should not participate in creating them. The marriage covenant between a man and woman was created, in part, to reflect the relationship between Christ and the church (Eph 5). This should not be co-opted to excuse or normalize immorality.
14: Nuance and Edge Cases
The above outline is by no means meant to be exhaustive or definitive. It is meant to provide a lens, supported by scripture, through which we can view these issues and consider corporate and pastoral responses. It should inform how we view the people that walk through the door from a wide range of backgrounds and how we equip those in our church to be Christ’s ambassadors to those in our community. Every person and circumstance, history and baggage will be different, and any non-nuanced position would be inherently evil. I pray we have many opportunities to talk, think and pray through specific situations that God would bless us with the chance to be a part of. What an honor it would be to be used to reach into broken lives like these with the Gospel of Grace.
15: Action Steps
As we consider practical and philosophical ways of responding to the above, I believe we should start from a position of corporate repentance. If we wish to truly reach out and touch the lives of broken people in need of a Savior who live a life of same sex attraction or gender dysphoria, we need to begin by recognizing that a great deal of harm, emotional and physical, has been inflicted on this group by the Church for generations. There are homeless people living in our area who were kicked out of their homes by parents holding a Bible. There are those who have been subjected to horrific methods that amount to torture under the guise of “Conversion Therapy” from Christian organizations. The only “conversion” we should concern ourselves with is to a regenerate heart. Attempting to change someone’s sexual attraction is very much beside the point. We cannot hope to be a place where such people can hear about Jesus unless they feel safe to enter our doors. We must also fight the tendency to consider sin in this area as something worse than others, even in non-Christians. James 2 says “…For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it….So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” As we consider corporate and pastoral responses to the argument above, we must start by removing our own planks and repenting for the historical actions of the Church.
Practical steps that we could consider taking would include: removing the statements from the website about marriage and sexuality, especially directly under our Core Beliefs. Again, this is not meant to hide or equivocate on the truth, but not to set such a barrier before someone even walks through our door. Secondly, we should consider how to address these topics within the church. A Sunday morning sermon is not ideal as it is time limited and a unidirectional conversation. A small group course format would be a consideration. We need to equip parents and family members of adolescents, teens, and adults with language to talk about these things in loving, humble, God-honoring ways. In the longer term, we need to consider how we can make our church a place where people would feel comfortable inviting friends and family who look, think and act differently than we do. We need to find a way of projecting safety and inclusion even in our public facing information. This isn’t a balancing act where we must make it clear early and often that we “love the sinner but hate the sin” as the saying goes. We just need to love the sinner. Dealing with the sin can come later God-willing. A third application point is to be mindful of what we say and what we allow to be said without being checked. Certainly, joking at the expense of those who are dealing with these issues is unacceptable, but we also need to work to avoid getting dragged in to pseudo-political discussions on bathroom issues, sports issues or other divisive concerns that have no bearing on the church.
I recognize that these proposals have the potential to divide the church. There are some who may leave the body over these sorts of changes. I would argue that it is our responsibility to them as well as to the unreached in our community to have those discussions and risk some of them leaving over it. These are not all things we should change overnight but after ample opportunities for discussions and prayer.
16: Conclusion – Mark 2:15-17
At its core, these are not issues of who someone loves, sexual attraction, or even specific sex acts. The core is idolatry and identity. When acceptance by others, self-determination, or physical pleasure become the central force driving our lives then we have become idolators. Though our idols take on different shapes, the struggles in this space are shared by all. Whether you are identified by your profession, your family, or your gender identity, you are not being identified by your Master. Building fences around or within the church because someone sins in a different way than us cannot be allowed. Making the excuse that we are somehow “protecting our children” by shielding them from people in our community who desperately need a Savior will not show our children who Jesus is. Within the church, we cannot be afraid to “speak the truth in love.” We need not and cannot shy away from sin in the church, but we must recognize that the Spirit works in each of our lives. Often this happens over a period of time. We should be prepared to walk alongside our brothers and sisters in this journey for as long as they need.
There is a significant correlation between this community and their relationship with religious groups, and the “tax collectors and sinners” that Jesus sought out in His ministry and their relationship with the religious leaders of the day. Our heart should reflect His. Jesus responded: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17) If our church was filled with transgender people and gay families that loved Jesus, God would be glorified.”
Thank you in advance for any constructive criticism, notes of encouragement to and or waiting recommendations on these topics that I can pass along.

So I have to preface this by saying, as a 30-something, I realize that shonen is BY DEFINITION not targeting me. That aside...
I feel like his earlier works, specifically his shonen just...don't hold my attention. I've made numerous attempts at reading Astro and it's just...so predictable and corny, I really struggle to focus on it. I had a similar feeling to his other shonen I've read: Treasure Island, Brave Dan, Lemon Kid, and even Princess Knight was a little boring. While his gekiga work often feels intentionally shocking just to illicit a reaction (and can be formulaic in its own right,) there's no question that it holds my attention from start to finish and is memorable.
I'm curious if anyone else has this issue and why you think that may be? Do you think Tezuka's writing just drastically improved as he got older (since much of his notable shonen was early in his career) or is it just the nature of the genres, with gekiga being more gritty and thereby more interesting an adult? Or is it the timing? Astro coming out at a time when Japan was trying to ignore the pains of the real world and needed a hero, so it just doesn't resonate with a modern generation? Or...am I just too damn old for kids' stories???
Of all of his works, I feel like it's a painful disservice to not read all of Astro at some point in my life...but man is it a slog...

A good friend of mine from a fairly conservative evangelical background is considering becoming a pastor at his non-denominational church. As part of the evaluation process, they asked him to write a paper on these topics that he is not an expert on.
He asked for my opinion and I offered to share it online to solicit constructive criticism, notes of encouragement, and or reading recommendations on these topics.
I believe his goal is to be faithful to the scriptures, loving to those outside the church, and challenging to those inside the church, as most of us could do better.
What he wrote is in the quotation marks below.
“1: Scope of the Issue
Sexual immorality has become a besetting and ubiquitous issue in our culture and in our churches. While many aspects of it are not novel or unique to this time and have clear scriptural input, there are others that bring challenges to our church for which we don’t have obvious precedent. The main point of these comments is to try and answer three questions with some degree of specificity: (1) how do we make ourselves a place where people who do not know Christ will feel welcome to come and learn of Him regardless of where they come from, (2) how do we pastorally care for people who have come in to the church with pre-existing circumstances related to sexual immorality, and (3) how do we equip our members to represent Christ to those in their lives that are dealing with these issues. We want to do this in a way that does not “walk a tight rope” or compromise to appease, but honors Scripture in its commands to both show compassion and exhort and correct. We must recognize that every individual circumstance is unique, and many will require careful and prayerful consideration, but this is meant to give a framework for that consideration.
2: Scriptural Basis for Corporate Response
There are many references we can point to that discuss and define sexual immorality throughout Scripture and many of these will be used below as we consider specific examples and situations. Let us start, however, by looking at passages that deal with corporate response rather than individual sin. It is clear that the Corinthian church had significant issues in this area, and much of Paul’s first letter was devoted to it. In chapter 5, Paul states that when sexual immorality is discovered in the church we should “mourn” over it and “not to associate with immoral people.” Importantly, he also makes clear in vv. 9-13 that these comments only apply to those “who bears the name of brother.” He explicitly writes, “not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world…for what have I to do with judging outsiders?” This is key in informing our response to those who are not members of the church. If it is our desire to see sinners come through our doors and come to know our Savior through our ministry, then we must be welcoming, accepting them where they are. This is not to say we hide or compromise the biblical position, but it is not an issue on which we want to filter people at the door. There are three categories of people in sexual sin that we need to form a response for. First, those just coming to the church who have not committed to it – these should be treated the same as any we are reaching out to with Christ’s love. They need Jesus, not behavioral change. Next, those who have recently joined the church but have pre-existing sexual sin patterns. This can and should be addressed with patience, dignity, and love. There are often many sin areas in the life of a new believer, and it is prudent to discern how and when to address each of them. Lastly, those who have been members in the church for some amount of time and fall into sexual sin. This is the group that Paul is primarily addressing in 1 Corinthians. While sex within marriage is a private issue, sexual sin cannot be a taboo topic. It needs to be addressed regularly and clearly. We need close enough relationships within the church that such problems do not fester in the dark. We must avoid the typical church pattern to vilify the first group, never see the second group, and pretend the third group doesn’t exist until it all blows up in scandal. May it never be.
3: Consistency Issue
There is a tendency in our Christian culture to treat some sexual sins as worse than others. Like the Corinthians, some things we seem to have accepted as just ubiquitous parts of our culture. Knowing the prevalence of promiscuity and fornication among teens and single adults and usage of pornography even within the church, we tend to address these as issues of indwelling sin, similar to anger or fear of man, with offers of accountability and understanding when someone falls. By contrast, when it comes to homosexuality or adultery, it is often a church discipline issue. We view homosexual marriage as a major problem, but remarriage after a non-biblical divorce is rarely addressed. These inconsistencies lead to stigmatization and polarization and should have no place in the church. The criterion for escalation should be unrepentance, not the nature of the sexual sin. It is clear from 1 Corinthians that all should be taken seriously, but none should be vilified above others.
4: Culture and Identity
The major underlying problem with many of the sexual sin and gender issues is that they have come to be culturally bound up with people’s identities. This is not a new phenomenon and is not unique to this issue. As far back as Acts 19, you see people becoming “enraged” because Paul had threatened the Ephesians’ cultural identity as worshipers of Artemis. People continue to find their primary identities in their employment, hobbies, sports teams, or families rather than Christ. None of these should be accepted, but none should be reviled either. If a person does not know Jesus, they are dead. How they identify themselves is of no concern. Once they have been made alive, they can be taught that “whose” they are is more important than “who” they are. All identity outside of Christ is not sinful, but if it takes paramount importance, it may become so. A person who recognizes a tendency toward same sex attraction may label themselves as gay or lesbian. This should not be considered a sin issue unless it becomes, for them, their defining characteristic or leads to sinful actions. We should recognize the difficulty of this struggle and support such a person rather than get hung up on labels. There must be clear distinction between identifying same sex attraction and engaging in homosexual behavior. These should be the guiding principles underlying everything that follows are regards individual cases.
5: Public Facing Information, Guests, and New Attendees
Considering what we have discussed, and Paul’s assertion in 1 Corinthians 5 that we ought to reserve judgment on sexual immorality to those we call brother, I would submit that public facing information regarding the church (i.e. website, app, etc) should not publish a position on sexual immorality, marriage, and gender identity. Doing so effectively places the filter at the door so that people who do not know Christ may be turned away from it. This is not tantamount to tacit approval. In appropriate contexts within the church, these topics should still be discussed and addressed, but I do not believe it is consistent with a biblical treatment of unbelievers to place it in a public facing forum. If we have guests or new regular attendees who appear to be engaged in a cohabitating or fornicating relationship, a homosexual relationship, or other sexual sin, this should not be a priority to address unless we have discerned that they are believers and join the church. Even then, it is important to draw a distinction between someone who deals with same-sex attraction and someone who engages in homosexual behavior. The next seven points are meant to discuss, in broad terms, how we should address those who join the church with pre-existing relationships or identity issues:
6: Promiscuity, Cohabitation – Hebrews 13:4, 1 Cor 7:1-2, Ex 22:16
Much of the biblical discussion on promiscuity is by inference. Clearly, sex was meant to be inseparably linked to marriage and outside of that context should be considered immoral. For those who join the church already in a sexual relationship who are unmarried we should apply Exodus 22:16 and encourage them to marry as soon as possible. If they do not wish to marry, they should be encouraged to separate. Paul acknowledges in 1 Cor 7:2 that marriage is the best remedy for “temptation to sexual immorality.”
7: Adultery, Divorce and Remarriage – Matt 5:32, Matt 19:9, 1 Cor 7:10-11
This issue is given much more explicit biblical instruction but is often glossed over in our Christian culture due to the messy landscape of divorces and remarriages. In cases where non-biblical divorce has occurred, if reconciliation is possible, this should be pursued. If reconciliation is impossible because one or more parties have remarried, it would not be sensible to divorce again in order to achieve reconciliation. The principle to apply here, I believe, is from 1 Cor 7:17-24 summarized in verse 20: “Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.” This is not an ideal circumstance, but it is the best way forward in an imperfect world. Of note, polygamy was common in the culture of the early church, and while not ideal, was accepted by the church, as evidenced by the qualifications for elder to be “a husband of but one wife.” We have polygamous cultures even within our local community and if they came to Christ, we should not counsel them to divorce all but one wife and thus disrupt their social structure. It is not ideal and would disqualify them from eldership, but they should remain as they are. Whether marriage after unbiblical divorce in the past disqualifies a man from eldership is a case-by case question for the eldership.
8: Pornography, Sensuality, and Lust – Lev 18:6-18, Matt 5:28
As mentioned above, use of pornography has reached a high saturation point within our culture and within our church. While once thought of as simply a male issue, there is a growing trend toward gender parity in pornography usage. It is an issue that should be discussed with some frequency within our church. For those that join the church and view pornography regularly, it needs to be made clear that while the world has largely destigmatized it, it is still sexual immorality. Furthermore, this isn’t just limited to nudity and pornography, but any sensuality that leads to looking at someone “with lustful intent” is the heart equivalent of adultery according to Matt 5:28. In our culture, it is not possible to avoid such things by just turning away. We need to address the heart issues of idolatry, selfishness, and satisfaction in Christ. Practically, how should we deal with those who have on-going struggles with pornography, sensuality and lust? Should this preclude them from eldership? From deaconship? Taken strictly, this would preclude nearly all men from eldership. These require individual evaluation from the elders, but a guiding principle should be, if the person is repentant and there is evidence of growth in their life, we should consider more responsibility and continued discipleship.
9: Homosexuality – Lev 18:22, Lev 20:13, 1 Cor 6:9, 1 Tim 1:8-11
From the above references and others, it is evident that homosexual behavior is sexual sin. We cannot equivocate on that point. As we have discussed above, if a person who is already a believer and in the church and struggles with same sex attraction, we should approach them as we would handle anyone who is sexually attracted to someone to whom they are not married. If such a person decides that homosexuality is not sinful and begins sexually immoral activity, we should deal with them in the same way as any member who falls into unrepentant sin and go through the processes of correction and, if necessary, of church discipline. It is important that we draw a distinction between same sex attraction and homosexual behavior. We can do tremendous harm by demonizing same sex attraction and creating a taboo around it. A person who is struggling to abstain from homosexual behavior should be supported and encouraged. I believe Paul’s strong statements about not associating with sexually immoral people applies to those who remain unrepentant. Much more nuanced is the issue of how we address those that join the church already in a homosexual relationship. What about the married homosexual couple who join the church with their adopted child? Should we break up their family? I believe, in this case, the same principle should apply as to those who have gone through an unbiblical divorce in the past. We should apply 1 Cor 7:20: “Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.” We can recognize that this is not ideal, but it is the best we can do in a fallen world just as we do with someone who is married after unbiblical divorce. Whether should apply to a homosexual couple in a long term committed relationship who are not legally married would be an individual discussion with the elders. Again, these are nuanced cases that will need individual prayer, discussion, and discernment. I believe a great deal more patience is called for when a new believer joins the church that has a history or present reality of homosexuality, even if they are unrepentant at first, believing that homosexuality is not sinful, than we would demonstrate to a person who has been in the church for a period of time and then decides to pursue a homosexual relationship.
10: Bisexuality – Heb 13:4
Bisexual attraction is no more or less of an issue than anyone who finds that they are sexually attracted to someone other than their spouse. This is not a rare or unique circumstance, even within the church. Someone who is practicing bisexuality is, by definition, not confining sex to the marriage bed, and this, therefore, qualifies as sexual immorality. The issue, here again, is one of identity and cultural acceptance. If a person “identifies as bisexual,” the real issue is not the bisexuality, but the fact that they identify themselves primarily by their sexual desires, and not by Christ. It would be equally a problem if they “identified as heterosexual” and that was seen as their defining characteristic. If such a person were to join the church, our priority should be in helping them see their identity in Christ rather than focusing on renouncing their sexual preference.
11: Transgenderism/Non-binarism – Psalm 139: 13-15
It should be noted that the next two points should not be considered in the category of sexual immorality, but as they are connected to the same cultural moment will be discussed here. It should further be remarked that transgenderism is a modern issue with no direct reference in Scripture. It is a challenging issue that often falls prey to oversimplification and scapegoating. It is not sufficient to simply state that a person should identify with their born gender. There are those born with ambiguous genitalia and those born with sex chromosome abnormalities such that “born gender” is not necessarily accurate. These occur with a frequency of 1 in 448 births on average which is not particularly rare. The majority of people who consider themselves to be transgender do not fall into these categories, but the fact remains that these categories exist. Unless we plan to embark on genetic testing, we must be careful how we assert someone’s gender assignment. Furthermore, we must acknowledge that much of the gender confusion in our culture is due to a distortion of biblically accurate masculinity and femininity in our culture of which the church has been widely supportive for generations. Many transgender and non-binary individuals consider themselves so because they do not fit into the traditional boxes our culture has created for the genders. The church can start by recognizing that these boxes are incorrect. We can also acknowledge that gender differences and roles are far less important than most human cultures perceive. Christ himself challenged many gender norms in his ministry and Paul maintains “…there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28b) It is much more difficult to recognize this issue as a sin issue than many of the above concerns. If someone wishes to be addressed by different pronouns than they once did or dress differently than they once did, this does not amount to immorality. Once again, this can be an idolatrous identity issue if the person sees it as the central characteristic of their lives. There is often an inherent pride in asserting that such a person does not feel they fit in the body created for them, but if they come to love Jesus and understand and believe that they are “fearfully and wonderfully made” then this issue may become moot. Whether or not they revert to dressing differently or using pronouns they did when they were younger is largely immaterial. This also addresses the issue of people who may have undergone permanent physical changes. While we should not endorse such modification if it is being considered, there is no reason to reverse such a thing in order to return to a base state. We must recognize that this is a group that has a high propensity toward mental health concerns, instability, and suicidality. They need love, support and prayer, not scapegoating and extra-biblical expectations of conforming to a cultural norm. We must further note that this group as well as the homosexual group have often experienced psychological and even physical harm from others in our culture, sometimes in the name of Christ. We must foster an environment of champions physical and psychological safety for these people.
12: Asexuality – 1 Cor 7:25-38
Asexuality also should not be considered sexual immorality. There is, in fact, wide support in Paul’s letters such as in 1 Cor 7 for people, if they are able, to remain unmarried and be “anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.” We tend to champion the model of the nuclear family in our Christian culture, but Paul sees chaste singleness as a better way. There should be no pressure from the church to make sure that single people pair off and get married because it is expected of them. As this state has been culturally identified with the LGBTQIA movement, it is seen on the same spectrum as the sexual immorality and gender issues discussed above, but it is not. It can still fall prey to the same issue of an idolatrous identity as some of the above issues, but it need not be so.
13: Glass Ceiling
In the event that God sees fit to bring people from these subgroups into our church, there would inevitably be a glass ceiling. The question is at what point. The four logical points are: regular attender, member, deacon, and elder. Regardless of their background or position, all should be welcome to be a regular attender. It is also clear, from the biblical requirements for eldership, that on-going problems or engagement in any of the sexual sins would disqualify them from that post. The middle two are less clear. I would submit that the bar for membership should be very low. This step, in my opinion, is when they would “bear the name of brother” and not before. Even if they disagree about the sinful nature of homosexuality, this should not disallow them from becoming members as long as they agree to submit to the churches position and not cause division. Allowing them to become members gives us the pastoral authority to speak into their lives, and we would hope that over time the Spirit would work in their hearts to convince them of the truth. Putting such a person in a deacon role would probably not be wise but would need to be evaluated prayerfully on a case-by-case basis. The difficulty here is that, while a position on homosexuality is not a salvific issue and should not be considered a core doctrine in the same way as the deity of Christ, for example, it is a sin issue. There is a limit to how far we can “agree to disagree” and still uphold our duty to root out sin in our midst. Once again, we should also distinguish between a struggle with same sex attraction and engagement in homosexual behavior when we consider our response. There is also a glass ceiling when it comes to marriage. While I believe we should not break up existing homosexual marriages, we should not participate in creating them. The marriage covenant between a man and woman was created, in part, to reflect the relationship between Christ and the church (Eph 5). This should not be co-opted to excuse or normalize immorality.
14: Nuance and Edge Cases
The above outline is by no means meant to be exhaustive or definitive. It is meant to provide a lens, supported by scripture, through which we can view these issues and consider corporate and pastoral responses. It should inform how we view the people that walk through the door from a wide range of backgrounds and how we equip those in our church to be Christ’s ambassadors to those in our community. Every person and circumstance, history and baggage will be different, and any non-nuanced position would be inherently evil. I pray we have many opportunities to talk, think and pray through specific situations that God would bless us with the chance to be a part of. What an honor it would be to be used to reach into broken lives like these with the Gospel of Grace.
15: Action Steps
As we consider practical and philosophical ways of responding to the above, I believe we should start from a position of corporate repentance. If we wish to truly reach out and touch the lives of broken people in need of a Savior who live a life of same sex attraction or gender dysphoria, we need to begin by recognizing that a great deal of harm, emotional and physical, has been inflicted on this group by the Church for generations. There are homeless people living in our area who were kicked out of their homes by parents holding a Bible. There are those who have been subjected to horrific methods that amount to torture under the guise of “Conversion Therapy” from Christian organizations. The only “conversion” we should concern ourselves with is to a regenerate heart. Attempting to change someone’s sexual attraction is very much beside the point. We cannot hope to be a place where such people can hear about Jesus unless they feel safe to enter our doors. We must also fight the tendency to consider sin in this area as something worse than others, even in non-Christians. James 2 says “…For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it….So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” As we consider corporate and pastoral responses to the argument above, we must start by removing our own planks and repenting for the historical actions of the Church.
Practical steps that we could consider taking would include: removing the statements from the website about marriage and sexuality, especially directly under our Core Beliefs. Again, this is not meant to hide or equivocate on the truth, but not to set such a barrier before someone even walks through our door. Secondly, we should consider how to address these topics within the church. A Sunday morning sermon is not ideal as it is time limited and a unidirectional conversation. A small group course format would be a consideration. We need to equip parents and family members of adolescents, teens, and adults with language to talk about these things in loving, humble, God-honoring ways. In the longer term, we need to consider how we can make our church a place where people would feel comfortable inviting friends and family who look, think and act differently than we do. We need to find a way of projecting safety and inclusion even in our public facing information. This isn’t a balancing act where we must make it clear early and often that we “love the sinner but hate the sin” as the saying goes. We just need to love the sinner. Dealing with the sin can come later God-willing. A third application point is to be mindful of what we say and what we allow to be said without being checked. Certainly, joking at the expense of those who are dealing with these issues is unacceptable, but we also need to work to avoid getting dragged in to pseudo-political discussions on bathroom issues, sports issues or other divisive concerns that have no bearing on the church.
I recognize that these proposals have the potential to divide the church. There are some who may leave the body over these sorts of changes. I would argue that it is our responsibility to them as well as to the unreached in our community to have those discussions and risk some of them leaving over it. These are not all things we should change overnight but after ample opportunities for discussions and prayer.
16: Conclusion – Mark 2:15-17
At its core, these are not issues of who someone loves, sexual attraction, or even specific sex acts. The core is idolatry and identity. When acceptance by others, self-determination, or physical pleasure become the central force driving our lives then we have become idolators. Though our idols take on different shapes, the struggles in this space are shared by all. Whether you are identified by your profession, your family, or your gender identity, you are not being identified by your Master. Building fences around or within the church because someone sins in a different way than us cannot be allowed. Making the excuse that we are somehow “protecting our children” by shielding them from people in our community who desperately need a Savior will not show our children who Jesus is. Within the church, we cannot be afraid to “speak the truth in love.” We need not and cannot shy away from sin in the church, but we must recognize that the Spirit works in each of our lives. Often this happens over a period of time. We should be prepared to walk alongside our brothers and sisters in this journey for as long as they need.
There is a significant correlation between this community and their relationship with religious groups, and the “tax collectors and sinners” that Jesus sought out in His ministry and their relationship with the religious leaders of the day. Our heart should reflect His. Jesus responded: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17) If our church was filled with transgender people and gay families that loved Jesus, God would be glorified.”
Thank you in advance for any constructive criticism, notes of encouragement to and or waiting recommendations on these topics that I can pass along.

When I make a grass particle hair, and change it to 'Make instances real', I can get so many 'meshes' in my outliners suddenly.
But is there any way we can affect the moving the whole meshes-'Make instances real', by the wind/turbulence in blender?
What my point is, I need to 'bake' the grass's moving. Because my blender scene is very heavy now. But we can't directly 'bake' the grass particle hair technically.
So I was thinking to convert the grass particles to mesh, and then mesh is being moved by the wind. But after I change the grass particles hair to 'Make instances real', I'm lost. I generated wind/Turbulence, the mesh('Make instances real') doesn't get physically moved.
Does anyone know how to affect moving the 'Make instances real' for physical moving?

A good friend of mine from a fairly conservative evangelical background is considering becoming a pastor at his non-denominational church. As part of the evaluation process, they asked him to write a paper on these topics that he is not an expert on.
He asked for my opinion and I offered to share it online to solicit constructive criticism, notes of encouragement, and or reading recommendations on these topics.
I believe his goal is to be faithful to the scriptures, loving to those outside the church, and challenging to those inside the church, as most of us could do better.
What he wrote is in the quotation marks below.
“1: Scope of the Issue
Sexual immorality has become a besetting and ubiquitous issue in our culture and in our churches. While many aspects of it are not novel or unique to this time and have clear scriptural input, there are others that bring challenges to our church for which we don’t have obvious precedent. The main point of these comments is to try and answer three questions with some degree of specificity: (1) how do we make ourselves a place where people who do not know Christ will feel welcome to come and learn of Him regardless of where they come from, (2) how do we pastorally care for people who have come in to the church with pre-existing circumstances related to sexual immorality, and (3) how do we equip our members to represent Christ to those in their lives that are dealing with these issues. We want to do this in a way that does not “walk a tight rope” or compromise to appease, but honors Scripture in its commands to both show compassion and exhort and correct. We must recognize that every individual circumstance is unique, and many will require careful and prayerful consideration, but this is meant to give a framework for that consideration.
2: Scriptural Basis for Corporate Response
There are many references we can point to that discuss and define sexual immorality throughout Scripture and many of these will be used below as we consider specific examples and situations. Let us start, however, by looking at passages that deal with corporate response rather than individual sin. It is clear that the Corinthian church had significant issues in this area, and much of Paul’s first letter was devoted to it. In chapter 5, Paul states that when sexual immorality is discovered in the church we should “mourn” over it and “not to associate with immoral people.” Importantly, he also makes clear in vv. 9-13 that these comments only apply to those “who bears the name of brother.” He explicitly writes, “not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world…for what have I to do with judging outsiders?” This is key in informing our response to those who are not members of the church. If it is our desire to see sinners come through our doors and come to know our Savior through our ministry, then we must be welcoming, accepting them where they are. This is not to say we hide or compromise the biblical position, but it is not an issue on which we want to filter people at the door. There are three categories of people in sexual sin that we need to form a response for. First, those just coming to the church who have not committed to it – these should be treated the same as any we are reaching out to with Christ’s love. They need Jesus, not behavioral change. Next, those who have recently joined the church but have pre-existing sexual sin patterns. This can and should be addressed with patience, dignity, and love. There are often many sin areas in the life of a new believer, and it is prudent to discern how and when to address each of them. Lastly, those who have been members in the church for some amount of time and fall into sexual sin. This is the group that Paul is primarily addressing in 1 Corinthians. While sex within marriage is a private issue, sexual sin cannot be a taboo topic. It needs to be addressed regularly and clearly. We need close enough relationships within the church that such problems do not fester in the dark. We must avoid the typical church pattern to vilify the first group, never see the second group, and pretend the third group doesn’t exist until it all blows up in scandal. May it never be.
3: Consistency Issue
There is a tendency in our Christian culture to treat some sexual sins as worse than others. Like the Corinthians, some things we seem to have accepted as just ubiquitous parts of our culture. Knowing the prevalence of promiscuity and fornication among teens and single adults and usage of pornography even within the church, we tend to address these as issues of indwelling sin, similar to anger or fear of man, with offers of accountability and understanding when someone falls. By contrast, when it comes to homosexuality or adultery, it is often a church discipline issue. We view homosexual marriage as a major problem, but remarriage after a non-biblical divorce is rarely addressed. These inconsistencies lead to stigmatization and polarization and should have no place in the church. The criterion for escalation should be unrepentance, not the nature of the sexual sin. It is clear from 1 Corinthians that all should be taken seriously, but none should be vilified above others.
4: Culture and Identity
The major underlying problem with many of the sexual sin and gender issues is that they have come to be culturally bound up with people’s identities. This is not a new phenomenon and is not unique to this issue. As far back as Acts 19, you see people becoming “enraged” because Paul had threatened the Ephesians’ cultural identity as worshipers of Artemis. People continue to find their primary identities in their employment, hobbies, sports teams, or families rather than Christ. None of these should be accepted, but none should be reviled either. If a person does not know Jesus, they are dead. How they identify themselves is of no concern. Once they have been made alive, they can be taught that “whose” they are is more important than “who” they are. All identity outside of Christ is not sinful, but if it takes paramount importance, it may become so. A person who recognizes a tendency toward same sex attraction may label themselves as gay or lesbian. This should not be considered a sin issue unless it becomes, for them, their defining characteristic or leads to sinful actions. We should recognize the difficulty of this struggle and support such a person rather than get hung up on labels. There must be clear distinction between identifying same sex attraction and engaging in homosexual behavior. These should be the guiding principles underlying everything that follows are regards individual cases.
5: Public Facing Information, Guests, and New Attendees
Considering what we have discussed, and Paul’s assertion in 1 Corinthians 5 that we ought to reserve judgment on sexual immorality to those we call brother, I would submit that public facing information regarding the church (i.e. website, app, etc) should not publish a position on sexual immorality, marriage, and gender identity. Doing so effectively places the filter at the door so that people who do not know Christ may be turned away from it. This is not tantamount to tacit approval. In appropriate contexts within the church, these topics should still be discussed and addressed, but I do not believe it is consistent with a biblical treatment of unbelievers to place it in a public facing forum. If we have guests or new regular attendees who appear to be engaged in a cohabitating or fornicating relationship, a homosexual relationship, or other sexual sin, this should not be a priority to address unless we have discerned that they are believers and join the church. Even then, it is important to draw a distinction between someone who deals with same-sex attraction and someone who engages in homosexual behavior. The next seven points are meant to discuss, in broad terms, how we should address those who join the church with pre-existing relationships or identity issues:
6: Promiscuity, Cohabitation – Hebrews 13:4, 1 Cor 7:1-2, Ex 22:16
Much of the biblical discussion on promiscuity is by inference. Clearly, sex was meant to be inseparably linked to marriage and outside of that context should be considered immoral. For those who join the church already in a sexual relationship who are unmarried we should apply Exodus 22:16 and encourage them to marry as soon as possible. If they do not wish to marry, they should be encouraged to separate. Paul acknowledges in 1 Cor 7:2 that marriage is the best remedy for “temptation to sexual immorality.”
7: Adultery, Divorce and Remarriage – Matt 5:32, Matt 19:9, 1 Cor 7:10-11
This issue is given much more explicit biblical instruction but is often glossed over in our Christian culture due to the messy landscape of divorces and remarriages. In cases where non-biblical divorce has occurred, if reconciliation is possible, this should be pursued. If reconciliation is impossible because one or more parties have remarried, it would not be sensible to divorce again in order to achieve reconciliation. The principle to apply here, I believe, is from 1 Cor 7:17-24 summarized in verse 20: “Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.” This is not an ideal circumstance, but it is the best way forward in an imperfect world. Of note, polygamy was common in the culture of the early church, and while not ideal, was accepted by the church, as evidenced by the qualifications for elder to be “a husband of but one wife.” We have polygamous cultures even within our local community and if they came to Christ, we should not counsel them to divorce all but one wife and thus disrupt their social structure. It is not ideal and would disqualify them from eldership, but they should remain as they are. Whether marriage after unbiblical divorce in the past disqualifies a man from eldership is a case-by case question for the eldership.
8: Pornography, Sensuality, and Lust – Lev 18:6-18, Matt 5:28
As mentioned above, use of pornography has reached a high saturation point within our culture and within our church. While once thought of as simply a male issue, there is a growing trend toward gender parity in pornography usage. It is an issue that should be discussed with some frequency within our church. For those that join the church and view pornography regularly, it needs to be made clear that while the world has largely destigmatized it, it is still sexual immorality. Furthermore, this isn’t just limited to nudity and pornography, but any sensuality that leads to looking at someone “with lustful intent” is the heart equivalent of adultery according to Matt 5:28. In our culture, it is not possible to avoid such things by just turning away. We need to address the heart issues of idolatry, selfishness, and satisfaction in Christ. Practically, how should we deal with those who have on-going struggles with pornography, sensuality and lust? Should this preclude them from eldership? From deaconship? Taken strictly, this would preclude nearly all men from eldership. These require individual evaluation from the elders, but a guiding principle should be, if the person is repentant and there is evidence of growth in their life, we should consider more responsibility and continued discipleship.
9: Homosexuality – Lev 18:22, Lev 20:13, 1 Cor 6:9, 1 Tim 1:8-11
From the above references and others, it is evident that homosexual behavior is sexual sin. We cannot equivocate on that point. As we have discussed above, if a person who is already a believer and in the church and struggles with same sex attraction, we should approach them as we would handle anyone who is sexually attracted to someone to whom they are not married. If such a person decides that homosexuality is not sinful and begins sexually immoral activity, we should deal with them in the same way as any member who falls into unrepentant sin and go through the processes of correction and, if necessary, of church discipline. It is important that we draw a distinction between same sex attraction and homosexual behavior. We can do tremendous harm by demonizing same sex attraction and creating a taboo around it. A person who is struggling to abstain from homosexual behavior should be supported and encouraged. I believe Paul’s strong statements about not associating with sexually immoral people applies to those who remain unrepentant. Much more nuanced is the issue of how we address those that join the church already in a homosexual relationship. What about the married homosexual couple who join the church with their adopted child? Should we break up their family? I believe, in this case, the same principle should apply as to those who have gone through an unbiblical divorce in the past. We should apply 1 Cor 7:20: “Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.” We can recognize that this is not ideal, but it is the best we can do in a fallen world just as we do with someone who is married after unbiblical divorce. Whether should apply to a homosexual couple in a long term committed relationship who are not legally married would be an individual discussion with the elders. Again, these are nuanced cases that will need individual prayer, discussion, and discernment. I believe a great deal more patience is called for when a new believer joins the church that has a history or present reality of homosexuality, even if they are unrepentant at first, believing that homosexuality is not sinful, than we would demonstrate to a person who has been in the church for a period of time and then decides to pursue a homosexual relationship.
10: Bisexuality – Heb 13:4
Bisexual attraction is no more or less of an issue than anyone who finds that they are sexually attracted to someone other than their spouse. This is not a rare or unique circumstance, even within the church. Someone who is practicing bisexuality is, by definition, not confining sex to the marriage bed, and this, therefore, qualifies as sexual immorality. The issue, here again, is one of identity and cultural acceptance. If a person “identifies as bisexual,” the real issue is not the bisexuality, but the fact that they identify themselves primarily by their sexual desires, and not by Christ. It would be equally a problem if they “identified as heterosexual” and that was seen as their defining characteristic. If such a person were to join the church, our priority should be in helping them see their identity in Christ rather than focusing on renouncing their sexual preference.
11: Transgenderism/Non-binarism – Psalm 139: 13-15
It should be noted that the next two points should not be considered in the category of sexual immorality, but as they are connected to the same cultural moment will be discussed here. It should further be remarked that transgenderism is a modern issue with no direct reference in Scripture. It is a challenging issue that often falls prey to oversimplification and scapegoating. It is not sufficient to simply state that a person should identify with their born gender. There are those born with ambiguous genitalia and those born with sex chromosome abnormalities such that “born gender” is not necessarily accurate. These occur with a frequency of 1 in 448 births on average which is not particularly rare. The majority of people who consider themselves to be transgender do not fall into these categories, but the fact remains that these categories exist. Unless we plan to embark on genetic testing, we must be careful how we assert someone’s gender assignment. Furthermore, we must acknowledge that much of the gender confusion in our culture is due to a distortion of biblically accurate masculinity and femininity in our culture of which the church has been widely supportive for generations. Many transgender and non-binary individuals consider themselves so because they do not fit into the traditional boxes our culture has created for the genders. The church can start by recognizing that these boxes are incorrect. We can also acknowledge that gender differences and roles are far less important than most human cultures perceive. Christ himself challenged many gender norms in his ministry and Paul maintains “…there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28b) It is much more difficult to recognize this issue as a sin issue than many of the above concerns. If someone wishes to be addressed by different pronouns than they once did or dress differently than they once did, this does not amount to immorality. Once again, this can be an idolatrous identity issue if the person sees it as the central characteristic of their lives. There is often an inherent pride in asserting that such a person does not feel they fit in the body created for them, but if they come to love Jesus and understand and believe that they are “fearfully and wonderfully made” then this issue may become moot. Whether or not they revert to dressing differently or using pronouns they did when they were younger is largely immaterial. This also addresses the issue of people who may have undergone permanent physical changes. While we should not endorse such modification if it is being considered, there is no reason to reverse such a thing in order to return to a base state. We must recognize that this is a group that has a high propensity toward mental health concerns, instability, and suicidality. They need love, support and prayer, not scapegoating and extra-biblical expectations of conforming to a cultural norm. We must further note that this group as well as the homosexual group have often experienced psychological and even physical harm from others in our culture, sometimes in the name of Christ. We must foster an environment of champions physical and psychological safety for these people.
12: Asexuality – 1 Cor 7:25-38
Asexuality also should not be considered sexual immorality. There is, in fact, wide support in Paul’s letters such as in 1 Cor 7 for people, if they are able, to remain unmarried and be “anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.” We tend to champion the model of the nuclear family in our Christian culture, but Paul sees chaste singleness as a better way. There should be no pressure from the church to make sure that single people pair off and get married because it is expected of them. As this state has been culturally identified with the LGBTQIA movement, it is seen on the same spectrum as the sexual immorality and gender issues discussed above, but it is not. It can still fall prey to the same issue of an idolatrous identity as some of the above issues, but it need not be so.
13: Glass Ceiling
In the event that God sees fit to bring people from these subgroups into our church, there would inevitably be a glass ceiling. The question is at what point. The four logical points are: regular attender, member, deacon, and elder. Regardless of their background or position, all should be welcome to be a regular attender. It is also clear, from the biblical requirements for eldership, that on-going problems or engagement in any of the sexual sins would disqualify them from that post. The middle two are less clear. I would submit that the bar for membership should be very low. This step, in my opinion, is when they would “bear the name of brother” and not before. Even if they disagree about the sinful nature of homosexuality, this should not disallow them from becoming members as long as they agree to submit to the churches position and not cause division. Allowing them to become members gives us the pastoral authority to speak into their lives, and we would hope that over time the Spirit would work in their hearts to convince them of the truth. Putting such a person in a deacon role would probably not be wise but would need to be evaluated prayerfully on a case-by-case basis. The difficulty here is that, while a position on homosexuality is not a salvific issue and should not be considered a core doctrine in the same way as the deity of Christ, for example, it is a sin issue. There is a limit to how far we can “agree to disagree” and still uphold our duty to root out sin in our midst. Once again, we should also distinguish between a struggle with same sex attraction and engagement in homosexual behavior when we consider our response. There is also a glass ceiling when it comes to marriage. While I believe we should not break up existing homosexual marriages, we should not participate in creating them. The marriage covenant between a man and woman was created, in part, to reflect the relationship between Christ and the church (Eph 5). This should not be co-opted to excuse or normalize immorality.
14: Nuance and Edge Cases
The above outline is by no means meant to be exhaustive or definitive. It is meant to provide a lens, supported by scripture, through which we can view these issues and consider corporate and pastoral responses. It should inform how we view the people that walk through the door from a wide range of backgrounds and how we equip those in our church to be Christ’s ambassadors to those in our community. Every person and circumstance, history and baggage will be different, and any non-nuanced position would be inherently evil. I pray we have many opportunities to talk, think and pray through specific situations that God would bless us with the chance to be a part of. What an honor it would be to be used to reach into broken lives like these with the Gospel of Grace.
15: Action Steps
As we consider practical and philosophical ways of responding to the above, I believe we should start from a position of corporate repentance. If we wish to truly reach out and touch the lives of broken people in need of a Savior who live a life of same sex attraction or gender dysphoria, we need to begin by recognizing that a great deal of harm, emotional and physical, has been inflicted on this group by the Church for generations. There are homeless people living in our area who were kicked out of their homes by parents holding a Bible. There are those who have been subjected to horrific methods that amount to torture under the guise of “Conversion Therapy” from Christian organizations. The only “conversion” we should concern ourselves with is to a regenerate heart. Attempting to change someone’s sexual attraction is very much beside the point. We cannot hope to be a place where such people can hear about Jesus unless they feel safe to enter our doors. We must also fight the tendency to consider sin in this area as something worse than others, even in non-Christians. James 2 says “…For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it….So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” As we consider corporate and pastoral responses to the argument above, we must start by removing our own planks and repenting for the historical actions of the Church.
Practical steps that we could consider taking would include: removing the statements from the website about marriage and sexuality, especially directly under our Core Beliefs. Again, this is not meant to hide or equivocate on the truth, but not to set such a barrier before someone even walks through our door. Secondly, we should consider how to address these topics within the church. A Sunday morning sermon is not ideal as it is time limited and a unidirectional conversation. A small group course format would be a consideration. We need to equip parents and family members of adolescents, teens, and adults with language to talk about these things in loving, humble, God-honoring ways. In the longer term, we need to consider how we can make our church a place where people would feel comfortable inviting friends and family who look, think and act differently than we do. We need to find a way of projecting safety and inclusion even in our public facing information. This isn’t a balancing act where we must make it clear early and often that we “love the sinner but hate the sin” as the saying goes. We just need to love the sinner. Dealing with the sin can come later God-willing. A third application point is to be mindful of what we say and what we allow to be said without being checked. Certainly, joking at the expense of those who are dealing with these issues is unacceptable, but we also need to work to avoid getting dragged in to pseudo-political discussions on bathroom issues, sports issues or other divisive concerns that have no bearing on the church.
I recognize that these proposals have the potential to divide the church. There are some who may leave the body over these sorts of changes. I would argue that it is our responsibility to them as well as to the unreached in our community to have those discussions and risk some of them leaving over it. These are not all things we should change overnight but after ample opportunities for discussions and prayer.
16: Conclusion – Mark 2:15-17
At its core, these are not issues of who someone loves, sexual attraction, or even specific sex acts. The core is idolatry and identity. When acceptance by others, self-determination, or physical pleasure become the central force driving our lives then we have become idolators. Though our idols take on different shapes, the struggles in this space are shared by all. Whether you are identified by your profession, your family, or your gender identity, you are not being identified by your Master. Building fences around or within the church because someone sins in a different way than us cannot be allowed. Making the excuse that we are somehow “protecting our children” by shielding them from people in our community who desperately need a Savior will not show our children who Jesus is. Within the church, we cannot be afraid to “speak the truth in love.” We need not and cannot shy away from sin in the church, but we must recognize that the Spirit works in each of our lives. Often this happens over a period of time. We should be prepared to walk alongside our brothers and sisters in this journey for as long as they need.
There is a significant correlation between this community and their relationship with religious groups, and the “tax collectors and sinners” that Jesus sought out in His ministry and their relationship with the religious leaders of the day. Our heart should reflect His. Jesus responded: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17) If our church was filled with transgender people and gay families that loved Jesus, God would be glorified.”
Thank you in advance for any constructive criticism, notes of encouragement to and or waiting recommendations on these topics that I can pass along.

So I’m not new to pc because growing up that’s all my family ran but as of 4 years ago I switched to a MacBook Pro and I like the system (I know this is a pc thread but I love the ease of syncing all of the stuff on my iPhone to my Mac) I digress.
Anyway I wanted a desktop pc because A I don’t want to necessarily move away from console gaming I wanted to expand to steam games and pc specific games (I didn’t buy Mac because I didn’t want to spend 6k on a desktop computer that’ll run steam like shit)
Point B is I’m currently in school and I want to try and get a remote job so I would need something with good processing power.
When I was a kid I always found a way to fuck up my computer by playing flash games through really sketchy websites and clicking on those adds that say something along the lines of “click here to see the list of the 30 most awkward celebrity photos”
But as an adult that now knows better. In the modern day of pc’s how can I best protect myself and prevent my pc from slowing down. Is defender good enough for casual steam gaming.
Down to the questions. is defender good enough for normal use or should I re up the 30 day free trial of Norton that was pre installed on my computer?
I know steam is generally safe to download from but what do I need to watch out for
And finally how do i properly go about upgrading my pc to prevent slowdowns and get optimal performance or is it cheaper just to buy a new pc
thanks for your help I’m really new to this
this is what I am running currently
Cyberpower pc with AMD ryzen 7 5700 16 GB ram (2 8GB sticks) NVIDIA ge force RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB 2TB SSD Cost $1,175 USD

So this will be my first proper pc, I'm planning this for school (programming) and some gaming on the side, I'm on a bit of a budget so most parts are 2nd hand (that's the reason for the 3900X to be there is that it's around the price of a new i5 12600KF or an 7 5700 which I now realised that I might sound dumb for not picking either of them), I live in Czechia so the part availability is hit and miss (for example i can't find a 6600xt anywhere), my main goal is to do it cheaper (at max $650, because i currently got saved up like $570), also considering if getting a laptop instead would be better, but i can't find anything good for this price
Here's the PCPartPicker list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/mJpmTY

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor	$176.00
CPU Cooler	ENDORFY Fortis 5 Dual Fan CPU Cooler	$52.00
Motherboard	MSI X470 GAMING PLUS MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard	$83.00
Memory	Kingston FURY Beast 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$70.00
Storage	Lexar NM620 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$66.00
Video Card	Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card	$175.00
Case	ENDORFY ARX 500 Air ATX Mid Tower Case	$50.00
Power Supply	Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$109.00
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$781.00
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-05-21 12:03 EDT-0400

Well the entire point of this post is to get a better parts list, thanks beforehand!

A good friend of mine from a fairly conservative evangelical background is considering becoming a pastor at his non-denominational church. As part of the evaluation process, they asked him to write a paper on these topics that he is not an expert on.
He asked for my opinion and I offered to share it online to solicit constructive criticism, notes of encouragement, and or reading recommendations on these topics.
I believe his goal is to be faithful to the scriptures, loving to those outside the church, and challenging to those inside the church, as most of us could do better.
What he wrote is in the quotation marks below.
“1: Scope of the Issue
Sexual immorality has become a besetting and ubiquitous issue in our culture and in our churches. While many aspects of it are not novel or unique to this time and have clear scriptural input, there are others that bring challenges to our church for which we don’t have obvious precedent. The main point of these comments is to try and answer three questions with some degree of specificity: (1) how do we make ourselves a place where people who do not know Christ will feel welcome to come and learn of Him regardless of where they come from, (2) how do we pastorally care for people who have come in to the church with pre-existing circumstances related to sexual immorality, and (3) how do we equip our members to represent Christ to those in their lives that are dealing with these issues. We want to do this in a way that does not “walk a tight rope” or compromise to appease, but honors Scripture in its commands to both show compassion and exhort and correct. We must recognize that every individual circumstance is unique, and many will require careful and prayerful consideration, but this is meant to give a framework for that consideration.
2: Scriptural Basis for Corporate Response
There are many references we can point to that discuss and define sexual immorality throughout Scripture and many of these will be used below as we consider specific examples and situations. Let us start, however, by looking at passages that deal with corporate response rather than individual sin. It is clear that the Corinthian church had significant issues in this area, and much of Paul’s first letter was devoted to it. In chapter 5, Paul states that when sexual immorality is discovered in the church we should “mourn” over it and “not to associate with immoral people.” Importantly, he also makes clear in vv. 9-13 that these comments only apply to those “who bears the name of brother.” He explicitly writes, “not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world…for what have I to do with judging outsiders?” This is key in informing our response to those who are not members of the church. If it is our desire to see sinners come through our doors and come to know our Savior through our ministry, then we must be welcoming, accepting them where they are. This is not to say we hide or compromise the biblical position, but it is not an issue on which we want to filter people at the door. There are three categories of people in sexual sin that we need to form a response for. First, those just coming to the church who have not committed to it – these should be treated the same as any we are reaching out to with Christ’s love. They need Jesus, not behavioral change. Next, those who have recently joined the church but have pre-existing sexual sin patterns. This can and should be addressed with patience, dignity, and love. There are often many sin areas in the life of a new believer, and it is prudent to discern how and when to address each of them. Lastly, those who have been members in the church for some amount of time and fall into sexual sin. This is the group that Paul is primarily addressing in 1 Corinthians. While sex within marriage is a private issue, sexual sin cannot be a taboo topic. It needs to be addressed regularly and clearly. We need close enough relationships within the church that such problems do not fester in the dark. We must avoid the typical church pattern to vilify the first group, never see the second group, and pretend the third group doesn’t exist until it all blows up in scandal. May it never be.
3: Consistency Issue
There is a tendency in our Christian culture to treat some sexual sins as worse than others. Like the Corinthians, some things we seem to have accepted as just ubiquitous parts of our culture. Knowing the prevalence of promiscuity and fornication among teens and single adults and usage of pornography even within the church, we tend to address these as issues of indwelling sin, similar to anger or fear of man, with offers of accountability and understanding when someone falls. By contrast, when it comes to homosexuality or adultery, it is often a church discipline issue. We view homosexual marriage as a major problem, but remarriage after a non-biblical divorce is rarely addressed. These inconsistencies lead to stigmatization and polarization and should have no place in the church. The criterion for escalation should be unrepentance, not the nature of the sexual sin. It is clear from 1 Corinthians that all should be taken seriously, but none should be vilified above others.
4: Culture and Identity
The major underlying problem with many of the sexual sin and gender issues is that they have come to be culturally bound up with people’s identities. This is not a new phenomenon and is not unique to this issue. As far back as Acts 19, you see people becoming “enraged” because Paul had threatened the Ephesians’ cultural identity as worshipers of Artemis. People continue to find their primary identities in their employment, hobbies, sports teams, or families rather than Christ. None of these should be accepted, but none should be reviled either. If a person does not know Jesus, they are dead. How they identify themselves is of no concern. Once they have been made alive, they can be taught that “whose” they are is more important than “who” they are. All identity outside of Christ is not sinful, but if it takes paramount importance, it may become so. A person who recognizes a tendency toward same sex attraction may label themselves as gay or lesbian. This should not be considered a sin issue unless it becomes, for them, their defining characteristic or leads to sinful actions. We should recognize the difficulty of this struggle and support such a person rather than get hung up on labels. There must be clear distinction between identifying same sex attraction and engaging in homosexual behavior. These should be the guiding principles underlying everything that follows are regards individual cases.
5: Public Facing Information, Guests, and New Attendees
Considering what we have discussed, and Paul’s assertion in 1 Corinthians 5 that we ought to reserve judgment on sexual immorality to those we call brother, I would submit that public facing information regarding the church (i.e. website, app, etc) should not publish a position on sexual immorality, marriage, and gender identity. Doing so effectively places the filter at the door so that people who do not know Christ may be turned away from it. This is not tantamount to tacit approval. In appropriate contexts within the church, these topics should still be discussed and addressed, but I do not believe it is consistent with a biblical treatment of unbelievers to place it in a public facing forum. If we have guests or new regular attendees who appear to be engaged in a cohabitating or fornicating relationship, a homosexual relationship, or other sexual sin, this should not be a priority to address unless we have discerned that they are believers and join the church. Even then, it is important to draw a distinction between someone who deals with same-sex attraction and someone who engages in homosexual behavior. The next seven points are meant to discuss, in broad terms, how we should address those who join the church with pre-existing relationships or identity issues:
6: Promiscuity, Cohabitation – Hebrews 13:4, 1 Cor 7:1-2, Ex 22:16
Much of the biblical discussion on promiscuity is by inference. Clearly, sex was meant to be inseparably linked to marriage and outside of that context should be considered immoral. For those who join the church already in a sexual relationship who are unmarried we should apply Exodus 22:16 and encourage them to marry as soon as possible. If they do not wish to marry, they should be encouraged to separate. Paul acknowledges in 1 Cor 7:2 that marriage is the best remedy for “temptation to sexual immorality.”
7: Adultery, Divorce and Remarriage – Matt 5:32, Matt 19:9, 1 Cor 7:10-11
This issue is given much more explicit biblical instruction but is often glossed over in our Christian culture due to the messy landscape of divorces and remarriages. In cases where non-biblical divorce has occurred, if reconciliation is possible, this should be pursued. If reconciliation is impossible because one or more parties have remarried, it would not be sensible to divorce again in order to achieve reconciliation. The principle to apply here, I believe, is from 1 Cor 7:17-24 summarized in verse 20: “Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.” This is not an ideal circumstance, but it is the best way forward in an imperfect world. Of note, polygamy was common in the culture of the early church, and while not ideal, was accepted by the church, as evidenced by the qualifications for elder to be “a husband of but one wife.” We have polygamous cultures even within our local community and if they came to Christ, we should not counsel them to divorce all but one wife and thus disrupt their social structure. It is not ideal and would disqualify them from eldership, but they should remain as they are. Whether marriage after unbiblical divorce in the past disqualifies a man from eldership is a case-by case question for the eldership.
8: Pornography, Sensuality, and Lust – Lev 18:6-18, Matt 5:28
As mentioned above, use of pornography has reached a high saturation point within our culture and within our church. While once thought of as simply a male issue, there is a growing trend toward gender parity in pornography usage. It is an issue that should be discussed with some frequency within our church. For those that join the church and view pornography regularly, it needs to be made clear that while the world has largely destigmatized it, it is still sexual immorality. Furthermore, this isn’t just limited to nudity and pornography, but any sensuality that leads to looking at someone “with lustful intent” is the heart equivalent of adultery according to Matt 5:28. In our culture, it is not possible to avoid such things by just turning away. We need to address the heart issues of idolatry, selfishness, and satisfaction in Christ. Practically, how should we deal with those who have on-going struggles with pornography, sensuality and lust? Should this preclude them from eldership? From deaconship? Taken strictly, this would preclude nearly all men from eldership. These require individual evaluation from the elders, but a guiding principle should be, if the person is repentant and there is evidence of growth in their life, we should consider more responsibility and continued discipleship.
9: Homosexuality – Lev 18:22, Lev 20:13, 1 Cor 6:9, 1 Tim 1:8-11
From the above references and others, it is evident that homosexual behavior is sexual sin. We cannot equivocate on that point. As we have discussed above, if a person who is already a believer and in the church and struggles with same sex attraction, we should approach them as we would handle anyone who is sexually attracted to someone to whom they are not married. If such a person decides that homosexuality is not sinful and begins sexually immoral activity, we should deal with them in the same way as any member who falls into unrepentant sin and go through the processes of correction and, if necessary, of church discipline. It is important that we draw a distinction between same sex attraction and homosexual behavior. We can do tremendous harm by demonizing same sex attraction and creating a taboo around it. A person who is struggling to abstain from homosexual behavior should be supported and encouraged. I believe Paul’s strong statements about not associating with sexually immoral people applies to those who remain unrepentant. Much more nuanced is the issue of how we address those that join the church already in a homosexual relationship. What about the married homosexual couple who join the church with their adopted child? Should we break up their family? I believe, in this case, the same principle should apply as to those who have gone through an unbiblical divorce in the past. We should apply 1 Cor 7:20: “Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.” We can recognize that this is not ideal, but it is the best we can do in a fallen world just as we do with someone who is married after unbiblical divorce. Whether should apply to a homosexual couple in a long term committed relationship who are not legally married would be an individual discussion with the elders. Again, these are nuanced cases that will need individual prayer, discussion, and discernment. I believe a great deal more patience is called for when a new believer joins the church that has a history or present reality of homosexuality, even if they are unrepentant at first, believing that homosexuality is not sinful, than we would demonstrate to a person who has been in the church for a period of time and then decides to pursue a homosexual relationship.
10: Bisexuality – Heb 13:4
Bisexual attraction is no more or less of an issue than anyone who finds that they are sexually attracted to someone other than their spouse. This is not a rare or unique circumstance, even within the church. Someone who is practicing bisexuality is, by definition, not confining sex to the marriage bed, and this, therefore, qualifies as sexual immorality. The issue, here again, is one of identity and cultural acceptance. If a person “identifies as bisexual,” the real issue is not the bisexuality, but the fact that they identify themselves primarily by their sexual desires, and not by Christ. It would be equally a problem if they “identified as heterosexual” and that was seen as their defining characteristic. If such a person were to join the church, our priority should be in helping them see their identity in Christ rather than focusing on renouncing their sexual preference.
11: Transgenderism/Non-binarism – Psalm 139: 13-15
It should be noted that the next two points should not be considered in the category of sexual immorality, but as they are connected to the same cultural moment will be discussed here. It should further be remarked that transgenderism is a modern issue with no direct reference in Scripture. It is a challenging issue that often falls prey to oversimplification and scapegoating. It is not sufficient to simply state that a person should identify with their born gender. There are those born with ambiguous genitalia and those born with sex chromosome abnormalities such that “born gender” is not necessarily accurate. These occur with a frequency of 1 in 448 births on average which is not particularly rare. The majority of people who consider themselves to be transgender do not fall into these categories, but the fact remains that these categories exist. Unless we plan to embark on genetic testing, we must be careful how we assert someone’s gender assignment. Furthermore, we must acknowledge that much of the gender confusion in our culture is due to a distortion of biblically accurate masculinity and femininity in our culture of which the church has been widely supportive for generations. Many transgender and non-binary individuals consider themselves so because they do not fit into the traditional boxes our culture has created for the genders. The church can start by recognizing that these boxes are incorrect. We can also acknowledge that gender differences and roles are far less important than most human cultures perceive. Christ himself challenged many gender norms in his ministry and Paul maintains “…there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28b) It is much more difficult to recognize this issue as a sin issue than many of the above concerns. If someone wishes to be addressed by different pronouns than they once did or dress differently than they once did, this does not amount to immorality. Once again, this can be an idolatrous identity issue if the person sees it as the central characteristic of their lives. There is often an inherent pride in asserting that such a person does not feel they fit in the body created for them, but if they come to love Jesus and understand and believe that they are “fearfully and wonderfully made” then this issue may become moot. Whether or not they revert to dressing differently or using pronouns they did when they were younger is largely immaterial. This also addresses the issue of people who may have undergone permanent physical changes. While we should not endorse such modification if it is being considered, there is no reason to reverse such a thing in order to return to a base state. We must recognize that this is a group that has a high propensity toward mental health concerns, instability, and suicidality. They need love, support and prayer, not scapegoating and extra-biblical expectations of conforming to a cultural norm. We must further note that this group as well as the homosexual group have often experienced psychological and even physical harm from others in our culture, sometimes in the name of Christ. We must foster an environment of champions physical and psychological safety for these people.
12: Asexuality – 1 Cor 7:25-38
Asexuality also should not be considered sexual immorality. There is, in fact, wide support in Paul’s letters such as in 1 Cor 7 for people, if they are able, to remain unmarried and be “anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.” We tend to champion the model of the nuclear family in our Christian culture, but Paul sees chaste singleness as a better way. There should be no pressure from the church to make sure that single people pair off and get married because it is expected of them. As this state has been culturally identified with the LGBTQIA movement, it is seen on the same spectrum as the sexual immorality and gender issues discussed above, but it is not. It can still fall prey to the same issue of an idolatrous identity as some of the above issues, but it need not be so.
13: Glass Ceiling
In the event that God sees fit to bring people from these subgroups into our church, there would inevitably be a glass ceiling. The question is at what point. The four logical points are: regular attender, member, deacon, and elder. Regardless of their background or position, all should be welcome to be a regular attender. It is also clear, from the biblical requirements for eldership, that on-going problems or engagement in any of the sexual sins would disqualify them from that post. The middle two are less clear. I would submit that the bar for membership should be very low. This step, in my opinion, is when they would “bear the name of brother” and not before. Even if they disagree about the sinful nature of homosexuality, this should not disallow them from becoming members as long as they agree to submit to the churches position and not cause division. Allowing them to become members gives us the pastoral authority to speak into their lives, and we would hope that over time the Spirit would work in their hearts to convince them of the truth. Putting such a person in a deacon role would probably not be wise but would need to be evaluated prayerfully on a case-by-case basis. The difficulty here is that, while a position on homosexuality is not a salvific issue and should not be considered a core doctrine in the same way as the deity of Christ, for example, it is a sin issue. There is a limit to how far we can “agree to disagree” and still uphold our duty to root out sin in our midst. Once again, we should also distinguish between a struggle with same sex attraction and engagement in homosexual behavior when we consider our response. There is also a glass ceiling when it comes to marriage. While I believe we should not break up existing homosexual marriages, we should not participate in creating them. The marriage covenant between a man and woman was created, in part, to reflect the relationship between Christ and the church (Eph 5). This should not be co-opted to excuse or normalize immorality.
14: Nuance and Edge Cases
The above outline is by no means meant to be exhaustive or definitive. It is meant to provide a lens, supported by scripture, through which we can view these issues and consider corporate and pastoral responses. It should inform how we view the people that walk through the door from a wide range of backgrounds and how we equip those in our church to be Christ’s ambassadors to those in our community. Every person and circumstance, history and baggage will be different, and any non-nuanced position would be inherently evil. I pray we have many opportunities to talk, think and pray through specific situations that God would bless us with the chance to be a part of. What an honor it would be to be used to reach into broken lives like these with the Gospel of Grace.
15: Action Steps
As we consider practical and philosophical ways of responding to the above, I believe we should start from a position of corporate repentance. If we wish to truly reach out and touch the lives of broken people in need of a Savior who live a life of same sex attraction or gender dysphoria, we need to begin by recognizing that a great deal of harm, emotional and physical, has been inflicted on this group by the Church for generations. There are homeless people living in our area who were kicked out of their homes by parents holding a Bible. There are those who have been subjected to horrific methods that amount to torture under the guise of “Conversion Therapy” from Christian organizations. The only “conversion” we should concern ourselves with is to a regenerate heart. Attempting to change someone’s sexual attraction is very much beside the point. We cannot hope to be a place where such people can hear about Jesus unless they feel safe to enter our doors. We must also fight the tendency to consider sin in this area as something worse than others, even in non-Christians. James 2 says “…For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it….So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” As we consider corporate and pastoral responses to the argument above, we must start by removing our own planks and repenting for the historical actions of the Church.
Practical steps that we could consider taking would include: removing the statements from the website about marriage and sexuality, especially directly under our Core Beliefs. Again, this is not meant to hide or equivocate on the truth, but not to set such a barrier before someone even walks through our door. Secondly, we should consider how to address these topics within the church. A Sunday morning sermon is not ideal as it is time limited and a unidirectional conversation. A small group course format would be a consideration. We need to equip parents and family members of adolescents, teens, and adults with language to talk about these things in loving, humble, God-honoring ways. In the longer term, we need to consider how we can make our church a place where people would feel comfortable inviting friends and family who look, think and act differently than we do. We need to find a way of projecting safety and inclusion even in our public facing information. This isn’t a balancing act where we must make it clear early and often that we “love the sinner but hate the sin” as the saying goes. We just need to love the sinner. Dealing with the sin can come later God-willing. A third application point is to be mindful of what we say and what we allow to be said without being checked. Certainly, joking at the expense of those who are dealing with these issues is unacceptable, but we also need to work to avoid getting dragged in to pseudo-political discussions on bathroom issues, sports issues or other divisive concerns that have no bearing on the church.
I recognize that these proposals have the potential to divide the church. There are some who may leave the body over these sorts of changes. I would argue that it is our responsibility to them as well as to the unreached in our community to have those discussions and risk some of them leaving over it. These are not all things we should change overnight but after ample opportunities for discussions and prayer.
16: Conclusion – Mark 2:15-17
At its core, these are not issues of who someone loves, sexual attraction, or even specific sex acts. The core is idolatry and identity. When acceptance by others, self-determination, or physical pleasure become the central force driving our lives then we have become idolators. Though our idols take on different shapes, the struggles in this space are shared by all. Whether you are identified by your profession, your family, or your gender identity, you are not being identified by your Master. Building fences around or within the church because someone sins in a different way than us cannot be allowed. Making the excuse that we are somehow “protecting our children” by shielding them from people in our community who desperately need a Savior will not show our children who Jesus is. Within the church, we cannot be afraid to “speak the truth in love.” We need not and cannot shy away from sin in the church, but we must recognize that the Spirit works in each of our lives. Often this happens over a period of time. We should be prepared to walk alongside our brothers and sisters in this journey for as long as they need.
There is a significant correlation between this community and their relationship with religious groups, and the “tax collectors and sinners” that Jesus sought out in His ministry and their relationship with the religious leaders of the day. Our heart should reflect His. Jesus responded: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17) If our church was filled with transgender people and gay families that loved Jesus, God would be glorified.”
Thank you in advance for any constructive criticism, notes of encouragement to and or waiting recommendations on these topics that I can pass along.

Hi! First and foremost, thanks for your interest and I apologize in advance for how long this is, I like to be thorough. I want to start this off with some important things regarding playing at my digital table. My games are all inclusive both OOC and IC, that means both the players and the inhabitants of the game world will be varied. There will be cultural and ethnic diversity, there will be people with physical disabilities, there will be LBGTQ+ characters, the game may very well (see: likely) explore mental health, gender identity, and any number of things. My games are a safe place and I take that promise very seriously. I cannot stress this enough; bigotry of any kind will not be tolerated. There won’t be a warning, there won’t be a compromise, you’ll be out of the game, period. If you can’t manage this, then please save everyone some time and just don’t read further.
Now with that said, let’s discuss the beautiful game of D&D and this campaign and how I DM my games. My games are presented less as a static sequence of events and more of threads in the world that can be followed in any order. In a shorter campaign like this one there has to be a little more structure than a longer campaign, but this is not a railroad. Whatever ending we find to this campaign, we will find it together. Whether that’s the traditional fight the BBEG, talk them down, or join their side and plunge the world into chaos, it’s all on the table.
This campaign is set in the homebrew world that I have created and in truth I am using the campaign to explore individual parts of the world and hopefully expand upon the lore, add new NPCs, sure up any shortcomings, etc. Not because I’m publishing an adventure or anything, just because I really enjoy worldbuilding and having player choices affect the world going forward.
I like to incorporate backstories into the plot, I want everyone to have a chance to really feel a part of the story, not just along for the ride. This is also limited in a shorter campaign like this, but we can work together to give you something to identify with in this world. Whether it be directly connected to a figure in your backstory or just incorporating a theme or dynamic that resonates with your character, let’s find a way. If you give me something to work with, I promise I will find a way. This is a collaborative story, let’s create something hauntingly beautiful together.
There will be a session 0 to go over lines and veils, character creation, as well as just getting comfortable with one another. If there is a need for it to go over additional character creation, getting more acquainted with one another, or anything else we can also have a session 0.5. The point is that we are all comfortable when we begin play. Without any further ado, let’s finally get to the campaign details!
Campaign: Homebrew
System: D&D 5e
Players Needed: I already have some players, looking for 3-4 more.
Ratio: My games tend to lean more towards the RP heavy side of things though I do mix in combat. There are very few potential combat encounters that can't be solved in another way via talking, parlaying, or creativity. The amount of combat is dependent on the group as a whole. I would say in terms of planned potential combat that it will be a 60:40 or even 70:30 lean towards RP.
Scheduling: Bi-Weekly Wednesday 7pm-11pm CST, for 6-12 sessions. There is a chance this goes longer depending on RP, but I believe it will fit into 12 sessions. There’s no hard start date, just when we get the right players we will start scheduling, but it will be within a few weeks.
Software: Discord for voice, Foundry for VTT, D&D Beyond for character creation.

Character Creation:

This campaign can work with players starting at level 3 or level 5. It will be decided by a group vote on which we start at. This allows for the characters to have some level of experience and renown but not be adventurers of legend (yet).
All characters get a free feat. The caveat here is that if you pick a newer background that grants a feat, you don’t get an additional feat.
Play the character you want, don’t worry about party composition. It’s my job as DM to worry about balancing the game, items, and encounters around party composition.
Interparty conflict is fine and makes for good RP, deliberately obtuse characters designed for the sole purpose of being antagonistic to the party are not.
All official content is allowed and most 3^rd party content is as well. If you want to use some homebrew content, send it to me so I can review it to ensure it’s balanced.
We roll for stats. 4d6kh3, drop the full set if under 72 unless you just want to keep them. Rolled in D&D Beyond. I trust my players to not lie about rolls or to try to re-roll 20 times for ideal stats. If I find that I can’t trust you to be honest then we just can’t play together.

Setting:

Welcome to Elysiia, the year is 756 PSC - or Post-Second Cataclysm - and Elysiia is a vibrant planet. Long gone are the days of the Primordials’ dominion over the lands, gone also is the War of Gods, sealed away thousands of years ago. From the ashes of a bygone era has risen a thriving land with many diverse people. From the displaced Feylands of Remcourt - home to fey descendant creatures and prison to incorporeal creatures unfortunate enough to be caught behind it's barrier - to the Flying City of Arigon, floating among the clouds interweaving magic, nature, and technology.
Our story, however, begins in the lands of Morroch, born after the splitting of the worlds by the World Serpent. It is said that Morroch was a point of direct impact of the World’s Serpent’s bite, leaving behind the most diverse array of biomes on Elysiia, much of it incorporated with serrated mountains and rolling hills. There is much to explore here including the northern region belonging primarily to the Stone Giants of Thulkna who call the Crimson Peaks – given their name because of the reddish color of the soil – home. Let us not forget the western seaboard of the Tilltona Coast, cliff-lined coasts with treacherous waters and frequent storms, home of the Storm Giants of the nation of Salleria.
For this story, we explore the Decayed Heights of the western region of Morroch. A brutal and unforgiving arid desert dominated by three powerful tribes: the Jeswye, renown for their connection to fire and abilities as blacksmiths and warriors; the Sandstriders, Lizardfolk who traverse the vast desert with ease, trading, and maintaining the fragile peace; and the Ironhoof Tribe, fierce warriors who thrive in the storm-battered coastal regions of the Decayed Heights.
Recently, the long-standing tension between the Jeswye and the Ironhoof has escalated to the brink of war, threatening the stability of the entire region and crucial trade routes that allow for safe passage through an otherwise inhospitable region. The campaign will begin in the floating bustling trade city of Vespera, located off the coast of the Decayed Heights. Here the characters have received a request from a representative of the Merchant’s Guild to meet to discuss a lucrative opportunity that is for the betterment of the world.
More world info and campaign info will be given before character creation and upon request (I will never turn down an opportunity to talk about lore and worldbuilding).
Who am I? My players typically call me Hex or simply Chris (he/him)

33
DMing for 4 years
I work in tech so I like to try to do cool tech shit with my VTT.
I’m a power nerd and love a bit of everything. Anime, comics, rp, tech, ttrpg (obviously), video games, writing, wrestling.
For me D&D is a collaborative storytelling experience. I’m not out to murder your PCs or make things overly difficult for the sake of making you sweat.
If I had to rate my skillset as a DM I’d say I’m very good at improv and storytelling but I don’t have a huge vocal range so I won’t be mesmerizing you with a unique voice for each NPC. I do what I can.
These games are designed for me to experiment with technology, new in-game locales, cultures, etc. and as such some aspects are generated on the go or in the case of technology might experience some technical difficulties.
Rule of cool. Yes the rules have a place, no we won’t be throwing them completely out. But if something is creative and feasible to at least attempt, yeah you can roll for it. If it’s not feasible I won’t even ask for a roll.

In closing, I’ve attached a google form below to fill out. I hate forms that make trying to get into a D&D game feel like a job interview so I’ve tried to stray away from that as much as possible. I don’t care how much experience you have, be it you’re entirely new or a 20 year vet. But comments, messages, and chat requests can often get missed so this helps me make sure I’ve seen everyone’s submissions. If you've made it this far, thank you so much for your time and patience.
If the post is not marked closed, I am still reviewing submissions.
https://forms.gle/5E1Qm2ghAU73gNGN8

Xbl ms points generator for mac

For the friends of RedditLive

Encountered accessviolation.

Wrote minidump to vrad3_2024_0518_173821_0_accessviolation.mdmp

Encountered accessviolation.

Wrote minidump to vrad3_2024_0518_173821_0_accessviolation.mdmp

Character Creation:

Setting: