Lone Christian

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Permalink Reply by jen 82 on March 23, 2008 at 8:20pm

yea man, try being the preacher's daughter in the firehouse with your dad also being the chaplain...haha. most guys do respect me not only because i am a girl but because of my beliefs and know that i do not talk and act like that. Its hard to stand our ground because we don't always fit in in that respect, but if we keep doing what we do we begin to set a great example for fellow firefighters and friends. My church meets at the firehouse (cause our building hasn't been built yet) and because of our ministry to fellow firefighters and God's handy work... we have almost as many firefighters in the congregation as non-firefighters. Do not be discouraged when members crack jokes on you or don't talk much around you because of your beliefs. Soon they will see you are the real deal and have a good foundation in truth. Maybe thats just what they need, in time they might be the ones to talk to you about it. One person can make a difference. =] Keep it up guys and gals,
Jen Arnold 82

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Permalink Reply by Alexander Fogg on March 24, 2008 at 8:40am

GodBless I Pray that you all are doing well in your Journey towards God and Remember that God Dosent put us through anything He dosent plan to walk us through and I know how you all Feel we all go through it it isent easy being a Christian,.. and being in a Non -Christian Fire dept. or one with only few others like yourself,.. Look at Christ He sat with Drunkards and Sinners,.. But God Calls us all to Preach and to Bear wittness,.. God Will help you through this as he helps us all and I will Pray for you too GOd Bless always ~Alex Fogg FF-406 RFD

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Permalink Reply by Jeff on April 4, 2008 at 8:48am

I know what you mean about guys not talking as much around you as they get the idea that you don't joke like they do. I have to admit that sometimes (even after my recent experiences) it's kind of disheartening to not be part of that.

I firmly believe that I am where God wants me to be. After 7 years of working the street as a police ofc, getting into EMS through that, and I know that HE has been with me through the last 18 months as a new medic and FF. (I nearly quit after 3 weeks as a medic because of several of the calls I had "right off the bat". And for my first structure fire 10 mins after new years, I got 2nd degree burns through my gear. Again, I've been having 2nd thought about "Tell me again, why I am doing this?")

I digress. It is disheartening to not be a part of their discussions, until I stop to think about the Holy Spirit pricking my heart and reminding my that I have been set a part as a child of God. And I am there to let His light shine. Like I said before, I still slip (especially when it comes to the language) But He still tells me that I need to watch the tounge.

Take care all, stay safe an may God bless.

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Permalink Reply by AKFFforChrist on April 27, 2008 at 4:15am

Jeff, I've been reading your posts in this string and it sounds to me bro, like you're doing it. While lots of the advice here is great, I think Ben's advice from page one is some of the best I've read yet.

Pinch yourself. Go ahead, do it. Grab a chunk of flesh and pinch hard. Did you feel it? That stuff, it's called "flesh". It's the same thing as the stuff coverin' the bones of everyone else you work with. So what's my point? You're made of the same stuff they are. You're real. You're flesh and bones. With basically one very large exception, you are exactly the same as they are. That exception of course, is your faith in Christ.

Do you want to be a witness to them? Then just be real. Don't be "religious" or "spiritual" or put on any type of air that might turn them off, just be real. Be you. You and I, we're going to suffer the same temptations they are, and with and through the power of the Holy Spirit we're going to turn and walk away from some of those temptations. At other times though, we'll fail to. We'll stumble and fall. So what!?!? Who cares!?!? The Lord doesn't! Well, He does, but He's more interested in His ongoing, eternal relationship with each of us than He is about our sin. He's already covered us in the righteousness of His son. When He looks upon us, it's through that veil of righteousness and what He sees is His creation that He loves eternally.

Open your Bible and read Zephaniah 3:17. It's one of my favorite verses. Daily, your God rejoices over you. He REJOICES (picture Him shouting at the top of His lungs in pure joy) that you have an ongoing, personal relationship with Him, and that for eternity your are His son. Your sin Jeff, my sin, it's nothing to Him when compared to how important our relationship is to Him.

So when you're feeling like you've failed in your walk, well, knock it off. You're human and imperfect and though we'll all endeavor to perfect our walk, we'll never succeed, and that is why we have Christ as our propitiation.

None of that, of course, is an excuse to knowingly and willingly sin. But you know what, we WILL sin. So humble yourself, push your pride aside and become meek before the Lord, that you might readily acknowledge when you sin and repent from it in order that you never allow your sin to become any kind of obstacle or stumbling block between you and the Lord.

So what's my point in all of this rambling?

That those guys you work with are going to know who and what you are simply by your saltiness (your walk). Salt adds flavor to the world, and it's also a preservative. So go add some flavor to your workplace bro. The Holy Spirit can use your saltiness to "preserve" a few souls while you're at it.

I'll be praying for ya!

In Christ,
Doug

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Permalink Reply by AKFFforChrist on April 27, 2008 at 1:56pm

Woops!

The comment earlier I was referring to was by Tom G! Sorry if that confused anyone. =)

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Permalink Reply by Levant4517 on April 23, 2008 at 9:07pm

I have the benefit of having one of my church elders as assistant fire chief. When he's around, the atmosphere is pretty tame, but when he's not, all bets are off. There is virtually no respect for my beliefs when I'm there alone. All I can do is refuse to engage in the questionable discussions and as often as possible, interject my Christian thoughts on matters. But the gutter mouths abound without restraint. But I just remember, "Not Of This World".

Stand strong in your faith and believe that Father God will not put before you that which he has not given you the strength to endure. Pray that the example you set would be followed by the ones who show you respect. Maybe the Father is already doing a work in them through you. Pray for those who do not, that their hearts would be softened. And pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to give you the strength to stand up for what so many in the brotherhood of firefighters do not know, and that is the Love of Christ Jesus from whom we draw courage and strength.

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Permalink Reply by russ allen on June 9, 2008 at 4:06pm

remember, you can't expect non christians to act like christians. YOU take the high road! YOU don't participate in the sex talk. YOU don't cuss and carry on like a heathen. YOU worry about you and Jesus and his light will shine, let him do the saving, YOU be the ambassador! As you consentrate on behaving Godly, notice I didn't say perfect, you will see the others come to you when they are in need. They will stand by you even in the midst of teasing. We all tease each other like brothers and sisters do, that my friend is normal in a family. Lighten up a tad and don't hate the sinner but the sin. Look at the others as God saw and loved you, tough to get butt hurt when you're praying for them.

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Permalink Reply by Chaplain Robert A Crutchfield on June 11, 2008 at 12:41pm

I'm sure anybody who spends a lot of time around first responders probably has run across this many times. Like most things it helps to understand things from their perspective. The firefighters involved are probably reacting to the stress of the job in the same way as those who trained them years ago. This includes the language used.

As Christians and chaplains it is our job to teach them new, faith building ways to deal with things. But be careful this must be done gently, lovingly, and cannot be made to conform to any arbitrary time table. The best thing you can do is lead by example. Keep your Christian example there, where Christ has called you to be. Don't just tell them there are better ways to deal with the stress of things, or wanting to be "one of the guys," show them !

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Permalink Reply by michael wilson on August 4, 2008 at 5:00pm

i am the chaplain of a small department. The majority of the men and women here "TRY" to watch the profanity. There are some things they could say that will make me cring and i will not go into detail. However, I believe that if they watch what they say around me, then perhaps, it will make them conscience of the way that they talk around others, therefore, hopefully, causing them to use less profanity everywhere else. Thats what i am praying for anyway. lol. All civil servants should understand that we are to work on an professional level. Profanity throws that professionalism down the drain. If I were not a preacher or even a christian, heaven forbid, I do not believe that i would want a vulgar Idiot working on me! Amen.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Harkey on August 5, 2008 at 5:49pm

After 23 years serving in the military and 12 in the fire service, I have heard about everything you can imagine, if you let that offend you, you will go nuts. We are Christians living in a world that is not, even Jesus lived among sinners. so it is not a problem we can fix, just live our lives and let other see what we have and if we get an opportunity to, we can help them along.

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Permalink Reply by michael wilson on August 14, 2008 at 3:05pm

Bro. wayne. you have been given loads of advice and they all sound the same and pretty much are. The best thing is that they are all right. We all know who our Lord is and that we ARE a peculiar persons and as long as we are here in their world, then we will have to endure. stay steady in your walk, remember, in due season you shall reap. God bless you brother. Be safe.

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