Here's a "bit" of documented history that I find both hopeful and interesting ! Check it out...on August 1,2007 Erik posted an entry on the RFTH site in which he makes the claim...There was a time in my life when I was a very strong Christian-saved, sanctified,filled with the Holy Ghost and on fire for the Lord.etc.,etc.,etc.Evidently,some very convincing college prof. set him on a new track (many of us have spent time there and can appreciate his situation).In short...continue to pray for Erik and anyone else you encounter in a similar situation.Remember that it is not we believers that cause another to turn to Jesus,but the Holy Spirit through the grace of God,and last but not least,,,never forget "the plank in our own eye." This also seems an appropriate time to re-read Matthew 13. I think it is particularly appropriate.LOVE to all ! - Susan

Thank you Susan I knew from some of the stements he made that one time he had to of been in church and if this is the same Erik one day hopefully he will open his eyes and heart and come back. We know that with God all things are possible. Keep praying for him. - Jerry

I have been a regular reader of the comments section attached to Bryant's daily devotionals. While the devotions have been a blessing, I must say that the reader forum has become less so. Easter Sunday was a good example. On this most-joyous day on the Christian calendar, I expected to see wonderful, uplifting stories and remarks celebrating Jesus's amazing gift. Imagine my disappointment to instead find our two resident atheists mocking the Christian faith. Instead of wonderful Christian fellowship, the forum was converted into a tag-team trying to debate the deity – even the existence – of Christ and to mock all of us who were silly enough to believe a fairy tale. Instead of being able to share stories of faith with fellow believers, the rest of us felt the need to defend our deepest beliefs. Reading the comments on Easter felt the same as if a gang of hecklers had been picketing in the church lobby.

I sincerely believe that many people have been run off by the hostile tone that has taken over this forum. Many people who would like to comment on the devotional, or ask a relevant question, or even ask for help from other readers, are too intimidated to participate. (They feel someone is going to call them a name or ridicule their beliefs.) Can't we set up some ground rules? Can't we have a place to comment on the day's devotional, engage in a healthy, constructive, supportive dialog, and enjoy the incredible blessing that comes from Christian interaction and fellowship?

Now I'm sure it's useful to have dialog between Christians and non-believers. And I'm sure this could be done in a healthy, constructive manner. But there is a time and place for everything and the RFTH forum is just not the place for it. Those wishing another agenda can get their own website or use one of the many internet chat groups already set up for this. This website has been hijacked and I want it back!

- Ken

If it were not for the hope that Christ's life, death, and resurrection give us...how I would have problems living day to day!! He is worthy of all our praise and all our gratitude!

And I do pray that Erik and any other unbeliever can find that hope, because it is so life transforming!

Ken, I understand how you feel, sometimes I feel the same way! But when I read the cynical and sarcastic notes, I remember Jesus faced much more than that by people who felt "they knew the real truth."
And I remember that when even one soul is saved, the angels in heaven rejoice!!

I'll try to keep my mind more on the messages, Ken, good advice!! And Erik, I keep praying for you! - marti mastbrook

I was very sick going into Easter and am still recovering so sadly I missed Good Friday and Sunday Easter services. When one is so sick and realizes that if things went the wrong way they could even die, then there is the real test. Is it faced with fear or the hope of heaven. I could rest assured on the spiritual level even though my body was tormented physically by illness. So even though I did not get to enjoy church with brothers and sisters in Christ, I did get to fully enjoy the benefit of the true meaning of Easter and the resurrection of Jesus. He is alive! We who believe always have an eternal home with Him. Praise God! - Janice

Ken, I understand your frustration as well. We must understand, however, that it is not about us, it is about going about our Fathers work. Hebrews 10:25 says that we should go to church to stir up love and good works and exhort one another. That's our safe place.
This forum is a public domain were we have a chance to "..eat and drink among the tax collectors and sinners and ...call sinners to repentance." If we do not let them where the Light is shining they will always be in darkness.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says " All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." When we do get into these tag-team matches we must make sure we do not give our "opinion" but instead give the truth, the word of God. I know they will make fun of us saying the scriptures don't mean anything to them. That's ok. They mean something to us and as long as we continue to feed them Gods word their sin will become harder and harder to digest. Speak with scriptures for it will not return void.
Think of it as an opportunity to obey Gods command to go out into every nation and make disciples, or at least water the seeds, without leaving your home. Jesus said that we would do greater things than He. This is one of those things. Reaching the world from where ever we are.
My God has already defeated Baal. He has already defeated satan. Anybody else got a god you want to put up against my God.....BRING IT!!! - Keith R.

It is sad when I think about people as they get older, and the hopelessness they must feel as they come to realize that in their world view, they are nothing more than a collection of chemicals that happened to gain consciousness somehow. In the end, there is nothing more than death to look forward to.

College does take a toll on believers. It is pretty easy to lose our faith at that time in your life, especially when you are listening to a long list of atheist professors who reject the idea of the supernatural out of hand. I also lost my belief in God when I went to college; although, being born Catholic, and only somewhat raised that way, there was no strong faith on my part to begin with. I do remember praying as a child, though. Proverbs 22:6 states well how it often works out in the end. It was my last year in college that I started to realize there are good reasons to believe in God and the bible. Faith can and should be founded on reason, and there are a lot of people smarter than my college professors who regularly defend the Christian faith.

I know that Romans 8:38-39 and John 10:28 will hold true. If Erik was truly saved at some point, we don't need to worry about him. He will be with us in heaven. While his actions do not indicate that he was once saved, someone can fall away from the faith and even rebel, and God will not let them go. Only God knows for sure what Erik felt in his heart at the time, and what is in store for him in the future.

Ken: I think there can be reasoned discussion on topics on this site from time to time, and I think that is healthy. I feel compelled to answer critics at times, because there are a lot of Christians who do not know that there are good answers. Whether in this forum, or elsewhere, we are told to "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." I agree, though, that it got out of hand around Easter. That is a time when unbelievers and the one many of them serve feel compelled to attack Jesus and his resurrection. - Rick Y

Ken I really really understand where you're coming from but we have an opportunity and obligation that for some reason at least 2 people possibly even more I believe have found their way to a Christian forum. Should we turn our backs on them? I know they sound angry, but they are testing the waters, feeling us out, seeing what our responses will be, and truly trying to find the proof that they need to believe. They're not really interested in listening to us just quote scripture. They want to go deeper. They are here and I think God has directed them here, but whatever the reason since they are here we're going to have to deal with them somehow. I for one prefer to tell them of God's love and hopefully help them find the one that I feel like they are really seeking just as we once sought him. - Christ Follower

I agree with both sides about the Easter forum being a free for all. I expressed my concerns several weeks ago about this and then I allowed myself to be drawn into the fight. While I believe we should defend our faith we can go over board. Yes we do need to give them the scriptures but we do not need to offend either side in our own selves. If I have offended any of my Brothers or Sisters in Christ by any of my comments I ask your forgiveness. I will still pray for Jonathon and Erik that they will come to the true knowledge of our Lord and Saviour. - Jerry

Our pastor has a saying that we shouldn't come to church to see how nice it is to see how nice it is to be nice to each other. I believe he means we as Christians need to not just go to church or even this forum to see just what we can receive from it. I agree though we need to maybe tone it back a bit and not get too involved in vain disputings as someone else mentioned. I don't think though we should be afraid to answer their questions. I read a quote in my bible study class a few weeks ago. " The remarkable thing about fearing God, is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else." Like Proverbs says the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. - Becky

Yes, it is possible that we may someday be able to influence these gentlemen. But has anyone considered that meanwhile this duo is also influencing people? God may have sent E & J to us, be he has also sent thousands of spiritually hungry people to our site each day. We provide them some answers, some hope, and some comfort. And then we turn them over to "the loyal opposition" for equal time to ridicule His message. How many hundreds of these people are you willing to throw overboard? - Ross

I love it. I've been outnumbered here 10 to 1 for upwards of a year and suddenly the Christians are the victims. So you want me to leave you alone, is that it? So you can continue having a little praise party without anybody asking difficult questions? Remember, when you pray to Jesus you pray to the saint of blasphemy, the guy who asked uncomfortable questions and said some very politically incorrect things. I have a feeling that you lot would be calling for the Romans to release Barabbas.

I have said it before: all you have to do is get RFTH to stop advertising on my beloved secular radio and I will leave this forum and never come back. Until then I will continue responding to these pernicious lies and false claims. - Erik

Good evening Erik,I for one am glad to see you're still with us.Your entries make me think...point me to sections of the bible that I might not ordinarily seek out on my own.There is a sign posted as you exit the parking lots at JFBC.It says,"you are now entering the mission field." I think it's fair to say that the comment section of this devotional site is part of that mission field.Welcome. - Susan

Erik, to borrow from your play book... I'm glad you've come around, and agree with me that Jesus was a real person, and the things recorded about his life and what he said are the truth.

I don't think you should leave if you are respectful in your comments. I also, though, don't think you ask questions in this forum because you are seeking the truth or want real answers. You think your sarcastic comments and questions will cause others to doubt what they believe. That seems to me your mission, and if I were you, I would dig down deep to figure out why that is.

I'm sorry that Bryant's occasional 30 second spots cause you such grief, but if they bring you here to dialog with believers, I think that is a good thing. - Rick Y

Dear "Christians"

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..."

I've been wanting to say this for so long, but hesitated for one reason or another.

This is the mission field, Erik is welcome, and if we try to defend the Bible we are gonna get angry, because it is more than we can do. But if we unleash the Bible, the Holy Spirit will take over from there. I personally don't want people to come to this site and fatten up on milk. They need to hear the opposition, otherwise it's not a real decision. That's not a warrior for Christ, that's a cultured church-goer that hasn't made his/her own decision in reality.
My own inability to answer Erik's questions fully has inspired me to get back in the Word. It doesn't shake my belief, but it points out that I cannot readily articulate the reason for the hope that I have. What good is my testimony to Erik (or others of course) if I can't share with him.

Again, don't come here only to get, but to give. - David M

I tend to agree with Ken on this one. I love it when, in any setting, a person wants to talk about God, or why we believe the Word. However, often times we don't have an honest questioner, just a heckler or person looking for an arguement. Jesus ran into these types of people quite often, usually Pharisees, and he wasn't particularly pleased with responding to inauthentic questions. He seemed rather annoyed.
At any rate, I think if people want to try and convince these unbelivers of the truth of the Gospel - have at it. Like my Savior, I'll spend my time and energy on people who are truely looking for answers. - Austin

Are the answers provided by the Christians leading to a growing faith? Or are the seeds sown just landing on a brick wall? It is up to God to draw Erik and Jonathan to Himself so in their case it seems prayer would be the more useful tool to reach them. It becomes tedious for people to try to follow all the lenghty questioning and answering and makes this site less enjoyable. Maybe that is the point. Who is glorified by that? There comes a point to say enough. Sincere questioning should always be welcomed here of course. May God be glorified by this site. - Janice