I reckon since the Christian stuff just kinda
popped up here - I should give a little background for clarity. First of all, it has been going on in my life
for awhile now and suddenly I felt compelled to share this experience as I do
with most of the rest of my life. All my family have
been church goers for generations.
Growing up, I had the benefit of being exposed to a Christian life. I attended Sunday
school each week for 8 years, then "graduated" to regular church
services for 4 more years. Once I was in
college, I stopped going to church. I
was all gung ho to jump into the world.
From age 19 up to 50, I lived without any personal connection to Christ.
About 2 years before I moved to the desert, I was reunited with my Crazy Aunt Jean. She was not crazy...but that is what we
called each other (I was crazy nephew John). We hadn't seen each
other in over 30 years but all that time melted away and we were best friends
again instantly. I stayed with her
several times at her home in Circle City, AZ.
She was loaded with faith. Because of my great respect for her, some of that faith started to rub off on me. BTW - Aunt Jean used to baby sit me and my
brother when we were kids. She was the
one that told us that our mother had gone to Denver to get married to that guy
that came around all the time ( I was 5 years old). We spent
the next day getting a "Welcome Dad" party ready. My
new step father became the greatest positive influence in my life. He died 8 months before I moved here. Crazy Aunt Jean died 2 years ago.
So I come out here to build my off grid
empire...and because of my Aunt Jean, I
started giving a little prayer of thanks each day at sunset. (I have a lot of free time with
no distractions so I can really think about the crazy path my life has taken)
One day a couple of months ago,
my friends Rebecca and Leddie come by for a tour of the greenhouse. These two are about as genuine as you
get. We did the tour and I told Rebecca
I've been meaning to come to Church services but something always comes up. She said simply, "That's the devil
talkin". That comment kinda just
bounced off of me that day...but soon after I began to think...what if shes
right?
About a week later, I started thinking about what
is really holding me back from going to Church again. I really had been meaning to go. Could that really be true? Does Satan really try to guide me away from Christ? My first step is to accept Christ in faith and be aware that Satan will try to convince me otherwise. I thought long and hard about the something else that stuck in my mind...But what if I become "one of
them...a saved CHRISTIAN"? From my own experience and thanks to the media, I have a very vivid notion about the stereotypical Saved Christian. I thought about that aspect
for awhile and decided of the choices I have today - that might not be so
bad, and I can certainly become my own version of my perception. I have jumped in feet first with
the notion that there is a Satan that will try to persuade me otherwise and
faith that the Bible is a true written history and our only chance for
eternal salvation. It really doesn't take that much effort
(just faith) so why not give it a shot. It is going
well and I have great respect for Bonnie Cain as a real friend and for her
message each Sunday. Like everything else
out here...this is a work in progress.
Matthew 13 : 9 Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!"10 His disciples came and asked him, "Why do you always tell stories when you talk to the people?" 11 Then he explained to them, "You have been permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others have not. 12 To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But to those who are not listening, even what they have will be taken away from them. 13 That is why I tell these stories, because people see what I do, but they don't really see. They hear what I say, but they don't really hear, and they don't understand. 14 This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: 'You will hear my words, but you will not understand; you will see what I do, but you will not perceive its meaning. 15 For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes -- so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.'
