Fue Cristiano - no possible

Since I have been in Mexico I have had the blessing of meeting many intersting people - locals and travellers alike.  I try to view each encounter as it really is, a divine appointment and an opportunity to proclaim God's glory and share the hope I have in Christ.  With some it is a quick encounter and may be nothing more than sharing Christ's love with a smile and an encouraging word ... and with my lacking profiency in spanish, the smile is often a safer bet.  With others I have had the opportunity to build relationships and go deeper in our conversations about who God is and His love and talk about where the other is person is at.  Getting to go deeper has really been a blessing and an encouragement to me.

Today's post is a follow up to yesterday's and is about a recent conversation I had with one of my new acquaintences, Art.  Art is a fellow volunteer at one of the organizations I have been working with since I got settled in.  After putting in a days work we decided to go grab some dinner.  As we walked we talked about different topics and before long the conversstion turned to religion and my faith.  Over dinner I shared more and we went deeper into what Art believes in or more specifically what he doesn't believe in as he is an athiest.  The conversation was a really good one and an encouragement to me as I look forward to more such conversations with him in the days ahead.  

Now the reason today's post ties into yesterday's is because of a comment Art made.  He said he was a Christian in the past - he tried it, said he believed for a while, but then decided it wasn't for real and moved on to a different way of thinking to feel "good" about himself and life.  In yesterday's post I commented about the structure of the statement "I am a Christian" in Spanish ... Soy Cristiano.  Specifically I commented on how this sentence was sturctured with the use of the verb Ser because the statement is using the verb "to be" in a permanent sense.  And if the present tense of this statement uses Ser then it isn't possible to have been a Christian and no longer be a Christian.  I am not getting into once saved always saved ... although I think scripture indicates that if one is saved, they are saved period ... there may be a continued struggle with sin, but there is also the fact that all that are in His hands will always be .. Christ will not lose one that has been saved, ok so I kinda got into it.

What I am saying is that if one is truly saved and is a Christian, they will not find themselves walking away from faith and saying been there, done that, "didn't work for me."  I am not able to say where Art is at, God is the only one who can judge his heart, but I can say a couple possiblities exist.  First, Art did believe and trust in Christ for his salvation and has been led astray by the one who seeks to deceive and destroy - one day he will be led back.  Another possibility is that a seed was platned, but hasn't taken root as of yet or maybe a seed  was planted and it has been choked out .... I can only hope and pray that it will one day take root and I will continue as if it will take root by continiuing to share the truth with Art.  The last option is that his profession in the past was not sincere and nothing was recieved ... I think this is the least likely, but a possibility.

Again, mine isn't to judge only to be available to be used by God in whatever way He sees fit to use me and in the process enjoy the blessings He pours forth.  And I will rest in the fact that Soy Cristiano, in pasado (past), presente (present) y futuro (and the future).