Nickhere,

Oh, sorry-- I had missed this one:

As Susan said, when some Christians tell you about their faith, it is not to shove it down your throat – you're free to reject it and no-one is burnt at the stake anymore – but because we love you.

NONONO, I did not say that, and I do not do that. I do not tell people about Jesus because I love them (as I used to do). I love them enough NOT to tell them until they ASK or unless I am just exchanging information about my own spirituality in a mutually-respectful environment (when I am remembering what I know is correct use of my gifts).

When Jesus is important to us because He is a source of infinite love that we can in turn channel outwards to people we meet, it means we just love them. It does not mean that He wants us to use their vulnerability to insist that they accept the source of the love we pass along, as well as the love itself.

An unemployed pastor friend of mine once told me very excitedly about a vision he'd had, and how he interpreted it. "I saw myself walking up to the door of [church name], and God told me to open that door and walk in." He went on to tell me that this vision meant he was going to be their next pastor. I asked him, "Did you go there, and open that door, and walk in yet to see what He said to you next?" No, he was working on his resume to take along. "Did God tell you to work on the resume?" I asked. "No, but I thought....." was his response. Then the lighbulb went on. He'd run right past the message, to apply it HIS OWN WAY. It might very well have been that there simply was someone who God had wanted him to meet that day that had nothing at all to do with my friend's ambition to return to fulltime pastoring! We laughed together over that one for a long time, and he never did go open that door-- too bad; maybe there was a blessing waiting.

:~) Be careful how you use God's messages, and my posts. They may not mean what you'd like them to mean.

~Susan