Make sure you read the most recent update made at the end of this post, in response to several of our reader’s comments (updated Thursday, December 1st, 9:45 P.M. CST).
The following comment was posted in response to our recent post, “Teens In The News: David Ludwig and Kara Borden.” Due in part to the attention our article has received, as well as the excellent opportunity for clarification it provides, we felt it was wise to share this comment with you and then respond.
We would like to reiterate our great appreciation for the wise words this reader shared. We have turned this exchange into a post only in order to clarify the message we’re sending.
DeputyHeadmistress said: This is a good post, and I agree that we all need to look to ourselves and not be coplacent. But I think it’s interesting how different people can read the same thing and come away with different ideas about it. I also read David’s blog (and their friends’ blogs) and I was struck by his view of God as a vending machine on high. I wasn’t favorably impressed by either Kara or David’s expressions of faith- they were not much different than expressions of delight over a rock band or a new and very cool shirt, IMO.
In reading those blogs I was also disturbed to see that for most of those kids murder and premarital sex were ‘making bad choices’ and nobody should judge those who indulged in those bad choices. But letting somebody’s parents know what was going on was worse than a bad choice- that would have been a very, very *bad* thing for them to do. These kids have, at best, a very twisted sense of values, right, wrong, sin, and good and evil.
You might read this (and other news reports on the same site):
http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/18786Did David Ludwig use his Christian faith to manipulate and get close to girls? John Powers, of Long Island, N.Y., has written about the case on his “Action Report” Web site.
In an interview today, he said that an anonymous source gave him access to Ludwig’s e-mail account and that Ludwig’s e-mails show Ludwig had another relationship with a girl he met while on a trip to Hawaii last summer.
Ludwig had contact with several other girls around the same time, Powers said.
In the e-mails, Powers said, “He starts off preaching the word. It’s a level of communication they all could understand, something they all have in common.”
The girls responded in the same vein, and the relationship developed, Powers said.
Ludwig had gotten into trouble locally and, it appears, in Hawaii, for his actions in the past year, according to news accounts and the Web sites.
The pastor of Ludwig’s church told a reporter last week that Ludwig took a girl to Ludwig’s family’s cabin in Juniata County without her parents’ permission last spring, but that the girl’s parents did not contact authorities about it.
In a story posted on Court TV’s “Crime Library” Web site, writer Steve Huff said, “David Ludwig, at least, seemed to use his ‘faith’ in the same way other men use sports cars — as a ‘hook.’ ”
I would also note that looking at a timeline of events, the ‘spirit led’ initiative to fix up The Barn as a place where the kids could go to ‘seek God’s face’ (because, naturally, David adn his pals could not seek God’s face at home or in their churches or with adult supervision) only took place after the family cabin was off limits to David because he took at least one girl there without her family’s permission.
None of this negates your broader points, I would just be careful about taking those public confessions of faith as expressed by Ludwig and people like him at face value.
Alex Harris said: To begin, let me thank you for your input. Even from reading your (relatively) brief comment on our blog in response to my post on the subject, I appreciated the fact that you have diligently researched the issue. I too had been to Lancaster Online, reading the articles, and many of the lengthy comment sections. I had also frequented Crime Library and the Action Report, and read the released excerpts from the emails allegedly written by David and his various female acquaintances. All this to say, I was aware of the information you cite, before I wrote my post.
With that understanding, I would respectfully defend my position on a few of the points over which we disagree, but primarily, just clarify several areas of misunderstanding:
As you recognized, the message of my article was simply, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” You see, regardless of the differences between David Ludwig, Kara Borden and myself, the only thing that separates me from them is the grace of God. Remove His grace, and I would be no better. In fact, I would be worse.
To continue, you will notice that I never claimed that either David or Kara were saved. My first reference to Christianity was to say, “David and Kara, you understand, are churchgoers, youth group attendees, from Christian families, with Christian friends.” Later, I referred to them as “homeschooled teens from Christian families.” However, I did not claim that they themselves were born again.
Our reason for disagreement, even if it is ever so slight, I would assume, stems from a different statement: my claim that David and Kara, quote: “bore many signs of true faith and an understanding of the Gospel.” In retrospect, perhaps I could have clarified this statement more explicitly by saying something more to the effect of: “bearing the outward appearance of faith and seeming to have an understanding of the Gospel.” However, the purpose of the statement was only to recognize that — for a majority of their lives, and to most people around them — David and Kara appeared to be saved.
Now, bear in mind that when I say this, I do not necessarily refer to the several days, weeks, and months immediately prior to the murder of Michael and Cathryn Borden, but rather to the broader picture of Kara and David’s lives. I think it would incredibly assumptive for us to say that — had we met David Ludwig or Kara Borden three to six months in the past — we would not have thought them to be pretty normal Christian kids. David we are told was involved in Bible Quizzing and probably had the entire book of 1 Peter memorized (and most likely, had other books memorized as well, since that was just one competition). As one of our readers aptly noted, David had memorized more Scripture than most of us have. Furthermore, a fellow employee and college student who was interviewed in the aftermath of the murder said, “I considered [David] to be a good Christian — he brought his Bible and read it during breaks.”
Suffice to say that — during a significant portion of his life — David Ludwig showed more signs of being a Christian than many people who will never commit a crime. His familiarity with Scripture means he probably had a much better understanding of the Gospel than your typical youth group-attending, faith-professing Christian. ‘The Barn Project’ was described as the fulfillment of his father’s vision for their barn to be used as a church (“7 years ago Greg Ludwig had a vision that this place would be used for “church.” now 7 years later, God is beginning a work that is going to produce greater fruit than we can ever imagine; 30, 40, 50, a hundred fold! Our prayer is that The Barn may be a place of worship, where God is glorified, brothers and sisters in Christ are fed the meat of the Word, Jesus is worshipped, and God’s will is advanced in His time.”).
To be frank, based upon the evidence that is currently available, I would reject the theory that David used his “faith” as a hook to manipulate girls. At the very least, I would issue a strong word of caution. The truth is that, in many ways, the effort to label David as a “sexual predator” is distinctly Darwinian in nature; attempting to label criminals as sub-human or somehow less developed (or ‘further depraved’) than we are ourselves.
The quote by G.K. Chesterton, which I included in my original post, is appropriate again here: “No man’s really any good till he knows how bad he is, or might be; till he’s realized exactly how [little] right he has to all this snobbery, and sneering, and talking about ‘criminals,’ as if they were apes in a forest ten thousand miles away; till he’s got rid of all the dirty self-deception of talking about low types and deficient skulls; till he’s squeezed out of his soul the last drop of the oil of the Pharisees…”
Without expounding further at this time, and without claiming that David was nothing more than “starry-eyed and bushy-tailed,” I would caution all of us to guard our hearts from the tendency of our secular culture to preoccupy itself with coming up with some sensational explanation for sin, when the real answer is given clearly in Scripture, and applies to each and every one of us: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
As Kathrynne said, the “Christian”-like actions performed by David and Kara are not enough, by themselves, to change anyone’s heart. What this means is that we cannot be complacent or lacksadaisical about the state of our souls. If all we do is go to church, read the Bible, memorize Scripture, and say ‘God bless you’ in our personal correspondence, it’s not enough. And let’s face it, we don’t even do all of those things consistently.
In conclusion, it all comes back to grace. We all are born with sinful and wicked hearts, and no matter how vast the distance between us and any given criminal… That difference is God’s mercy, and not our merit.
UPDATE (12/1): My response to several issues brought up by our reader’s in the comments section:
Jamie: You are right in observing that I am very hesitant — as the evidence currently stands — to say that David was only using the appearance of Christianity to feed an abnormal sexual obsession. I am very uncomfortable with the tendency to paint David’s entire childhood and teen years — the Bible quizzes, the lifeguarding, the Bible reading, the emails, ‘The Barn’, the prayer huddles — as nothing more than a facade to lure impressionable girls.
I do not deny that David took a significant turn for the worse over the past few months, and a more subtle turn over the past year or two, but I do disagree with the theory that all the things that caused people to identify him as “a caring person,” and as “a good kid” with “a strong faith,” were just an act to hide a murderer waiting for an opportunity. I would never support releasing David, even if he repents, or consider him “safe,” but I do believe that a 14 or 15-year-old David would have been surprisingly similar to a majority of young men in the church today.
Concerning the theological issue: Nightfly was right on when he said that the point is not whether David and Kara were/are/can be saved or not. I appreciate many of the things that have been shared by our readers on this subject, but I’d prefer it not turn it into a debate. For now, I will only say this: If David and Kara were/are truly saved, I would expect repentance. If they weren’t/aren’t truly saved, they are by no means beyond the reach of God’s saving grace. I pray for repentance.
Tim: You’re right when you say we have a serious problem. In fact, that was one of the very things I hoped people would start realizing when they read my post. The truth is that a majority of what we classify as “normal Christian teens” are Christians in name only… It’s just the environment they happen to be in… It’s their parent’s faith, not their own. In fact, I think it’s highly probable that this was the category into which David and Kara fell. This is of great concern.
Again, we should all take this opportunity to examine our hearts and exhort our fellow young people. Do we go to church just because our parents make us? Just to see our friends? Do we read our Bible, memorize Scripture, and talk the talk, just because that’s what expected and admired in the environment in which we live?
This is really a message that goes to the heart of The Rebelution. Our actions should never be dependent on cultural expectations, whether it be church culture, homeschool culture, or pop culture. Our authority is Christ and His Word, and He does not change.
Let’s be honest, guys. Have we ever tried to impress the opposite sex by our spiritual maturity? If we have, I think we should be cautious in labeling David as some sort of predator… At the very least, we should take great care to ensure that our attitude does not even hint at self-righteousness.
A debtor to mercy, Alex Jordan Harris
Kara is very very very dear to my heart as I will not say why, but I know she DOES love Jesus and is in fact softening her heart.
Huh.
Very, very interesting. This again spawned some unique thoughts that point to myself, and cause me to question.
We’re all just as depraved as one another. Bin Laden, Hitler, Stalin, Hussien. They were born the same way as me. I have the same natural tendencies as they do.
However, I’m a Christian!
Or wait… Am I just a good actor? Do I use my faith merely as a way to get what I want? Or is my faith a cause for giving God what he wants….
I feel in my heart that I’m a good person: but it’s wrong. The heart is deceitful above all things, as you said. I’m not a good person. Even my best qualities, and my righteousnesses, are as filthy rags. Filthy, disease ridden, vomit soaked, rotting pieces of cloth. That’s the best side of me.
Hmm.
Much thinking you have inspired, dear Sirs. I shall go away thinking about this one for a long, long time.
Very, very interesting commentary. Having not read very much about David and Kara, I don’t claim to have a good understanding of whether or not David would have been using his “faith” as a hook. Regardless, though, I would like to make one brief observation on your commentary, Alex. You apparently do not think it likely that David was intentionally trying to hook girls through pretended faith. On the contrary, you seem to be suggesting that he might have been a very normal teen, and, prior to this incident, may even have thought sincerely that his life evidenced saving faith.
The point that I keep stumbling over is your implication that because David has committed murder, it must be that he WASN’T saved. I don’t know whether or not you actually meant to imply this conclusion, but I suspect you did, and I find it ironic.
I think it is a natural human tendency to be appalled at someone who could do something as horrific as murder two other human beings, and it is equally natural to assume that someone like that must not have been saved. Yet you yourself have emphasized repeatedly how LITTLE difference there is between David and us. We are all capable of doing the same thing he did. Why, then, should we necessarily imply that David was (is) not saved, while we imply that we ARE saved?
True, he committed murder. But so did Moses and David. While I realize Calvinist thought emphasizes the importance of outward signs of grace, I don’t think we can necessarily look at this act in David’s life and conclude he is a lost man.
Thoughts? My apologies if I read something into your argument that you didn’t intend.
Wonderful conclusion to bring it all back to saving grace.
There, but for the grace of God, go I…”
Such a wonderful quote…
Thanks for clearing this up Alex. I was actually going to write a post (and still may) on this subject. But what lingers in my mind is the thought that if these are your normal christian teens, then we have a serious problem. A very serious problem.
It’s also very interesting to note that his “Barn” project seems to be a “place to seek God’s face” where no parents are involved. It was probably just another place he could hook up with girls in by connected with them because of his “faith.”
I may talk about this more later, but what I’m seeing is a “double agent.” David, it seems, is like someone who learns a certain language, dresses right, then goes to that country where the language is spoken, and gets what he wants from that country.
He spoke “christianese” if you will, and used it for his own selfish purposes. And like deputyheadmistress said, you could see that these kids worshipped a God that gave to them. It was really all about the experience.
But I digress, and conclude by quoting something I said on my blog:
“I know a lot of kids who on the outside can be great. They don�t do wrong things (at least in the world�s standard) and are generally good kids. They can outwardly be �on fire� for Jesus. It all comes down to the heart, and what is really there.
We can have fakes everywhere. It�s funny, our church youth group has been talking about fakes�and I think it�s making a lot of people uncomfortable. But it�s good. It exposes the fakes, and it really pushes teens to make the choice and not sit on the fence anymore, or hide. They either need to hand their whole lives over to God, or none of it at all.”
From what I had seen, even prior to reading the articles posted here, I would have thought that David was not sincere in his beliefs. Only a parrot, quoting what he has been told, even the scriptures, but not really taking to heart what was said.
But that is merely opinion. Only God knows the heart of man, and it could be very easy to slip into judgement, and easily block David out of our minds by saying ‘well, he wasn’t saved…’ when in reality, he may very well have been just as saved as any one of us here, prior to commiting obviously planned murder.
The circumstances point to his plotting.
I don’t know enough about the Moses incident, but from what I can tell, he didn’t murder anyone. He saved a slave.
But the David (how interesting, about the names) did kill the authority of the woman he was having a relationship with. Very, very interesting, the similarities.
King David, and David Ludwig, plotted the killing.
King David, and David Ludwig, killed out of unlawful desire of a woman.
King David, and David Ludwig, were considered to be among the elite of God’s kingdom. (Ludwig knew the scripture).
What makes the difference, is that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that King David was totally repentent. David Ludwig hasn’t showed many signs of true repentance, but I don’t know him.
Like I said, we cannot judge his heart. But the bible says, kill a man, and be killed. The legal authorities have the duty of putting him to death. If he has repented, God will know, and he’ll be in a better place. If not, then we risk the chance of him killing others if he is left alive.
In the end though, every time we get angry with a brother without cause, we’re as guilty as David Ludwig. I shudder at that thought.
Marshall: Absolutely. Amen a thousand times.
“In the end though, every time we get angry with a brother without cause, we’re as guilty as David Ludwig. I shudder at that thought.”
Right on John, right on. That’s what really hits home.
Brett I tracked you back on this post. But it’s not working. I hope more people think about this tragedy and all its implications.
I must say that I like how the article concluded with grace being the only way to be saved from our wickedness. Praise our Sovereign Lord for holding us in His hand, even when sin.
However, I must point out that if we truly are Christians, we should be certain of our identity in Christ, that we may be confident in answering anyone who questions our identity as a true believer, right?
I like the way you brought it all back to grace. I’d like to add something here, but you said it all already! All I can say is- awesome job, and thank you so much for such a thought-provoking post! 🙂
Well, as far as saved is concerned, something like this is why my own denomination prefers to say that we are being saved – because while there’s life, there’s hope of repentance, and danger of apostasy. This doesn’t mean that we as believers don’t have the certain hope of heaven, only that we are aware that this hope is only certain in Christ, and therefore only certain as long as we abide in Him.
Who among us starts out with understanding of anything wise, either worldly or Godly? Don’t we all start as parrots mouthing our lessons? And if we’re honest, we ought to admit that among the first things we learn in life is that increased knowledge only reveals how vast our remaining ignorance is.
The surest sign of a budding snob is forgetting this lesson in worldly study – ignoring anyone else’s viewpoint if it doesn’t jibe with his own, presuming that beginners can’t possibly stuble across something he’s missed in all his years of work. It may even be real work, and real knowledge, but that only makes the snobbery worse, because the claims of complete knowledge become plausible based on the good work that’s been done.
And forgetting this lesson in godliness? It’s likely to lead to a grave sin indeed. The higher we start out, the further we can drop. “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.” (1 Cor 10:12)
The main point isn’t whether or not David Ludwig was truly saved before his crime – that just casts the entire situation to the original flawed thinking Alex was talking about, the thought that “I could NEVER do that, he must not have been really saved like I am!” (And besides, does this suddenly mean that he’s “unsaved”?) The point is that such sin is within any of our capacities. It’s not about judging David, but guarding our own hearts and our own walks with Christ.
I would like to say that while it is certainly true that God alone is the final judge of whether someone is saved or not, He Himself has given us some standards by which we may judge and examine ourselves and others. It is not as though salvation is based on good works–far from it–but that salvation produces good works, or as Jesus said: “You will know them by their fruits.” (Matt. 7:20) Not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven.
The Scripture speaks solemnly : “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you–unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Cor. 13:5) Also, “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21, vs. eight) By the standard of the preceding verse, every human being is condemned and would have their part in the lake of fire–except for the grace of God. So certainly, there in no way should be any exaltation of ourselves over Mr. Ludwig, Ms. Borden or any other person. All glory is to be rendered to God for it is by grace that we are saved. However, we must remember that, as someone else already mentioned, the mark of a true believer is repentance when sin is committed; as the Lord tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) The key word here is confess. This word does not mean just to name the sins, but rather to say the same thing about them that God does–thus to view them with disgust and repulsion.
I would certainly pray and hope that Mr. Ludwig’s case could be one similar to Paul’s–Paul persecuted the Church, and was according to himself “the chiefest of sinners,” but God revealed Himself to Paul, Paul repented in humility and believed on Christ, and was used by God to pen much of our New Testament. Thus, it would be wrong to assume that Mr. Ludwig is beyond the reach of God’s grace, but it is also wrong to too quickly assume his profession of faith is genuine.
Right on Joanna.
I came to know my Redeemer, through trusting in His blood shed for me almost 32 years ago. I knew I was a sinner and was amazed at the love of G-d for me. I met a young man when I was led to go to a bible institute and we both believed we were called to missions. We married and through many circumstances did not go to the mission field. He was pastor of a church for a while, but had struggles in his life that he wanted someone to disciple him and help him with.
We moved around looking for that and ended up in Florida. We got involved with a church (by then we had 4 daughters) and he became a “probationary” elder of that church and homegroup leader. We homeschooled and were very involved in the church. G-d even gave him a son when I prayed and asked Him to give him one because he thought G-d would not trust him with a son because of the things he struggled with.
When that son was a baby, he decided to pursue the “gay” life after over 19 years of marriage and 5 children. It was devestating to me. BUT in going through all that, my Father showed me the depths of depravity of my own heart and how capable I was to do the worst sin that any person can do and has done. He showed me my religiousness, my pride, my pharisaism. I thank Him for that and that it is the blood of Yeshua(Jesus) that makes the difference in our life.
I really understand what was written here, for my Father dealt in my own heart about that. It is over a decade later and I have questioned many times about whether that man that I was married to all those years really knows G-d, if he was and is really saved. I still do not have the answer to that. I know that my Messiah does and I have to leave it in His hands. I know that I had to see that to even be able to forgive and to pray for his repentance. I still do. I cannot answer for him. He will face G-d for himself. I face my Maker for myself and my only answer to my own depravity is the precious blood of Yeshua my Messiah.
Shalom,
I really appreciated what you guys wrote about this issue. Coming from Australia, I was not familiar with the story. However, I grew up as a home schooler and I am all too familiar with stories of home schoolers becoming involved in serious sin. Many of those I grew up with have done. Nothing like this – but witchcraft, fornication, adultery, drug abuse etc. I was very rebellious myself and got involved in many wrong things before the Lord graciously turned my life around. It is great to see you so clearly conveying what I have been thinking about for many years: it is the human heart that is at fault, not a person’s location. A location (home school) can help develop godly character and knowledge of truth. It can help lead children to salvation. Yet in many ways it is not a shelter from sin: each person living in that home is a sinner. It is not a shelter from sin, only a better place to confront it, monitor it, confess, and repent.
John Robert Moore made an interesting comment in the Wi-Fi thread below and I thought it carried over here rather nicely.
�I was struck by your understanding of the combat mindset. Most Christians see life as an opportunity, and Christianity as a great big bowl of blessings, which it can be.
However, being a Christian in America, automatically puts you in combat, in enemy territory. We’re behind enemy lines, and we need to know it, and act like it.�
There�s lot�s of glib talk about how easy we have it here�But I would question that, at least on a spiritual level. The Spiritual battle is just as fierce here as it is in Sudan or China. It�s just that here, we really don�t battle flesh and blood. We battle subtler forces of evil � Self-righteousness, pride, greed, sloth, lust. We are in as much of a spiritual battle as our brothers and sisters across the world, and we need to act accordingly.
Ditto Sherrin!
Thank you for your insightful blog, and willingness to “do hard things” and encourage others likewise (especially our children). I would also like to add a little to the discussion of this murder.
As a former prosecutor and attorney in private practice, and from my experience as a death penalty staff attorney for the federal courts (I evaluate and draft court opinions for federal judges in death penalty cases), I have studied a lot of murders. As a law professor for a Christian law school, I am called upon to impart more than a superficial understanding of these issues, but hope to be an instrument through which our Lord can convey His perspective on the law and its purposes. And as a homeschooling father and elder in a local church who gets to share preaching opportunities, I have a stake in understanding the importance of these issues for our churches and families and was particularly interested in the depth to which you have taken this topic. My experience has shown me a tragically common element in every case I have studied on death row in my state.
These murderers don�t have fathers.
I don�t mean that they don�t have biological fathers, or even that they don�t know their natural fathers or that they don�t have someone that has occupied the position of father at some point in their lives (although even that is rare). What I mean to say is that nobody performed what I believe is the most important function of father as that role is set forth in Scripture.
“And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” Malachi 4:6.
Of course, this prophesy refers to the one who would come before the Messiah and prepare the way for the Lord. “And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Luke1:17. I believe that the most important function of a father is to turn his heart toward his children, and then the children must turn their hearts back towards him. Without going into a long dissertation of Scripture here, I suggest that this theme runs all through Scripture, and that one of the greatest failures of many modern churches (and families) lies in undermining (or neglecting) this by turning the hearts of parents away from their children (by failing to teach their proper roles as parents and instead portraying children as burdens), and the hearts of children away from their parents (by making appeals directly to children and turning their hearts towards peer groups and youth ministers).
It seems obvious to me that the parents of both of these young people did not have the hearts of their children, and these young people had not turn their hearts towards their parents. How could a young lady voluntarily leave with the man that just killed her parents. How could the
My last post was cut off from some reason, so I will assume that it was for a good reason. If you want to receive the rest of that message, just let me know.
May our Lord continue to bless your efforts to transform our culture for Him.
Off topic from the comments. But relevant to the post. There is another homeschooler charged with murder today involving a 14 year old girl. You can read about it on my blog today.
http://spunkyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2005/12/say-it-isnt-so.html
spunky
Thank you, Alex, for the comments on this article. They practically attack my self-righteous feelings that arise in reading David and Kara’s story. I’d be so lost without God’s grace.
Sarah
Thanks for the updated note, Alex. My apologies for starting a debate. Your thoughts make very good sense, and I agree that it is best to focus on what we can learn for our own lives from David and Kara’s story, rather than getting caught up in judging them. God bless!
Mr. Smith: I’m very sorry your comment was cut short, sir… The reason was due to a bug in the commenting service we’re using. When posting long comments, it is best to post in sections. Please post the rest, as we greatly appreciate your wisdom in this matter.
Spunky: Yes, I saw the news earlier this morning… I think it really challenges our oftentimes sub-conscious belief that homeschooling, by itself, can save — whether it be souls, or society. That’s really an outgrowth of the Enlightenment… The idea that education (or knowledge) is salvation. For both parents and children, it’s not enough to just go to church and homeschool.
I’m doing a series on TULIP- or, at least, trying to, anyway- and so I was talking to my mom about Perseverance of the Saints. I mentioned that the Rebelution had covered David Ludwig’s story, and explained to her that both he and Kara had the appearances of Christians. She was shocked, but then quickly recovered and said that David must not have been a Christian at all, since he murdered Kara’s parents. A logical conclusion, I must say. I had mentioned David as an example of what some people say are Christians losing their faith- something that I, of course, do not believe at all. So, anyway…Mom came back a couple minutes later and said to me, “I changed my mind. David might be a Christian after all. The David in the Bible killed that woman’s husband after he commited adultury with her. And he was called a man after God’s own heart! So, I guess, he could be a Christian, if he ends up repenting.” I thought that it was an interesting way of looking at it. What do you guys think?
Thank you, Alex. I appreciate your kind words. Here is the rest of my post (I hope).
It seems obvious to me that the parents of both of these young people did not have their hearts, and these young people had not turn their hearts towards their parents. How could a young lady voluntarily leave with the man that just killed her parents? How could the young man have accumulated the weapons and desire to kill, and stole from his parents to carry it out?
You correctly asked how are we any different. Besides the fact that we become a new creation in Christ when we are truly born again, this is an important opportunity for us to reflect upon our own hearts. It should give both parents and children cause to re-examine whether their hearts are truly turned in the proper direction.
Despite whatever professions of faith that may have come from either of these young people, it was vain, and more resembles the group that failed to honor their parents as Jesus revealed when He said �Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.� Matthew 15:7-9.
Thank you for calling our attention to the importance of this issue, for stimulating us to see it from our Lord�s perspective, and to use it as a way for us to re-examine our hearts. Well done!
Blessings,
Robert
Great comment Mr. Smith! Great comment indeed.
That made me think about a lot of things in my life, and made clearer the mistakes that I’ve made in the past. Thanks for sharing your wisdom!
I read most of this post but am confused because I don’t know the story behind it. Is there any way to read the first post?
I’m sorry, i didn’t see the first post already on the site. 🙂
Right on fellas!!! Thank you for all you guys are doing! 😀
I usually NEVER leave comments on blogs but I felt I had to because this is a subject very close to my heart. In 2006 I weighed in at a little over 210 pounds and being a 5ft female you could say I was on the obese side to say the least. My mom kept pushing me to lose weight but I always gave the same excuses. I think my main problem was due to lack of confidance, partly brought on by my size. It was like a vicious circle for me. I was depressed because I was too fat’ so I ate to comfort myself. Don’t get me wrong, I had tried dieting on many occasions but the slow progress made me lose patiance and so I started eating again. My longest diet lasted about 3 weeks. I came accross the fat burning furnace at the beginning of 2010 and I bought it on a whim because I’d pretty much given up on dieting and all those lose weight fast’ schemes on the Internet. After a few weeks on the plan I discovered that I actually lost 12 pounds. This gave me the motivation I needed to really put the plan through it’s paces. It’s almost a year of being on the fat burning furnace and I am pleased to announce that I am now a size 10 and loving every minute of it. I have so much confidance now and I feel I have been given a new lease of life. I even found a new partner (a complete hunk) who proposed to me over the holidays. Please please please don’t wait any longer to change your life. I wasted years of yo yo dieting. I’m so glad I managed to turn my life around. Happy New Year to you all. Jo x
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