I Have A Burden

I have a burden - actually two of them.

One is for the “sheep.” And the other is for the “shepherds.”

Isaiah 53:6 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

On Christ lay the sin of each of us; He took it, He bore it and He buried it… but many still carry it - sometimes shamefully, sometimes arrogantly, and sometimes ignorantly - but carry it, nonetheless.

And I am burdened by that. I don’t know which burdens me more, those that don’t seem able to surrender, those who feel they have nothing to surrender, or those who don’t know they have anything to surrender - those who just think “everything’s a-ok!”

Someone mentioned the passing of an individual who’d been sick a long time and said, “Well, they’re better off now…” to which I thought, “Are you right sure about that?” Of course, I don’t know the person’s heart, so I can’t say, but I certainly saw no evidence of Christ’s Lordship in their life, nor ever heard a confession of faith… All I know is, there was no fruit…

And then, there are the “shepherds;” those who have been entrusted with teaching the truth. What if they have neglected to do that - or worse - taught untruth…

James 3:1 says, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”

What about all those preachers and teachers who’ve failed to ask the hard questions, and give the hard exhortations? And what about the ones who’ve led others astray?

There’s an old song which says, “If I have wounded any soul today, if I have caused one foot to go astray, if I have walked in my own sinful way - dear Lord, forgive.”

And every time I hear it I think, “Yes, He will forgive, but what about that wounded soul, and that foot gone astray? They are still wounded, and they are still led astray. Where’s the prayer for them?”

And today, my heart is heavy for these…

Betty

My son's testimony

This may possibly fall under the scope of "bragging" but hey, I'm a Mom, I can't help it! :-)

As many of you know, our younger son John is a sophomore at the University of Tennessee. He is majoring in music composition. This boy loves music. The thing that he loves next to that is theology (hey, he's my boy!)

As you probably also know, he "looks" the part of a musician as well. His hair is much longer than mine - half-way down his back. So, in many "Christian's" eyes, he is a lost heathen.

He's been having problems being "witnessed to" on campus. They won't allow him to share his faith or beliefs - he is just "lost" unless he accepts the "Christ" that THEY preach. (It is "Christ" who is "The way, the truth and the life" not "OUR UNDERSTANDING of Christ" that is the way, the truth or the life... anyway, I digress...)

The following is what John wrote on his blog on "facebook" (whatever that is!)

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Hey, I posted this on my 'blog' on facebook concerning the "God Squad" people
on campus.. I thought you would enjoy this. - John



"Today, outside my dorm, I witnessed my own faith and religion shot down by
fellow students just because Christianity was preached in the wrong manner.

No one likes to be wrong.... its a fact. So, Why do these evangelizers insist
on witnessing in a format that will only push people away from this faith?

I asked one of them this aside from everyone else, and he claimed that what
they're doing is what God wants. They had a sign up displaying the scripture
number that I believe was John 3:3-31 or something to that matter...

I shared the information I had that St. Francis of Assisi said something to the
effect of "Always preach Christ, but only use words when necessary."
He shot down those words claiming that those were the words of "man" and not
God.

I said that their preaching method is not effective, and they're only pushing
people away and having people ridicule them in return. He said back to me that
they don't care about what is "effective" in witnessing, they care about what
God wants them to do.

Later in the book of John, it says "They will know you are Christians by your
love." They never shared this or even showed it through their witnessing
methods.

Today... there was no love outside of Melrose, the UC, or any other place they
preached Christ on campus today. The angels shook their head in
embarrassment... and the demons pointed and laughed.

These people should know that choosing God is one's own free will, and they
cannot make that decision for us.

I will never push my faith onto anyone... choosing God is your own free will.
I do my best to live Christ everyday and be loving as Christ would be. I have
quoted scripture before in conversation, but I haven't and I will never tell
you that you're wrong. Your faith is your business and it is between you and
God alone.
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Thank you for allowing me to share this.
Betty