Isolation Blues

[I posted this at TR Forum this morning and got one response so far.......someone who said he has been pondering the same thoughts. I wonder how many like-minded isolated sheep are out here in cyberspace. May the LORD provide cyber-shepherds to gather and guide us in these apostate times we live in. The narrow path gets lonely sometimes.]

Path of Sanctification

Class Audio 12 talked about the path of sanctification and how we need community to grow spiritually. We need the "sandpaper" of interacting with others in real life fellowship. This is not optional, Tim says. We must make the effort to gather with others locally, or move elsewhere to find like-minded community if necessary.

I find myself in a quandary.....and I wonder if I speak for others who read these posts but do not post themselves for various reasons.

Does not the Bible talk about the Remnant being a small, persecuted minority? "I will take one of a city, two of a family, and bring them to Zion..." (Jer. 3:14)

Isolation seems to be a fixture in the End Times. Tim talks about having a generational perspective......that we need to form communities that will pass our faith along to the next generation. Other Messianic teachers I read online talk about what the Messianic Movement will look like in coming decades or in the next hundred years, and how we are a young movement, which explains our difficulties.

Huh?!

I seem to be on a somewhat different wavelength and wonder if others share my view.

My mindset seems to be to somehow manage to hold on to my faith while all around me Christians and Messianics are dropping like flies.......becoming Agnostics, Atheists, Anglicans, Catholics, Buddhists, Presbyterians, Deity-denying Jews, Noachides, apostates of every shade and nuance. We now have the phenomenon of Atheists becoming Episcopalians and "embracing the myth" for social and professional reasons. Others, while embracing Evolution, and taking a far left, liberal view politically and Scripturally, are going back to churches.......and finding quite a bit of likemindedness there in this post-modern world we live in.

Meanwhile, we can't find very many Messianics that agree with one another enough to fellowship together peaceably for any length of time without "breaking up" and moving on. Some have moved to another state for "community" only to find the turmoil intolerable and could not stay in the fellowship.

What a mess! I finally understand why they call it the MESSianic movement.

Something is wrong with this picture.

I just want to be able to meet the LORD when He comes and have Him say, "Well done thou good and faithful servant." I expect the Second Coming to happen in my lifetime if I live to be 85 or so. I do not expect another 100 years to go by without His Return. 2000 years from His death, resurrection, and ascension is about the year 2034. Is this not the "two days" mentioned in prophetic Scripture? It seems like many have given up expecting Him after the year 2000 came and went and date-setters were proven wrong. Yet they were counting from His birth, rather than His death! I always wondered why Yeshua taught that the End Times would be marked by people going about their day to day business and not understanding the times in which they lived and not being prepared. Now I do......as I see this happening. Most seem oblivious to His soon return. It is not talked about much in Messianic circles, and mocked when brought up. Meanwhile tribulation, wars, earthquakes, sorrows, plagues are happening before our eyes.........and we attribute them solely to natural causes.

There is growing anti-Semitism and hostility against Israel. Churches are taking a pro-Palestinian stance. Messianics and Jews are becoming Anti-Zionist, believing Israel has no right to exist as a nation! Israel is called "apartheid, racist, evil" etc. I am called an "ignorant racist" for supporting Israel.

My point........sorry to go on and on............is that many of us out here in cyberspace are in need of guidance, shepherding, oversight, support, teaching, fellowship in our unavoidable present circumstances of isolation. We are hanging by a thread over the precipice of apostasy. Satan, as a roaring lion, seeks to devour us.

What will become of us?

We want to be ready to face the challenging times in our immediate future. We don't want to fall away from our most precious faith. Our children, grandchildren, friends, spouses have already departed from the faith or become lukewarm, or have no interest in Torah. Our only option for local fellowship seems to be to go back to the antinomian churches and pass on the pork at the potluck, spit out the bones of the dispensational teaching, and try to find some semblance of human comfort and spiritual support.

I don't know what the answer is.....or what I expect Tim to do about it as one man who is doing all he can, and more than most, to nourish us.

When this class ends, will this forum continue? Will anyone chat with one another any place? Or will we all go our separate ways once again and try to hang on somehow.

Sorry for rambling on.......

Thanks for listening.

Shalom,

Maureen