This short message is addressed to fellow believers in Jesus Christ. If you
are not a believer in Jesus Christ, then this message will probably offend
you, and you may not even want to read it.

I have been following some of the recent comments here in the HOLYSMOKE
religious debate echo. While I can certainly admire your desire to share your
Christian faith with others here, I must question whether or not it is truly a
worthwhile endeavor, and a wise way to spend your time.

For the record, when I ran my own FidoNet echo called EDGE_ONLINE -- yes, I
personally originated that echo back in the 1990's -- the crowd from the
HOLYSMOKE echo came over to my echo and mercilessly blasted me again and
again. Similar to many of the people who populate the HOLYSMOKE echo today,
those people who attacked me weren't the least bit interested in the truth of
God's Word. They merely wanted to mock my Christian faith, and engage in
endless, fruitless, meaningless debate...just as is now occurring in the
HOLYSMOKE echo. In fact, I recognize some of the very same names from years
ago. Not only is it sad to see that they are still doing the same thing and
haven't changed a single bit, but it also proves the point that they have
absolutely no interest whatsoever in embracing faith in Jesus Christ.

So tell me, brethren in Christ, why are you wasting your time on them?

Perhaps you may be familiar with the Apostle Jude's comment "earnestly contend
for the faith".

The Apostle Paul also wrote "be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear".

So does this mean that we are purposely supposed to go out and look for
battles, even amongst those who have no true, sincere interest in our
Christian faith?

At first glance, you may think that the answer is "yes"; after
all, Jesus did
say "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature".
However, if we look closer at Jesus' own teachings, we discover that the Lord
also said:

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before
swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."
Matthew 7:6, KJV

You see, that is exactly what some of you are doing right now here in the
HOLYSMOKE echo. You are casting God's precious, holy Word before unbelieving
swine and dogs. Are they accepting that Word? Not in the least. They are
trampling God's truth underfoot, and continually mocking you at the same time.
They don't want to turn to Christ, because they are reprobates. They are blind
to the truth of God's Word, and they have hardened their hearts against God's
Spirit.

So what we see then is that the real to my above answer is a resounding
"no".
We are most definitely NOT supposed to waste our time arguing and disputing
with people who clearly have no real interest in our faith, other than to mock
it.

What we can also learn from the previous verses is that what Jude and Paul
both really meant, is that if people approach us IN SINCERITY and ask us about
our faith, we are supposed to respond to them the best that we are able; but,
we are most definitely not supposed to intentionally place ourselves in
situations where we are surrounded by unbelieving snakes and vipers, as some
of you have done here in the HOLYSMOKE echo.

I only offer the above advice as a fellow laborer in Christ. You are, of
course, free to do as you wish, but after seeing how they continually mock
you, and our faith, I felt that it was time that I said something to you. I
hope that you will receive this message in the same spirit of humility in
which it is being sent.

Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
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