the notes to your friend<\/a>.<\/p>\nI pray that he is still on the right path.<\/p>\n
There was much wisdom in your notes. I have a son who is headed down the same path that your friend was on. Your approach has given me hope, and I intend to follow your path. I will probably use some of your notes as a template for my own notes to my son. I trust that will be okay with you.<\/p>\n
May God richly bless you.<\/p>\n\t
Answer:<\/h2>\n
Thank you very much for letting me know. The young man told me a few years later that he kept all my letters in a notebook to reread.<\/p>\n
Certain things happened that haven’t been good for him. His father died. He tries but I know he falls back into drugs frequently. Then the church in his town folded. He goes to another one that is about an hour away, but I don’t think he has been all that faithful. He knows I won’t help him if he is using, which is probably why I don’t hear from him much. I still hold out hope for him, but then I never really give up on anyone. As it currently stands, it is up to him to decide that he wants the good life. I can’t force him.<\/p>\n
I pray that the letters help you with your son and that you reach him. You’re welcome to use the letters — that is why they were put on the website. If you think I might be able to help in some way, just let me know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Just a note of thanks for sharing this post and the notes to your friend. I pray that he is still on the right path. There was much wisdom in your notes. I have a son who is headed down the same path that your friend was on. Your approach has given me hope,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20,1028,1034],"tags":[127,372],"class_list":["post-34217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","category-parenting","category-teenager","tag-about-this-site","tag-drugs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17415,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thank-you-for-the-information-on-the-two-lineages-of-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":34217,"position":0},"title":"Thank you for the information on the two lineages of Jesus","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you. A friend of mine has lost all of his faith and is now picking on the Bible for all of its inconsistencies. He has brought up the two lineages of Jesus as proof, and thanks to\u00a0your sermon notes, plus a few other sources, I believe I may\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61473,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-friends\/","url_meta":{"origin":34217,"position":1},"title":"Notes on Friends","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Examples I Samuel 18:1-4; 20:4-7 Jonathan and David Ruth 1:16 Ruth and Naomi Acts 18:3 Aquila, Priscilla, and Paul Nature Joshua 1:5 \"No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52692,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-close-of-a-friend-can-i-be-to-someone-who-uses-drugs\/","url_meta":{"origin":34217,"position":2},"title":"How close of a friend can I be to someone who uses drugs?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello Jeffrey, I hope you are doing well today. I have a question that I've always wondered about but never really been able to settle in my mind. Should a Christian hang out with an unbeliever? Obviously, Christians are not completely separate from unbelievers, but where is the line\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69960,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-lost-a-good-friend-for-my-views-on-homosexuality\/","url_meta":{"origin":34217,"position":3},"title":"I lost a good friend for my views on homosexuality","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Please say a prayer for me. I've lost a good friend for my views on the sins of homosexuality. Pray that God will comfort me and give me His love and compassion to comfort me. Answer: I find it interesting that those who claim to want tolerance for their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42987,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-be-a-good-friend-to-a-guy-that-has-lots-of-problems-with-drugs-and-drinking\/","url_meta":{"origin":34217,"position":4},"title":"How can I be a good friend to a guy that has lots of problems with drugs and drinking?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, So long story short, I was led into the life of a guy with\u00a0a lot\u00a0of problems (drugs and drinking). I got to know him as a friend and he expressed how much he would like to change. I started talking to him more and he attended church with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34157,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-bring-an-agnostic-friend-to-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":34217,"position":5},"title":"How do I bring an agnostic friend to Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello. I thank you again for the opportunity to ask questions and get them answered so promptly! I am debating with my close friends, so my question is how do I bring my agnostic friend to Christ? Here is a discussion we are having at the moment and please\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34217\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}