Isn’t it the most remarkable thing
That one person might invite another
To come over and help
Rearrange the furniture in his heart—

It will gall you to know
That I can sense your gaslighting
Even before I have figured out
The particular trick you’ve got
Wrapped up in it.

You are not as opaque
As you believe—
Nor I as stupid.

If you’re interested in studying the Bible, you may find that your friends at church are not. And if you learn a lot while studying the Bible, you may find that it’s causing conflict with your friends who are not learning a lot.

This is quite to be suspected, and it’s because one of you is showing more interest in God than are the others. Let me assure you, what you are doing is quite OK with God. Though your friends may raise an eyebrow at this, God does not. In fact, if the scriptures are to be believed, it seems God would like your friends to be studying, too.

Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.

Psalm 111:2 ESV

I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

Psalm 119:15-16 ESV

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

Matthew 22:37 ESV

If no one were afraid
To tell a friend the truth
We could all be blessed by it—
Except, of course
That not many always
Consider the truth to be
A blessing.

Your sins and errors
And limitations and quirks—
And even your different views
In matters of taste—
Are every the ready excuses
For those who would like to reject
Some point of truth that you are telling.

They don’t need much
To “justify” rejecting the truth,
For they are, after all,
Liars already.
So if you’ll provide
The slightest fault from which
They can start the rejection,
This saves them the trouble
Of having to start from scratch
With an excuse of their own.

Even the wicked
Are in favor of righteousness
When it happens to be of benefit to them.
But bind their wicked hands with
The cord of righteousness
And see how they hate it!

Isn’t it interesting that even though God says,
“Vengeance is mine; I will repay”,
We humans do have the means
To cross that line ourselves
Doing what is only God’s to do?

Many make the mistake of assuming
That a good decision is a matter of
Making a right choice at a certain moment in time.

Whether one thinks it is strong enough or not, there is among the churches a substantial interest in converting new souls to the Christian faith/religion/way-of-life. But just how much of the soul are we to convert? Are we to convert them in minimal ways only, such as to believing merely that God exists, and yet taking nothing else in the scriptures to heart? Or are we to convert them simply to adding the go-to-church habit into their weekly routine, with no other changes in their lives than that? These would be minimal changes, of course, and far from a “total makeover”, as we might call it.

These may be some of the low expectations that are common to the churches, but what does God expect from the convert?