from Mark Campbell:
Claiming that you are persecuted is a means of turning the tables from facing questions that you would rather not answer and charging the one asking the question with a wrong motive for asking. It is a means of avoiding personal responsibility by pointing the finger at the one who is asking a difficult question.
This reminds me of those entertainers who we refer to as magicians, from Robert Houdin to David Copperfield. Real magic, of course would fall under the heading of "dark arts," and not entertainment. But these folks practice the arts of prestidigitation and legerdemain (fancy words for "deception"). They use a method known as misdirection by which they create a distraction to draw your attention away from what they are really doing so that you are utterly surprised when they have done it.
But spiritual life is infinitely more important than entertainment, and the practices of deception have no place therein.
from Delila Jahn:
I was so happy before I heard about the assembly falling into ruin. Then I was unexplainably heartbroken at the news of this ‘dream’ gone bad. Now I’m sick at the thought of Christianity actually having some value and truth to it. And I want to go back to living with the belief that it was all a sham - that all religion is simply men trying to control others through the idea that they have a monopoly on God.
It may or may not surprise you to know that many of us on this BB are familiar with all the feelings/viewpoints expressed in the quote above. In the absence of genuine joy we have persuaded ourselves of our "happiness." We have known many forms of heartbreak, legitimate and otherwise. We have dreaded facing the Truth; wanted to be able to believe in the lie. And, after all, we thank God Almighty for never abandoning us to our folly. "Great is Thy faithfulness..."
from Delila Jahn:
Getting promises, now I take issue with that. “The Lord gave me a promise for you sister...” (in other words, sit back, shut up and listen. I’m going to be God’s conduit for a minute!). No way I’m going back to that kind of living, having a bible verse shoved down my throat as a pretext for conformity to the group. That’s deception, and it’s not even very good deception. It’s lame. It’s that lame sheep whose legs have been broken by a ‘good shepherd’ and I’ll have none of that in my life again. Not ever.
You
will be getting promises, but when God has a verse
for you,
He will give it
to you. When He gives me a verse, it will be for me. And when this reality becomes clear to you, you will not be troubled when someone tries to show you a verse, whether from a genuine desire to share, or from a putting on of spiritual airs. You will not be troubled because you will know Whom you have believed and you will be fully persuaded that He is able to keep you and to perfect in you the work He has begun until the day of His return.
All of your old memory verses will serve you well in the days ahead. The Bible will be a friend again. But don't be troubled about how that will happen, or when. Just live. Be a Mom to your kids, a teacher to your students, a neighbor to those around you. Enjoy sunrises and sunsets, listen to a bird sing, watch a bug, read something interesting, marvel at the weather, surprise someone with a card or gift, play some good tunes or a fun game.
God is on His throne. He has heard everything you have said to Him, and forgotten none of it. He will answer the honest prayers (in His own way and time), and will forgive the angry words. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid...
al Hartman
