 These couple emails are from an old friend of mine from high school. Back in his days there, he was a wild, rebellious teen. In keeping in contact after our graduation, he has emailed me and somehow we got into this odd conversation of religion. I found it quite interesting, and I hope you do, too. |
Religion What's up mad dawg? I am absolutely good. I am finished with finals, and free. I will work full time for the next week to pay off debts and tickets and shit like that, but atleast I don't have to wake up early anymore. Who knows what the SUmmer will be like. I have not the foggiest. I just know that sam and I will go to Colorado for a while and she will get her braces off (yes!), but beyond that the summer is a mystery. I devote a lot of my free time to reading the Bible and praying, can you believe that!? Damn, I never thought I would be seeking to know god at this age. I thought I would be partying still, but nope I'm not. And not because Christianity is a bunch of rules and regulations; that is what man did with the Bible. religion is an institution and i'm against it. I'm talking about a relationship. God is real, but he won't bother you unless you want him to. He's a gentleman. It's so much easier to put your hopes for the future with god, instead of worrying about them yourself. I'm not worried about being a success in anybody else's eyes but God's. It is much less stressful. If you ever want to know anything about how you can establish a real actual friendship with your creator, ask me. I wouldn't try to get to know him if all my effort was based on faith alone. He has actually spoken to me before. His voice came out of my mouth without my mind knowing what I was going to say. It was completely amazing. I encourage you to just think about it. If you turn your attention towards god, he will turn his attention towards you. He lets you know he is listening with little coincidences. You'll run into people that can tell you about him and you'll see things that remind you of him all the time. This is his way of reaching out to you. All you have to do is pay attention, and devote a little time to pay attention to him. If you have any questions, ask. Sorry to bombard you with all this god-stuff, but it is so much better and more fulfilling than drugs and anything that Salem could ever have offered me. I gotta tell people about it. Just remember that religion is what you have to stay away from, not God. and secondly... I'm impressed Jeremy. I had no idea that you were a straight (he meant with religion!) dude. I liked the poem. I didn't know you wrote that kind of stuff. I'd like to share with you what the Lord has done in my life in just the last week. First of all, there is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost(they have to be capitalized because they are so powerful). They have existed together as one diety since forever. Many times in the old testament, the Lord speaks using the plural pronoun "us". He says, "Let US go down and confuse man's language" at one point. Then the Son came down to earth as JEsus, and after he was crucified and rose from the dead, the Holy Ghost came in his place to "comfort" the future generations of believers. The Holy Ghost is a person. He each of the attributes of God, omniscience, omnipresence, and ummm.. the other one. What counts is that he has emotions just like God. What happens when you are saved is that the Holy Ghost comes into your life and changes you in order to make you more like Christ, i.e. less selfish, more giving, more caring, less irritable, more loving, more patient("The boy has no patience." -Yoda), less "fallen". And it works too!! In the last week I have changed so much, I am amazed. I used to cuss like a sailor. But, now I notice the few times that I use even a weak curse word. I have been a masturbating porn crazy lustfilled man for the last several years, and that is changing RAPIDLY. I try not to even look at other girls. IT IS REALLY HARD, let me say that. But, the fact that I am even making an effort is amazing to me. I have also been obsessed with my own sense of freedom. I could leave and drive anywhere I wanted at almost any time. I did whatever drugs I wanted. I lived an extremely liberal lifestyle with no desire to give up my control of it. Before this week, Samantha and I were sure that we were going to move to COlorado this summer. But, in one week's time that completely changed. God wants us to stay here, so we are going to. I gave up my dream to move to COlorado and live near my dad. The mountains, the culture, the city, I exchanged them for the promise of a personal relationship with God. God always wants his children to draw nearer to him. The Bible says "Draw nigh to the Lord and he will draw nigh to you". You just have to make the effort. I never wanted to be a "Bible Thumper" or a "Jesus Freak", but once you really dig in, you realize that there is no depth to which you cannot reach. There is always more of God for us to experience. With our feeble human minds, we can't even comprehend his basic qualities. This makes it easy for him to leave us in flabbergasted awe. I encourage you to seek a deeper relationship with your creator. It is the best thing that you can do with your life. Love will fail. Philosophy will fail. Drugs and Alcohol will fail (not that you don't already know that). Look at what the Lord has done with my self-righteous spirit. My huge ego. My pride. The highschool version of me is dying hard. God is birthing me again. I will always be provided for because "God takes care of his children". Look at what a fool I have become! This email is like a big fatty love letter to God. But, that is what happens. I am not telling you all this because I think you need to hear it, or because I think you are going to hell. I just, well, uhh.. thought I'd would tell you... about what... umm.. Jesus did for me. It's easy to get carried away. You are a passionate person. You write these poems about love and heartbreak that are literally dripping with feeling. These poems tend to reflect anguish a lot. Maybe I am wrong, but you look to women to fulfill the desires of your heart. I did too. I used to think that Samantha was the best thing that ever happened to me. However, now I realize she is the second best thing. You have heard it before, God will fulfill the desires of your heart. If he is first for real, he will. If you get hold of love, this darling little dream boat will consume every single miniscule amount of passion that your heart can give. It is easier to give love to a woman than it is to give love to God. God is a spirit. He is mysterious. He is "the force that binds us" from Star Wars. But, once you learn, that love will leak out of your mouth and your eyes. I think that's enough. |
