I ask you to accept me

[nahkoe]

Originally Posted by mizpeh

IF JA continues in paganism, it will not end well.

I trust God entirely too much to worry about that. I do not know the future, you do not know the future, JA does not know the future. God alone knows the future. I refuse to believe or act in accordance with an outcome that is not yet determined.

Respect for a person means treating them as an intelligent individual capable of making their own decisions, regardless of whether or not you agree with the decisions. Making dire predictions (that, again, you have no way of actually knowing are accurate) does nothing but push a person away. Especially a person involved in the occult. Especially especially a person who is exceedingly familiar with Christianity who is now involved in the occult. A decision to surrender your entire identity, everything you know, everything you believe, everything that fills your life, provides comfort, provides guidance, provides a sense of order to your life in order to pursue a different spiritual path is not a decision that is ever made lightly. The losses are intensely real. So are the gains. I deeply respect any person who passionately pursues truth, even at great personal cost. *Even if I do not agree with the conclusion they reach or the method by which they reach it.* Their right to make that choice and to journey along the path they feel drawn to is something I will always defend. Even when I may have seen further down the path, even when I know what could happen, even when my beliefs are contrary to theirs. We cannot convict anyone and we certainly should not condemn anyone. Unfortunately, many of the posts in this thread are entirely too close to condemnation for my comfort. Dire predictions fall into that category, as well as the category of claiming to know the future.

Instead of telling someone that bad things are going to happen to him, why don't you try telling them that you're glad to see/hear from them, that you wish them well, that you care about them and would like to be part of their life? Love is the most powerful force I know of.