Sodom and Gomorrah found out what it means to tread upon God's last nerve! TR I'm really touched not only for the love and concern expressed by Taureauchien for the souls of their friends, but also by the sensitive, kind, and thorough replies given on here- honestly, I am truly seeing our Lord and Savior's heart in each of you and I praise God for that! I agree that although your intentions are noble, your currently contemplated option does not sound in line with scripture to me...more than anything I highly suggest that you personally get before the Lord in prayer and His Word, seeking God's wisdom specifically for this situation. Remember that God loves your friends and wants them to choose to spend Eternity in a loving intimate relationship with Him much more than you want that for them- and it is obvious that you do want that so much so that you are willing to do something you feel would be a sacrifice in order to turn them to God. Think about what Jesus did- He fulfilled the Law and paid our debt through horrendous pain and suffering. He already did it- "it is finished"... not only that, but God also made Himself even more vulnerable to pain when He chose to give us the choice to accept or reject what He did...to agree with His Way, or to go our own way that is the path of destruction and eternal separation from Him... You hurt to think of them hurting...you hate that they are suffering in their bondage to sin...you hate that they don't have peace with God, they don't have God's peace, they don't have the assurance of His constant presence and love right there within them right now- you hate that they rely on their own ability to muddle through life moving forward only to be going towards a cliff leading to hell... But God Himself lets them choose, so you have to also...you have to let go enough to trust the Lord's ability to reach them by the power of His Spirit and only do and say what you know He leads you to...you know speaking the truth in love is of God, you know living out your faith- allowing Jesus to live through you, the Holy Spirit to produce God's fruit in you, you know loving unconditionally is pleasing to God...but healthy boundaries are wise too- guard your heart, hate evil...God says what is good and what is evil...He Himself will give you wisdom in your relationships and your own life choices... Remember we need a humble heart before God in order to truly seek Him, to really know Him, to fully accept Him...we have to agree with what He says about Himself and about ourselves and about our relationship to Him...real salvation is from the Holy Spirit's conviction of sin that reveals a need for a Savior a need of forgiveness...there are no magic words, nothing can be forced or manipulated...we can not do this for someone else no matter how much we want to... God looks at the heart, isn't impressed with shallow lip service (going through the motions)...it's between Him and each of them individually and anything other than sharing the good news and allowing the Lord to love through you, no matter your good intentions, is only going to cheapen God's grace and the intimacy of Salvation- He creates a new creature, He makes one spiritually alive, one becomes born of God- born again- this is all supernatural- we cannot cause it, force it, manipulate it...but absolutely pray for Him to do so- in His time, His way- He knows them better than you do and is able to reach them...just be a willing vessel for Him to work through - and allow Him the choice to use some other way, or someone else entirely to help in revealing Himself and The Truth to them... Sorry for rambling so much, I just was really moved by this whole thread and really appreciate all of y'alls time and effort and kindness...I believe there is a true expression of God's Church right here right now! He is so good! May He bless each of you tremendously! Maranatha! The sanctity of the marriage institution between male and female was so great in God's eyes, that the Father married Israel and Jesus marries His Bride the church! TR
