“Christians” by Cindy Lafreniere

This and other interesting articles can be found at http://www.fresh-hope.com/forums/index.php You can also link from this site directly there.                                                          ”CHRISTIANS” It’s always kind of annoyed me that so many people call themselves “Christians” when they don’t have a clue what it means to be one. They even wear crosses and stuff like that. That even bugged me when I was a kid. So many people seem to honestly believe that they’re Christians, simply because they go to church once in awhile and their church says they’re Christian. I remember when I first started this board. I was so excited that first day when someone would join. Each time someone did, it was like Christmas all over again for me, lol. I was getting to meet another brother or sister that I hadn’t known about before. (ok, I admit it, I still feel that way every time someone joins the board, lol) I did get to meet a lot of great people, including those of you that are here now, but I also got a big surprise. Many people looked around the board, and I’d swear that we actually scared some of them! I think some of them felt we were like “fanatics” because we actually believed the Bible and actually lived for Jesus and made Him a part of every part of our lives. I was just shocked! It really bothered me at first, and then I realized who these people were. They were the ones that go to church every once in awhile and think that makes them a Christian. Then there was another group that surprised me. These folks seemed like “real” Christians, but when it came to sin, they seemed to think that they didn’t have a problem with it. Like as long as they didn’t steal anything from another person or a store, or kill someone, or commit adultery, that they were fine with God and had nothing to work on. They couldn’t understand why anyone would have a problem with sin in their lives. I was like Then when we started explaining about false teachers, it turned out that they couldn’t understand any of that either and felt that we were bad to say that someone was teaching heresy, even if we could prove it. They seemed to think it didn’t matter what the person taught or what anyone believed, as long as they called themselves a Christian. The title of Christian, seemed to make everything and anything ok in their minds. Obviously most of that group wound up leaving too, lol It was really disappointing to me, especially at first, when I discovered just how many people were Christians in name only and not in their hearts and souls where it counted. Then I realized that that must be part of what Jesus meant when He said Matthew 7:14 “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.  The vast majority of people seem to think that being a Christian is a picnic and that there are no “requirements” to be met. Well in a way they’re right. There are no requirements except those that the Holy Spirit places on you because you love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. Once you’ve taken that step though and the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your heart, you begin to change, and there’s no turning back.  It still bothers me some that so many who claim to be Christian, really aren’t, and that so many see us as some kind of fanatics. But then I meet people here, or even at church that say, “This is so great! You people are real and really mean what you say and try to live your faith! That’s so refreshing!” And yes, I’ve heard those exact words and seen them posted here before, so that makes it all worth while. I think though that what we’re really seeing in this as well as in the false teachers and all that stuff is what Jesus was talking about when He said: Matthew 13:30 `Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ‘ ” The Christians are being separated away from the ones that are Christians in name only as well as people who make no bones about being unbelievers. He has allowed us all to “grow together” until now, but as the world would put it, He is separating the men from the boys. The true believers from those that just use the name. Soon He will be bringing the us, the true believers into His barn. (heaven) I’ve often wondered if maybe that was at least one of the purposes of the “labor pains” in the End Times–to start separating us from those that aren’t true believers, as well as to get the attention of all of us and hopefully cause some who aren’t true believers to become saved and one of His own. I really think that this might be true. I can only hope and pray that we here at FH have planted a few seeds in the minds and hearts of those who aren’t really saved yet. Maybe, even though they weren’t comfortable here because we are so “religious” in their eyes, maybe it will cause them to think a little or maybe it will be like having a stone in their shoe that just bugs them subconsciously until someone comes along and witnesses to them and causes a light to go on in their minds and they “get it”, or until they finally pick up there Bible and start to read it… I really feel sorry for them though… the ones that think we’re “too religious” I mean. If they only knew the Truth…..