And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
- John 6:39

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
- Matt 6:27

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.
-Deut 31:6

QUOTE:
To the Christians that you now view as not having it all together (since they didn’t equip you well enough to defend yourself)?

No, we haven’t prepared our brothers and sisters well enough. There’s definately a tendency in the Church to let sleeping Christians lie. That is to say, if someone doesn’t appear to be caught up in some deadly sin, it is assumed that they are doing just fine. It’s rare for Christians to truly come together and get to know each other in Spirit.

But to the concern over atheism in the Church? Prepare yourselves with faith and love. If you love your brothers then you will know them and they will know you. It is not for nothing that the Lord has called us to confess our sins one to another and to bear each other’s burdens. It is not for nothing that the second command is to love your neighbor as yourself. These things are central and if we’re ignoring them, we can stay away from drugs and cigarettes, alcohol and adultery all we want. We can have all our quivers full, we can debate and witness, we can pray and fast all we want, but without Love it all comes to nothing.

However, take faith as well, for the Lord knows who He has predestined and shall not lose any. He also hears our prayers in faith, so take up the shield of faith understanding that faith is a gift from the Most High and not something you have the power to muster. Amanda and all others will come around if they seek after the Truth. But let’s not make the mistake of believing that God’s children can be stolen away! That lends too much credit to the enemy who is vanquished on the Cross. Remember in faith that God is the victor on the Cross, and He brought you out of bondage and was with you in the desert and has given you the down payment of the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of His promises.

Remember, we Christians DON’T have it all together… thats the difference between Christians and Pharisees!

QUOTE:
We’re all impacted by those around us in ways that we’re not always able to detect. That’s the danger.

This is why we are supposed to be mindful of what we set before our eyes. But it doesn’t mean you can’t watch a horror flick or some other silly man-made law, it means that you don’t take the horror into your spirit but you recognize it for what it is: darkness. You have the Living God inside you, how then will you be tossed about by every breeze?

This whole mess is a crisis of Faith and I think I’ve been seeing it all too often in the Church today.

MInTheGap… I don’t want to insult you, but are you so unsure of your own relationship with Christ that you should worry about this and entertain feelings of doubt and anxiety? Nobody is getting stolen away!

When you pray, instead of praying, ‘Lord, I just pray that you will bring back those who have gone astray.’

Try something more like this, “Lord, thank you that you have promised to keep us and protect us. I know that your promises are true and unfailing. I eagerly await the day when those of your flock who seem to be slipping away are gloriously united. Amen!”

I’m not saying you don’t already pray that way, but your posts do sort of have a tone of deep concern and maybe even fear that God’s people might be lost.

Anyway, please don’t take offense to the tone of this post, I only mean to come off strong for the sake of your encouragement in faith.

Love,
Art

I have been in further contact with Amanda, and this is certainly deeper than a casual chat with an atheist. I guess this post is a mixed post in that regard. On the one hand, I’m reacting to a post and my limited understanding of her position (spiritually, theologically, etc.) and what I’ve seen of her blog and her comments in various places. On the other hand I’m trying to address what I’m seeing in local churches and the amount of influence a person can exert on another over time.

We’re all impacted by those around us in ways that we’re not always able to detect. That’s the danger.

As for your comment about what I think Christianity is– it’s important to take a stand for God, to spread the Good News of Salvation from sin, and that means that we have to relate to non-believers. But that doesn’t mean that we should cultivate close relationships to the point that they sway you from your faith. The problem with radicalized atheism is that they are out to convert you as much as you may be trying to win them– and often they know the scripture and apologetics better than the average church goer. Someone wades into the discussion, tries a few things that they know, does not stick to the Gospel and what they know from experience, and the next thing they know they have doubts and they don’t know where to turn to get answers they now believe.

Where does someone turn? To the Christians that you now view as not having it all together (since they didn’t equip you well enough to defend yourself)? To the atheists, who you’ve always fought against? And what about the stands you took?

You find yourself in this curious position of not knowing who to trust because you know that both peoples have their opinions, and the atheists have succeeded in making you question everything.

So yes, the latter is a good path. My post is trying to warn of the dangers of getting entangled in theological discussions that take “what Jesus is doing in my life” out of the equation.

And, as Amanda said in previous comments, perhaps I misread how entangled she was.

I have never read Amanda’s blog so I am only going on your comments.

However it seems to me that if chatting with few atheists has undermined her faith to that extent she was probably never really what I think you would describe as a Christian.

It depends on what you think a true definition of a Christian is. If being a Christian means signing on the dotted line and keeping away from anyone who might make you think enough to change your mind then she failed the test.

If it means a lifelong work of communicating with God, learning to love your neighbour and working through your doubts maybe she’s just on a journey that ultimately will lead to a better understanding of what God and Christianity are really all about.

You can keep it.

Next time just ask.

I don’t usually bite

I am happy to say that every single one of my friends have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and we are so open about our faith in all of our conversations.

I get so used to talking with fellow believers, that at times, I get shocked at stores when I hear foul language or seeing such inappropiate behavior displayed.

When I am around my friends, I feel safe that my boys are not going to pick up anything that is not of God. However, I am not blind enough to believe all kids homes have God the Father as the head.

I was forced to sever a friendship between my boys and their little friend next door. He was teaching them bad words, how to flip the bird, and peeing in our yard and then the clincher was he told my boys he did not believe in God.

Who said you could steal my picture?

What I wanted to say…I think all of us, Believers and non-Believers have a time in our lives when we must make a decision to believe or not to believe. If we are raised in a Christian home, at some point we need to understand and KNOW what we believe biblically and then have faith in it. It can not be our parent’s or friend’s faith in God, it HAS to be OURS. This didn’t really happen for me until I was going through some pretty serious testing in my life in my early 30’s. I couldn’t rely on my parent’s belief system any longer and I had to ’study to show myself approved, a workman not ashamed’. I had to know and understand God’s truths for myself.

Two of my siblings went through this time in their lives while they were in college. They came out of it with a God belief, but that is about it. They no longer live their lives for God. It does sadden me. But NO ONE can snatch them out of God’s hands if they were saved as children. I have to have faith in that.

I pray for my siblings daily. I will be praying for you, Amanda. If you are saved, the Holy Spirit will be working in you. Have faith in that, study His word. Give God as much of a chance as you would a non-believer. I think the answers will start tumbling in!