Posts of Jonathan RSSMon, 30 Oct 2023 02:02:44 GMTMay 2023So I was headed down for a Christian “conference” kind of a large gathering of believers, about a 4 hour drive on Friday. Well, right around at the middle point of the 220 mile drive, when I had been on the local street for several minutes, my car started heating up. The temperature was climbing higher and higher. So I knew I had to pull over. Now I personally knew no one in the area. I tried contacting some local car shops but it was close to 5pm on a Friday and so none was available to help with the problem. So I contacted a few brothers if they knew anyone that knew about cars in this area. After some waiting one brother came out to help. We knew there was a problem with the coolant part because when I checked, all the coolant was gone. And after taking a look and the brother examining, it seemed likely the water pump. So this brother had come out to the rescue with coolant and extra water and by then, it being around 6pm, I slowly was giving up on making it to the camp that evening and this brother (who I never met before – Matt 25:35) knowing I was a Christian brother invited me over to let me spend the night at his place. I got to meet his family with many kids, I gave some small gifts to the kids and we had a good time of fellowship. They were also planning on going to the camp just for a day the next day. So the option was either I can for now give up on my car and carpool with this family and then stay till the end of the event a few days and seek a ride from someone coming back in this direction where my car is left (but then, I had a plan to visit someone else after the conference and that would have to be changed) or attempt to just drive almost exactly 100 miles with this car with water prepared to fill the coolant system a few times every time it is emptied and the temperature starts going up. Now, that evening I had talked to a few car mechanic brothers (wonderful brethren that took their time to hear the symptoms and explain what they thought... Read more

]]>Mon, 30 Oct 2023 02:02:44 GMTI had a very good time of fellowship with a couple brethren yesterday. I just met them for the first time about a week ago and yesterday was the first time where we actually sat down, had some food together and had a few hours of fellowship, talked about various issues in Christendom today, our journey as His followers, Scripture related things, etc. and at the end prayed together (praise the Lord!) As we were talking, one of the things that came up was if I have brethren in the area that I really connect with. (I knew what he was talking about) And I gave him my answer. He asked why I think there is such a problem in this area (most relationships among brethren in the church being so shallow) and why this is an issue today in Christendom and I laid out my thoughts about what I believe are the reasons and what can/should be done to change this (as this is something I have thought about a lot and have written about).This is really a huge issue I believe - there being so little/almost no close bonding/intimate relationships among brethren in the church and that just being how it is (the norm). Most relationships that one has in a local church (or universal church – here in the US) are very shallow (as he described it – relationships where it’s just saying hi, how are you and maybe briefly talking about how the week was - and that’s it – that’s how far the relationship goes) and only with a very small number/percentage of those in the church people may have a bit of a deeper/close relationship. It’s supposed to be the case where you have brethren you’re really close to that you feel (and are) brothers/sisters/family members with (which is what we are in Christ – siblings that have the same Father) that you are very close to and family with and when it comes to men with men and women with women - can share intimate things/struggles/issues with – things that you wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing with others, you can and do with them – because there’s such a trust and bon... Read more

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