Welcome to the Mighty Men Training Institute

Here is the first help email we got at the Christian Youth Crew myspace and the corresponding reply we published in our blog. Email is in bold and reply is what follows. Would like to get any input you guys can offer. I've been bouncing these emails off James and getting his thoughts and molding it all together with what gets spoken to me. So any comments are more than happily accepted and desires. 

 

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I'm not much of a believer, but I kno God's watching over me..I have not yet been baptised and I dont read the good book as often as I should. Can this be why I'am having problems in my life? I cant keep a good relatinship with a girl, I have no relationship with my father ( I kinda dislike him alot right now), I'm almost 20 and have nothin to show for it. Alot of bad things keep happening to me..but I always tell myself that God has a plan for me and he reveal it to me when the time is right. My question is how wiil I know? When will I know? what do I have to do? Am I truly a lost soul?


Here is the great thing about being a Christian. We have a God who will clean your slate the moment you want him to. Forgiveness and love is yours as a gift from him. It's not something you earn or purchase, it's something you accept. So whether you're 20, or 30 or 75 it doesn't matter. What matters is your recognizing that you could live fuller as a Christian. To say that you're having problems because you're not reading the Bible enough or not walking in His path isn't the way to look at it. We will all face troubles no matter how deep we walk with God. We're told that here:

James Chapter 1 ²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Our faith is like a muscle and unless we get a chance to work it out, it'll never truly grow and get stronger. Walking with God doesn't necessarily give us a bullet proof vest to deflect trials and tribulations. Rather it enhances our ability to deal with those situations, to have faith that everything will work out and to not let our problems rule our lives. The Bible teaches us so many things about living our lives including being good husbands, parents, children, teachers, students and humans in general. So I wouldn't say your relationships with others are suffering because of your distance from being a more devote Christian but rather being a devote Christian will help you in developing those relationships, nurturing them, getting over the hurdles involved and making them last. No soul is lost. Jesus Christ died to make that so. And if you want to get into the Christian life more, don't feel the need to go all out right away. Take it slow and let it grow. Start with hitting http://www.biblegateway.com every day and reading the verse of the day. Plant the seed, brother. God and his followers will help you make it grow.