Burn Out!! ??

[flaglady]

A dear friend of mine, one I admired as being one-on-one with God and very prophetic, ect., etc., decided he 'needed a rest' from church. That was 2 years ago.



I keep in touch with him because I love him to bits and couldn't imagine not keeping in touch - besides which he often rings me for medical advice (he calls me his 'on-call doc'!). He used to meet with his prayer partner every week and I have personally witnessed people get saved and healed by his minstry. His prophetic words were legendary in the neighbourhood.



But, it seemed, his unsaved wife and family were always pecking at him about the time he devoted to the church and to prayer, like they felt they were being deprived of something. So in the end, he decided to take the path of least resistance and drop out.



And now? He's totally back-slidden, uses swear words regularly (though not to me) and never reads his bible or prays. He works as a gang leader for the local corporation (IOW, he's a bin man!) so his working environment and colleagues is somewhat course. But for years his reupation there was such that they used to call him 'the priest' and young new recruits were put under his tutilage so they would get taken for a ride by the older, rougher men.



I tell you, I weep for this man. He was such a man of God but he seems to have shed all that spirituality. And though I talk to him about God and he still seems as if he hasn't rejected the concept, I see no signs of him coming back to the church - or any church!



What a loss!