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Christian Mingle

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Have you ever used an online dating service? If so, was it a positive experience for you?

I recently watched a movie entitled Christian Mingle.

Gwyneth is tired of her lame love life. When she sees an ad for Christian Mingle, a Christian dating service, she’s intrigued. She wonders if Christian Mingle is the key to finding a nice guy to date.

The only problem is, Gwyneth is NOT a Christian, yet, she’s determined to use this dating service. She purchases Christianity For Dummies because she doesn’t want her date to know that she’s impersonating a Christian. She meets Paul and they hit it off. The movie shows how relationships can be negatively affected when people lie to one another. Gwyneth needs to learn that it’s important to be truthful or someone may end up getting hurt.

I really liked this movie. I thought it was a cute chick flick, however, I felt some of the scenes were a bit over-done and unrealistic. Some examples are when Gwyneth first meets Paul, they have coffee. She prays over her coffee in a weird sort of way. Paul mentions that he’s never seen anyone pray over coffee before.

There’s also another scene where Paul is having Sunday afternoon lunch with Gwyneth and his family and friends at a place called Steak and Cake. Gwyneth is called upon to pray over the meal. She again prays in a weird way – she doesn’t seem to realize that she needs to end a prayer with Amen – which I found to be unrealistic. I believe she’d mentioned briefly that she’d gone to church some while growing up, so, I’d imagine she’d at least know to say Amen after the prayer.

But the rest of the movie was pretty good. I wanted to see what happened between Gwyneth and Paul. They really liked one another, in spite of Gwyneth’s deception. Gwyneth also knew Paul pretty well, and you later discover that she knows Paul better than he knows himself. Although Gwyneth was hiding something, it turns out that Paul was not always truthful to himself about everything. Gwyneth encourages Paul to take a good, hard look at his own life, which was a pivotal point in the movie. I could imagine this being a great flick to watch with an all-girl church youth group or Bible study.

I recognized the main character, Gwyneth, from the Hallmark movies. She’s starred in several of those.

So, have you ever used an online dating service? If so, please tell me what you thought about your experience.

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Cecelia Dowdy (17 Posts)

Cecelia Dowdy has been an avid reader since she learned to string letters together to form words. While pursuing a business degree in college one of her professors tried to convince her to get an English degree since he felt she was a great writer. Years later, after receiving her BS in Finance, she took her former teacher's advice, and started pursuing her literary career. She loves to read, write, and bake delicious desserts during her spare time. She also loves visiting new places and listening to old tunes with her husband. Currently she resides with her spouse and pre-teen son in Maryland.


Comments

  2. No, I have never used an online dating service. I know several people who have found their spouses that way though, and I wrote a book with characters that used one. I had a freakishly weird experience where someone signed me up for a site. I was married! I had to call the company and explain that I never signed up for their service. This happened after my book came out where my character impersonated someone on one of those services in order to help him find his perfect match.

  3. Hi Cecelia, I’ve not heard of this movie before, sounds interesting. Hehe, I have never used an online dating service!! I met my husband at uni and we married the weekend after. 16 years later…I cannot imagine travelling through life with anyone else:)
    Blessings:)

  4. Hi Cecelia! Movie sounds interesting. Never used an online dating service or no anybody who used one. In the olden days – After WW2 in Germany in the late 1950s, my aunt met my uncle through a newspaper ad. Our local paper in the US also carried personal ads, which were interesting to read. Since one paid for an ad by the line, the ads used a lot of abbreviations. Most ads ran three days for three lines. Like Wemble I meet my husband while attending university. We attended the same college and career class at church. Dated for 18 months and have been married for 45 years. Best wishes.

  8. Hi, Renate! Wow, that’s great that you met hubby at uni!

    Regarding those personal ads in newspapers, I consider those the precursors of online dating. I know a woman who dated someone from a personal ad in the newspaper, but, it never developed into anything.

    I met my husband via Match.com, an online dating service. He lived down the street from me, within walking distance. I still agreed to go out on a date with him even though he was blind. So glad I did! We’re still married!

  9. Hi Cecelia. I agree with you about ad being the beginning of on-line service. While in seminary, hubby and I helped David, a blind young man in our church. He came to our apartment often for Sunday lunch. Taught us a lot, so when had a blind student I knew what to expect. Best wishes.

  10. I’ve been married 28 years. I’ve never used an online dating service. MY sister has though. She went on a date with two different men. Neither men lived very close to her and I guess the initial chemistry didn’t make it worth a second date.

  11. Never used one and I don’t know anyone who has, but stories online or through people always make it sound interesting!

  13. Hi, Sherri G.
    Yes, online dating can be quite difficult. I know when I was doing it, I met a few men who said that women tended to exaggerate or lie on their profiles. One young man told me that’s why he stopped online dating.

    Although I met my husband that way, the experience beforehand was fairly negative. A greater majority of the time, the man did not show up for the initial meeting. Not sure why that would happen, but it did!

  15. I’ve never used an online dating service, but one of my friends met her husband this way. They’ve been married 10 years now!

    I’ve seen Christian Mingle, and agree it’s a very cute chick flick. I thought some of the situations were over the top as well, but figured that it’s likely due to the writers not being Christians themselves. That’s an assumption, of course.

    Great blog today!

  16. I’ve never used an online dating service, but I have seen the movie Christian Mingle. I agree that it’s a cute movie. I also love the lead actress, Lacey Chabert – she’s great in her Hallmark movies, too.

  17. Okay, so this is where I have to admit, yes, I met my husband with an online dating service??

    Sheesh, no secrets in this club, hahaha!!

    We celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary yesterday, which is 18 years from the day we met in person. We talked online and on the phone for months before meeting in person!

  18. I have lots of experience with on-line dating services and plenty of comical stories, too! Most guys were nice, just not for me. I ended up meeting my hubby at church. I also saw the Christian Mingle movie.

  19. I’ve never used an online dating service, but I knew of a lady at my church who met her husband that way.

  20. No, I’ve never used one. I’ve been married for 49 years so it wasn’t an option. We met in highschool. It seems a little impersonal.
    Thanks for the post! Might check out the movie!

  21. Nope. I met my sweetie in high school and married him shortly afterward. But I know an older couple who met on an online Christian site. They were happily married for 12 years until his death.

    I think they’re fine as long as people are cautious in case anyone is playing Christian. If you’re lonely, it seems like a good way to not be. I’ve advised single friends to go to the biggest church of their denomination they can find to meet someone. Online Christian dating services are pretty much the same thing.

  22. No. I have never used it. I met my sweetheart in school and we’re together since. My mom used it. It was a disaster.

  23. I never used an online dating service. I met my husband at church and we’ve been married 38 years!

  24. Hi, Melynda!

    Yes, there could be various reasons as to why some of the situations in the movie were over the top. It’s hard to say if the writers were not Christian, or, they may have wanted to make the audience laugh, so, exaggerated the situations!

  27. Hi, Ellie

    I, too, have lots of comical experiences from online dating! Maybe I should write a book about that sometime!

    I did meet my husband via Match.com

  31. Hi, Shannon
    Yes, you probably do need to go to a large church to meet somebody. I believe searching for a mate gets harder as you get older. But, that’s just my opinion.

  34. Wow! Great post, Cecelia, I’ve loved reading everyone’s comments!

    I met my husband at work, and we married eight months later.

    I’ve never tried internet dating, the internet wasn’t widely available before I got married. I once used the personal ads in pre-internet days.

    Wow, what an experience! So many people lied – about age, children, marital status, jobs, faith. So many were looking for the wrong sort of relationship, too. I did develop a serious relationship with a man I met from that ad, but it didn’t lead to marriage.

    Lovely to hear that two of this group have formed happy marriages through internet dating!

  35. Oops, should be we got married the weekend after graduation- not the weekend after meeting!!

  36. I did try online dating but that didn’t end up being how I met my husband… I think it certainly can work you just have to be cautious!

    I me my husband at the bowling alley while my dad and I were in a bowling league together=)

  37. Yes, I did, but I hated it! The guys would only comment stupid things that proved they didn’t read my profile and just wanted to message and never actually meet for a date….or they wanted to meet immediately…. at a bar. My cousin met her now husband online though and they are very happy!

  38. Hi, Autumn!
    Yes, lies, lies, lies! A lot of folks lied in their ads. I did correspond with a few guys who stopped internet dating because women lied so much. The men lie, too. Oh well…Work is another place to meet folks, too! Sounds like the beginning of a romance novel – an office romance!

  42. No online dating for me My Husband and I had been married 35 years! We meet through family ! The movie sounds like fun though!

  43. I met my husband on E-harmony and he is the best thing I have gotten on line. He is a believer in the Lord Jesus and strives to live that life daily! In December we will be married 11 years!

  44. I tried online dating and had some bad experiences.
    I met my current husband8 years ago and we have been married for 7.

  45. I did! I tried eHarmony for awhile but found men there still based their choice on personal appearances and seemed to use the site more in the way Gwyneth did.
    I also tried Christian Mingle. One date seemed to go okay, then he disappeared, then we were ‘matched’ again but didn’t continue.
    I see potential in online dating and getting to know someone beyond appearances but it didn’t work for me although I know several couples who met that way. Now, I leave it in God’s hands.

  50. Hi, Maureen! He disappeared? Hmmm….sounds like the beginning of a good novel! I wonder what happened. I can understand not wanting to connect with him again!

  51. I really dislike the online dating scene, as well as blind dates, set ups.. all those dating ways. I guess it helps that I grow up in a really big town and that we had a lot of Church events with different youth groups (not just our own), so we were always meeting new people.
    Getting to be friends first and date later was my parents motto and I guess I went with it. I do have to confess this also means I had absolutely no romantic interest in my husband in the first 2 (maybe 1.5) years when I first met him.

  52. I have not used an online dating service. I met my future husband at church when I was 20 and we’ve been married 27 years. My best friend used an online site and found her husband. They recently celebrated their first anniversary.

  53. Yes I’ve tried it and not been successful. It’s not my favorite thing. Still single and it’s tough.

  54. Hi, Sabrina
    I used to be single. Yes, it’s tough to get a date at times. The online dating is tough since you’re dealing with a plethora of folks and you don’t know much about them. I did find my husband through Match.com, though.

  56. HI, Priscila
    Well, not all churches have so many social functions. But I’m sure it’s great to be a member of a church who does that! Wonderful!

    At my old church, there were about 1000 members (I’m estimating, can’t recall exactly). They had a singles ministry of about 20 people – only 2 out of the 20 were men. So, it was kinda hard to socialize.

  57. I know this is late and I’m not sure you’ll even see this, but how do you find a single christian man if they are not going to church?
    I had been going to cities to the right and the left of where we lived because I too didn’t think there were any eligible men that caught my interest in the church I was attending.

  58. No, I never used an online dating service, but have two sets of couple friends who did and are very happy that they did so.

    I have watched the movie, Christian Mingle, and I agree with you. Those sections you mentioned were parts that annoyed me, however, I did enjoy the film overall.

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