Baptist Minister Accused of Defrauding Investors

That is so sad. I wonder where a man with like this started to slip and why it got so bad if he is a Christian. I would think that the Holy Spirit would convict him of this before it reached this point...

Until Next Post, Adam

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by flyfree432:


That is so sad. I wonder where a man with like this started to slip and why it got so bad if he is a Christian. I would think that the Holy Spirit would convict him of this before it reached this point...

Until Next Post, Adam<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Until Next Post, Adam[/QB][/QUOTE]

It really IS sad Adam. ANd if he is saved, the Holy Spirit is probably was convicting him of this the whole time...he was choosing not to listen and to turn a deaf ear on it. As for the other part....how it got so bad if he is a christian...well, spoken from a true sinner saved by grace right here....it got that bad because he let it! People can say what they want about the so called "falling" into sin..I disagree. Most of the time when someone falls it is an accident. (same with the phrase "slip away" from Christ) Also, a fall happens suddenly, and usually very quickly. Not so with sin. Sin plants its seeds into the very depth of our hearts. The seed starts out so small that a lot of the time, we dont even notice it's presence. The seed could be just a single thought, in his case "I wish I had more money" Well, that in itself isn't so terrible...it's when we "water" the seed that it develops roots, your heart becomes ensnared in them. The fact that we are christians does not mean that we can't or won't sin. We are capable of the same heinous crimes as the unsaved. It doesn't mean we aren't saved (i know you weren't saying otherwise adam)When it comes to sin though, there is one HUGE difference between the saved and the unsaved. When we commit our lives to Christ he gives us something that the unsaved don't have (aside from eternal life of course) and that is He gives us the ability NOT to sin. He gives us power over sin. When a christian sins, no matter how big or small of a sin it may be, it doesn't happen because we are just so weak or anything like that...it happens because we CHOOSE NOT to call on that power that Christ has given us. Kind of like trying to play baseball while your bat is laying down over the plate. (or for the sake of this example we'll call it your "shield") It's not going to do you a whole lot of good until you pick it up. With the unsaved, in their present spiritual condition, they simply can't help it. Because until they are saved by God's grace they have absolutly NO power over sin. They don't have the ability NOT to sin.
What's sad to me is that we, as christians have this wonderful strenth or power over sin that Christ gives us yet we seem to tire easily. I won't speak for anyone else, but I do know for sure that I am saved and have a home in heaven with a big ole' sign that says "SOLD" across it. It certainly was sold, it was bought for me personally by Jesus. Even with that, I still tire...sometimes I may put my shield down to take a break for a bit. The moment I do this, that's satan's cue to move in for battle. He conducts himself much in the same way as these terrorists that hit our nation do. He waits until we feel safe, confident, self-assured (it's be easier to just say Pride...he waits till pride raises its ugly head)The moment our guard is down, he moves. I went through this all too much earlier in my walk with Christ. Which is one of the many reasons I feel so strongly about abstaining from alcohol. I certainly wouldn't want soldiers who were supposed to be protecting and guarding me, putting ANYTHING into their bodies that will cloud or dull the senses. It's my opinion that that is exactly what happens when we drink. Even for those who say, I only have one beer or one glass...even if it's just the most itsy-bitsy fraction of your senses that are dulled, not even enough that you would notice...SATAN NOTICES. He sees the hole it the armor...Hed knows that you can't hold your shield AND your sword AND a drink. At least you can't hold them both and use them effectivly while trying to drink or hold your drink. I know that looking back in my own life, during the times that I defended christians using alcohol...I can see where I was pretty tolerant of alot of things. It wasn't listed in our standard for membership that we abstain, so I didn't! Many people mistake a churches standards for membership for the word doctrine. There is a difference. Once I found myself in a church that had adopted these higher standards, I found myself striving towards a closer, more intimate walk with God. Anyway, I didn't mean for this to get so long, I just wanted to clarify the desire to sin versus the ability NOT to. Too many times I've heard "Well, we're only human" or "the temptation just got to be too strong, they just couldn't handle it any more, they fell" I doubt it's the tempation getting stronger...more likely it's us lowering our shield. (spending less time reading God's word, spending less time in prayer,"oversleeping" on sunday...etc)

 

By the way this sounds, this man is no more a Baptist minister than he is a businessman. Sounds like a total TBN type shyster to me. I'd hate to be him on judgment day. Funny how the world rejects Jesus, but they always trust in frauds that come in the name of Jesus.

 

No Joke Bob! Kinda like how some people find is SOOOO easy to believe that we somehow "evolved" from Apes, yet the idea that we were created by God seems to be a ridiculous concept for them! (although, the ape theory would make since out of my kids messiness!lol...Think I'll look elsewhere for the source of THAT problem! )

 

Very good post Nicole! thanks

Especially considering i know in my life that I'm dealing with sin that I won't let go of because its deals with something...shall i say embarressing so i refuse to get help.. . kindof stuck between a rock and a hard place!

'til next Post, Adam

[ September 23, 2001: Message edited by: flyfree432 ]