Forever Gone

Special Feature by Tim Sweetman

In the 1800s there were once great religious gatherings called camp meetings. In these meetings hundreds of people packed themselves into a giant "preaching shed" to hear the gospel spoken. There were many saved during these meetings, and great revivals came about from these meetings too. But slowly these meetings became obsolete. "Times were changing" people said. They were partially right. But people weren't changing.

In the New Testament, all the believers worshiped together in one spirit, they had no disagreements about their faith, and they shared their money and land. The gospel spread rapidly throughout the Roman world. Years and years passed, and soon, the church became filled with men who did not want "grace through faith", but "grace through works". The church became an outward, visible institution, not the universal group of believers it had been before. The church had given up that wonderful church that was united together in one accord.

There are many other examples, but one I must look at during this day and age is marriage. If the church gives up marriage between only a man and a woman, we will lose that forever. If we give up the sanctity of life, we won't ever bring it back. God never forces his will on man. He gives them a choice, and if they don't obey his will they have to go their own way. And this way cannot be the way our churches go. We must not give up what God has so graciously given to us. Its believers decide the way of the church.

We, as citizens of the United States, need to stand for what we believe and not let God's gift go. We must stand firm in our convictions and not turn away from defending the faith. We need to hold on to the infallibility of the Scripture and follow whole-heartedly what it says. If we give up, say, "times are changing", and let those who do not follow the word of God win, we will lose what God has given us forever. It will be gone forever.

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Tim Sweetman is a 14 year-old writer, artist, and soccer player from the D.C. area. He is home schooled along with his four other siblings, and is also currently running a web blog located at www.agenttim.blogspot.com. He writes other articles on his site and is currently working on a spy novel.