The Path of Truth Forum

Hi I'm not sure who at PathofTruth is reading this but my names Alvin I'm really happy , The Lords lead me to your teachings and given me faith to believe your of Gods true Church. I've bin reading for a less then a couple months now and thought I'd be nice to connect with you guys.

To be honest at this moment in my life the Lord hasn't put any people around me with a deep desire to chase Gods heart , so to be honest a little bit of loneliness is behind the reason for this message. I'm the only one in my family who's bin given grace to believe in Jesus and it feels like people in my life are great at distracting me from walking with God, I would love to be a part of your Sabbath day talks!! Thank you very much for your time hope to hear from you soon God Bless!!

Hi Alvin,

Better to be alone with the Lord on His straight way than with a crowd on the broad way of hell. But you aren't alone, are you? Not if you have faith in Christ. See Hebrews 12. And here we are in the flesh, by God's grace, part of His true Church, just as you say.

You happened to catch us at a time while we were preparing for visitors and travel, heading out together to see the saints in Canada. When we get settled in, Sara will send you instructions on how to attend the Sabbath meeting.

In the meanwhile, we'd like to hear more about your spiritual journey so far. If you can, write and tell us more.

Paul Cohen
www.ThePathofTruth.com

Very true! thank you so much Paul!! I needed to read that I understand that the Lord will batpize me with fire and its part of my sanctifying and im aware fire burns... !! I guess my loneliness comes from wanting other people around me to be were i am with Christ, but everyone has there own time and its not lonely when I KNOW Gods given me the greatest gift in the universe and thats faith to be sure Jesus is with me guiding me and watching over me! I would love to tell you guys what the Lords done with my life so far!!

Allright ill start off telling you im 21yrs old, born, raised and reside in Surrey, British Columbia my parents came here from Fiji when they were in there early/mid twenties. My family was rasied practicing Hinduism so I grew up in a religous setting. every Tuesday we would and they still do have religous ceremonies at different relatives houses including mine rotating every week.

My parents both come from familys of 14 each an some live in Fiji still, but as you can imagine these ceremonies would have alot of friends and family show up. I absolutely loved being able to hang out with all my cousins after the pooja (thats what these ceremonies were called) would finish it was the highlight of the pooja, for me. they would read from there book for about and hr and in between that hr sing songs to there dieties.

I can speak Hindi pretty well and have conversation well too but i could'nt understand the txt they would speak from in there book so the whole time they conducted there poojas i would be day dreaming or goofing off with my cousins, my parents never educated me about Hinduism and im not surprised, they only follow it cause it was passed down to them from there parents.

My mom and I were having a spiritual coversation the other day which rarely happens because she gets easily annoyed with how zealous I get when I talk about Jesus, anyways she admitted to me not to long ago that she never prayed with all her heart during these poojas and off course not!! theres only one God I know who truly wants all your heart!! the thing that was awesome was she also told me about a miracle Jesus did for her younger sister in Fiji to heal her leg when they were both younger!!! it blew my mind to hear her tell me that, my mom believes Christs second coming but both my parents are in the chains of there ancestors and to break them means walking away from what they've know there whole life so I understand why they keep there customs even though theres no power in there gods.

Back to were i was, so growning up I understood God was there I looked at my life and I knew I was so blessed especially when my parents would tell me stories about how tough life in Fiji was, I was grateful to be in B.C. I never identified with Hinduism on a personal level (cause theres no personal God) but God was always a personal thing to me because I knew my life was the way it was because of God. I didnt understand how Hinduism saw God but i grew up knowing by experience that God was Love because I had so much loving people in my life and he was ultimately for me. just believing chose two things about God got me through any obstacle I had to face I always felt uplifted and optomistic and carefree about life and why wouldnt I ? I had the greatest force in the universe behind me.

when I was in grade 7 around 11 years old I had joint pains which progressed to the point I couldnt walk up stair, so we went to Childrens Hospital and I was diagnosed with Rhuematoid Arthiritis. The diagnosis didnt bother me to much cause I realized i was young and I could bounce back from it, the annoying part was I couldnt play sports at a high level and my dream was to be a hockey goalie, but it was okay I was just happy to be able to walk without pain and run again for nearly 8 months I had'nt had physical activity, I would just sit inside class during recess and lunch break playing video games. the next year was the begining of highschool for me grade 8.

Starting highschool I thought I could have a fresh start I was on medications and my Rheumatoid was controlled. in October of my first year in highschool my grandma in Fiji passed away, so we went to Fiji for her burial. I was playing soccer with my cousins there and while playing I tore my ACL and meniscious less then a week being there, we were there for another 3 weeks. i wasnt able to get a diagnosis there cause they had no MRIs so I had to wait tilll we got back. When i got back I was already administered to Childrens Hospital so they were able to get me into surgery within a couple months, My fresh start to highschool didnt seem so fresh anymore.

the first 2 years in highchool were more about me being able to get in physical shape again. while alot of my friends and other students took advantage of there freedom to go party and experience being a teenager I was confined to my house and rehab, I actually forgot how to walk at one point because i didnt properly do my rehab so my muscles forgot how to work together, I was blesesd though to have doctors who were willing to help me teach myself how to walk again.

I had alot of ailments i was dealing with as a teenager but I was never depressed about my situation cause I had alot to distract myself with from trying to become a better basketball player cause i wanted to make the team which i did in my grade 11 year!! to wacthing Tv, playing video games, and listening to music, an deep down i still knew God was behind all these events. God humbled me when he gave me disease i was the type of person who always stood up for myself even if it ment fighting although i didnt enjoy hurting people, i spent alot of time during elementary in detention. Im thankful God gave me reason not to have the reputation of being that person anymore, he showed me how fragile I really am, and taught me to live behind the spotlight.

During the start of my senior year of highschool my Arthiritis went into remission I was really happy about that and I began enjoying some freedom i did'nt have alot of in highschool like going out with my friends i started drinking more and smoking weed ocassionally.during the summer after graduation me and a group of really great friends become stoners we really enjoyed getting high together for me i was soaking up all the time I lost to disease in highschool. I had no idea and am actually still not sure what i wanted to take in school or career path i wanted i just wanted to wake up happy so i didnt go to school for the year and during that year God revealed who i was before him and it changed everything for me.

Growing up I was aware of all these diffrent religions in the world but i saw them as ways to keep people from coming together in harmony, during socials class your taught about the horrors of human history and the wars religious people faught in. I was really self righteous because I thought of myself as a good person I didnt have insidious thoughts to hurt people... all the time... I respected people tried to be as loving as i could and find common ground with people i didnt agree with about whatever topics we would discuss. I had a false sense of bliss cause of my self righteousness, my philosophy was that every religion was true but you had to find the truth within to see the bigger picture of how they connected. which was completely false because Jesus is the way the truth and the life!!! and only God can reveal himself to you when he wants too.

So how Jesus set me free from my ignorance was my showing me how much of a filthy hypocritical sinner I was infront of God. now ive never told anybody but God these things because of shame but the Lords made me feel comfortable to confess before you. I spent alot of time inside by myself during the start of highschool cause of my health issues when i was 13 years old I started watching pornography, my cousin and people around me made it seem normal to watch porn i thought it was to, its only natural to be turned on and excited by sex so since i was 13 i was watching porn.

The thing was i always thought of my self as somone who respected women.. even when i would listen to hip hop music i would hate how women were degraded even though i was degradeding them with porn at the same time.. hypocrite!! .. so my taste in porn became more and more perverted i only watched girls when i first started porn but eventually I was watching all types of porn to satisfy my twisted appetite.

i fell into the habit for i cant remeber how long but it was far too long of getting high then coming home late night and watchign porn for hrs, the moment that changed me was when i came home one night I had an incest festish i was indulging in and it led me to watchign gay porn for the first time when i watched it i experience major trauma because i desensitized myself to porn so much i was still turned on, in that moment I felt like i died inside because i loved women, Ive never in my life in any shape or form bin attracted to a man in the real world, i realize now that I seperated porn from reality as if watched in porn didnt exist but it did.

so i was 19 when that happened and after that event i feel into a deep depression nothing made sense to me i was lost in darkness i was addicted and still watching porn even though i hated what it was doing to me, i thought to myself and still sometimes think if i ever did meet a girl how could i open up about this to her would she think im crazy or i like guys or be more disgusted with me then i was with myself. I put up a wall to cover all the pain guilt and shame i had inside and masked it with a smile thats what i always did when infront of people but alone i was in tremendous pain i would go to sleep crying asking God why life had to be this way and if he could help me escape, the little ray of light and hope that help me get up out of bed during those times was the chance there was a God out there and he could save me from the mess i turned my life into.

During my first year out of school was when i was given the realization of my brokeness which was hands down the worst pain ive ever felt in my life, i didnt know i was in sin but i knew i was broken beyond belief, that was around july. The September following I got my first job thanks to one of my really great friends Bill at Milestones restaurant, its so amazing how precise Gods timing is because i dont know what i would have bin doing without that job and while working there God had so much to show me!! he used a couple really great friends to speak to me.

Growing up I had friends of diiffrent religions but i never had any Christian friends only cause God never put any on my path, I was never presented the Gospel so I had no knowledge of what the Gospel meant or was I knew Jesus was divine and worshipped but i didnt understand why and didnt think it appied to me even though i believed all religions had truth.

I met two people Ray and Nathan at Milestones its funny because neither of them proclaimed being Christian but they didnt have to for me to understand Jesus put them there for me. Ray was in his 50s and Nathan was only a few years older then me so 23 when i was 20. theres alot i could tell you about the thigns that God revealed to me thorugh them but ive already written quite abit mabye if im ever able to see you guys in person i could tell you.

long story short they were the first people who God used to plant a seed in me. a year and a half close to 2 years later I came to understand how much I ment to Jesus. one day when i was sitting in my house i felt so bad about the cycle of sin i was caught in over and over again i couldnt stand up to my sin, at this time my Rheumatoid came back to so mentally i was depressed, physical disease ridden and spiritually dead, then a thought came to my mind JESUS DIED FOR MY SINS.

That was the first time Jesus pierced my heart for so long I was carrying these boulders of sin on my back but why ? Jesus already took it upoun himself to relieve me of the works of sin i felt the greatest feeling of rest!!!! i did alot of reading and searching and pondering but no knowledge gave me peace the way Christ did in that moment i exhaled and said i have nothing to feel sad about God loves me so much. That little ray of light i was hoping was there became bigger and realer then I ever thought it could be, in that moment i knew Jesus was the truth not by logic but experience of his love, mercy, and grace.

One of my really good friends Colton from Milestones started dating a coworker Malissa around that time. Malissa went to church and grew up a Catholic but moved away from Catholicism to i think Protestant, so Colton started going to church with her also. he asked me if i wanted to come to church i said of course!!! i always wanted to experience church and now that i knew Jesus was real why not I never told anyone my testimony around this time, i didnt even know what a testimony was.

God still had and has a whole lot to do with me and in that season he was destroying my pride, i remember thinking if i ilke what the pastor says about God ill incorperate it into my philosophy, an i knew Jesus was real but i didnt understand he was the only way to the father for everyone!! i was still making God in my own image instead of Jesus tranforming me into his own image. After the service I came out knowing that i wanted to become a disciple of Christs and there was nothing else that could satisfy my soul then to walk with the Lord of all creation.

I started attending church every sunday in Nov and i was researching all i could about what it meant to live a Christian life in Feb i got baptized i felt God was really pushing me to live for him with all my heart. I never in my life truly believed or cared for the concept of Hell until i became a Christian, i either thought it was a scare tactic or i would use it to satisfy my carnal sense of justice by thinking people i deemed bad ike HItler would end up there.

God gave me wisdom to understand that none are righteous and all are deserving of Gods wrath, hell was teriffying to think about, church would preach how if you didnt have a true relationship with Christ you were doomed to everlasting torment, i didnt like it but the word hell was in the bible so i couldnt go against it and who was I to tell God what he should do with his creation.

After being Baptized I become really religious for 3 months i stopped drinking, smoking, and i was trying to commit my self to Christ as best as i could. When i told Malissa my testimony for the first time she told me i should become a youth pastor or something i thought it would be cool to preach the word to people and win souls for Jesus like he needs my help... during those 3 months i was praying to God all the time to save the people around me i was the only one among my friends and family who wanted to walk with God and i could'nt grasp the idea of heaven without my parents and younger sister who have loved me all my life.

Around this time I was jobless because my Arthiritis was really bad an I wasnt going to kill my body to make money I didnt know what I wanted to do for a living and I was in debt cause i used my visa to buy a bunch of unnecessary things, books, food, etc. I was not someone to look up to in any way and when i tried preaching Jesus to my family they would switch the topic to worldy things and i could'nt say anything, I felt like the biggest fool in my family cause all my cousins had things more figured out then me as far as wordly matters go. I decided I was going to be the best Christian i could be and that if my family and people around me saw how much God blessed me they would want to serve Jesus too.

I made the choice to go to bible school and try to become a Pastor they made decent money... and were bringing souls to salvation... before i went any further with the thought i prayed about it i asked the Lord for counsel "is this what your will is for my life Lord cause if so i'll follow you were ever you lead me God" then the Lord put it in me to go search scripture and see whats written, when I finished reading I questioned everything about modern Christianity i saw that God doesnt need the education systems of man to teach me righteousness, he showed me Jesus before I even owned a bible!! and the Lord does'nt take joy or dwell in man made churchs, he steered me away from going to school, at one point i thought mabye I should make just enough money move to Fiji an follow the Lord there just me an him and get away from all the distractions around me but then i thought mabye it would be good to surround myself with people more familiar with the faith at bible school.

I prayed to the Lord again and asked " Lord if you dont want me to go to school then give me a reason not to go please" boy did he give me more then one reason not to!!!! I was really obsessed with the book of Revelations and researching the lake of fire, one day while online I stumbled upoun a book and the two authors were talking about how Gods lake of fire was for purifying and there was no eternal hell!! it was clear for me to believe God was so wise, powerful and loving he would do that. One of the doctrines the bible school i was thinking about attending had supported hell and the trinity, the book i read challenged both of these doctrines and I trusted the Lord was the one who purposed this to happen to keep me away for school and look to God not man for answers.

Crazy thing is i fell back into my sinful habits and stopped repenting after finding these things out i can see now that God wanted to show me i was worshipping him out of fear not love, I wanted to make sure i could be and example for people so they would'nt go to hell but salvation is the Lords work and his alone and hes the author and finisher of our faith!!

Malissa volunteers at a bible camp in Anvil and she told me and Colton to come volunteer in the kitchen so we did. it was my first time being surrounded by so many people who were raised by there familys to follow the faith. Honestly i felt secluded among them though, dont get me wrong they were all great people!! but when it came to God it was a diiffrent story. the camp was for younger kids and the goal was to get people saved at camp. it felt like people were more concerned about my salvation there then how my walk with God was going, i knew that God put it in my heart to believe he was'nt a trinity and there was'nt an eternal hell but i did'nt want to spark controversy so i tried by best to not talk about it even though the only reason i was there was because of Jesus, eventually it slipped out that i did'nt beleive in an eternal hell and most people would turn it into a debate when they heard, i didnt really want to debate scripture i just wanted to say the things i felt the Lord put in my heart to say thats it.

A month later in July by the grace of God i found your gyus teachings and everything i was reading connected with how the Lord made me feel about him, the Lords using you guys to teach me soo much!! thank you and glory to God!! i admit im having a difficult time repenting of my sins still and really desire to go deeper with God in this season of my life. Thanks alot for your time and doing the work of the Lord!!! and hopfully that wasnt too long a message God bless!!!

Hi Alvin,

It's good to hear about what God has done and is doing in your life. We thank and praise Him for it. No doubt He has brought you to The Path of Truth in order to minister to your needs, making it possible for His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

“And Jesus looking on them said, 'With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible'” (Mark 10:27).

Sara sent you the instructions for the meeting yesterday. If and when you come, we'll introduce you to the other attending believers and you can say a few words about yourself and how you came to be here, if you will. You can use your letter to create a shorter introduction, or, if you wish, let me know and I could send the entire letter to the others in advance of the meeting. Many have experienced similar things, and all will appreciate the grace of God at work in your life. But no pressure either way - it's up to you what you'll share.

In your testimony of what's happened so far, you mention the following:

“One day while online I stumbled upoun a book and the two authors were talking about how Gods lake of fire was for purifying and there was no eternal hell!!”

Did that happen to be the following? The Great Promise of the Lake of Fire and the Second Death

If not, can you recall the name of the book or do you have a link you could send us?

We may have more to say about your letter, but for now I'd like to get this out to you so you're prepared for tomorrow if you come. The Lord's will be done!

Paul