loss

Confessions of a screwed up middle aged man: the loss


I have a friend that I still only see on Facebook now. He has said he wanted to get together during the summer but he never contacted me.
I watch his post time to time. I see his likes as well.
I watch as I see someone that was on the right track toward God and was growing in his faith.
Now, partly due to his profession, which I will not mention, has exposed him to those on the left more than those on the side of Christ.
I see him supporting the views and stand point of those that have openly turned their backs upon God.
I have tried to reach out, but I see him falling further and further away.
I have said some prayers upon the issue, but it becomes worse and worse.
To be honest I don’t even know if he was saved when we went to church together.
You see I left that church due to its lukewarmness, and the lack of the pastor to address this issue.
He felt he could reach more being in a place of grey. That mentality was stalling my growth toward God through His Son my Savior.
Growing in faith and belief in God and His Son is not something you can go halfway through and say you are there. It is an ongoing and continual journey that never ends till God calls you to stand before Him.
If not we run into the situation I am now relating to you and all I can think of is John 15.

Are you ready to go to jail?


As we get further into this century. As we look about us and more and more of the signs Christ warned us to look out for become a reality. We must come to the most drastic of choices.
Are you willing to be placed in jail? Have your job taken from you. Have your personal possessions taken from you. Be left with nothing but the clothes the government issues you to wear.
Well are you?
Many of you reading this will scoff or laugh at what I am stating here, of what I am asking here.
There is already evidence of this. The Mideast and the acts of ISIS against those that profess to be Christian and refuse to turn their backs upon their faith are brutally murdered. Christian are made to look the villain, the pariah, the small minded in this very nation.
Fewer and fewer go to church, many that are young don’t even know you are to go to church on Sunday mornings to worship the Savior and His Father the Creator of all.
Yet you do not see the time coming that will imprison you?
Sad very sad.

Acceptance


When it comes to true Christianity, the person that accepts it changes. They no longer think as they use to think. They no longer act as they use to act. Sure, a lot of how they use to be is still there. Their basic personality had not changed in most cases, but how they respond is different. What use to make them angry does not. What use to give them pleasure does not. Even though some aspect of the person you once knew is still seen on the outside by those about them, by those that knew you before you completed your change will make assumptions. Some in time will see the change and come to accept this change in you. But there will be those that do not. They will label you a hypocrite and a liar. They will feel betrayed and abandoned.
Sure, you want to make them understand, especially if they are someone you love, but you must come to realize that this many never happen.
There will be also those that try to tell you that you can still live the life you use to live. They will say sure you can still live exactly like you did before and you are still a Christian and going to heaven. This is not true. You will be tempted, but if the Bible states it is a sin. IT IS A SIN. If you are still early into your Christian faith it is at this time you should seek out and find a good Christian home.
In my own personal growth into Christianity, I sought this out in several large Churches. To my dismay, this actually turned out to be a slide in the wrong direction. It took me decades to find a church home I felt right in and it was a small church. These from further research I feel is the way to go. Do not seek out a church that has hundreds or even thousands that attend it. Seek out a church that at its max one hundred or less. These small churches will actually greet you and accept you as someone seeking to learn your faith and allow you to grow. Will answer your questions and help you address your problems of faith when they arise. This is better than a church of hundreds where you become lost within the faces and no one will be able to help you out, as you may need.
As you grow in your faith, you will change. Sure you will still feel like the person you were before you asked Jesus into your heart, but things that once didn’t bother you will. Especially as you read the Bible and come to understand the message within it, and whom the ultimate author of the Bible is, for even though it was written by man, they received their inspiration from the Holy Ghost. Who directed them to write down the words of God and no other faith can trace it origins back to the beginning of record history itself except the Judeo-Christian faith.