Sandusky, OH 2006: One moment, walking along, singing a song. The next moment, bound and gagged, and wondering what happened. The Scriptures give warning, and disciples of Jesus are rightly subject to significantly elevated standards. Those two facts alone should keep real disciples from ending up like this.

Excerpts from Trent’s historical letters candidly and anonymously offer flavors and insights from real-time and real-life origins.  Hop aboard these instructions and confessions in mid-stream, below, and see if they help you, too.  Here, from 2008, Trent gets after the family of believers in ways with which real families can fully interact and thrive. 

From Trent Ling:

“Be self-controlled and alert…” 1 Peter 5:8.

I am not at all unaware of the war I face all-day, every day.  I have great concern for my brothers and sisters who are routinely unaware.

I cannot get past our people failing to account for their hearts and minds, souls and strengths, when it comes to making deliberately ungodly decisions.  There must be about 17 different hurdles and discernments in those decisions and actions, and yet most are apparently unaware of any of them.

On present matters, many of us are godless, stupid, ridiculous, phony, easy, and sleazy, OR completely dull and unaware as if not taught memorable truths.  Neither choice is good.  I hate to bring up these two options for fear that many will pick one or both of the choices (in false humility), and still nothing will change.  That I have to bring up the subject shows that we remain a long, long way from what we may have thought we were in Christ.

But, what can be done about it at this point?  It is a great frustration, no doubt.  But, I am bold enough, and love you enough, to offer you life, even if you leave it on the table and only remain giddy for the world.

Slow down and weigh carefully what I point out.  1 Corinthians 14:29.  We are so quick to say something that we are losing God as we run ahead of the Bible.  2 John: 9.  No doubt, our characters have been corrupted by bad (unspiritual) company and we have been misled as a result.  1 Corinthians 15:33.

The standards many are applying are very strange.  For example:  “Because I was not struggling with impurities while leaving the path of Christ, it did not occur to me to account for that.”  I know that I could set up a glass house in an NBA locker room and not struggle with any kind of impurity!  Should I do it?

Of course, in these examples, “The Pattern” would first ask me, “What am I after?”  The answer to that question would be that I am an aimless, purposeless, pointless goofball!  What did the Pattern yield for you?  Did you run it?  Run it now and what do you get?

I have more to say than can be said.  For now, suffice it to say that “since my people are crushed, I am crushed.”  Jeremiah 8:21.  With great sadness and distress I realize that you don’t even yet know that you are crushed.

I will pray for, and allow God to restore, your footing.  Ephesians 6:15.  I expect that you will faithfully and successfully fight for this.

Many in the ministry are asking themselves the question, “What am I doing?”  We all definitely need to run that through “The Pattern” ourselves.  You may want to consider sooner than later, what in the world you are doing and what you’re going to do with your life in Christ.  I do nothing until I am resolved about such questions in my own life.  Of course, whatever we choose to do, it must be something we can commit to the Lord, which means that the Bible must approve it.  In which case, it will succeed.  Proverbs 16:3.

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