A Long Line of Heathen!

Wow! I was pondering for another writing when I realized... or is that possibly I had forgotten and just remembered… that I am the only ‘Christian’ in my long line of family. We have a few religious folks, some Catholics and one Universalist or Unitarian or something. None of my family that has passed away had funerals denoting a specific denomination or religion. They all got the typical heathen funeral with the typical heathen burial.

Wow! I come from a long line of heathen!! Wow! I honestly do not think I have ever thought of that before even with the memory loss...(but then who really knows but God, right?)

I don’t think my mother or father had stepped into a church beyond their wedding day, my Catholic baptism and some of their children’s basic weddings in a building.

I know in my frenzy of being a new believer I tried to share Christ with everyone I knew. It didn’t help much. My sister came to know the Lord about 10 years later but I obviously presented her with enough of a watered down version and enough Charismaniac slop that the weeds came in and choked out the seeds. From what I gave her, being all I knew at the time, her house never had a chance to be built on the solid rock and when the storms of life came she floated off down the river! (A metaphor ~ NOT scripture.) I have since repented, asked for Gods forgiveness and theirs even though they do not understand exactly what I am asking forgiveness for. (Yes, I know even as I was not given a strong ‘seed’ to build my house upon, I was ‘blessed’ to be able to hang through it all and come out on top. My sister could have done that also. I am not completely blaming myself for her loss.)

I raised my kids alone and all I had to fall on was the Lord. Two of my kids were deathly ill for years and we were at the emergency room more nights a week than not. I tried to raise them in the admonition of the Lord but I realize now that I raised them in a Charismaniac religion. They saw all sorts of absurdities that were all done in the name of Christ. Though my daughters still believe in God, they do not follow him with their heart. My son will have nothing to do with any of it going the secular humanist route. I believed at the time that they were saved and spirit-filled kids but now realize that salvation can only come to those that truly understand the gospel with a heart that sees God as both judge and lover of their soul. I believe they possibly wanted to ‘know’ God because they didn’t want to know his wrath not because they wanted to seek his heart.

I have made so many ‘religious’ mistakes in the name of Christianity and I have not shown any of my heathen family the true Christ. Maybe because I am now just meeting him in the reality and true fullness of the gospel. Not a religion tainted with blessings, prosperity and ewey-gooey love but one that is solid and firm on the reality of who Christ is aside from all the religions of the world ~ including Christianity.