During a phone conversation with a friend of mine yesterday, I began to realize a few things which made his life different from mine.
I have known C___ for over ten years when he was a teen in a church I was attending. C___ struggled a lot with different temptations and for a while fought against giving into sin. After I left the church, I lost contact with C___ until about a month ago. Over the next few weeks, I learned that he continued giving into sin, had gone through several painful relationships, and was currently in a long-term relationship.
Like C___, I too had struggled with temptation and sin struggles from my teen years up through adulthood and many times, had given into sin. Each time, I knew and acknowledged that what I had done was wrong, repented and continued to fight at the temptation level (and many times failing miserably!). But God always gave me the strength to get back up with each fall.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it" (ESV).
As fallen Man, we will always be faced with temptations and sin struggles. However, with Christ and our brothers and sisters constantly encouraging us, we can only persevere to win “the race…set before us” (Hebrews 12.1, ESV).
A peek into my mind, to hear the thoughts of a 40-something single male as he walks this planet called Earth.
John M. Kirton II
DISCLAIMER: This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own solely and not those of The Village Church, her ministers, pastors, administrators, staff, covenant members, regular attenders or visitors; my parents; my alma mater, Dallas Christian College, her administration, faculty, Board, alumni, or students, past, present and future; or my employer and fellow employees.
My Story
- John M. Kirton II
- I attended public school for two years and private school for the remainder of my education. After graduation, I attended Bible college in Dallas, Texas, for four and one-half years consecutively. Unfortunately, I failed a class and was unable to graduate with my class but God enabled me to re-take the course and I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Bible and minors in Youth Ministry and Biblical Languages in 1994. After failing the aforementioned course, I had continued attending a church but began to falter in my faith. It was during my second year after my Bible college years that I was introduced to the International Churches of Christ (ICOC), where I became a member and was involved for twelve years. It was not until my twelfth year that, after much prayer from my parents and closest friends, Greg Faure and Wayne Stiles, I became convinced that the ICOC was a religious sect. In June, 2000, I left the ICOC and became a covenant member of The Village Church in Highland Village, TX, in April, 2004.
