heart broken

[Onesimus85]

I have grown tired of the terms "Christian" and "church-goer" being synonymous with the word hypocrite to those who need to know Christ the most. I have come across far to many people who are searching for answers. They want to find it, but so many of them are like the Ethiopian Eunuch. They are reading the scripture, they are trying to figure out what they need to do, but they have no one to instruct them (Acts 8:26-40). Guys this is killing me! I don't want to have more Christians leaving one church to attend mine. I want to see the unchurched and the lost coming. But when they look at the people who call themselves Christians they see nothing short of the very people that have harmed them. They have seen no difference between the church goer and the person who lives like the devil. There is as much sin in the church as there is outside of the church. One way or another the church has got to be cleansed. Spiritual renewal must take place. The church has failed to serve those that God has called us to love, serve, and disciple. God forgive us for the things that we should not have done, and for the things that we should have done that we have refused to do. Pray for Christ's return. Pray for revival. Begin a renewal of the faith.


Our heavenly Father,
who by thy love hast made us,
and through thy love hast kept us,
and in thy love wouldst make us perfect:
We humbly confess that we have not loved thee
with all our heart and soul and mind and strength,
and that we have not loved one another
as Christ hath loved us.
Thy life is within our souls,
but our selfishness hath hindered thee.
We have not lived by faith.
We have resisted thy Spirit.
We have neglected thine inspirations.
Forgive what we have been;
help us to amend what we are;
and in thy Spirit direct what we shall be;
that thou mayest come into the full glory of thy creation,
in us and in all people;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

United Methodist Hymnal, 892

[ClementofRome]

Your faith is admirable Oni. Your heartfelt concerns are real. I appreciated reading your post. I do not have the answer, but your call to revival and repentance are real and I believe that this is happening, nonetheless. Hang in there bro.

PS....tell Dad Sr. that I got his message (re: Naming the Elephant)
PSS...learn the difference between "to" and "too" :)

[herev]

PSS...learn the difference between "to" and "too" :)

always the teacher! You are to(o) cool!

[ClementofRome]

always the teacher! You are to(o) cool!

Oni and I have a bit of an inside joke going. He was a student of mine at SMC and now graces the hallowed halls of SWU. I gotta keep him on his toes! :)

[Onesimus85]

Describing the miners that John Wesley preached to in the mornings and evenings he said this, "They are sinners, but never hypocrites." They meant what they said. If they didn't like what Wesley said they would throw rotten tomatoes at him, or rocks. But they never said that they liked what he said and then bad mouthed him later. In the same way, if one of them came to know Christ, they didn't continue in their old ways.
Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world right now. Why? The answer can be found in one word, devotion. When is the last time you heard about a TV show making fun of the religion of Islam? When did they ever make jokes about Allah on national TV? The media wouldn't dare disturb that lion. Yet, they have no problem with producing shows like "The Book of Daniel" making a mockery of Christianity. And what will happen? The show might be canceled, but it should have never been created. They wouldn't post commercials making fun of Buddhists. The point is not if they will cancel the show. Rather, the point is that they have no respect for the Christian faith. We have lost our appeal; people no longer see what makes us stand out. To them we are exactly like them, except we are sitting somewhere else on Sunday mornings at 11. People see Christians as hypocrites, or even worse... no different from anyone else. When did people stop seeing Christ in us?

I ask this question, if you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? More so, if you were standing before God and he asked "How do I know that you love me?" What would you say? Could you prove that you loved Him?

"Once more he (Jesus) asked him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, "Lord you know everything. You know I love you." Jesus said, "Then feed my sheep." John 21:17 (NLT)

When was the last time we fed sheep? Peter knew that this would eventually lead to his death. See, earlier he had been one of those hypocrites. He knew that this would be hard, that he did not want to do this. But it was no longer a matter "Peter wants". But what God wants. What He demands. "Follow me."

[Onesimus85]

Oni and I have a bit of an inside joke going. He was a student of mine at SMC and now graces the hallowed halls of SWU. I gotta keep him on his toes! :)

It's all fun and games till I start learning about intravocalic sigmas right?