Ravi makes an awesome point at 26:40 - that whole disingenuous questioner thing.
Thanks for the offer to talk, by the way. I may take you up on it sometime.
Anyway, as I said, you're not the only one struggling with pride. But to be honest, I think the hardest part of that battle is recognizing it in the first place. It's funny - before I left the church me and a close friend were talking about this subject. We must have pointed out examples of our pride for at least an hour, then compared ourselves to those we perceived as more holy and wallowed in despair. But I dare assert I'd rather be cognizant of many faults then ignorant of only a few. The trick is recognizing your redeemed nature in Christ and accepting that it's the enemies works through you and not yourself that's the problem. Condemning yourself will lead down a terribly dark path, one I'm trying to escape. Just know that every single trial you encounter is literally a blessing. How else would you grow? Being chosen for a difficult task implies that God knew you would not only be capable of bearing that burden(s), but that you would have the faith to walk out in it... I've often said (at least for me) that I'd rather endure my burdens rather than have them lifted until I've derived all God wanted me to learn from them. In other words, I don't want to "tap out" of a fight. Ever heard of the International House of Prayer? They have a conference every year, and I'll be attending it (In KC Missouri). Hopefully I'll be able to recover ties with my peers. You should check it out!
It's nice to here you've got your head on straight. You remind me of myself in some ways - It's difficult, but I think the revelation of your faults is a tremendous blessing. This has been one of the things God's just been speaking to me over and over again: He's placed me in an extremely difficult trial, but I'm just so conceited that I never fully yield to Him and instead try to conquer it by myself. Well, it's been a few years since I've tried that. After dropping out of church, forsaking all of my previous friend ship, and a few suicide attempts later, it's kind of finally hitting me. I went to a conference in Georgia (I'm in MI) a week ago. It was basically teachings on healing and our position in Christ from 8am-6pm ish for 5 days. Needless to say, exhausting. But I've felt like I was fighting my battles completely blind - like the enemy was throwing punches and I couldn't do anything but take them... But, while I haven't by any means been healed of my infirmities, I know the course I must take. Firstly, forgiving those who hurt me in the church, followed by asking for their forgiveness for forsaking them and neglecting my duties as a spiritual leader to my peers. I'm glad to hear your family is doing better. Hopefully mine will follow suit. Anyway, I'm sure you're familiar with the whole "build your house of solid ground" analogy. But it fascinates me how often David says to "focus on God's statues and laws." Like, I counted one time and it was like 28 times in one chapter. In addition, one thing that is becoming more real to me is when Paul said to "take every thought captive." That's like, a big deal. I cannot fathom how much better I'd be if I didn't dwell in bitterness, fabricating stories to justify my hatred of my church. I go (or went, I'm trying to go back) to a house church of like 90 people, so we were pretty tight until crap happened to me and I left. Now the only friends I've ever had don't really talk to me.
If you want to talk about your situation, you can feel free to PM me.
I've heard of Mr. Ravi, his name is awesome LOL Thanks for sending this video bro, it's just what I needed, i'm about 16:00 minutes in now. This has been like the focal point that God's got me on right now, so it's funny you send me this video. Without him, the most basic of basic of things I have trouble doing. By nature we're just terrible, and we get a tiny bit of knowledge or understanding and think we know everything. We're in great need the human race... But anyway, it's good hearing from you. I know what you mean, life has been very up and down right now for the world, especially God's people. God's bringing me to a place to learn and be at peace regardless of how hopeless a situation might look, and keep in contact with him. God's word is becoming more and more real to me by the day. It's exposed a lot of pride and selfishness in me. My family been at it, and it seemed like as a whole we were falling away from God, hit ground zero basically, but we're rebuilding it looks like on HIS principles this time. It's not perfect, being attacked from several different places, but God looks out for his people...
Struggling... I'm at a rough point in my life, but at least I know what to do. What about you? I see your video and return with my own: Need God? What if I don't? (Ravi Zacharias) - YouTube I'll watch yours
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=8pV9-mxcsKY
How you been bro?
I'm a month late... -_- LOL But yeah, I think those names ring a bit of a bell.
Yep :/ Theology, philosophy, a good amount of Bible. I really like reading Ronald Nash and Arthur Pink's work...
True, studying can be a bit of a strain regardless of what it is. I guess cause we're lazy by nature and want to do a bunch of stuff thats not studying? LOL Oh well... I'm curious, what are you studying?
Why thank you. Eh, studying a lot mostly. Kind of a difficult time for me so I haven't been all that peachy. But I'm still here.
Hey cuz, I'm good. Just trying to improve in the areas of humility, truth, and love, and give thanks to God everyday. How you feeling? Oh, and I like your name, it's catchy LOL
What up, beloved of the Most High.
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