Monday, January 19, 2004

An Aside
- or
Puffed Up With Pride


This proselytizing/witnessing/evangelizing stuff is dangerous. One nice comment, & I feel like I'm somebody, hot stuff. The cool thing is God knew it was coming.

Went to church yesterday - I don't usually, but sometimes I do. I have not been baptized, but would like to be. So I talked to the preacher about it after church. I don't want to become a member of any particular church at the moment and am not even set on a preferred denomination, but I would like to be baptized in the presence of other christians. The preacher (baptist) kept harping on the repent and accept Jesus bit, which is important but I've done that. Now I want to be baptized. I couldn't get my point across. This poor preacher so badly wanted to save me. I was tempted to lie and say I was a cocaine-addicted prostitute involved with gun-running just so he could led me to God and have that feather in his cap. It would have made him so happy.
I left there a little bemused and more than a little frustrated - also unbaptized and nothing scheduled.

But I don't think there was any harm in the old guy - he just wanted to shine so brightly for the glory of God so badly he couldn't see that fireworks weren't really required at that moment.

I wouldn't have had that encounter if my battery hadn't failed after church. I wasn't actually planning on talking to the preacher just yet, but since I was stuck there while some very nice church members jiggled my cable, I figured I might as well. God stuck me at church, and highlighted a pitfall that I need to avoid.

Thanks, God. You know I have lots of pride, so this should help me hopefully keep my ego under control. If not, maybe it will at least help others see one of the problems that can arise when they look to your creatures for guidance. God, help me squash my eqo and where I fail, turn it to Your advantage and protect others from taking my foolishness too seriously. But also God, THANK YOU for the blessing of Serenity and her support. Her questions make me question and I will get closer to You through the knowledge she is forcing me into, plus she's just nice. Lead me not into temptation - deliver me from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the glory, and the power forever.

It's blooming

hard

to post this stuff. It's very personal.

Gulp.. here goes . .

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