hi
>>>>joseph wrote
>>>>WHy do you think Jesus came to earth to die for us if there was
no hell, and we would all go to heaven anyway? Do you know why He died for
us at Easter? I am sorry, but that just doesn't make any sense
otherwise.<<<<
hey joseph - you go boy!!!
i think a lot of people just dont understand the nature of god. i dont
either but i have experienced a little of it.
god is real - no doubt about that.
god is love - oh yes - the experience of gods love is an incredible, life
changing experience.
god is also just. its a part of his being that he cannot tolerate sin.
god is holy. sin cannot abide in his presence.
around twenty years ago i was suffering from intense depression, totally
withdrawn, never spoke to anyone, suicidal. joni's music was a large part of
keeping me going through this stage of my life.
then a christian girl i knew hugged me one day. thats all it took for god to
touch me with his love. things changed instantly.
there were times in prayer meetings when the love of god was just so strong
and so real we'd just sit and weep. sometimes we'd laugh.
sometimes his holiness would be so real, we'd just lie there flat out on the
floor - too scared to even move a finger.
sometimes hed show me my own heart - the true motivation for doing things.
perhaps not so bad by human standards but hopelessly short of godly
standards.
god met with me - spent time with me - was real to me. way, way more than
just words in a book or some guy preaching (never got that "preaching" thing
- why cant they just talk like a normal human being!!!!!!
so theres somethings (actually theres a lot, a whole lot) in the bible i
dont get? does that suddenly make god not real??
well theres a *lot* i dont get in joni's music - doesnt make sense to me so
she cant exist - newsflash - shes still around. my failure to grasp god
doesnt mean that i must deny his existence.
hes real, hes true, hes love, hes goodness, and i for one am really really
scared to look at his face one day to have to explain myself. does that make
him bad and cruel and nasty. not by any means.
somewhere in the bible theres a passage (any ideas joseph??) where it refers
to mercy and truth being met together - and there in lies a whole subject
which could fill up books. god is mercy yes - hes also truth. think about
that for a while.
there are an awful lot of particularly shitty people out there calling
themselves christians - magdalene laundries is a stunningly beautiful song
about just that. some of them are genuinely trying - theyll probably be ok -
some arent trying - they'll have to answer for their actions and
motivations. aint nobody going to bullshit god - aint nobody even going to
try when they come into his presence.
so i cant reconcile things in the bible with what i do understand. well the
parts which i do get convince me that it is all true - so i guess im just
going to have to hang in there till i do start to get it.
btw (ok so this is one of those friend of a friend type stories which can
get *so* out of hand). i had a good friend in durban (he was my best man).
he met someone who had a most amazing experience with joni's music. this guy
was on acid and was listening to wtrf & when "love" came up the room was
flooded with a beautiful warmth and gentle light (so he said).
ron
np joan baez - all my trials
