Jesus taught many things: Live a holy and pure life (Proverbs 28:16, Matthew 5:8), to do the will of the Father (Matthew 12:50), to love others His way (1 John 4:7-8), ect… One thing that has been on our hearts is to “come out from among them.”
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
(2 Corinthians 6:14-18 KJV)
This was a lesson that until recently was not understood by Brittany and me.
I grew up with the idea that church was for kids and as a kid, I went to a local Baptist religious assembly. This I did on my own for a while until my mid teen-age years. Then I stopped going all together. On the other hand, Brittany grew up in Pentecostal “church” and went with her Grandma any time the doors were open.
We both were “saved” at a young age, but each of us always felt like there was more than saying a prayer, more than what is taught by either denomination. I, seeking more, resorted to occult practices and other hidden teachings(Tim’s Testimony) . Brittany struggled with depression and demonic oppression while trying to figure out what was missing. (Brittany’s Testimony)
In high-school our worlds collided. We started dating and I started going to “church” with Brittany. We dated (a process that is unbiblical), went to college together and got married our senior year in college. After college I accepted my “dream position” as an engineer with Intel in New Mexico. We moved and had a house built, bought a car, wracked up a ton of debt, and began living the “American Dream.”
Everything was perfect from the standard American point of view, but in reality it was anything but perfect.
We found a “church” and began serving in it, doing all the things that we were supposed to do as “good Christians.” “Christian” marriage counselling and three children later, I was living in a car and “visiting” the house each day for dinner and to read the Bible to them at bed time. We were removed from the “church” and from the people who claimed to be our family, all because I came to them with evidence that they were associated with false prophets in the “word of faith” heresy. The dream was crashing all around us, with each of us too proud, depressed, oppressed, and lost to do anything about it.
This is when things began to change, I found a counsellor that took me to the Word with each of my problems and did not let me dwell on them. Brittany and I each began to each get into the Word, diligently seeking the Lord on our own. I moved back into the house and our marriage made a huge change. We began seeking without the influence of “pastors” who avoided or explained away certain verses in the Bible. We read in simplicity His word and let those words speak to us without reproach. We repented and fully gave ourselves to Him.
It was then that we began seeking His face in earnest, and stopped compromising for anyone or anything. This brought my job into the crosshairs of the Word of God. We are told to be in the world but not of the world.
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
(John 17:12-20 KJV)
At Intel, I was separate from my family, I was unable to preach the Gospel as my job would be terminated and I was bound to the world. All the while, God, was tugging at us to stop depending on the world and to start depending on Him.
So a “crazy” thing happened…
I notified Intel that I was leaving, we sold our house, bought an RV and left NM with no firm idea of where God was leading us. In this short span of time we found out we were expecting our fourth child.
Two months later we are finding ourselves on 14 acres of farmland in the foothills of the Blue-Ridge mountains, living in an RV, expecting a baby, adopting two ducklings, homeschool three girls, starting a homestead and seeking after the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Christ Jesus.
♥️