tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701493905444060883.post4556712380880970792..comments2023-10-14T07:25:20.552-07:00Comments on Adventures of the Spirit: FriendsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12146000148674092586noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701493905444060883.post-61603167576487807302011-01-12T11:40:40.182-08:002011-01-12T11:40:40.182-08:00To love our neighbor, Christian or Non-Christian i...To love our neighbor, Christian or Non-Christian is the highest endeavor possible after loving God. It is what God calls us to do. Mt 22:39 and Lk 10:30-37 Leading someone to Christ is the greatest act of love possible Christian to Non-Christian. Yet many non-saved don't want to be a notch in our Bible, or just a number. "That's 3 so far this year"<br />We often win them by loving them and letting them see and experience Christ through us.<br />It is right in God's sight to establish friendships outside the church. <br /><br />1 Cor 5:9-11 9. I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. 11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous..."<br /><br />If we make friends with non-disciples why not do it with a positive attitude and enjoy it as much as possible? <br /><br />Still I agree with Mr. Sasser and would state it this way: If we do not make an effort to bring them to the Lord, we do not truly love (agape) them. Secondly, God's warnings in Proverbs and other scriptures make it clear that the possible danger to our own soul is very real when we prefer the non-saved. What Christian has not seen someone leave the Lord because of the infuence of non-Christian friends.<br /><br />Love God,follow his teachings and He will give us the proper balance.--Mike BrennemanLisa Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01055829844622987042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701493905444060883.post-13743352249479915862011-01-09T08:17:32.437-08:002011-01-09T08:17:32.437-08:00I'm posting this for a reader who was unable t...I'm posting this for a reader who was unable to get it to post:<br /><br />Randy, a very good Sunday morning to you. You mentioned your son having friends that are not Christians, that he seems to enjoy being around and associated with better than he does<br />being around his brethren in Christ. And he and you were wondering if non-Christians were more agreeable and easier to get along with than with Christians? And should we not desire<br />to be associated with such people, who seem to be much more agreeable and easier to associate with than our own brethren in Christ?<br /><br />It is a possibility that we enjoy being with non-Christians and enjoy their company more than we do our own brethren. It seems that the question is: "should we be like this, to t he point of desiring non-Christian company more than we do the company of our own brethren in Christ?<br /><br />It is indicated by the inspired apostle Paul and others that we prefer to be with our own brethren than with the people of the world. We are told to do good to all men, "especially those of the household of faith." We are also warned that evil companionship corrupts good morals. We are told to desire the company of the "children of light" more than the "children of darkness." It matters not how morally good, and agreeable, our non-Christian friends might be, they are still unclean because they have not been washed in the blood of the Lamb to become children of God. If they are blinded to the point of not seeing the need to be born again Christians, then to follow with them and<br />prefer their company, is to follow the blind and therefore fall into the ditch with them. Cornelius was a good man that even the<br />Jews respected and enjoyed his company to a certain degree seemingly, but he was told to send to Joppa and fetch Peter so that he might tell him words whereby he might be saved. It doesn't matter how much we enjoy the company of non-Christians, we are still obligated to try our very best to convert them to Christ. If we prefer their company to the point that we will not try to convert them, we are allowing our friendship to get in the way of doing our duty toward them. Such people, even though we enjoy their company, are still not walking in the light as Christ and Christians are in the light. So, they are not to be our preferred associates, in contrast to our brethren in Christ. It doesn't matter if we enjoy their company or not, they are still not to be preferred above our own brethren in Christ. We are told to "seek first the kingdom of Christ" the ones making up that kingdom. So, to a certain extent we can be associated with people of the world, but not to the extent of preferring their company rather than, or more than we do our own brethren in Christ. Is <br />this not so? ----------- Jim SasserAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12146000148674092586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701493905444060883.post-44895577423331200872011-01-07T16:07:54.904-08:002011-01-07T16:07:54.904-08:00Good question. One issue that non-Christians can ...Good question. One issue that non-Christians can not do very well for Christians is to encourage them to love the church and their fellow believers. Unfortunately, outside of the gospels, we don't see Christians writing about their strugges and doubts although Paul writes to Christian who are struggling.<br /><br />PascalPascal's Penseshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04619315995993507561noreply@blogger.com