Thursday, October 9, 2014

Contending for the Faith 546 - 1 - 2

CM poses the question asked by Jesus; Luke 18:8, “I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” This is a very good question and rather complements another asked of a person claiming to be a Christian, “If you were on trial for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you?”
In June we held an open house for my mother’s 102nd birthday. For two days I visited with family and friends and left feeling very uneasy about the ultimate destination of most who were visiting my mom. The majority of family members at the open house were from my father’s side, several being from the state of California. It was a mixture of indifference to the church combined with a few New Agers and Christian scientists.
Of mom's friends there was one couple who radiate Christian virtue and adherence to the Word. Many other friends were either indifferent or atheist, agnostic or Catholics. One cousin who has yet to unfriend me on Facebook took a rather aggressive approach with me and my Catholic sister-in-law. The cousin proudly stated that she was a Christian Scientist and therefore didn't believe in hell. Then looking directly at my sister-in-law she said and there’s no such thing as purgatory. Other than nodding my agreement about there not being a purgatory I pretty much kept to myself since this was mom’s party. It is now four months later and I still regret that I felt that I was not in a position to contend for the faith.
I primarily contend for the faith via the Internet. I blog and use Facebook as a witnessing tool. I suspect that most of my friends and family members on Facebook skip over my postings. Mostly I interface with like-minded people on Facebook so it’s mostly a case of “Singing to the choir.” Usually we reinforce our Christian faith, however, we sometimes get into very interesting discussions. A current example is the video, “The Blood Moon Theory DEBUNKED (2014-2015).”
While there has been no definite date setting concerning the timing of the rapture a rather lively discussion of pre-, mid and post tribulation ensued.
Blogging can lead to speculation as I have no idea who is reading my posts, only the areas on planet Earth where my readership is. The top ten readership for the past month include those from the countries of United States, France, Ukraine, Brazil, Turkey, Romania, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom and Russia.
I've been encouraged of late by questions that have been asked by friends who seem to be more receptive to the gospel. Whenever the opportunity presents itself such as when I’m discussing the state of the economy, terrorism or Ebola I always make the comment that it is time to be right with God. As with my blog I don’t know if I’m actually reaching anyone, however, if I can just reach a few people with the Good News I will have contended for the faith.

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