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Online Minister

I was "born again" about 20(?) years ago, shortly after having an out-of-body experience. Since then it's been about becoming a mature Christian, and helping others find the Lord.

Here's the thing: I am specifically worried about one family member, who is an atheist. I want this person to be saved even if God is not specifically telling me to help him (He is not telling me not to, either). I'm willing to try just about anything, no matter how kooky. I don't care how silly it makes me look personally, as long as it works.
 
KevinK said:
I was "born again" about 20(?) years ago, shortly after having an out-of-body experience. Since then it's been about becoming a mature Christian, and helping others find the Lord.

Here's the thing: I am specifically worried about one family member, who is an atheist. I want this person to be saved even if God is not specifically telling me to help him (He is not telling me not to, either). I'm willing to try just about anything, no matter how kooky. I don't care how silly it makes me look personally, as long as it works.
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that has nothing to do with you being a minister. understand one does not need to be ordained to witness . your family member who is atheist .pray for them try to talk to them. being saved 20 years you should know the voice of God .keep praying and listening HE will tell you. family is very hard to deal with.i have family members that are not excited or even care if i preach. they are as excited about preaching or church as i am watching Golf on t.v or even play the game. don't ride your family member hard.it will turn them off. show them love and concern throw a word in here there.. pray. remember 1 plants 1 waters God gets increase. :thumbsup :amen
 
Problem is that those online ordination places are a joke at best and outright scandalous at worst. And most people know this so you will not gain their respect by having this certificate from them. You don't need a piece of paper saying you are ordained to do what you are talking about doing. You only need that for legal procedures such as conducting a marriage where you sign a government marriage license. Your online ordination certificate will not be accepted by any legitimate church or religious organization, and in fact will be a detriment that you will need to hide from them to avoid loosing their respect. Unless you are looking for preferential tax benefits as a religious organization or wanting to perform legal marriages I can only see having one of those as a drawback. And be aware that a lot of those websites make it public record of who they have ordained. So even if you try to hide where you got your ordination paper, a Google search can and probably will expose it. (Yes, I've done this, and exposed an "ordained minister" who was applying for a job at a church I was involved with.)
 
KevinK said:
...I'm willing to try just about anything, no matter how kooky. I don't care how silly it makes me look personally, as long as it works.
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Believe me, making yourself look silly will not convince anyone to turn their lives over to Jesus. If anything, it will make them even more resistant. Only the Holy Spirit can change a heart for Christ, and all you can do is pray for him and be ready to act if and when the Holy Spirit uses you as part of His work. It will have absolutely nothing to do with your getting a worthless ordination paper from some unscrupulous online organization.
 
Obadiah said:
Believe me, making yourself look silly will not convince anyone to turn their lives over to Jesus. If anything, it will make them even more resistant. Only the Holy Spirit can change a heart for Christ, and all you can do is pray for him and be ready to act if and when the Holy Spirit uses you as part of His work. It will have absolutely nothing to do with your getting a worthless ordination paper from some unscrupulous online organization.
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Well, no, I'm not trying to look silly to get attention. I meant doing something that may look silly as an unwanted side effect, not an end to itself. I understand your other points, however, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
 
ezra said:
that has nothing to do with you being a minister. understand one does not need to be ordained to witness . your family member who is atheist .pray for them try to talk to them. being saved 20 years you should know the voice of God .keep praying and listening HE will tell you. family is very hard to deal with.i have family members that are not excited or even care if i preach. they are as excited about preaching or church as i am watching Golf on t.v or even play the game. don't ride your family member hard.it will turn them off. show them love and concern throw a word in here there.. pray. remember 1 plants 1 waters God gets increase. :thumbsup :amen
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I guess I won't do it, then. Thank you for your thoughts.
 
KevinK said:
I guess I won't do it, then. Thank you for your thoughts.
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no do not seek ordination from the net. if you feel the call talk with your pastor a lot of Churches do their own ordination . in some cases they license you for a year .to see if you will stick with it.then examine you at the end of the year. if they think your ready then .they will set a time place for your ordination service. that is how we do it in our association
 
Angel said:
Well, your hearts in the right place. :)
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Thank you. I appreciate that. It's just that, did I mention, the place I visited in my vision was the current Hell. I mean, that place. I wouldn't send my worst enemy there, much less someone I cared about (not that I don't care about everyone).
 
I only visited the outermost level, I use the term "outer darkness" (although some people use that term to refer to all of Hell). It was darkness, completely devoid of emotions other than fear and emptiness. It was like clinical depression x 1000. But by far the worst feeling was the separation from God. You sometimes don't know what you have until it's taken away from you. Coupled with the realization that your situation will never change.
 
My vision changed the course of my entire life. (Not that there haven't been some rocky points since.) I was simply not the person the Lord wanted me to be. I'm still a loooooong way from perfection, believe me. But at least I know that now.

And to put it another way, the Lord (didn't meet Him, unfortunately) showed me that I deserved to be there. He was right. The only reason I would not end up there is His mercy. I found out why Jesus is said to be the "Way, the Truth, the Life". There is no other way to be saved. I've studied Buddhism, Taoism, New Age...none of it will keep you out of that place. I don't even know why those other things exist.
 
Satan disguises other religions as the truth. For instance, the Law of Attraction. It see's "God" as a force. They even use Jesus's words, but didn't acknowledge that He is our Savior, or anything like that.
Funny... last night I was praying that God would save people who think they are saved but are not. What I was sad about most is that some Jewish people are so passionate about God, but are missing Jesus. :sad Ive seen video of them kissing the wall of the temple. They love God so much... it hurts to know they aren't going to heaven unless they turn to God's Son.
 
Good analysis. And about Jewish people...if I were Jewish, I would be a Messianic Jew like Sid Roth. OK, maybe not like Sid Roth, but you get the idea. :lol
 
Do any of you guys (guys, girls) watch the Bill Wiese testimonies? Some people think he is scam; after my own experience, I don't think so. He saw (and experienced) a lot more of Hell than I did.
 
KevinK said:
My vision changed the course of my entire life. (Not that there haven't been some rocky points since.) I was simply not the person the Lord wanted me to be. I'm still a loooooong way from perfection, believe me. But at least I know that now.

And to put it another way, the Lord (didn't meet Him, unfortunately) showed me that I deserved to be there. He was right. The only reason I would not end up there is His mercy. I found out why Jesus is said to be the "Way, the Truth, the Life". There is no other way to be saved. I've studied Buddhism, Taoism, New Age...none of it will keep you out of that place. I don't even know why those other things exist.
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It's may be best not to over analyze these matters from a personal based understanding. The scriptures (Word) and Spirit will (eventually) advise/disclose what happened, and why. Until then, don't presume on anything that transpired. If you heard voices for example, these in particular have to be closely examined for accuracy.

Spiritual experiences have to be harmonized and assessed with/to the Word/Spirit not much differently than theological studies are.
 
It isn't personal. I wasn't the only one there. This isn't my interpretation. It's what I was told.
 
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