I met a young man who told me
"I am a Free Thinker"
But he was really quite selective
And I say that in a positive way
I mean he could tell me that
"It sucks"
When people changed
For the sake of changing
For the things that they gained
And it sure wasn't out of Faith.
"It sucks"
he said,
shaking his head
with a cynical half smile
And the way he carried himself
I knew
He would never
For those carrots fall
"You have to be so broken
It's pathetic "
He said...
He was apparently apologizing for a one moment in time
When He almost found faith
But, no, not for now , it seems...
For now
He declared
"I am a Free Thinker...I respect others..let them believe..if they do..."
But
Still
When he left
The words that left an impression on me was
"It sucks.."
2 years ago
wow.. 'It sucks'.. A very special sentence.
ReplyDeleteWell, what makes the word "sucks" so special?
What a special sentence "It sucks"
ReplyDeleteA free thinker, then "It sucks"
I can't get the message.
Further explanation?
"It sucks" means it's disgusting, annoying, so obnoxious...
ReplyDeleteThat's what it means to me.
So what struck me was that this very sensitive young man and someone with values, introduced himself as a free thinker and then mentioned that for him when he sees people changing their believes for the sake of material gains it really bugs him.
And I guess it bugged him so much it just had to be spoken about.
He spoke about it mildly
But I sensed that his inner being was screaming in pain
Thank you very much, Mikail.
ReplyDeleteNow I got the message.
Let me share my experience:
When I was a small boy, we worshipped idols.
Wooden idols were decorated at a foothill.
We offered coloured grains and live chickens
I really enjoy myself at that time.
Our religious leader slaughtered chickens and sprinkled blood on each of us.
But one thing I will never forget,
when chanting our prayers, we always pray for the downfall of other races around us.
We prayed for healing, good harvest, strenght and cast the power of sickness and poverty and sent them to other races around us.
When I think of that now, we were worshipping a cruel god who wants other people's downfall.
Now, I worship God whom I know through Jesus Christ my Lord.
I know He is a true God of love.
He says in the bible: "Love your neighbours as you love yourself."
That's the change I experience in my life.
I think, a free thinker needs to change, too.
I love your experience, Jay Len.
ReplyDeleteIt seems we have similar experience.
My late father was a witchcraft in my village though we called ourselves as christian.
People often seeked his help when they fall sick had problems.
Some were healed, some not.
One day my father was hit by a big log
My mother and I myself witness the incident
Some how the log was broken into three parts.
He was hurt badly but not die.
Though my father possessed that power, he himself never got heal of sicknesses.
He was a sickly person.
One day, group of pastors visited my village, sharing God's words.
That night a middle age woman was stretchered to the church. She laid on her bed for months.
That night, the first time in my life I saw sick people got healed. So miraculously.
From then on my father change his believe.
His charms were burned in Jesus name and he was healed.
Our whole family also changed.
We all accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour (though not at that moment)
My father live a blessed life, able to see all his children grown up and have their own family
He went back peacefully to his eternal Father in 15 January 2007 at the age of 84 years.
Now, he is no longer with us
But one day, I will see him in heaven
Together in Jesus' throne forever.
The free thinker needs the Holy Spirit for a change in his life.
ReplyDeleteThe Personality of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is a divine person, the third person of the Godhead. You will never understand the Holy Spirit if you think of Him simply as a force or a wind. Like God the Father, He is spirit and He has a distinct personality.
The Godhead functions like a corporation. God the Father is the president and chief executive officer. Jesus is the executive vice president and director of operations. The Holy Spirit is the field representative. All three are God, but all have different functions.
Paul says in Romans 8:27 that the Holy Spirit is a person: "Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."
Notice that the word Spirit is capitalized-as it should be-because it is referring to the Holy Spirit and not man's spirit. The phrase, the mind of the Spirit, indicates that the Holy Spirit has a mind. If the Spirit has a mind, it presupposes that He also has a will. Paul adds in 1 Corinthians 12:11: "But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills."
The Holy Spirit not only has a mind but also a will. Isaiah 63:10 indicates that the Holy Spirit has feelings and can be grieved: "But they [the children of Israel] rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; so He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them."
You cannot experience grief if you do not have a personality. So the Holy Spirit has a mind, a will, and emotions, just as we do. But we must not stop here. We will also find that the Holy Spirit helps, teaches, guides, and comforts, as well as performs other functions.
HELPER, TEACHER
John 14:26: "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."
Christians have a divine Helper in the person of the Holy Spirit. He teaches us and reveals to us the things of God, supporting us in innumerable ways.
GUIDE
One phase of His help is in guiding the Believer. He guides us by speaking to our spirits, not our minds. Christians can trust that the Holy Spirit will never lead us into the wrong thing. John 16:13 reveals: "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."
If the Holy Spirit led you to marry your spouse, be thankful. He would never lead you to the wrong person. Often you can tell couples who did not listen to the Holy Spirit before they got married because they wind up divorcing. If He led them to marry, and they divorce that would mean the Holy Spirit did not know what He was doing when He put them together and this is simply not true.
COMFORTER
ReplyDeleteIn Acts 9:31, we see another aspect of the Holy Spirit: "Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied."
The Holy Spirit is here to comfort us. One of the names used in the original King James Version of the Bible to describe the Holy Spirit is the Comforter. In fact, a Greek term often applied to the Holy Spirit is the word Paraclete, or Paracletos, which means "advocate," "intercessor," or "one called alongside."
Just like throwing a bucket of water on a fire can quench the fire, you can do the same thing to the Holy Spirit by actions and attitudes that are inconsistent with what the Believers as a body are doing. This is one reason why I get on the congregation about being late for Sunday service. When we come together in one place, God considers us as one entity. Any thing one person does that is contrary to what the group is doing can hinder everyone else. That person is quenching the Holy Spirit.
Space does not permit me to discuss the Holy Spirit's divine qualities, such as being everlasting (Hebrews 9:14), being omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-10), being omniscient (1 Corinthians 2:10), doing divine works (Genesis 1:1-3), the ability to raise the dead (Romans 8:11), and so forth.
My Goodness...Thank you all for pouring forth from your heart and your spirit. I certainly felt the Holy Spirit guiding us...FREE THINKER, my prayer tonight is that you will read this..and perhaps we may read your comments..what is it like to be who you are and where you are coming from...Yet what's even more important is where are you headed...
ReplyDelete