Christ_empowered
Member
wow. it really does happen. Even in America....even for --me--, a former postmodernist, junkie, flamer turned Christ...in The Bible Belt ("1,000 miles wide, 1 inch deep").
I"m not trying to be too harsh on southern culture. I'm pretty sure I"d be in a state hospital up north or...whoa, anywhere -except- the south. That's not the issue, its just...
the reality of persecution, as a believer, has only recently hit home with me. A bit over 5 years ago (before I actually got saved), I was still alive, my hair had mostly grown back, and I thought....Jesus had healed me. Yes, there's mental illness involved, lol. And now...
I've been genuinely saved for 5 years. I'm -not- a flamer. I'm healthy. I'm bright eyed. I'm even "extremely intelligent," in terms of IQ estimates. None of this should be happening, the way things usually go. Generally speaking, HIV+, sickly, dead eyed, 95 IQ "weaklings" don't live very long, much less turn out the way I have (all God's doing, of course). SO, the result? "Oh, yeah. 'Jesus healed him.' Whatever. We broke that freak and now he's Schizophrenic."
Ouch. When I was thoroughly and truly broken, everyone laughed and said there was nothing wrong with me. Now, I've been made remarkably whole, and I"m labeled as broken and "Schizophrenic." Oh well. At least I get disability and come from a "good family."
SO...yeah. Persecution. Happens to all of us, and that's my current, personal example. Do you have any personal experiences you'd like to share?
I"m not trying to be too harsh on southern culture. I'm pretty sure I"d be in a state hospital up north or...whoa, anywhere -except- the south. That's not the issue, its just...
the reality of persecution, as a believer, has only recently hit home with me. A bit over 5 years ago (before I actually got saved), I was still alive, my hair had mostly grown back, and I thought....Jesus had healed me. Yes, there's mental illness involved, lol. And now...
I've been genuinely saved for 5 years. I'm -not- a flamer. I'm healthy. I'm bright eyed. I'm even "extremely intelligent," in terms of IQ estimates. None of this should be happening, the way things usually go. Generally speaking, HIV+, sickly, dead eyed, 95 IQ "weaklings" don't live very long, much less turn out the way I have (all God's doing, of course). SO, the result? "Oh, yeah. 'Jesus healed him.' Whatever. We broke that freak and now he's Schizophrenic."
Ouch. When I was thoroughly and truly broken, everyone laughed and said there was nothing wrong with me. Now, I've been made remarkably whole, and I"m labeled as broken and "Schizophrenic." Oh well. At least I get disability and come from a "good family."
SO...yeah. Persecution. Happens to all of us, and that's my current, personal example. Do you have any personal experiences you'd like to share?