Your concerns about the character of the authors on this site are irrelevant.  All of the authors including myself are repentant sinners on this site.  There is nothing we could have done to be worthy to write about God.  If you ever find someone who is worthy, perfect, and holy enough to be the hand of God himself, you send him my way.  I’ll sign him up. Continue Reading…

For those that do not know, I have spent a serious amount of time throughout my life debating non-Christians and in some cases Christians online and in person. Whether it is in a chat room or on forums or face to face, I’ve learned something that not only I am guilty of but nearly every Christian debtor is guilty of. This would be a severe lack of compassion towards the one we are debating with.

There are extremes to these cases and then there are lesser extents. I have seen Christians provoke, demean, and swear at the skeptic. I have also seen myself and others laugh, make fun of, and put down our competitors as if they have no intelligence at all.

This kind of attitude does not become us and it does not mirror the God we serve.

I am calling my fellow brothers and myself to have more compassion in these last days. There are a few realities the came to my mind as I felt the strong urge to repent from these actions. These people who have chosen to reject God are still God’s beloved. God loves them as much as he loves each of us. He died on the cross for them as he did us. He looks at them with compassion and sadness, longing for the day they may come back to God as the prodigal did.

These people are going to Hell and they do not know it or even if they do they have chosen to accept Hell as where they want to go. Who wishes this on them? Who wants them to be eternally punished?

What I see in myself sometimes as well as others is an instant defensive stance. We put up our road blocks and call on our defense mechanisms in all the ways that we can to keep them from hurting out pride. We don’t even try to be empathetic to them. Who knows the kind of life they have lead? I am sure there are some of us who have led the same life and come out of it better, but use your testimony to show them that you know how they feel, don’t close them off as “unclean”.

Are we trying to push them until they break down? Has anyone seen that work yet? We should be the ones that break down first. We should weep for them. Let them ridicule us. Let them mock us and spit curse words and demean us. We should not retaliate against them. “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ” (Matthew5:46-47)

If the reality of these peoples’ soul ending up in eternal damnation does not move you to compassion for them then something is wrong. Our God does not want that, he wants us to love them and pray for them.

The next time one of us posts on their blogs or forums or chat rooms, let us stop and “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” (James 1:19) We should listen to them and develop empathy before we say a word back. We should put ourselves in their shoes; see where they are coming from. Understand their doubts and hesitations for not accepting the Gospel, even if we don’t think they should have them. They do have them and we need to respect them as we would respect our brothers and sisters in Christ, even if they do not return that respect.

We need a revival of compassion to the condemned. You cannot get respect unless you give respect.

Everyone has a story. Everyone who has come to know God has a testimony. Some may not be glamorous or even extremely amazing like Paul’s. I’ve heard countless stories on how people have come to God and I have never heard one story that is the same.

Though all of our stories might not be supernatural, I do believe they carry in them our most powerful tool for planting seeds. In our own stories, we relate to others. In our own stories, God shines through us. It is very personal and people can relate to that more than any apologetics or philosophical reasoning. So today, I will share mine. Continue Reading…