Oh, the various directions I could go with a title like this🤣! In the day of more social media connections than face-to-face interaction, it is easy for one to question if the man or woman on social media is who he/she portrays to be. Before I remarried, I spent a brief time on a dating site. If I ever talked to anyone, I always asked the lady in rather humorous ways if she was who she said she was. It didn’t want any surprises if we were ever to meet.
Over the last 4 years, I have made several connections through this blog. Within the last few weeks, I have had some great phone conversations with a few of these bloggers. Pastors Randy Burbank, William Strickland, Clarence Dalrymple, and Keith Haney are four of the bloggers I spoke with on the phone. Our contact through the blog has been so frequent that the conversations were very natural. These four men have encouraged me so much. These guys have walked the road a little while longer than I, do their insight is precious.
Fake people are a dime a dozen. You can find them anywhere. Real men and women who live their faith are more difficult to find. I’m so thankful to have found some people along the way who, despite distance, have been a tremendous blessing.
My challenge to you – be real! In a day full of fakes, be authentic and approachable. You have no idea the difference you will make in another person’s life.
Matthew Winters (Honest Thoughts from a Pastor) 
Amen! Even though truth has become relative to a world that is selfish, hypocritical, and deceivingly righteous, we (true believers) are to live out the truth of the Gospel regardless of the challenges we may face. We must remain committed to our faith and never compromise our moral standards for the sake of acceptance or “tolerance.” That is part of being a REAL Christian. Thank you, Matt, for this encouraging nugget!
Amen to this response, and to the post!
I immediately thought of Teri Hatcher’s appearance on “Seinfeld” when I read your headline. I only watched that show maybe five times, but every time I gave it another shot, it was that episode or one of two or three others.
Anyway, I’m glad you blogged last night because I have a question. As you said in a recent post, August is a time of transition for a lot of people. I know God’s getting ready to put me somewhere. (Or maybe I should say God’s getting me ready to be put somewhere.) A couple of sermons wisely advised me to keep my mouth shut once he does. I’m an open and honest person, and I don’t know if you read my “Judgmental Christians” post, but I tend to tell people more than I should. The last two jobs I had, I told managers I became homeless last year and things didn’t go well at work after that.
But, that being said, a sermon I watched last night said that when God puts you somewhere, they should wonder why you’re so jubilant. And when they ASK why you’re so jubilant, you should say, “Wait till I tell you what the lord’s done for me.” Well, how the heck can I tell people about the homelessness that led me to reconcile with the father who beat and choked my mom for 15 years (etc.) if that only gets me into trouble?!
That’s a tough one. I tend to tell a bit more than I should, and my wife even more so. I would earnestly pray about what God wants you to say and when. Some people are not ready to hear what we have been through. Others will judge no matter what. I wish I could give you a definitive answer on that one.
Thank you for replying! Interestingly, this is what Pastor Robert Morris is talking about right now. I’m recording it, so I’ll transcribe and post it at some point. (As of this moment, he hasn’t really talked about the difference between sharing your story and sharing your story with coworkers.)
I’m interested to know what he shares.
Even more interesting, what I’m watching on Daystar is an old message circa (at least) January 2018. I went to his website in search of it, and it wasn’t there, so I went to YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGFFo6yniFE
Thanks for sharing the link! I will check it out.
You’re welcome! Maybe a minute after I hit “send” earlier, he mentioned sharing our story in the workplace, but he only said it in passing, so I’m tempted to tweet at him to ask how those of us who have a complicated testimony go about doing that.
There’s a certain security in presenting yourself “warts and all.” You don’t have to live in fear that someone will learn the truth about you. 😉