This is a letter from a man who truly lives by his religions teachings. I wanted to post his letter to show all of you that the Christians are not our enemies, ignornace is.
A Christian Speaks:
By James Clement Taylor
I am a Christian, not a Wiccan. A Christian who has been baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who has made a personal, free-will decision to commit himself and all his or her life to our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Both these things are true of me. I am a Greek Orthodoz christian, a member of St. Mary's Eastern Orthodox Church, Calhan Colorado.
In this paper, I am not speaking as an agent for any church, but I am, entirely of my own responsibility, speaking the truth in love, as we Christians are supposed to do.
A Situation of Strife and Shame:
There are many Christians today who believe that anyone who is not Christian is doomed to an eternity of suffering in hell. Any decent person, believing this, would be compelled to try to save as many people from this fate as possible. But is this belief correct? Jesus Christ, having noted the faith and righteousness of a Roman centurion, a Pagan, proclaimed:
"Assuredly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 8:10-12)
If we accept these words as true, and surely we should, then it is clear that heaven will contain many who are not Christians and hell will contain many who are! Clearly, throughout the Gospels, Jesus Christ sets forth the criteria for entrance into the kingdom of heaven, and those criteria include love, kindness, forgiveness and a refusal to judge others:
"For if you forgive men of their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:14-15)
"For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you." (Matthew 7:2)
"But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' " (Matthew 9:13)
"Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive and you shall be forgiven." (Luke 6:36-38)
Is it not clear? Anyone who fails in these things, will calling himself a Christian save him? Anyone who obeys God in these things, will being unbaptized condemn him? Now, if you are a Christian, this will sound familar to you, and it should. In the Bible we find the following:
"Then, Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, 'Men of Athens, I percieve that in all things you are very religious; for even as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an alter with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship with out knowing, Him I will proclaim to you." (Acts 17:22-23)
The Wiccans worship the Unknown God, as manifested to them in the form of a Goddess and God. Therefore, our Bible tells us they worship the same God we do; and if they do not know this, we should know it!
For those of us who are unable to simply stand on God's Word, and must prove to themselves the truth of what it proclaims, the holy apostle John has given us the method for doing this. You have only to attend any public Wiccan ceremony, and test the spirits which are there, to see "whether they are of God" (I John 4:1). You will find that, while you may percieve the power manifested there as less that what you have experienced as a Christian, that powere is clearly of God.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, these people of Wicca have been terrible slandered by us. They have lost jobs, and homes and places of business because we have assured others that they worship Satan, which they do not. We have persecuted them, and God will hold us accountable for this, you may be sure. for He has said,
"Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did to one of the least of these My brethern, you did to Me." (Matthew 25:40)
Let us, from this point onward, repent of our misdeeds and declare that henceforth we shall obey Christ our God, and not judge others or condemn them, so that He will not have to judge and condemn us for our sins.
Light and Life,
James Clement Taylor
James, you are truly a man touched by God. We here at the nest thank you for your brave words. It is because of you, and folks like you, that we know harmony is possible.
