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Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Oct. 18, 2025
Update	: Oct. 18, 2025
Parts	: 03

Synopsis:



Continuing our discussion from part one, and getting back on track with the main focus of this series, as I mentioned in part one, similar to my online friend, and many other elderly people, I live alone and I am quite the recluse. I rarely go anywhere except to the post office, or food shopping, or to the occasional appointment. However, the solitary life I live is by my personal choice for reasons which I will explain in a moment. Unlike my social network friend who feels the need to be around people, I do quite fine living alone. I enjoy the quiet, the peace and my independence from obligations to others, and all the unnecessary family drama which occurs in so many American families today. Similar to many of you, my home is my spiritual abode which is dedicated to the Lord and to my personal service to Him. This is what I live for, as a number of you will already know.

While I know how to be friendly and sociable around people, and can be quite talkative -- particularly when it comes to discussing God's Word -- at the same time, I thrive just as much being alone without them. The truth is that I've been a loner for most of my life, and it is just the way that I am. However, I believe that there is a reason for this. This too I will be explaining momentarily when we arrive at the key message of this series. In that regard, I suppose my friend and I are very different. In fact, I sometimes joke that I would have made the perfect interplanetary astronaut, had I chosen that profession. Isolation simply does not affect me in the negative way in which it affects other people. But then maybe it is simply because my two cats keep me sane. Well, at least I believe that I am sane. 😂

Regarding the hurtful family rejection which my friend has experienced, trust me when I say that I am very familiar with such pain. Suffice it to say that I have experienced some of the very same things as my friend related in their online comments. In fact, I have been treated as a complete outsider by the vast majority of my family for about fifty years, even when I have made certain endeavors to establish a relationship with some of them. As I've explained before, in large part, this seeming rejection has been due to my strong, Christian, Bible-based convictions and beliefs. If there are other reasons, I am currently not aware of what they are, because no one has ever told me. Thus, it remains a complete mystery to me.

Thankfully, in recent years, my mother -- who is a Christian -- and I re-established our relationship after many years. I am happy to report that it has been going well, and that she now fully supports my work for the Lord. What is nice about our relationship is that I can be exactly who God made me to be without any pretense whatsoever. If I want to be serious with her and discuss the Scriptures, she accepts, very much respects and enjoys it. Or if I want to be a septuagenarian, wise-cracking, sarcastic, joking goofball just to get a laugh out of her, she enjoys that just as much. In short, my mom -- who is currently ninety years old -- is quite the lady and character herself. And oh is she as sharp as a tack for her age! No loose marbles upstairs. Nope, none at all! 😂

In contrast, and sadly, my dad and I had our final falling out decades ago, again, due in large part to my Christian beliefs. Tragically, he passed away earlier this year as he approached his 93rd birthday, either as an agnostic, or as a complete atheist. It was not quite clear to me due to our long lack of communication. Regarding my siblings, they too have all kept me at arm's length for over five decades as well, even though at times I tried to establish some kind of rapport with them. Now, only a few of them survive, and the sad trend of rejection and silence continues.

In more recent years, due to work opportunities elsewhere, not quite a year ago, my more immediate family members left the island where I now reside. In fact, they currently live about 1,600 miles away from me. However, for a number of years before they left, they had already stopped visiting me, and communication between us pretty much came to a standstill. This was particularly painful due to the fact that I have a young granddaughter similar to the friend I have been writing about. I used to baby-sit her for various reasons, and sometimes she would even spend a night or two at my home. On rare occasions, she would even stay longer than that.

Being as my granddaughter was so young, I would treat all of her visits as educational experiences. We would color and draw together, read books together, quiz her on her various flash card sets, watch children's movies, etc. It was lots of fun, and it saddened her to have to leave me at the end of each of her visits. However, once her family moved to a new apartment that was miles away from me -- we used to live right next door to each other -- those special visits became a lot less frequent.

Tragically, two years of harsh COVID-19 restrictions here on our island -- including enforced social distancing, business closures for all but certain approved businesses, mandatory masks, etc. -- did not help our family situation. Of course, neither did my stiff resistance to getting the vaccine jabs help either. To this day, I remain vaccine-free despite some pressure from both my personal physician at the time, as well as from my immediate family. I had done due diligence through online research, such as by visiting the U.S. government-run VAERS -- Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System -- website, so I was quite familiar with the serious health dangers and risks which were resulting in large numbers from the COVID vaccine shots. Thus, I stood my ground despite the pressure.

Well, sadly, in the end, my family totally restricted me from seeing my granddaughter as long as I refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19. However, I was not about to allow myself to be blackmailed or bribed into getting the shots through such tactics, or to risk my personal health by injecting something into my body which had been hastily foisted upon the American public without the required multi-year testing and analysis phase. Between that and the frightening horror stories I had been reading, it was just a no-go for me, despite the heavy price I had to pay due to my refusal to be vaccinated. When I discovered that the American government had in fact engaged in the very deceptive practice of paying hospitals and other health institutions $39,000 dollars for each death that they reported as a COVID-related death -- even if it really was no such thing -- that solidified my decision against the jabs.

My friends, to this day, I remain fully convinced that I made the right choice to refuse the COVID jabs. In fact, as some of you will know, even now, despite some efforts by both the US government and the pharmaceutical industry to conceal the real truth, we still occasionally read reports of people who are dropping dead due to the side effects of the vaccines, or at least who are suffering from a number of serious health issues which have been directly linked to the COVID-19 jabs.

Furthermore, it did not go unnoticed by me -- and probably by some of you as well -- that earlier this month -- Oct. 2025 -- the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its immunization schedule. This included dropping the universal COVID-19 vaccine recommendation. In other words, less people are now being required or recommended to get the COVID jabs. If the vaccines are as safe as they have continued to claim, then why would they do this? Think it through, my friends, and arrive at your own conclusions.

While we've taken another small detour, let's return again to our main subject of discussion. While my granddaughter and I used to FaceTime frequently, as she began to get older -- but while yet being a pre-teen -- she seemed to lose her interest in video chatting with me on a regular basis, as we had been doing. Honestly speaking, my friends, to this day, I still do not know why it occurred, and why she became so distant from me. Perhaps it was just a stage in her life due to her age, or her school studies, or maybe her personal life activities. Or maybe it had something to do with the COVID restrictions. Who knows.

But the point is this: By the time these family members left our island almost a year ago, I had not seen my granddaughter in person for about a two-year period. Her family had stopped visiting me entirely. Even with the rare FaceTime chats that still occurred, I could tell from the way my granddaughter acted that she did it more because her mother insisted that she do it, than because she was really interested in chatting with me. As I said, this continues to mystify me, because we used to be quite close. Aside from the activities I already mentioned previously, I used to purchase her a lot of gifts. From the time that she was still in diapers -- boy, I changed many of those! -- I began getting her things such as a walker, a cradle, a baby jumper, a high chair and more.

As she moved into the toddler stage, I also bought her book shelves, and piles and piles of children’s books. Some books had built-in noises, while others had different textures that she could touch and feel. There were also Bible story books, and many books about nature, because I personally love God’s natural creation, and I wanted her to love it and appreciate it too, which she still does to this very day. She loves to go to zoos, to visit public aquariums and venture to similar places where different animal species are kept.

Now that my immediate family no longer lives on-island, I am completely alone, except for my two cats. Oh, and by the way, while my online friend is unable to travel due to issues with their car, in my case, I have not owned or driven a car since 1997. On the rare occasions when I do have to go out to take care of personal business, I take advantage of a special bus service that is specifically designed for people such as me who suffer from certain disabilities. It is actually rather great, because not only do I save thousands of dollars every year -- due to no car expenses -- but the bus picks me up and drops me off right at my doorstep. Plus, the rides are cheap.

Thankfully, another blessing in my life is that I also have a large supermarket within walking distance of my home. It has a large selection of food items which easily meet my personal needs. But let me also tell you that at my age, those short trips walking home loaded down with heavy groceries -- often twenty to fifty pounds, and on rare occasions even more when I over-shop by mistake -- is sometimes quite the challenge. I arrive home huffing and puffing and totally wiped out. I will often have to jump in bed afterwards in order to recover from the ordeal.

Now, after reading all of the previous paragraphs, some of you might be led to conclude that, similar to the friend I've been writing about, I have very justifiable reasons for being totally depressed and bummed out. I live alone. I don't even have a car because I am too poor to own one, besides the fact that my vision is very poor. I have been ignored and rejected by my personal family for years, in most cases, even for as long as five decades. Should I also add to my personal list of woes the fact that my health isn't the greatest at my age, and that I have certain health-related issues which directly affect and limit my ability to conduct the BBB ministry as I would like? Or how about the fact that despite all of my hard work, I am also majorly shadow banned on every single social network where I participate? If you require more reasons for why I have a right to be bummed out, to complain, and even to want to die, please let me know. [sarcasm intended].

So, sure, my friends. If I looked at all of these things, and allowed them to negatively affect me, I could be just like my online friend, and totally all down in the dumps, lavishing myself with self-pity, in a very miserable state, feeling so sorry for myself, and even desiring that God would take away my life just to put me out of my misery. But guess what? I am NOT like that, and I will NEVER act that way, or allow that kind of oppressive spirit to overtake my life. I just don't have time for, or interest in, that kind of self-absorbing nonsense! Nope! It's NOT for me! I have more important things to be doing with my remaining life than throwing myself some kind of pity party; namely serving the Lord and feeding His sheep with the truth of His precious Word! That remains my primary purpose in this present life.

In fact, if you were to ask my dear mother what I am like, she would not hesitate to honestly inform you that in her opinion, I am the happiest person that she knows, and she sincerely means it. I am her personal picker-upper, even if I do act like a fool for her own benefit. I just don't care what other people think, so I will act like a clown if it encourages someone and makes them giggle a bit. So now we come to the real heart and lesson of this current series.

My friends, I will tell you that many years ago, when I was a very young Christian -- I would say in my late teens through my twenties and into my early thirties perhaps -- I was a very self-absorbed person who had my eyes only on myself, and who was constantly discouraged by my own sins and shortcomings as a Christian. Even earlier than that, I had zero to very little self-confidence. I was extremely shy and introverted. I always worried about what people thought of me. I also felt rejected by society as a whole, and I simply did not fit in anywhere or with anybody. I was truly an odd bird, and I knew it.

Well, actually, some people -- particularly the nonbelievers -- would probably insist that I am STILL a very odd bird. But that is quite okay with me, because at this stage in my life, I truly and honestly just do not care what such people think of me. I cannot waste time being concerned with such trivial matters. Does that sound a bit egotistical to some of you? It actually isn't. Why not? Well you see, because all that truly matters to me now is what the Lord thinks of me. After all, He alone is the final Judge of each of our lives. Right? But that is not all. Something happened in my life which changed me. It is something which many other Christians know about as well, and which they too have likewise experienced.

Exactly what was it? Jesus Christ saved my soul and filled me with His Spirit. THAT is what made the difference! As I began to study God's Word in earnest, and was fed and nourished by it, and learned its truths, it in fact began to slowly change me internally in a spiritual sense. I became a new creature, and a new creation in Jesus Christ. That old man of the flesh began to fade away as the new spiritual man began to surface in his place. Many of my Christian brethren will understand exactly what I am talking about. The KJV New Testament has a number of different things to say concerning this spiritual process of rebirth, conversion and transformation. Allow me to share some key Bible verses with you regarding this topic:

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, EXCEPT A MAN BE BORN AGAIN, HE CANNOT SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mothers womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."


"Therefore if any man be in Christ, HE IS A NEW CREATURE: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."


"And THAT YE PUT ON THE NEW MAN, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."


"And HAVE PUT ON THE NEW MAN, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:"


"And be not conformed to this world: but BE YE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."


"Knowing this, that OUR OLD MAN IS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."


"THAT YE PUT OFF CONCERNING THE FORMER CONVERSATION THE OLD MAN, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;"


"Lie not one to another, seeing that YE HAVE PUT OFF THE OLD MAN with his deeds;"


But that is not all that I have learned over the years from my personal studies of God's Word. Another rather important lesson is that in addition to the fact that God has called each of us to be spiritual lights in the world, as Christian Believers, we are engaged in a very real spiritual war. And do you know who our primary adversary is? Again, if you are also a Christian, then you no doubt already know the answer to this question. Following are two verses which greatly clarify the issue:

"Neither give place to the devil."


"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."


In case you were not already aware of it, Satan -- the Devil -- absolutely hates your guts! He is NOT the least bit happy about you endeavoring to lead a new soul to Jesus Christ. Why not? Because each time that you win a soul, or turn somebody in the direction of Jesus Christ -- some people sow the seed, others water the seed, and yet others reap the harvest -- that foul fiend's Kingdom of Darkness becomes even less populated.

So, Satan does everything within his power to slow you down, and to stop you in your tracks. For example, he may attempt to ruin your personal witness as a Christian by inducing you to sin in some great way. By so doing, he is able to point his accusatory finger at you, condemn you and hold the sword of guilt over your head. In short, he induces you to sin, and then that sly serpent turns around and condemns you in your heart for sinning. The end result is that it can negatively affect your effectiveness for the Lord. My friends, the fact of the matter is that over the years, we have watched as the ministry of a number of popular, public preachers have been besmirched and ruined when certain sins have been exposed in those preachers' lives, right? So before you fall for this particular devilish tactic, please remember the following Bible verse and beware:

"Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."


But there is another insidious way in which Satan can weaken you and destroy your effectiveness for the Lord. Furthermore, we have already been discussing it throughout this series. What am I referring to? The answer -- or I should really say, the opposite of the answer -- is found in the following verse which is found near the beginning of the twelfth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrew brethren. Consider these first two verses of the chapter:

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, LOOKING UNTO JESUS the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."


And there it is! Aside from laying aside our personal sins, what do those two verses instruct us to do? LOOK UNTO JESUS! So what does the Devil do? The exact opposite! He tries his very hardest to get us to take our eyes OFF of Jesus, and to place our eyes on ourselves and our personal struggles and problems instead. My dear readers, that is PRECISELY what my online friend is doing, whether they realize it or not. They are now so bogged down by their current circumstances and personal problems, and concentrating so much attention on their OWN desires and needs, that they have totally taken their eyes off of the true Author and the Finisher of their faith. That, of course, is Jesus Christ. In fact, as we saw in part one, the person in question now wonders whether or not God still even loves them. They also talk about wanting to die! They have fallen right into Satan's trap and black hole of endless misery and despair where they see nothing good!

Sadly, this person is not alone by any means. There are so many modern Christians in the world who fall for this very same trick. I have personally seen it a number of times on the social networks. Such people do nothing but use their page or timeline to talk about their personal list of woes. In other words, all many of them do is constantly complain about their problems and struggles, their depression, their hungry kids, their broken down car, their mean and unfair ex-spouse, the fact that their ungodly neighbors hate them, the fact that they are going to be evicted soon unless their online friends quickly send them some money, their declining health and a host of other negative things.

In short, very little of what they post is actually about the Lord and the Gospel which saves men's souls, if any of it is at all. It is just one huge, self-absorbing, pity party where everyone is expected to pat them on the back and feel sorry for them. Well, wait a minute there, friend! But did you not say in your bio that you were specifically online to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ? What happened to that? Why are your eyes so on yourself and your personal problems, instead of on the Lord? Instead of sharing the light of the truth of God's Word as you are commanded to do, why are you acting like a black hole of complete despair and misery, and trying to suck people down to your level, instead of striving to raise them up to Jesus Christ?

Unless I have just misunderstood the Scriptures, they tell us to preach the glad tidings and not the sad tidings. They tell us to preach the good things and the positive things, and not all of that negativity. For example, consider the following set of sample verses which were authored by the Apostle Paul:

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring GLAD TIDINGS of GOOD THINGS!"


"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE LOVELY, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE OF GOOD REPORT; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."


Now, please understand that I do feel sorry for such people who find themselves in the midst of such personal struggles. In fact, I will even pray for some of them as the Lord leads. However, when such folks just go on and on with the darkness and negativity day after day without any sign of ever letting up, eventually I'll grow tired of seeing it in my news feed, and I may choose to unfriend them. I'm sorry if that offends anyone, but that's just the way it is. Quite frankly, I have enough personal struggles in my own life, and I honestly do not need for you to drain my spirit further with all of your negativity. As we just saw, Christians are really supposed to encourage and inspire each other, and lift each other up, and NOT drag each other down. At least that is how I personally understand the Scriptures.

Furthermore, as I have mentioned a number of times before, including in some of the many graphics I have created, one of the criteria I use when determining if I should accept a particular friend request, is to see what kind of posts they make on their page or timeline. After all, as a responsible Christian, I do NOT want to lead my other Christian friends to a page where their spirit is drained from seeing so much negative content. So, yes, I am very selective regarding who I accept as an online friend. If you want your request to be accepted by me, then not only keep your page positive with little or no personal drama on it, but also make sure that you are really sharing God's Word on a regular basis. By so doing, I will be a lot more inclined to accept your friend request.

On a related note, let me mention something else I have seen on some social network pages which I feel is misguided. As I mentioned a moment ago, some users will place a note in their social network bio where they will say that the only reason why they are on that social network is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of them will even take it a step further and say something such as "If you are not interested in the Bible, then please don't even send me your friend request." Friends, I have personally seen these kinds of statements a number of times. While I truly understand their motivation for doing this, nevertheless, if your goal is to win people to Jesus Christ and to share God's Word with them, that is a self-defeating approach. You are driving people away with your open hostility, even before they show any potential for being hungry for the Gospel truth.

On another note, something else I have observed is that some people are extremely self-absorbed, and appear to be in love with themselves. All they do is post one photo after another of themselves, as if they are the greatest thing on God's green Earth. Personally, I never accept friend requests from such people. What's the point? So if you are really on that social network to share the Gospel, then share Jesus and NOT just yourself!

Please go to part three for the conclusion of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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