From New Age to Jesus Testimonies

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Winston
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From New Age to Jesus Testimonies

Post by Winston »

Wow @Adama and @MrMan will love this and be touched by it. This former New Age author named Steven Bancarz, who co-managed the popular Spirit Science website, explains in this genuine testimony below about how he abandoned his New Age beliefs and turned to Jesus. It's very touching and moving. He explains why he gave up a profitable venture as a New Age writer, where he was making good money, to become a Christian and serve Jesus. It's a very powerful testimony, and authentic too, whether you agree with his choice or not.



Here is his website. It has a nice ring to it. lol

http://www.reasonsforjesus.com

I posted this to him in the comments section:

"Steven, very touching testimony. I'll share it with my forum. But how do you explain the testimonies of the reverse - where people convert from Christianity to New Age or other religions? They are also honest people in search of truth too. I have written such a testimony as well, which even Christians say is very touching. I invite you to read it and let me know what you think. Here's the link: http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/Christian_Story.htm "
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Re: From New Age to Jesus - Touching Christian Testimony by Steven Bancarz

Post by Winston »

Here are some videos by Steven Bancarz where he explains why the New Age movement is Satanic and exposes its founders. @Adama will love these.



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Re: From New Age to Jesus - Touching Christian Testimony by Steven Bancarz

Post by MrMan »

Thanks for sharing.
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Re: From New Age to Jesus - Touching Christian Testimony by Steven Bancarz

Post by Winston »

MrMan wrote:
December 15th, 2017, 2:33 am
Thanks for sharing.
Did you see it? What did you think of his testimony?

Why would someone feel so compelled to abandon his new age beliefs like that and others do not?

Also his claim that he could afford such a huge house just from adsense income alone seems implausible. That house looked like a million dollar house at least. I dont think any new age writer could make that much even if he had a lot of traffic on his site. The owner of plenty of fish could afford that but he's the highest adsense earner in the world.
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Re: From New Age to Jesus - Touching Christian Testimony by Steven Bancarz

Post by MrMan »

Winston wrote:
December 15th, 2017, 7:22 am
MrMan wrote:
December 15th, 2017, 2:33 am
Thanks for sharing.
Did you see it? What did you think of his testimony?

Why would someone feel so compelled to abandon his new age beliefs like that and others do not?

Also his claim that he could afford such a huge house just from adsense income alone seems implausible. That house looked like a million dollar house at least. I dont think any new age writer could make that much even if he had a lot of traffic on his site. The owner of plenty of fish could afford that but he's the highest adsense earner in the world.
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Re: From New Age to Jesus - Touching Christian Testimony by Steven Bancarz

Post by Winston »

MrMan, why did you quote me but said nothing in reply? Lol. You must be very absent minded today. Lol
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Re: From New Age to Jesus - Touching Testimonies

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Another New Age to Jesus testimony. This one from a hot girl. There seems to be a lot of these.

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Re: From New Age to Jesus - Touching Testimonies

Post by Adama »

Winston wrote:
December 14th, 2017, 7:15 pm
I posted this to him in the comments section:

"Steven, very touching testimony. I'll share it with my forum. But how do you explain the testimonies of the reverse - where people convert from Christianity to New Age or other religions? They are also honest people in search of truth too. I have written such a testimony as well, which even Christians say is very touching. I invite you to read it and let me know what you think. Here's the link: http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/Christian_Story.htm "

I just read the first few huge paragraphs of your story again.

Why would you think it was your fault if someone refuses Christ? I think you took too much upon yourself. It isn't you doing the saving. It is God, but also, if they don't want it, it wouldn't be your fault. It is their fault for refusing the truth.

why would you blame yourself?

I also think you may not have been teaching the true gospel, which can't get anyone saved anyhow. Why do I think that? Because of a fundamental lack of understanding which I see.

Also, what does missing out on a cute girl at age 15 have to do with anything?

So these two events shaped your life? Along with friends departing?

I think you set your heart in the wrong place. It seems to me as if you set your heart on having an abundance of friends. Nothing wrong with having friends, but what do people have to do with your happiness? People are going to disappoint you. Read Jeremiah 9. TRUST YE NOT IN ANY BROTHER: FOR EVERY BROTHER WILL UTTERLY SUPPLANT, AND EVERY NEIGHBOR WILL WALK WITH SLANDERS.

This whole earth is full with bad people. That's their choice, not God's.

And also, it seems like nothing truly bad happened to you up to that point.
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Re: From New Age to Jesus - Touching Testimonies

Post by Adama »

Now let's put myself in the place of a nonbeliever. Suppose I was a boy in Africa some time in the past who had lived and died without ever hearing the Gospel. This means that no matter how good or bad or anything I was, I was guaranteed to go to hell anyway not only because I was never saved, but because I was born a sinner as a result of the Fall of Man and never even knew it?
I don't even know why people keep thinking of these scenarios that they come up with. Haven't these people ever heard of missionaries? Soul winners? Evangelists? For goodness sake. People are giving the gospel all across the world, except for those Muslim places where they threaten to kill evangelists.

As if God is not able to save those who He wants to get saved? If God values a person's soul, He will get them the gospel message one way or another. Now it must be that some people don't believe in the power of God.

The other thing is, God is watching and measuring everything a person does, from the beginning. At a certain point, if a person clings to lies or other forms of evil, such as cruelty, then God may no longer show interest in that person. Or if a person repeatedly rejects God's outstretched hand over and over (probably because they think they are smarter and wiser than God, or they refuse to believe there is a God because they don't want to bend the knee to the King and obey), He may simply give them their wish and leave them alone, forever.
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Re: From New Age to Jesus - Touching Testimonies

Post by Winston »

Testimonies from girls who were saved from New Age and Occult by turning to Jesus.





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Re: From New Age to Jesus - Touching Testimonies

Post by Adama »

Winston wrote:
January 19th, 2018, 1:52 am
From testimonies from young girls who were saved from New Age and Occult by turning to Jesus.
But what does saved mean? What is salvation, Winston?

Saved from what?

Could it be that they are saved from condemnation? From hellfire? From eternal damnation? From eternal torment and fear?

Or have they succumbed to "scare tactics" as the atheists like to tell us?

Because if all religions are equal, then there is nothing to be saved from, and definitely switching from one religion to another wouldn't save anyone from anything.
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Re: From New Age to Jesus - Touching Testimonies

Post by Winston »

Adama wrote:
January 18th, 2018, 4:06 pm
Winston wrote:
December 14th, 2017, 7:15 pm
I posted this to him in the comments section:

"Steven, very touching testimony. I'll share it with my forum. But how do you explain the testimonies of the reverse - where people convert from Christianity to New Age or other religions? They are also honest people in search of truth too. I have written such a testimony as well, which even Christians say is very touching. I invite you to read it and let me know what you think. Here's the link: http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/Christian_Story.htm "

I just read the first few huge paragraphs of your story again.

Why would you think it was your fault if someone refuses Christ? I think you took too much upon yourself. It isn't you doing the saving. It is God, but also, if they don't want it, it wouldn't be your fault. It is their fault for refusing the truth.

why would you blame yourself?

I also think you may not have been teaching the true gospel, which can't get anyone saved anyhow. Why do I think that? Because of a fundamental lack of understanding which I see.

Also, what does missing out on a cute girl at age 15 have to do with anything?

So these two events shaped your life? Along with friends departing?

I think you set your heart in the wrong place. It seems to me as if you set your heart on having an abundance of friends. Nothing wrong with having friends, but what do people have to do with your happiness? People are going to disappoint you. Read Jeremiah 9. TRUST YE NOT IN ANY BROTHER: FOR EVERY BROTHER WILL UTTERLY SUPPLANT, AND EVERY NEIGHBOR WILL WALK WITH SLANDERS.

This whole earth is full with bad people. That's their choice, not God's.

And also, it seems like nothing truly bad happened to you up to that point.
Because I felt like if I could be loving and holy and pure like Christ, then they would convert. So I wasn't living up to my full potential. It's not just about telling people about Jesus. You have to live like Christ and set an example. It was too high a standard to fulfill. So I felt inadequate and responsible for people going to hell. Especially my family.

Why would I lack understanding of the Christian gospel or be teaching the wrong one by Christian standards? Christianity is not rocket science. It's dumbed down for the average layman. You know the drill: "You are a sinner. You need a savior for your sins. Believe in Jesus and you will be saved." Etc. It's very simple and elementary. We've all heard it. What are you getting at? What's more complicated than that? The gospel is very simple and not complex at all. It's not a theological seminary.

About the friends departing and having heartache for a while or being lonely, etc, well it's all suffering for me. I have feelings. I need love and friendship and good times. I don't like always being a hermit. Yet circumstances always make me a hermit. That's why I had to follow the axiom of "extreme situations require extreme measures" and go abroad and leave the matrix.

I also felt that if I was a good person and a good Christian, then God ought to provide me with at least a decent life and decent social life. I should not suffer if I'm a good Christian. God should help me out. Otherwise, what's the point? A parent is supposed to help their child and reward them when necessary, not make them suffer needlessly beyond their control and unjustly. So of course I felt resentful when things kept going wrong even though I was a good person. It's the classic dilemma for Christians - "why would a good God allow me to suffer unjustly?" It's a timeless question and very understandable. All great philosophers and theologians deal with this struggle and dilemma. Why do you have trouble understanding it? Strange. If everyone else understands it, and it's part of human existence, then what are you perplexed about? You don't make sense.

You know the Book of Job. Many good Christians suffer unjustly sometimes and cannot understand why so they are in the same situation as Job. Even godly men like Kent Hovind, who has saved many souls and won many souls for Christ and turned many people from Evolution, has suffered a lot of misfortune in the last 10 years. He went to jail for 10 years for tax evasion and money laundering and denying any guilt to the court. And then his wife divorced him and the Christian community criticized him for smearing his wife and son Eric in order to make himself look like a martyr. So a godlly man who lived righteously for the most part, and helped win many souls for Christ in the battle against Evolution, got punished instead of rewarded. Even if he was a tax evader and money launderer, he still didn't deserve all that. How do you explain that? No one can.

If you read the Bible, you notice that many prophets and apostles, including Paul, died as martyrs. Why didn't God protect them? It makes no sense.

Adama, what if God's plan was for you to die as a martyr too? Would you accept that? Would you protest? What if he wanted your children to die as martyrs? Tough questions huh? So you see, no paradigm is perfect. There are always questions you can't answer. All you do is ignore them.

If you could get good things in life just by going good things, then everyone would only do good things and only good things in life would occur. But reality is not that simple or linear.

You must have struggles and dilemmas too. Don't pretend that everything is simple and easy to understand and linear. Otherwise it's hard for me to believe you are a real person with a deep soul.
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Re: From New Age to Jesus - Touching Testimonies

Post by Winston »

Adama wrote:
January 19th, 2018, 7:55 am
Winston wrote:
January 19th, 2018, 1:52 am
From testimonies from young girls who were saved from New Age and Occult by turning to Jesus.
But what does saved mean? What is salvation, Winston?

Saved from what?

Could it be that they are saved from condemnation? From hellfire? From eternal damnation? From eternal torment and fear?

Or have they succumbed to "scare tactics" as the atheists like to tell us?

Because if all religions are equal, then there is nothing to be saved from, and definitely switching from one religion to another wouldn't save anyone from anything.
Why do you even ask? We all know what Christian doctrine says. Saved from sin, from condemnation and damnation, from hell, from separate from God, etc. Why do you ask such basic questions? The gospel is not rocket science. It's dumbed down for the masses. And is simple and can fit into a small tract. Haven't you read those Chick Publication tracts? They are small and simple comic book stories.

How old are you? When did you become a Christian? I was probably involved in evangelism before you were born.

Btw, I used a Chick comic book about evolution once to witness to a friend in school. He said it made sense and turned from evolution and became a Christian. So I at least won one soul for Christ. I felt blessed from it. But it's not easy to convert people and doesn't happen often.

Why don't you watch those videos above and see what they say rather than ask me?

I never said all religions are equal. Nor have I said that one religion is the only way. Maybe some religions work better for some people than others. The religion we are drawn to is aligned with our soul and path and vibration maybe. There are some who convert from Christianity to other religions too. There are Christian to New Age conversions and Christian to Buddhist conversions, etc.

Like I said, no paradigm is perfect and fits all the data. Not even Christianity. Like I showed earlier, there's a lot of stuff that does not fit into the Christian paradigm and which even YOU Adama cannot explain. For example you can't explain compelling cases of reincarnation or why astrology works and produces patterns beyond chance. You just dismiss them and delete them from the equation because you don't want to change your paradigm to accommodate such data that doesn't fit into it. Or you dismiss it as Satanic or demonic workings. Etc. We all know that's what you do. But sorry, it's a copout and dismissal. It's not rational or objective or fair or scientific. If the data doesn't fit your hypothesis, you gotta update your hypothesis, not throw out the data or vilify it as Satanic. Dismissing something is not a valid argument nor a convincing one. It's just human bias and opinion.

There's no way for Satan to implant false memories of past lives, especially in children. How would he do that? Can you prove that he did that? If not then it's your pure conjecture. Likewise, there's no way for Satan to make the stars produce things on earth or shape people's personalities and destinies. The old esoteric principle that says "As above, so below" says that the stars rule or reflect or align with events on Earth. How would Satan cause that or control that? How would Satanic make everyone born under a particular sun sign, like mine for instance, share certain traits? How come most of my closest male friends have the zodiac sign of Cancer? How would Satan make that happen? It makes no sense. And you don't know either. Neither can you prove it. You just say that as a dismissal tactic because you can't explain it, because such data doesn't fit your paradigm.

Learn to think critically man. Every paradigm has flaws and problems and data that doesn't fit into it. That's why a true skeptic and freethinker and truth seeker uses critical thinking against ALL paradigms and views, not just those they don't agree with or those on the other side from them. You gotta apply skepticism to your own beliefs too. Otherwise you aren't a true skeptic or freethinker, if you think your beliefs are dogmatic truth and you are unable to apply critical thinking to them. How many times do I have to explain this? Is this really hard for you to understand? I am able to apply skepticism toward my own beliefs. Why can't you?
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Re: From New Age to Jesus - Touching Testimonies

Post by Adama »

Winston wrote:
January 19th, 2018, 3:13 pm
Adama wrote:
January 19th, 2018, 7:55 am
Winston wrote:
January 19th, 2018, 1:52 am
From testimonies from young girls who were saved from New Age and Occult by turning to Jesus.
But what does saved mean? What is salvation, Winston?

Saved from what?

Could it be that they are saved from condemnation? From hellfire? From eternal damnation? From eternal torment and fear?

Or have they succumbed to "scare tactics" as the atheists like to tell us?

Because if all religions are equal, then there is nothing to be saved from, and definitely switching from one religion to another wouldn't save anyone from anything.
Why do you even ask? We all know what Christian doctrine says. Saved from sin, from condemnation and damnation, from hell, from separate from God, etc. Why do you ask such basic questions? The gospel is not rocket science. It's dumbed down for the masses. And is simple and can fit into a small tract. Haven't you read those Chick Publication tracts? They are small and simple comic book stories.

How old are you? When did you become a Christian? I was probably involved in evangelism before you were born.

Btw, I used a Chick comic book about evolution once to witness to a friend in school. He said it made sense and turned from evolution and became a Christian. So I at least won one soul for Christ. I felt blessed from it. But it's not easy to convert people and doesn't happen often.

Why don't you watch those videos above and see what they say rather than ask me?

I never said all religions are equal. Nor have I said that one religion is the only way. Maybe some religions work better for some people than others. The religion we are drawn to is aligned with our soul and path and vibration maybe. There are some who convert from Christianity to other religions too. There are Christian to New Age conversions and Christian to Buddhist conversions, etc.

Like I said, no paradigm is perfect and fits all the data. Not even Christianity. Like I showed earlier, there's a lot of stuff that does not fit into the Christian paradigm and which even YOU Adama cannot explain. For example you can't explain compelling cases of reincarnation or why astrology works and produces patterns beyond chance. You just dismiss them and delete them from the equation because you don't want to change your paradigm to accommodate such data that doesn't fit into it. Or you dismiss it as Satanic or demonic workings. Etc. We all know that's what you do. But sorry, it's a copout and dismissal. It's not rational or objective or fair or scientific. If the data doesn't fit your hypothesis, you gotta update your hypothesis, not throw out the data or vilify it as Satanic. Dismissing something is not a valid argument nor a convincing one. It's just human bias and opinion.

There's no way for Satan to implant false memories of past lives, especially in children. How would he do that? Can you prove that he did that? If not then it's your pure conjecture. Likewise, there's no way for Satan to make the stars produce things on earth or shape people's personalities and destinies. The old esoteric principle that says "As above, so below" says that the stars rule or reflect or align with events on Earth. How would Satan cause that or control that? How would Satanic make everyone born under a particular sun sign, like mine for instance, share certain traits? How come most of my closest male friends have the zodiac sign of Cancer? How would Satan make that happen? It makes no sense. And you don't know either. Neither can you prove it. You just say that as a dismissal tactic because you can't explain it, because such data doesn't fit your paradigm.

Learn to think critically man. Every paradigm has flaws and problems and data that doesn't fit into it. That's why a true skeptic and freethinker and truth seeker uses critical thinking against ALL paradigms and views, not just those they don't agree with or those on the other side from them. You gotta apply skepticism to your own beliefs too. Otherwise you aren't a true skeptic or freethinker, if you think your beliefs are dogmatic truth and you are unable to apply critical thinking to them. How many times do I have to explain this? Is this really hard for you to understand? I am able to apply skepticism toward my own beliefs. Why can't you?
My age is not relevant here, but I will answer in any case, since it seems you think it is relevant. I am currently 40 years old. I got saved in February of 2013, but I wasn't serious about it until around June of 2015.

I think the issue is this: you think there is no definitive or real truth. Whereas Christianity actually is the truth from God.

I see you post things in favor of Christianity and God, then I see you write things against Him. I also consider that you don't know how blasphemous some of the things you write are, which are way, way over the line, but that line is apparently not visible to you.

If you're going to write that someone is saved, that implies their souls have been rescued from hell. So wouldn't that mean that that religion is true (because they are SAVED from hell)? I know that there is no truth to you except that all religions are true to you, but at the same time, none of them are true unless they are all added together. Somehow you think this is the proper way to think, which is astonishing to me.

For example, tomorrow or in a different thread you might appear to blaspheme God and contradict many of the positive things in favor of Christianity which you've posted here. For you this is consistent behavior and normal. But for other people, taking two sides of an issue is not how they think. For many people this would be similar to erratic or inconsistent thinking.

As for astrology and past lives, there are many deceptions and many deceivers out there in this world. Their purpose is to distract people away from the proper way to heaven, through Christ.

Don't forget that Satan was a liar from literally the beginning of creation. This is why hell exists in the first place: for people who believe in and follow the lies of Satan. Many people have fallen for his lies. Too bad for them. Even when others point out to them that these things are lies, they still cling to delusions.
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Re: From New Age to Jesus - Touching Testimonies

Post by Adama »

Winston wrote:
January 19th, 2018, 2:57 pm
Adama wrote:
January 18th, 2018, 4:06 pm
Winston wrote:
December 14th, 2017, 7:15 pm
I posted this to him in the comments section:

"Steven, very touching testimony. I'll share it with my forum. But how do you explain the testimonies of the reverse - where people convert from Christianity to New Age or other religions? They are also honest people in search of truth too. I have written such a testimony as well, which even Christians say is very touching. I invite you to read it and let me know what you think. Here's the link: http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/Christian_Story.htm "

I just read the first few huge paragraphs of your story again.

Why would you think it was your fault if someone refuses Christ? I think you took too much upon yourself. It isn't you doing the saving. It is God, but also, if they don't want it, it wouldn't be your fault. It is their fault for refusing the truth.

why would you blame yourself?

I also think you may not have been teaching the true gospel, which can't get anyone saved anyhow. Why do I think that? Because of a fundamental lack of understanding which I see.

Also, what does missing out on a cute girl at age 15 have to do with anything?

So these two events shaped your life? Along with friends departing?

I think you set your heart in the wrong place. It seems to me as if you set your heart on having an abundance of friends. Nothing wrong with having friends, but what do people have to do with your happiness? People are going to disappoint you. Read Jeremiah 9. TRUST YE NOT IN ANY BROTHER: FOR EVERY BROTHER WILL UTTERLY SUPPLANT, AND EVERY NEIGHBOR WILL WALK WITH SLANDERS.

This whole earth is full with bad people. That's their choice, not God's.

And also, it seems like nothing truly bad happened to you up to that point.
Because I felt like if I could be loving and holy and pure like Christ, then they would convert. So I wasn't living up to my full potential. It's not just about telling people about Jesus. You have to live like Christ and set an example. It was too high a standard to fulfill. So I felt inadequate and responsible for people going to hell. Especially my family.

Why would I lack understanding of the Christian gospel or be teaching the wrong one by Christian standards? Christianity is not rocket science. It's dumbed down for the average layman. You know the drill: "You are a sinner. You need a savior for your sins. Believe in Jesus and you will be saved." Etc. It's very simple and elementary. We've all heard it. What are you getting at? What's more complicated than that? The gospel is very simple and not complex at all. It's not a theological seminary.

About the friends departing and having heartache for a while or being lonely, etc, well it's all suffering for me. I have feelings. I need love and friendship and good times. I don't like always being a hermit. Yet circumstances always make me a hermit. That's why I had to follow the axiom of "extreme situations require extreme measures" and go abroad and leave the matrix.

I also felt that if I was a good person and a good Christian, then God ought to provide me with at least a decent life and decent social life. I should not suffer if I'm a good Christian. God should help me out. Otherwise, what's the point? A parent is supposed to help their child and reward them when necessary, not make them suffer needlessly beyond their control and unjustly. So of course I felt resentful when things kept going wrong even though I was a good person. It's the classic dilemma for Christians - "why would a good God allow me to suffer unjustly?" It's a timeless question and very understandable. All great philosophers and theologians deal with this struggle and dilemma. Why do you have trouble understanding it? Strange. If everyone else understands it, and it's part of human existence, then what are you perplexed about? You don't make sense.

You know the Book of Job. Many good Christians suffer unjustly sometimes and cannot understand why so they are in the same situation as Job. Even godly men like Kent Hovind, who has saved many souls and won many souls for Christ and turned many people from Evolution, has suffered a lot of misfortune in the last 10 years. He went to jail for 10 years for tax evasion and money laundering and denying any guilt to the court. And then his wife divorced him and the Christian community criticized him for smearing his wife and son Eric in order to make himself look like a martyr. So a godlly man who lived righteously for the most part, and helped win many souls for Christ in the battle against Evolution, got punished instead of rewarded. Even if he was a tax evader and money launderer, he still didn't deserve all that. How do you explain that? No one can.

If you read the Bible, you notice that many prophets and apostles, including Paul, died as martyrs. Why didn't God protect them? It makes no sense.

Adama, what if God's plan was for you to die as a martyr too? Would you accept that? Would you protest? What if he wanted your children to die as martyrs? Tough questions huh? So you see, no paradigm is perfect. There are always questions you can't answer. All you do is ignore them.

If you could get good things in life just by going good things, then everyone would only do good things and only good things in life would occur. But reality is not that simple or linear.

You must have struggles and dilemmas too. Don't pretend that everything is simple and easy to understand and linear. Otherwise it's hard for me to believe you are a real person with a deep soul.
It's quite ironic that you read Job and then fell away. Job's example is that we are supposed to hold onto God no matter what and wait upon Him. If Job had fallen away then the outcome might have been quite different. It may have taken a while, but in the end, Job was exalted by God because Job held onto his integrity. Job did not let go of his integrity. Was that the lesson, perhaps?

It could be that a man is always being tested, as the book of Job shows us. It could be that a man is being tried, just like Job. It could be that if a man is patient like Job, at the end of that trial, God may exalt that man.

So you may have been led to read the right book at that time, but apparently the lesson of Job wasn't absorbed.

And then later you go on to say that you might as well give Satan a chance in that essay. I don't think Job would have ever said anything like that. And I don't think Job would have given up on God.

Have you also ever considered that, for everything there is a season? Just because a tree is planted, it doesn't mean its fruit is going to sprout on the next day. First the tree needs to mature, and even then, the fruit of that tree only comes in, in its proper season. It is quite possible that God has a different season or time of maturity for every man. It might be that that season comes after the trial.
A good man is above pettiness. He is better than that.
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