- Jan 2, 2006
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What do you do about those family and friends. They have an academic understanding of what the Gospel is but what the bible says is simply not enough for them. Personal testimonies are not enough for them.
My sister understands the gospel, she just doesn't believe it. She's looking for some life changing personal experience that would actually make her believe. She's not opposed to Christianity or the gospel, but she just doesn't know what she actually believes.
I pray for her, because it's pretty apparent that God actually has to give her faith, because simply teaching her doesn't do it. She's been taught by many people for decades, including myself and her mother in law, but it just doesn't catch her.
My mother... well she's not HOSTILE to Christianity in that she knows I believe it and is fine with that. But she thinks it's just a guidelines for moral living, and "I don't need Jesus to be a good person" I have tried to explain that's not how it works that there ARE no "good persons" and that she needs a savior...
but between catholic teaching from a lot of my family in older generations (no offense to those who are Catholic but actually put their faith in Jesus Christ) for works based salvation and her disliking many prominent false teachers in the world like your Kenneth Copelands and Benny Hinns of the world.. it's like a wall gets put between what she takes in from teaching and her mind. She's blocked it off. She also doesn't like when pastors get passionate in their preaching and say things about being "blood bought" and "covered in the blood of Jesus" or talking about the power of the holy spirit, etc. She agrees with the moral teaching, she believes Jesus was a real person and a good teacher about how to live life morally.. but the most essential parts of the gospel she just refuses. She's stuck on it being her works and she's been led into new age and eastern mysticism and pantheism and universalism by my father when she was younger.. she combines that with the works based salvation of Catholicism to form her core beliefs. It's scary because I believe that is ultimately what the one world religion of the end times will be like, works salvation, combining eastern mysticism and catholicism, seeing Jesus as some sort of Enlightened Zen Buddhist teacher, with an abstract creator rather than a personal creator.
A very vivid dream I had weeks ago, basically set my sister's fate as uncertain and my mother as utterly rejecting Jesus.
So I don't really know what to do. my sister is looking for something that no human can give her, and my mother just rejects it and I'm afraid is on the path to believing the strong delusion (the age of aquarius).
all I can do is pray.
but so far that prayer has been unanswered.
Just keep loving on them and praying for them. And when God tells you, remind them of His deep abiding love.
YOu have shared the gospel, so don't keep repeating it every time. Live it now and when the door is wide open tell them hos much He loves them. don't beat them over the head with the gospel.
this is the whole sum of what we can do. and remember if you care this much about their immortal souls, how much more does god!
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