What I believe in

I believe in fellowship. But I do not believe in camps where emotions and feelings are allowed to run wild. No matter the motivation, no matter the original intent for good, growth is minimal and harm will be done, and the most one can get out of them is a spiritual high. Like all highs, it will die out. Christ can be your anti-drug, but it is not a drug one dopes himself or herself with. Love can only exist where the purpose of the camp is kept, and there is fellowship. A camp swamped with culture and lawlessness cannot teach people, and cannot hold the spirit. My final answer: what I expect from a camp is fellowship and growth, one that brings me closer with other people, one where I can gain experience and wisdom, one where I can see God’s love.

I believe in love, and I believe love only comes from God. That is not to say that people who do not believe In God cannot truly love. God loves the world, and that means everyone. Our original human nature is based upon his love for us, and therefore everyone is already loved by God and has obtained some of that love to share with others. I believe that for me to love another, I have to accept God’s unconditional love for me. I believe that Christians should not date a non-Christian. He or she should try to convert the other first. How can one love the person he or she will be united into one forever if that person doesn’t know God’s love? How can one accept the other knowing that that person will suffer eternal punishment? How can the first thing on your mind not be to try to save the one you love from eternal damnation and give him or her the ultimate gift that is God’s love?

1 Corinthians 13

I believe through testimony God’s love can be portrayed the best. I feel God’s hand in the world mostly through other people’s experiences in life. May it be a sad, horrible experience. May it be great tribulations and suffering. May it be full of joy and happiness. May it be full of people touched by the Holy Spirit. I learn best from these memories and tales. This may be just my personal preference. I wish my testimony may one day become powerful enough to move others. People will not believe just because you tell them. Sometimes, pushing the faith will only be counter-productive. It will drive those you want to save farther away. To get them interested, to satiate their curiosity of Christianity, testimony is needed. You cannot talk to them, but you can show them. You can walk the Good Walk in front of them, and they shall see the light. I know too many cases where it is sad that those who truly are seeking get driven away from Christ by too much forceful pushing...and once the Christian realized that their efforts were in vain, they abandon the person they were supposed to care for. It shouldn’t be like that. Persevere please. For their sake, and your own. There is always hope.

Matthew 5:16, Romans 4:3-4, Genesis 2:24