2 Thes. 2:2

Last night, I mistakenly ran into a web site called "Ex-Christian" and I was drawn to read some of their "testimonies" in the forum area. As I read them, my spirit was greatly troubled and grieved. It was surreal. There are people on there who believed in Jesus their whole lives. Some were preachers, some were brought up in the faith, others were missionaries, etc. They now proudly proclaim to be atheists, agnostics, satanists, etc.

Then yesterday, while watching the "Not a Fan" movie, the pastor (Kyle Idleman?) brought up the example of driving down a highway thinking you are almost to your destination then realizing you missed the "exit" sign an hour back. the roads all looked familiar, similar, the same. You just weren't paying close enough attention to the "signs" to notice the exit. Or there's the example about an airplane that veers 1 degree off it's original course, and you never land at your intended destination...

The thing about it is, any one of us can veer off the course, one degree at a time. A little bit of leaven here, a small sin there, a white lie here, a bit of adultery there, some pride here, a little doctrine controversy there, etc. A little sin becomes a big sin. A distant heart becomes cold. A cold heart becomes hardened. A hardened heart becomes disheartened. Then, comes the feeling of complete disillusionment. And at last, the enemy wins. God help us all. He's warned us to be watchful of the times...

Today, while I was pondering all of these things over in my heart, I was listening to a study on Revelation 13, and he pointed out the scripture below:

2 Thessalonians 2:2-3=
"2That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;"

The great falling away... And as Matthew 7:21-23 says:

"21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

To tie all of these rather disjointed thoughts together, please pray for all of us, please pray for the ex-Christian community, God help us all. Everything that will be shaken will be shaken. May we all be standing until the end. Fight the good fight, brethren. It's worth fighting, one that many have overcome before us. May we follow in their footsteps and be beacons of light to a darkening world around us.

"I hope that no one stumbles over this saying especially those that are a new convert and suddenly wonders if they made a soulish decision for Christ."

amen to that sonsigns, i wasn't sure whether to post the testimonies or not for that very reason? but, maybe there's someone on the fence who needs to make the solid decision to follow Jesus? or maybe there a long-time "fan" who hasn't truly become a "follower" (i recently watched the "Not a Fan" movie...), or simply to not be double-minded about Jesus?

honestly, after i was perusing the testimonies, it was eerie for two reasons - one, seeing people who were lifelong believers fall, and two, reading the thoughts i've sometimes wondered myself at one time or another in my walk.

as i'd mentioned in a recent post, i tried losing my faith last year during a wilderness season (which we are still in), lacking face to face fellowship w/the Body of Christ; but, God's such a part of my life now that i couldn't shake Him. i love the Lord. He's such a wonderful Father.

i may not hear His voice clearly amongst the battlefield in my mind, but He speaks to me in other ways. i may not speak in tongues, but He hears my prayers and answers them. i may still struggle with unrighteous anger at times, but He's delivering me one day at a time. He teaches me His Word by His Spirit, in a way no man has been able to. He shows me things i've never seen before. He provides for my family in ways that only He could. so if doubts start to creep into my mind, i fight back with all the proofs of Him in my life, taking those thoughts captive until the enemy flees.

Lord bless you all in your walk with Him. He's truly the only fulfilling One worth chasing after, He's a battle worth fighting. when we go through struggles, illnesses, near death, etc., He's the one we turn to in the end.