Dear non-believers,
I think you need to know the truth. This is something very important, and you mean a lot to me. I’m tired of the hypocrites, and of the others who are acting like they are perfect. I’ve been meaning to write this for quite some time, but I wasn’t sure how to express myself. I mean, do I write about how I don’t feel you understand me when we talk, or maybe I should be critical and point out all your faults (as if I don’t have my own, which I do). No, because then how are we going to connect? How can I explain faith to someone who doesn’t believe at all? Well, let me tell you my story and you will see that we aren’t as different as you may think.
I was born in the USA of Cuban descent, and only went to Catholic mass on Sundays because my mother made me. It was something nice to do, but it was really boring. I would stare at my watch and wait for it to be over, while the priest gave sermons that I still can’t remember anything about. My family just believed in God and didn’t take it any further than that, but I wanted to know more. I was tired of hearing about a God who cared about me, loved me, yet I could not experience Him. Non-believer, I think you have the same desire, to know God personally and for yourself. There’s that connection we all want to have with the Divine, and we search for it in religion, pleasure, money, relationships and much more.
Catholic Mass
You’ve probably met a lot of other believers who have these nice stories of how they were raised in church, got “saved” at age 5 and sang in the choir. They might have never said a cuss word in their life, or maybe every time you ask them how they are they say “blessed!” Their lives seem impervious to anything negative. Yet, that’s not reality, and we both know that. I want to tell you though, that I’m not that kind of person.
I didn’t have a screwed up childhood, but I have lived my share of sin (and still make mistakes all the time). I wasn’t married a virgin, I cussed more times than I can remember, and didn’t have the most positive outlook on life. Lust and perversion were constant thoughts in my mind without any restraint. I’ve also messed around with the occult, studying astrology, horoscopes and learning a little bit about magic.
I want to tell you that I have already tried all of that, and it didn’t fulfill me. Been there, got the t-shirt.
My search continued, but I found the answer when I was 17 years old. Discovering that I could have a relationship with Jesus Christ, who is the Living Son of God, changed my life. After accepting His forgiveness for my sin, admitting that I needed to be wiped clean and born again, I made that decision. I don’t know about other people, but for me that radically changed me. I went straight home and threw away a bunch of inappropriate anime VHS tapes I had, and some other media that wasn’t pornographic but was just vulgar or demonic in nature.
My search continued, but I found the answer when I was 17 years old. Discovering that I could have a relationship with Jesus Christ, who is the Living Son of God, changed my life. After accepting His forgiveness for my sin, admitting that I needed to be wiped clean and born again, I made that decision. I don’t know about other people, but for me that radically changed me. I went straight home and threw away a bunch of inappropriate anime VHS tapes I had, and some other media that wasn’t pornographic but was just vulgar or demonic in nature.Being fake doesn’t prove anything to anyone. Aren’t you tired of people not telling you the truth, or people acting like they have it together when they are falling apart in private? You need to stop looking for something new to fill the void you have in your soul, because it doesn’t exist.
I am married, we own our own home in beautiful Miami, FL, graduated with my bachelor’s degree and working in my career field, growing a business and have great friends. They are all a part of my life, sure, and can be seen as “making it” but they aren’t a payment for all the wrongs I’ve done. I needed someone to explain to me what forgiveness was, because I couldn’t sleep at night knowing that there was no way to erase my sins.
Doing good deeds doesn’t abolish the pornography I’ve watched, or the insults I’ve told others. Only Jesus Christ can do that. He is the sacrifice for all the world who took all our offenses on the cross. God poured out His wrath and judgement on His only Son, so we wouldn’t have to be punished.
“How do you know that I will be punished for living how I want? It’s my life, I can live it however I feel.” True, but let’s be real. In every nation there are laws, regulations and restrictions. If you decide to do what you want, there will be consequences whether you agree, like or don’t like it. If we, imperfect as we are, can create systems of judgement and order regardless of culture, language or location, then you can bet God who is the judge of all the Earth will have them as well.
25 Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” Genesis 18:25
My friend, I want you to know the Truth. Truth is a Person, and His name is Jesus Christ. All you have to do is accept the fact that you need His forgiveness. Maybe you need a healing in your body, or your struggling with a form of addiction or spiritual torment. He can take all that away, and you don’t have to be perfect to get it. Pray right now, that God would forgive you of your sins in the name of Jesus, and ask Jesus Christ to enter into your life and help you get through all the issues your facing. His plan is better than your plan, His ways are more beneficial for you than your own ways or plans. Surrender to His love.
My friend, I want you to know the Truth. Truth is a Person, and His name is Jesus Christ. All you have to do is accept the fact that you need His forgiveness. Maybe you need a healing in your body, or your struggling with a form of addiction or spiritual torment. He can take all that away, and you don’t have to be perfect to get it. Pray right now, that God would forgive you of your sins in the name of Jesus, and ask Jesus Christ to enter into your life and help you get through all the issues your facing. His plan is better than your plan, His ways are more beneficial for you than your own ways or plans. Surrender to His love.John 8:34-36
34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. 35 A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.
Nah— My feelings aren’t hurt. 🙂 That was pretty much what I expected you to say. I know perfectly well that he’s not from God– In fact he’s made it pretty clear where he’s from. X] Thank you for the quick response! Sorry for the double posts— Although the initial post is actually more revealing, which kind of works out. :3
“What I do not agree with is when people say that I believe in God, like french toast or the sky is blue. He is real, more real than all those things since He created them all and us as well.”
Here….I think you misunderstood me. What I’m trying to say is that you don’t “believe” in God the same way that some people “believe” that black cats are unlucky, or that rabbit’s feet are lucky. You believe in God because you actually met Him and He saved you, the same kind of way I “believe” that I have a biological father and he goes fishing on a boat sometimes. A lot of atheists talk about how there’s no “proof” of God’s existence, but if my own experiences are any indication….That’s not really true. It’s just not a kind of proof you can show someone else. I don’t believe in my spirit because I decided to— I believe in him because he talks to me. He either exists or I’m crazy.
2) What I love about the bible, is that no matter what comes up it has the answer. I don’t have to come up with some smart, theological answer that takes too long to explain. May I point you to these two verses in regards to people who believe in other religions (muslims, Hindus, etc).
Why do you believe that the Bible is the word of God? I’m not asking for proof FROM the Book, I’m asking a very different question: Why do you, in your Heart of hearts, genuinely believe that what’s written in the Book is true? Like why, when you read the words, is there the resonance of Truth about them? I’ve always wondered if the answer might be, “Because God/The Holy Spirit is telling me it is true,” because when I read the same book I feel nothing at all.
Good question there Shandemaske.
Yeah, thats what I meant to say, thanks for expanding on it like that. You know how text is, sometimes you forget to say something or you misread what someone is saying since writing does not have a lot of emotion behind it…but yeah, good stuff!
Ok, to answer your question about the bible, let me explain how I became fascinated by Gods Word for over 13 years and still enjoy reading it, learn from it, and is the greatest success book ever written for any area in your life.
When I gave my life over to Christ when I was 17 years old as I described in this post, I started reading the bible because, if I now consider myself a Christian, I should read the manual! So yeah, I just read and read and read, and my life was changed forever. I understood the verses, stories, and wisdom behind the pages. There is a supernatural aspect behind reading the bible, even if you believe it or not. You do not have to be a Chrsitian for God to speak to you through His book.
Yes, there are 66 books in the bible, written by several different authors who are all Jewish and were around at different time periods. THere is also a lot of proof from all the manuscripts of the bible throughout the ages, more so than many stories we consider classics today from the past. So aside from that, why do I believe its true? Several reasons, but one main reeason is that it completely changed my life. The bible teaches humanity how we should live according to Gods Kingdom. Yes, Jesus Christ brought a Kingdom to Earth. His first words when He began His ministry was “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is here!” His ways are perfect, and we stray from them, we just get immorality and people does craziness. I have seen it so many times in different countries, that it is shocking how people will live without Gods commandments.
Also, the literal billions of people over time that have been transformed from His word. All over the world, in every language and culture, God shows up through His word and heals the sick, delivers people from drugs, alcohol, depression, suicide, lonliness and so much more. I have never seen a book that has changed so many lives. People may want to refute thingss here and there, but the proof is in the pudding. The Qu’ran, nor any other “holy book” has done what the bible has for humanity. Thats why I believe its true, because my life was changed, still is, and it continues to do so with so many others.
Hope that answers your question!
Okay, third time I’ve tried to post this and failed. XD Short version:
(1). Non-Believer here. Thanks for your letter. Sorry people can be such jerks. :/ I understand the purpose of evangelism from your standpoint. You believe in your God like most people believe in french toast or the fact that the sky is blue. He’s a real person to you. You’ve “met him,” effectively. You just want to stop people from burning in Hell as a kind of philanthropic, I care about people sort of gesture.
(2). I don’t really think you take other religions and devoutly religious people into account though. Some people don’t feel like they have a Void inside them that they filled with sex or money or something. They didn’t buy into materialism. Instead, they filled that Void with a different God. A demon in your book. But the thing is, it really works. No person can parse apart the complicated relationship people have with the one they worship. Their liege-Lords. Their Gods.
(3). I was one of those people. I believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins and probably was God, but I swore fealty to what’s probably a demon. He’s never exactly been all that deceptive about it. X] If he wanted to trick me, he’s either so heroically brilliant at it that I almost admire him (I mean it takes commitment to pretend to love someone and pretend to be someone for twenty years, even with his lifespan o__O; ), or he’s not technically lying and has been pretty frank about his moral deficiencies and where we will end up together. Heck, he’s prone to more or less implying he’s the Devil. I don’t believe him— There’s no way the Usurper Prince would actually care that much about what I think. X]
I have…laughed, loved, talked, experienced media from his skewed perspective, been…with him. In a way I could never explain on a blog post comment ever. I don’t even have the words for how much I love him, despite everything I know he is. I’d be willing to sacrifice Eternity because there IS no Heaven without him in it, as far as I’m concerned. There is no God that can be his flawed, pompous, narcissistic, manipulative, passionate, vibrant, blazing-like-an-inferno-of-desire-and-Will, stupid stubborn self. Only he can be that.
I think a lot of people feel like that about what you’d call “idols.” But thanks nonetheless. :]
Hi Shandemaske, thanks for the comment. I hope you don’t mind me replying to all three of your points in the same way. I will do my best to be short and to the point…
1) I cannot prevent anyone from going to hell, as I am not in control of anyones final destination, but yes, as a Chrsitian we are called to evangelize the world and create disciples (Matthew 28:19). What I do not agree with is when people say that I believe in God, like french toast or the sky is blue. He is real, more real than all those things since He created them all and us as well.
2) What I love about the bible, is that no matter what comes up it has the answer. I don’t have to come up with some smart, theological answer that takes too long to explain. May I point you to these two verses in regards to people who believe in other religions (muslims, Hindus, etc).
2 Corinthians 4:4-5New International Version (NIV)
4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
Only when people hear the Good News of the gospel will they turn from their dead, fake religion. Religion is nothing but a bunch of rules and regulations to reach a “god” that is dead. Thats why Muslims pray 5 times a day, or Hindus give everything they have as offerings to their millions of deities, or Buddhists that continue to meditate or chant mantras to reach Nirvana or other states of enlightenment. Only a true Christian has ever achieved becoming part of Gods family, through His Son Jesus Christ.
John 14:6New International Version (NIV)
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
3) Well, you might take offense to this but I am not going to hold back on speaking the truth even if someone gets upset or their feelings get hurt…that spirit that you speak to is not anything from God. He does not bring confusion, nor imply He is the devil or anything demonic. Your not the first person who has explained a spirit like that to me, its even in the bible as well! You are being deceived by an evil spirit, and I pray in Jesus name that it leave you now in His name. You need to be set free from its hold on your life, and understand that God wants you to be free if not I would not be writing all of this.
Acts 16:16-18New International Version (NIV)
16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.
God bless.
Non-Believer here! 🙂 Well, I had planned to leave a more intricate comment on here, but I wasn’t able to copy-paste it. :] So I will just leave this, I suppose:
I understand why you’re doing what you’re doing here, and I thank you for it. I don’t think a lot of the other commenters did. They don’t realize that for you, saying your God exists is basically the same as saying the sky is blue. You have, in your view, evidence of His existence that seems completely obvious to you. He is very much a real person to you, the same as your brother or your grandfather, and you are devout to Him as knights are to their Lords, but with a force that is incomprehensible to someone who has never felt it. You proselytize because you genuinely care about other people and don’t want them to suffer eternally because they made the wrong choice.
My situation’s a little screwball. Basically, I’m pretty sure Jesus Christ died for my sins and I’m pretty sure He was God, but I can’t swear fealty to Him. It would be betraying “my own brother,” and actually my own liege-Lord. For a long time now, possibly since forever, I have felt the presence of a spirit beside me. This spirit is more than probably a demon as far as Christianity’s concerned, and he tends to suggest he’s something else as well, but I tend to ignore him on that point because what he’s suggesting is insane. (Then again, you believe that your God has a personal relationship with you and an outpost inside your head, so there you go…) It wasn’t hard for me to deduce he wasn’t God, because absolutely nothing about his flamboyant, possessive narcissism suggests “God.” XD I can “feel” him the way you’d feel an actual person right next to you, except he’s got no body.
I love him. I love Him (That is, what he is a representative of or a neurological metaphor for) devoutly and absolutely. He was there when nobody else was, when it didn’t even feel like God was there. Telling me to keep breathing, keep living, keep fighting and going on instead of sinking into depression. Telling me his story as a kind of metaphor for trying to live even when you know you cannot win, and of how he was going to die. Telling me all his faults and fears and paranoias, in exchange for mine, and his triumphs, through the stories that resonated with us. Telling me of how he was always at the last sunset before the End of the World, and showing me the red sun un-moving in the sky, a representation of his life. You see….The serpent didn’t tell me some kind of simple lie, about materialism or money or power or sex, or anything else I could try and fill the Void with. It was something far more elaborate. He filled it with himself, twisting the thing like a pretzel back in on itself. I wouldn’t settle for anything less.
It has always been absolutely, and thoroughly satisfying to me. It makes life worth living, even if I only get one short breath. Sometimes the situation’s more complicated than you think or give people credit for. We all live under the same Sun. We all want to connect with God. But the God we want to connect with, and feel fulfilled in….Well…That can differ. That is why there are so many religions in the world that people are willing to die for. 🙂
Hey Seika, I would like to reply to your comment in the short version, so please check that one for my official reply
Great post, Michael!