[TruthTalk] Deceiving and Being Deceived

[Judy Taylor]

From: "David Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Lance wrote:  To quote myself, "Who you are at six is who you are a sixty.   DM: As someone who has worked many hours with the homeless and poor and in the jail systems of this country, I think you are way too pessimistic.  Have you ever considered a transvestite?  What about a prostitute destroyed by crack cocaine?  Their future would have been much different if they had made different choices since the time they were six years old.  I cannot meet such people and not blame sin as being that which has destroyed their lives.   jt: Excellent point. I know a pastor who teaches that sin is a "being" ie another (spiritual) Kingdom that entered A&E in the garden causing them to be of "another Spirit" and alienated or separated from God the Father.  When God finally caught up with them and they told Him they hid because they were naked He didn't ask them why or how they knew this.  He said "who told you" We are all born with inherited iniquity so it's only a matter of time ... until every one of us yeilds. The decisions we make and our behavior greatly effects who we become.  Why do you think sin is such an abomination to God?  Why the death penalty for something like homosexuality unless it is an eternally destructive thing to the soul?   jt: Exactly, this kind of activity is cursed and brings curses on the perpetrators.  Look what happened to Sodom.   I would certainly agree with you that a six year old has a predisposition and personality that heads him off toward a certain destination.    jt: I can see it (the infant fallen nature) in our 2yr old grandson already, he has begun to be possessive of his favorite things and is less willing to share. It looks cute right now but will turn into big time selfishness if not tempered.   However, the decisions he makes greatly determines who he becomes.  Many during their life have hit the bottom and then turned to Christ, and their lives were turned around 180 degrees.  Haven't you met any like that, whose life was completely changed?   jt: I certainly have and my testimony is that "He lifted me out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock" I'm not the person I used to be and today am not the person that I will be tomorrow or next week.   I often focus my preaching at the youth of our nation.  The reason is because if they can come to know Christ at an early age, and avoid the dangerous and defiling sins that are tempting them, they will turn out much better and be a blessing to future generations.  Most of the older generation, those who do not appear to be like the elders I read about in the Scriptures, have already been defiled by sin and rarely are open to the change necessary.    jt: If only there were more like you out there DavidM. I weep for my sisters children who are walking in darkness and searching in all the wrong places - My mother represents the older generation who lack wisdom. She has never been involved in overt sin but presently has a heart full of bitterness and resentment which is producing thorns and thistles which is not the kind of fruit God seeks in His vineyard.  So unless something changes....   As Jesus said, you can't put new wine into old wineskins. They are what they are.   jt: So true.. We've got to be given a new one.    judyt