tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542817.post9087825866790333576..comments2012-10-09T08:17:27.243-04:00Comments on Count All Things But Loss: The Open Mind: Is it a door we should walk through?Rachel Piersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04521049514947951900noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542817.post-14416970071830653892009-03-07T08:22:00.000-05:002009-03-07T08:22:00.000-05:00Thank you, Ginger for challenging my thinking. I ...Thank you, Ginger for challenging my thinking. I always want to have conversations on campus. I think that Clint and Glen both had valid points the other night, and I'm really glad we had that discussion. Particularly Clint's point that God may use that conversation to change that hard heart, and I guess I would add that He may use that conversation to confirm that rebel's rebellion. Also Glen's point that some people will play this game for the pleasure of playing it.<BR/><BR/>I guess I don't mind being played, if I could get ahold of my heart and know whether I too am playing. Am I using this person in the same way that he is using me? Am I talking to hear myself talk? Am I arguing for the sake of winning?<BR/><BR/>I think we need to pray for guidance and discernment. I think we need to continually check ourselves. What are our motives? Is this conversation going in circles and might it be better continued either by phone or email or over coffee sometime? Is my motive pure, and am I loving this person, and hoping for his salvation through this? Have I brought this around to Christ? Am I getting to the heart, or just spinning around on the surface?<BR/><BR/>Did you catch the difference in feel between the conversations on campus and the conversation at Planned Parenthood the other day? On campus, I tend to ask the person what they think about an issue, and then try to "shoot it down." (That's what it feels like in comparrison) At Planned Parenthood, Hannah was asking us questions and listening to our answers.<BR/><BR/>I have a disturbing comparison between the two, and it is my one encompassing red flag: That boy on the bike, and Hannah at PP consumed all the soldiers in the area. Conversations are interesting, but we need to be on the alert.<BR/><BR/>You are an answer, I think, to a prayer that I have been praying since I've been going to Planned Parenthood: Teach me to love sinners like You do.Rachel Piersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04521049514947951900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542817.post-14428388277879549172009-03-03T20:42:00.000-05:002009-03-03T20:42:00.000-05:00Rachel, I was thnking more about the previous ...Rachel, <BR/><BR/> I was thnking more about the previous discussion and I thought to myself what it really comes down to for me is that I can't shake the question, "What would I do if I met myself how I used to be in my darkest days?". Well, I needed to meet the future me then. The truth is that I do meet me-every Thursday-bunches of them-and it scares me sometimes. I am haunted by what I have done to my own child and I know what these women's futures will include, but they do not listen. I have to face the hard, cold reality that chances are I wouldn't have listened either. But, that's not for me to decide who listens and who doesn't and who gets a chance for help and who doesn't. We are His instruments and my job is to pull myself together and go out there and give all those people whatever I have that God chooses to give to them through me. You know? I know you know because you are there beside me every week-you know how much I lean on you-right? I am so thankful that God has allowed me to be used in this way and that God did send the right people into my life at the right time to make this possible. Thank you so much Rachel, for all your encouragement of me. You are truly a godsend in my life. I love you.<BR/>love, <BR/>GingerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542817.post-62430985911867221832009-03-03T19:46:00.000-05:002009-03-03T19:46:00.000-05:00Rachel,I wish I knew the answer to your question. ...Rachel,<BR/><BR/>I wish I knew the answer to your question. I already know the side I ere on. That is to engage in the conversation (almost to the death sometimes). Here's some of my reasoning-although this is by far not reasoned out entirely so I am definitely open to feedback. <BR/> I feel that most people that we encounter have heard ad nausium most of what we are saying to them in a 2 minute soundbyte. What they have not necessarily seen/heard is someone who will invest some amount of time/emotion into them; someone who will take the time to speak lovingly and yet firmly and truthfully to them about the Word of God. Yes, sometimes it seems as though we are just arguing with them for the sake of argument and we definitely need to examine our hearts about those situations. I think it is a case by case discernment that we need to have. Being in prayer continually about this even while engaged in conversation is important. I know that I am biased strongly for two reasons. One is that my brothers are like so many of these foolish young men that we meet who we want to give up on and I can't give up-even though I desperately want to-I can't. Two is that I was once a person who had heard all about God and the Bible, but had never met a Christian who really cared enough about me to get involved in my life or even talk to me for more than a few minutes. I often think about this girl at Vandy who was from a PCA church. She was really nice and she and her friends invited to a campus fellowship which I gladly went to. I think when they saw how messed up I was (I was really obviously into cutting then and also in a relationship with a really abusive guy) they thought that I wasn;t worth their time. I wonder which things could be different in my life if they had taken the time to tell a fool like me, who thought I had it all figured out, the Truth. Well, they didn't and I have actually had to forgive them for this lack of concern they had for me. I try to remember who I was and where God has brought me from and remember that if God is pleased to use me then He will. <BR/> So, now I have taken you in a circle without really answering your question. I believe that there is no one answer-it depends on the situation and on our own hearts and discernment and prayer are the only tools I can think of to use in this. <BR/>Anyway, I love you and you know that I have learned so much about all of this from you Rachel. Thanks for being my example!<BR/>love,<BR/>GingerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com